Tell Me How

How can one child be so loud, obnoxious and whiny that she creates an upset stomach in both her parents, and a migraine in her mother?

Ask Sophia--she excels at it.

After a way over-excited day, and her many tantrums, arguments and tears, Sophie finally went to bed. (And the people--her parents--rejoiced!!) I really need a way to gauge what the optimum level of stimulation is for her. Really. Or my number of gray hairs will triple by my birthday in February.

Sigh.

Breakfast With Mrs. Claus, Mach 2

Today I took Sophia to breakfast with Mrs. C. She seemed to have fun, and loved the smiley potatoes and sausages. Sophie liked Mrs Claus, but was her usual shy self. Story time was a little too long, but overall she seemed to enjoy herself. Unfortunately, the whole experience was a little too overstimulating, and we have had a very difficult afternoon but after some quiet time is back to normal. Tonight, we are going to the fairgrounds for the big light display, so she is looking forward to that. Here are a few pics of today's cuteness (not including me).

The first one has a great view of that toothless grin, and her best friend and lovey cat, Grey (wearing her Christmas ribbon in order to attend this festive occasion). Grey was a present on Sophie's first Christmas from Aunt Terri, and is much loved.




















This picture is of Sophia and I after breakfast.


















This last one I casught during story time. Totally natural smile. Lately her "posed smile" always leaves her eyes closed, so I was really glad to catch this one.

Breakfast With Mrs. Claus

This year I started a new tradition with the girls. Our local museum does a Breakfast With Mrs Claus. Last year I was too late for reservations, so I made them early, for the 1st weekend it was offered. It looked fun, and I knew Sophia would enjoy it. Anneliese, I figured, was still a little young to enjoy it.

Each year, we also go to the fund raiser Santa breakfast at the special needs school (where LeeLee went while in the 0-3 early intervention program. We were sick this year, so we missed it, which was a bummer, as I like to catch up with the people we don't see regularly any longer. Because of missing that breakfast, I made reservations for the 2nd weekend the breakfast was offered. Goodd thing I did. Sophia was so excited she got sick in her bed, and there was no way she was going out that morning. So, I took Anneliese who loved it. I explained to Mrs Claus (while getting Lee her food) that Anneliese was non-verbal but would understand her. Mrs C was wonderful--went and sat with her, got her some grapes, and kept her busy and happy while I waited in the buffet line. Later I found out that Anneliese had been playing with Mrs Claus' hair, so I know she loved the lady. And during the story time afterwards, Mrs C read an Elmo book, so LeeLee was very pleased.

My only (minor) complaint was that after having grapes, Lee didn't want anything else--I think she had three plates full. Here are a few pictures from our trip--the grapes are evident in the 2nd one, and the final picture is from story time.

Now, on the upcoming weekend, I get to take Sophie. I know she is gonna love it too!

All I Want for Christmas....

I realized the other day that this Christmas Sophie will be missing both front teeth. The second one fell out right before Halloween. Here she is, as a bat spider witch with no front teeth Halloween night. Very cute. Anyway, just a brag thread. And you know that I will be doing a LO with that song on it and a picture of my toothless girl, right? It is (in the words of Val Kilmer in Real Genius), "a moral imperative."

And in keeping with Equal Opportunity cuteness, her is Anneliese Halloween night. She didn't want her coat off, so she really looks no different than any other day. But bring on the candy! She is doing her famous "the dog" pose again.

The quest--success

Well, with Christmas around the corner, Santa has been getting a bit stressed out. In October, Sophia decided that the toy she wants Santa to bring is Pat Pat Rocket, from the Little Einsteins. If you remember, back in February, Rocket was Sophie's imaginary friend. Available only at Target, I placed an order Nov 2, and at the time it was stated that it would be arriving December 6-24th. Gee, talk about short notice. I called yesterday and they said they couldn't guarantee Christmas delivery. Nice.

So, I spent the day on message boards and Ebay looking for an available Pat Pat Rocket. Finally, saw a link on the Gotta Deal forums (they are the home of BlackFriday.com) that showed how to check Target store inventory for the elusive rocket. I tried it, and SUCCESS! Apparently Rocket was at our Target as I typed. So, I sent Dave to the store, but I had my doubts--we had just been at Target 2 days before.

Well, he called me all proud. He had one in hand, because apparently there was a huge display of them. After checking a few message boards, it seemed that ALL the Target stores got a shipment this week.

We are totally set for Christmas. If anything, I overbought again. Bought I will have two happy little campers for Christmas.