Some pretty cool presents

Scarlett got some additional Christmas presents in the past few days. They are pretty cool. She got some bona fide Canadian digs from Mormor and Grandad from Roots. Roots is totally my favorite Canadian (and nowhere in the U.S.) store ever. (Joe and I both got awesome Roots sweatshirts too. Whee! Thanks guys!) Check her (and her little Canadian Roots tushie) out...
Scarlett also got the Playskool Dance Cam which was the hot toddler gift this Christmas. Grandma and Aunt Melissa tracked it down for her - after calling every Target in Fairfield county. Scarlett absolutely loves seeing herself on TV...yeah - I didn't see that coming. She's figured out how to press the buttons on the dance cam now, and will actually scroll through the choices to find a song she likes to get down to. She continually cracks me up.

And last, but certainly not least, Scarlett got Elmo Live. Oh, did she get him. And all of his lively glory. Scarlett loves this toy. It was a present from Scarlett's Aunt Katrina and Uncle Jonathan. (Good pick guys!) At first, Scarlett didn't grasp the concept of watching, and not touching Elmo. She kept asking for "help" because she wanted take him off the table (then she tried to and he moved in her hands which scared the holy crap out of her - but we're all okay). Now she stands back and watches/dances/laughs/claps at Elmo...cause "Elmo's crazy."

Our Christmas - 2008

A baby #2 update

Joe and I went to my ultrasound appointment today. I'm about 5 months along now. I really feel great. Outside of some intense fetus karate kicks and my rapidly expanding belly (and Joe randomly glancing at me and proclaiming "you're pregnant") I honestly forget I'm pregnant half the time. No ailments whatsoever. The ultrasound technician got some great shots...including this one of the baby sucking its thumb. It's shots like this that really remind me of what's going on in there...thumb sucking, obviously - but the other more important stuff too...like a little life growing.This shot kind of speaks for itself. The technician called it her "money shot." "Oh boy!" That's right, folks. It's a boy! No one can deny that that is a penis. Joe and I are thrilled. Joe played it cool in the beginning of the pregnancy by saying it really didn't matter to him whether it was a boy or a girl, and I believed him. I didn't hide the fact that I would like a boy. Obviously I'd be happy either way, as long as the baby was healthy...but if I could have picked I'd have chosen a boy this time. After today's appointment, Joe was just beaming and fully admitted that of course he wanted a boy. He's thought of nothing BUT having a boy since we found out we were expecting. Joe didn't want me to worry about what he wanted so he made me believe he had no preference either way. I don't know if you can go as far as saying men glow, but if there is a masculine version of "glowing" - Joe is doing it. I think he called everyone in his cell phone's address book in a matter of 15 minutes to spread the good news. He also told me I can put Scarlett in dance class now. He doesn't need her to be a football player after all.

The saying, "oh boy" has understandably gotten quite popular around the house. Bubsy already knew the expression, but is thrilled that it's being put to more everyday use. Yay boys!

Church Christmas Pageant - 2008

Today was our church's Christmas Pageant. We braved the snowstorm and got there just in time to get Scarlett into costume. Nan, and her boyfriend Larry met us there too. You may remember last year when Scarlett was the star of the Christmas pageant. This year, she was an angel...and she knew it. What a little ham she was. The proof is the fact that she is actually wearing a giant headband. This child never wears hair accessories. She rips them out quicker than I can say "Scarlett - leave it on it looks so pretty!!...Wah." She loved being in costume. Here's Scarlett and her Nan. Don't let her grimace fool you. She was very excited to see her Nan. Scarlett must be a method actress. She took her role of an angel very, very seriously. The congregation attacked Scarlett like the paparazzi. I actually had to squeeze by people to get a picture of my own child. She looked really cute. It's great to be a part of a church that not only knows who we are and practices what we believe in, but who thinks my daughter is as adorable as I do. I'm so happy that Scarlett is growing up in this church. Joe and I joined this church in 2004. We got married here. Scarlett was baptized here. (If you can't tell, I really love our church.)Upon leaving the narthex and entering the church, Scarlett ran up front and literally posed for pictures. 9 times out of 10 I can't get this child to sit still long enough to capture a picture of her even looking in the general direction of the camera. She was eating this up and loving every second of it. One woman pulled out her camera to get a picture of Scarlett, and Scarlett ran over to her and just stood in front of the woman...who had long since taken the picture. About 2 minutes later, Scarlett ran onstage and realized there was a crib (manger) for "babies." She wanted to "play." The show had not even begun yet. Yeah...we had a little bit of trouble convincing her that it was time to sit down and wait for baby Jesus to be born. After about 10 minutes of sitting (or not sitting at all - mostly squirming and wanting to "play"), our minister called for the angels to appear and Scarlett walked right up front all by herself. She politely stood in front of baby Jesus and his parents. Not at all a show stealer. No...not at all. I had to walk up there and move her to the side.Here is a video of the pageant's grand finale. It was quite amazing to be a part of. The woman singing is always at our church, but has never sung in front of the congregation before. (Can you believe it?!) If you look to the right of the screen, you'll see Scarlett getting down to the music - how could she not?! At the end of the song, Scarlett politely asked for "more."

