Weekly Natalie - Weeks 112, 113, 114, 115, & 116

Duuuuuuude. Five Weekly Natalie's. How lame that I can't find time to post once a WEEK. Boo to me.

Question: If a toddler's pants are too long, do you roll them up?
Answer: Nope, you hike 'em up, Urkel style.
(if it wasn't obvious, she's holding a rope and jumping.
Jump. Rope. Genius, yes?)

Oak leaves are 99% annoying.
Here is evidence of the 1% of fun:

Trying to catch bubbles that Daddy's blowing

When Lee said he'd only blow bubbles two more times,
master-negotiator Natalie promptly held up
three fingers and said "Fee more times!"

My loves at the Mardi Gras paradeFive minutes after the parade began.
She's not a fan of loud noises. :(

In the past few weeks, we've gone on quite the Tour of Pensacola Parks.

Nat the Surprised Bus Driver

She oozes grace when climbing down stairs

She loves tunnels!

And to demonstrate that love, she busted out some
mad dance skillz.

I see you!

A solo see-er (or saw-er)

YAY for parks!

Busting out with some more mad dance skillz

Making sure I'm watching her

Her PIGTAILS! look funny when she jumps

A PIGTAILED! pilot

Pleased with her flight, she busts out even more
mad dance skillz. This looks like The Robot.

Giving the ladybug a hug

Giving the ladybug a smooch

She loves her some Elefun

LOVE HER

Her eyelashes kill me.

Cute pouty lips.

How many is too many tutus?
If you're Nat, there's NEVER too many tutus.

Whereeeeeee's Natalie?

There she is!!

Goodness

Man, I haven't posted a Weekly Natalie in forEVER. I have pictures, but our computer has been acting screwy and I haven't been able to upload pictures. Major boo.

Hope to have a bunch of pictures to show really soon!!

Be Still My Heart

On this day in history ... I burst into tears before 7am.

After I came into Natalie's room this morning, she made the sign for 'I Love You' and said, completely unprompted, "yuhve you".

I yuhve her so very much.

February 2011 - Recap

Good heavens, it's a good thing that I update your monthly recap periodically throughout the month. Because if I didn't? The only things I would remember from this month would be croup, snot, too much TV, more snot, ear infections, and not sleeping well. So there's that. And then there's this:

Have I mentioned how you, my analytical child, never cease to amaze me. Your tricks this month include counting 30 and counting to 10 on your fingers. I'm glad you learned 11-20 before you were old enough to get annoyed by how those numbers have a weird pattern (THIRteen [and not THREEteen] and FIFteen [and not FIVEteen] would start a nuclear meltdown for SURE). You count everything - leaves, blocks, toes, people, Cheerios. For some reason, when you learned how to say 'seven', you said 'foe-foe' instead. You also say 'yum-yum-yum' for 'eleven'. Daddy and I joke that we need to run to the foe-foe-yum-yum-yum to get a Slurpee. I have a feeling when you're 25, Daddy and I will STILL tease you about this. (side note: you've now learned how to say 'seven', but Daddy and I will always call it foe-foe).

You also like to sing your ABCs. Granted, some letters never make your final cut (sorry, E, T, and W) and some letters have new homes (S is often close to the front of the alphabet), but who cares. I'm floored at how quickly you're picking these things up. Maybe it's completely normal. But to me, it's amazing.

We had our first beach trip of the year. (And since I'm a mega hot-weather-wuss who hates going to the beach when it gets above 75 degrees, I jumped at the chance to go when it was 72 and low humidity). February seems like an odd month for a beach trip, and I guess it is, but this is Florida, and it's not uncommon for the weather to be jacked up. (ie: it was fuh-REEZING less than a month ago.) I was banking on you (ie: my mildly prissy daughter) not wanting to get sandy and especially not wanting to go into the frigid, bone-chilling water. I was wrong on both accounts. You loved LOVED playing in the sand - throwing it, digging in it, piling it on top of your legs, the whole shebang. And the water? It was top-notch in your book. Perhaps this is payback for me wanting to see the reaction on your face when your toes hit the cold water, but you couldn't get enough of the water. This is not your first trip to the beach, but this is the very first time you've enjoyed the water.

