Home for the Holidays

We did our annual visit to the Holiday Pops (12/10) and tonight we are buckling down to do some wrapping and preparing for the weekend.

Santa Babies

Because I think they are the most adorable kids ever I just need to share some pics...

By the way, the Nugget is not a big fan of Santa. She points him out at every turn (posters, TV, books, etc.) but when it comes to seeing him in person or sitting on him - not a chance. She will say "I a little bit scared."

She will, however, sing Jingle Bells at the top of her lungs and she loved decorating the tree - she broke the first ornament she touched this year and some of our branches have 3 ornaments on them - oh, well!

Prized Possessions

I am glad I have held off on writing this one because it is kind of interesting how many times these "things" have changed over the past couple of weeks.

In varying degrees of "have to have it" the Nugget has had some minor obsessions recently ...

First, it was Comfort and Achoo - two beanie baby dogs (one, kind of a beagle and the other a little lab) that she needed to carry with her everywhere including to her crib for naps and bedtime. By the way, we had no part of the naming - she came up with those on her own.

Next it was the three ducks and the blue dolphin - all tub toys that she hasn't played with or touched for literally months. All of a sudden she had to take them everywhere, including in the tub and then to bed. We had to read stories with the ducks (and the regular routine of two blankies and a bink) and they even made it into the Strawberry Shortcake back pack to be toted around.

After the ducks it was Ariel and some other fairie princess doll - it had wings and they too, had to be with the Nugget everywhere, including to bed for naps and bedtime.

Next it was her bouncy balls - you know, various shape/size superballs. Those were thrown, juggled (by me, not the Nugget), put in the backpack and then eventually the princess purse.

Yes, the princess purse was next on the list - she came home a couple weeks ago with her mama declaring, "we go shopping". And she showed off the princess purse which she informed me was "for my makeup". So, the bouncy balls, some chapstick, markers and other random items made it into the purse - that too, had to go to bed with the Nugget.

Well, I guess either she is really fickle, a toddler, or she has too much stuff - probably a little of all three. I am curious to see what is next.

*%#* My Kid Says

So, overheard at 97 Whippoorwill over the past couple of weeks:

Me: "Liana, are you my favorite little girl?"
Nugget: "No, I a big girl"

Of course, we have told her this countless times since she started going potty on her own.

Me: "Wow, you went potty all by yourself?"
Nugget: "I did one, two, three turds"

(as she looked in the toilet bowl and counted - she was right!)

Nugget: "Is Monkey George getting a time-out?"

A legitimate question while reading the Curious George Christmas book. He was being carried out of the room by a Nurse where the children's Christmas tree was. He had decided to do his own decorating.

"Dada, why can't I sit next to you and hug you?"

This one made me sad, but it was the rules while I was sick - obviously it didn't prevent anyone from getting sick so maybe we won't employ that tactic next time.

"That a round circle? That a round square?" - everytime she sees a circle - and you have no idea how many cirlces there are until you have a 2.5 year old - she asks if it is a round circle. I tried to explain that all circles are round but that was met with the usual "how come?". So, now she asks if that is a round square, if that is a round rectangle, etc. We're getting there - slowly but surely.

All He Wants for Christmas is His 2 Front Teeth

And he got them - yup, Henry boy popped his first tooth on 12/7. The bottom right tooth came through and a couple of days later the bottom left. This all at 4.5 months - 3 months earlier than the Nugget. He is chewing his hands or anything else like crazy and drooling everywhere. Mama can make him giggle and laugh like no other - it really is sweet.

Quarantine

As usual, this is a catch up post ... it has been a busy week catching up from almost two weeks of sickness at 97 Whippoorwill.

Short story long - Liana had a cough to close out November that resulted in a double ear infection a few days later. Henry managed to get the cough and on 12/6 went to the doctor for some respiratory issues - turns out he had to be on a nebulizer treatment every 3 hours. I went to bed that night after a 45-3 Patriots trouncing of the NY Jets only to wake up at 1:30 with the stomach bug. I stayed in bed for a day and a half and was planning on going back to work on Thursday when both mama and the Nugget woke up with vomit and diarrhea. At that point it was lockdown and we were on our own to try and get better. What a tough week but we managed to pull through it together under the good old divide and conquer approach.

The Good:

Liana basically decided she was going to be potty trained on 12/4. Shelly was out with the girls and I walked in the bathroom to find Liana with pants down and diaper undone. She said she had to go potty and oh by the way, needed her privacy. She did poo and pee-pee all on her own and then did some more pee a couple hours later. She went 3 or 4 days in big girl underwear without any accidents before the runs set in and it was squirt city.

The Bad:

Obviously the sickness that took over the house - seeing the Nugget throw up for the first time and not know what was happening. We changed the sheets in her bed 2 times - first when she woke up with vomit and then at 1:45 in the morning after she had eaten supper and been throw-up free for 6 hours. Oh, yeah, again the next day when she woke up with diarrhea everywhere - mama got the pleasure of that one.

The Funny:

Okay, it is funny now, but it was gross at the time. Mama and Henry were in the guest bed - mama was sick but feeding Henry. The Nugget needed a diaper change because of yes, the diarrhea. So I took her in her bedroom, laid her down and started wiping. I had the diaper ready when I heard a little toot - she announced, I just tooted. The next thing you know another toot happens except this one is fully loaded with liquid poo that travels at least a foot if not 2 feet right onto my pants and the rug. I tried to dodge it but it was too late. So, I finished the diaper and got the steam cleaner to get it out of the rug. I believe I yelled to Shelly "we need a new rug". And who knows, we still might.


Hopefully this is it for us for the season - I feel like we paid our dues, especially since Henry boy ended up with the runs and a tough cough as well.