Holiday haircuts

It has become a tradition for Megan and I to get our hair cut during the week before Christmas ... and this year Nessa got to join us.

Unfortunately due to bad scheduling on my part Shawn did not get to join us (bad not because he needed a haircut but because this meant it was just Megan and I to watch Nessa and I was getting my hair colored as well as cut!). I was so worried about having lots of treats and surprise toys with me that I forgot to bring the camera! So, I did take a picture of Nessa's new hair style (no more bangs in the eyes) this morning and will upload that as soon as I can, but we have no first hair cut pictures. :-(

But then again would I want pictures of this hair cut experience? Nessa actually got her hair cut while she was sitting on my lap while I was under the dryer with hair color and that nifty shower cap thing on ... not a pretty picture ... trust me on that one. My wonderful hair stylist did a wonderful job as Nessa kept turning her head in all sorts of directions! Then it was Megan's turn and Megan decided that it was time to cut off all of her hair that had grown in the last year. She cut off 7 or 8 inches! She looks fabulous in her cute new style ... and again a picture was taken this morning and will be added to the blog as soon as I can get to it ... but I thought you might all want an update on the adventures of our house this week before that. :-)

By the time we left the salon Nessa had spilled apple juice down her front, had green sugar cookie crumbs all over her face and had a little hair (likely Megan's) sticking to her from her attempts at helping to sweep the area. Nessa had also treated us (luckily only one other customer) to her tantrum shrieks when her cookie, water, juice, and several other items were not handed to her in exactly the right way. (She turns into a pumpkin at about 7 p.m. when not at home these days ... my apt. was at 6:15 ... we left about 7:45 ...). Megan did a great job helping to entertain her, but at some point even a side ways glance can set her off ... and without hair in her eyes she could actually see, so ...

Now the "secret" is out ... our beautiful and ever so intelligent girl is all about expressing her own independent needs and NOT about accommodating the rest of us. Thankfully Megan did not hold Nessa's behavior against her and this morning for the first time it was not Mommy or Daddy that Nessa wanted, but Megan. Yes, only Nessa's sister would do when it came to getting dressed and eating breakfast. It was actually quite sweet. I kept hovering nearby waiting for sudden change toddlers are so famous for, but instead or morning flowed nearly flawlessly!

Oh, and to add some humor to the tantrums and "pre" tantrum, Nessa's new favorite word is "ENOUGH." Nessa uses it just like "no" as she picked it up from me saying "enough" as in "that's enough" when either of the girls are doing something that they need to stop doing ... so now she tells me things like "enough diapers." And you can imagine my thoughts at that sentiment.

"I'm not a baby"

Picture this -- a routine Thursday morning in our household as we get going for a full day of work and daycare (because it is Thursday) and Nessa only protests slightly at getting her diaper changed and dressed because she would rather be reading her books (so Daddy reads to her while Mommy changes her) ... and at 7:15 we're out the door ...

As I go around the car to the side where Nessa's car seat is she starts fussing and wiggling and fussing and babbling and we keep hearing "baby" but can't figure it out, and then:

"I'm not a baby!"

Shawn and I looked at each other and Shawn verified that that is indeed what it sounded like!

I was stunned, but did quickly manage to bounce up and down to "one, two, three, Weeee" and get Nessa safely in the car seat for the short trip to daycare. During the two block drive Shawn and I were still in shock at how clearly Nessa had expressed herself and assumed she meant she didn't want to be in the car seat because she was not a a baby. Later, I wondered if (maybe?) she merely wanted to get into her seat by herself rather than being put in the seat. At least that's what I'm hoping because I certainly don't want to be fighting this carseat battle for the next, oh, 7 years or so!

This is just one example of how Nessa is indeed learning to express herself ... and a few of them are a little less tantrum like! :-)

Yes, our little girl is most definitely not a baby anymore ... and as usual that makes mommy both smile and sniffle.