You love talking on your phone (we realized very early on that you don't want a Fisher Price phone to play with - you want the real thing. So your phone is one of Daddy's old phones). You have the same conversation each time.
(you put the phone to your ear)
"Hey-yo!" (how you say 'hello')
"Hi."
"Oh."
(handing the phone to me)
"Bye BYEEEEEEEEE!!!"
"Yay-ter!" (how you say 'later')

It's hysterical. Truly, truly hysterical.

I have KLOVE on pretty much whenever the TV isn't on. A few weeks ago, "Come Home" by Luminate came on. When the opening bars played, you immediately started singing the "Oh oh oh oh" part at the beginning. I know you've heard that song countless times, but this was the first time you've ever 'sung' anything. And let me tell you, pumpkin, it was fantastic. And when the song is coming to an end, you squeal "Song ... again!" I finally just put it on a continuous loop on YouTube so you can hear it over and over and over (and over and over ...). For you to like a song, particularly THAT song, it warms the cockles my heart.

You like to say 'How 'bout?' a lot. Like, if I ask you if you'd rather have a turkey sandwich or a grilled cheese for lunch, you'll say "Umm, how 'bout turkey [tuh-keeeee]". If I ask who's on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, you'll say "How 'bout Mickey! How 'bout Goofy! How 'bout Pluto [boe-toe]!" How 'bout that you're ridiculously adorable. How 'bout that.

You've recently discovered the wonder of Mommy Kisses. Whenever you get hurt, you immediately say "Mommy KISS!" The downside to this cuteness is that sometimes, instead of "Mommy KISS!", you screech "KISS IT!". I know what you mean, of course, but seriously. I've gotten some side-eyes from people who've overheard this. Anywho, I kiss the offended area and you're as good as new. Thanks for thinking I have special healing powers.

You had your first ear infection this month (and it was a double ear infection, you little over-achiever). I never would have known if you hadn't started wailing that your eye hurt. I just thought you had croup. But when you said that your eye hurt, I called your pediatrician to ask about pink eye (the only eye-related 'illness' I could think of). The nurse said that I'd know if you had pink eye, but that your eye pain might be related to your ears. So I brought you into the doctor, and lo and behold, you had an ear infection in each ear. You were mainly complaining of your right eye hurting and it turns out that your right ear had the more severe infection. So for about a week, you'd wail "Eyeeeeeeeeeeee! Kisssssssssss!" And I'd dutifully kiss your eye, ask if it felt better, and you'd pitifully say "yes". I know it still hurt, but you saying 'yes' made me feel like a superhero. Thanks.

Just in the past week, you've loved taking walks. You grab my hand and say "walk" and away we go. We don't walk far, just to the end of the street and back, but you seem to really enjoy taking it all in. Sometimes we discuss important things such as grass, leaves, dirt, bugs, and mailboxes. Other times we don't say anything at all. Walking hand in hand with you as we mosey down the street is one of the highlights of my day. That you enjoy something as simple as taking a walk, and that you like holding my hand, does more for my soul than words can express. I have visions of us years down the road, still taking these walks. Our topics of conversation will move from grass and leaves to school and boys. And when you're older and think it's lame to hold your lame mother's lame hand, it'll be okay. Because I will always remember our walks when you were two. So take my hand, little one. Cuz you and me? We've got a big world to explore. How 'bout that.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy


Headlines for March 1, 2011
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• Flooding, Tornadoes Wreak Havoc on Midwest
• Reba McEntire Inducted Into Country Music Hall of Fame
• Sugar Ray Leonard, Kendra Wilkinson to Hoof It on 'Dancing' Series
• Opening Arguments Begin in Deadly Arizona Sweat Lodge Case
• U.S. Ramping Up Pressure on Libyan Leader
• E. coli found on 50 percent of shopping carts
• Mom sells kids' toys on eBay as punishment (excellent idea - don't test me, kid!)

