"No George"

Gracie had a stomach ache one morning and did not go to school. While recuperating, she played with William George.  Since George is accustomed to having all of the toys to himself during the day, he had trouble accepting Gracie's input.  One thing led to another, and Gracie drew a "no George" sign for the kitchen. 

In case there was any misunderstanding about whose face she had drawn, she wrote his name on the back.  "This note is for you, George.  No George!" 

George took a morning nap after their disagreement.  Then Gracie and I decided that her stomach was feeling much better, and she went to school at 9:30.  Her sign, however, remained on the kitchen all day. 

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Goodbye

Nah, nah, nah, nah
Nah, nah, nah, nah
Hey, hey, hey
Go-odbye

Gracie's top right tooth is literally dangling and will probably fall out any day now.  I thought she would climb into the car yesterday with a space in her smile and her tooth in a Ziploc bag. 

That tooth has been loose for a long, long time.  Gracie isn't big on wiggling her loose teeth, and she prefers to just let her adult tooth push the baby tooth out. 

When that happens, there will be screams and wails throughout the region because Lauren will be unable to handle Gracie's third visit from the Tooth Fairy. 

Lauren asks us to feel her teeth to see if they are loose, but they are all still solidly in place.  We tell her that, yes, of course, there are some loose ones...

...but that sometimes they will stay in place for a long, long, loooong time. 

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L&G: Sixth Year Photos

At the end of September, information was sent home from school about portrait day. From the outset, I was skeptical, but I dutifully sent the girls to school in a picture-appropriate outfit and encouraged them to smile their best.

Back when I worked I used to long for the opportunity to have candor... to be able to say, "You're not serious, are you?" during telephone calls, etc. During the photo exchanges, I longed for the same honest discussion. For example, I should have sent a note to the photographer saying, "Give it your best shot." Or, to be more realistic, it should have read, "Good luck to you."  Likewise, when the proofs came home, there should have been a note affixed that said, "This was the best we could do." And then I could have responded, "There's no way I'm ordering these."

To be clear, I am speaking about the absurdity of trying to get children to cooperate and smile during photos, and am not being critical of the photographers themselves. Honestly, I cannot imagine having to photograph several hundred children. About 10 children into the session, I would snap and use my camera strap as a weapon.

 Anyrate, that is the back story leading up to the girls' six year old portraits.  One Sunday morning, they cooperated for about 10 minutes, and we were able to document their six year old selves for all of posterity. 

The Duo

 

 

 Gracie
 

 

Lauren

 

 

 

Some of the outtakes, including the fashion pose (with accessories):

 

 

A little photo bomb action from George:

 

The famous smile:

Am I the only one wondering why he never smiles that enthusiastically on his photo day?

Her Loveliness

Princess Radiance

 

And before you think this was a calm, peaceful moment on a typical Sunday morning, I should disclose that William George learned to climb the steps alone during the 10 minutes we spent on photographs.  I was taking the last photos when I heard the keyboard start playing upstairs, and had to sprint to the top of the stairs to intercept him on his way down.  Crisis averted. 

 

Whew.

Enumerated Update

Happy Monday, friends.  This is a belated version of the update. 

1)  The Game:  I am at a loss for words about the SEC Championship game.  I didn't even watch the game and am still speechless.  We decided during lunch that we would purposefully busy ourselves during the game.  Therefore, we decided to pick up our Christmas tree instead of watch the game.  True story.  After running some errands, we even rode around for a bit to keep from coming home.  When we were out of things to do, we came home, and Skip checked in on the game during the third quarter.  He was immediately sucked in, whereas I continued to deflect information about the game and divert my attention. 

Deflect and divert. 

Once Skip confirmed the win, our evening was much more calm. 

2)  Trees:  As of this writing, our main Christmas tree is still not up.  This is unthinkable.  The upstairs has been decorated for two+ weeks.  George's tree and the girls' trees have long since been finished.  We tackled the exterior illumination this weekend.  Our delay is mostly due to contemplating getting a real tree this year.  After going back and forth on the decision, we are delaying the live tree for when we need to inject some new energy into our holiday festivities when the monkeys are older. 

3)  Bears Repeating:  Today is December 3rd, and our main Christmas tree is not yet up. 

UNPRECEDENTED.

