Christmas with a toddler

Christmas has always held so many magical memories for me. It’s the best time of the year and I truly believe that. A majority of my most special memories are those from around the holidays. Sleeping in my brother’s room and waking up with them early on Christmas morning. We’d tiptoe through the house at the crack of dawn, admire all the gifts Santa left for us, dump out our stockings and then refill them, careful to place everything back the same way we found it. We thought my parents were none the wiser.

However, as you get older, it’s like part of that magic fades away. The anticipation of wearing that fancy Christmas dress in the back of your closet, the prediction of what Santa’s arrival will bring, the appearance of sparkly gift-wrapped treasures under the tree, the cookies and frosting and sugarplum fairies. With each trip around the sun, you believe a little less, you anticipate a little less. All of it gets choked out by the buying and the wrapping and the coordination of plans and the go-go-go mentality. You just get farther from how it used to be. But this year was different.

This year we did all the magical things I remember doing as a child that make the holidays so special. Claire had her own Christmas lights in her room (pink!) and a mini Christmas tree she got to decorate. We baked and decorated gingerbread cookies, eating more icing than we really should. It was fun taking photos in her fancy dress in front of the twinkling lights. Making our cinnamon roll Christmas tree on Christmas morning. Wearing special jam jams on Christmas Eve. We even baked a birthday cake for Jesus. Life is so much fun when you see it through the eyes of a child. Claire, in all her sweet innocence, brought back the magic of Christmas and I am so thankful. Waking up with her on Christmas morning was really the only gift I needed. She’s the reason I believe.

This was the best photo I could get of her in her Christmas dress. Sassy!

Claire and her cousins on Christmas Eve

 

Claire and her cousin Ethan in their matching Olaf jam jams on Christmas Eve

 

Opening gifts on Christmas morning at home.
Sporting her fuzzy pink ear muffs

Opening gifts on Christmas Day at Grandma Karen's

Laundry love.

So here I am, day number 2, slowly chipping away at the piles of laundry blocking the entrance to my laundry room. The little miss likes to help mama transfer clothes from the washer to the dryer and I always let her, even though it takes three times as long. Then, when it comes time to fold, she has to pat every pile after I put a newly folded shirt or pair of pants down. Yesterday, my entire king size bed was covered in clean, folded clothes for the littlest member of the family. Today, it's mama and papa's clothes. And, instead of my usual irritation and sense of dire urgency to finish one of the chores I loathe most, I am happy. Lately, life has been so good to us. I know doing Kevin's laundry is just one way to bless his heart and it makes me happy to be able to wipe that chore off his list (especially because I don't always get to it). He works so hard for us and sometimes I get so busy with other things I forget to show my appreciation. I know I'm not always the easiest person to love, but he loves me anyway. He makes me feel cherished and special every day and for that I am so thankful. I'm the luckiest, laundry piles and all.

A perfect day.

It's way too late for me to be up blogging. But, through the steady rhythm of my husband's heavy breathing next to me, I poke away silently at my iPhone keys because I just had to get this out.

Today was a perfect day. It was just us, the three musketeers. Contrary to what those images of "perfection" may have implanted in your brain, we didn't do much of anything. Started like a normal Sunday with the usual pleas for pamcakes while papa is at the gym followed by some errands. But, instead of the usual race back home for nap time, we pushed it back a few hours to enjoy some time in the sun.

Post-Target for some last minute camping items, we had lunch on the patio at a new McMenamins we had never dined at before. Lunch on the patio in Oregon? Score! Lunch with a baby that skipped naptime but didn't have one meltdown? Double whammy!

With bellies full of tots and a thick yearning for adventure, we trekked into West Linn and happened across a little gem that is Tanner Creek Park.

A play structure for the bigs and the littles alike. A covered area. Bathrooms without swarming bees and the smell of warm pee. And the creme de la creme water feature made just for Claire's size. It was glorious. Took her a few to warm up to the new surroundings but she was hopping in and out of those baby fountains like a pro in no time.

This park was set right smack dab in the middle of this adorable cookie-cutter neighborhood and just screamed suburbia. Claire shook her little swim-diaper covered booty right into those mini fountains while Kevin and I plotted on how we could one day get a piece of this pie. As if it couldn't get any more idyllic, my ears detect that familiar sound of none other than... dun dun dun dun... the ice cream man! Seriously!? Too good. I went running down the hill and stopped him. The guy was nice, with his big fancy truck, and we exchanged words about how I hadn't seen an ice cream truck in ages, he gave me my cones and he was in his way.

I'm not so sure that ice cream man knew how crucial his role was in my story and just how happy he made me. But I do. Man, we sure bit off a huge bite of summer today...and it tasted so good.

Techie Baby

Claire loves pretty much anything with an on/off button or a glowing screen. 

My iPhone, the iPad, Kevin's laptop, the Xbox, her baby laptop.

She's our techie baby, growing up in a digital age.

She knows how to scroll through my photos on my phone and turn off the lock screen.

She can already tell the difference between the real Justin Bieber Baby video versus the covers.

She doesn't know exactly how to use all electronics yet, but I know it's coming.

Only a matter of time. 

There she is, 18 months going on 13 years. 

Many more years of a phone being glued to that adorable ear of hers, I'm sure.

That face says it all.

Here she is learning her ABC's on papa's laptop. 

She watched the entire video without wavering, repeating each letter out loud.

I admire her thirst for knowledge. 

