You Cuss'n Me?

So Padon was sitting with me at the dinning room table while he was eating his lunch and I was working on my current book illustration and per a comment he made we started talking about why I was the boss of him and Pia. I then tried to reaffirm that, that was why he was the boss of blanket, to make sure that blanket didn't get in trouble or hurt. Too which Padon replied that Blanket was in trouble because he got in Padon's face and Padon said "you cuss'n me, are you cuss'n me?!" and Blanket kept getting in his face and so he was in big trouble under the pillows on the couch. I was so shocked at this story that I made him tell it to me three times, each time with the same about of emphasis and emotion.

This was so funny Walter and I had to call Sarah with the intention that Padon would talk to Greg and tell him about his cuss'n blanket. Sarah wasn't home, though, so we left a message instead. Later she called to play the message back to us and to say that it was really funny but that she couldn't really understand what Padon was saying. I interpreted the toddler speak and she thought it was so funny.

It did make me think a bit about where he might have gotten the idea to say "are you cuss'n me?!" and it only took a couple minutes; The Incredible Fantastic Mr. Fox movie, that's where. I think that movie is great and one of the things that just cracks me up is the amount of swearing in the movie only where ever there would be a swear word they substitute it for "cuss". At one point the fox gets in an argument with his badger lawyer over how he shouldn't buy a tree house in very close proximity to three farmers. The argument escalates until the badger says "The cuss you will buy the house!" and the Fox turns and says "Are you cuss'n me?!" and it goes from there. I didn't give Padon enough credit to think that he wouldn't take that conversation to memory. Ah, almost 4 year olds, you gotta lov'em!

Padon's First Dental Appointment

In my pre typed blog post I forgot to mention that
Padon had his first dentist appointment on February 19th. It was something that I had wanted to do but was apprehensive of how the first visit was going to go. Unbeknownst to me there is such a thing as a pediatric dentist! Whoopee! We had gotten a flyer in the mail for Apple Pediatric Dentistry, in Stanwood, and they only saw, get this, 12 month olds thru 18 year olds! Rock on! The day before Padon was set to go I saw through Facebook that Greg had just gone, also to a Pediatric Dentist, and Sarah learned that he should have had his first appointment at 12 months. It seems sort of silly when you're like Sophia, almost 14 months old, and you only have 8 teeth but I can understand the importance of knowing that your children have a good healthy dental foundation. With Dental care being free through my insurance we made an appointment for her too, a month after Padon.

I went in with an unnecessary level of anxiety . I so badly needed this appointment to be positive for Padon. I had, had a hurtful dental staff attend to my teeth from the time I was 9 till I was probably about 22 and I wanted Padon to like going to the dentist. I knew it could be fun and it was really important to his health and confidence going forward. Funny enough when Walter and I talked to Padon about going to the dentist, why it was important, and that the dentist was probably going to talk to Padon about sucking his finger, it elicited a passionate response from Padon that had him saying to Walter, in hushed tones, "Daddy, I need to go to the dentist."

So we arrived at the dental office to a kindergarten-esk feel; cartoonish animals stuck on the wall, coloring book pages colored by kids hung on the walls, adult sized chairs positioned so parents could sit and face their children being worked on, and a large picture window facing into the brightly lit dental room so small kids could see the goings on. They called Padon in soon after I filled out all the standard paperwork and I apprehensively sat down in front of Padon, realizing that my smile was genuine but feeling stale, and I wondered if I was getting smile wrinkles from trying so hard to impress upon Padon that I was having a good time so he could have a good time too. Padon was awesome! He put the Kermit the Frog sunglasses on, had no problem with the paper bib (didn't even say anything), and enjoyed talking to the amazing dental hygienist about squirting the water, sucking it up, and how the dentist was going to count his teeth with the little metal hook. He had no problem having his teeth rinsed, kissing the water down the sucking straw, kept his mouth open as the dentist counted his teeth, didn't say a thing when the dentist grabbed his tongue with a cotton swap to see back to his molars, and didn't baulk when the hygienist cleaned his teeth. He commented on how the fluoride didn't taste very good as they wiped his teeth down with it, but he didn't keep the gal from finished the job either. In the end he walked away with a motorcycle toy, two rings, a tooth brush and Sponge Bob Square Pants toothpaste, and strangely enough a hair scrunchy, although we have no idea where he picked that up.

