Picture with Santa

Last year when we took Peyton to get her picture with Santa it hadn't even crossed my mind that she might be scared of him.  So when we placed her in his lap and she lost it I was very surprised.  Of course I wanted to buy the picture with her looking all pretty in her little Christmas dress with a big smile on her face but the picture that we ended up getting was far from that....she was crying and had her arms reaching out for us to come save her from this scary strange man.   At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy the picture that they had taken of my little girl looking so upset, but then everyone told me that I had to.....that one day I would look back at that picture and it would be one of my favorite pictures of her with Santa.  Well I did buy the picture, and while I don't know that it will be my favorite picture, I do think that it will be funny for Peyton to one day look back at and see how upset she was to be sitting on the jolly ole man's lap.  All of that said, I was determined that we were not going to end up with the same response this year when we took her to see Santa.  As soon as Thanksgiving was over, Matt and I started talking up Santa to her, trying to get her excited about seeing him.  Then, when I saw that Blue Willow was having an Elf Magic Party and Santa was going to be there I jumped at the opportunity to buy a ticket so she could see him.  Well the day of the party came and I got Peyton all dressed up in her cute smocked dress and red puddle jumpers and was so excited to see if things had improved from last year.  Unfortunately, they hadn't.  Once she saw Santa and realized that she was going to be sitting on his lap she started crying and clinging to Matt.  Although Matt was able to get her  to let go long enough to sit her in Santa's lap, she was having no part of staying there so we quickly jumped in the picture too.  Needless to say, this picture didn't turn out much better than the one last year.  I wasn't too discouraged just yet because it wasn't even December and I knew that we still had some time to turn things around.

Over the course of the next month, we continued to talk about Santa to Peyton, watching lots of Christmas moves and reading Christmas books.  One day I met my mom at Brookwood mall and while Peyton and I were waiting to meet up with her at the food court, I pushed P over in her stroller to take a peek at Santa.  He was super nice and pulled out a candy cane for her so we strolled up to him to say hello.  He started talking to Peyton, asking her what her name was and what she wanted for Christmas.  She wasn't too sure about him but did manage to take the candy cane and whisper "thank you" without shedding any tears!  Yay for us!  Our victory was short lived....a couple of weekends after that Matt and I took Peyton and two of our nephews, Will and Andy to see Santa at Vestavia Country Club.   I just knew that if P went with Will and Andy to see Santa that she would be fine and she was, just up until it came time for their turn.  Once again she started crying and clinging to Matt.  Matt placed P on Santa's lap and her cousins stood on either side and I started snapping away hoping to get a cute picture of the three of them.  While it didn't turn out to be the most successful photo op, Peyton did sit in Santa's lap long enough for us to get a picture and she didn't get as upset as she had at the Blue Willow.

We ended up having yet another opportunity for P to see Santa at Matt's work Christmas Party.  Although she was a little hesitant and didn't really smile, Peyton did sit with Santa for a good 2 minutes or so and never cried.....maybe she was finally starting to warm up to him after all!

Now that Peyton had seen Santa almost a handful of times, it was finally time to put her cute little Christmas dress on and take her to get her picture made with Santa at Brookwood Mall like we had the previous two years.  Since we waited until almost the last minute (two days before Christmas), there was a small line when we got there but thankfully it moved fast and we didn't have to wait too long.  I was fully prepared that Matt and I might have to get in the picture in order to get Peyton to actually sit on Santa's lap, but once Matt placed her in Santa's lap she seemed okay so we stepped back and I started snapping photos.  Peyton did such a great job!!  She even told Santa what she wanted for Christmas when he asked.....candy corn haha!  Guess all of our hard work finally paid off! Here's hoping next year that first time's the charm!

