Story Time

As promised, here's a video of Sweet Girl keeping herself entertained with the year's most lauded title in academia, Hop On Pop.



STOP! You must not hop on pop.

Where Has Baby Girl Been?

There's been so much going on, Sweet Girl has been too busy to find a spare moment in which Mama and Daddy could update her blog. Between the snow, the cold, the playoffs, busy work schedules, getting in shape with the Wii Fit, Mama's doctor visit, and the everyday adventures of being a Tickle Bug, there just hasn't been any time! But now, as it's warming up a bit, Daddy's back on his regular schedule at work, and Mama is over her cold, things should be getting back to normal.

Little Monster did enjoy the snow, of course, and had a few chances to play in it before it became too bitterly cold to spend any time outside. More than the snow itself, though, Baby Girl loved wearing her Disney princess boots, which have Cinderella, Jasmine, and Belle on them. They also pulse little red lights at the toes and heels when Madeleine walks in them. They're big and clompy, too, so Sweet Goblin has practice wearing the sorts of clothing that stormtroopers wear on the Death Star.

No one should be surprised to learn that Sweet Girl is teething again. She sometimes sounds like a little werewolf as she trundles around the house, and with a new set of fangs poking through, she'll probably be terrifying the Scottish moors in no time. She also has Gigi the cat a little wary, which is probably some sort of primal reaction among animals how can sense when terrifying predators have claimed a territory. Daddy spends some of his time hollering at the squirrels in the roof, but a far more monstrous creature stalks the halls of this house.

iMovie is grinding through the thumbnails of the video clips right now, so expect another blog posts soon, featuring Sweet Girl reading to herself on the rocking chair in her room. Even though she's not really "reading," she definitely has a strong memory a,d a desire to get more out of her books. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?

Snow Goblins!

Pea Soup and Playgrounds

A few days ago, Baby Girl took her new wagon to the park. Here's a minute or so of her tearing up the playground, going backward up the slide and rampaging across the little bridge on the jungle gym.

When Daddy was just a wee gremlin, brachiating from tree to tree in his Grandma and Papa's backyard, one of his favorite meals was split pea soup. It seems that Little Monster has inherited his taste for soup, because she loves the stuff! Today, Daddy made some split pea soup from the hambone left over from Christmas dinner and it was all Tickle Bug could do to wait for the noodles to boil.

Christmas Monsters

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Eve, Joddie and her mother came over and the dinner was great. Little Monster had glazed ham, horseradish mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pearl onions, sweet potatoes, and salad. Her favorite part of dinner was the croutons, and of course a little bit of the ice cream that came with apple cobbler.

Sweet Girl had a lovely Christmas in her new house, getting up early to open presents and then having a fine Christmas breakfast as prepared by Mama. Let me tell you, this Little Monster made quite the haul this year! Sweet Goblin seemed to be on everyone's mind, and for that Mama and Daddy thank their wonderful families and friends for making it a happy yuletide despite not being able to spend it in Texas like they did last year. Perhaps next year will see everyone back in Texas....

Christmas morning began with presents, which Madeleine opened from the "cargo bay" of the wagon Grandpa Roger and Grandma BJ gave her. She was instantly enthralled with it, and asks for rides in her "wagga" by name. Other popular gifts were the overalls and baby doll Grandma Raye sent her, the angel ornament with her name on it sent by Uncle Cameron and Aunt Anne, the karaoke microphone stand sent by Uncle Reade and Aunt Jamie, and the telephone (with a recorded message!) sent by Papa Den and Nona. She also spent some of the morning chasing around her early Christmas gift, Gigi the cat. Daddy has about ten minutes of raw video footage of Sweet Girl opening presents, which he'll get uploaded once he gets it edited down to something presentable.

After opening gifts, Baby Girl took a ride down the street in her fancy wagon, where she waved at the neighbors and met a little boy who was riding his bigwheel with his parents. It was a very comfortable ride, spent reading a book from Grandma Raye and sipping on refreshing juice. As you can see from her picture, she was very proud of her wagon and enjoying the ride immensely.

Today while Mama was at work, Daddy took her for another wagon ride down a different street, which was a little more hilly. When you're Daddy, you just have to put your back into it and pull the wagon, but when you're a charming little Tickle Bug, you can just relax in your wagon like you're Cleopatra on a litter and watch the scenery go by.

A Tickle Bug Christmas Eve

Kisses for Mama.
Upstaging the tree!

Sunday Playtime

It's a great day today -- the sky is blue, the air is crisp, and Cowboys won last night. While Mama was at work, Daddy and Sweet Girl went out to play in the backyard. While the video is full of classic Tickle Bug (lots of grunting), it really comes into its own about the two-minute mark, where Madeleine hears the train nearby and the barking dogs. She punctuates her excitement with some "Woof! Woof!" of her own. The whole thing rounds out with a wee tumble, after which, Little Monster remarks, "Ew! Ew! Ew!" in response to getting a handful of dirt.