After sitting down with Padon the Dentist asked him how old he was and Padon replied 16. To which we all laughed and the Dentist said, cool you're two years older then me! I immediately loved this Dentist. The dentist was happy to say that Padon had really good looking teeth with no cavities but that he could tell Padon sucked his finger and he recommended we bandage Padon's finger before his 4th birthday, to help deter him from sucking it for much longer. He said if we could stop him from sucking his finger before his 4th birthday the baby teeth would go back to their correct position whereas after his 4th birthday they would start to impact his permanent teeth.

Padon had a really good time, it was a positive experience, and we ended it all by having a delicious breakfast at the Stanwood Cafe and getting Padon's hair cut. I am curious to how Sophia will do and how you work with a 14 month old in a dentist office but I can already feel that I won't be as anxious this time. I really like this office!

Sushtine

Jane, when she was little, called English Muffins Angle Munchkins. Super cute! I can't forget it and it makes me smile to think of it. Padon has had his own slew of adorable phrases generating from his learning to talk and inability to pronounce the various constinents in the English language. One I don't want to forget is Sushtine. He tells us in the back seat of the car that he would like his Spiderman sun glasses because the sushtine is in his eyes. I love it! I'll be sad when the sushtine goes away.

Sucking Face

Pia does this really cute thing where she takes a big swig of cold milk and then sucks in like "Oooooo so cold, and, oh so good!" Like you might think someone would do with an especially strong whiskey. It took me forever but I finally got a picture close to what she does. I love the way her eyes light up and her jaw totally juts out. She tends to jut her bottom jaw with an under bite look with any big expression. The sound she makes is awesome! Some thing along the lines of sucking in with a gurgly sound (well she just drank some milk) and then a hoo, hoo, hoo as she exhales.

I So Love You!

Another adorable saying that Padon has is "I so love you!" I tell him "I love you so much!" alot and his backatcha is "I so love you!" Thank you goodness he gives me this validation because as he moves closer to being 4 he becomes more contrary, and frustrating and I find myself more and more frustrated and screaming with my fists clenched down at my sides. I totally gush inside when we are in the grocery store and Padon says "Mommy guess what?! I so love you!"

Padon and I Read Big Kid Books!

Oh my God, do I want to brag to every parent in the world about this!!!

Padon at three years old started reading grade school books with me! He isn't reading them to me but has the imagination and understanding to listen to me read the story and follow the story line, and talk to me about it. This blew me out of the water when in November our power went out. It was dark and we had already played a game of Uno Moo to the point that we didn't want to play anymore. I went in Padon's room and not feeling enthralled to read Parts or Molly Lou Melon again and just wondering grabbed Steward Little instead. I sat down with Padon, on the couch, gave him an overview, asked him if he wanted to read it, and he said yes. From there history was made! By December 6th we had finished Stewart Little and Padon was still interested. And this was with the offer, every night, of "do you want to pick out a book or do you want to read the mouse book?" To which he would yell "mouse book!" Thrilled that Padon might love books as much as I did growing up I ran to get and share Matilda by Rohal Dahl. We finished it around January 21st and Padon was enthralled with the magical little girl and her abusive headmistress (we had to read repeatedly about the little girl that got swung around by her pigtails and the little boy that was forced to eat a whole giant chocolate cake). After Matilda I was so excited to continue sharing my favorite stories with Padon, while I could still share them with him and before he started to independently read stories on his own. We moved onto Mouse and the Motorcycle and after that continued onto Ramona the Pest, Romana and Bezzus, started but stopped reading The Witches because it was too scary, The Enormous Crocodile, The Twits, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Glass Elevator, and now Pippi Longstocking Goes to the South Seas (July 2011). After this one we will read Charlotte's Web and then The Wizard of Oz. And still this is all by his choice!

