Toddler talk

Lately Gabby mixes up when to use the word "take" and she uses it in place of the word "get". It always sounds so cute. For example...

• "Mom, we gonna take a haircut today?" This one always sounds even cuter to me because "haircut" comes out "heya-cut".


• "I don't need eye drops (for pink eye last week). Remember we went and took a shot so I not gonna get sick." She DESPISED the eyedrops and was attempting to negotiate her way out of them. Also, she feels like no additional medicine is needed since her flu shot a couple of months ago.

This one was just plain funny...

• "We gonna go to dinner and then we come home and then it gonna be time to take a sleep."

She still mixes up when to use "I" and "my", and regularly says things like "my playing with this toy" or "my gonna go in the playroom". This one is impossible to correct, because I will say, "Gabby, it's not MY gonna go in the playroom; it's I'M gonna go into the playroom." And she responds with, "No, YOU not gonna go play, MY gonna go play."

Gabby also refers to my dad as "Mimi's friend". Which comes out like...

• "Mom, don't sit there. That chair for Mimi and that other one is for Mimi's friend."


• "Mimi, where'd your friend go??"


• "Mimi sleeps in that bed with her friend!" HA!

And then some other random funnies...

• "I have to hold this book for Sam (our cat) because he don't have any HANDS!!" (She likes to read to him)


• A couple weeks ago before heading to a birthday party, she asked if Sam would get to go with us. I told her no, Sam stays home. She scooted over to where Sam was sitting, started stroking his paw, put on a WAY over the top sad face, and said, "Ohh, Sam, you gonna hafta stay home. You not gonna get to go to the party. (Pause) Yeah, I know you really wanted to go...I sawwy...but you gonna hafta stay here. I know you wanted to come wit us..." This was one of those times when you hear your own voice coming out of your child's mouth...it was hilarious how she was practicing empathy.

Santa success

Our visit to see Santa went better this year than it has in the past. Gabby was ready...she knew what she was going to say when Santa asked what she wants for Christmas ("Pink things. Hello Kitty things and princess things.") So after work on Friday we went to the mall, ate some Chick-fil-A (I was trying to make this as positive an experience as possible), and got in line.

After several minutes in line, Gabby started getting nervous. She quietly said, "I don't wanna tell Santa. I wanna go home." I offered to sit in the chair with her, and that helped. She wanted ME to be the one to "tell Santa" but I told her if she wanted the gifts, she had to tell Santa her list on her own. She decided she was ok with that, as long as I would let her sit in MY lap and not Santa's.

When it was finally our turn, all 3 of us went and squeezed ourselves onto Santa's bench. Gabby instantly got shy, but didn't wig out. She froze for a bit when Santa asked what she wanted, but after I reminded her what we had practiced, she very softly said, "Pink things; Hello Kitty things and princess things." And when Santa asked if she had been a good little girl this year, she nodded and shyly said yes. When it was time for the picture I could feel her relax, and even heard her saying "cheeeeeese" for the camera.



Not bad! Despite her nervousness, she was quite pleased with herself when it was all over. We celebrated with a chocolate chip cookie and a balloon animal (Hello Kitty) in the food court afterwards. I think she will be thoroughly excited on Christmas morning to discover that Santa indeed brought her "pink things, Hello Kitty things, and princess things."

Gaylord ICE

Our friends Allison and Andrew stayed with us last week while they were in town from Denver. Not only was it great to have visitors; Gabby ADORED spending time with the two of them. One morning I listened in as Gabby showed Andrew the contents of one of her drawers (Pull-Ups) and spent no less than 10 minutes describing in great detail the Pull-Ups, the designs on them, her favorite character, and on...and on...and on. And at the end of this monologue, I overheard..."Ok, you want me to show you what's in the NEXT drawer?" And Andrew was so good natured about it..."oh YES, I would like to see the next drawer..." Gabby was in heaven.

