Frosty Morning!

I slept pretty well last night again (mom's knocking on wood as I say this) - had a rough time waking up, but once I remembered that I had a mission to find Clyde, it was much easier to get up!  I looked all over my room, the bathroom, the guest room, daddy's office and mommy and daddy's room and he wasn't there!  So we went downstairs to see where he was.  Kitty was anxiously waiting for us on the other side of the gate at the top of the stairs as she does most mornings.  Mom closes the gate so she doesn't run into my room when mom checks on me or in mom and dad's room when mom gets up in the morning.  And she knows that when I wake up, she gets fed (that's my job!). 

We went downstairs and I looked and looked and looked.  He was hard to find this morning!  But when I went to the kitchen to tell mom what I wanted for breakfast, I looked up and this is what I saw...he was pretending to cook with one of mom and dad's pans and one of my spoons!  Mom said maybe he used my spoon because it was more his size than a regular spoon.  Who knows, but I sure hope he leaves it when he goes to see Santa tonight! 



It was frosty this morning when mom and I left for school - I don't remember ever seeing frost before and was curious about it.  Mom let me touch the frost on the car and it felt like ice!!!  Brrrrr...  

We put our tree up tonight and I got to turn the lights on all by myself!  I even got to hang the first two ornaments on it :)  We'll hopefully finish decorating tomorrow night, but for now I'm going to try to get some sleep! 

Great Day!

What a great day!  I woke up well again and came down to find Clyde sitting on the rocking chair in the living room :) 



I listened to mom really well this morning and got dressed without any prompting.  Mom had my outfit laid out (usually she lets me pick my own clothes) because today was picture day.  Unfortunately they won't be back before Christmas, but she didn't want to take a chance that I'd pick a pair of purple striped leggings with an orange flower top with a turquoise headband :)  We settled on a pair of jeans and a nice white shirt with a heart on it that Danny, Wanda and Gabriel gave me for my birthday!  Mom made me wear a sweatshirt to eat breakfast so I didn't get it dirty before pictures. 

It was SUPER cold this morning, so mom was glad to have the remote starter in her car.  She took our bags out, then came back and carried me out.  She always says she feels like a bag lady - on any given day, she has her computer bag, either her purse or gym bag, a cup of coffee and my backpack and whatever other random stuff I decide to take to school.  That's the one drawback to having me rearfacing still - if my shoes are wet, mom's car seats get gross and she has to climb in to get me buckled.  So if it's raining or the ground is wet, mom carries me to the car if she can.  Mom had me stand on the scale after dinner the other night and I was 31.7 lbs, so I still have 3.3 lbs to go before I have to be turned around (or get a new carseat) :) 

Mom had to go to Baltimore today, so got to take the ICC for the first time - she ended up getting to downtown Baltimore in about 45 minutes, which is about HALF the time it's been taking her to get to DC by Metro.  Ironic that she can drive 50 miles in half the time it takes to drive 5 miles and take a train for less than 20.  It was nice for her to get a break from the terrible DC commute, but she said she still wouldn't want to do it every day anymore! 

I listened really well when she picked me up and we came home and cleaned up a bit - mom did the dishes and cleaned out the can cupboard - crazy, but needed to be done!  I did such a great job of listening and cleaning up my toys and art supplies - mom gave me tons of hugs and kept telling me how proud she was of me.  We had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner - yum!  Mom cut my sandwich into sticks and I dipped it in the soup and ate it all.  I had a quick bath, then mom let me watch one episode of Dora - a big treat for me!  But it let me wind down and she got some laundry put away before bed - whatever you need to do, right?  There's not much down time when daddy is traveling! 

We read the Grinch and I went to bed reasonably well.  It's a little chilly tonight, but I'm all bundled up with comfy blankies and a ton of stuffed animals. 

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday - it means that daddy comes home and that I get to spend two days at home afterwards!  Hope you're all doing well and I can't wait to wake up and see where Clyde is in the morning!  He definitely told Santa that I was nice today!

Meet my Elf, Clyde!

Guess who came to visit me the other night?  An Elf sent by Santa!  He sent a book with the Elf and mommy, daddy and I read it together before bed.  I got to pick a name for the Elf and decided to call him Clyde.  It was one of the suggested names in the book, but I had a hard time coming up with anything else.  He apparently comes every day to watch me to see if I've been naughty or nice.  At night after I go to bed, he leaves and goes to tell Santa how I was that day.  He comes back the next morning and I have to try to find him.  One rule - we're not allowed to touch him, otherwise his magic will go away!  So we have to be careful just to look and not touch. 

Day 1:  On the Shelf in my room.  I really didn't like him in my room and woke up MANY times and was pretty freaked out that he was in there.  I was glad when I woke up at one point and mom was able to show me that he was gone.  I didn't know where he was, but I didn't really care as long as he wasn't in my room!


