Be prepared to be overwhelmed by cuteness, part 2

It's been a long week and there's figure skating on the Olympics right now so I'll have to keep this short. We had a photo shoot to mark Reina's birthday and here are some of the results. Be forewarned, they are astonishingly and dangerously cute.

All about Will

Okay the blog has been a bit Reina-heavy lately and that's primarily because Will doesn't sit still long enough for me to get a picture. This almost-three-year-old is growing by leaps and bounds. Other than the occasional "you're not my best friend Mom," he has a lot of interesting things to say and hysterical comments about the world around him. Will can count to 12 consistently (the "teens" give him a little trouble), knows most colors and shapes and is obsessed with all things robot. The alphabet is still a mystery to him but we are working on it. He saw a map of the 50 states the other day and excitedly informed me "That's 'merica Mom!" When we stop at a red light, Will says "Red means stop." He knows that green means go and I'm know trying to un-teach him that yellow means "go as fast as you can."

The current robot obsession has replaced the firetruck/fireman phase that we went through a few months ago. He still likes firetrucks and Fireman Sam is his favorite tv show. (Check out the link - it's set in Wales and it's a bit weird but delightfully so.) Anyway, Will loooooooves robots. His hand/eye coordination is getting pretty good and he can make a robot of his legos pretty quickly. At school he loves to draw robots, color pictures of robots, and pretend to be a robot. Can you guess the theme for his birthday party next month?

We had another big snowstorm over the weekend and after feeling a bit of cabin fever on Sunday, Will and I ventured outside. No, he didn't do a face plant. The kid just loves to eat snow. I had to include this last picture. Both Will and Reina love to get pony rides on their Dad's knee. It results in lots of giggles and shrieking. A great time is had by all, except maybe Glenn's knees.

Olympic Events

The Olympics are alive and well at the Pauley household. We don't go for the traditional events however. No figure skating, alpine or cross-country skiing here. We feature more obscure winter sports. First up, we have the steal-your-brother's-fireman-and-play-with-it-as-long-as-you-can-before-he-notices event. Reina medals in this event every time. Next up is the nude interpretative dance. This was the short program because it was a cold night and Will had just escaped from the bath. He gets high marks for the creative portion of his routine and notice the clever use of balloon props.

Yes, it's winter but we have several aquatic events. Here Reina participates in the synchronized swimming with foam educational toys on your head. So graceful and regal.

Finally, we have the cupcake eating championships. I am proud to say that this is a skill that I have passed down to the next generation. Pay close attention to Reina's concentration - there's hardly a speck of cream cheese frosting left!

Okay, so Buzz Lightyear is not an Olympic event but I had to include this picture because Will took it. He says that Buzz is his best friend.
Will was watching the pairs figure skating with me on Sunday night and since then, he's been leaping around the den and perfecting his twirls. Maybe Will and Reina will be the next gold medal winning brother/sister figure skating team? A mom can dream.

Reina continues to say Daddy a lot and she's also possibly saying "hi." We're not sure. She waves bye-bye a lot and she still loves music. She received a lot of musical toys for her birthday and one afternoon I watched her play a little keyboard while simultaneously banging on her xylophone. I think we might need to buy this kid a piano.

A letter to the birthday girl

Dear Reina: Happy birthday little girl! I can't believe that you are one year old today. This past year has flown by. You are almost walking and you have a lot to say, although not much of it is actual English. Your dad and I think you are very smart - too smart at times. We worry about what that might mean for the future and our sanity.

Your brother Will loves you very much and lately he insists on giving you a hug before he goes to bed. Sometimes he whacks you on the head and he's definitely not as gentle as he should be but the two of you give each other the giggles and it's fun to watch.

The day you were born is one of my happiest memories. I wasn't very excited to have another c-section and I had hoped that you would figure out an alternative exit strategy before the surgery. But you didn't and off we went to the hospital. It was a pretty busy morning on the OB floor and we had to wait a few hours but finally it was our turn to head back to the operating room. I still remember hearing your first cry. I was in the midst of a full-blown panic attack on the operating table because I couldn't feel anything below my collarbone and it was FREAKING ME OUT. I was in the middle of begging the doctor to knock me out when I heard this little cry and through the fog and haze that was my brain, I thought, "that's my daughter!" As soon as they pulled you out, they gave me some nice drugs to calm down and things were a little better after that. Your dad brought you over to me and I was so happy to see your little face. You hadn't cooperated in either of the ultrasounds so we had no idea what your face looked like. You were so beautiful and big - much bigger than we thought you would be. We joked that you looked like a baby in a movie - when they use a 3-month old to portray a newborn.