"Look Baby"

It's kind of sad to admit this, but we still have paper blinds up in the front windows of the house. This morning I noticed that Peyton was holding her baby doll and was trying to lift the paper blind up so she could look out the window. I pinned the blind up so she could see, and watched as she held her baby up to the window. Just when I thought my heart couldn't handle any more sweetness, I heard Peyton say "Look baby, what do you see outside?" At that, my heart turned into complete mush!! I immediately pulled out my camera to take a picture but little did I know that Miss P was in the mood for modeling today. As I was putting the camera up Peyton said "Mommy take a picture of me." So almost 50 pictures later I have lots of images to remind me of the sweet innocence of my little 2 year old girl......

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Big Girl Potty

We were supposed to have Peyton's 2 year pictures taken this morning but the photographer came down with the stomach bug at the last minute so we had to cancel. So when Peyton woke up I was in an extra good mood because we had no plans for the day!!! This meant we could do whatever we wanted (which seems to rarely be the case these days). Well it started off like most days, with me bringing Peyton to lay down in my bed to watch a few minutes of Mickey Mouse when I noticed that her nighttime diaper was still dry. I asked her if she wanted to go potty and she said yes so we quickly made our way to her bathroom because I just knew that if she had held it all night that she MUST have to go any second. We put her little potty seat on the big potty and I lifted her up onto it and even turned the water on for good measure. We read 3 or 4 books and still no tee-tee!!! I wasn't ready to give up yet so I kept stalling trying to keep her entertained so that she would continue to be content sitting on the potty. As we were singing Patty Cake, Patty Cake I heard it....she was going tee-tee on the potty!!! Yay for Peyton!!! I don't know that she really understood what was going on but I was super excited and kept clapping for her and telling her how proud I was. Afterwards, she got off the potty, we washed her hands, and ran to tell daddy the big news. Then she got a special treat of some chocolate and we called GP and Granddad (even though it was nice and early) because we knew that they would be excited to hear the news as well. I know that we still have a long way to go with potty training, but I sure was one proud Momma this morning!

24 Months...aka 2 YEARS!!!

Man have I been dreading writing this post. Not so much because I am sad that my baby is now 2, but mostly because she is full of energy and so sweet and so much fun that I don't know that there is anything that I can write that will truly describe what a joy Peyton is to Matt and I.  Peyton really is such a special little girl. She loves to laugh, sing, and dance. She has also became such a little snuggler, oftentimes wanting to sit and snuggle on the couch with me.  She still LOVES to be held, and says "hold you" all of the time.  I have to admit that I do love that she still wants to be held but she sure is getting heavy!!! She is OBSESSED with the movie TANGLED. We watch it at least once a day! This seems to be our theme---Peyton becomes very attached to a movie or a song and then she wants to see/hear it all of the time. We have rotated between Doc McStuffins, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (specifically Mickey Mouse in Wonderland), and now Tangled as far as TV shows go. As for songs, I think it started with "Happy Birthday" and "Row Row Row your Boat," and now it is "Yo Ho Mickey" (which Peyton calls "Ho Ho Mickey.")  

As usual, this little girl is talking up a storm! However, she is now starting to put multiple words together and is even starting to speak in short sentences. She's pretty good about saying "please" when she wants something (i.e.: "down please") and almost always says "bless you" when someone sneezes or "excuse you" when she hears her daddy burp :) She used to love to take baths but now prefers to take a shower with me.  She still is not big on taking naps but continues to be an excellent sleeper in the car!  Thus our current nap routine...let P fall asleep in the car, whether it be after I pick her up from school or we run errands and I time it so that we head back home around the time she typically gets tired; we come home and I park the car in the garage (engine off of course) and I run inside and make sure all of the phones are either out of the room or turned off; then I very carefully unbuckle her and hold my breath while I get her out of the carseat, praying that I will manage to get her back inside and on the couch without waking up.  Most of the time this works, and I just lay on the couch holding her and watching TV while she naps.  I'll admit this is not the best thing to do but at this point I am just so thankful that she will take some kind of nap that I don't really care how it happens. She still loves her paci which she refers to as "noney" and although I said that it would be gone by the time she was two we are really no where near that.  It's really hard to think about taking something away from her that she loves so much, not to mention it's something that easily comforts her when she is upset.  The day that we take "noney" away is going to be hard on ALL of us.

