2011 In Family Photos

Before 2012 starts, a quick look back at our little family of three through 2011.
(And, I wanted to see if we had taken more of the 3 of us than last year.)

The first photo of all 3 of us that showed up on my blog is from MAY — yes, 5 months into the year.

On the original post, I even wrote "I think this is our first family photo of 2011."

However, it was NOT our first family pic of 2011, a look through my iPhoto shows me. That actually occurred in January, during an unseasonably warm day when we took Paige to the park and Scott took a self-portrait of the three of us.

We look like dorks, but Paige is adorable.

After that May Carnival photo, five MORE months passed before I posted another one here — oh and it's a hilarious one, from our trip to the zoo.

October 2011.

Then came Halloween.

Two ladybugs and an entomologist.

Then we had family photos taken two days in a row!! That must have set some sort of record.
We saw "The Nutcracker" and asked a nice lady to take our picture beforehand ...

And then we all posed with Santa at the library the next day during its Holiday Open House.

Scott unfortunately messed up our traditional self-portrait taken on Paige's birthday — and he's usually super-great at the angle and arm length he needs to get a photo of all three of us on his own. And in the hoopla of birthday parties, I forgot to ask someone else to take our photo — lame, I know.

Of course our most wonderful family photos in my eyes are no surprise — the fantastic photo shoot we had this fall with Raye.

I love them every single year, and this year is no exception.

First Haircut

Despite the massive and constant heartburn I had while I was pregnant (which disappeared the day I gave birth), Paige wasn't born with very much hair.
And, she hasn't had very much hair since then either. While I've watched her classmates wear ponytails and barrettes and get their bangs trimmed, Paige's hair has grown slowly.
Or, it seems that way sometimes, until I look at pictures and notice it's gotten so much longer.

Her hair has grown more quickly in the back and has been looking a little ragamuffin the past couple of months.

So I decided to ask her Aunt Holly to give her a trim when we were visiting my family for Christmas. Holly is a former stylist and I trusted her way, way more than I trusted myself -- even for just a tiny trim like that.

Paige was a little reluctant, but she sat still and played with my phone while Holly took a little more than an inch off the back and evened it up.

It's a small difference, but her hair feels thicker back there without the scraggly ends.
Still, as Holly handed me the wisps off the floor, I said, "These were the bitty hairs on her head when she was born!"

Just another first in a little life, the first of many, many haircuts to come. Those last photos are the "after," and her hair is still long enough for a little ponytail, too.

Birthday Parties, With A Side Of Oogieness

Because of its proximity to Christmas and our holiday travels to visit my family, we celebrated Paige's birthday twice.
The first was a party at our house the evening of Saturday, Dec. 18.

I originally thought I might make a meal for our guests, but decided the week before to go with take-out pizza :) I did make the birthday cupcakes and a brownie pie and homemade hot cocoa (like I remember my mom making when Gary & I were kids and would play in the snow).

Scott's family and our closest friends here came to her party — Paige's Nana, Uncle Mark, Aunt Sarah, cousin Erin, Poppy and Sarah's mom Linda, and Tio Chris, Titi Karen & Raquel, Jason, Angie & Ava.

Paige had told me a few weeks before that she wanted a "Snoopy party," so I'd gotten Snoopy plates and cups, Snoopy plastic rings, Peanuts silly bands, and I made the cupcake toppers with Snoopy & Woodstock. And of course, Paige doesn't think it's a party without balloons, so we had balloons throughout the house (which, by the way, are all still floating up to the ceiling here, 10 days later).

She was pretty excited; when she got up from her nap, Scott and I had moved furniture around and I'd set up the dining-room table with the Snoopy stuff. She decided right before her guests all arrived that she wanted a "ball-wina bun" in her hair, so I put it in a ponytail and she was thrilled. We had been watching "The Nutcracker" before the party started. Plus she got to wear her ballerina slippers and she showed off some of her moves to Poppy when he arrived.

Paige definitely knows what presents are this year, and she couldn't wait to open them. She wanted to open presents as soon as she ate, but she relented when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her — she sang along, too — and she got to blow out her candles (which she did well — we had been practicing this month).

See Raquel right in the middle of it all with Paige & Erin? :) Scott is assembling a Little People Zoo here.

