He's a Saint!

I was talking to Malia about seeing Santa in person (we were planning a trip to see him). She tells me, very matter-of-factly "Santa's not a person, he's a saint!".

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Holding Baby Jesus

I love how the Christmas season gives us the chance to talk more about Jesus. Malia is really starting to pick up on it (in addition to all the talk of Santa and presents, of course!). Here she is, holding on to her new favorite toy, a tiny stuffed baby Jesus. Even though he is already 'wrapped in swaddling clothes', Malia thought a pink washcloth would provide some added warmth. She loves to carry that little doll around!


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Laughter is the best kind of medicine

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Living in the dark

The rains have returned to Portland. Luckily, we had a bit of a break today (partly cloudy, with a little sun).
Malia excitedly looked out the window and said "Mum! The sun is on!". Too bad she won't be saying that much over the next six months.

Even Pumpkin Thieves Deserve the Benefit of the Doubt

This morning Malia peered out the window and with a look of horror on her face exclaimed: "what happened to Damon's pumpkin?!". Earlier in the week we had purchased a family of four pumpkins and placed them on our front steps (that's about all the Halloween decorating I do around here). This morning, "Damon's" pumpkin was missing. "Uh oh," I said. "I think a not very nice person took it from our house." I scanned the driveway and road, expecting to see it smashed somewhere. I looked at Malia's face and could see that she was trying to process what I had just told her. In disbelief that something so terrible could happen, she responded: "It's okay, Mom. They didn't mean to take it. It was yucky and they put it in the garbage." As she explained this to me, the look of concern dissipated and all was well in her world again. I love that now that she can express herself, I get glimpses of how she thinks. She continually surprises me and I love it!

Well that's a relief!

This morning, after giving Malia a hug and kiss I said: "Malia, I love you."
She responded with a big smile and said: "I love you too, Mom. You don't scare ME!"

No, but nice try

After getting nicely tucked in following the full bed-time routine tonight (including extra books and songs), Malia asks: "Mum, can you go get my doll house?".
Nice try sister!!!

Brother of a Sister

Helper Heart

Yesterday we went on a "hike" at Tryon Creek. Malia happily jumped out of the van, sporting her sweet ladybug backpack, and was anxious for an adventure. Within two minutes of our hike, she bit the dust. On a very bumpy, gravelly path. Even after kissing the owies better, she didn't quite have the same enthusiasm for the trip. So, we tried to find lots af distractions along the way (I wasn't about to head home!). Quickly we found a giant snail crossing the trail. Malia was engrossed...for about thirty seconds. Then she wanted me to carry her. On occasion, I do sport the "super-mom" look: Damon strapped to my back, with Malia clinging on my front. But I wasn't about to do that on this trip. So it was on to the next mini-marvel. We saw lots of dogs, plenty of birds, and I think 6 GIANT banana slugs. They are awesome. One of those unfortunate souls hadn't made the cross-trail trek successfully and had been unpleasantly discharged under someone's shoe. Upon seeing this squished slug, sweet Malia exclaimed: "we need to help him!" .....if only we could. Later, while pointing out some of the awesome trees, I said: "Malia, look at that tree that fell over! Check out those roots sticking out in the air!". Again, her response was (and it was with genuine concern): "we need to help him!".

Nyalicious

Malia was gently petting Nya and being quite lovey. She then proceeded to kiss her repeatedly.
Malia: "I'm having fun with Nya. I give Nya kisses. I taste her fur. It's really yummy!".
I, too, think Nya is delicious....but not that way!

Photo Dump

I remember loving dressing up Claude when I was little...I had to relive that moment. I actually can't believe it took me this long!

What a good helper I have! I love how the bowl is sitting precariously on the edge of the table.

Poor Damon! I don't know what's worse...the fact that he got pummeled, or the fact that I documented it instead of intervening!

Can you find the kitty?

Song of the Day

Malia is starting to make up her own songs. Today she was singing: "Nya's grown up and she's gonna get married..."
I have no idea where she gets her stuff!

