Christmas Recap

Oh, how we loved and adored Christmas this year! 

On Christmas Eve the first set of Grandparents showed up.  She was thrilled! 

Then after mass, we whipped up a quickie batch of reindeer food (oatmeal, Christmas sprinkles and colored sugars).  Megan was so excited, she threw handfuls of it out into the driveway and on the lawn.  "Come here reindeers! Bring Santa Sweigh here!"  

My mom and I wrapped until 1am.  The tree was teeming with gifts.  We giggled like little schoolgirls.  When Megan went to bed there was not one gift under the tree.  Nothing.  Just her Little People Nativity and Santa Train.   

Here she is on Christmas Eve right after mass and before reindeer food.  

Tree with gifts.

  

Megan was the first to awaken on Christmas morning at 8:30 am.  She called me from her crib and the first thing she said to me was "I put out the reindeer food for the reindeers!"

I quickly dumped her on my bed so Jeff could distract her while I got the camera and video cameras ready.  She was not happy about that, but as soon as I said go, she raced down the hallway and ran to the tree.  She did not know what to make of all of the gifts surrounding the tree.   It took her a few seconds to decide she was overwhelmed.  She started to cry.  And talk about the beautiful ornaments on her tree.  :)  Still not believing that Santa came.  (That reindeer food stuff is amazing!)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The one thing she had asked Santa for was a Dora book.  Well, Santa took into account Megan's love of flashlights and got her Little Star's Big Adventure.  

It was a truly exciting and overwhelming day for Megan. One of her favorite gifts was a purple cape that my friend from my mom board made for us. (Thank you Cindy!)  I bought her a handmade felt crown from Etsy and voila, she was a princess.  Well, actually, she thought she was Super Bunny (ala Max, from Max and Ruby). 

 

One of the biggest highlights of her day was her Take Along Thomas Roadhouse

My coffee table has officially become the new train table. The gift came with more tracks and trains.  The trains make toot and chug sounds.  The train set is the first thing she runs to and plays with every morning.  It's a hit! 

After our traditional egg casserole, panetone, coffee and mimosa breakfast.

 

And finally, we all put the gingerbread house together.  

A wonderful Christmas!  We are truly blessed!

Winter Wonderland

We had a blizzard with record snowfalls of 20 inches!!  We have not had this much snow in all the years we have lived here combined.  The good news is that Jeff got to use his "new" snowblower for the first time in 3 years.  :)  The snow started in the wee hours of Saturday morning and fell straight through to this morning.  It was gorgeous. 

Megan was very excited about the snow.  She could not wait to put on her snowsuit and boots and make snowballs. 

 

 

 

Megan's attempt at a snowball fight with Daddy.

Santa Cookies

Not the fanciest of cookies, but Megan was thrilled to be making Santa cookies.  Then we found out that she doesn't really like sugar cookies.  Oh well...

Christmas Party

My mom's group had a Christmas party today and Megan was very excited to attend.  She hummed, "I goin to a party party party..." all the way from the car to the door of the venue.  She cracks me up!

Decorating her Gingerbread Man.
The poor little guy never had a chance!
She did end up decorating another one for her Daddy.  But not before eating a spoonful of mini M&M's!

The cute little paper plate angel Megan made.

(I helped just a little, hee hee)

Listening intently to "The Night Before Christmas"

She just loves the piano. She was playing her version of Jingle Bells.  Or was it Elmo's Song??  (hmmm)

 One of my fave holiday outfits this year.

The Christmas Tree

Megan's artistic interpretation of a Christmas Tree...

1st Santa Visit

We visited Santa just before Thanksgiving.  Megan was, again, in awe of the man in the red suit.  Yet she waited patiently in line and went right up to him and climbed into his lap.  When we had discussed visiting Santa earlier, I asked her what she would tell Santa she wanted for Christmas.  She told me she would ask for Dora book.  But once on Santa's lap, she clammed up until Santa mentioned that he was friends with Dora.  I was floored.  How did Santa know we had discussed Dora?  If my 2.5 year old does not believe, then I DO!!!

Taking Matters Into Her Own Hands

Giving Thanks

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the grandparents in CT. Actually all four grandparents. It was a nice and quiet holiday and Megan had a blast with the attention of 2 sets of grandparents all at once. How did one little girl get so lucky? I did not get pictures of it, but Megan did excellent for her first time in a big-girl bed at Grandma's house. She jumped right in and was so excited, she didn't get to sleep for over an hour in her new bed because she kept rearranging her animals and blankets. "Look at my new bed!" she exclaimed over and over. Thanksgiving was almost like Christmas for her as well. Not only did she have a new bed, the Grandparent's showered her with new toys and new pj's. AND they even took her to see Santa again. She was thrilled.

Thankful for bananas.

She played all the songs she knew and then some.  I think we have a budding musician. 

She just loves instruments.

Soccer with Grandpa

Grandma and Papa visited this weekend and Megan was in heaven. We went out for brunch this morning and since it was so gorgeous when we got back, Megan and Papa had a fun time kicking the soccer ball around. Megan was very sad to see them go. She watched their car, waved and blew kisses until it was out of sight. But we'll see them again sooner than she thinks.

Happy Halloweeeeen!

The past few weeks have been touchy with Megan's Halloween costume. She would love it one day and then hate it a few days later and give me a hard time about getting into it. But today, she asked me to put it on her, no complaints, no arguments. She didn't even complain about wearing a tiara (not the one for the actual costume, she didn't like that one).