She was blessed with many wonderful gifts, but the highlights so far for her are ballerina jammies from Mark & Sarah and Ballerina Dora from Nana.

We traveled on Wednesday, Dec. 21 to visit my family for the holidays, so we already were at my mom & stepdad's house for her actual birthday on Thursday the 22nd.

However, after she was in bed on Wednesday, at around 10:30, we heard her cough a few times. Then a few minutes later, she started saying, "Mommy! Mommy!" Scott went in there, and immediately started yelling for me too — Paige had gotten sick. And when I say "sick," I mean she vomited more than she ever has in her whole little life. In her pack & play (in which she insisted on sleeping, even though she's truly too big for it). All over her jammies. Dripping out of her hair. Sprayed onto gah-gah and Kitty. Soaking her blankets.
Sorry for the description, but it was a little unbelievable. I had to give her a bath right then because so much was in her hair, while Scott and Mom pulled everything off the bed and started throwing things into the washing machine. Luckily, gah-gah was spared from the worst of it, so Scott scrubbed it and Febreeze'd it, and we did the machine wash on it the next day. I put her in bed with me after that, but she didn't get sick again. She even said she felt "fine" when I kept asking her if her belly hurt, etc. She awoke Thursday, her birthday, with a low-grade fever, but she was generally in a good mood. I gave her some baby ibuprofen in the late afternoon after the fever was hanging around, just so she'd feel OK for her party. And she did — and after that and for the rest of our trip, she was just fine. I'm glad whatever icky-ness she had was short-lived.

We laid low most of her birthday, and then her party was that evening at my hometown's country club. Attending were Paige's GranJack, Pop, Gramps, Grammie, Uncle Nash, Uncle Gary, Aunt Holly, cousin Luke, Grandma and Paw-paw, Papaw C, and Aunt Carrie Mae.

Aunt Carrie Mae surprised Paige with Miss Piggy-themed cupcakes, which thrilled her.

Luke's package to Paige. I swoon.

And Luke, my sweet, sweet nephew, gave Paige the sweetest little gift. Before her birthday, Luke got an empty box and some tissue paper and started writing and putting something in the box, all on his own. When Holly asked him what he was doing, he said he was giving Paige a birthday present. He had gone to his own books and picked one out ("The Wheels On The Bus") all on his own, and wrapped it up for her. Soooooo sweet. I saved the box, too. Sweet boy.

She did another great job at blowing out her candles — she blows them out one at a time — and she ate really, really well after her 12-hour oogie/icky/bug thing. She ran around with the boys, and played with some Little People Zoo animals my grandparents had given her (she already had received the Zoo from Poppy) and a Little People bride & groom from Aunt Holly & Uncle Gary. The other popular gift so far from that party is a white, furry cat that meows or purrs when you pet it, from GranJack and Pop.

While we were at the club, one of my childhood friends, Adam, and his 12-year-old (!!) daughter came to eat dinner, so I also got to catch up with him, which was super. It seemed like everyone had fun; it was a casual, low-key evening, and we enjoyed the time with my family.

I also want to note that, the night before her party, Paige also attended her very first kid birthday party (at least, for a kid who isn't related to her; and, yes, I consider Raquel a relative :)). Elijah, a boy in her class at school who also lives in our neighborhood, had his 3rd birthday and celebrated at the local park that has a holiday train. Paige was super excited, and ate the icing off a cupcake and tossed balloons in the air and played with the other kids (mostly little boys) there before we all rode the train together through the holiday lights.

Having fun. :)

Paige was a happy, happy little girl at both her parties, and looking through these pictures shows that, I think. It also shows what a little girl she is now — 3 years old! Always my Babylove, though. ♥
And, thank you to all our friends & family who came and gave or sent gifts to Paige — we love you very much! I always want her to know what a loved and lucky girl she is.

Sorry this post is a big picture dump. I definitely want to record Paige's 3rd-birthday parties, but I don't really get any blogging done when we are out of town, so I feel behind!
Next: Christmas festivities. :)

Holiday: 'The Nutcracker'

As I've written about more than once, Paige is very into all things ballerina.
So when tickets went on sale in early November for a local production of "The Nutcracker," it was an easy decision to purchase three for a family outing.

 

The performance was at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 10. Paige didn't know what we were doing until we arrived at the theater; we just told her that morning we had to put on a pretty dress "for a surprise."

