Happy New Year 2012

Over the past month and a half, I've written many blog posts in my head.  I have, however, had a hard time getting them written on the computer.  For a while, I even had dreams of writing separate posts about each event, post-dating them and pretending that I was completely organized and keeping a great record of the fun, funny and just generally regular day-to-day things around here.  Yeah, that didn't happen.  So here's a summary.....

The smiley face that Elsa drew!

Potty training has been Elsa's biggest event this fall.  Things are going as well as can be expected.  She's really started to catch on and doesn't often need a diaper.  She still wears diapers at night and that has led to a few tearful, "But, Mommy, only babies wear diapers" comments.  My heart melts a little and I think to myself, "Oh, little girl, diapers or not, you'll always be my baby."

The big prize at daycare for using the potty is a smiley face drawn on your hand, so that's been pretty important to Elsa.  We even have to draw them at home sometimes.  I made the mistake of drawing the face the wrong way one Saturday and I heard about it!  I also made the mistake of leaving the big, permanent markers in easy reach of a 2-year-old.  Probably not the best markers for her to use to draw a smiley face on her hand, up her arm, on her other hand and then add some more details on her leg.  I invested in new, washable markers, hid the permanent ones and thanked my lucky stars that she hasn't yet drawn on the walls.

What cute kids!

Thanksgiving was a fun time for us.  We invited over Derek's brother, Dennis, his wife Joanna and their daughter, Addie.  Our other Thanksgiving guests were Kathryn (a long-time friend of mine and Joanna's) and her family.  We had a great time together and were grateful to spend a couple of days with friends and family.

My mom fell the day before Thanksgiving and broke her leg.  She spent some time in the hospital and some time in a rehabilitation facility.  It has been tough for everyone, but she is making slow and steady progress.  Elsa and I enjoyed visiting her on our way home from school.  My dad is learning a lot about cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping and has risen to the challenge.

Elsa continues to be a talker.  (Does that surprise anyone?)  Many days I wish I could tape her so that I could remember not only what she says, but how she says it.  The phrase "He's so cute" has been applied to babies, our pets, cute pictures on TV...and I'm not sure that I can express in writing how funny she is when she says it.  Another treasured moment occurred when she and I were walking through the girls' clothes aisle at Target with my dad and she said, "Big girls wear bras."  I think he's still laughing about that!  She also pronounced her new Christmas panda "adorable" (I don't use that word, her dad doesn't use that word....wondering where it came from) and has begun to really let us know which clothes she likes to wear.  Pretty much everything needs to be pink, soft and Hello Kitty.  She's worn her pink, sparkly Hello Kitty shoes for months on end now (yes, even with her black velvet Christmas dress) and yesterday when she wanted to put on brown tennis shoes Derek and I were both shocked and excited.  I'm sooooooo tired of those pink shoes.

Happy 2012 to everyone.  May it be happy, healthy and the best year yet.