We put our tree and decorations up during Thanksgiving weekend, so it's been Christmasy around the house for awhile. One of the first items that makes an appearance is "Pat", our elf on the shelf. Now Pat doesn't do anything too crazy (because, honestly, Momma and Daddy are pretty lazy), but he does hide somewhere new every morning and Big Brother always has fun trying to find him (although this year Pat also began the tradition of bringing us a wrapped Christmas book each night--what I great way to make sure we actually read all of our Christmas books!). We couldn't have been prepared for how quickly Little Sweetie caught on to the game and how much she would enjoy find Pat and looking for the book present each night!
Pat hanging out with his friends in the Nativity
While Little Sweetie did enjoy Pat, she wasn't too keen on that other jolly person in a red hat associated with
the holiday. We've got lots of "Santa is NOT my best friend" pictures,
including this one from the Anadarko Kids' Christmas Party.
Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.
Overall,
though, she seemed to really enjoy the start of the season and was more
into it than we were expecting, which made it more fun for the whole
family.
Christmas coloring at the Kids' Party with brother.
Helping Daddy put up Christmas lights.
Decorating her felt tree. Her and brother were actually great this year about leaving the family Christmas tree alone.
Stories with Santa at a friends' Christmas party. Santa was ok...from a distance, while seated in Daddy's lap.
Enjoying trying on her new Christmas dress!
Mommy
and Daddy also wanted to get into the holiday spirit, so we got tickets
to the Radio City Rockettes. We did have a sitter cancel on us, but
Aunt S, Uncle M, and Baby L saved
the day by being our backups. Little Sweetie and Big Brother had great
fun with them!
What's this? Daddy and Momma headed out on a date? It's a Christmas miracle!
Please go. This is my special time with Aunt S, not yours.
Chilling with Baby L.
Brother's computer? Ha! Possession is 9/10s of the law! It's mine now!
Best buddies!
But
brother was accepted into our school district's early childhood
development program and started school on December 1. He starts his
mornings at home with either occupational or speech therapy (sometimes
both) and then the bus picks him up for his school day. This means that
sister and I are pretty homebound right now. We play together in the
morning while brother has his therapy and then take a walk once he
leaves for school, which allows her to take a short late morning nap.
Then lunch, some more play, and afternoon nap. She's often asleep when
brother gets home, but if she's not, she waits and watches for him to
arrive on the bus.
Come home, big brother!
Once or twice a week we try to run errands and each lunch with either Daddy or Aunt S. Sometimes Aunt S even comes over and we trade baby watching so that we can get a few solo runs in. But it has been getting a little rough being stuck home all day, so we are looking forward to January, when Little Sweetie will start doing her own My Gym class on Wednesday! She can't wait!
Height and Weight
Added just a bit of weight (which is crazy considering how much she eats) and is now 23 lbs. and 30 inches.
Personality
Super sweet and smiley as always...until she doesn't get her way. The drama has started! Really started. For example:
After being told that she wasn't allowed to double-dip a chip.
Upon realizing that I was holding Baby L and couldn't feed her until Aunt S came back from her run. Life is so hard!
Not wanting to take a nap. Oh the many faces of Little Sweetie!
Developmental Milestones
Let's see...so
much going on! She walks like a pro and has finally mastered coming
down the stairs on her own (this seemed to take a bit longer since she
seemed to think she should learn to walk down them like her big
brother...she finally decided climbing down may be the best strategy for
right now). She's a great eater (although the opposite foods of brother. Where he liked breads, she likes meats. Lots of meat. She's a very committed carnivore. Well, a carnivore whom loves berries too!). She's also been doing great on her sign language and seems
to like communicating with us for "more," "help,", "water," and such.
And, my non-climbing baby who had lulled me into calmness has now
decided that she's a proud climbing baby. She likes to go up on the
fireplace, but so far is too short to really handle the couch yet.
Proud girl!
She's also doing really great using utensils to eat. Some days she refuses to eat until she gets her fork!
"I'm a baby, momma, not a barbarian."
Fun Tidbits
It's
been really great watching her learn to "play" this month. Her
favorite toys include matchbox cars, dolls, doing stickers, riding the rocking horse, and finding inventive uses for her
brother's underwear. It's so fun to watch her grow and be creative!
Good little mommy, feeding her doll and putting her (and herself) to sleep on our walk!
Yee haw, cowgirl!
Yes, these are my brother's (clean) underwear and yes, they make great hats!
And we are really looking forward to the end of this month...Mimi and
Pop-Pop and coming for Christmas followed by Mamaw and Papaw coming for
New Year's! It's going to be lots of fun for Little Sweetie and Big
Brother. Let the spoiling commence!
Have a great night,
LSM
