These are the days...

... I realize that I really do live in a different country. It's so funny to me. Canada is right across the border from the US, right... I mean, Canadians are just our "neighbors to the North". Better yet, our house in Michigan is within 30 or 45 minutes of the border. How different could it really be?! The answer: very different. Sometimes I think they think I'm an alien. Case in point:

I had a business dinner last night at a very nice Italian restaurant, which somehow turned into a conversation about All-You-Can-Eat Buffets. One of my coworkers mentioned that he was on a business trip to the Atlanta area several years ago, and his customer was so excited to take him to an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet because... well, because apparently they don't have them in Canada. And if you do happen to find one, it's a special treat. Like a put-on-your-Sunday-best, say-yes-ma'am-and-please-and-thank-you, you-only-get-it-once-in-your-life kind of treat.

Enter the Southern accent! "Y'all don't have buffets?!" "Bless your heart!" "Where does everyone go after church on Sunday?" "Imagine the dessert selection at those places!" "You're missin' out, really missin' out."

I grew up in Georgia, people... I think it's the homeland of All-You-Can-Eat Buffets. I started explaining the bagillions of buffets we had at home, and the frequency at which we dined at such establishments, and I'm fairly certain I dropped a few notches on the "Americans aren't so bad" scale. I think we ate at Shoney's once a week. And I'm fairly certain I've never seen a Shoney's menu. Or what about Ryan's. That was a buffet, too, right, especially for the church crowd on Sundays. And we can't neglect CiCi's pizza or the Pizza Hut buffet, because we all need to eat that much pizza. But I think my favorite, and the one my Canadian counterparts found most appalling, was the Hartz buffet... a buffet of fried chicken and mashed potatoes and biscuits and corn and peach cobbler... yum yum yum!

Then the conversation turned. I honestly think they were just trying to get a reaction out of me, make me feel completely alien. Next subject: the church potluck. This coworker of mine was talking about a family vacation to a park in South Carolina and the fact that the after-church crowd showed up with mounds of food and a barbeque in their pickup. A "barbeque"? Oh, he means a grill. And is it really that strange? Really? I mean, how else are you gonna feed all those people. I'm Baptist y'all. The one thing we know how to do is eat. We had lots of church picnics... and potlucks... and "progressive suppers" in the back of a dumptruck filled with hay. Totally normal. Especially the dumptruck part.

At work today, I was asked by three different girls to bring back jars of peanut butter when I go home this weekend. Yes, peanut butter. You see, they sell peanut butter in Canada (though it's completely banned in schools - the horror!), but they don't sell Reese's peanut butter. Did these girls try my peanut butter? No. They want it simply because it's Reese's and they can't get it here. And I'm supposed to bring back a few Whatchamacallit bars, too, because apparently they don't have those in Canada either. And some Warm Vanilla Sugar soap from Bath & Body Works. Again, another thing lacking from the Canadian lifestyle. And Target. I need to find a way to get Target to open a store or two in Canada because I'm having withdrawals. Major withdrawals.

Someone rescue me please. I've been abducted by aliens... or just some crazy Canadians!

You Are My Special Angel

Today is my sweet sweet NaNa's birthday. I wish I could tell you how old she is, but I can't... basically because she stopped getting older when she was 55 and my grandfather was 65. And I can assure you this: that was many, many years ago. Funny thing how age works when you're a kid!

For those of you that don't know, my grandfather passed away on October 13. I was blessed to be in the hospital room with my NaNa, mom, uncle, aunt, and cousin when PaPa took his last breath. It was so incredibly peaceful, one of those moments where you know God just reached down and gently carried his soul away to heaven. I was heartbroken. I don't do funerals, not that anyone does, and PaPa's death was really only the second one I'd experienced in my life. I was a basketcase at the viewing, completely unable to control my tears as pictures of PaPa and I from back in the day scrolled across the tv while "Go Rest High On That Mountain" played in the background. I had so many people give me that "bless her heart" look and hug me tight, which only made matters worse. Watching those pictures, I remembered moments with PaPa. We lived near NaNa and PaPa or with them for a decent chunk of my childhood. PaPa was my favorite and I'm fairly certain I ranked pretty high up on his list. I loved spending the night at their house. I loved playing in their backyard. I was amazed doing crossword puzzles and word-finds with PaPa. I watched those pictures at the funeral home and saw the image of my daughter in me. I saw the faces I made and could relate them to Savannah. I saw a picture of me pushing PaPa on a porch swing, the swing much larger than I was, and thought back to earlier that day when Savannah was doing the exact same thing for me on the porch of the house where PaPa grew up.