4)   Over/Under:  I am aiming for a tree lighting ceremony by noon tomorrow.  Does anyone want to take the over/under?

5)  Christmas Cards:  We received our first card at the beginning of last week from one of Skip's friends from work.  You know the type... a total overachiever... insanely competent.  Needless to say, our card is a mere figment of my imagination, and the thought, the very idea, of trying to wrangle all three of those monkeys into a single photo frame makes me twitchy. 

The problem with Christmas creep... with stores bombarding us with the Christmas spirit... is that by December 3rd we feel woefully behind. 

6)  Shopping:  On the bright side, I am almost finished shopping. 

7)  Apologies:  This has devolved into a think-out-loud Christmas to-do list, hasn't it?

8)  Inspiration:  We had our rescheduled (due to George's illness) Thanksgiving lunch with my Dad and Stepmother yesterday.  Their home is a Christmas wonderland, and my children are revolting over the lack of main tree.  If they get wise to the fact that their other grandparents have also finished decorating, I will never hear the end of it. 

How is your list coming?  Are you finished with decorations?  Cards ordered?  Mailed???  Where are you in the shopping continuum? 

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Friday's Quote

Gros Morne National Park on Heritage

I dwell in possiblities.

-Emily Dickinson

Mild

Skip and a colleague often compare notes about their weekends, how they spent their time, etc.  In the summer months, we are unbelievably jealous of the mild temperatures he and his family enjoy in Minnesota.  On the flip side, we have mild winters and the occasional warm weekend during the winter months.  Clearly, we need to summer in the north and winter in the south. 

The above photos were taken a few weeks ago when we had an 81 degree day in October.  Tomorrow's high is 70 degrees.  Normally, we would love the mild weather, but I always find myself grumbling if I break a sweat while putting up the outside Christmas decorations. 

George's illness from Thanksgiving is making its way through the family.  Accordingly, we may opt for a very quiet, recuperative weekend.  What about you?  What are your weekend plans?

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WGL, 16 Months

Dear William George,

You turned 16 months old back on November 12th. I had not planned to use these shots as your monthly photo, but you have managed to keep one or more bruises on your noggin the entire month of November. So... these are the official photos.

 

Your new interest in climbing has been the impetus for all the bruises. You found the steps leading to our rather large, king sized bed, and you scamper up the steps and them jump up and down on the bed like it's your personal trampoline. You also like to climb on top of the ottoman in the family room, and that exercise never ends well. Finally, when access to those heights are restricted, you will settle for jumping up and down on throw pillows. Surprisingly, you still manage to fall and strike your head. We have considered putting a bicycle helmet on your head at all times. 

You talk constantly, and you say all kinds of words... too many to name.  A few recent favorites include elf, Zippy, Christmas tree, show, music, etc.  You have been saying "mine" for a while now, but that one continues to be your all-time favorite.  You will go and find your sisters' favorite, prized possessions and then stand in front of them, holding it, saying "mine" over and over.  They will argue back, saying, "Mine," but you usually win.  Mine!  Mine!!  Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnneeee!!! 

You are a scamp. 

You also love your sisters' piano (really, a keyboard).  Out of all the many keys and buttons, you can turn on the power and find the button for the recorded accompaniment music.  Of course, you can adjust the volume; that's no challenge at all.  Then you jump up and down while the music is playing.  We think you look like KC from KC and the Sunshine Band, and I have been trying to capture your little performances on video.  You wisely cease all movement once the camera is on you... somehow you know the evidence will haunt you later in life. 

Over the last month or so you have made life much more lively around here, and we love you for it.  Although we want you to keep from hurting yourself and others, we cannot wait to see what you do next. 

Love,
Mommy

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Book Proposal

Last week's emergency room visit has me pondering an idea for a new book.  I'm still working on a title, but I'm toying with "How to Amuse a Toddler:  Making the Contents of a Purse Seem Fascinating". 

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Elf on the Shelf

Santa sent our very own Elf on the Shelf this year.  We found our elf on the front porch last Friday evening.  We have no idea how he arrived, but he has been having all kinds of fun.  We decided to simply leave the box opened on the counter, and let "Zippy" (Gracie named him) make himself at home. 