Weekly Natalie - Week 111

Natalie has her first ear infection. I'm uber thankful that she made it over 2 years before getting one, but being the over-achiever that she is, her first ear infection is a double ear infection. Poor little bunny.

These pictures were taken last weekend before she turned into a croup-y, mucous-y, fever-y munchkin.

I cornered her in the kitchen and made her smile for the camera
before I'd let her leave. Ha!

My two loves, bonding over Mickey Mouse

Some severe tickle time, courtesy of Daddy

Weekly Natalie - Weeks 109 & 110

We had a busy two weeks - a fun trip to the zoo, a Daddy/Daughter Valentine's Dance at church, trips to the park, and just general craziness from living with a whackadoo two-year-old.

She wasn't 100% sold on the zoo at first

But when you've got a daddy like Lee, it doesn't take long

to warm up to a new situation

Team Smith, all looking in different directions.
Typical.

Ewwwwww.

There's just not enough Purell in the world ...

Nat loved those guys!

Striking a pose in her Valentine's Dance dress

Running to come get me!

Another one of her 'running faces'

Weekly Natalie - Week 108

Oatmeal is pretty funny business in this house

Trying to smile whilst having a mouth full of oatmeal

Fishy face

LOVE her

January 2011 - Recap

Well goodness sakes, you little myna bird. Just when I thought you'd NEVER talk, here comes January! This is the first month where I can't keep track of all the words you know. It seems like you say new words on a daily basis. And somehow, you know just the things to say to make Daddy and me laugh. You especially like to say things like "okay", "oh yeah", "I know", "dude", and "boo-yah". Not surprisingly, 'boo-yah' is one of Daddy's and my favorites. It sounds so cute coming out of your mouth.

Some of your favorite new words are 'please' (peesh/peeze), 'thank you' (tah-koo), 'two', 'three' (fee), 'four', 'five', 'six' (ick), 'eight', 'nine', 'shucks', 'Huckle' [I'm thrilled to see you still like Richard Scarry books] (Huh-cooohl), 'mouse' (mersh), 'pray' (buh-RAYYYYYY), 'amen' (ah-MANG), 'bread' (buh-REDDDDDD), 'Mickey' (MEE-kee), 'Minnie' (mee-ee). You can also name most of the critters on Sesame Street: 'Abby' (Tabby [why you insist on putting a T in front of name is beyond me]), 'Elmo' (Ahmo), Ernie (Uh-nee), Bert (Buh't), 'Oscar' (Ah-cur), 'Big Bird' (Buh'd). For The Count, instead of saying 'count', you say 'ah ah ah'. Just like this: (at the 41 second mark)

You also have names for several people: instead of calling my mom Gramma Lu, Lu, Gramma, Gamma or anything remotely similar, you call her Bob. We're going to work on you calling her Wow since you already call my dad Pep. (How on earth did they come up with those names, you may ask? Their birthdays are 3 days apart, so I had a card for each of them on our kitchen counter. The envelopes were upside down, so Dad looked like Pep and Mom looked like Wow!) You call Aunt Lisa Ita. You call Aunt Karen KK. You call my sweet friends Amanda and Carlie Manda/Manta and Cah-yee, respectively. It's so nice for you to finally call people by something other than WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

You can say all but 3 letters, which makes your alphabet puzzle way more fun. And each letter ends in an explanation point. There's no "A" or "B" in this house, oh no. There's only A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

And you've also started saying 'no'. I suppose we should thank our lucky stars that we made it two years before we heard 'no'. Even though you love to say it, you don't always use it correctly ("Natalie, would you like an apple?" "No." "Okay, no biggie." "Aaah-PUHL!!!") but you have put quite the sassy little attitude behind it. And THAT has to stop. Daddy and I don't mind if you say 'no'. It's a perfectly acceptable word. But when you become Little Miss Sassypants while you say it, that's when we have a problem. You seem to be picking up quickly that if you say it rudely, consequences are swift.