My summer vacations were spent in Hinton, WV, where the average age of the population was 65 and I certainly never thought of our visits as a "vacations". We spent the week "visiting"... for those of you that didn't grow up in the South, "visiting" is just that... we literally went from house to house to house visiting relatives, doing nothing but sitting around talking. At Aunt Margie's house, some adults sat in the front room while some sat in the room behind the kitchen; the kid's often occupied the front porch or a room upstairs with games. At Aunt Frances' house, we sat on the back patio or played on the hill among the grapes. At Uncle Allen's house up on the creek, we fed cigarettes to the horse or stood in the kitchen admiring Aunt Macie's mad baking skills or played a game in the front room. At NaNa and PaPa's, we just sat in the living room of their little one bedroom apartment at "the highrise". Every now and then, we'd get excited about walking to Kroger for some Big K Red Cream Soda or the Majic Mart for a new swimsuit. The highlight of my summer vacations was the year they opened a water park... err, water slide... in town! These are moments I certainly didn't cherish as a child, yet they are such fond memories for me now.

Sitting up on the mountain, picking out PaPa's burial spot in the family cemetery, my cousin and I pulled up a piece of grass and admired the view. We sat there close to one another in perfect silence for quite some time. David had supported me the day before, as PaPa took his last breath and there was nowhere else to turn. He knows when to hug, he knows when to smile, and he knows when to merely be in your presence in peace and quiet. After we sat there looking over the edge of the mountain for a few minutes, the memories came flooding in. David said "do you remember when...", which was followed by my laughter and "absolutely, but do you remember when..." I guarantee that the two fo us have never been so solemn and serene in our lives. Nor had we truly realized the value of family... at least I hadn't.

My PaPa and I had a special bond in the early years of my childhood. I have very few memories that don't involve him. Yet sometime in my "I know everything" high school years, I fell out of the running for Granddaughter of the Year. I didn't call him on his birthday. I really dreaded those summer vacations. I didn't care to pick out personal Christmas presents. I was so ungrateful. NaNa and PaPa came down for my wedding in the spring of 2002, but I don't think I paid much attention to them. I remember NaNa watching me wrap presents and joking about a few things here and there, but I don't think anything really clicked with me. I certainly took my time with them for granted and didn't really see it as important. In the nearly six years since we got married, I can count on one hand the number of times I've talked to my grandparents. In those six years, we never once made the 7-hour drive to West Virginia to visit them. Worse yet, I have a three year old daughter that had never met her grandparents until the day before PaPa passed away. Again, not something that ranks high on my list of greatest achievements.

There's not much I can do about letting my teenage years control my relationship with PaPa. The good thing is that I know he loved me whole-heartedly and unconditionally, no matter how stubborn and hard-headed I am. My NaNa, on the other hand, is a different story. It's not too late. Tonight, on my NaNa's birthday, I did what any loving grandchild would do - I called to wish her a Happy Birthday. And I meant it. This is the first time in the two months since PaPa passed away that I've called her, despite my many mental notes to myself to call and see how she's doing. She said that I made her day. I. Made. Her. Day. One little phone call... 30 minutes spent talking to a woman who invested so much time and love in me in my childhood... a moment of conversation about how she makes it through each day... one call to a lady spending her first birthday as a widow. One call. That's all. And I can't tell you how many times I had to fight back tears during that conversation. I love that lady, plain and simple. And I honestly don't think I realized it until two months ago.

As we were ending the conversation and I promised to talk to her at Christmas, if not before, she said "you are my special angel... just like that song from back in the 50s". She's always referred to my brother as her "Tiger" and me as her "Angel", but I never really knew why. Now I know. As I told my NaNa tonight, through tears, hanging up the phone that I love her, she said "I love you, too, my special angel". Grandma's are special people. No doubt about that. And I am one lucky little girl that my NaNa still thinks I'm such an angel.

