I'm not sure when or if we'll decorate it...but it's great to have a tree in the house. 

Oh, Christmas tree.

Last night Michael set up our fabulous Christmas tree while I turned ripe bananas into muffins. The tree isn't half bad for the price, and it came with lights. We plugged our tree in with much fanfare and Amelia just loved it. She thinks it's great that we now have a tree in our living room. Our only problem now is preventing Amelia from pulling ornaments off the Christmas tree. We have one "tester" ornament up, but it's a red cardinal that keeps Amelia's attention and keeps her asking, "Bird...bird."

Lisa

Amelia as the king of rock and roll. "Uh, thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen." 

Amelia's new glasses.

Last night I decided to take Amelia over to Target to look at a very inexpensive and fake tree that they had on special. Looking at the baby items for sale I saw a pair of sunglasses that had Amelia's name written all over them.

You see, Amelia's first pair of sunglasses have gone missing, and she continually struggles (often successfully) to get to my Ray Bans and play roughly with them. I knew I needed to get her a new pair of her own glasses to play with so that she might divert her interest away from my shades. Coincidentally, the store had a cute pair of glasses with a little cartoon monkey image in the corner of the shades.

Bringing the glasses home I did not expect for a moment that Amelia would actually want to wear her new glasses. The last time she had sunglasses she would immediately pull them off her head every time I tried to put them on her. But, Amelia has grown these past few months and apparently now loves wearing sunglasses. After I put them on her she will prance around the room, grinning, until she takes them off and laughs at how bright and clear the world seems without them. Then she will hand them to mommy and ask to wear them again..."Glasses, glassses."

So enjoy these first fun shots of Amelia in her new shades. I said it before and I'll say it again: it's wonderful to have my happy and healthy toddler back.

Lisa

Is that Bono, or wait...isn't that Amelia? 

They don't call it a "cheese" castle for nothing. 

Mike, mommy, Amelia, Jason, Ruth and Leah outside Kopps in Milwakee. 

"I just love doggies!" 

Amelia meets a friend. 

Holiday fun.

Ah, the joys of the holidays. Yep.

As you know, our holiday weekend did not start out as smoothly as we would have hoped. Poor Amelia was sick with a virus of some sort and felt terrible. She would not eat, but seemed very interested in drinking juice when she woke up Wednesday morning...she quickly threw that up all over the bathroom sink. Luckily, I was getting ready to brush my teeth and holding Amelia when the juice hit her. Better the bathroom sink than any carpet, toys, etc.

But once Amelia went down for her afternoon nap Michael suggested that we should pack in hopes that she would feel better when she awoke. She did seem a bit better late that afternoon, and since I didn't think she would be sick again, and since it didn't make much sense for all of us to sit around being lonely and unhappy during the holidays we took a chance and headed up to Wisconsin that evening. (MS note: The doctor had earlier cleared us to go on the trip.)

We reached Jason and Ruth's house around one in the morning (Indiana time) and got to bed an hour later. The next morning Amelia's fever was gone, and she seemed to feel better. However, she still refused to eat and acted clingy and grouchy the entire day. Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, but becoming very stressful as Amelia cried and twisted in her high chair during the meal. Finally Ruth came up with the excellent idea of playing a Baby Einstein video for Amelia and she quieted down immediately. Say what you will, those videos have a place in a toddler's parent's home.

Mike and Jason went shopping for presents at five in the morning on Friday. The wind chill made the weather outside below freezing, but Mike thought that was neat and said he barely felt it since he was dressed warmly. The guys returned before Amelia and I even got out of bed. I found them on the living room floor going over their boxes of goodies and refund / rebate forms.

That afternoon friends and family came by for a post-Thanksgiving Day brunch that was as tasty as dinner the night before. Surprisingly, Mike, Jason, Ruth and I did not eat the entire 19 pound turkey that was served on Thursday, so there were lots of left-overs to go around. Amelia remained pretty grouchy on Friday, but enjoyed watching Elmo and other videos with Leah.

In fact, Amelia did a very good job around baby Leah and Jason and Ruth's cats. Amelia really enjoyed petting Bumper the cat and would ask to be held up so that she could reach her when the cat was resting on the back of the living room couch. The funny thing was that Amelia would pet the cat once, with one stroke, and then be done. She would walk around, play with her favorite squeaky, bouncy, cat toy and eventually return to pet the cat again.

