Santa Claus nightmare

This past Friday (Dec. 19th) our street block had a Christmas party that was mainly for the kids. A Christmas play was put on by the neighborhood kids (sorry, didn't get a picture, Scarlett was sitting on my lap). The kids did a great job. Scarlett enjoyed watching the kids, but most importantly she eyed one of the props that she was longing to get her hands on - a rocking horse (used as the donkey Mary rode to Bethlehem). While she rocked away, Santa Claus showed up and the kids were excited to share their Christmas wish lists with Santa. Scarlett continued to rock away and even played with the hula hoop she discovered.

We waited until all the kids had their chance with Santa before we took our turn with Scarlett. She had a sneaky suspicion something was about to happen because the minute we picked her up, she started to cry. You see, she was content staying close but still far enough away from Santa. Well, as every parent does, we insist she take a picture with Santa but with Mommy and Daddy on Santa's lap, too, to help ease her fear. That didn't work. She let out a blood-curling scream of fear. She was terrified of Santa Claus. Again, we, as parents, laughed (I'll admit that Gerry at this point says to forget it), but little were we aware of how terrified she was until that evening around 1:00 a.m. she screams out a horrific scream which promptly scares me right out of my sleep. It was the kind of scream every parent would hate to hear in the middle of night because it sounded like somebody was trying to take her. I bolted like a jack rabbit and scooped her up and held her and calmed her down. It was definitely a nightmare and we can only guess it might have had to do with Santa Claus. We'll have to seriously reconsider next year.

Swimsuit fashionista

All of sudden Scarlett became obsessed with her swimsuits. Every morning, every afternoon, every evening she heads for her closet to put them on and will spend quite a few hours dressed like that until it's time for a diaper change and I have to remove layers of swimsuits.

This time she decided she needed to add shoes to her ensemble and do a little dance. I don't believe she'll have a career in fashion.

Christmas slide

One of Scarlett's favorite things to do is slide so for Christmas we decided to get her a slide to keep in her playroom during days when the weather is bad. The timing was perfect as it was just 25 degrees this past Tuesday (Dec. 16) with freezing rain and snow flurries. We decided since she doesn't understand the concept of Christmas we would set up her slide now. She had no idea about it until we came home after playing at a neighbor's house. Gerry put it together while we were gone. These pictures and videos do not capture her joy as I saw it. Her chest swelled with pride as she now has her very own slide. You can hear her just jabber away about it being "my" or "Scarlett's slide" and some of what she's saying is "is it yours, no, it not yours, it's mine". Later that week, we had her little best friend, Alexa, over to play on the slide. Scarlett even shared it with her stuff animals and made sure everyone had a turn on the slide.

China doll

We took this picture on Sunday before we left for church. Gerry and I thought Scarlett looked mighty cute in her Asian dress. Who knows, she could be a Geisha girl for Halloween next year. Stay tuned...

Wardrobe malfunction

Scarlett has recently been fascinated with her swimsuits. Now she gets to wear one every Wednesday for her swim lessons, but she has gone beyond that. She puts as many as she can get on creating her own style. First, it started with just putting on over her existing clothes to finally stripping her clothes and diaper. Look carefully for the wardrobe malfunction.

Fashion shades

3D movie

We went to a Christmas party this past weekend where the host and hostess gave a little gift to all the kids. In the bag were sunglasses which Scarlett loved. Now she doesn't have to try to wear mine. On the way home I looked back to check on her since she was so quiet and this is what I saw. You would think she was watching a 3D movie. She was very content on leaving those sunglasses on.

Daddy comes to visit

I go to Mother's Day Out at Park Cities Baptist Church and this past Friday we had a little Christmas party in my room. Mommy and Daddy came. I showed them where I sit to eat, the toys I play with, I let them talk to my teachers, Ms. Sheila and Ms. Blessing. I even showed them how I jump when we sing a song (see video at end).

The birthday celebration continues

We waited until the weekend to celebrate Scarlett's birthday by going to the Neiman Marcus/Adolphus Christmas Parade on Saturday morning with our friends, Robert, Jessica, and their daughter, Alexa as well as Paul, Pam and their daughter, Jenna. We sat in bleachers completely bundled up because it was a cold morning. It was a little hard to get pictures of all of us without having to ask people to move over to get down from the bleachers. We did get just a few pictures. Scarlett really enjoyed the parade. She was able to see Barney, big Reindeer balloons, etc. We ended it with lunch with all our friends to celebrate her birthday.

It was thanks to Jessica for inviting us to the parade. We were impressed with the parade.

Do you think she loved her cake? Right before this, she cried when I cut the cake. She wanted the entire cake pan for herself, but she obviously got over it quickly.

2nd birthday celebration

Scarlett's birthday fell on a Monday. When Gerry came home from work, we took her out for her birthday for dinner - just the three of us. We went to an Italian restaurant and let her have spumoni as her birthday dessert. The restaurant was so kind to include candles.

Unsuspecting child

She had no interest in the candles - first thing she said was "spoon" and as you can see she is reaching for one.

