Christmas

Ok, loyal readers of this blog can put away your torches and pitchforks. I have a new update. It was a fun filled holiday season, with everything going on, I didn't want to stop to write about it. A big thank you goes out to all of you that gave gifts to Sara Beth. This was the first Christmas that she understood that gifts were for her, and she enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper and tossing the tissue paper willy nilly.

So this is the executive summary of the past three weeks. Sara Beth's school had a Christmas party three weeks ago, and Heather was able to go. I knew that Sara Beth was a tall kid, but I had no idea that she was this much larger than the other kids her age.

Two weeks ago, we went to visit Heather's family out in Alabama. The trip went very well and we had a great time visiting with all Heather's family that we haven't seen in a long time, or in some cases, met for the first time. Of course, everyone was impressed with Sara Beth. Heather's granddad got a huge kick out of listening to Sara Beth sing Christmas carols and kept mentioning that he never had heard a kid her age carry a tune so well.

By the time we got all packed in the car and drove home, Sara Beth was so tired that she actually fell asleep in the back seat of the car! And yes, I did take that picture while I should have been focused on driving, but she was so cute curled up with all her toys.

Once we got home, we had only a couple days to fully recover before my family came in town to visit. The neighbor girls down the street brought her a princess outfit.

She also got her nails painted, though she was so excited to show the camera, she didn't actually hold her hands the right direction.

And on Christmas, she took a whole sheet of stickers and put them all on her hand. You can see her purple nails.

Sara Beth is enjoying the cats more and more every week. She has realized that chasing them around the house yelling "Come back! I want to pet you!" is not very effective. Instead, she asked to hold Catta, and I helped to capture the cat. And Catta actually might have enjoyed it a little.

While my family was down, my brother and I played a little old school Super Nintendo. Sara Beth and John played a little as well, though the competition was a little less intense.

I'm Super Grover

Out of nowhere, on Friday, Sara Beth declared that we should now refer to her as "Super Grover". So, over the weekend, we would ask "Sara Beth, come clean up your toys." And she would respond, "ImSuperGrover"so quickly it sounded like a single five syllable word. Slowly, over the weekend, she corrected us, so that we would remember to call her by the correct name. Anything else would result in the response of "ImSuperGrover." The only variation came when Heather asked her, "Sara Beth, do you want milk or juice?" She replied, "ImSuperGrover... I want milk." To complete the Super Grover look, she brought a cape for us to attach around her neck:

Heather's well known dislike of squirrels has begun to color Sara Beth's attitude of the fluffy creatures. This morning, Heather asked "Do you like squirrels?" Super Grover replied, "No, I do not." "Why not?" "One bit me." "Oh dear! Where did it bite you?" "On my back. I have a owie."

We went to a Christmas craft fair over the weekend. Sara Beth climbed up a 30 foot inflatable and slid down it all by herself, though it might have been a little too exciting for her. She didn't want to go on it again.

Out of nowhere, Sara Beth has started taking her stuffed poodle with her everywhere. She got it for her first birthday, but has not really played with it since, until now. She will now bring it in the car with her, carry it around the store, and take it on walks around the house. We had to talk her out of sharing her food with it, and explained that pretend puppies needed to eat pretend puppy food only.

Ok, so when Heather first sent this picture to me, what do you think crossed my mind? After considering the fastest route to the emergency room, I read the note attached to the picture. It isnt a massive injury, just a red frosting holiday oreo.

Electronic Christmas

Christmas is approaching quickly. The day after Thanksgiving, we took the Christmas decorations down from the attic and began to put them up. Sara Beth got in the seasonal spirit by putting her winter coat on, even though it is plenty warm in the house (and outside for that matter). She helped to setup her six inch Christmas tree and the nativity scene in her room. We setup a foot switch for her Christmas tree so that we don't have to reach behind her book case to plug and unplug as it does not come with a switch, and Sara Beth loves to turn it off and on "All by herself."

So about 5 years ago, I got a singing dog as gift for Christmas. You press its paw and it will start barking out the tune to "We wish you a merry Christmas" and other classics. Last year, Sara Beth was scared of it. This year, she loves it and has claimed it as her new toy.

We tried to show Sara Beth the Wii controls the other day. It worked, sort of. She did not throw any controller through the TV, and she did get the general principles down, but she never made it past the first level of anything.

In the beginning of November, Heather got an iPhone. Now, Sara Beth can navigate through the phone without any help. She knows which folder contain her books and games and will open them and select the game she wants to play. When she gets bored, she will repeatedly press the one button on the iPhone until it exits out and brings her back to a point where she can select something new to look at. I'm not sure if Sara Beth or Apple's usability engineers are the ones who should get credit for that feat.