Birthday Boy, Bye-bye Binkie & Hello Big Girl Bed!

It's been a busy few weeks in the Plaster household. The title of this post says much of what has been going on. I'll spare you the details and give you pictures instead!

Here's Malia playing "I'm gonna get you!" with LL. She insisted we have party hats for Damon's birthday dinner.

Here's the whole gang...

My little sweet boy! I can't believe he's one year old!

He got a night lamp that shines stars on the wall that matches Malia's ladybug one.

It took him a little while to catch on to the cake!

Kurt caught Damon sleeping while sitting up. He was rocking forward and backward while sleeping, resting his face (and then back of his head) on side of the pack-n-play.

Precious cat time...

Right before a much needed hair cut:

Gettin' into trouble...

The 'cage' has reappeared in our basement since Damon has become mobile.

Malia finally moved to a toddler bed. The transition came two days after we said goodbye to her soother. It was going so badly that I decided we would just add the bed switch to the mix- get this misery out of the way as soon as possible! Needless to say, none of us (except Kurt!), has been sleeping as well since the change. I'm hoping she'll get back to napping so I can get some things done in that precious time! The first night we got rid of the soother, I cut it the tip off and handed it to her. She put it in her mouth, pulled it out, and said "It's broken, Mama. We need to fix it!". After telling her we couldn't fix it and that we didn't need to because she's a big girl now, she said "We need to get a new one!". I put her in her crib at 7 pm, and she didn't fall asleep until 11:30 pm! During these 4 1/2 hours, I gave her 2 bandaids (for imaginary owies), said 5 prayers (she'd say: "Mama, c'we have a prayer?"), got in her crib twice (yes, you read that right), sang I don't know how many songs, and wished during the entire time that she would just fall asleep. Finally she relented, but if you saw her today, you'd see the bags under her eyes. Poor thing!

It has been too long!

Malia throws as many toys as possible into her crib so that she can be entertained before (and after) she actually sleeps at nap time. In this severe case, I removed some items so she would have some place to lie down. I am not ready to move her to a big bed! It is so nice to have her contained, and she still loves her crib.

Here are the sock monkeys I made for the kids for Christmas.

Here's Malia playing with her doll house on Christmas day. It was just as much a gift for me as it was for her. Luckily she loves it!

Damon loves the vacuum! Even while it is on! Here he is chasing it.

Malia is a good kitty mama. She likes to make sure Nya has blankets and a pillow so she can go "nigh nigh".

Malia loves being a princess. Thank you for the outfit, Liz!

I love watching Malia interact with other little people her age. It's so fun to see her play with friends.

Here she is trying to catch some snow on her tongue.
The kids love playing in forts! (Damon just dismantled one in this picture.)

Poor kitty...

More fort fun!

This was our first snow shoeing trip as a family of four. It was fun to get out!

Yes, we had to bust out the soother. It was a weak moment. But look how happy she is!

Fun times at the zoo.

This bird let us stand within about 18 inches.

Other fun tidbits:

-Last week Malia busted out with "Jingle Bells", except her version was "Tinkerbell", pronounced "Dingabell".

-Damon is getting into everything! He finally started crawling this month and he has really taken off. Malia will sometimes cheer him on and say "You're doing it Damon! Good job!". I love the look of satisfaction he has on his face while he's on the move.

-A couple of times Kurt has put Malia to bed (after saying a prayer with her), only to have her cry "Mama!". When I come in, she asks "Mama, can we have a prayer?". So I say a prayer with her, and then kiss her goodnight. On one occasion, I heard her say her own prayer after I had left the room, listing some things/people she is grateful for (including her favorite nursery leader).

-Yesterday I almost had to take one of the kids out of sacrament meeting because they were making each other laugh. It's hard to get mad about that!

-We've been talking about Damon's upcoming birthday. Malia insists that he needs a birthday hat. Stay tuned for pictures of his birthday!