Day 2:  I woke up really easily when mom came in to wake me up (unusual for me).  I was excited to go try to find Clyde.  I got dressed and ran downstairs to see if I could find him.  My eyes lit up when I walked around the corner and found Clyde hanging on my easel!


Day 3:  I again woke up pretty easily and wanted to find Clyde.  I found him when I sat at the table to eat breakfast - he was hanging from the light above the table!!!  How funny is that???  Mom and I are on our own the rest of the week, so she and dad are hoping the Elf reminds me to keep my listening ears on - I haven't been listening to mom so well lately. 


Day 4 was this morning.  I woke up and found Clyde in my bathroom!  He was sitting on top of the picture that my Great Grandma Coble made for me (ok, she really made it for mom, but mom thought I would enjoy it so hung it in my bathroom).  I was happy to have found him, but had trouble going potty and brushing my teeth because I didn't like being so close to the Elf.  Mom kept telling me it was ok and I finally got through it and got dressed and ready for the day.


Where do you think we'll find Clyde tomorrow???

Busy Weekend!

But SO much fun!!!  I got to have TWO play dates yesterday and had so much fun.  Mom forgot to take her camera, but here's the aftermath.  I was "resting" for a while.



After my rest, we all got ready to go to the State Park for a 5K that mom and dad were running!  It was a "Run Under the Lights" - they have the Christmas light display up, so it was pretty neat to be able to run through the park in the dark but under the lights.  I saw teddy bears, deer, angels, rainbows, candy canes and lots more cool things.  Mommy wasn't going to run because of her toe, but when she went to the orthopedist last week, they told her she could start running again as long as she could tolerate the pain (i.e. she wasn't going to do more damage, it would just hurt a lot).  She did 2 and 3 miles on the treadmill and it was ok, so she figured she'd be ok to run the race (well RUN it, just not RACE it).  Mom's doctor was also running it as well as a bunch of friends!  Daddy decided that he wanted to do his first race with me in the stroller, so even though the race officially said "no stroller running," dad gave it a shot.  There was a "walk" after the run, so he just held back a few minutes and started at the front of the walkers and just ran from there.  I had my hot chocolate and Cheddar Bunnies to munch on and the lights to look at, so I was happy as can be. 

Mom thought for sure that dad was going to pass her at some point (she's much slower than dad to begin with, but after a month off and on a broken toe, she figured he'd fly by).  When she got to mile 2.5 and we still hadn't passed her, she had a glimpse of hope that she might beat us.  Nope!  She heard daddy and I talking to each other and turned around and waved at me!  Daddy ran right by her and finished not too much ahead of her.  Only thing is that he probably started 4 or 5 minutes AFTER her.  So we legitimately beat her :)  Mom still finished in under 10 minutes a mile, so she was ok with that.  She said her toe REALLY hurt afterwards, though, so there's a big difference between running on the treadmill and running on the hills outside. 

They gave out glowing necklaces to all of the runners to make them more visible, so daddy let me wear his.  I ended up taking both his and mom's to bed with me last night.  I called them my "glowers."  How fun!

I woke up super early this morning and mom and I were both pretty tired.  Mom let me watch a movie and we cuddled on the couch and rested for a while after breakfast.  This afternoon we got to go to Gabriel's birthday party!  It was at a bounce place and once I warmed up a bit, I had a BLAST! 

Daddy's teaching me how to safely go down the big slide.


I look TERRIFIED!


But actually it was quite fun :)


Molly and Baby Jake seemed to have fun too! 


I love jumping!


Climbing out of the end of the obstacle course (my favorite).  I ROCKED the climbing wall.  Daddy was very impressed :)


Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time we got home.  I went to bed with no problems, but woke up with a pretty scary night terror about an hour later :(  Mom hopes it's just because I was overly tired today because it was really scary for her too!  Fingers crossed for a good rest of the night.  Only 3 days of school this week, then I get to go see my Great Grandma Jean!  I can't wait!

Hope everyone else had a great weekend too!

Another Boo Boo :(

I'll start by saying that I'm ok!  Mom got a call at work today saying that I had an accident and had a boo boo on my face :(  I was playing hockey at Jump Bunch and tripped over a hopscotch rug and hit my face on the door of the toddlers room.  My teacher said that I was crying (mom could hear me), but that it wasn't cut and that my eye and teeth were ok.  I hit my cheek and forehead and you can definitely see the line of the door. 

Mom called dad and he went over to school to check on me.  It wasn't too bad - purple and swollen, but I was happily playing when dad got there.  Dad stayed for a while and mom called the doctor to see if they wanted me to come in.  It didn't sound like I had a concussion, so they told mom what to watch for and said to keep me up or if I fell asleep to watch me closely and to check on me every few hours tonight. 

