Well, I've been home today with a sweet girl who has had what appears to be a little tummy bug. She took an excellent nap, and seems to be feeling better, so I thought I would use the time to finally get that Christmas post in.
We had our annual visit with Santa, and luckily with my friend's connection, we were still spared from having to brave the mall lines to see Santa, and he actually paid a visit to our house. Casey wasn't too sure about the big guy, but she did sit in his lap and allow him to hold her for a few pictures by the tree. I can't say that she was willing to do so with a smile, but there weren't any tears, so we will take what we can get!
Then, we dared another road trip (even though I thought I would never attempt it again after last spring break's trip to Wisconsin), and headed to Memphis to spend Christmas with my extended family. We had a great Christmas, and Casey did get the hang of opening presents, but she did not understand why they kept immediately being taken away. She demanded we "Open dis!" when every present was opened, sometimes before all the paper was even torn off. It was so cute to see her excitement though for every gift, even if it did take a while before all her gifts were finally opened. Overall, Casey did great on the car ride, even if we did allow her to watch a little too much Caillou, Daniel Tiger, and Olivia along the way. All I can say is I have never been more grateful for a piece of technology as I was for the iPad on that trip. It kept her happy and entertained, and therefore kept us all happy. On the return trip, we made it back with 2% iPad battery left. I was dreading the meltdown that was sure to occur if the battery died, so we were breathing a sigh of relief when we finally pulled into the driveway.
We ended Christmas break with her acquiring yet another ear infection, and it did slow her down for a few days, but thankfully she seemed to recover pretty fast after a couple days of antibiotics. It was truly a great Christmas, and we were so blessed to spend it with family as we watched our girl experience the magic of Christmas!
I'll leave you with pictures of her 3rd Christmas!
Waiting on Santa
All smiles for now.
When is this Santa guy going to get here?
So much cuteness
Not too sure about Santa
She decided she could brave giving him five
"Nope, I changed my mind!"
He lured her back with some reindeer food.
So she decided maybe she could trust him
Very serious about Santa
She was impressed with his bells though.
But she still wasn't willing to give up a smile.
Showing Santa where her stocking was hung.
"I'm outta here, and I'm taking your bells with me."
Love this one!
"These bells make a pretty nice necklace"
He convinced her to come back and look at his scrapbook, but she was keeping her distance.
Showing Santa her favorite ornament.
Still not sure about this guy!
She begrudgingly gave him a hug.
Got his nose!
Santa showing her where his sleigh would land.
Christmas morning! Ready to check out what Santa brought! She woke up in the worst mood ever, but did warm up a bit when she realized presents had arrived.
Her loot!
Shoes!
The glass slippers that Santa brought were definitely one of the biggest hits!
And of course a "Caillou" book!
Christmas night!
She was over the pictures!
Got one action shot before she could escape!
I just adore the pure joy on her face when she opened each gift!
Christmas 2013, 2012, and 2011
Our Christmas Card. We hope everyone had a great Christmas!
One of these days I really will post the rest of these pictures from our summer vacations (I'm only 6 months behind!)
So as usual, it's been a while, and I have a lot of blogging to catch up on. I thought I would start with a post about our very active and opinionated girl. Life with a two year old is never dull, especially because Casey most definitely has a strong sense of what she does and doesn't want to do. This year we have officially been sprung from isolation, and we have loved every minute of not being cooped up in the house for months on end. Casey's favorite place to go these days is to see our local minor league hockey games, and almost daily she will ask if we can "Go Pockey Game!" She loves to eat "poppycorn" (popcorn) and play with her friend that sits beside us, and some of the time she even makes it through the whole game! She has also had a chance to socialize more this fall by going to the church nursery for a couple of hours each week while Gigi attended a bible study. At first she wasn't too sure, but after a few weeks she decided she liked going to "see the babies" at church. We have also had a few more firsts this season, when she attended the Texas State Fair for the first time (and discovered she did NOT like cotton candy), and we also got to take her to our NICU reunion for the first time to catch up with some of our nurses we had not seen since her release from the hospital (we celebrated her two year homecoming on December 14th!).
We also just had her annual ECI evaluation at the end of December, and she has officially been released from the last of her early childhood services. In most areas, she is actually exceeding her actual age for development, which was really great news. We were sad to say goodbye to our therapists that have helped her so much for the past two years, but we are thrilled that she has officially bid farewell to the last of her preemie hurdles. Our biggest concern for the past few months has been her speech, and her language has really just exploded over the fall. She is often talking in sentences now, and probably her most frequently used are "I don't like it," or "I go bye-bye," and "I go fast," (in reference to riding her car or pushing her shopping cart at rapid speed through the house).