Gymboree Class 4 & 5

Claire thought she was in heaven when she realized we were going to Gymboree two days in a row. Due to our upcoming camping trip this next week, we had to schedule the last two classes in our package for Monday and Tuesday in the same week to avoid missing a class altogether. When we arrived on Monday, the room was setup a little differently than it had been previously because it was Gymbo's birthday! Gymbo, the nightmare-inducing hand-puppet clown that these little munchkins go ape over, is the mascot of Gymboree. Nearing the end of each class, teacher Laurie sings the "Time for Gymbo" song and all the kiddos scurry over to Gymbo's home and pound their chubby little hands on it while they wait for him to make his grand appearance on Laurie's hand. He sings songs, he plays games, we waves and kisses each child on the head. What's even better than the goodbye song from Gymbo is the stamp teacher Laurie gives the kids on their hands and feet before they leave. Claire looks forward to the stamp every class and points it out to everyone she sees for the rest of the day.

 As far as the class activities, Gymbo's birthday brought about some altered activities like a new parachute game with a colorful parachute instead of the typical star-covered standard chute. I think this change threw Claire for a loop because she loves to go under the parachute and point at the stars but there were no stars this time. She was miffed. They also played different rockin' tunes than the typical class songs and Claire loved the new jams. Man, does she love to dance! My girl is always the one shaking her booty on the magic carpet, running into other adult's legs and tripping over her own feet. She burns so much energy in those classes! Every class they do what is called the air log game where the kids sit on and bounce up and down to a frog song then roll off the back into their mama's arms. Claire always laughs and says "more! more!" Well, this time instead of being a frog, she was a birthday candle on the top of Gymbo's cake and would roll back when he blew out his candles. It was cute to see her get so excited. After three rounds of "more! more!" the activity ended and my sweet girl cried.

 Tuesday was a repeat of the same activities as the day prior with different children in attendance. Claire didn't seem to mind and it was fun to watch her anticipate some of the activities she would be doing in the class that day. I was sad to leave at the end of the class knowing we probably wouldn't be back for a while. It's not goodbye, Gymboree - it's until next time!

Because I love this age!

Being the parents of a toddler is really fun. Sure, Claire has some moments that make us cringe but most of the time her over-the-top cuteness outshines any of the difficult moments. We are working hard at reinforcing manners like please and thank you. I wish I could bottle up the way she says pah-weeeeez and save it for some added sweetness during those less-than-dreamy days. Thank you is more of an after thought but she is starting to say it without being prompted. 

As Claire continues to change, some personality traits remain a clear pattern prompting our "that is so her" reactions. For instance, she's never been one to hide her discomfort. The little lady used to love a cool breeze from an open window or two in the car. All the sudden, she won't be having it. Think you can get away with closed windows and a cracked sunroof? Nope - try again. Let's hope this phase passes quickly. Another new car trick stems from when Grandma K was in town. She would point out all the beautiful trees to Claire on our car rides and now Claire has made it her personal mission to make sure we are all aware of the beautiful "tees!" too...multiple times during each ride. It's very cute :) I love that she is becoming more aware of her surroundings. Let's not even mention the fact that she's starting to climb on everything. The couch is no longer a challenge and we are about one inch shy of her being able to climb up on our oversized king-size bed. Once it gets to that point, we're in trouble.

Kevin is a foodie so it makes sense that the little miss loves her food, too. I'm not exaggerating when I say that she asks for pancakes multiple times every single day. I put down a nice plate full of blueberries and cantaloupe with scrambled eggs and she looks at me puzzled while asking "pancakes?" I'm sure she's thinking what the hell, mom!?! Too funny! On a more encouraging note, Claire has been practicing using her utensils and she is getting really good a it. That kid has serious hand-eye coordination skills! Plus, she loves food and understands that a spoon or fork equals a full tummy. That tiny angel has been eating us out of house and home, ridiculous amounts. I'm lucky to say Claire is a pretty easy baby to feed as she enjoys a good mix of healthy food options with a few treat options mixed in here and there. Just as summer arrived, she understands fully the beauty of ice cream, frozen yogurt and popsicles. But, if she asks for "teets" (treats) she means m&m's...and she means business. We cap it at 8 max. I swear those tiny candies are baby crack. Claire goes straight cray-cray.

Speaking of crazy, our girl still goes nuts over her books. Nuts! Nuts! Nuts! Right now, any books pertaining to the alphabet seem to be her favorite. We have covered ABCDEFG so far but all she's seemed to grasp is EFG. Every time she sees words on a sign outside of the car, on a menu, on the tv or printed on mail, she points it out singing the tune EFG! EFG! We sure love her thirst for knowledge.

Claire's New Trick

When she learned to crawl, we cheered and dangled toys to entice her to move farther. When she learned to walk, we cheered and held her hands to steady her way. When she learned to talk, we cheered and encouraged her to use her words. Now, my darling daughter, has a new trick but this one came with a little less flair. Claire has learned to remove her own diaper. During naptime. And pee in her bed. Needless to say, we didn't cheer. Usually during the warm months, we will change her diaper before naptime and put her down in only her diaper and a shirt. She seems to be most comfortable that way. Who wants to sleep in jeans, right!? But now, post-pee incident, we second guess our entire routine. Should we wear pajamas? Do we really have to change her whole outfit just for naptime? Will she be able to pull these down? Will this evolve into every parent's nightmare of a crib and baby covered in baby feces? There are just too many unknowns. So right now, during damage control, we at the very least keep some leggings or pj bottoms on her during naps to distract her from playing with the tabs on her diaper. For fear of her freezing to death in cold, urine-covered sheets all night, we have been dressing her in the zip-up footy pajamas. The two-piece pajamas seem to be acceptable so far but I wouldn't be surprised if one day soon she learns to pull those down, also. I feel so silly for complaining about a her little aggressive tendencies...I can deal with biting a lot better than human waste. Just sayin. That girl keeps us on our toes, that's for sure!