Playing Catch Up

It's been a few weeks, and boy do we have a lot to catch up on!  We had a great Thanksgiving down in Florida (sorry, no pictures!  I forgot my camera, and I must say, it was quite liberating...but as soon as we got back to Virginia I got back into my paparazzi mode!)  Since then, we've been busy getting into the holiday spirit!  If the terrifying, blood curdling scream that occurred when we put in the "Baby Santa" Baby Einstein DVD is any indicator of Bug's feelings towards Santa, then this is going to be a long month.  And will surely make for some interesting Santa pictures this year!

Buggy is growing into a little lady, saying "Please and Thank you"  all the time and growing up too fast, right in front of our eyes!  Her favorite word these days seems to be "Night Night" and she says it when she's tired, all done with something, when she's reading her books to herself and when she's babbling and running around the house.  She loves putting her teddy bears, Little Peoples and dollies to bed by saying "Night Night" and laying them down.  She's also infatuated with "Twees" because of all the beautiful Christmas trees around (and probably because hers has been up well before Thanksgiving!!)  But her biggest accomplishment is that she can count to ten all by herself.  Granted, most of the time she leaves out the number seven, but she's still exhibiting her Daddy's math gene (and hopefully not her Mommy's!)  Now that she can count, she loves to count EVERYTHING!  I still get so tickled every time I hear her count and I'm sure I'll never get tired of it! 

In my attempt to get some cute pictures of Bug in front of the Christmas "Twee" I, gasp!, removed the baby gate from around the tree and fireplace.  I tried every trick in my book for trying to get that child to smile for my camera, but she was clearly far too fascinated with the tree, presents and  "pwetty" ornaments to flash me her sweet smiles!

Reading up on this spooky Santa Character in "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Playing with Mommy's Peoples and Rainbow Bright dolls (circa 1985!)  Oldies but goodies!

Enjoying a relaxing soak in Granny Nanny's tub.  It's the only place where she's safe from puppy licks!

Grooving to some tunes on Mommy's i-pod!

 Book Worming it in her Dora jammies this morning!

I've been reading a book titled, "Happiest Toddler on the Block" and in the first few chapters they discussed figuring out your toddlers temperament.  There are three options to choose from:

1) Good

2) Shy

3) Spirited

They give this example in deciding which category your child fits in best.  Take your toddler to an uncrowded indoor mall.  Put them down and begin to walk away.  If your child screams and runs to you, she's shy.  If she stays where she is, she's good.  And if she runs in the opposite direction (screaming and leaving a path of destruction behind her) then she's considered "spirited."  Didn't take me long to figure out that one!  Basically, because I have a "spirited" little girl (which I'm convinced is just a nice way of saying wild child) Buggy is naturally more active, more impatient, more impulsive, more defiant, more intense, more sensitive...sigh...and in turn is usually harder to potty train and control her temper tantrums.  I'm tempted to throw this book out and raise the white flag.  I guess her "spirited nature" is to blame for the meltdown we had this morning when she couldn't get the book she wanted out of her basket!

And ya'll know this Mama wouldn't change a thing about this perfect little nugget of love!  Spirited temperament and all!