I grabbed my phone to record the first interaction with Zippy:


Elf on the Shelf from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Once the newness wore off, they grasped the idea that Zippy has the ability to report their behaviors to Santa over the next month.  In keeping with their unique personalities, Gracie approaches Zippy with near contempt (we can almost hear Mellencamp's "Authority Song" playing in her head), while Lauren charms Zippy and is forever scheming ways to manipulate his influence with Santa. 

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Thanksgiving Update

This is the space I would normally use to bombard you with photos from Thanksgiving... pictures of the trio decked out in their Thanksgiving clothes, traveling to see family and having a grand old Thanksgiving time.  This year, however, I don't have any of those photos to share. 

Sure, we were ready for those photos.  We had our nice clothes ready, and our bags were packed for a trip to Atlanta to visit family.  We had planned to have my mom and Aunt over Saturday for a casual Thanksgiving/watching-the-game festivities.  And on Sunday, we had lunch plans with my dad.  To kick things off, Skip and I spent ALL DAY Wednesday packing our entire house for our two-day Atlanta excursion.  Suitcases were packed, the cars were cleaned (inside and out), and all the items we could think of to help restrain George (the high chair, pack and play, gates, etc.) were ready to be loaded. 

Then we realized George had a fever, and we administered Motrin.  Three hours later, when he seemed even warmer, we gave him Tylenol.  When his temp reached 103, we called his doctor, and then headed to the emergency room.  When they took his vitals, they confirmed his fever was 104.2.  He was diagnosed with acute croup, given a steroid and sent back home.  We finally got back home and settled into bed at 2:00am on Thanksgiving Day.

We quickly ruled out our scheduled travel for Thanksgiving day, but thought we might could travel Friday, for an abbreviated trip, if he improved.  Our little monkey did not improve.  He slept and slept, but, when he was awake, he was pitiful.  He never got the anticipated burst of energy from the steroid, and his appetite never increased, as they told us it would.  We canceled all plans, and we ended up taking George to our pediatrician's office Saturday morning, where he was diagnosed with a virus and bilateral ear infections.  He is still working on feeling better. 

We were initially bummed about our canceled plans -- especially the girls.  We explained to them that they were on Thanksgiving break, and that we needed to make the most of it, even if we did need to stay home to take care of George.   The holiday took on a sitcom quality when we started making our Thanksgiving meal.  Since had not planned to be home for our meal, we did not have a turkey or a ham, for that matter.  In fact, we had not shopped for any groceries.  We went with baked chicken (still in the poultry family, right?), scalloped potatoes, snap peas and corn.  I found four lonely Sister Schubert rolls in the freezer.  Dessert was tricky because I did not have any eggs.  Ultimately, we went with Hershey and lemon pies -- quick and easy.  While George took long naps, the girls rode bikes with Skip in the cul-de-sac, and they played in the basement for hours.  They watched the Kit Kittredge movie many, many times, and I could hear them concoct their own Kit Kittredge and Caroline Abbott scenarios.  When we needed to run an errand to the pharmacy, we drove around and looked at Christmas lights, and we found our Elf on the Shelf on our front porch when we got back home.  Our Elf has been keeping us amused, as we never know what he is going to get into next. 

After George's appointment Saturday morning (Skip would like credit for taking George for his recheck :-) and when cabin fever was beginning to settle in, Skip took the girls to Chick-Fil-A for lunch and some serious time in the indoor play area.  He gets triple points for this activity because a) it was hours before the Iron Bowl (when he could have been watching all of the pre-game shows) and b) because it was a crowded, crazy, mad house at CFA. 

Our holiday was not the Thanksgiving we had planned, and I am sure this week resembled nothing like what Skip had in mind for his vacation.  We definitely missed all of our family, and we will try to regroup and see everyone soon. The girls were especially disappointed, but we tried to have a great week and holiday anyway.  While we certainly wish George had felt better, we were able to enjoy ourselves because he was able to rest peacefully.  We got to spend so much time with Gracie and Lauren which is a real treat because our time with them has seemed scarce since school started.  We got to see their imaginations run wild with their Kit and Caroline stories, and we got to see their wonderment over our tiny Elfin guest.  They watch him for minutes on end and then SWEAR they detect some movement!

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you have a traditional holiday, or did you celebrate in an unusual way?  Or, like us, did something derail your plans altogether? 

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Friday's quote

Via Fotopedia

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object.

-Thomas Jefferson