This weekend’s about to get crazy. So before the birthday girl launches to another planet, I took her out for some quiet Mommy (and Sophie) time this afternoon at our favorite fro-yo spot.
She chose chocolate with marshmallows, M&M’s and chocolate chips. Because if every food was made of chocolate, she’d be totally cool with that.
That’s my girl.
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Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com
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Lily is getting to be such a big girl. Four years old in just a couple of months. And there are all sorts of new things that we get to do together as she grows.
Special little dates. Just the two of us.
The other night while Marc was out for some much-needed guy time and Sophie was sleeping, Lily and I made cupcakes and snuggled on the couch for a Christmas cartoon. Total bliss.
She especially enjoyed getting to frost her own cupcakes, which quickly turned into frost-lick-frost-lick. Rather than spread it around, she preferred to tower it high. And it’s safe to say that more sprinkles ended up on the floor than on her little creations. But aren’t they beautiful?
There is something so special about preparing food together. I’m not exactly a master chef (or baker) but I feel such a strong pull to teach her everything I know in the kitchen.
Collapsed later on the couch in a sugary haze, we snuggled tight and watched Yes, Virginia (which always brings tears to my eyes). I can’t get enough of squeezing this kid. I’ll probably be one of those embarrassing moms trying to snuggle her or hold her hand when she’s 16. Wait. I definitely will be.
In the meantime, I’m going to be sure that we continue this little holiday tradition, perhaps next year with a toddler licking the spoon too.
What sorts of special holiday traditions do you and your family have? What do you like to bake?
Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. #CleverDessert #spon
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Lily dictated her very first Santa letter to me. It was hilariously complicated. We went through two drafts before she finally decided this was the one. I love how she asked for stuff for each member of her family. And how she kept saying “Dear Santa,” with growing enthusiasm each time.
Christmas with an almost-four-year-old. This is too much fun.
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Here they are! The 2011 Christmas card outtakes.
This was such a hit on our Facebook page last year, I couldn’t resist sharing this year’s reel.
Out of about 200 frames, we got three shots to work with.
That’s pretty good, considering one of my subjects has the attention span of a flea and the other prefers to grimace rather than smile.
Besides, if it were easy, we wouldn’t have these gems …
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I’d forgotten that I’d taken these photos of Lily with my phone after her procedure Saturday. Since so many of you have contacted me to express your concern (thank you), I thought you might like to see how well Lily did. A happy camper, indeed.
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Food poisoning, croup, a busted chin.
We’ve been to the ER three times with Lily, and it never gets easier or becomes less scary.
Yesterday evening, just as my sister- and brother-in-law arrived to take Marc and me to the hockey game, Lily jumped up from playing Legos, slipped and fell. As she hit the ground, the Lego in her hand met her chin and opened it right up. The blood wasn’t the hard part. It was trying to keep my composure in front of my three-year-old. Trying not to make her feel any more terrified than she already was.
Because the wound was small and the bleeding stopped pretty easily, we thought there might be a chance we could avoid the ER. Marc called a local emergency clinic. Who, without hesitation, told us to get our butts to the ER. Marc stayed back with the baby and our guests. I took Lily.
And this is where I want to say how grateful I am for all of the knowledge I’ve gained in the last three and a half years from talking to other moms.
Deep in the recesses of my brain was this little nugget: WakeMed has a great children’s emergency department. Who told me that? I have no idea. But I’m so glad I remembered it in that moment, which is nothing short of a miracle. We’d always rushed to the hospital closer to our house, whose ER is just fine, but definitely doesn’t cater to kids.
WakeMed’s campus is huge, and of course I parked in the wrong place, but once we arrived inside the kids’ ER, Lily spotted Dora on one of the TVs and curled right up on the couch. Instant relief. It’s so much easier to undertake the arduous task of hospital check-in without a screaming child in your lap.
The triage nurse was amazing (in one brilliant move comparing blood to Elmo’s color in order to relax Lily), and the doctors, nurses and intern (who read books to Lily during her procedure) were equally wonderful. Because she was so rattled by folks even looking at her chin, one doctor advised me to allow them to sedate her for her stitches. It made sense until I heard the words, “might stop breathing” “intubate” and “vomiting.” The second doctor who visited us said that Lily would need only a few stitches and it could be quick. The catch? She’d have to be restrained.
I chose the second option and tried my best to describe it to Lily. “You’ll be swaddled like we used to wrap up Sophie.” “You’ll be nice and cozy and warm.” “Mommy will be right here.”
Amazingly, it worked.
My child stunned me. After dissolving into hysterics each time anyone just wanted to peek at her chin, when it came time to wrap up in the papoose, she obliged without a single tear. I couldn’t believe it. She was so calm and brave. My chest aches just thinking about it.
They pinned her arms to her sides with a pillowcase (“superhero cape”), laid her on her back, and strapped her into the papoose. Then, as a nurse tech held her head and the intern read “Goodnight Moon,” the doctor swiftly and steadily stitched her chin closed.
Lily lay calmly, staring at the book pages and blinking up at the ceiling. I squeezed her forearm (the only part of her body I could touch) and held back tears.
The procedure ended with an orange popsicle, Elmo stickers and a new teddy bear. Not to mention Dino Dan on the TV, which had been airing Lily’s favorite Nick Jr. shows the entire time.
We returned home to Marc and a homemade pizza, and after a quick dinner, she collapsed against me in her bed.
I didn’t cry until I got into my own bed hours later. The adrenaline crash and immediate fatigue sent me into a deep sleep.
I hope we never have to see the inside of another emergency room ever again. But I know as I type this, the universe laughs. At least with each experience comes more wisdom, right?
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Meet Frasier Saint James McFir.
He thinks he is a very grand tree. He stands proudly, showing off his one symmetric side. He smells oh so heavenly. And he has a lovely Charlie-Brown-esque quality — a crooked trunk, we think — that truly makes him ours.
The best part?
Lily L-O-V-E-S this tree. She and I bid him good morning and good night every day. And she had a ball dressing him up.
Will you decorate a tree this year? Which is your favorite ornament? (Mine is the canary yellow molded dough snowflake with paper towel stuck to it. Circa 1979.)
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