Our Christmas Song

I first heard this Christmas song on a compilation given to me by my friend Morrie. I've always liked it, but since Christmas of 2003 it has acquired a very special meaning. It perfectly describes what Tami means to me, to the point where I get teary whenever I hear it. It has become our Christmas song, and as always, I want to dedicate this to the love of my life--my wife, my best friend: Tami.


Just In Time For Christmas
(as sung by Nancy LaMott)

They had decked the malls and trimmed the town with plastic trees
Til the world was just a giant retail maze.
Tis the season when you turn your thoughts to people you can’t please,
When you measure passing time in shopping days.
And the holidays were something to get through
But the thing I hadn’t counted on was you.

Just in time for Christmas, you came along.
Just in time for Christmas, when everything felt wrong
And I was sure my faith had all run out.
Just in time for Christmas, you showed me what Christmas is about.

What I needed most could not be bought at any price.
I was far too disillusioned then to see
I was going through the motions--made a list and checked it twice
But forgot to write down anything for me.
But my long-unspoken wishes had been heard
And an unexpected miracle occurred.

Just in time for Christmas, one silent night,
Just in time for Christmas, you filled my life with light
And there was joy where there had once been doubt.
Just in time for Christmas, you showed me what Christmas is about.

And all at once the bells began to ring
And hark, the herald, I heard angels sing!
Who am I to resist their call?
You brought me the greatest gift of all.

And now my spirits sing!
Just in time, my heart is caroling.
From deep within my soul I want to shout:
Just in time for Christmas,
Just in time for Christmas,
Just in time for Christmas, you showed me what Christmas is about.


Tami, thank you for loving me, for marrying me, and for showing me what Christmas is all about.

Love, always and forever,
Shawn

Seeing Santa 2006

We took the girls to see Santa at the Rotary Lights Sunday evening. (For those who don't know, Rotary Lights is a huge light display that covers most of a city park by the Mississippi, put on by the area Rotary clubs. Santa is there every evening with his reindeer.) The temperature was in the 40's so we thought it would be a good night to go.

The line to see Santa goes alongside the reindeer pen, so we got to watch the reindeer chasing each other around while waiting. Just before you go into Santa's hut, there is an elf who asks the children's names and gives them a button and a candy cane. Nessa has cottoned on to the sugary, sticky delights of candy canes, so as soon as the elf handed her one, she was all over that. Nothing would do but that she got that candy cane open, and I mean right now.

I was trying to open one end for her so she could suck on it while holding the wrapper (so she wouldn't get all sticky--I'm such a parent sometimes), but Nessa wasn't having any of that. She was still trying to get the rest of the wrapper off as she went in and sat down by Santa. Megan told Santa what she wanted, and then Santa asked what Nessa wanted. Having finally removed the wrapper, Nessa realized that this man was talking to her. Now, I'm not sure if Nessa thought that Santa wanted it, or if she was trying to be good and give it to an adult, or if Santa was simply convenient...but once Santa had her attention, Nessa handed him the wrapper! I was trying not to laugh too hard to keep taking pictures. Santa very kindly accepted the wrapper (I relieved him of it on our way out) and Nessa was happy.

"What would you like for Christmas, Nessa?"


"Yes, you may have my wrapper."


"Aren't I the clever one!"


They also have a large sleigh in the park for taking family pictures. Nessa was getting fussy by that point and didn't want to sit still, but Megan was glad to get her picture taken in the sleigh.


We weren't able to spend as much time walking around and seeing the lights as we wanted, because Nessa was tired and cranky. I took her back to the car while Tami and Megan took an abbreviated route around the rest of the park. At least we got to see Santa!

Nessa Knows...

...several colors. The other night Tami, Nessa and I were playing with a cloth cube that has a different color on each side: red, yellow, blue, orange, green, and purple. I was pointing to the sides and saying "What color is this?" and Nessa got them all correct without any prompting.