Who would have thought that I would get to read all these stories to my three and four year old and that he would happily snuggle at my side, finger in his mouth, blanket tag in hand, telling me "Mommy I so love you" and "Mommy I love you very much!" It will be a sad day when we don't read stories together anymore, but at this rate we will have read so many together that I will have tons of stories to dreamily gaze back upon. These are such special moments that just belong to Padon and I.

Launching Myself

When my Mom was 36 she told me she could no longer have a pony tail in her hair because it as an inappropriate hair style for someone who was 36. I'm fully aware that I am three years from 36 and feeling pretty much like, damn it, if I want a pony tail I'm going to wear one!" This also stems from the fact that I'm finally in a job I like A LOT and that means that I am destined to wear business dress for many more years to come. That means, at work, no blue hair, no nostril screw, no flamboyant and whimsical clothes, and no tattoos. This makes me think of my Father; like as I think this he says, "Thank the lord!" It also makes me think of Nanci and Leo when Nanci commented that she was surprised that we ( Walter and I) got mice because after my rat Diva, becaue she thought I would "grow out of it." Mind you I was 24/25 when we got the mice (hysterical animals to own, albeit stinky).

Not rebelling but determined this year I have been neck deep in graphic design with my new position in marketing and book illustrating, have decided I would grow my hair down to the bottom of my shoulder blades discovering I look good without bangs and younger with long hair, realized that due to the temperature of my office and my need to wear sweaters and jackets that I could indeed have a tattoo sleeves and no one would know, and that no one seems to care when I wear eye liner on my top and bottom eye lids. I bought three books on restyling clothes from your immediate wardrobe thinking I could revamp my closet in a professional yet Chloe style and I was feeling pumped. I had designed a logo for myself earlier in 2010 and after receiving confirmation that it was a pretty cool and appropriate design in my Business of Graphic Design class, from my teacher, I was starting to feel reborn. I was tired with the feeling that I was mostly bending to what others thought was the right thing for me to do. I bought the 10 gauge spiral earrings that I fell in love with on a girl in my Web Design class and wore them to work (again no one said anything) and I'm on a quest to continue launching myself; my whole self, not just a dusty window reflection of myself.

I told my friend Nick that I was thinking of getting my upper arms tattooed and he said something about "what would Padon and Sophia think of their Mom when they were teenagers." This comment makes me envision myself in a wife beater, tight running shorts, breasts much larger then I actually own and bending over my daughter's boyfriend with a plate of cookies. I'm just not that kind of Mom but at the same time when I do save enough money for my sweet tattoo sleeves I'm going to wear a tank top when it's hot and if my kids are embarrassed of me, I'm sorry they feel that way. Hopefully when they are older and adults they will see that at least their Mother was true to herself and not folding her true self esteem and spirit to what is perceived to be the norm. I can't get my tattoo sleeves fast enough.

Breaking Sophia's Stuff

Something that I didn't account for and I suppose I should have, being the oldest of 4, was that Padon might break Sophia's toys as well as his own. It bothers me enough that their toys aren't organized in toy specific bins for easy reference and playing but that Sophia might have a broken toy before she was old enough to play with it?! Padon at 4 is just now finally not putting everything under the sun in his mouth and isn't needing to take all things to their breaking limits. I completely understand that this a a subject of curiosity and rough housing, but in a house where most things come as gifts or well thought out planning and saving, it is totally unacceptable to me that Padon might break something based in the whimsical theory of "what it I...; I wonder what will happen if..." I have gotten to the point where I am okay with Padon breaking his own things after some good time of play but broken Sophia toys are for Sophia to do. I haven't been able to bend past this point yet. I don't think I should have to.

Walter's Sweater

In college Walter had, and still has, a white poly-cotton cable knit sweater. At the time I think it probably fit him perfectly but 13 years later it is stained and a little too small. It's hard to let good friends go however, and Walter still felt this was an appropriate sweater to wear to nice family functions. Determined to replace this sweater I went on a quest for a new sweater.

