Santa Claus Comes To Town

Santa Claus came to our house and he brought Kariana

. . . a rocking horse . . .

. . . a playdough kit . . .

. . . a baby doll with pigtails . . .

. . . Thomas the train and a pink leotard tutu . . .

. . . and walkie talkies!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2011!

Birthday Party Mania - Part II

Here are the girls, Kariana, Lauren, Sophie, Emma & Sophie celebrating Emma's 2nd birthday at the park!

Birthday Party Mania - Part I

Kariana enjoys her chocolate cupcake!

Kariana, Emma & Grace sing Happy Birthday to Lauren

We've been busy with birthday parties. All of the girls in Kariana's playgroup are turning two and, of course, they were all born within a few months of each other so we have had a very active holiday season! Kariana kicked it off with her Halloween birthday and December was even busier with birthday parties all the way through the day before Christmas Eve. This was Lauren's birthday party and the girls had fun eating cupcakes and playing with playdough!

Kariana and Emma playing with playdough!

Kariana saying good-bye to Lauren

Photos with Santa and the Big Recovery

When I first put Kariana on Santa's lap.

For a brief moment I thought we were going to have a repeat of last year's crying photos with Santa, but Kariana made a great come back and we were able to get some terrific photos.

We've been talking a lot about Santa Claus and Christmas. Partly because 'tis the season and partly because I didn't want Kariana to be scared of Santa like she was last year. The Elf on the Shelf is visiting us this year. In case you don’t know the story, here’s the premise: they are little elves that are Santa's helpers and report to him how naughty or nice the children have been. Each child has an elf that they get to name. Kariana named hers Good Elf. He sits watching you during the day, then he returns to the North Pole each night to report to Santa on your behavior. You know he’s left and come back because he appears in a different place each morning, and you have to go find him in his new spot. In order to “preserve his mystique,” you are not allowed to touch the elf, but you can talk to him and tell him what you want for Christmas.

It's a cute idea, plus it's another excuse for mommy and daddy to use the Santa card. I'm not sure Kariana is quite old enough yet to really understand the elf or Santa, but we have fun reading the story each night and looking for the elf in the morning. I do let her touch him, because a two year old wants to touch everything and how hard would it be to try to explain to her that once she finds him, she can't touch him. Hopefully, Santa and the elf won't penalize us for breaking the no touch rule this year.

Anyway, the night before we were going to have our pictures taken with Santa, I was trying to get Kariana into her crib. It was past her bedtime and she was doing her usual brokering of "one more book" so I did what presumably any parent would do around this time of the year. I told her Santa was not going to come if she didn't go to bed. I didn't really expect her to understand, but the look in Kariana's eyes told me she did. She turned to me with the widest eyes ever, her lower lip and chin started to quiver and she started to cry. Of course, this broke my heart. Tobin heard her crying and came to my rescue. He managed to get her into bed and she immediately grabbed her blankets and put her head down to go to sleep. Is the Santa card working? Kariana knows Santa says "Ho Ho Ho" and has a moustache like Pop Pop. If you ask Kariana what she wants for Christmas, she'll tell you Thomas. It's still hard to tell, but she seems to be getting it.

After the photographer's assistant gave her a candy cane and asked her to say "cheese." Great recovery!

Family photo.

Cruisin'

Say Ahhhh!

We've been practicing opening wide and saying "Ahhhh" and it paid off! Today Kariana went to the dentist for the first time. She was such a big girl in the chair while she had her teeth cleaned and examined. I was smiling all the way home because I was such a proud mama. Here is Kariana having her teeth cleaned by the hygienist and while Dr. Cammarata examined them.

Happy 2nd Bee Day Kariana

As you might have guessed, Kariana was a bee for Halloween.

All of her friends came dressed in costume for her birthday party!

Her circle of friends at Fundamentally Music

Dancing with mom, grandma and grandpa.

Shake those eggs.

Getting her groove on.

Something must be interesting at the front of the room.

Bubbles!

Scarves!

Instruments!

And everyone's favorite - the parachute!

Hey, were those trick candles? That's not fair to a two year old.

Kariana is Two; It's November; and I'm Making New Year's Resolutions

They say the terrible twos can be a trying time but I'm optimistic this is going to be a fun year with Kariana. In honor of Kariana's 2nd birthday (and the upcoming holiday season), I'm making three New Year's resolutions. I realize it is early for New Year's resolutions but I figure I could use an early start and will be more accountable if I get them down on paper now.

Here are my resolutions:

1. Demonstrate more patience. When all else fails, take deep breaths.

2. Slow down and enjoy the moment.

3. Get back to the basics and rediscover.

I'm making these resolutions because I'm hoping the entire family, including a very independent two year old, will benefit from them. Okay, so I also admit that I may be making these resolutions to counteract the guilt I'm feeling for not reading more books about how to raise a toddler. The list of books about toddlers goes on and on but I just can't seem to find the patience or time for any of them. How ironic, right? Maybe I'm a bad mother or maybe my limited experience thus far is enough to lead me to believe that there are three basic ingredients to success with a toddler. So these three basic ingredients are my New Year's resolutions: more patience, more time and getting back to the basics to rediscover. I admit I'm not a patient person. Let's face it we are living in the now generation and have come to expect instant gratification. I shop online, do my banking online and even created this blog to make it easier for me to post/send pictures of Kariana to my friends and family online. But loving a toddler takes a whole lot of patience. They still require your undivided attention but they also need your patience to allow them to assert their independence and figure things out. Sometimes this takes a little longer than the five minutes you had allocated to get shoes on, get out of the house and get into the car. Thus, to my second resolution. Toddlers also need a lot of time and it seems none of us has enough time for anything anymore. We are always rushing to fit it all in whatever "it all" is anyway. So my goal is to slow down and give Kariana the time she needs. I don't want to be rushing, rushing, rushing through Kariana's third year. It's so much fun to watch Kariana discover her world and figure out the small things that most adults take for granted. With a little more time and patience, I figure I might just rediscover a few things myself!