You are my special angel sent from up above.

The Lord smiled down on me and sent an angel to love.

You are my special angel, right from paradise.

I know you're an angel, Heaven is in your eyes .

The smile from your lips brings the summer sunshine.

Tears from your eyes bring the rain.

I feel your touch, your warm embrace, and I'm in heaven again.

You are my special angel;

Through eternity I'll have my special angel here to watch over me.

We love you, NaNa!

Above all else...

I think I learn new lessons quite frequently. It's part of being curious... or nosy. Being in Canada alone for so many weeks has taught me a million life-lessons. I knew it would be a challenge when I took this new job, leaving before Todd's transfer was complete. But I'm a big girl, a strong woman, I can handle this on my own, right? Wrong! Am I strong? Absolutely. Am I confident? Definitely. Did I make the right decision? No doubt about it. Is this easy? Heck no. I am blessed in that it's never been more than five days or so without Savannah... but travelling for an entire week, week in week out, is tiring. Living out of a suitcase is getting old. Eating out has lost its appeal. It's downright exhausting. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. I'm drained. In fact, I could probably be classified as a trainwreck.

Todd and Savannah came for a visit this weekend. Mind you, I was home two weeks ago for an entire week, so I've only been in Toronto since Sunday. Yet, when I found out Friday morning that they might not make the trip this weekend, I had a breakdown. In my car. In the parking lot at work. Very professional. It snowed in Canada on Friday. There's an ice storm in Michigan today. The weather gods are definitely not on my side. After my breakdown Friday morning, Todd realized just how important it was to get to me this weekend. Of course, that didn't keep me from fighting back the tears all day at work. It's a catch-22... I get to spend 48 precious hours with my family, which is amazing... but then they have to go home and I have to stay here until I get to make the drive home on Friday.

I relished in every moment I had with my little one. I came "home" from work a little early Friday afternoon to cuddle on the couch with Savannah. We eventually made our way over to Dave & Buster's for dinner. Upon our return from dinner, we put on our jammies, turned on a Dora DVD, and crawled into bed... promptly followed by lights out at 8:30. I fell asleep with my 3 year-old baby rubbing my back. Saturday was very low-key but so fun-filled. We went to IKEA. We braved a Super Wal-Mart, 17 days before Christmas. We ate dinner at Burger King, where it took Savannah half an hour to eat three chicken nuggets. We went to Marble Slab Creamery for dessert, apparently identifying ourselves as Americans the minute Todd ordered a malt. We came back to the hotel and cuddled some more. This morning included a trip to Chapters, Canada's version of Borders, with some coffee for mom & dad and drinkable strawberry yogurt for Savannah. Then Todd loaded the car, took Savannah by the hand, and headed back to Michigan.

And I've been a basketcase ever since. I'm a career-woman. A hard-worker. It's not at all unusual for me to spend an hour or two working at home at night, and that's after spending a full 8 hours working at the office. This weekend, I think my priorities were set straight. This weekend I realized, above all else, that I am a Mommy. Savannah's not going to be a toddler forever. She's not always going to want to sit next to me at lunch or hold my hand in the parking lot or rub my back at bedtime. When I say "I love you", she's not always going to put a huge grin on her face and say "I love you too". These are the moments to treasure. Work will be work. There's a time and a place. And it will all get done... eventually. Savannah, however, I can't control. She's going to grow up. She's going to become her own person. She's going to go to college and get married and have her own little babies. And I know that's so far down the road... years and years and years from now. But I also know that those moments will come in what seems like the blink of an eye. I generally get 48 hours a week with my little princess; 48 hours where I'm often pre-occupied with other thoughts. No longer. This is the new me. This is the me that's meant to be a Mommy. This is the me that is going to love and adore and cuddle my little princess.

Memories

"Momma, it's not Kristen and Gilbert's wedding anymore."