I really enjoy spinning and knitting and it seemed that if I knitted Walter a sweater MAYBE (caps because most knitters know that when you knit something for someone else they never wear it) it would be so special it would join the ranks of the treasured white sweater and possibly (hopefully) replace it. It took months, however, to find a pattern that I thought Walter might really like. Finally in September I saw a sweater in a friends yarn shop that screamed Walter. It was covered in cable knits, and seed stitch, and was right up his alley. I was determined to finish the book cover illustration I was working on by the end of the month and to start Walter's sweater no later then than October 1st. My Mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said, "yarn! For Walter's Sweater!" A full body sweater runs about $50 and that was more money then I had to spend or that I wanted to spend all of my B-day money on. Walter's sweater ran about $56 and the yarn was soft, earth toned, and toned down; just what Walter would have picked out himself, I'm sure.

Right on schedule I finished the book illustration and started working on the sweater like a fiend. Now this sweater was a surprise for Walter, I was thinking birthday present, and that meant I had three months to get the sweater done and without him knowing. I knitted on the bus, while waiting for the bus, in Nordstroms while shopping with a friend, in the cafeteria and at Starbucks over lunch, under the covers in the bedroom while Walter played XBox in the living room, and every Thursday night at my friends Yarn shop.

I had under estimated my ability to do this, work, children, and the holiday's and Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays threw a few monkey wrenches into my time line. Oh! and about two week worth of work went out the window when I realized I was knitting the wrong size of the sweater, had to tear it out, and start all over again. By Christmas I had the front and back of the sweater complete but half a sleeve and the seams weren't attached. It was apparent that I was not going to finish this by the 10th of January. By this point I had quite a following of supporters wanting to know how the sweater was going and wondering whether I was going to make it.

We celebrated Christmas Day with my Family and scheduled a second Christmas with Leo on January 9th; one day before Walter's birthday. I had, had hopes of finishing the sweater in those 10 days in between but in celebrating Sophia's 1st B-day and planning for our own Christmas dinner it didn't happen. There was a collective sigh of sadness from my devoted followers.

I wasn't about to not give Walter his gift however, especially not after all this work. I took his white sweater, as planned, folded the new sweater up, and stuffed it into the white sweater. Folded it up, wrapped it, and gave it to Walter at 2nd Christmas for his birthday. Walter was pleased for a present, opened it, was surprised to see his white sweater, saw the gray-green sweater inside and thought initially that I had lined the white sweater. I directed him to pull the new sweater out and he was most perfectly awed and touched by the front and back of the sweater. I gushed about the whole process, told him about my sweater groupies, and how I still needed to do the sleeves. He told me he loved it and I was so satisfied; it was all so worth it.

It took me another two weeks to finish the sleeves, partially because I no longer had this dead line looming. When it was all together, Walter put it on, and it fit him perfectly; well at least it fit him like it fit the model in the book, which I took to mean perfectly. He said again he loved it and I totally took that to be a completely honest statement because he continued to wear it almost every day for weeks (it was a really cold and wet winter). It did tend to stretch a little but I think a good washing will fix that. It was an awesome project and present! Worth every minute!

My little supporters:

Sophia's 1st Birthday!

I am devoted to celebrating my kid's birthdays on their birthday even if it is a little family celebration and I wasn't going to let the fatigue of the ending holiday season take that away from Sophia. I am hyper aware that she was born at a time where Christmas has just ended and New Years Eve is the next day and just as I worried people weren't excited about getting together to celebrate her 1st birthday. I jockied around the idea, via an email to family members, that we celebrate her birthday in February but got no response and saddened I stamped my mental foot and decided we Warren's were going to celebrate her birthday regardless if anyone else came, on her birthday! I had Groupon coupons from Jane and from a purchase that I had made for the Children's Museum in Seattle and it was the perfect venue for a 1st birthday. I sent the invite to join us to family and happily Leo, Jane, and Jason said they could come.

We dressed warmly and adorned with her birthday crown we made our way to the Seattle Center.