 We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, sweet, happy little two year old and can't wait to see what the next year brings.  WE LOVE YOU P!!!

2 Year Stats:

Height: 36 inches (90-95th percentile)

Weight: 27 lbs. (50th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18.25 inches

23 Months

One month to go and my baby will be 2 years old!  So hard to believe!  In fact, I catch myself thinking that she is already two because it's easier to tell people she's almost two than to say she's 23 months when they ask me how old she is.  Anyways, there haven't been a lot of crazy changes between this month and last month, but this little girl definitely has an opinion!  Last month I had written about how she said "no" to everything and how she was showing a definite preference to Matt.  Some of that has seemed to go away this month.  Overall, I feel like she is generally more agreeable to things and not as adamant that Matt do everything for her.  She has started wanting to sit in the "big girl chair" which is one of the barstools instead of her high chair.  Every once in awhile she will surprise us and ask to sit in the high chair but 90% of the time she sits in one of the barstools at the kitchen counter.  At first we made sure that one of us was always sitting in one of the stools next to her but we have gotten a little more creative and will put her in one of the inside barstools and then push a stool up on either side of her to block her in.

Pretending to go to sleep

P is still very active and loves to play outside these days.  She enjoys blowing bubbles, although I use that term loosely when it comes to Peyton's version of blowing bubbles.  Although if she blows hard enough she can actually blow a few bubbles, she generally likes to hold the bubble wand and spin around and let the bubbles float out that way.  She also likes drawing with sidewalk chalk and just running around the driveway.  Some afternoons I will just sit outside on the front porch while she runs back and forth on the driveway.  If Ellie is out there with us, Peyton will chase her around---this provides endless entertainment (and giggles) for Peyton.  We also like to take Ellie for a walk around the our neighborhood.  Where Peyton was once willing to be pushed around in her little pink car, she now wants to "walk" like a big girl.  I have to admit that I am pretty impressed that she will walk the entire loop, although she will say "hold you" at least once before we make it back home.  Peyton has been jumping for a couple of months but can now actually get both feet off of the ground.  She can also kick a ball with little effort and has started trying to catch a big ball.  Needless to say we are definitely enjoying the weather and are spending a good bit of time playing outside.  I can't wait to see what this next month brings!

Patting the bunny

22 Months

This is such a fun and at the same time challenging age!  Peyton is so interactive and funny and makes us laugh all of the time.  But she also definitely has an opinion and says "no" quite often.  Sometimes I wonder if "yes" is even in this girl's vocabulary!  On just about a daily basis I hear "no crib," "no clean diaper," "no read books," "no bath," "no cheese" (or whatever food I have asked her if she wants to eat.  She doesn't like brushing her teeth these days and is very opinionated as to which pajamas she wants to wear at night.  Oh, and she has a definite opinion on who does what around here---"daddy do it!" or "baby do it!"  Most nights she wants Matt to bathe her and do bedtime but every once in awhile she will ask for me to do it.