This morning when Daddy went to get her out of bed, he told her it was Halloween. She immediately started chanting the song she learned from Dora, "Halloween, Halloween, Trick or Treat. Our costumes can't be beat!" As we went about our errands, she wished everyone we saw a Happy Halloweeeeen and even got a few pieces of candy from cashiers at the stores.

Tonight, as she stepped out the garage door and down the driveway, she was in awe as she entered a Halloween wonderland. There was so much to see, little kids, big kids and even dogs in costumes, big blow up decorations and scarecrows who looked fake, but really talked! (she wasn't scared either, just called them silly!) It took her a moment to recognize her neighborhood friends, but she figured it out pretty quickly. It was truly magical for her and she hummed a little tune from house to house. When we got home, she was done. She dumped out all of her candy on the kitchen floor (just like last year!) and inspected each piece asking "what's that?"

It was so much fun seeing Halloween through her eyes. The holidays have begun. I can't wait until Christmas!


Our little Fairy






So much to see!


A little hesitant before going in the spooky house.

Megan at 2.5 years old

As of today, Miss Megan is 2 years, 6 months and 4 weeks old. WOW! I hardly ever do updates on her stats, but thanks to my fellow Mom board friends (thanks Ladies!), I was reminded that I should probably document something.

Stats: (estimates)
Weight & Length: 32lbs and 35"
Shoe size: 7.58
Clothing: Mostly 3T tops and a mix of 2T and 3T bottoms.

Schedule:
Wake: Anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30 AM
Naps: Ha! Ever since we got rid of the paci we haven't had a decent nap schedule if any nap at all. She will pass out on a car ride and usually I can transfer her to her bed, but it doesn't always work.
Bedtime: Bedtime starts at 8pm. She doesn't get a bath every night because some days we are home all day and she is clean from the night before. We do wash her face and brush her teeth. She then sits with Daddy and a few books. About 8:45, I announce it is bedtime. Megan kisses Daddy, grabs a doll or stuffed animal and runs to bed. She climbs in her crib, gives me a hug and kiss, lays down and waits for me to say, "Sweet dreams, sleep tight..." and she says, "Don't let the bed bugs bite! Love you!" Have I mentioned I love bedtime??

Favorites:
Food: chicken nuggets, french fries, peas, yogurt, cheese sticks, crackers, Nutrigrain bars
Snack: Goldfish, teddy grahams (bear cookies), granola, raisins, craisins, peanuts, petite vanilla scones.
Fruit: Grapes, apples, pears, strawberries, mandarin oranges, bananas
Drink: Milk, water and Ovaltine.
TV Shows: Sesame Street, Max & Ruby, Freshbeats Band, Dora the Explorer, Dinosaur Train
Movies: Let's Make Music, Stuart Little, Little People
Toys: Little People, having tea, playing in her house (cooking, doing laundry)
Activity: Dance class, singing songs with Mommy, taking a walk and exploring nature, coloring and craft projects involving glue, making drum sets out of her toys and bowls, making forts, playing under the covers in Mommy's bed. She LOVES this last one!

Learning:
Letter sounds and counting
Dressing herself correctly (all arms in respective arm holes lol!)
Somersaults and headstands (sometimes it's really scary)
Riding her bike

Recent accomplishments:
Completed ABC song without skipping any letters. (This was too easy which leads me to believe she has known this for awhile and wasn't saying anything just because I asked.)
Is overcoming shyness and will speak to others more readily.

Favorite things she says:
She feeds me my lines. If we have just left dance class, she will say, "Did you have fun at dance class?" which is pretty much my cue to ask her the same question so she can answer it.

She has recently started saying, "suuuuure!" when I ask her if she wants something.


So, this is all I can think of off the top of my head. Look for more updates as others remind me. Ha ha!

Ballet Halloween Party

Today was Megan's Halloween party at ballet class. She did NOT want to wear her fairy costume today. There was screaming and kicking and all sorts of crying. As soon as I showed her her alternative option, she was all for it. The parents were allowed in class today for pictures. They've come a long way since their first class last month! I can see now how the songs and games they play are practice for learning the basics of ballet.

Really cute cupcake costume



Adorable clown



Miss Kitty doing her walk on her tippy toes. She was so proud of herself!



Ring around the Rosy. You can see also Supergirl, a gypsy and Alice in Wonderland here.


At the end of class they had a little parade, decorated a bag and the Mom's went around and gave out treats to the kids. I gave out little bags of Teddy Grahams. Sign of the times. :)

Boo at the Zoo

It finally stopped raining on so we could get to Boo at the Zoo. It was packed! Megan loves crowds of kids and enjoyed collecting treats, making crafts and riding the merry go round.

She had to ride the bird.




What? No more candy? See ya!

If You Can't Beat 'Em...

It has rained every Saturday for the past few weeks. Talk about putting the kabosh on plans for any fun Fall outdoor activities! Today Megan had enough of being inside while it rained. Daddy was working in the garage and Megan and I decided to take a little walk and play in the drizzly rain and puddles in our driveway.

Megs discovered how leaves travel down the stream to the storm drain at the end of our driveway. She had a blast in the rain!

Hey, if you can't beat em, join them in the rain!

Testing out the rain.



OK, here I go!


This is great, but I can't see a thing!


Hey, getting wet is not so bad!


Siiiinging in the rain!