It was awesome! The coupons covered the cost for all of us to go into the museum and Padon was super excited to run amuck in a world designed for people his size. Sophia was a little hesitant but in the baby/toddler section she was still curious and to my surprise used her new found crawling skills to follow me from one section of the play area to the other.
I had decked her out with a wire rimmed red ribbon that was stink'n adorable with her polk-a-dot dress, onzie, and daisey covered tights. It made people ask about her ribbon and gave me the opportunity to brag about my beautiful little girl and to tell them how it was her birthday that day.

We played for about two hours and then made our way up to the food court in the Seattle Center for a delicious pizza lunch.

I had packed with me a special table cloth, cupcakes that came with snow globe ring favors, and a special chocolate cupcake and Pooh candle for Pia.

We lit the candle, sang her happy Birthday, she put the candle out by pinching the wick (no kidding) and we let her dig in.
A little slow to react to the gluttony that comes with the 1st birthday cake, especially on a full pizza belly, she soon was scarfing icing and cake, and some where in that little roly-poly body found room for the whole cupcake! She did pass out cold in the stroller as we made our way back to the car. I take that as the sign that it was a perfect party.

Even though it was so very important to me that we celebrate Sophia's 1st brithday on the day she was born, going forward we will celebrate Sophia's birthday as a little Warren party on her day but have a party on her 1/2 birthday on the 4th of July. Family gets together on that day anyway and who can turn down a middle of the summer birthday - pool parties here we come! I'm think'n Luau theme! Woot!

2011 Christmas and 2nd Christmas

Again this year we went down to my Parent's house for Christmas Eve. I think this may be the last time for a bit, however, because Sophia wasn't keen at all about sleeping in a place that was not her bed and I got barely any sleep. We did pull out the Christmas Pjs though and I was eager to get them on the kids, emphasising my Christmas socks and PJs too (aren't we having fun?!). We started with Sophia and found, even though I had measured her shirt properly, that the neck hole that had buttons was still too small for her head. These PJs had been a labor of love, however and I couldn't not have her wear her first pair of Christmas Pjs and so we cut the collar of her neckline. I still gasp at the thought. Over her head the PJ shirt went and the pants went on perfectly. So perfectly it was apparent that she probably was only going to be able to wear these Pjs just this once. *Sigh* And even larger sigh *SIGH* was when I tried to put Padon's PJs on him he flatly refused to wear them. Both my parents thought I should force him to wear them but then the PJ tradition would really only be only about be and what fun was that? I finally discovered that part of the problem was that Padon still wanted to wear his T-shirt which brought us to a compromise that he could wear his t-shirt under his PJ shirt. I still had to button the puppy pajamas as fast as I could and he still went and cried on the stairs leaving me wondering what kind of mommy role I really wanted to play tonight. My parents told Padon how wonderful he looked and the PJs really did fit him well. Playing with my Dad on the Hobby Horse seemed to tip the scales and Padon was happy again and complacent about wearing the PJs. We put Padon and Sophia down on the floor in front of my Mom's tree for a memorable picture and then I was satisfied. *Sigh*

The next day the rest of the family came over and I tried my best to snap pictures of Sophia's first Christmas.

Padon who had waited so patiently to open presents for the last three days was beside himself. He was finally old enough to understand Christmas tradition, the gift of giving and receiving, and he was loving it!

My Aunt Janet, Uncle Tim, cousins Andy and Megan, and Andy's wife Annamaria came to visit and it was nice to see them and introduce them to Padon, Greg and Sophia. Sophia who wasn't always inclined to relax with a stranger fell asleep on my Aunt Janet's lap which was so nice. I don't think that my Aunt Janet and I see eye to eye on most things and she had always made me feel a little like the black sheep in the family and so it was nice to have this nice and gentle bond between us; thanks to Sophia.

My friend Jen also got to join us for Christmas and that too was really nice. Jen's closest family lives in Colorado and it was a treat for her to spend Christmas with us. We had a great time, laughed a lot, and her little girl, Mia, had a great time playing with Greg and Billy.

Sophia's 1st Picture and Family Portraits!