Far and away, your favorite game this month was 'Peee-pohllll' (ie: looking at pictures of people on Facebook). You can't get enough of looking at people's pictures. So thanks, Facebook friends, for providing my munchkin with some entertainment.

Either it's because we turned your crib into a toddler bed or it's because of some strange thing that happens when someone turns two or it's just an unfortunate coincidence, but ever since you moved to your toddler bed, your sleep habits have been off. Before, I couldn't predict ANYthing about how you would react or respond to a particular situation, but I knew, I KNEW, that you would sleep at night. And now? Well, we had a few weeks of you getting up in the middle of the night. And while that might not sound strange for some kids, for you it's weird. You barely get up in the middle night when you're sick, and this month, you seemed to get up just for the sake of getting up. Daddy or I would blearily walk you back to bed and you'd fall back asleep quickly. You're also not sleeping as long at night anymore. You were a consistent 11-to-12-hours-a-night sleeper. And now, you're more towards 10 or 10.5 hours. Again, not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But this is a HUGE change for you. Another huge change? Your naps. For a week or so, I was lucky if you slept for 45 minutes. That's outrageous, coming from my child who had been sleeping at LEAST two hours during naptime. You've slowly increased your naptime up to almost 1.5 hours, and while that's not ideal, it's a heckuva lot better than 45 minutes.

I now know why two-year-olds aren't typically sought out for baby-sitting duty. One of your favorite games is putting your babies to sleep. [Side note: you're the proud parent of three babies. You have twin babies who you've named Blue and Pink and one you've named Baby. Blue and Pink are cute, squishy, and smell like baby powder. Baby, on the other hand, has seen better days. You've only had her since Christmas, but this gal looks like she's had a lifetime of hard times. Her once soft, silky hair has turned into this matted, Rastafarian, cave woman-y hot mess. However their outward appearance, you love all three of your babies and require all of them to sleep.] Anyway. Back to Baby Bedtime. This involves bringing every blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, and doll from your room and bringing them all out to the living room. First, you gently and lovingly place your baby dolls on pillows. Then you 'put them to sleep' by piling your blankets on top of them. Then jumping on top of the blankets. Fun for you. Not so fun for your babies buried underneath 12 pounds of bed accessories.

I want you know that I pray for you constantly. I pray for your heart; I pray for your happiness; I pray for my ability to properly mother you; I pray for your future best friends; I pray for your future husband; I pray for your relationship with God. I often wonder what God has in store for a non-spitfire (that would be me) when He blesses me with a rascally spitfire (that would be you). I may feel like I don't know what I'm doing, but He does. So I'm along for the ride. Thanks for coming along with me, sweet girl.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

Headlines for February 1, 2011
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• Reports: Mubarak to skip bid for re-election after hearing Obama message
• Wall Street skyrockets to 2 1/2-year highs
• Media descend on Packers, Steelers
• Miranda Lambert tops ACM nominations at 7
• Sleeping with pets brings risk of serious disease
• Massive Winter Storm Creates Dangerous Conditions from Texas to New England

My One Word

This month, K-LOVE has been talking about My One Word. The premise is that instead of making a laundry list of resolutions, think of one word that sums up your hopes for 2011. That's right up my alley; I'm notorious for compiling an impressive list of resolutions only for them to be all but forgotten by March.

People have called into K-LOVE and shared their words. And their words are great - abide, compassion, faith, love, and thankful are just a few.

I was having a hard time coming up with my word. I want it to be powerful, encompassing, and personal. I want it to center on an area of my life that I feel is in need of an overhaul.

