Saturday, December 11, 2010

Santa breakfast

We went to Riley's school last weekend for her Santa Breakfast- you pay $5 and get two little pancakes and a sausage patty- and then the kids can have their picture taken with Santa. Riley was excited about it, and talked about it nonstop last week, so Annie was all about eating breakfast with Santa!

We walked into the cafeteria and no one with with Santa, so we decided to do the picture first. I didn't think Annie would do it, but we decided to try anyway. She had even rehearsed what she was going to ask for- TOYS- so off we went....BIG mistake...she wanted nothing to do with him. She wanted me to carry her (the kid weighs a ton now!), and Riley went right up to sit on his lap but Annie shoved her face in my chest and that was it!



So, we got this great picture of Riley with the big guy, but none for Annie! I am really tempted to go to the mall and get one of those screaming pictures of Annie with Santa, but not really all that excited about paying $20 for it!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Santa is watching....

When we visited Santa’s Village with Grandma and Grandpa Buckley this summer, at the end of the trip, I bought a Santa Letter for Riley….it was all computerized and I selected a few things that we did when we were there, and they would mail a letter to the child before Christmas. And then I forgot I did it!

Yesterday, Riley received it in the mail and she was THRILLED!!!!! It was on Santa’s Village paper and said how much Santa enjoyed their visit this summer and some of the rides that were her favorite and who she visited with….she brought it with her to school today and was going to show all of her friends.

I am so glad that she still believes. I am not sure how many more years she will- probably a few more knowing my child- but I am treasuring each and every wonder through her eyes….

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

She is all WOMAN!!!

Riley's school does a Santa shoppe for the kids in December so that they can buy gifts for their family, which I think is a very nice idea. I can't remember what she got us last year- just small little trinket things, but she has fun doing it!

So, we sent her off with $10 to buy for me, Todd and Annie. Her class went to the shoppe yesterday and she brought the bags home and put them under the tree. But, there were 4 bags. So, Todd and I asked her about it this morning...turns out she had some extra money so she bought something for herself and had the wrap it!!! It is now under the tree!!! Haha! Not sure if she learned that from me, but she is certainly a woman-in-training with that move!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

She is very much TWO

Annie has been…ummmm…asserting her independence lately! She is two. She is very strong-willed and certainly knows her own mind. She has very strong opinions about what she wants (or does not want) to do. And she has subjected us to some massive tantrums of late….wow!

They started off small. A refusal to put on her coat. Wanting to wear a different pair of pants. Things I could either work through or make concessions for. I am a mother who believes in picking her battles. So, if she didn’t want to wear that shirt or those shoes, it was fine. As long as she eventually let me dress her, I didn’t really care what she wore.

Then she started fighting us about dinner time. Dinner is always a rough time I think, for most children. We had fights with Riley when she was this age. I know she is tired, and hungry and just done with the day by that time (and so am I). Couple that with not much attention from me since I am trying to get dinner on the table ASAP- well, it is the perfect storm. But- she now refuses to sit in her seat most nights and if she does (if we make her) she screams and cries the whole dinner and ruins it for the rest of us. We have tried everything, and now I am hoping it is just a phase and it will pass eventually….one can hope!

Mornings are also rough. She gets up ok, but all she wants to do it watch TV! We have a rule that says no TV in the morning downstairs when it is time for breakfast- it distracts them both and then neither of them wants to leave for school. So, Annie pitches her fits and I have to bribe her to eat some breakfast most mornings (today, however, she actually ate some cereal), and then pin her down on the floor to put on her coat, which she never wants to wear (this did happen today!)….then I have to buckle her into Todd’s car, kicking and screaming and he drives off with them….

She is like a little schizophrenic- you never know what you are going to get from one moment to another….I just have to keep reminding myself that she is 2….it is normal….it will pass, right???