When Padon was one we went to Picture People to get our family portrait taken and to get 1st year pictures of Padon. This year I thought it would be nice to get family portraits taken again but had been a little disappointed with Picture People over the last couple of sittings and so thought, having seen an ad and coupon for JCPenny that we would go there instead.

I had the most adorable Christmas dress or Sophia, a new suit for Padon and coupons to make the price of the sitting at JCPenny's reasonable. We made a mistake however in thinking that we could go to a friends house and party the night before, wake up with hang overs, get dressed in our best clothes, buy Walter a shirt, and get to JCPennys in time.

Well we did get up in time, did get dressed (Sophia, Padon, I, and mostly Walter), and to the studio just in time to get Walter a shirt but I had forgotten the coupon and had completely forgotten about how men's shirts are packaged. Between the slight hangover, and dealing with the pressed lines on Walter's chest and arms, I was slapped in the face with the $200 price tag for the sitting and picture package. Walter and I both stared at the register with this "oh my God!" feeling but still pulled the trigger. It was December 6th and we needed this weekend for the pictures to timely put together our annual photo calendar, that was also sent out as stocking stuffers for Leo and Mary Jane. WE NEEDED THESE PICTURES!!! I went into the bathroom to collect myself and wet down Padon's giant cowlick and felt better as Walter supported the decision and affirmed that everything would be okay. While it was more money then we had planned to spend we did have the cash in the bank.

I came back to the studio in time for our family to be called in and Sophia and Padon were wonderful. First off the holiday decorations they had us choose from were leaps and bounds better then Picture People. You get what you pay for. They had this little wood and antique looking chair with red velvet upholstery and Padon took to it like the narrator in Masterpiece Theater; leg crossed over his lap and everything. Sophia not strong enough to stand on her own could stand and hold onto the chair and placed her hands perfectly and smiled for the camera. We got shots of them together, alone, and finally all of us together on a backless couch as a family. In the end we had a lot of shots to look at, choose from, and we walked away with a CD of all the images. That rocked most of all. It was really hard to explain why we only needed one 8x10 of the family portrait and one 5x7 of each of Padon and Sophia (shhhhhh don't tell them I'm a graphic designer and I don't need them or their high prices and make prints at Bartell Drug for a fraction of the price), and that nope, don't need Christmas cards...

We left with two wonderful kids that were getting impatient because they were hungry. We awarded ourselves with a job well done; the pictures were wonderful and worth every penny, and went to the Claim Jumper. While in the Claim Jumper, Padon who was still discovering his skills at being potty trained, announced to me on the way back from the bathroom, with Walter, across the dinning area, that he had gone Pee and Daddy had too!!! Walter was so awesome to laugh while still being mortified as the very large table of roughly 12 gals burst our laughing at the situation and how cute this little boy was in his suit, vest, and tie.

We ended our morning by playing on the playground in Alderwood Mall. It turned out to be a good day and we got some really nice pictures. I think next year we will go back to the Picture People since family portraits aren't needed every year, and they are much cheaper; I just know now to bring my own props. I wonder how they would feel if I brought in a whole Christmas tree...just kidding.

A Little Bit of the Irish

Somewhere between October 2010 and December 2010 (can you tell I'm updating the blog months after this posting) my Dad said something along the lines of, would you like to get the mole removed from your forehead; I'll pay for it? We had a nice heart to heart where he admitted he had thought maybe in college I would have liked to have it removed but he didn't want to imply that he thought I was unattractive with it and so he didn't say anything. By the time he asked me, though, I had had enough conversations with small children about the "owie" on my forehead and how it wasn't one, just a mole. I had, had this conversation with Greg a few weeks before my Dad and I talked and even after an explanation of what it was Greg still gave me this weary "hummm, we'll see" expression. I was all for having the mole removed and so I scheduled an appointment Dec 21st. It was a simple procedure, I had to wear a very obvious bandage on my forehead for the first day and a bandaid for a week, and after about 7 months a lot of the pink of the scar tissue has gone away. I don't have a fine line like the doctor said he though I might have, but a pink pockmark like scar , but it is still better then the mole that protruded off my head about an eighth of an inch.