As I mentioned above, Casey has become very opinionated about her daily happenings. While I wouldn't say she is in the terrible two's, I would definitely call them the trying two's. Most of the time she is still great in public, but she does reserve a melt down or two for mommy and daddy when things don't go her way at home. Most of her tantrums center around being told "No" or taking away the iPad or something else she wants. She has also become quite independent, and will often tell me as I am getting her out of her carseat that "I can walk" as though she knows a ride in a cart is imminent. She also gets particularly picky about the foods she eats, and would prefer to eat Macaroni and cheese for every meal if we would allow it. Casey also has an obsession with ketchup (thanks Mom!), which she affectionately refers to as "dip dip," and I'm fairly certain she only eats some meals just for the dip dip experience. She has recently decided that naps are not really for her, and often spends her naptime playing and talking to herself in her crib. Although she does have some tough moments, we are also very lucky that Casey is still very sweet and cuddly. She loves to give hugs and kisses, and will stretch out her hands and respond "This much!" when asked how much she loves someone. Recently she has started asking me to "hold hands" several times a day. As challenging as it was to maneuver through the grocery store while holding hands with my two-year old the other day, she melts my heart every time she asks, and I could never refuse that sweet request.
Her current favorites:
T.V. shows - "Caillou," "Daniel Tiger," and "Olivia"
Food - Mac and Cheese, Ketchup, Peanut Butter Crackers, and Fruit Snacks (which she calls "Nummies" aka Gummies)
Toys - Anything baby doll, her play kitchen, and riding her princess car
Things to Do - Play on the iPad and going on walks outside with Gigi
Ways to get in Trouble - Digging in my nightstand for candy (which I keep there in case my blood sugar drops at night) and standing on the furniture
A couple of Casey funnies:
-Tonight we were playing with blocks and Casey kept knocking down the towers I was building. After a couple times, I was pretending to cry and saying "Why did you knock over my tower?" She then responded with "Don't cry about it." Guess she told me.
-A few weeks ago I was trying to get Casey to eat something that she didn't want to eat, and I was getting frustrated that she wouldn't try it. Her Granddaddy offered to try, and she is usually much more cooperative for him. After a couple attempts, she got fed up, turned her head away and stated "I look at the wall."
-Casey loves to help when asked, and she likes to sing a song that my mom taught her as she helps clean up. One of the lines is "There's work to do, Oh Casey Boo, a helper I will be." As she was singing it, she actually referred to herself as Casey (usually she just uses "Cay Cay). Immediately after, I asked her what her name was, and she responded, "Helper!"
-This was actually a few months ago, but we were reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear" one night at bedtime, and I was quizzing her on the name of each animal. She did great until we got to the goldfish, which she told me was a "Cracker!"
-Throughout the day, Casey will come to us and tell us various things she wants, except that somehow she got the memo that she is more likely to get these items if she phrases her requests as, "I need _______." Not sure where she learned that, but this morning's first request was, "I need Diet Coke." (Mama's girl! For the record, we have never given her any kind of soda, but this morning she thought she "needed" it).
I will close with pictures taken throughout the fall, and I will hopefully post again soon with Christmas and Santa pics.
Going for a walk!
Big Tex!
Working at the Kid's Farm. This was so cute, and it was by far her favorite part of the fair!
Cheese!
Her favorite position.
Happy Halloween!
Cutest little mouse!
I could hardly get the mouse to stand still! After working on her costume for hours, I finally tried it on her and she immediately screamed "No! Help!" Luckily, a few days later we tried again, and she wore it willingly.
Trick-or-treating
Letting us know that the Halloween fun was over!
Doing a little light reading (her pick, not mine!)
Found one of her old headbands, and insisted on wearing it, despite the fact that it was way too tight!
Not her finest moment.
Watching a little football with Daddy. Please note the hand holding.
First braid, compliments of our babysitter.
Taking her new wheels for a spin.
She is still pretty crazy about my shoes, and insisted on trying on my boots.
Little Hockey fan!
Girl loves hockey aka "pockey"
Playing Dress Up
Because you can't mow without a chip hanging out of your mouth
Hanging out with a few of her friends.
Our next big challenge to tackle...potty training!
My partner in crime!
Rocking the Thanksgiving dress Mommy made for her!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy girl!
While we were in Memphis for Christmas, we went to Snowy Nights at the Botanical Gardens. She was a big fan of the fake snow.
