Hi Hi HEAVEN!!!

I still contend that I do not live in a "kid-friendly" city. I typically have to drive at least 30 minutes to attend most kidcentric events. But after all of my complaining, Dallas FINALLY opened a Disney Store in Northpark Mall (not that it had anything to do with said complaining). And it is, in true Dallas/Northpark Mall fashion, 100% over the top ... and awesome!!! In fact, I may never again have to go further than Northpark Mall to entertain my child ... and more than once the thought has crossed my mind to try to get a part time position in the store to get a discount (not to mention I think it would be a seriously fun place to work!)

At first, Kendall was a bit overwhelmed and wouldn't even let go of my hand. Then I thought she was going to blow a gasket! There were Mickeys and Minnies of EVERY shape and size. There was a walk-in princess castle that had lots of mirrors, one of which spoke. There was a crawl-through Mickey Mouse Clubhouse complete with buttons, noises, and all sorts of flashy contraptions. AND there was an entire wall onto which a wide variety of Disney movie clips, shorts, and music videos were continuously played. Kendall wasted no time filling up her arms (and stroller) with loot. Amazingly, we wound up purchasing only a pair of Mickey Mouse Christmas jammies ... and a big stuffed Minnie Mouse in "jam jam jam pajamas." I almost succeeded in getting that back on the shelf with the stuffed Mickey, but then realized that it was soaked with Kendall spit, so it became hers. I wonder how long it will take her to capitalize on the concept that once you chew on something, it becomes yours?

After a good hour in the store, Kendall finally climbed into her "seat" and was ready to "go eat." Of course, her loot had to ride in her lap. And, of course, we had to return to the store not once, but twice before leaving the mall was an option!

Can't Christmas stick around a little longer this year?

Because THIS is a view that absolutely melts me!

Post-worthy occasion

Just a short note to mark the date of December 5th, 2010 as the day when "Mick" officially became "MickEY" to Kendall, and I officially became "Mommy!" Not sure why, but all of a sudden, Mickey Mouse (who had been inexplicably referred to as "Mick" for months) gained a syllable AND all of a sudden "Mama" became "Mommy!" I was beginning to fear being called "Mama" forever and it's just a bit too backwoods country-bumpkin for me so if that happened, I was going to insist that Chris be called "Paw."

Also, a little light bulb came on in her little head and she now uses pronouns properly when referring to herself. Which is actually kind of sad because I was getting a real kick out of her pointing at herself and saying "You!" Now she either says "I" or "Me." Grammar lessons to begin promptly! :)

Santa Visit #1 of 2010. It's a No Go.

Kendall was accompanied to the neighborhood Children's Christmas party by Mommy, Daddy, Nana AND Saba (who is still being called "Saza"). I really tried to build up the idea of Santa this year. We've read books about him. We've looked at lots of pictures of him. We've watched lots of tv shows about him. And the afternoon of the "pahty," Kendall woke up from her nap ALL excited to go see Santa! Just before we went into the tent, I asked her again, "Who are we going to see?" The answer was an enthusiastic "Saaantaaa!!!!" Then we walked in. And the smile disappeared. Then we got in line to see Santa and the concerned looks in his general direction began. She was very quiet in line. Then it was finally our turn. I posed with my camera as Nana (her choice) carried her up to Santa. Then the screaming started. I'm not sure when it started, but it was LOUD! There was no way she was going anywhere near the fat man in red, much less sit on his lap. I even tried sitting on his lap (sorry Santa!) to show her how unscary he was but to no avail. Here is the one shot I got of her "visit" with Santa:

After this was taken, my mommy instincts must've taken over because I put the camera down to tend to my child. Although it seems like the appearances of these instincts are becoming more and more fleeting, it's nice to know they still exist somewhere in me!

So we spent our time at the party decorating (and eating) cookies. And candy canes. And pretzels. And goldfish. And drinking from our very first juice box (and last if I can help it - I could feel my own teeth rotting from the one sip I took).




This is how Daddy spent his time at the party.
And this is how Saba spent his time at the party. He was the designated Bo Bear keeper while cookies (and any person within Kendall's armspan) were being decorated.
Then we were given the idea of maybe standing behind Santa for a picture.
It's just not gonna happen this year. Poor Santa. He was screamed at a lot today.
Kendall spent the rest of the day and evening saying "No Santa." And "Santa. I cry." Yes, yes you did. Actually, you screamed as if you were being eviscerated.

The Great Jello Shampoo!

Kendall decided to shampoo her hair in strawberry jello. It smelled quite nice, but the texture (and color) left a bit to be desired! Please pardon the first few pictures. I had my new camera (yes, another one!) on the wrong setting so the color is off.

No more zip-up jammies!

The title above is the mildest of what I wanted to entitle this post. And, although I DID take pictures of the incident, I do not feel that it is necessary or appropriate to make them public. Long story short, Kendall decided to "help" change her poopy diaper last night. Sometime in the night or early morning, she unzipped her jammies, removed one leg, and then her diaper. Then she removed ALL of the poop pellets from the diaper (that was then allowed to stay in the crib once it was emptied) and tossed the pellets out of her crib. The term "tossed" should be construed loosely because, judging by the placement of some of the pellets on the far side of her bedroom, she was practicing her pitching skills. This, of course, had to happen on a morning that I was working so when I went in to get her, I was showered, made up, and wearing a nice skirt suit. I suppose I should be thankful for several things.
(A) She was slightly constipated so the poop was in pellet form.
(B) She did not pee on herself (or the sheets, blankets and about 10 stuffed animals in her crib) following the removal of the diaper.
(C) Her father was not the one getting her up this morning. This would have done him in!

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year at Grandmother and Pops' house! Kendall did very well ... although I'm sure it helped that no one complained that her diet that evening consisted of a couple bites of stuffing, bread, cranberry sauce, strawberry jello, grapes, and a cupcake. I made sure she'd had a decent lunch so she could enjoy her Thanksgiving feast without nagging parents pushing meat and veggies on her. She was quite excited about getting into her seat!

Then she patiently (and I use that term loosely) waited for her dinner to be served. Note the turkey day bib made by Nana.


After dinner it was time to play with Mommy's shoes. The child is a shoe-aholic already!

I was a tad stunned to see that she can actually walk in high heeled shoes that are 3 times the size of her foot!

As an added bonus, cousins Mason and Maya (Kendall collectively refers to them as "Mice") came by with Aunt Amy and Uncle Brian. Kendall had a blast playing with them! And, of course, eating dessert with them.

"Yummy cupcake!" Apparently all cupcakes are now called "Mick-cakes" regardless of whether or not they have a Mickey face or ears on them.

Although these pictures might give the impression that Kendall "wound down" at all at the end of the evening ...

She, in fact, did not. We left very close to 8:00 (her bedtime) and I really thought she'd sleep in the car. I even let her have a binkie, Bo Bear, and her Mick blankie! Not so much. She repeated "Home. Eat. More." the entire ride home. So when we got home, she had some dry cereal. How she possibly stuffed any more in that little body I do not know. She finally fell asleep right around 9:00.

It was a very nice evening! The food was fabulous and the company was wonderful. And the entertainment (Kendall) was, as always, worthy of an award!