Two years old

December 1st was Scarlett's 2nd birthday. First thing I did when she woke up was get the camera so I can take a picture of her just as she is when she wakes up in the morning which believe it or not was around the time she was actually born two years ago (7:53 a.m.).

This is what we see every morning - hair in the face. Her hair is so straight and goes forward. I have not cut her hair yet and bangs are out of the question with the big cowlick she has right at the top of her hair line.

I usually clip her hair back while we get ready in the morning. This is the face we love to see.

I sang "Happy Birthday" to Scarlett and as you can see from this video she didn't seem interested at all. She didn't understand what birthday was. She was apparently more interested in her socks.

Elmo to the rescue

or so we thought. The Friday after Thanksgiving Scarlett spent most of her time laying down watching cartoons in between naps. That Saturday to help her feel better, we decided to give Scarlett one of her birthday presents early - Elmo Live. She was intrigued that he was talking and moving and her favorite was when Elmo falls over and says "uh, oh, Elmo fall down..." It was so funny to her that she kept pushing him down just to hear him say it. Little did we know that the fun was not going to last because it wasn't too long after that she turned on a dime and became the she-devil that even Elmo frustrated her. And no we didn't capture her tantrums on video. We were doing everything to keep our sanity. I think Gerry might have been counting the days till he went back to work on that particular day and I was busy thinking how can I get away and leave Gerry with her for some peace and quiet. Thank goodness it only lasted a day.

That Sunday, she was back to her old self again. Well, it was actually Saturday early evening when she asked for a lollipop and by that time I was doing anything to make her happy. Little did we know that we do the trick. The last video is from Sunday after Thanksgiving. She discovered that she can squeeze his nose and it made a noise which she thought was hilarious.

Thanksgiving ups and downs

This Thanksgiving we spent alone, Gerry, Scarlett and me. Thankgiving morning we took a walk to Starbucks like we usually do on the weekends. This time Scarlett wanted to go in her wagon instead of her stroller. It was particularly cold that morning. She only had on a lightweight coat, but I did bring along her hat and gloves just in case. Halfway to Starbucks, it was really proving to be much colder than we anticipated and decided to put on Scarlett's hat and gloves to keep her warm. Below is her picture just outside our house after we came back from Starbucks.

We had our Thanksgiving after Scarlett's nap and noticed she really didn't eat much. Scarlett is usually a great eater. At the table, she tells us her ear hurts and after that it wasn't long before the fever came. We called the pediatrician first thing Friday morning and was able to get her in and they confirmed an ear infection. By the time we made it home from doctor and pharmacy, Scarlett was definitely not feeling well. We captured a picture of her laying down in a chair with blanket and all watching cartoons. The fact that she stayed still the whole time was more proof that she was not feeling well because she usually doesn't sit still.

Fun with Megan

I have this a little out of order, but I just came across the video my sister took of Scarlett and her cousin, Megan, running back and forth in the play room.

Gerry and I took a trip to New York sans Scarlett and my sister from Austin was so kind to come up to Dallas and watch Scarlett for us.

Apparently, Scarlett and Megan were having a great time running back and forth in the room and doing a dive into the chair before starting over again.

Bouncy ball

Scarlett's big sister, Sara, came for a visit right before Thanksgiving and gave Scarlett her birthday present early from her and other bigger sister, Chelsea.

Scarlett is a big time jumper and this ball was perfect. Scarlett is not quite tall enough to do it herself so Sara helped her.

Stealing the Christmas ornaments

About a week or two before Thanksgiving I started to pull out the Christmas decorations as I knew it will take me awhile to get everything put together especially now that we are in a new house. Scarlett saw me pull out the container with the plastic ornaments that were going to go in bowls/baskets on tables. Her immediate response when she saw them was "my balls" and proceeded to take them from me and start playing with them.

Digital picture frame

Scarlett has recently taken to the digital picture frame we had set up. Every day she would ask to get up on the bookcase shelf so she can look at the pictures. The down side was that I had to stay right beside her the whole time so she didn't fall off.

Scarlett even got her little best friend, Alexa, to join her in the enjoyment of the pictures which were mostly of Scarlett as a baby.

Assaulting Elmo

Our church had a "Trunk or Treat" function on the church grounds which allowed all the kids to wear their costumes. As Scarlett is walking around enjoying her Dum Dum, she spots Elmo. Elmo was actually a little girl a few months younger than Scarlett carrying her bucket of candy. Scarlett is so fascinated with Elmo (what child isn't) that she proceeds to pursue little Elmo. The little girl dressed as Elmo has no idea what Scarlett wants. She only knows that this girl is coming at her with hand pointing toward her and thinks Scarlett is trying to take her candy so she tries to get away, but to no avail. Scarlett is in hot pursuit. Scarlett was determined that she was going to touch Elmo and let her Mommy and Daddy know that that was Elmo. It was the funniest thing ever to watch as it happened. Look closely at the pictures and you will see Scarlett's hand extended trying to touch Elmo.