Back in the recovery room, your daddy wheeled you in and you were already sucking on your fist. The nurse told me that you were ready to eat already - it had been less than an hour since you were born. I was still groggy from the drugs and all the screaming, panic-attacky-ness so they rolled me over on my side (I felt like a whale or maybe one of those giant mother pigs) and they latched you on. You knew exactly what to do. Twelve months later, you are still a champion nurser. We do need to talk about that because I would like you to be weaned sometime in 2010 but that's a topic for a later discussion.

It's been quite a year. You are my little shadow. We spend most every afternoon together and you accompany me to the grocery store, the dentist, Target and one hurried haircut appointment. Everybody at my office knows you and has heard all of your stories. Your face lights up when your daddy comes home and I dare say that you have him wrapped around your little finger. You are a happy, smart, active girl and we can't wait to see who you will turn out to be. Happy birthday RVP!

P.S. Yes, that's a bottle of (unopened) beer leftover from the Super Bowl/birthday party. I better not catch you clutching one of those for another 20 years.

Birthday week

In honor of Reina's birthday, we threw a little party for our girl on Super Bowl Sunday. Sensing that we were busy with cleaning and cooking, Reina had one of those mornings where squealing was her communication style of choice and sitting on her own was irritating and anger-inducing. I tried hiding her underneath a pile of balloons (Disclaimer: No babies were harmed in the taking of this photograph) but that only lasted about 30 seconds. Then she was back to squealing. Before the guests arrived, I took a quick picture of our girl in her birthday outfit. It's not that I want her to grow up to be a Broncos cheerleader (have you seen their outfits? Too much flesh!) but doesn't she look cute?Once everyone arrived, it was time for the highlight of all one year-old birthday parties. The cake! Baby's first bite of frosting, sprinkles and whatever "funfetti" is. Yum!
After taking a few bites, Reina clutched the frosting covered part of the cupcake to her chest and talked to it. She has this soft little voice (when she's not squealing) and I can only imagine the conversation went something like this: "Well hello there! Where have you been all of my life? I can't believe mom's been feeding me sweet potatoes and carrots and those wierd meat sticks."
Meanwhile, in another part of the house, Will had a chocolate cupcake in one hand and an candy-coated oreo in the other. Yeah, it was one of those healthy days at the Pauley household.
At one point we had 11 kids and at least as many adults roaming around the house. We had great food, good drinks and a decent football game to watch. But sadly, all parties must come to an end. In this case, the "end" was the big soft shoulder of Pop-pop. (Shhhh.... I think my dad's sleeping with his eyes open in this picture.) But look at that sweet, sweaty girl on his shoulder - we can't believe she's almost 1! Hope you had a good birthday party, Miss Reina. We love you!

Ramblings

It's been another busy week. Do I start all of my blog posts with that sentence? We made it through the whole week without taking anyone to the doctor which was a nice change of pace. Reina said "Daa-dee" twice and "mama" once. She might have also said "hi" several times but we're not sure if she's saying "hi" or just exhaling really loudly.

Will's favorite saying right now is Oh maaaaaaannnnn. Used in a variety of settings but particularly as a way to express disapproval without getting in trouble for talking back. Example: "Will, we have to go to school today." "Oh maaaaaaaannnnnn!"

Tomorrow is Reina's first birthday party. Since it's Super Bowl Sunday, she's having a football themed party. Hey - she's my daughter! She can have a football-themed first birthday. One afternoon, I tried several times to get a good picture of her holding a football, but in true Reina fashion, she would have none of it. This is the shot we finally went with. Close enough huh?

We'll be back early next week with lots of pictures of football festivities, kids with too much sugar and most importantly, Reina's first bite of birthday cake.