It was fun to surprise her; she kept excitedly asking where we were going and what we were going to do, but at the same time she was pretty patient. More than that really, she was impressively patient for a toddler. :) Once we got there and got seated, she was in awe during the whole ballet.

I wondered if she'd be able to sit still long enough for it — Scott and I guessed it'd be a little more than an hour or so. However, two hours and 15 minutes later, we got to our car! Paige didn't even want to get up during intermission, though, she was that transfixed.

Of course we had to get another ballerina ornament for the Christmas tree. :)

Our seats were on the front row, and during the performance, she kept asking me to lift her to where she could "see dem dance on dare toes!"

Neither Scott nor I had ever seen "The Nutcracker," and I honestly wasn't even totally sure of the storyline until I read the program. In the two-plus weeks since, however, we both have become very familiar with the story, as I DVR'd the New York City Ballet's production of it and Paige has watched parts of it several times. (NYC Ballet = fantastic. Really phenomenal.)

After the performance, the three of us went to lunch together.
It was a lot of fun and I see it becoming a holiday tradition for our little family. I wonder if Paige will dance in a "Nutcracker" production one day? :)

Merry Christmas

We are on our way home from five days of birthday & Christmas fun with my family.

Paige has already asked when we can go back. Sweet memories.



Merry Christmas!!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

3 Years Old

Dear Paige,
Happy Birthday! You are THREE YEARS OLD today! That's more than 1,000 days of life we've shared, and I wouldn't trade a single one for anything.

January 2011

You are fun and funny, sweet and a sweetie, joyful and a joy, wonderful and full of wonder. Before I become your mommy, I didn't have a ton of extended experience with children — so I really didn't have a grasp of what Daddy and I were getting ourselves into or how fulfilling parenthood would be. So, thank you. Thank you for being you. I wouldn't be the mommy I am without my sweetie-girl of a child to inspire me and make me a better person.

February 2011

As part of your birthday, I interviewed you. It's on video, too, but here is some of what you told me about yourself:
What is your favorite toy? A Miss Piggy doll!
But you don't have a Miss Piggy doll. What's your favorite toy you have? Kitty!!
What's your favorite color? Green.
What do you want to be when you're a grownup? I want to be a ballerina!
What is your favorite TV program? "Hocus Pocus"
That was a movie; what else do you like to watch? Dora, Berenstain Bears and Sesame Street.
Who is your best friend at school? Elijah!
What is something you like about Mommy? A camera.
What is something you like about Daddy? When he's a princess.
What is your favorite thing to do when we go to the park? The slide.
What else do you like to do at the park? Swing! Elijah's going to swing with me.
Can you sing me your favorite song? No! I don't want to do that.
OK. Can you tell me a story about something fun we've done? OK, once upon a time, mumble-mumble, The End.
What's your favorite thing to do at school? Play with Play-Doh.

Running to Mommy. March 2011

Some facts about you at age 3:
• You wear sizes 2T and 3T. It's about half and half, really. You even still wear a pair of Old Navy pants that are size 18-24 months.
• You wear a size 4 diaper (22-37 lbs), though I have recently bought size 5 (27 lbs+) in overnight diapers after some overnight leaks. And yes, you still wear a diaper. You like to peepee on the potty when you decide it's interesting or fun, not when your body tells you. You're still ignoring those signs. You do go almost every time before you get into the bathtub, but that's the only sort of regularity in your potty moments so far. Look for potty-training posts in the very near future. I haven't put panties on you yet, but we will after the holidays.

Easter, April 2011. (This is still our home-computer wallpaper. Love it)

• You wear a size 7 toddler shoe.
• Your favorite foods are, in random order: tomatoes, strawberries, spaghetti, cheese of all kinds, macaroni & cheese, green salad & dressing, Target's Archer Farms granola cereal, Cheez-Its crackers, mini Reese's Peanut Butter cups.
• You drink milk and water every day and orange or apple juice a couple times a week. You loovve your milk.

May 2011

• You still don't watch a whole lot of TV, but you are watching more than you were even 6 months ago. Your favorite shows are anything Peanuts or The Muppets, Dora and the Berenstain Bears.
• Your lovies remain gah-gah and Kitty. I don't really see that changing, though you do have other "night-night lovies" to which you refer — "duck blank-uh-let, pink blank-uh-let, fwower blank-uh-let and Snoopy pillow." Kitty and gah-gah have been constants since your first year of life.