Really? I hadn't realized. :) Those are the words that very sincerely came out of Savannah's mouth tonight as we were watching yet another episode of So You Think You Can Dance. She's right, it's not Kristen and Gilbert's wedding anymore. Their wedding was a month ago, but it must've made quite an impact. After all, it's got to be difficult to erase from a toddler's mind the shrill and screams that echoed through the sanctuary at a perfeclty quiet moment in time when all eyes were on an adorable little flower girl that was supposed to steal the show. Steal the show she did, just not in the manner her adoring fans had imagined. I'm also fairly certain that Todd wasn't planning on acting as the honorary ring bearer.

In honor of the sweet little princess's memories, here are a few of our favorite pictures from that way-too-short of a weekend spent at home back in November. And for those of you that are wondering: yes, Georgia will always be "home". Always.

It only took 3 and a half years...

Savannah was bald for so long - literally until her second birthday - that I hesitated to ever give her a haircut. And after she found a pair of scissors in her changing table a year or so ago, giving herself a the best haircut a 2 year-old can manage, I just sat around hoping the mullet would come back in style. Alas, we've given up hope and needed to try to wrangle the scraggly hair.

After some discussions with Savannah about my recent cut / color (i.e. "Mommy, I don't want you to have brown hair - I want it to be light like mine!"), I took Savannah for her first haircut on Saturday. I tried to prep her in the car, telling her she had to sit still while they cut her hair so they wouldn't cut it crooked. But she wanted it crooked - she insisted... must be why she took matters into her own hands last year! With the bribe of a lollypop and balloon, Savannah was perfect! She sat big & tall in the chair, following instructions from the stylist, and never moving her head. It was adorable... absolutely adorable!

A Tattoo at 3?!

I have a tattoo. It's no secret. Kristen and I got them when I was home for a visit / conference last November. As though we weren't forever connected by simply being cousins, we now have a special new bond as we endured great pain together. Since I got my tattoo, Savannah has been fascinated by them... stickers as tattoos, temporary tattoos, whatever. Savannah and I went to a new Borders bookstore this morning. It just opened in the past week or two, so they're still having their Grand Opening celebration. After spending a little over an hour reading books, we noticed that they were giving away free airbrushed tattoos... and Savannah wouldn't let me get out of the store without her getting one. She sat there perfectly still, but incredibly excited about finally getting a tattoo. It was cute.

If you look closely, you'll realize that this isn't all airbrush... only Nemo was airbrushed, and it was a very basic Nemo at that. However, along with the airbrush lady was a man doing body paint. Savannah was so darn irresistable that he decided to embellish Nemo... enter added color, seaweed, facial expression. And Savannah still wasn't satisfied! She wanted a ladybug on her cheek. I am amazed at how still she sat while the man painted her leg and then her face... and she's so proud of her "tattoos"! Borders was followed by a visit to David's Bridal to pick up her flowergirl dress for Kristen's wedding. She was the star of the show in that place, never mind all of the beautiful brides! After David's, we hit up Target... again, all the little old ladies came to ogle her. And she loved it all!

Hockey...

Savannah has decided that she wants to play hockey. No questions asked. We can't sway her. We tried soccer. We tried tennis. We tried any other sport we could think of. No. She wants to play hockey. Good thing we're moving to Canada....



Since Georgia is severely lacking in ice skating opportunities, meaning I've set foot on a skating rink about three times in my entire life, I decided to start Savannah off on a little more solid ground. We went to Target last night and bought Savannah a pair of the old-school roller skates that strap to your shoes. When choosing between Disney princesses and Dora, she picked Dora hands-down. Savannah is now the proud owner of Dora skates, Dora kneepads, and Dora elbowpads... and she's adorable. We spent nearly an hour skating in the basement last night. Wait, maybe "skating" isn't the right word to use. There was a lot of falling down. There was a lot of picking up her feet and walking. There was a lot of being dragged around by me. There was a lot of foot-shuffling. I don't think she actually managed to skate. But she tried. She focused hard. And she had a blast.



Watch out, here's our future Kanuck!!

Pictures!

I almost forgot... I created this website for pictures. I haven't uploaded anything in a bit because I haven't been around to take pictures, but this is where they'll all be. Check it out!

http://aleeshavalentine.shutterfly.com

It's been a minute!

I will again start this blog by apologizing for going so long without posting. The summer kept us busy, with lots of travelling and lots of visitors, so I haven't always felt like we had the time to update the blog. That being said, there are some big changes coming for the Valentine family in the very near future, so we'll try to do a better job!

