'Twas the night of Christmas

Happy 18 month birthday, bear!

Yes, today is your half birthday, which excitingly lands on Christmas day. And not only is it your 18 month birthday, but it is also your second Christmas!

In some ways, though, it felt more like your first, for this would be the first Christmas where you would fully participate in opening Christmas presents. Today was the foundation for all Christmases to come, as you now know more of what to expect next year. The next time you see a Chrismas tree, see Santa, hear a Christmas carol, you'll know what it means.

You were excited when you came out this morning, and although you became suddenly sick yesterday afternoon, it didn't seem to dampen your mood. What a surprise to see so many shiny wrapped boxes! "Open!" "Open!" You sang, passing me box after box; you weren't too sure where to start, and when you finally picked one present and began tugging on it's tapped edges, you quickly changed your mind and moved on again. Perhaps mommy didn't help fast enough, or all the excitement left you with the inability to sit still (as Christmas mornings tend to do that to little ones), either way you just couldn't seem to choose.

Little did we know that it would be a full day affair, as you wouldn't open your last present until just about dinner time...

The bobbing, from one gift to the next, continued for about ten minutes or so, until we finally stuck with one item. Daddy seemed to know the trick and before any of us knew it, there were a pair of galoshes and a princess backpack from Nana and Grandpa P, sitting out before you. And just as we had put your new rain boots on, you suddenly noticed your new pink, retro, kitchen!

You were so excited, I don't think we've ever seen this full expression before, and you knew just what to do! --You turned on the faucet right away! Expecting running water to come out...?...

...."Help!"..."Wash."..."Help!"...

Which I would expect too, if all of the faucets that I had ever seen in my entire 18 months of life had always had water pouring from their spouts. But you listened to mommy, as I told you, "It's pretend" and you followed me in my "bwoo-ssshhh" (pretend water noise) sounds as I washed my hands, in a make believe fashion.

You then checked each knob, crevasse, and door. And before I could sip just one bit of coffee, you had moved on to cooking (the word we heard most today was most certainly "Cook!") And since you hadn't opened any other presents yet (at least not any that contained your cooking toys), you started to wash, cook, and freeze, all of the wrapped boxes, that you could find, that were small enough to fit in your kitchen. But this would shortly stop once you found play food, and cookware from Santa Clause.

What I found so lovely about you bear, was that only when you were ready, on your own terms, would you again move on to opening more gifts (and yes I know this will not be the same for future Christmases to come, so I will hold on to this moment very tightly). It took much temptation (mommy and daddy resorted to pulling the corner edge off the next present) before you gave in and opened another favorite toy-- a teapot from Grammy K., which sang and made pouring sounds, as you played. You weren't quite sure what to do, just at first, but once I showed you, you caught right on, you poured us all some tea, turtle included, and then pretended to eat tea desserts.

You seemed to be most fond of all the toys that had to do with cooking. You played with all of your pots and pans perfectly with no guidance, you've obviously been watching mommy very well. You told me many times "Mama!" "Come! "Cook!"And we cooked away, we made stews on your stove and in your tree tent. We washed dishes and other items, stored your food in the fridge, and made phone calls on your kitchen phone. And before I could blink an eye, the day was done, another Christmas had gone and passed, and St. Nicholas, I'm sure, went home for a long nap...

It was a special day for us all, and even Ms. Acadia got a present from Santy Paws!

Now sweet bear of mine, I hope you sleep tight, for you have quite the cold to fight!

Sweet dreams, my sweet bear.

~Mama

The Sweetness of Bear

We are headed into the toddler testing zone, the cusp of the terrible twos, the "no,no,no!"/ "I do it!" phase...

Which is essentially the realization that we are no longer a baby; we want to express some independence and push some boundaries. Bear isn't really naughty though, which is why I say we're on the cusp -- just some simple naughty attempts - running away from mommy, fighting me when it's time to change, or touching everything in the house that we know we're not suppose to touch.