Saturday morning was wonderful. It was wonderful because the irritable, fussy toddler who had taken over my daughter's body had decided to run away leaving my darling Amelia in her place. I knew things were back to normal when I brought Amelia into the living room and, pointing to Leah's high chair, Amelia stated clearly, "Eat."

Her appetite back, we packed the car and headed south to Milwaukee proper for lunch and frozen custard at Kopps. The custard was stupendous, once again, and Amelia enjoyed it immensely. Then we continued down the road toward home with a brief stop at the Mars Cheese Castle where Mike bought nine-year old sharp cheddar. (We also snuck next door for some full cream Munster which may be the best cheese I've ever eaten in my life!)

Amelia slept for a good portion of the drive home, but became a little cranky again north of Lafayette. Mike and I tried to amuse her with songs and games, but she would continually whine, "No, no," occasionally, accompanied with a wave of her hand. One of the funniest moments was when we tried to get her to join us for "Old MacDonald":

Daddy: "Old MacDonald had a farm"
Amelia: "No"
Daddy: "And on this farm, he had a..."
Amelia: "No"
Daddy: "With a..."
Amelia: "No, no"
Daddy: "Here, and a..."
Amelia: "No, no"
Daddy: "There."

Pretty funny. We also had a funny but heartbreaking experience with Amelia at the Cracker Barrel. Though half the store was a bit crowded, I allowed Amelia to wander around the store so she could get a bit of exercise and stretch her legs. While walking around I found some candy dispensers I thought she might like and showed them to her. One was a cow who would play drums when you pushed a plastic lever and the other was a chicken who played cymbals. Amelia took one in each hand and toddled around the store, careful to get under everyone's feet in the most crowded sections of the shop.

When it came time to leave and return to the car, I brought Amelia back over to the toy display and said, "Okay, we have to put the toys back." That did not go over well. She cried so pitifully it made your heart break. Still, we knew it would be a bad idea to start buying Amelia everything she liked everytime we went into a shop.

Out the door and in the car Amelia kept crying, "Cow...cow...cow!" Daddy explained to Amelia that the cow belonged to the store, and not to us. She seemed to understand this after thinking for a minute and said, "Okay." But only moments later, and a couple more miles down the highway she started crying again, "Cow...cow...cow." I guess I'll be buying her a cow toy for her Christmas stocking this year.

Lisa

After a very early morning of post-Thanksgiving shopping, daddy falls asleep with a belly full of turkey and three-quarters of a beer. Amelia begrudgedly watches a DVD as she slowly emerges from a state of extreme grouchiness. (Watch here for more stories about this year's Thanksgiving celebration.) 

"If we only had a television, then at least I could watch 'Adam-12.'" 

The Thanksgiving that almost isn't...

It's almost two p.m. and we're all still home here in Indiana. Our plan was to leave for Wisconsin by nine this morning, but Amelia is still sick.

I brought her into the doctor's office yesterday and he confirmed that she had a sore throat (no strep). She has a fever and an upset tummy - just another virus.

Poor girl obviously feels crummy, and we can't make up our minds whether we should head up north or not. Right now, Amelia's taking a nap and we're working on packing the suitcases. I guess we're trying to be optimistic and hoping for a Thanksgiving meal tomorrow. I'm willing to cook for that matter, but while Amelia is sick she's only modestly happy while mommy is holding her. I won't be able to do much with a toddler in my arms.

Of course, if I had to spend Thanksgiving at Denny's it wouldn't be the first time ;).

Eeyore plays "nosey" with mommy (toys in hand). 

On the go!

Like other toddlers (or so I'm told) Amelia is a very active young girl. She loves to get out and explore. Lately, the weather here in Indiana has been rough, so much of her exercise and exploration has taken place indoors.

For example, though I knew that to do so would invite danger, I brought Amelia to our local Hallmark store so that I could buy ONE Christmas ornament and a box of Christmas cards. I knew this might be iffy, since I have a personal, "You break it, you buy it policy" and there are many fragile things to be found in a Hallmark store.

Amelia loved the store. She started off by handing me five different tree ornaments before I finally convinced her that I didn't need them. (A nice store assistance asked me if I needed a basket for my goodies, but I politely told her I was not going to buy all the random ornaments Amelia handed me.) Bored with the ornaments, Amelia took off and wandered among the card aisles. The store has a large display of Beanie Babies, which I assumed would be trouble. I showed her a long-horned bull, a Holstein cow, and a large monkey I thought she might like, but she actually didn't show much interest in any of these toys beyond saying, "cow."