A guest pastor came to our church a year or two ago. He said he was asked "If he could sum up Jesus' ministry in one word, what would it be?" His reply? Others.

Once others popped into my mind, I knew it was supposed to be my one word.

So here we go, 2011. Others it is.

Weekly Natalie - Weeks 106 & 107

Sorry, Week 106. I got nothing for ya. But Week 107? You more than make up for it.

You can't tell, but she's drinking from cute cup that says Natalie on it.
Here, she's demonstrating in perfect form that she's not ready
for an un-lidded cup.

Fun at the park

Numbers are AWESOME!

Oh, the joys of throwing sand.

Wanting me to smell her pretty 'flower'

Runs like a girl ...

... but still has some pretty fancy footwork

Seriously. LOVE her.

Weekly Natalie - Week 105

It's been COLD here lately. Florida is the only state in the country without snow (who knew that Hawaii got snow?) but it doesn't mean we're without the blustery weather.

Excited to see an airplane

Ready to pounce!

I love that little moptop of mine

Pausing to remove her sock. That's right - just one sock.
For some reason, she needs to let her left foot be free.

She looks like she's eavesdropping on an important conversation
being held in the coat closet.

Weekly Natalie - Week 104

What better way to spend turning 2 than to go outside and enjoy the downpour?!

Ready, set, go!

Seeing that Daddy just came to the door

She has the BEST cheeks.

Demonstrating her interesting hair styling technique
on her new baby doll

Silliness at Zoolights

2010 - Year End Review

Happy 2nd Birthday, my sweet pumpkin-headed, spitfire, be-pigtailed best girl!

Oh my gosh, I've been reading your monthly recaps from 2010. I can't believe how much you've changed in just a single year. And it's also cool to see how much you've stayed the same. In keeping with last year's recap, I'll now present several Top 10 lists.

Top 10 Things You Love:

1. Airplanes and Helicopters
2. VeggieTales
3. Sesame Street
4. Mickey Mouse/Minnie Mouse
5. Cheese
6. Cookies from Publix
   
7. Playgrounds
8. Bananas
9. Busses
10. Books

Top 10 Things You Hate:

1. Being told 'no'
2. Waiting
3. Sitting still
4. When the credits roll on either VeggieTales or Sesame Street
5. Tacos
6. Loud noises (especially the vacuum)
7. When your stuffed animals or dolls have clothes on
8. Riding in a shopping cart without anything to eat
9. Riding in the car for long periods of time
10. Having a sock and a shoe on your left foot while riding in the car (weird, random, and 100% true)

Top 10 Things You're Good At:

1. Making Daddy and me laugh
2. Running and jumping
3. Eating
4. Sleeping
5. Giving Eskimo kisses
6. Identifying all your letters and most numbers up to 20
7. Counting 1-5 and 10 on your fingers
8. Entertaining yourself with books
9. Making funny faces and noises
10. Climbing stairs

Top 10 Things You're Not Good At:

1. Being patient - I mean really, come on kid, one of these days you've GOT to learn that things don't always happen on your timetable. Pitching a fit because dinner's not ready while I'm physically making you dinner is not helpful. It's not like I'm taking a nap and you want to eat dinner. I'm in the kitchen, cooking your dinner and you're in Nuclear Meltdown Mode.
2. Sitting still - it's like you think I'm going to make you take a nap if you're still for more than 2 seconds. Sitting still is fun. Trust me.
3. Accepting that you're not the boss - Daddy and I are the bosses. Team Smith is a dictatorship. I know that's unfair, but think of this - you get to be the dictator when you have kids. Until then, you're under the authority of Daddy and me.
   
