Big Boo-Boo

So...since we were snowed in, we decided it was the prime opportunity to reveal our big Christmas gift for the kids (we wanted to give it to them early since we'd be out of town for Christmas Day). After the kids were in bed on Saturday night, we put together their new 50's Diner, and then gave it to them the next morning. It's pretty cool -- it has a kitchen on one side and a booth on the other side. I think they'll both really enjoy it over the next few years.


So, one minute, Tessa was enjoying her meal of hot dog, hamburger and ice cream scoop...

...and the next minute she had fallen off the seat and managed to wedge the ice cream scoop between her head and the floor. When I picked her up, I was shocked to see blood, but immediately assumed she had bitten her lip or tongue. And then I saw the big gash on her forehead! :( I still have no idea how a toy plastic ice cream scoop managed to gouge her head...but it happened. So, here we are...snowed in and pretty sure that she's going to need stitches. A quick call to our pediatrician confirmed that we needed to take her in within the next few hours. Fortunately, Dave had done quite a bit of shoveling the day before, so he just had to finish off the driveway, while I got the kids ready for a trip to the ER. I've never been so happy to have 4-wheel drive! The main roads were actually ok, we were just lucky to make it out of our neighborhood.

Our poor baby ended up with 4 stitches in her forehead. Calder wasn't allowed into the ER room, so Dave waited with him while I stayed with Tessa. I'm not sure why I didn't ask him to switch with me...since I definitely have a bit of a weak stomach around blood. They had to strap her into a straight-jacket type thing to keep her from moving too much as they sewed her up, and it was just so heart-wrenching to watch her screaming "mama!!" and pleading with her eyes for me to rescue her. I tried everything I could to comfort her -- singing, talking, humming, but she was obviously pretty miserable. She calmed down pretty quickly though once I was finally able to hold her and nurse her. It was actually sort of a surreal experience for me...since I too went through the exact same thing when I was 5 years old! I still remember laying on that hospital table as I received 8 stitches in my eyebrow after falling from the monkey bars at preschool! Luckily, Tessa won't remember this experience.

Her boo-boo looked pretty bad the first few days -- here she is on Day 2:

The stitches completely dissolved by Christmas Day (Day 5) and it's looking better every day. We followed up with the pediatrician today and all is well. I can't believe how much better it looks already! Day 9:

The pediatrician said it will probably have some redness for the next 6 months or so, and then it will start to turn white. And, since most of the scar is in her eyebrow, it shouldn't be too noticeable as she grows older. What a little trooper she is! And Calder has been a very caring big brother -- for the first few days after it happened, he would take a look at her scar and say "Awww...poor thing."

Blizzard of '09!

The weekend before Christmas, we had a huge snowstorm! It snowed from Friday night until early Sunday morning and in the end, I think we got somewhere around 20 inches, which is a lot for this area -- especially in December! This picture was taken in our front yard Saturday night. One of our holiday lighted trees is completely buried! You can just see the glow from the lights.

Calder had a blast playing in the white stuff. He was 'helping' Daddy by bulldozing the snow off the sidewalk. He stayed out for over an hour and refused to come in because he had "a job to do." I only hope he's this enthusiastic about helping with snow removal when he's 15!

Lucky is not a fan of any type of preciptiation...but he finally relented when he was in dire need of a bathroom break!
Working hard on the sidewalks! The only way to lure Calder back inside was the promise of hot chocolate with marshmallows. He kept devouring the marshmallows and then begging for more. Ultimately, I had to hide the bag!

School Holiday Program

Calder's class performed two songs as part of his school's holiday program. "Walking in a Winter Wonderland" and "We Wish You a Happy Holiday". Yes...they changed the words to that one. He now thinks everyone else is wrong when they sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas." Ugh.

2009 Holiday Program from courtney on Vimeo.

Posing by the tree before we left home. I had to wake him up from his nap, and he was so grumpy that we almost didn't make it. Grumpiness aside, I thought he looked soooo handsome.