So, that was the pageant. They get more and more fun with each passing year!

A Future Rockette?

When we were getting snowed in on Friday night, we came across the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular show on TV and thought it might be a festive thing to watch together as a (snowed in and at our wit's end) family. Scarlett loved it. I, myself, cannot dance at all. I mean not at all. To see Scarlett mesmerized by these dancers gives me hope that she will not be quite as bad of a dancer as I am. She's already one step ahead of me. She does not require at least one alcoholic beverage before stepping out on any dance floor. At least...not to my knowledge. Scarlett thought the dancers were "pretty," as you'll hear her say repeatedly. And all her "babies" are out and laying in front of the TV because she had set up her own little chorus line. No joke. She would grab each baby under its arms and slam it repeatedly into the TV stand saying "dance, baby, dance." I didn't get that on video, unfortunately. After the babies danced, she move on to old faithful...our poor dog, Link. And, don't ask me why she's missing a sock in this video.

At this part of the show, Scarlett got incredibly concerned when all the Rockettes had gotten aboard a double decker bus on stage because she thought they were going to leave. How dare they?!

They didn't leave though. We watched the rest of the show. Scarlett did a few Rockette-ish movements (usually just a violent stomping of her right foot). She's not quite ready for Rockette training yet - but she's getting there. Maybe by kindergarten.

Scarlett's first haircut

Sunday afternoon Joe and I spontaneously decided to get Scarlett's haircut. I had wanted to have it cut for quite some time, but feared Scarlett would lose the adorable little flip at the end of her hair. Realizing that EVENTUALLY the child would have to have it cut, we took the risk. (And just say a prayer every night before bed that the curl will grow back.) Scarlett was so good! She made the two kids that were crying look like wimps (that's harsh...but I'm trying to makeup for the whole "Santa incident" that occurred earlier that day). We went to Snip Its, a really cute kid specific salon. There were toys and books and bright colors everywhere. Scarlett was in heaven. Here are some photos documenting the experience.

Here's Scarlett excited to go to "sip sits!"A good "before" shot from the front,and back. Climbing into the cutest, tiniest barber chair you ever saw. (Awwww.) It was just about at this point where Scarlett's stylist asked me if I had been cutting her bangs. I reluctantly admitted yes. She said "it's okay...shhh, we all do it." There are no bang cutters anonymous meetings to attend. Turns out, a whole lot of Scarlett's "bangs" should be her hair. I thought they were getting a wee bit thick myself. This might explain why I thought Scarlett had been looking a little mullet-ish these past few months. The stylist only trimmed what should be Scarlett's bangs, and we're going to let the rest of them grow out. They have lollipops as far as the eye can see at this place. Again, Scarlett was in heaven. Right before trimming the first piece, the stylist politely pointed out the adorable little flip at the end of Scarlett's hair and warned us that it might not grow back. She actually asked "are you sure you want to do this?" before snipping. We nodded...hesitantly. (Please grow back, please grow back.)

Look at all that hair! This wasn't a mere trim. There was about 2 inches worth (of curly flippy) hair.
Scarlett even sat still through the blow-drying. HHmmmm...she hates vacuuming, but loves having her hair blow-dried. She might be on to something.

The reveal!

So that was that. Scarlett looks adorable - and so much older! And I'm no longer allowed to trim her bangs. Here's some pictures of the end result.

Yay Bubsy!

Scarlett and Santa - 2008

Notice the adorable grin on Scarlett’s face…and the magical twinkle in Santa’s eye. Could the imaginary picture below be any cuter?!







As you might have guessed, we did not manage to get a picture of Scarlett sitting on Santa’s lap – as was our intention yesterday afternoon. We got Scarlett all dolled up, got to the mall early and got in line, and then – Nada. I’ll tell you why.

I had a sinking suspicion that Scarlett meeting Santa this year might not go so well. She met him last year no problem...but she would have taken a picture with Frankenstein last year had we asked her to. She was just a baby blob then. When we got in line to meet Santa this year, Scarlett seemed excited. Santa would stand up and wave to the crowds every so often, and the kids around us would ohh and ahh and clap, and Scarlett would copy them. I tried to psyche Scarlett up, "Scarlett, are you going to meet Santa? Are you going to sit in his lap?" She answered "yeah" to everything. Well...she lied.