4. Folding clothes - throwing clothes around the living room is NOT folding. Sticking your hands through Daddy's socks and making hand puppets is NOT folding. Climbing in the basket of folded clothes is NOT folding.
5. Mowing the lawn - you might be too short to push the mower, but you're tall enough to reach the phone to call someone to mow our lawn.
6. Being go-with-the-flow - you're not the most content child. Philippians 4:11 is a verse that I hope to teach you and one I hope you'll take to heart.
7. Keeping your books on your bookshelf - you prefer to be able to see every book you own, and what better way to see them than to spread them all over your floor. And many times, you like to take a quick swim through your books.
   
8. Saying certain words - you know a lot of words, but there are some key ones that you should work on, namely 'hi', 'I love you', 'Mommy, you're the best and most beautiful mommy in the wide world'.
9. Sharing - I hope it's normal for a 2-year-old and especially for a 2-year-old who's an only child, but you know nothing of sharing. I imagine you'd rather eat tacos while holding a fully-clothed doll while I run the vacuum than share a toy.
10. New situations - I can totally relate to this because I'm the same way. You're extremely panicky in new environments, you often want to leave immediately, and crowded situations really send you over the edge. I'm not sure how to help you overcome this, but it's something I'm really going to focus on in 2011.

From January 2010 to December 2010, you've gone from someone who hadn't taken her first step to someone who runs in circles. You've gone from someone who said two words to someone who says over 20. You've gone from someone who has 4 teeth to someone who has 12(ish) teeth. You've gone from someone who haaaates baths to someone who loves baths (as long as you're standing up). You've gone from someone who weighed a tad over 20 lbs to someone who weighs at least 30 pounds. You've got from someone who loves food to someone who, well, still loves food. You've gone from someone who didn't know her numbers to someone who, when holding two things, holds up two fingers (and when you hold three things, you hold up three fingers). You've gone from someone who doesn't know her alphabet to someone who knows each letter and knows words that start with each letter. You've gone from someone who slept in a crib to someone who sleeps in a toddler bed. You've gone from someone who didn't know anything about Sesame Street or VeggieTales to someone who loves Elmo and Bob. You've gone from someone who hates being in the church nursery to someone who's all giggles when I pick her up. You've gone from someone who likes books to someone who looooooooves books. You've gone from someone who was awesome and funny to someone who is fantastically awesome and excruciatingly funny. You rock our world.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

December 2010 - Recap

My dearest pumpkin,
So I think you feel you're from England. Or Canada. You pronounce certain words with a thick accent, particularly 'book' and 'boat'. You say 'book' as if you're British and 'boat' as if you're Canadian (don'cha know?). It's enormously entertaining. You've said a lot of new words this month including 'people' (peeeeeeee-pohhhhhhl), 'gobble' (obble gobble), 'buoy' (yes, you say 'buoy'. You don't say 'cheese', 'I love you', or 'hi', but you say 'buoy' ...), 'bike', 'wow', 'I know', 'table' (teeee-bohhhhhhhhhl), 'duck', 'duckie', 'hippo' (heeeep ... [long pause] ... pohhhhhh), 'diaper' (deh-pohhhh), and 'bob' (you're a huge fan of VeggieTales). [FYI: Gramma Lu has considered changing her name to Gramma Book or Gramma Boat or even Gramma Bob since you show no desire to actually say 'Lu'].

You like to play with my hair. You think it's fun to pat it, to scrunch it, to finger-comb it. Perhaps you'll become a hairdresser when you're 40 ... because by that time, you might have picked up on what it means to be gentle. Ouch.

Now that the weather is cooler (yay!), you're wearing long sleeves all the time. Which brings me to your current favorite game: Where's My Hand? You love this game. The rules are simple. I put a long-sleeved shirt on you. You tuck your hand inside your sleeve and get a distressed look on your face. In response, I say, 'Oh no! Your hand is gone! Where'd your hand go?' Your distressed look immediately turns into a delighted look as you poke your hand through. You giggle and I breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of your hand. We play this game about 2,183 times a day. And it never gets old.