June 2011

• You love to pretend with Little People, stuffed animals, and dolls of all sorts. You want them to have in-depth conversations together and ride in cars, fly in planes, go to parties, etc. I love your imagination.
• Along with pretending, some of your favorite activities are reading books, playing outside, building a blanket fort in the living room, going to the library or the park.

July 2011

More and more, you let your opinion be known, whether it's what you want to wear or what food you want to eat or the fact that you often don't think it's night-night time when I do. You test us sometimes to see how we will respond to your actions — a prominent toddler attribute, I know — and you're pretty good at it. However, I will say that moments of stereotypical toddler-ness haven't been as bad as some people and some books have said they could be.

August 2011

Your Uncle Mark claims that age "3 1/2 to 4 is the worst" — but I don't believe that, either. You are a good, good girl the vast majority of the time. So I've no doubt you'll be as sweet in 6 months and in a year as you were the day you were born.

September 2011

When you were close to your first birthday, a co-worker of mine who is also a mom told me that the second year and beyond moves more slowly than the first, that it doesn't go by in such a blur.
I'm not finding that to be true at all. The past three years have moved at such a warp speed to me that I really and truly believe I'll blink a few times and be 50 years old (!!) and getting ready for you to go to college.

October 2011

I know that kids are kids for such a short time, and that it's a parent's job to help the child grow into a responsible, functioning, compassionate adult. It's nature, it's normal and how it should be. But I also know that I will always look back on these first years of your life, these first years of mommyhood with wistful fondness.

November 2011

This past year, the one between your 2nd and 3rd birthdays? I could do that forever and ever and ever, my Babylove. You are so joyful and excitable and curious and so full of love for me and Daddy that I can't imagine anything better. Truly.

Dec. 17, 2011.

On Saturday, we were talking about turning 3 years old and having birthday parties and "getting bigger an bigger," and you suddenly got serious and quiet and said to me: "Mommy, I don't want to be a big guhl; I want to stay a lil guhl." I assured you that 3-year-olds are still little girls and that you have to be 5 or 6 (or, say, 21) before you're a big girl.

Happy Birthday, my sweet, sweet girl.
Love,
Mommy

Holiday: Santa

Paige has a pretty good concept of Santa this year.
A year ago, she wanted nothing, nothing AT ALL, to do with Santa. The only photo with Santa we have had was with her Pop, my Santa-portraying stepdad.

But since Thanksgiving, we've talked about Santa and why he brings gifts to good little girls and boys, we've and read many Christmas books about Santa and about Jesus' birth. We've also watched some Christmas programming on TV.

Before Thanksgiving, we were at the mall and Santa was already there. She didn't want to go talk to him, but she wanted us to keep walking past him because he waved at her each time.

A couple of weeks ago, I asked Paige if she wanted to dictate to me a letter to Santa that we would "send in the mail." So I wrote out what she said, and then she "deco-waited" it with crayons and stickers.

But then came last weekend. Our library held its Holiday Open House, and I knew she'd enjoy it; it offers crafts and treats and all kinds of fun — including Santa. (He's one of the best-looking Santas I've seen, too.)

Scott & I told Paige he would be there, and she excitedly said, "Let's go see him!"
I think we were both a little surprised, but when we got to the library, we set off to find Santa first. We stood in line a few minutes, and when we got to the front, Paige initially held back — for about 10 seconds. Then she sat in his lap, looked up at him and said, "Hi Santa."
I told her to tell him what she wanted, and she quickly said, "Santa, can I pwease have a Miss Piggy doll?"

She smiled for photos, then asked him "Santa, do you like my magic shoes?" as she pointed to her pink-glittered sneakers. After she got down, she turned to him and said, "See you Christmas Eve!"
Santa replied, "You should be in bed that night, but I'll be visiting."
Paige said, "I'll leave you some cookies and milk!" And Santa told her chocolate-chip cookies are his favorite.

She was so sweet and adorable — and so, so different than a year ago.

Holiday: A Photo Essay

Our city's largest park has a holiday train each December, and on opening night, the city hosted a special event. The photos need no words:

 

These recent holiday posts I've been writing really show me, when they're all compiled like this, that we are getting a lot out of this Christmastime season.
I hope all of you are, too!