As Amelia continued to wander she found a display of gifts for men with a brown Beanie Baby bear holding the letters D-A-D near the floor. She grabbed this toy, smiled and said, "Bear" and continued through the store. I kept close to Amelia and looked at wrapping paper when I saw her take an interest in another item within reach. Amelia had found a colorful stuffed pig behind a Precious Moments porcelain frame. Of course, the frame was of no use to her, so she roughly pushed it aside. Luckily, I was there to soften the blow and the frame did not break. She got a hold of that pig in her free hand and continued moving around the store with a toy in each hand.

Once it came time to pay for my cards, the three ornaments I had selected, and my gift wrap I asked Amelia which animal she wanted. You can imagine what she chose...so she went home with two new stuffed animals.

Amelia loves her new Beanie Babies. She will carry them around from place to place in the apartment and threw a fit when we took one away from her before bath time ("Bear can't take a bath"). This is her usual mode now: traveling with a toy in each hand. She takes her toys to the store and outdoors; she won't even put them down for food if she can help it. In fact, we've seen her lean forward in her chair, a toy in each hand, trying to pick up crackers and other snacks with her lips - pretty funny stuff.

Lisa

Two hands = two toys. 

Amelia, tribal huntress. 

Ice, ice baby.

Amelia is a wonderful baby - a wonderful baby who is turning into a sometimes challenging toddler.

On a positive note, Amelia almost never cries or throws a fit. If she does it means she's either very tired or very hungry. But while she doesn't scream or cry (thank goodness) she seems to feel the best way to be understood is to employ repetition. So Amelia's speech often sounds like, "Up, up, up, up, up, up, up" or "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy" (often accompanied by the little one clinging to my leg while I attempt to wash dishes, etc.).

While out to lunch with Amelia and my buddy, Mike, yesterday, Amelia got it in her mind that all she wanted was ice. She loves ice. She loves the way it feels, and she loves to eat it. All throughout lunch I was faced with a barrage of, "Ice, ice, ice, ice, ice, ice, ice, ice..." I gave her every small piece of ice in my tea glass and asked for a second glass of ice from the waiter. Making the best of this tirade, Mike and I tried to teach Amelia to say, "Ice, ice baby" for some comic relief...to no avail.

But, Amelia did manage to eat a real lunch in between pieces of ice, so I guess it's okay. Her desire for ice is, after all, only a little annoying and not dangerous. At least she'll always be properly hydrated...

As I may have mentioned, I am finally learning to give Amelia small pieces of ice she can eat without having to hold them in her little, cold-sensitive hands. It wasn't long ago when I gave her a fairly large piece of ice and when she could hold it no longer, she dropped the ice straight down my shirt. That was cold, but very funny!

Amelia also seems to have a penchant for walking sticks. She will find a twig that's obviously far too long for her to handle and carry it with her all over the complex poking the ground as she walks. She's a quirky little girl.

She has also recently become VERY attached to a couple of little stuffed monkeys she has at home. We also have a chimp in the living room, but that doesn't seem to interest her.

Lisa

Amelia in the middle of a fabulous rendition of, "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." 

maybe...maybe not

This week Amelia got her first pair of "big girl" shoes. Always the academic I have been investigating pediatrician recommendations for baby shoes since she was very young. Doctors recommend that young ones wear either no shoes or soft soled shoes while learning to walk so that they can learn to grip with their toes and balance well. Additionally, babies' feet need extra room to grow as they are learning to get around.

But now Amelia is walking well. The soles of her leather moccasin-like shoes are becoming slick from wear. On top of all this the weather's getting cold. So, I decided to check Target for some toddler shoes. It took longer to find these shoes than expected, but Amelia had three pairs to chose from. One pair had Elmo on them, the other Disney princesses. I bet you can guess which pair she chose.

Amelia loves her Elmo shoes. They have blinking red lights that flash when she walks. It wasn't much time at all until she was accustomed to the shoes and stomping back and forth around the apartment.