Let's recap the summer...
(1) My dad came to visit the first week in June for a few days. Savannah loved spending some quality time with her Grampa - they went to the park, the petting zoo, and (of course!) McDonald's. Saturday morning even found dad and I gardening. I have the world's blackest thumb, but I now have a yard I need to maintain. We gardened all day Saturday and Sunday, pulling out old bushes, planting flowers, and filling the vegetable gardens. It's now been nearly four months and most of the things we planted are still alive. Amazing, I know!
(2) The week after my dad was in town, my mom came for a 10-day visit. Her trip was cut short due to a death in the family, but it was good to have Gramma around for a few days. I was out of town one of the nights mom was here, so I know Todd was happy to have an extra set of hands.
(3) Our little princess turned THREE on June 20th... three already!! We decided to forego the big birthday party because we'd had so many houseguests, but Savannah did have three of her friends over for dinner and fun after school on her birthday. I have a picture somewhere... I'll have to find it.
(4) The week after my mom was in town, I spent four days in Toronto.
(5) The week of July 4th, Todd's mom arrived for a two-week visit. Todd was off the week of the 4th... I was not nearly so lucky. Savannah definitely got some quality time with Grandmere and daddy while mommy was busy working.

After six weeks of constant houseguests or travelling, life was finally back to normal! August was a fairly quiet month for us. Though I spent four nights at a local hotel because of a conference I was hosting, I managed to escape the month without any work-related travel. As a birthday present to myself, we traded in the mommy van for a fiesty little red Mazda 3... it's so much fun! I also threw a joint birthday party for myself and Todd, as I was out of town for Todd's actual birthday. He's 30... old man! Labor Day weekend marked a visit from Aleesha's cousin, Kristen, and a much-needed Girls Weekend in Chicago. Kristen, Christie, and I headed to Chicago for a fun-filled weekend. And travel season has once again started. Poor Savannah was passed around between a few people last week as I was in Korea and Todd was in North Carolina. Korea was amazing... busy and tiring, but such an interesting culture. I left on Sept 9th and returned on the 14th... just to leave again on the 16th for a conference in Texas. As I type this post, I'm sitting in a hotel room in Plano, TX, anxiously awaiting my 9:00am flight tomorrow morning... just to sit in the airport for three hours, meet up with Todd and some friends, and fly down to Georgia for the weekend for a wedding. When I return home on Sunday, I'm fairly confident I will have never been so excited to be in my own house and my own bed.

Like I said, big changes are on the way for the Valentine family... Stay tuned!

This is how I know...

This is how I know that my little girl is growing up...

(1) Savannah had a picnic and played in the water table with Mason today for hours on end. They talked and talked and talked. Todd's brother was in town and was absolutely amazed at the conversations they held. They can really and truly talk to each other... really, legitimate, sense-making conversations!

A few of my favorite lines:

Savannah: Mason, if you don't stop crying you can go home.

Mason: I need more juice.
Me: Eat your sandwich.
Mason (1 bite
later): I ate my sandwich
Me: Eat the whole thing
Mason: Oh, I'm sorry.

Savannah: No, that's my cup. Mommy, Mason's not sharing!
Mason: Here Savannah, I'll share with you.

(2) After Round 2 in the water table, this time by herself, it was time for a bath. So I took Savannah upstairs to clean herself off. For starters, she noticed that her fingers and toes were wrinkly... it was cute. Then she asked for her bathtub crayons. She told me she was going to draw a circle. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't believe her... but she did it, a big yellow circle! Then she told me she was going to draw the letter T. Yeah right! Lo and behold, there were T's galore! Finally, she asked me what letter "kangaroo" starts with. I told her to think about it... kkkk-angaroo.... kkkk-angaroo. K! She figured it out. I was amazed. And, of course, I took pictures of her magical Ts!

(3) When I told Savannah that I was proud of her for drawing the letter T, she looked me straight in the eye and said "Mommy, I'm growing up." Yes, I got teary. How could you not?! My almost-3-year-old just recognized that she's growing up and told ME, her mommy. My heart broke a little!