...how to count from 1 to 10 (mostly) and say almost half of her ABC's. Driving home yesterday from a big family gathering, Nessa was just talking in her car seat when she suddenly burst out with "One! Two! Free Foh Five Six Seben! Eight Ten!" A minute or so later she said "A B C D E F G H I J" before losing steam. She repeated the A-J sequence twice more before we got home, so she definitely has that much memorized.

Letters are a big deal to Nessa these days. Whenever we're driving around she'll announce letters that she sees on signs. If you point to a letter and ask her what it is she'll tell you (lower or uppercase for most of them). She loves a Winnie-the-Pooh ABC's book that we've gotten from the library a few times, so much so that we need to buy her a copy. She's working on expressing more complex concepts when she talks and stringing more words together. The changes are still subtle and very incremental at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear a blossoming in the near future.

Toddler Tales

Last Monday Nessa and I were at WalMart to get a few things. I couldn't find one item, so as we were leaving that aisle I said to Nessa "I guess they don't have it. Darn darn darn!" Of course, Nessa promptly started saying "Darn darn darn!", and continued to say it about 20 times as we were heading across the store. I was just rolling my eyes, shaking my head and laughing to myself, glad it was something fairly innocuous. "Darn darn darn! Darn darn darn!" It should perhaps be noted that our parrot frequently asks for crackers as well.

On Wednesday evening Nessa was playing with an empty laundry basket, trying to get inside. She's not quite tall enough, so she was taking a few spills and occasionally getting hit by the basket. After the second or third fall she started crying. Tami asked if she wanted help and Nessa said "No!" quite distinctly as she was trying again. Things got worse and the crying got louder, so I headed into the living room asking if Daddy could help. Nessa held out her hand with the palm forward in the universal symbol for stop and said "No!" (among other things). When I retreated, she turned around and, still crying, started babbling at the laundry basket. I swear she was cussing out that laundry basket and giving it a piece of her mind! She was not a happy camper. Then, five minutes later, she was quietly reading her books, happy as could be. Wish I could get things out of my system that easily...

Christmas photos!?!

Yes we celebrated Christmas with Shawn's parents up in Walker, MN over the rest of the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Walker actually has a holiday celebration the Friday after Thanksgiving so we went to the parade that night (thankfully it wasn't too cold) as well as doing a little holiday shopping in downtown Walker Friday. Saturday we celebrated with good food and lots of presents. Nessa even decided it was fun to open presents after the first couple that we had to help her with (she had been told they were "pretty" and off limits before that).

Nessa thought it was great fun to sit by the fireplace and was very proud when she learned to get up there by herself.

Megan with the video for her and Nessa

Megan loves jewelry so the charm bracelets were a big hit!

Nessa opening her first Christmas present of the year.

Shawn helping Nessa, and Megan holding up her "Power Pals" set (experiments with batteries). So far this is the present of Megan's that has been used the most!

New books are the best! But apparently Nessa would rather be left alone to read!

We had a great time and even the drive up and back wasn't too bad as Nessa slept a lot and was happy most of the time when she wasn't sleeping. When both girls were awake they had fun counting or saying the alphabet together. When Megan says the alphabet with Nessa she will say each letter and then wait for Nessa to say it and then after "Z" Nessa says "again, again."

The one thing I realize now that we didn't do was get a picture of Grandpa and Grandma with the girls. :-( I'll blame that on my not feeling well as a cold and cough was definitely setting in all weekend, but really we've just become really bad at remembering to take group pictures lately ... next time!

Thanksgiving pictures

Finally some pictures from Thanksgiving in Northfield at the Trotman household (Tami's sister Ellen's home) with the Groth clan.

Ness loves to rock so she adored Ahnika's rocking chair.

Charlotte's beautiful smile:

All the kids!!! OK, not all the kids happy about a picture, but at least all of them together. :-)

Megan's beautiful smile!

Jake!