New Tradition - Christmas Tree

"Oh my goodness, it's almost Christmas!" - Laura

I may have just landed on a new family tradition - cutting down our own Christmas tree. Mom and I found a nice tree nursery less than 15 minutes away.

On Sunday, we met Papa George at Revak Nursery in Elko. While Mom and I looked for a tree, Laura took her sweet time walking and chit-chatting with Papa. With a sea of trees to choose from, we found a perfect one within 15 minutes. Laura said, "It's beauuuuutiful!"

I hope this will be a fun family activity for years to come.

Laura picking up sticks. Why? "Because I do that." 

Someone doesn't want her picture taken.

Here is our freshly cut tree. Now it's time to drag it quarter of a mile. 

A cute Laura and Mom Snowman posing for a picture.

Mom's Great Ideas

Lately I have been full of great ideas, according to Laura.
Practically anything I suggest has been met with, "Sure mom, that sounds like a good idea!" I'm smart enough to know I have a good thing going here, and that it's only a matter of time before my every suggestion will be met with the "you're so dumb" eye roll.

Tonight dad was trying to give Laura a suggestion of his own, and she was not quite as receptive. Her response? "No dad, that's not a very good plan."

Oh, Laura.

UPDATED BY DAD
Laura has clearly defined a pecking order of authority and voice of reason in this house. Of course, Mom is at the top. Sadly, I fear "plug" has passed me in the ranking.

My suggestion to Laura was that I would read her bedtime story on the floor in her old room (instead of in her big girl bed). She started walking out the door and turned and said in a polite, matter-of-fact voice, "No dad, that's not a very good plan." It's hard to describe in words why this is noteworthy. Just have to be here, I guess.

Laura is 2 Years and 7 Months!

Likes: CANDY! (s)kittles in particular but anything chocolate plus good old "emmy-nemmas" still do the trick, Halloween specials of her fave Nick Jr. shows, hiding, riding her bike down the driveway to get the mail, sharing pieces of cheese with mom, H is for Haunted House, sleeping in her big girl bed, babies at daycare, "playing" board games, using a glue stick, her new (old) Little Tikes playhouse, requesting us to "king a kong" about daddy, Laura, mama, and plug, knowing what other people are doing right now, looking for school buses on the way to Carla's, bathtime

Dislikes: 'piders in the basement, daddy being a monster and chasing her, creepy witch mask from Michael & Kaitlin

Any new tricks? She figured out a new soccer trick where she throws the ball in the air and then kicks it. Also not a new trick but a funny conversation - Mom: "It smells kind of stinky in here, did you just toot?" Laura: "Maybe it's the garbage."

Lately, with the Bagooz...

I have just spent the last four days at home with Laura; they have been interesting! Some new things of note:

1. She is crying all the time about everything. An exaggeration, obviously, but she has never been one to sob hysterically and lately it's happening a lot. Injuries, not liking an answer you give her, etc. Kind of feels like "being 2" is finally starting to kick in. We haven't had a lot of that.

2. Board games are slowly becoming the new "Little Blue and Little Yellow." I don't know how we got started with this, but she will stand at our game shelf and request board games to "play" with - Scrabble, Sequence, Blokus. She mostly wants to get in the box and see all the pieces, maybe set them out a bit, and then she'll say, "I'm done with this now." Ugh. It's all the worst parts of the board game with none of the fun of actual playing! We need some age-appropriate games, stat. Grandma Barb is working on digging out some from our youth.

3. She has been sleeping in her "big girl bed" at night for a little more than a week now. It's going great except it takes her a lot longer to fall asleep. She hasn't figured out that she can get out of it at night, or she's too nervous about trying it because it's dark. Naptime is a different story (light coming in the window = party time) so we've still been napping in the crib.

4. A few cute things she says: "Mom/Dad, you're my best friend ever." And not only when she wants something! Also when discussing what she wants to be when she grows up: "A 'kokker' (soccer) player or a boat driver." The boat driver thing comes from when we went on pontoon rides at Ruttger's this summer, I think. I have promised to support her by cheering at her soccer games and riding on her boat.

That's all!

S'mores Anyone?!?

Graham crackers sandwiching 

chocolate and melted marshmallows

Laura's first fire and first s'more. She found her stick during our last walk in the woods. She is very excited!

Reeeaaach! Laura wanted to hold the stick but mom had to help.

We're almost done! Time to put it together.

Yummy treat! Laura eats an entire s'more and says, "It's delicious!"   

Laura is 2 1/2 Years Old!

Likes: Skittles, playing soccer, hide and go seek, watching Dora/Diego/Jake & the Neverland Pirates, reading books, (s)nacks

Dislikes: getting dropped off at daycare

Any new tricks?: She somehow has learned about the concept of "best friend," and will frequently love one of us up and say, "You're my best friend, mom/dad." We are saving these memories up for when it switches to, "I hate you mom/dad!"

Laura and the Garden

Tomatoes!

It is the end of the growing season, my first year of gardening is in the books. The most memorable part of this experience was spending time with Laura. It was so much fun watching her get excited about picking tomatoes, eating peas and watering plants. She would ask me almost every day, "Daddy-yo, can we eat peas?" or "I go pick tomatoes."

Things we planted...
Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Kohlrabi, Potatoes, Peppers, Lettuce, Peas, Beans, Onions, Garlic, Zucchini, Pumpkin and unfortunately/mistakenly Gourds.

Before I go, I must thank Grandpa George for his help, guidance and expertise throughout the growing year.

Chewy Things

A conversation between Laura and her dad tonight re: "chewy candy" aka Skittles. He was handing a few out for an after-dinner treat.

Dad: "Let's count these in Spanish. How many do you have?"

Laura: (in a very polite voice) "Not enough."

Oh, Laura.

Laura is 2 Years and 5 Months Old!

Likes: suckers, repetitive viewing and listening to tv episodes or books, playing Hide and Go Seek, new tennies, the big park at mom's new school, soccer - talks about her "soccer team" and that she is a "soccer player," doing things HERSELF, chewy treats (Skittles)

Dislikes: "scary things" - crocodiles, Captain Hook, [Big] Bad Wolf, 'piders, monsters, hearing "no" - She shrieks, "You said NO to me!!!"

Any new tricks?: counting - can correctly count in order now from 1-12, and actually counts items accurately rather than the random pointing and numbering she did earlier this summer. Also her knowledge of Spanish exceeds her mother's (minimal) and father's (high school) as she will regularly tell us to vamonos or escondete - this would be courtesy of Dora and Diego.

Singing

We learned a valuable lesson yesterday. Never, ever, ever tell Laura that something exciting or fun is going to happen after her nap.

The mention of party, cake and playing with the cousins was too much to digest before nap. Might as well have given her a spoonful of sugar.

Taken earlier in the year...Here is her rendition of "Take me out to the ball game" and "ABC's."