I think my Dad was using me a little as a Guinea Pig because he himself has a mole on his back that he would like to have removed. When he discussed it with his doctor his doctor replied that it was just a little of his Irish heritage shinning through. Both of us are pretty confident that this isn't a genetic trait we feel we need to flaunt. Maybe now after me having had my mole removed he will go in and have his removed. If he needs a little hand holding, I'll be there for him.

Fire Department, Santa and Candy Canes, Oh my!

On December 21st I was driving home from work and could hear in the far off distance what sounded like an Ambulance. I thought, oh, that's sad; some one is having a medical emergency in such a festive time of year. I walked in the door to our house and was doing the standard meet and greet, including the barage of happy Padon chatter, and I could hear a police car, but closer this time. I think I made a comment to Walter along the lines of, "What do you think is going on? Do you think they're going after the drug dealer (yeah, we have a drug dealer couple blocks away)?" And then I heard the whoop, whoop of the emergency vehicle again and it clicked! "I yelled "Oh my God! Padon come here, come here!" And as it clicked for me, Walter also clicked and he started to scramble. I grabbed a startled Padon in my arms (he was in his PJs) and I started to run to the front door. As I flew through the door Walter yelled watch out for the front steps, which were covered in ice and I slowed down just enough to safely stumble down them and out through our front gate to great Santa Claus walking along side an ambulance COVERED in Christmas lights followed closely by a fire truck. Every year Santa comes from the North County Fire Department and patrols Kayak Estates throwing candy and giving holiday well wishes. We had missed it the year before and Padon was in complete awe, waving to Santa and yelling, "Merry Christmas!" I felt someone next to me and turned to see that Walter had grabbed Sophia too, and I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that he had brought her out, because it was so cold, and because why had I not thought of it?

Santa wished us all Merry Christmas and gave Padon and Sophia each a candy cane and continued down the street with the sirens chirping as they went. We thanked the emergency crew, wished them a happy holiday, and paused a bit to laugh with our neighbors, that live across the street, who had also been listening to the sirens and wondering what was going on, to suddenly remember and run outside. Only their kids had been in the bathtub and they had, had the memorable scramble out of the tub and into PJs to run outside as fast as they could.

Inside we let the kids have their candy canes and while Padon relished unwrapping his own, Sophia was a riot as she took her very first taste of peppermint, thought about it for a second, and dived back in. Her candy cane crook had broken off and was a straight piece of candy. This she would pass back and forth from hand to hand as she put it in her mouth and pulled it back out. It was quickly a sticky mess and so we put her in her high chair to go hog wild on her candy treasure. I was so glad we could capture this moment and that Padon was able to see Santa. Some where he had picked up that Santa had a toy work shop and had been in awe of the Santa picture booth at the Bellevue Square Mall that was elaborately assembled to look like his actual house. We don't emphasis Santa at all as bringing presents or that he likes good kids over the bad, but still Padon has learned about him. It will be interesting to see how Santa becomes established in a house that doesn't really celebrate Christianity or imaginary characters that bring treats through out the year.

I'm Padon's Best Friend!

Padon told me on December 15th that I was his best friend! I came home to him and as I was walking into the dining room he said "Mommy, you're my best friend!" I totally gushed inside. It turns out Walter and Drake, the cat, are also Padon's best friends but it started off with me. I love it!

Thanksgiving 2011 and Christmas PJ's

*Drat for taking my pictures home*
Thanksgiving was, as usual, a good time this year. The food was fabulous, the decor beautiful, and the company great! Sophia ate a little of everything on the table and then promptly passed out in her high chair, head lolling to the side. Padon and Greg sat together, away from parental support and with my Mom happily seated between them and Billy. It was such a wonderful gesture for her to take on the kids so we parents could have a holiday meal without cutting up someone's meat or portioning out more of the sides. And Padon and Greg were so well behaved. Usually there is excited hitting and kicking, as they love each other madly, and instead they happily enjoyed each other's company chatting away.