On the fun side of things, she is super girly and I LOVE IT!  She loves carrying a purse, talking on her pretend phone, wearing her sunglasses, having tea parties, and playing with her babies.  We have started drawing outside on the driveway with chalk and this has quickly become one of her favorite activities.  She also enjoys coloring inside and playing with stickers.  I can't figure out yet what I think she is going to be into as she gets older, but she absolutely LOVES music and always has.  She loves dancing and is constantly asking for me to turn music on for her.  She has also started trying to jump although most of the time she can't quite get both feet off of the ground.  She likes to do forward flips on the floor which makes me wonder if she would like gymnastics.  She gets super excited to see both sets of grandparents, and is constantly asking to go to GP and Granddad's house or call Nana and Pops on the ipad.  And speaking of ipad...this is something that she has started playing with that I have mixed feelings about.  Apparently Matt showed her how to "play" Angry Birds one day, and I use the term "play" very loosely, and now she wants to play "birds" ALL of the time whether it's on the ipad or one of our iphones.  She knows how to unlock the screen on our phones and can open the app for Angry Birds and several other games although she can't really play any of them by herself.  A few other games that she likes to open on the ipad/iphone are a paper toss game where you try to throw a piece of paper into a trash can, a golf game where she likes to watch the demo at the beginning of the game, and a sounds game where three items are shown and you hear a noise and then touch the item that corresponds with the sound (this game she can actually play and I justify it by fact that she is kind of learning something right!?!?)

 Something that I am super proud of is that P can count to 10!  In fact, she has even counted up to 13 all by herself!  We are working on colors now but she likes to call everything pink and when I say it's not pink she says "purple."  She also has started singing along to her music in the car and every once in a while will just bust out singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."  She has gotten very good at saying "thank you" and she even says "bless you" when I sneeze.  I am constantly amazed by Peyton and am so thankful to have been blessed with such a sweet child.

"I'm Ready!"

This morning P and I had a late start---she didn't wake up until 8:20!!  Well truth be told she actually woke up at 7 but when I got her out of her crib she laid her head down on me like she was still tired so I laid her down in my bed and I laid next to her and she drifted back to sleep almost immediately.  Once she was up we hurried and ate breakfast and got dressed because we were meeting my cousin and his twin boys at the Birmingham Museum of Art for a playdate.  My cousin had told me that it was pretty cold there so I had packed P a sweater in her diaper bag, and as I was finishing getting everything ready for us to leave she asked to put her sweater on so that's what I did.   Then I turned my back to get something and when I turned back around she was standing there with her purse on her shoulder, the phone in one hand, and her lovey in the other.  This little girl CRACKS me up!!!

McWane Center

This morning we met my sister-in-law Becky and her three boys at the McWane Center.  The only other time that P has been there was back in February for nephew's birthday party so I was excited to see what she would think about it since that was several months ago.  We didn't get far from our house before I turned around to see this

Peyton took an 1.5 hour nap last night at 5:45 and didn't settle down until 9:30pm and then was up early this morning at 6:15 (she doesn't normally wake up until 7:30ish).  Needless to say this little girl was tired by the time we got in the car to meet her cousins and Aunt.  I woke her up once we got there and thankfully she was in a good mood.  I knew that we were in for a crowd when I saw three school buses lined up outside and it was confirmed once we made our way inside the building.  We headed upstairs to the Dora the Explorer exhibit first.  Peyton was pretty much all over the place, moving from one thing to the next.....until she saw the big yellow car.  The car was about the only place that she stayed for more than 5 minutes.  She didn't like sharing the car with other kids though.  If another kid came up and wanted to sit with her she would have a fit.  Likewise if she got up and went to sit back in the car and couldn't because the seat was already taken.  Looks like we are going to have a time learning to share our toys and give others a turn.

 P also enjoyed playing in the "rainforest" with her cousin Will.  Will loved to show me how easily he could make P laugh saying "It's easier to make Peyton laugh than it is to make Jack laugh."  Jack is Will's 9 month old brother who hung out in his stroller most of the time and barely made a peep.  She also really liked the little purple slide that was just the right size for her.

After we had had enough of playing upstairs, we headed down to the first floor to play in the indoor playground area.  Peyton started off wanting to play in the big water table but after she tried to drink the water and climb into the water I decided that we needed to find something else to occupy her so we joined Will and Andy in the giant spaceship.  After playing in there a little while we made our way down to the aquarium where we checked out the sharks and the octopus.  By this time everyone was starting to get tired and hungry so we wrapped things up and headed home.  I think that a great time was had by all!