Honestly, BEST CHRISTMAS EVER

What a great holiday this year.

Freda is 2 1/2 and it was really fun this year. She was old enough to participate in a ton of xmas lore. Behold the almighty Advent calendar. Letters to Santa. Cookies/milk by the chimney with a note. Freda was the 'keeper of the lights' on the tree and got a bit miffed when we did it. She had so much fun decorating the tree (this may become a bigger event in the future), then we made a bunch of ornaments with things like pine cones and wax paper "stained glass" ornaments. Collecting the materials, assembling the materials and then decorating with the final product were 3 different layers of fun. Next year we can do popcorn and paper chains.

Grandma Leslie came up and stayed Christmas eve with us and Freda opened her gifts from family. We enjoyed festive music and snacks. We usually go to my parents house for Christmas eve but we were not able to make it this year. 

Christmas morning was fun and we all got up at 6.am. (thanks Frefre...) and discovered all the presents Santa dropped off. We had a blast and ate breakfast and enjoyed the company and played with Freda. That evening, we went to Aunt Jan and Uncle Joe's for dinner. Aunt Cindy's family was there with all the kids. My brother and his family also were there. Freda had so much fun playing with her cousins. She talks about them all the time and gets really excited the few times a year we all end up in the same place.

On Saturday we drove down to Mt. Vernon to visit Grandma Freda and Grandma Sharon. What beautiful people. They are always in a good mood and happy to drown you in compliments and fuss over Freda. They are so sweet.

On Sunday, we drove back down to Bayview to have Christmas with Mandy's dad's family. Sometimes I don't know how to deal with such generous and loving people but i'm getting there. haha. We ate and laughed and shared stories from the last year and more. 

Thanks to everyone for making this Christmas top of the list.

Life is good.

Past Life

I ask Freda about where she was before mommy's tummy. I have always gotten the same answer. "I lived in mamas belly." the other day we were talking about something and it came up.

"Freda, where were you before mommy's belly?" I ask.

"I don't know." she says "It was really dark!" (scared look on face). 

"Were you a big person (grown up) or a little kid?" 

"I was a boy." she says

"A boy? What was your name?" I ask

"Bakuba" chirps Freda

Feel life. Listen to it. Enjoy it. Share it.

Humpty Dumpty

Driving home from school yesterday Freda just whips out Humpty Dumpty. Pretty much nailed it too. I never get over when they pull stuff out of nowhere like that. Things I did not teach her, things I had no idea she did or knows. What a trip.!

So she rattles off the poem and I am blown away laughing and she asks "Why you laughing poppy?".

"Because i love you little girl!" I say. "Where did you learn that? School?"

"No." - f

"Did mommy teach you?" - me

"No, I just learned it all by myself." - f

"Oh really?" - me

"Yeah really my grandpa teached me that." - f

"What grandpa, Chuck or John?" - me

"Grandpa Chuck. He showed me when I was a little shiny baby. When I was so small and sparkling."

If you know my dad, he does not do poetry or rhymes or sing...that I know of.

Santa 2009

Busted!

Night before last, we had put Freda down for the night. Mandy and I stayed up and were talking, at one point both laughing hysterically about something, and then from the back hall...

"STOP LAUGHING GUYS. IT MAKES ME SAD BECAUSE I'M TRYING TO SLEEP OVER HERE, SO PLEASE DON'T LAUGH AND BE QUIET."

Mandy said, "I'm ashamed to say that it made us laugh even harder, but we covered our faces in a vain attempt at disguising it as a 'cough'..."

My First PTC

WOW! Here already. Freda's first parent-teacher conference. It was painless and kinda fun.

First they showed us a book being made of Freda's entire 'career' at St. Francis. It was full of pictures and art we had never seen. Pictures of Freda having fun. Pictures of Freda with her own friends. Pictures of Freda on field trips. Pictures of Freda learning and singing and sharing. It was so great to see my baby learning and participating in activities outside her family. The staff at St. Francis is amazing and we appreciate them all very much. There were letters to Freda from Teachers there. All her reports about physical and mental progress. It was really cool, especially since we had no idea this book even existed. When she Graduates to kindergarten, she takes her book with her as a reminder of all the fun stuff she did in preschool. Very cool.

As we figured, she is very adept in the language arts and her motor skills are above the norm. Her comprehension is alarming [to me] and her memory is sharp. She fully knows that tomorrow, yesterday and last week are different. This morning she reminded me about something we discussed the night before. She is physical, she is tall, she's in the mix, she is Alpha. This means a struggle or two to gain/maintain this position. She has gotten physical with a couple other friends of hers at school. We talked about this and we all came up with some ideas about how to address the root of the issue, not just give her timeout. She needs to be given the tools necessary in overcoming these everyday challenges with strength and grace. I am very thankful that her school is capable of identifying and willing to partake in helping Freda through this stage. She's my girl and I could not be more proud. She may have gotten Mandy's good looks, but she definitely got my spirit. She will probably be a punk rock cheerleader prom queen...you watch.

I jokingly said "I used to call her mini Mandy, but now it's mini Charley. hehe.

I love you Freda. 

Santa 09

The Santa Train is closed this year (we hope everything is okay!) so we took Freda to see Santa at the mall.

When we got there we had to stand in a short line, 5-6 people. Freda did her best to get Santa's attention. She would call out to him and wave. She turns to me and holds my face and says "He doesn't see me poppy!" After some reassurance, she understands we all get a turn with him. Once it is Freda's turn, Santa gets up out of his chair and approaches her. As he gets down on one knee she runs and jumps into his arms hugging him.

Santa says "It's been so long since I've seen you! A whole year has passed and you are getting so big!"

She is just smiling and nodding in agreement. And me? Well, here come the waterworks.

"I missed you so much" he says.

"I missed you to Santa!" whispers Frefre

They settle into Santa's chair for a quick photo to remember the occasion by. He says "Have you been a good girl this year?" she nods. "What do you want for Christmas?"

"A Reindeer" she says. He laughs and is jolly.

He gives her a coloring book and a hat as we walk away, and she is beaming. Mandy asks if she told Santa what she wanted for Christmas and she says..."Yes. I got this (the coloring book) and this (the hat)."  He was the best Santa I've ever seen.

He did not just dress the part, he was Santa. I'll post the official Santa Picture tomorrow. 

Life is happening whether you are there or not.

Wisdom

We have a lot to learn from Native Americans.

"When you were born, you cried
and the world rejoiced.
Live your life
so that when you die,
the world cries and you rejoice."

-White Elk

"When all the trees have been cut down,
when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted,
when all the air is unsafe to breathe,
only then will you discover you cannot eat money."

-Cree Prophecy

Arguing

Freda and I argued for hours yesterday.

She tried to convince me that she liked me more than I liked her. She thinks she won...

SRSLY Bars

So, she loves cereal bars. Blueberry and strawberry the most. Ever since she could, she has called them "Seriously bars".

Theres no way I'm correcting cute like that. Nuh-uh.

The Nudie Dance

She has one. Every time she is nudie she does the dance and yells "NUDIEBUTTS!NUDIEBUTTS! 1, 2, 3. NUDIEBUTTSNUDIEBUTTS YOU LOVE ME!"

It's pretty cool.

Freda and Me

Trimming the tree

Pro Tip:

You never know what parts of childhood they will remember, so make every moment one they can cherish, not be ashamed of. One that enables, not stifles.

You cannot go back and re-write yesterday, especially with people who lived it.