Eureka!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have potty training! It's been a long time coming... a very long time... but something has finally clicked. Savannah's been in "big girl underwear" for almost two weeks with no accidents. Yea! :) She still wears a diaper to bed because we're not brave enough to fight that battle yet (along with the battle of ridding her of pacifiers), but she refuses to wear anything but underwear during the day. Needless to say, our lives just got a little less messy and a lot less expensive!

Of course, before we actually reached the stage of being accident-free, we had to experience this adventure:

Oh Baby!

Not mine... someone else's! Today was spent preparing for and hosting a baby shower for Chardae, one of Savannah's teachers at school. The shower was from 3:00-6:00, so I was go-go-go from 8:30 until about half an hour ago. I'm pooped! Thank goodness the weather cooperated and we were able to have the shower outside! I think Savannah thought this party was as much for her as it was for Chardae... she certainly garnered enough attention! Savannah was especially excited because one of her favorite friends, Avery, came over with her mom.

It was an all-around good time with some ladies I see on a daily basis but don't ever really spend time outside of the world of day care with. On one hand, it was strange to be the one hosting the shower... I was truly an outsider. On the other hand. Savannah's been at the day care for so long that she knows everyone and everyone knows her... our family feels like a part of their "family". Again, I'm grateful for beautiful weather, a friend that could entertain Savannah, and some yummy food. :)

Oh, and since we were all dressed up for the shower, there was an opportunity for some partial family photos after it was all said and done...

Bob Vila he's not...

Todd tends to be fairly handy around the house. We built a deck, finished the basement, put in hardwood floors, and laid slate tiles in the condo... all without breaking anything. Not so lucky in the new house! This is what my vanity area looks like now that Todd's foot has punctured the ceiling...

It literally took three hours to dry a load of laundry earlier this week, so Todd decided he'd go hunting for the cause today. We figured it was just some lent stuck in the trail somewhere. Nope... Birds! (Which explains why I thought I heard rats running around in the ceiling a few weeks ago...) I'm not sure when they started building a nest in our dryer vent, but there was nearly 10 feet of straw in the vent... and a nest... and some eggs! Todd managed to get the eggs out of the vent and safely on the ground, but he's pretty sure they're hard-boiled by this point! The damage inside the house occured as Todd was in the attic, pushing the junk out of the vent. Oops!

Ouch!

This is what it looks like when you run into a brick pillar...


Yep, that's right, we will now refer to Savannah as "Grace"! We were leaving day care tonight, walking outside with some friends when Savannah stopped to look at something on the ground. She played around for a minute and then started walking again... bam, right into a brick pillar! Of course, she started screaming upon impact. The knot and bruise appeared nearly immediately! We went back inside, got some ice, and sat around as everyone and their brother asked "oh, what happened?"... I think she was more upset about not getting to go to McDonald's to play for dinner than she was about the actual pain of her injury!

In other news, much more pleasant news... I think we're well on our way to being fully potty-trained. Savannah made it through all day yesterday and all day today without any accidents... thus the prized trip to McDonalds!

And puppy makes four...

I told you I wouldn't be very good at keeping this thing updated! Todd and I have both been travelling a lot. Todd had a few trips to Chicago in March and April. My travels have taken me to California, North Carolina, and Virginia. I'll be back in North Carolina next week, Georgia the following week, Texas two weeks later, and Toronto a month after that. I'm taking a whirlwind tour of the US!

Breaking News: We did it. We took the plunge. We have a puppy. Meet Kadee... the newest addition to the Valentine family. She's a 12-week old lab-mix and she's absolutely adorable. She's so sweet and playful and cute. Savannah calls her "Kadee Polka Dot" and tells everyone she's black with a white polka dot on her nose! She's a rescue puppy from a kill shelter down in Ohio. Can you believe that this little doll was scheduled to be gassed three days after she was rescued?! A puppy is a LOT of work... I don't think I ever realized that. We had puppies growing up, but I think it's a different story when mommy and daddy take care of them! She's not house-broken or crate-trained... she's hates being alone... she doesn't like to sleep at night. It's almost like having a baby all over again. As I write this, Kadee is entertaining herself by chasing her tail... :)

Savannah is excited to have a puppy - she loves animals. But, she's not too sure about Kadee's playfulness. One of Kadee's favorite pasttimes involves chewing on Savannah's pigtails! She has also taken rather well to Savannah's stuffed Mr. Potato Head... I believe it's now officially Kadee's toy. Savannah tells everyone about Kadee, so I'm sure they're grow to be the best of friends. In the meantime, we'll keep things off the floor, buy stock in Spot Shot, and continue taking pictures!!