One of the highlights of their stay was our visit to the Gaylord Texan. We went to see all the Christmas decorations and to go to the ICE exhibit. I thought ICE was great...especially for Gabby. It was a neat exhibit, but we might have been a bit underwhelmed if it was just us. But Gabby thought it was super cool, which made it a lot more fun. Our tickets were for 5 p.m. on Sunday. We showed up a little early to wait in line, and discovered...there was no line, so we were able to just walk right in. We got ourselves parka'd up and headed into the 9 degree exhibit. There were probably 4 to 6 separate rooms filled with Grinch-themed ice sculptures, with one of those rooms containing the ice slides. They had 3 full sized slides as well as a smaller slide for kids under 4. There was a bit of a crowd in the slide room when we first showed up, but that only translated into a couple minute wait to get on a slide. After we all had the chance to take a few trips down the slide, the lines had died down so much there was hardly any wait at all. Gabby loved the kid slide, and probably made at least 7 or 8 trips down. In general, she just got a kick out of the entire experience. Spending time with the four of us, getting to roam around a HUGE hotel, seeing all of the Christmas decorations, going into the COLD COLD exhibit, sliding, drinking hot cocoa...she had the time of her life.


The Gaylord atrium...so pretty!



This little train village was adorable.



A little fish pond



Oh my word, we are actually ALL smiling!

Allison, Andrew, and Mr. Reindeer

Heading into the exhibit hall...Andrew was really excited.

Gabby cracked me up in this parka. It was the smallest one, and her hands wouldn't come out of the sleeves because the arms were too long. She wanted so bad to touch the ice, but the sleeves were so stiff we couldn't really push them up to free her little hand.

Inside the exhibit

Can you believe this is ALL ice?

The slide room!

Here's Gabby getting queued up to go down the kid slide.

And then...nothing. She INCHED her way down the slide. She was sitting up too straight and her slippery parka wasn't getting enough contact with the ice. Employees at the bottom of the slide were coaching her to wiggle and scoot and she finally made it to the bottom.

So I told her next time to lean back, so her parka would slide down the ice. She took me very literally, and this time she slid down COMPLETELY on her back...a total limp noodle. It was hilarious.

Here's Allison's graceful exit. The big slides went fast if positioned yourself the right way.

So sad...her hat and parka were "bothering" her.

We managed to stay cozy despite the 9 degree temp.

Allison and me

Allison and Andrew are funny.

One final (horribly lit) photo op.

Over it. Ready for her cocoa.

Proud mama

Last night Gabby had her “audition” to move up to the next level Kindermusik class. Well, it wasn’t ACTUALLY an audition…just a trial run to see if she is ready to leave her old “mommy and me” class behind and begin her first “on my own” class.

Gabby is one of the oldest kids in her current class, and would be at the upper end of the age range once she turns 3 next month. And while the next class is for ages 3 to 5, most of the kids are in the 4-ish range…none will have just turned 3 like Gabby.

Miss Jeanie suggested we do a trial run; she said Gabby is definitely on the young side for the next class, but that she might be ready. If it turns out she isn’t ready (or if I just can’t bear it for my “baby” to take a class all by herself yet) she said we would be just fine to continue in our current class for another semester.

So…last night we tested the waters, and Gabby attended the "big kid" class. I had no idea how it was going to go. She does dance by herself and does fine, but there are some weeks where she is definitely *challenging* in Kindermusik…not listening to directions, going off on her own, laying down in the middle of the floor at inopportune times, digging through Miss Jeanie’s supplies on her shelves, etc. So I explained to Gabby in advance how the new class works (she was VERY excited about the idea of doing a class by herself) and how important it was that she listen to Miss Jeanie. She was good to go and ready to try it.

They do 35 minutes on their own, and then the parents join in for the last 10 minutes when the kids share what they have learned, do a little play-acting performance, and sing the goodbye song. As soon as we walked in to join the kids last night, Miss Jeanie gave me a wink and whispered, “She’s ready. No question about it. Totally ready.”

I was BEAMING on the inside! My little girl was BY FAR the tiniest and youngest in the group and I was so proud that she was able to hang with the big kids. I know it wasn’t about “making it” or “not making it”; that it was just about deciding if she was ready, and not being ready wouldn’t be bad. But it did kind of feel like she tried out for something and “made it”…like she passed her test with flying colors. I think I have a predisposition to eventually become a competitive, overbearing stage-mom…I might need to work on that! :)