When it came to be our turn to meet Santa, we walked slowly up to the sleigh where he sat. Joe and I enthusiastically said "Hi Santa!" while Scarlett enthusiastically screamed..."AAAHhhhhhhhh! NO!" In my fear of walking away pictureless I pathetically tried every trick in the book – from giving Santa a high five to sitting next to Santa myself. Scarlett wasn’t having any of it. She clenched (quite literally) on to me with a grip that got amazingly tighter and tighter the closer we got to Santa - as if she could pick up on his scent of candy canes and reindeer poop. Well folks...I, admittedly, was the mother of the screaming toddler who was absolutely petrified of Santa. It’s true. I could almost hear the other parents saying "alright already...it's not going to work."

After about a minute I shrugged and came to the conclusion...alright, it wasn’t going to work. We thanked Santa and started to walk away. Once she was safely 5 feet away from Santa our charming little Scarlett turned around, politely waved, and said "bye Santa" - as if nothing had happened and every goal we had upon initially walking up to Santa had been fully and completely met. I got 10 feet away and in my overly emotional pregnant state (and when I decided I was far enough away that no one would see me) – started sniveling, fully aware that I was being ridiculous, but sniveling none the less. Poor Joe. Poor, poor Joe. He did what every loving husband in that situation would do. He gave his upset toddler a hug. He gave his upset wife a hug. And he bought us both giant soft pretzels.

Till next year, Santa. Till next year.

A girl and her Crocs

I just bought Scarlett these Crocs. I had originally put them on her Christmas list, but then found an awesome deal online (I can hear Joe say "of course you did" - this is his response to every deal I find). I bought them for her...and didn't even wait till Christmas to give them to her. I couldn't wait. I was originally thinking that these shoes in black would be far more practical because they'd match more. But, come on, red is so much more fun. I thought Scarlett would agree.

SCARLETT LOVES THESE SHOES. She won't take them off. Actually, yes she will - but only so she can immediately put them back on all by herself. She takes them off, lines them up side by side and, very wobbly, steps into them. Repeat procedure. Repeat, repeat, repeat. According to Joe, she played with her shoes for over an hour last night while I was at school. No toys...just her Crocs. And she actually calls them "new shoes." It was all Joe could do to get them off of her before bed. Tantrums were thrown, and she almost slept in them. I think you'll all be seeing a lot of these shoes in the very near future. So...my question to you is, the color red goes with everything, right?

First time sledding

We woke up Sunday morning to about 2 inches of snow. It looked so pretty! We couldn't wait to get Scarlett out in it to play. Well...I couldn't wait. When asked "Scarlett, do you want to go play in the snow?" - she said no. A simple misunderstanding. Scarlett had never played in the snow before, so of course she thought she wouldn't like it. As (hopefully) any other parent would do - we bundled her up and brought her out anyway. She was going to play in the snow and she was going to like it. And she did. In fact, she loved it. (I win.) If you listen carefully in the first video, you can hear Scarlett laughing as she and Joe chase the dog with the sled.



That poor dog was so cold. Scarlett had a blast with him though.
The 2 seconds that Link sat in Scarlett's lap were the best 2 seconds of Scarlett's life so far. Too bad it didn't last.
Very, very much too bad.

In fact, the rest of the excursion was spent trying to recreate those 2 seconds of sheer joy.

"Yink sit...dog sit Ca-yett? Yink sit Ca-yett?...sit?" - she pleaded. We gave up.

Yay sledding! Next time...HILLS!

Scarlett's new room - ready for #2

Now that Scarlett's toddler bed is in action, we've set up her room so that it's ready for baby #2 too. (For those who don't know, these kid-a-links will be sharing a room until A) daycare becomes free, or B) they're out of daycare - whichever comes first. Then we can put the 2 grand a month we'll be paying in daycare payments towards a slightly larger home. Ouch.) I thought that the room might get a little crowded now that it will be accommodating two children, but that is not the case. It looks super cute, and I actually like the 2 kid set-up better than the solo Scarlett set-up. Here's some pics of the room make-over...

Tree Lighting on the New Haven Green

The big tree lighting on the New Haven Green happened last Thursday. I, unfortunately, had school and could not go (grumble grumble). Scarlett and Joe went without me though and had a great time. Here are some pictures Joe took....without me (grumble grumble). Joe and Scarlett met everyone at the church for some cookies...And our minister, John Gage, let Scarlett wear his super cool elf hat. She was honored.Joe and Scarlett went outside to see if the tree was ready to be lit - but it wasn't. And it started to rain.So Joe and Scarlett went back to the church...and played in the pews for a bit.Then they went back outside just in time for, da-da-da DA... The tree lighting!!
Then it was cold and rainy so they left.

Yay Christmas trees!