Happy to see Ms. Katrina!

Calder's snowflake was on display in the art showcase!

11 Months Old

Tessa continues to grow by leaps and bounds, and I can't believe she's only 1 month shy of her first birthday. New this month is her ability to clap (sometimes), wave (sometimes) and sign "more" (sometimes). She also enjoys playing "So Big" and "Peekaboo".

So Big! from courtney on Vimeo.

Her hair is growing like crazy...I swear every day it's longer and more full. It's nice that she's outgrowing the mohawk look, and she's also starting to get little wavy curls in the back -- I love them!She's definitely learning to express/assert herself. She yells when Calder tries to snag something out of her hands. She's always trying to get her hands on Calder's toy cars, the remote, camera or phone. And, she's NOT happy when she's forced to give it up. She has a tight grip!

New words this month are: "hi" or "hiya", "dog" (kind of), "uh-oh" (kind of) and..."MINE!" That last one is a definite. When Dave first told me that he thought she was saying it, I really didn't believe it. Then, I heard it for myself when she crawled across the bed, grabbed the remote control and held it close to her chest as she yelled "MA!" So, although she doesn't have the pronunciation quite right...the intent is definitely there. And, it's pretty easy to guess where she picked it up from!! You can hear her say "Hiya" in the beginning of this next video during which she also demonstrates her stair-climbing abilities!

Tessa Climbs Steps from courtney on Vimeo.

No walking yet, but she is perfecting the speed crawl. She is constantly making a beeline for the stairs or the dog's bowls. When she is mad or tired she does this bulldozer crawl where she literally drags her face along the ground. And, since that can't feel good, it only makes her more upset.

Pool, Pole and Pull

I've always teased Dave about the fact that I can't tell the difference when he says "Pool", "Pole" and "Pull". Coming out of his mouth, they all sound exactly the same to me. I always have to stop and consider the context of the conversation to figure out which word he means. We've had countless discussions/arguments about this which always result in both of us saying the 3 words back and forth to each other as I try to explain how they should sound different. I blame it on his "Pittsburghese" and he claims that I over-pronounce the 'oo' sound. Anyway, today I finally got the evidence that the Pittsburghese is rubbing off on Calder! So, we went to the local rec center for a birthday party. If you are standing on the 2nd level you can look down through several large windows into the indoor pool. Calder caught one glimpse of the pool, ran over to the windows and excitedly exclaimed "Mommy!! Is this where Santa lives?" I was completely confused until he added "Is this the North Pole?" Oy!!!

To Infinity and Beyond!

Kisses for Tessa

kisses for tessa from courtney on Vimeo.

Zingo!

Dave and I love games, so we've been excited that Calder is getting to an age where he can actually start playing some. He received a few games for his 3rd birthday, but really wasn't quite ready for them at that point. Last weekend, I decided to give it another shot and got out a game called Zingo. It's sort of like Bingo, but with a bit of a twist. It was a HUGE hit! I think we played it every day this past week. And we have a winner! ZINGO!

Where is Jesus?

In the spirit of the holidays, I thought this was a cute 'Calder conversation' to share...

Calder: Mommy, where is Jesus?
Mommy: He lives in our heart.
Calder: Is he going to come out?? Is Jesus an angel?

Snow Day!

We had our first snow of the season today! Calder had a great time stomping around the front yard and picking up the snow with his bare hands! Guess we better get on that mitten thing...

Tessa enjoyed the scene from inside...

Back inside, Calder enjoyed some hot chocolate and helped Daddy make some cookies...

...while Tessa and Lucky bonded over Cheerios.

Asleep on the job...

I took Calder and Tessa to a kid's holiday concert at the local high school on Tuesday, so Tessa missed her morning nap. When we got home, I tried to squeeze in lunch before her nap. One minute she was happily eating her cheese...and the next minute she was completely cashed out. She didn't even wake up when I carried her up to her bed!