On another note, remember my description of Amelia's first necklace? Well, she did really love that necklace. Like most little girls she enjoyed playing with the pendant and putting it in her mouth. I didn't mind this much because I still put necklaces in my mouth when I'm nervous or simply trying hard to think. One evening I was removing her necklace before a nap when I noticed that the little gold heart charm she wore was dented like the bumper of a demolition derby winner. If I were a dentist, this might be a good way to make get an impression of her first molars.

So I guess that whatever pendant she gets next for her necklace, it can't be as soft as a hollow, 14kt gold heart. She won't be wearing this heart pendant any more, but I'm sure I'll keep it to share with her when she's older.

Lisa

Look at what I can do now! 

The continuing adventures of Amelia...

I am continually amazed at how rapidly Amelia seems to be growing up. Lisa is at school right now, so Amelia and I went upstairs for her nap. She usually likes to play and read her books for awhile before going to sleep.

The book routine now goes something like this: Amelia will try to tell us what book she wants to read. She has words for most of her books, which somewhat resemble the titles or subject matter. For example, "NEE-poo" means Winnie the Pooh who is in one of her books. "EYE-ooh" means "I love you" - which is in the title of three (I think) of her books, which makes things confusing sometimes.

Anyway, she'll try to tell us which one she wants, but usually we'll just put her down and she'll go pick out the book. Then she'll bring it back, put it in my (or Lisa's) lap, and command, "Up, up, up." So I'll pick her up, then if I am not holding the book right, she'll move my hand so it is underneath the book and so she can flip through the pages. Sometimes she listens to us read the story, sometimes she talks through the pictures herself.

This can go on for a really long time as Amelia really likes her books. Today, I tried something a little different - I told Amelia she could pick out one story, then it was time for the nap. She picked "Pat the Cat," one of her usual favorites. Then she went through the page with the two kids, then the part with the soft cat that you can pet, then the part with the little pencil that comes out and back in, then to the ATM where you get the money and put it back into the wallet. Then, back to the pencil, then back to the money, then back to the two kids... it was becoming apparent that Amelia was milking her "one story" for all it was worth. She would not turn to the end - could it be she knew it was naptime after she was finished? Judging by the foot-stomping I heard from her crib after I closed the door, I think she knew. Smart little girl.

Since I don't write very often, I'll tell another story. Amelia turned 18 months old yesterday. It's almost like she decided, "I guess it's time to develop some fine motor control skills" or something. Up until today, when playing with her blocks, she usually enjoyed knocking them down or scrambling them. She had been able to stack three or four, which was great, but her way was to just kind of thrust her hand toward the stack, deposit the block, and if it stayed, it stayed. Well, today we were doing our usual thing, going over the animals on the blocks and I was building a tower. I pretty much expected that Amelia would just swipe her hand and knock it down. But today, she took a block, and with great patience and dexterity, gently deposited it on the top of the stack. I was pretty amazed, and she was really pleased with herself. She did it again, and then again. I would help a little by straightening the top block so she had a solid platform for the next one, but that was all. There was even one time where the whole tower was coming down, and she CAUGHT it with her left hand, straightened it out, and put another block on top with her right hand - and this time the tower stayed. Ahh, don't believe me? How can a one-point-five year old accomplish this feat? Well I'll post a picture that shows you just what I mean - Amelia is growing by leaps and bounds, in many ways.

I could write much more, but I think I'll save some for Lisa. It's autumn, and you know what that means - LEAVES!

"Just a little off the back, please." 

Amelia's first haircut!

This coming weekend is my drill weekend, and as many of you know I like to get my haircut right before drill (since I keep it "barely legal" in uniform). The last time I got a haircut I wasn't that crazy about it, so I got the wild idea to just go ahead and get both my and Amelia's hair cut at Supercuts this morning. After all, if I get a marginal haircut there I'm only out about $12.

Luckily, "uncle Mike" was available to accompany Amelia and I on our beauty adventure. First, Amelia watched mommy get her haircut from Mike's lap. Then she moved over to my lap for a haircut of her own. As usual, Amelia was a very good, calm and even-tempered baby while her hair was trimmed and Mike took both video and still photos of this momentous event.

Though Amelia doesn't have a heck of a lot of hair, I have to admit it looks a little better now that it's been trimmed. Her curls seem to have spread, now that some of the excess "weight" has been trimmed away. Keep your fingers crossed that her lovely curls spread all over her darling head.

Lisa

P.S. We saved tiny curls from Amelia's trim, so if anyone is interesting in keeping one for a locket, etc., just let me know.