Daddy tried to go home to go back to work, but I got pretty upset and just wanted to go home.  It's been hard for my teachers to keep me awake on a normal day and they didn't seem to be able to convince dad that they would be able to keep me up today either (which was clearly more important than just preserving bedtime).  So I stayed at school for lunch, then mom came to pick me up right before nap time.  I was SO good and let mom work when we got home.  She even moved my puzzle board into the living room so she could keep an eye on me while she worked.  Mom and dad took turns watching me so the other could make calls for work.  It worked out well and I stayed up and they both finished their days. 

Mom and I sat down to watch Sleeping Beauty before dinner and I was getting really sleepy, so mom let me take a quick nap on her shoulder on the couch.  I was pretty tired, so mom and dad had a tough time waking me up about 20 minutes later, but once I got up I was fine and mom made dinner for us.  I even got to play a few games with daddy! 

We had a great dinner (Whole Foods' Tikka Masala simmer sauce is *really* tasty).  I devoured my cauliflower and even asked for more (mom constantly says she's so glad I'm such a great eater).  Then I got to pick a treat out of my pumpkin (which is almost empty much to mom's liking).  I even shared my treats with mom and dad - dad says mom got the better treat (I picked a peanut butter candy bar for mom and an orange tootsie roll for dad...), but they were both happy and I loved mine.  I took a nice warm bath, then brushed the sugar bugs off of my teeth, read a book and went to bed.  It didn't take long for me to fall asleep tonight and I think mom's going to check on me A LOT tonight! 

Here's my boo boo :(  Doesn't look too bad, but my cheek was pretty purple and shiny.  I told mom that it still hurt right before bed, but hopefully a good nights sleep will fix it all. 


Here are a few more photos from the past few weeks - it's been busy!  Daddy had a week long sales meeting, so mom and I were on our own.  I had a *really* good week and had my listening ears on the whole time (well, ok, most of the time).  But I sure was glad when daddy got home on Friday!   

Squash soup and veggies - my favorite (and yes, I ate that entire plate of broccoli).


Look how far I can jump!


Rockin' the piggy tails with my favorite breakfast (or breakfarest as I say for some reason)...English Muffin with peanut butter.


I came home from school the other day and told mom "I love my pet!"


Mommy and daddy's friend Jeff came to visit last weekend!  We had so much fun and he even brought me this awesome doggy from Carson and Sienna.  I named him Sirius (Siri) after their dog.  I've slept with Siri every night since and pretty much use him as a cover.  Thank you Jeff, Kathryn, Carson and Sienna!


I've learned all about the seasons and know that in the fall the leaves change colors and fall off of the trees.  I was helping mommy mow the lawn and rake some of the leaves.


My last soccer class for the season was last Saturday.  Daddy took me and let mom hang out at home with NOTHING to do for an hour.  How divine!  I got the coolest medal from Coach Sean!  I don't think I'm going to sign up for the winter session because our weekends are so busy, but I'll probably go back in the spring. 


I've really been enjoying my blocks lately.  I got a few new Matchbox cars the other day, so mom and I built a ramp out of the blocks.  I learned which shapes to put in which order to make the cars roll down.  Mom and I tried it out with several different cars to see how far we could make them go. 


I love taking my kitty for walks!


I'm so quick at my Fox in Socks puzzle now. 


I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week already!  I'm so excited to be able to spend it with my great-grandma whom I don't think I've seen since I was 9 months old.  She asked me to bring some games with me so she can play, so I think I'll pack Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. 

Take care!

Nutella is Yummy!

Today I discovered that Nutella is AWESOME.  Can you tell how much I liked it???



I "made" dinner for mom tonight (wearing my apron and chef's hat) in my kitchen.  I made her:  squash soup (my favorite), tabboulleh, grapes, bananas, cauliflower, crackers, cucumbers, meat and cheese.  Mom laughed and said she wondered where I came up with these things. 

Not much else new, but I wanted to share the funny picture from my snack today :) 

Fall Festival!

Today was my Fall Festival at school.  Mom was a little late getting there (boo DC traffic), but I did get to wear my costume one more time and I got my face painted! 

My friend and I were BOTH monkeys and we BOTH had rainbows painted on our faces.  You might say that we're kind of like the bobsy twins.  We have been in school together since we were about 4 months old :)  We were checking ourselves out in the "mirror" (aka one way window from the hallway, which mom LOVES). 



I was trying to see the rainbow before we took it off at bathtime...


There was a magic show after the face painting.  I didn't really care for it and mom and I left a little early.  I was SO excited to show daddy my rainbow when he was done working.  We had a nice dinner, then I got to take a nice warm bath and I washed the rainbow off all by myself!  It was fun to see the washcloth turn colors :) 

Mom and I read my favorite book "There's a Monster at the End of this Book" and I climbed right into bed!  I still didn't fall asleep for over an hour, but at least I got in bed by myself.  Tomorrow is my last regularly scheduled soccer class, but I think we have one more make up class.  I've had a lot of fun with it and told mom and dad that I want to do it again. 

Better get some rest...hope everyone is well!