Birthdays, Pumpkins, Halloween & A Whole Lot of Other Amazing Stuff

We carved pumkins last night. Kariana pointed at the pumpkins saying "pumpkins . . . pumpkins . . . light . . . light . . . ," which fortunately has replaced "pumpkins . . . pumpkins . . . poop . . . poop" indicating that a bird had pooped on one of the pumpkins earlier in the week.

Kariana telling us she is going to be "one . . . two . . ." years old.

I can’t even begin to believe how fast time flies and that I’m about to have a two-year old! This week we are gearing up for Kariana’s birthday and Halloween. When I ask her what she’s going to dress up as on Halloween she proudly says a “bee” and giggling she waits for me to make my funny “buzzz” noise and tickle her. Then I ask her how old she is going to be and she counts “one . . . two!” We’ve even been practicing the Happy Birthday song and she acts like she is blowing out the candles (similar to when she blows bubbles in the swimming pool). All of this is truly amazing to me. I can’t believe the progress we have made communicating with Kariana. I remember Doctor Koush saying to me that the word explosion occurs between 18 and 24 months but never in a million years did I think I would be having real conversations with my daughter at this point. I can see the frustration level diminishing in her when we are able to understand what she is trying to tell us. I can’t explain how much fun it is to watch her communicate with us in her primitive almost-two-year old way. This is only one example but this weekend Kariana came running into the house after having been at the park with daddy. She was babbling excitedly about something but obviously trying to tell me a story.

K: “Park . . . park . . . daddy . . . daddy.”
Me: “Did you go to the park with daddy?”
K: Nods head and says “yes” while patting the top of her head. Then says “waah . . . waah . . .” while pretending to rub her eyes (usually indicates a baby is crying).
Me: “Oh, no. Did you fall and hit your head at the park?”
K: Looks at me with big eyes and says “yes.”
Me: “Oh, no. Did you cry?”
K: Nods head and says “yes.”
Me: “Did daddy kiss it and make it feel better?”
K: Nods head and says “yes.”
Me: “So, you’re all better now?”
K: Nods head and says “yes.”
Me: “Oh good, I’m glad you’re all better. Are you ready to eat dinner?”
K: Nods head and says “eat . . . eat . . . cookie . . . cookie . . . please.” She emphasizes "cookie . . . cookie . . . and please" with an inquisitive expression.

Oh brother, how do you refuse that?

In honor of the birthday girl!


Thanks Aunt Kari for my birthday t-shirt.

Elmo's Potty Time Video

The debate about toddlers and television rages on and as Kariana approaches two years old, I have to admit I’ve become pretty relaxed on this subject. Kariana’s favorites are Sesame Street, Dora, Thomas and Mickey Mouse and I see the learning opportunities in these shows. Plus, if it helps to divert her attention and keep her happy while I’m trying to get ready for work or get dinner on the table, I consider a few minutes of Sesame Street a win-win for everyone. But even I was against purchasing a portable DVD player for Kariana until we were flying across country this summer. I have to admit the portable DVD player that I purchased (against my better judgment) helped pass the time on our four hour plane ride.

One of the videos I picked up was Elmo’s Potty Time. Every day Kariana asks “Elmo Potty” which translated means “May I watch Elmo’s Potty Time video?” We haven’t pushed potty training with her. Until recently when we asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty and try to pee pee or poo poo, she would shake her head no. Although with any toddler “no” sometimes means “yes” and “yes” sometimes means “no.” So despite the shaking of her head no, she often sits on her little potty and pretends she is going to the bathroom but she doesn’t really go. It is clear to us that Kariana understands the concept because we talk about it alot but I have let her take the initiative in deciding whether she wants to sit on the potty and in the meantime she continues to watch Elmo. Lately, she's been asking for “Elmo Potty” alot and says things like “Elmo pee pee" "Mommy pee pee” “Daddy pee pee” “Bubba pee pee.” I respond “Yes, Elmo pee pees in the potty, Mommy pee pees in the potty, Daddy pee pees in the potty and Bubba pee pees in the potty too.” Okay, so Bubba is one of her Little People friends that she is obsessed with carrying around and Bubba doesn’t technically pee pee or poo poo, but at least the message gets across that everyone pee pees and poo poos in the potty.

Then the other weekend Kariana did it!! Kariana knew exactly what to do. Before bath, she pee peed in her little potty, dumped it in the big toilet, flushed and climbed up her stool to the sink to wash her hands! Since then Kariana has been pee peeing in her potty at least one time every day. I recognize that we have a long way to go before we can get rid of diapers but if Elmo can teach Kariana to use the big girl potty then praise to you portable DVD player!!!



Kariana watching Elmo's Potty Time Video while playing dress up in her princess dress.

Pumpkin Patch



This looks like a good one!



Geez, this is heavy. Can someone lend me a hand?



Sucker . . . .

 

I knew he was good for something.

Thanks Dad!

Thanks Mom!

All we heard afterwards was "patch" "Emma" "mommy daddy me." Translated: "I went to the pumpkin patch with mommy, daddy and Emma."

The Helicopter

How cool is this backyard?  For a few weeks I've been hearing about the helicopter but had no real image in my head.  Now I know why I keep hearing so much about "Tess" and "Areee" and the helicopter!  This is definitely going to create toy envy, but I'm thrilled that Kariana loves her new playgroup friends.