For the Warren Household, Thanksgiving means that the next day Chloe has every intention of not shopping on Black Friday but that she probably will and that the Christmas tree gets to go up. I really didn't want to shop on Black Friday. Not that I don't like to wait in line but I was super tired that week and if you want to surround yourself with the largest number of unhappy holiday goers and crazy drivers, trying to fit in spots way to small for their enormous SUVs, that you will see in a year, you just don't shop on Black Friday. JoAnn Fabric was, however, having their stellar cheap novelty flannel sale and christmas pajama fabric needed to be bought. So with some added motivation I asked Padon if he wanted to go Christmas PJ fabric shopping and get up super early. He, as any wonderful 3 year old would be, was super excited to go out with me and we were on.

I woke Padon up at 5:30 in the morning, bleck! We dressed ourselves in warm clothes for the 21 degree weather outside and drove the 20 minutes down to Marysville where the JoAnn Fabric USED to be. That's right, used to! I had totally forgotten that they had moved locations and I had no idea where. That meant we had to drive to Lynnwood to go to the huge JoAnn Fabric and that we definitly would not be there when the store opened at 6am. We arrived at the Lynnwood store at 6:30 and to a store crowed with women and carts stacked, no kidding, 6 feet high with bolt upon bolt of novelty print fabric. While the section of fabric had still many bolts to choose from the cute, have to have, Christmas themed fabric was gone. And we were number 89 while the cutting table clicker was still at 51; there was a warm snowball's chance in hell that we were going to get our hands on better fabric than what was available to us.

Padon was awesome! We made the lap around the novelty print fabric probably 8 times and he enjoyed playing with the nic-nacks around the store. Disheartening, though, was when I asked Padon what fabric he wanted and he replied "all done with the fabric." I'm pretty positive my mouth fell open. I fully acknowledge that the pj's are a tradition for us that is far more important to me then to anyone else in the Warren house, but he was 3 and was supposed to have SOME opinion. I mean at 2 he picked out his fabric...Synapses fighting the urge not to over push the need for him to want to choose some fabric on his own, I picked out 5 bolts of fabric and asked him if he liked any of them. Sort of giving in he turned away from the bolts I had chosen and pointed out a bolt that was the pinkest of pink with stars and rainbows and said, "this is what I want!" I said "really?!" and he confirmed the choice. I'm not the kind of Mom that would not let my little boy dress like Rainbow Bright if he really wanted to, but I was the kind of Mom that was not about to take the time to make Pj's he might turn around and tell me on Christmas Eve "I'm not wearing that!" So holding onto the fabric I looked for some fabric for Pia (she had to have a different fabric then Padon; I'm so sick). I found a cute penguin fabric where the penguin's stomach looked like it was a snow globe and the rest of the fabric looked like it had snow flakes on it. I then went and found Padon again, who was happily playing in the wind-up toy section and confirmed with him for a third time (I think) "so this is the fabric of your Christmas Pajamas?" He disgustedly looked at me and said "No! That's GIRLs fabric!" Are you kidding me?! Realizing fully, now that the X-mas pj's were all about me, and that the fantasy of him picking out fabric with me was gone, I went and picked out some super soft white flannel fabric with puppies all over it got him to choose some puppy buttons, and then proceeded to the pattern section to buy a PJ pattern big enough to fit Padon.

Padon was so awesome and beyond well behaved. It took us 3 hours to go in the store, pick out fabric, pick out a PJ pattern, and to get our fabric cut. Padon's big insentive, other then getting to have quality time with me, was that afterward we would go across the street to Sherry's and have some pie and hot chocolate. After our 3 hour excursion (not counting drive time) Pie wasn't going to cut it so we had a giant slice of chocolate pie (Padon chose), hot chocolate, coffee for me, and a giant breakfast skillet, and proceeded to stuff ourselves. It was a really great time. I hope Padon is more into picking out fabric next year. And of course Pia will be old enough to pick her fabric too. I don't plan on giving up. My kids will be 30 and still receiving PJs from me. Teehee!