Pickle's Birthday

Funny thing about a kid's birthday . . . hard to take pictures especially when the camera battery dies halfway into the birthday party. We should be getting pictures taken by Cathy & Kris that I will share; particularly pictures of the incredible cake Cathy made this year. It was a Princess Cake where the cake was the dress and it had a doll body. Pickle requested Belle so the dress was yellow and the doll brunette. It was incredible. Pickle wanted her party at the Train Park again and we had several girls from school join us. The usually gang of boys were there and the party was pretty split down the middle. The girls enjoyed making tiaras and rode the train together while the boys just played on the playground.

To My Daughter on Her Birthday

Dearest Daughter,

On the occasion of your fourth birthday I thought I would write you a letter to tell you what has been on my mind lately. I can’t say “it seems like only yesterday that you were born” because it has been a very full and long four years. You are a very determined and independent little girl . . . smart and full of life. You wear your emotions out in the open and those moods can change with the blink of an eye. We should have been warned about this by your “behavior” before you were born!

About 6 weeks before you arrived I started to notice contractions that just would not relax. It got so bad one night that your Dad and I went to the hospital to have it checked out and they confirmed that yes, I was having contractions but was not necessarily in labor for which we were very thankful. I spent the next 5 weeks doing my best to keep labor at bay so you could stay inside and grow big and strong; and BIG you did grow. By the time we neared your due date you had decided to make things a little difficult and not come along on your own. Dr. Schwartz decided I was getting a little too big and it would be best to encourage you to make your arrival. She planned to have the hospital call us sometime after midnight the night of Thanksgiving that year. We slept through the night and even headed out for a little “Black Friday” shopping on Friday morning only to get the call as we were walking into Old Navy.

Dad and I headed to the hospital and spent the day waiting and waiting for the moment when we would meet you. You hung out just long enough for us to watch LSU lose to Arkansas and then I was allowed to push you out. But your stubbornness was just beginning and you had to arrive in your own fashion – appearing face up with your little hand by your face. This made Dr. Schwartz a little nervous but you turned out fine and VERY LARGE – nearly 10 pounds. We were very excited to have a little girl and your brother was super excited to become a Big Brother.

You were an easy baby . . . slept when you were supposed to sleep and ate when you were supposed to eat. Your first year went by very quickly and before I knew it we were celebrating your first birthday. You started walking not long after you turned one and we took you to Santa Fe that Christmas where you toddled around Uncle Boyd and Aunt Susan’s house and tried to walk in the snow. You were adorable all bundled up for the cold.

From the very beginning you have wanted to do whatever your brother does and this continues through today. You don’t see age differences and you certainly have never let “being a girl” stand in your way; nothing stops you and you will try everything. You have been a climber since before you could walk and I knew it was only a matter of time before you ended up in the hospital. Just a few days into May 2010 you decided to jump from one of our new chairs and landed head first on the coffee table instantly splitting your forehead wide open. Dad says you did not cry very long and he has pictures of you on the way to the hospital with a smile on your face. You had a great time at the hospital trying to talk to everyone that walked by and you were a great little patient.

A few days after you hurt your head, your sister was born and you became a Big Sister. This is title you are very proud to have and I know you girls will be great friends. Having a sister is very special and you are the specialist sister of all because you are BOTH a Little Sister and a Big Sister! You were very gentle with her when she was born and wanted to help but now that she is older you once again forget age and size differences and think she is as tough as you. I promise one day she will be that tough.

You started school in August of 2010 and this opened up a whole new world for you. You could not wait to start at Community Montessori where your brother went for several years. The teachers at school have high praise for you and we all know that you are a very smart little girl. You can already count to twenty and understand your “teens” and can even write the numbers. You love coloring and have excellent pencil control and love writing your name. It amazes me that you can spell words already and soon you will be reading. Another favorite of yours right now is dancing and you started ballet last summer. This past year I took you to see the musical Annie and the movie and you love all the songs singing them over and over. You also got to see the Phoenix Ballet perform Cinderella.
I hope that as you continue to grow up you never lose your independent nature or your knowledge that you can do whatever you want. I love you very much and look forward see what you discover in the next years.

                                                                                    Love, Mom

We have a sick one

So Pickle is sick. This doesn't happen very often at our house. Christi and I were talking about it on the way home from the Dr.'s office and neither one of us could remember the last time that one of the kids was actually sick. I don't think we went to the Dr. for anything but well visits in all of 2010 and 2011 until today. She earned her trip to the Dr. though. With a fever above 100° for 2 days, a hacking cough, and swallows that hurt she was a miserable little girl. Our $30 copay got us a diagnosis of parainfluenza. It isn't the flu but a virus that causes an upper respiratory infection. a couple days on the couch and she should be as good as new.

The really odd thing about Pickle is she is exceptionally pleasant when she is sick. She becomes very quiet and caring in her depleted state. She isn't exactly a cuddly girl but when she doesn't feel good that is all she wants to do. I want her to be well and feel better as much as any parent wants his kid to be well but I will miss this version of her when crazy on the go Pickle returns.

New Kid is 18 Months!

It's hard to believe but this little cherub is 18 months today. She's becoming just as precocious as her sister but is still the easiest of the three. I think she is a good combination of her brother and sister - sensitive and loving like her Bubba but independent and adventurous like Pickle. She gives the best hug you will ever have from a toddler and her smile is infectious. Slowly she is learning new words like "light," "milk," "I out," and "Bubba." And she has learned to climb everything. She is helpful and smart and loves to please by following directions; I just hope that lasts!

The Boy has Character

The grades that kids get are a funny thing. A ton of emphasis is put on something that isn't really a gauge of how smart the person is. My opinion is biased. I never made straight A's. The Boy is a pretty smart little man and I bet he won't ever make straight A's either. But what he was awarded today makes me more proud than any report card full of arcane and seemingly random marks. He received an award for character. The best part is he didn't know it existed. He was just behaving as he normally does which apparently is with compassion and kindness.

Halloween 2011

A Jedi, Rapunzel, and a Pumpkin . . . messy hair and a dirty face . . . Halloween at our house 2011! We had friends join us for dinner and trick-or-treating which added two small firefighters and two Darth Vaders as well.

This was Baby C's first trick-or-treat experience and it only took a few houses for her to figure out what to do but she didn't really care about the candy. She just wanted to be right in there with the big kids and more often than not would just turn and walk away with them without even getting a treat.