The Holidays

After a total hiatus for the holiday hustle, a few memories remain...

Thanksgiving
"Alexandra, do you know why they call this holiday Thanksgiving?" I said.
It was breakfast, Thanksgiving morning. We are visiting my parents in Florida.
"No, Mama."
"This is a time when we think of all the things we are glad to have."
"Thanks for you," she said and pointed to me. She looked around the table. "And you," she said pointing to her Daddy. My heart melted. "And you and you," she continued around the table. "And Mimi and Grandad and TT" (our dog). "And Maddie and Chloe" (her cousins), and she went on to name just about every person she ever met.
So the meaning got a little lost, but the very fact that instead of being thankful for toys she immediately pointed to her family made all the difference.

Christmas Eve
After Alexandra's lengthy quest to find "the real Baby Jesus" that had gone on for all of December only to be shown dolls or pictures, my mother-in-law told her that she could see Baby Jesus in church. She was talking about the manger scene set up on the alter that we would visit after the service.
But my little girl didn't want to wait. No sooner were we settled in our pew than she noticed a woman with an infant two rows ahead of us. As the choir finished Hark the Herald Angel Sings, Alexandra pointed to a 4-month-old with a big pink bow on her head and yelled, "Mama, there's the Baby Jesus!"

Christmas Morning
Two months before Christmas, Alexandra wanted a camera. She was always trying to play with mine, and always getting told not to touch. So I spotted the Fisher Price Kid Tough Camera in a toy store flyer, snapped it up and put it away.
One month before Christmas, Alexandra wanted a statue.
A statue? She's two. A statue of what?
A week before Christmas, my mother-in-law got it out of her: a statue of Mickey.
Um, ok.
So like a crazy person, three days before Christmas, I not only went to the mall, I went to the Disney Store.
Talk about Christmas magic: I got a parking spot near the door, happened to be at an entrance actually close to the Disney Store, and found as I entered a giant sign marked Treasure of the Week. The "treasure" was none other than a half-price six-pack of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figurines. I snapped it up and headed for the register where - bonus - there was no line!

Fast forward to Christmas morning...
The little one is shoulder deep pulling the last item out of her stocking when she looks up at me and says, "I really wish Santa bringed me a camera."
Really? I haven't hear her mention the camera for months!
She moved on to the pile of gifts. As she pulled the wrapping from the Disney package, she started jumping up and down. "I think...it's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse...it's statues, a LOT of them...I knew he was gonna bring me this!"

Wow. Baby's first "real" Christmas, and Mama scored twice. The camera has about 20 pictures of our floor on it, and the statues never leave her sticky candy fingers.
May every Christmas be this merry and bright!

Hilarious...Literally!

Following an afternoon of trick-or-treating around the local shops in our town, Alexandra asked if she could eat her treats. I told her she could pick out one thing she would like to have if she ate a good lunch.
After munching down 3/4 of a PB&J, she said she was full, which prompted the following exchange:

"OK baby, you did a good job," I said. "You don't have to eat any more."
"But can I have a lollypop?"
"If you're full, how are you going to eat a lollypop?" I asked.
She looked at me. "I'm gonna lick it with my tongue," she said, and stuck it out to demonstrate.
I laughed, understanding that what she heard was how do you eat a lollypop.

"No baby, I mean if you are full, you don't have room for a lollypop."
She scooted over in her booster seat. "Yes, Mama, I can put it right here," she said pointing to the empty space next to her.

I smiled at her. Although I was soundly defeated in my argument, these are the moments I love.
"OK baby. I will get you a lollypop."

Someone's been sitting in my cart!

Alexandra has always been very safety conscious. She holds the railing on the steps, points out bikers and skateboarders wearing helmets, and insists on being buckled into her highchair.

So when we went to the grocery store the other day, and I told her that if she wanted to eat a snack she had to sit in the seat. It was no surprise that while I was looking for her granola bar, she was looking for the seatbelt. Unfortunately, only one side of it was still attached to the cart. The other half was nowhere to be found.

"What happened to it, Mama?" she asked.
"I don't know, baby." I replied. "I guess someone broke it."
To which she asked, wide eyed and serious, "Was it Goldilocks?"

Milestone miracle

Today we went to a birthday party. At a bowling alley.
My 2.5 year old is not much of a bowler, but this was her first real kids party other than cake and ice cream at someone's house.

In short, she behaved beautifully. She took turns bowling, didn't try to blow out the candles herself, didn't go rummaging through the gift bags and said please and thank you.
She also told me she needed to make pee pee.
Great! Oh God...a public restroom. Great.
OK, babygirl. Come on.

Well, she did great there too. Didn't touch anything she wasn't supposed to. Let me hold her so she didn't fall into the big girl potty. Washed her hands nicely.
As we were leaving the restroom, I squatted down to her eyelevel and said, "I want you to know that Mama is VERY proud of you. You told me before you had to go potty. You used a big girl bathroom. That is a very good girl."
And you know what she said?
"You're a great Mama." And gave me a hug.
I almost cried.

Who says bowling alley bathrooms are awful?

A kangaroo with no toes

Allie and I are riding in the car the other day and she tells me that when she woke up that morning she saw a baby kangaroo in her room.

OK, wierd. But not that wierd for a kid with a ridiculous collection of stuffed animals.

So I asked what she did with the kangaroo. And she says, "I put it on my bicycle."

"Really?" I say, half listening.

"Yes, Mama," she says. "But I had to pedal because the baby kangaroo doesn’t have toes."

OK, now I am listening. No toes. Where does she come up with this stuff?

"Where did you and the baby kangaroo go?" I ask her.

"Switzerland."

"SWITZERLAND?!" Really, not the answer I was expecting.

"Yeah."

"What did you do there?"

"It was cold so we left." Maybe a lucky guess...?

"Where did you go next?"

"Seasons Pizza."

Now there's an answer I would expect. My in-laws take her to Seasons Pizza at least once a week. I think they would take her there every day if I would let them...but I digress.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, and then we went to Mexico."

"Mexico?"

"Yeah."

"You and a baby kangaroo on a bike?" This story is getting better and better. In fact, it even seems familiar. Like maybe something that happened to me in college...or at a concert...but I digress again.

"Yes, Mama," she continued patiently. Like she had to remind me of something she just told me. (Now THAT is a familiar feeling!) "I was carrying the baby kangaroo because he didn’t have toes."

Seriously…I didn’t know what to do when I heard this story. My mouth hung open. I half suspected my in-laws accidentally bought the wrong mushrooms. Where did she hear about Switzerland and know it was cold there?

And then she ends the story by saying, "Mama?"

"Yes, sweetie."

"A baby kangaroo is a joey."