Our days have certainly become more chaotic but I am also finding these little moments just as sweet as our non-naughty-ish moments. What sparks this blog is more than just a glimpse of the terrible twos, It's that I am seeing bear turn more into her own self. She is becoming very independent lately and she does not hesitate to show me that she can manage pretty well on her own. Bear is not demanding in this regard though, she'll use her words and tell me, or just simply change her plans if I try to initiate some help without her requesting it.

"No. No." she told me the other day at the park when I suggested that she say hi to a little boy, with whom she was stuck-- mid-stare down-- with, both unsure of what step to take next. She then quickly ran off to another section of the playground, as if to say-- "never mind, I'm not interested anymore, now that you've ruined this moment, mommy..."

Following my mommy mistake, I stepped back and gave bear some space when she later approached an older girl (probably about 3 years old) who was sitting at a small kids table. Bear walked up to the girl slowly, a little reserved, taking slow step after slow step, before fully approaching the girl. Actually, the girls little brother came crashing into the table and then took off again which was an instant catalyst for bear. Once the boy was out of site bear lost her timidness and comfortably leaned up against the table and began to babbled some baby gibberish at the girl, though for her this was no gibberish at all. Bear then sat herself down across from the girl and continued to babble, with some coherent words mixed in with other sweet baby non-sense. Following their conversation, they began to pick up wood chips and poured them on to the table, as if to make it rain. I sat down and watched in wonder. I was so proud of bear, she is so sweet and welcoming, she really doesn't need me.

Five minutes passed and the girl took off for the swings. Bear then contently moved on to the trees. I slowly followed behind, struck with amazement. I was so impressed with her, she went right over and played with another kid on her own. Being shy myself I just assumed that I would have to help bear when it came to meeting new kids or interacting with them on the playground, but she seemed to already know what to do. This is just another reminder that bear is who she is, she is not me, and though she is part of me, she may be much more comfortable chatting it up with the world as compared to her mommy. And the more I just let her be and take a back seat, the better she just might be at it.

So I followed this motto again, the next day, when we visited the same park. I waited for bear to approach me and let her go off on her own, and to my surprise she made another friend, whom she played with for a fairly decent amount of time, in baby time any how. While playing under the large jungle-gym-slide-doohickey-structure-thing, a little boy, about bear's age, sat down near her. He appeared curious in his movements and gazed at bear, awaiting her response. They both stared at each other for another few moments, until bear broke the baby silence and offered her handful of wood chips to the little boy. He reached out for the chips but stopped himself just short of the pile, with what seemed to be a shy hesitation. Bear then began to drop the chips, in a rain-like style, as if to show the boy how to play. He then began joining in and the two played for a few more minutes.

A short while later, bear saw the same boy playing in the sand box. She ran (toddled I should say) to join him and began imitating the circles he was making around the sand box, until she got distracted by the pretty statue in the center of the box. Bear then pointed to the pretty tiles on the statue to show me what she had found. The boy then joined in and they pointed and tapped away on the statue. Following the sandbox, they continued to play baby Simon Says for a fairly good amount of time. All the while, the boy's mother and I sat back with beaming smiles, proud of our little munchkins for finding a friend to play with.

Friday morning came along, we had a late start to the day because daddy was finally home when we woke up for a change. He was able to go in to work late so we lounged around in our PJ's, ate breakfast all together, and then lounged around some more. With just about an hour left for the park before lunch time bear and I quickly scooted over to the park after we said goodbye to daddy. And what do you know-- during our third trip to the park, the same little boy was there again. Bear and the little boy both exchanged a "hi" to one another and began playing until it was time for us to take off.

Sweet innocent friendship. I can only hope that it will always stay this way!

While watching bear breakout into this bit of independence on the playground, I've noticed that she has so much sweetness about her. Perhaps it's a toddler thing, but she just seems to wander around with no ill intention; she shares her sandbox toys willingly and greets new kiddos when they come over to play. She is genuinely interested in meeting all the new kids who cross her toddling path. And, without even realizing it, she's teaching me how to be more warm and welcoming, too!

Oh sweet bear of mine! I love you!

xoxo