You know what you DO think gets old? Clothes on your dolls and stuffed animals. You have a stuffed Corduory bear who should rock his trademark overalls-with-a-missing-button. This, however, is not the case. YOUR Corduory bear is naked. Which defeats the whole PURPOSE of the story of Corduroy. Perhaps it's time for a lesson on how you shouldn't take creative licenses with your teddy bears. Your baby dolls have clothes sewed onto them. And you take that as a personal insult. And you're very distressed that your Cookie Monster toy has a cookie permanently attached to his hand. Maybe you feel that you could do a better job clothing/accessorizing these toys. Maybe you feel that the clothes/accessories stifle the toys' personalities. Maybe you like nakedness. Who knows.

I graduated with my Masters this month. I started it before I got pregnant with every intention of finishing it before Daddy and I had a baby. Obviously God had other plans. I took five semesters off when I had you, and started back in January. Back then, December seemed so far away and I had no idea how I'd manage school and a toddler. But I did it. And I'm so glad I did. I want you to value education. Even though I'm a stay-at-home mom, I don't not value education. And just because I don't work outside of the home doesn't mean this degree was a waste of money. I've always wanted a Masters to fall back on should the need arise. I love being a SAHM, but I'm glad I have this degree in my back pocket in case I need to whip it out.

We took you to Disney World for the first time this month. Daddy and I were planning to wait until you were at least 4 or 5 before we took you to Disney, but some friends of ours happened to be there, had room for us, and are Disney experts. So we decided to go for it! It turned out to be the coldest weather Orlando had seen since the late '80s which made it a little crazy at times, but it was still fun. You love Mickey and Minney. You love Pooh. You love the princesses. You do NOT love, however, waiting in line, sitting still, or being patient. And those three things are requirements at Disney.

I think you're in a growth spurt. Which I hope will taper off soon. Because I simply can't feed you enough. For breakfast, you have oatmeal mixed with half of a banana, a glass of milk, and anywhere from 1 to 4 more pieces of fruit (usually clementines or apples). And you sign for more food. Ridiculous! I really shouldn't complain though. You are a fantastic eater. You're good at trying almost everything. You may not like it, but you usually try it.

You're now in a toddler bed. The first few days and nights were easy-peasy. We put you in bed, you slept. End of story. It didn't take long before you realized that you could get out of bed at will. And you did. For your quiet time, I don't care if you're in bed or not. You can read, play with your toys, sing to yourself, run around your room, whatever floats your boat. For naptime, however, Daddy and I have decided that you have to stay in bed. We tossed around different ideas for you, such as not caring if you slept during naptime or not. But we decided that for the sanity of this house, you need a nap. Several times, you've gotten out of your bed during naptime and started playing with your toys. I quickly put you back in bed a la Super Nanny and leave the room. Usually I only have to put you back in bed once or twice. But Christmas Day? Oh my GOSH. I didn't keep count, but it had to be upwards of 50 times. And you were MAD. I stood outside your door on the other side of the baby gate and waited for you to open the door and holler for someone to get you. You'd see me standing there and get even madder. Thankfully I was in the kind of mood to where it was almost funny, how determined you were to out-stubborn me. Let me tell you something, little love. I will NOT be out-stubborn'd by a toddler. A saying I've adopted over the past few months is "I do not negotiate with terrorists!" And at times, you're a little toddler terrorist. A cute little toddler terrorist. But a toddler terrorist nonetheless. And I mean that with all the love in my heart.

And since you've been born, the love in my heart has grown exponentially. We'll talk about what 'exponentially' means next year.

Hugs and smooches,
Mommy & Daddy

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Headlines for January 1, 2011:

• World Welcomes 2011; Million in Times Square
• US dollar seen rising in 2011 after rough 2010
• 6 Dead in Rare New Year's Eve Twister Outbreak
• Brazil to swear in 'Iron Lady' as first woman president
• Lindsay and Mel top worst moments
• Oprah's network announces host contestants
• Christmas trees bum non-Christians out, study shows