You're My Best Friend... sometimes!

Savannah has a best friend and a boyfriend. She'll admit to both. Today's escapade is courtesy of her best friend, who is most often referred to as "Gracie Lou"... even though her middle name isn't Lou. :) Savannah goes to day care with a ton of other kids, but Savannah and Grace bonded immediately - at the ripe old age of 12 weeks. They talk about one another on the weekends, they love to play together, Savannah knows the names of Grace's mom and dad, Grace gives me a hug every afternoon, and Savannah adores Grace's baby brother. When I walked into Savannah's class at day care this afternoon, her teacher just shook her head at me. If you have kids, you know that's never a good sign! Apparently Savannah behaved very poorly today - fighting a lot with Nickel-nick (aka: Nicholas), downright refusing to eat morning snack, napping for only 45 minutes (as opposed to the 3 hours we're used to!), and pulling a chair out from under Grace (and proceeding to laugh while Grace was crying). Rough day!

This is the conversation that occured on the car ride home:
Mommy: Savannah, were you a bad girl today?
Savannah: Yes I was.
Mommy: What did you do?
Savannah: I... I pulled the chair out... out from... from underneath Gracie.
Mommy: You did what?!
Savannah: She hit her head on the *cold* floor.
Mommy: Did it hurt her?
Savannah: Uh huh. She cried. Mrs Erin had to hold her.
Mommy: What did you do?
Savannah: I had to sit in timeout by the white cupboards.
Mommy: Did you tell Grace you're sorry?
Savannah: Nope.

Okay, so my child has no remorse. And, unfortunately Todd and I are both very bad at controlling our laughter. I had Savannah repeat the story to Todd when we got home. Yes, it's bad that she hurt her friend... her best friend. Yes, she had to sit in timeout and was somewhat punished. No, Todd and I couldn't stop laughing. She's so sincere when she tells her little "stories"!

"My boys"

I've been reading lots of mommy blogs recently and realized what a fabulous tool blogs can be. Time seems to escape us, but it's important that Savannah's milestones don't go unmarked and that friends and family across the country can take a peek into Savannah's daily life. We want to share the joy Savannah brings to us with all of you. That being said, here's the inaugural blog:

Todd's dad is in town this weekend to help finish the bathroom in the basement of the condo. His flight arrived very late Friday night, but we'd been prepping Savannah all week for his arrival. When we put Savannah to bed Friday night, we finally convinced her to go to sleep by reminding her that Grandpa would be here to play when she woke up in the morning. Saturday morning rolls around and, lo and behold, she remembers that Grandpa is here! As she's heading downstairs to give Grandpa a hug, Todd meets her halfway and tries to get her to come back up. Not happening! She has a book in her hand and she's on a mission - she wants Grandpa to read to her! Savannah makes a few trips up and down the stairs, gathering the pieces to her book, before Todd breaks the bad news to her... she has to stay home with mommy while Daddy and Grandpa go to Home Depot. Let the tantrum begin! Savannah cried and cried, desperate to tag along. I can usually calm her, but it was a difficult task yesterday morning... after all, Grandpa just got here and Home Depot is one of her favorite stores. She's sitting on our bed, crying her little eyes out, and begins to repeat "I want my boys". Her "boys"? That's a term I'd never heard before. Just for clarification, I asked exactly who her boys are. She responded, so cute and so sincere, with "Daddy and Grandpa are my boys. I want them to come home". But she wouldn't stop crying. I finally calmed her by calling Todd and making plans to meet them at McDonald's for lunch. We got dressed, drove to McDonald's, and waited patiently in the car for Daddy and Grandpa to finish at Home Depot. When Todd pulled up, Savannah cheered "My boys! My boys!" Oh, how she loves her Daddy and Grandpa!