Abby Loses Another Tooth

Abby's third tooth fell out in her bath yesterday. According to Abby, "I heard a little crack and then I wiggled my tooth back and forth and it just fell out!" She was so excited, but worried that she was going to lose the tooth in the bath water.

We both thought it was pretty cool that her tooth fell out on her Grandpa's birthday. Abby joked that maybe it was a "73 year-old tooth!"

We made a little box for the tooth and Abby went to bed with great anticipation of what she would find under her pillow in the morning.
This morning she came into our room to show us what she had found -- two books wrapped in a pretty ribbon.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

Love Abby and Daniel

Proposals

Abby and I often have interesting conversations in the car as we drive to pick up Daniel and then Will. Tonight was no exception!

Abby asked if I proposed to Will or if he proposed to me. I answered the question. And the conversation progressed and eventually Abby asked how babies are made (this has been a favorite topic of hers recently). I answered the question directly, hoping the conversation would end quickly.

It did.

There was silence and then Abby said, "I wish children could propose." I said, "Oh! Is there someone you would like to propose to Abby?"

She immediately responded, "Yes, Brycen! I love him!" And then she giggled.

After we picked up Will, I caught him up on the conversation. Looking at me, Will said in a very serious voice, "What do we know about this Brycen?"

I asked Abby what she loved about Brycen. Her response, "I love his jokes. He makes me laugh."

(I'll admit, I like Abby's choice! Brycen is cute and seems very sweet. He's missing several teeth, and if I remember correctly, has freckles! Abby's magnetic name tag fell off her locker the other morning and Brycen immediately picked it up from the floor and handed it to her. A real gentleman!)

Dumb Parenting Idea #284

I took a personal day on Tuesday because Rochester schools were closed due to weather. Abby and I spent a good part of the day working on her Valentine's Day cards for her classmates (check back on Sunday for the reveal).

Abby expressed concern that the cards were too big and would not fit in some of her classmates' card boxes/bags. I insisted in my Mother In-Charge sort of way that the cards would be fine.

We pressed on and Abby took the cards to school yesterday. Only a couple hours into the morning, I received an email from Abby's teacher informing me that Abby had been very frustrated and had shed a lot of tears over the cards not fitting in many of her classmates' boxes/bags. On top of that, the cards didn't hold up so well and were falling apart!

Just when you think you are having one of those Great Mom moments, you learn that in fact you've just subjected your child to public embarrassment!

Poor Abby! Dumb Mama!

Happy Birthday Granddad!!

Happy Birthday Granddad!

Love -- Daniel and Abby

Has It Really Been Since November?

So, you keep coming back to Lots-O-Stotts hoping you'll see something new, but since November, it's just been Daniel in the laundry basket. Well, here's a new post, but the photo was taken in 2009 -- December 31st to be exact. So much has happened since that lovely day on Carmel Beach, but I won't even attempt to chronicle all of it.

So Much Laundry

There is just always so much laundry to do in the Stott house!

Fifty Years and Counting

Abby and Daniel's grandparents celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary on November 28th. Abby and Daniel had a great time at the party! (And the grandparents did too!

And the Tooth Fairy Adds to her Collection

Abby asked her dentist to pull her tooth on Wednesday. Her dentist told Abby to go home and bite into a carrot. Abby actually did that even though she is not a fan of vegetables. It didn't work. She tried biting into an apple. That didn't work either.

I decided to take matters into my own hands because I was tired of Abby's complaints that the tooth hurt. It took me all of a second to pull the tooth out.

And thanks to me, tonight the tooth fairy will finally be able to pay Abby a second visit!

The Tooth Fairy is Impatiently Waiting

I'm convinced this tooth is actually no longer physically attached to Abby! However, she refuses to give it up! Little does she know what the tooth fairy has hidden away just waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

Things that Make Daniel Cry

Daniel's been crying quite a bit recently. He has an estimated eight teeth breaking the surface and has had a fever off and on for the past two days. To add insult to injury, his mean parents insist on occasionally taking his beloved shoes off his feet (you know, like at bath time). This is a sure bet way to make Daniel cry. Tonight I discovered a new way to make Daniel cry -- I took the red crayon away from him that he was using to decorate our sofa. He was not at all happy about this and cried and cried.

Poor boy.

Poor sofa.

Smile

Is this the face you'd expect to see after saying, "Smile?"

How about this one?

Yeah, I didn't think so! Me neither.

Ouch!

I'm completely swamped with work these days. Each morning I drop Daniel and Abby off at their schools and as I drive home, I cross my fingers hoping that both will stay healthy and remain in school the whole day (it is flu season, you know). I get home, go to my office and start to work. Each time our home phone rings I cringe, hoping it is not one school or the other telling me that my child has a raging fever, is vomiting and needs to be picked up immediately. (OK, so this may sound crazy, but I'm simply being honest and sharing my daily thought processes with you. Be kind, be supportive! Don't judge me -- these are trying times.)

I have an 8:30 AM conference call each Tuesday, so Will takes the children to school. This morning when my call ended, I dove right into all that I needed to accomplish today. The phone rang at about 10:45 AM. I initially thought it was a telemarketing call and was not particularly polite when I answered. I soon learned that Daniel fell on the playground and cut his eye. It had bled quite a lot and the school was concerned that the cut was deep.

So much for work!

Luckily, the cut did not require stitches. Daniel is fine. He's happy and tonight, one Mayo doctor, one Mayo physician's assistant, and two Mayo nurses go to sleep having been charmed today by a brave little boy who survived his impromptu clinic visit by talking to and laughing at his beloved shoes.

Sweet sister Abby was so concerned when she saw Daniel's eye. She's always a lovely sister, but tonight she was the star, repeatedly pushing Daniel through the hallway on his lion scooter. They both laughed and laughed.

Dirtball

Daniel, Daphne and I were hanging out on Sunday. (Will and Abby were swimming.) Daphne headed upstairs. Daniel walked to the stairs and started calling out. It was obvious that he was calling for the dog, but I could not figure out what he was saying. It definitely didn't sound like Daphne or Daffodil (a name I sometimes call the dog). I kept listening as he repeated the word over and over. And then it hit me!! My son was calling the dog "dirtball!" I got a grand chuckle out of this (I'm laughing again as I type)! I confess, I do sometimes call the dog dirtball, but in the most loving way of course! I just didn't realize I called her dirtball often enough for Daniel to pick up on it! Today he looked at her and said, "No, Dirtball!" Good stuff!

Abby's First Grade School Picture

We were delighted to see Abby's first grade picture! We are unabashedly biased, but we think this girl is CUTE!

Four Grandparents, a Lion Cub and a Narwhal

We had a great Halloween. All four of Abby and Daniel's grandparents joined us for a neighborhood parade. After the evening trick-or-treating, we now have enough candy to take us into 2010!!

Daniel likes to roar, and so was a lion cub. Abby wanted to be a narwhal this year and our friend Carlene once again took Abby's request and turned it into a great costume.

I'll Have Green Milk, Please

Abby recently asked a waitress for a glass of green milk. As you can imagine, the waitress looked rather confused. I helped the waitress (and Abby) out and Abby eventually got her glass of skim milk.

You see, at our house we have three different kinds of milk. Abby and I drink green milk. Daniel drinks red milk and Will uses blue milk for his cereal.It might seem silly to you, but it of course makes perfect sense to us!

What color is your milk?

Pumpking Carving

With less than a week to go before Halloween descends on us, we decided to break out the knives and carve! Tonto joined us for the festivities. Grandpa and Grandma Engelhardt recently brought Abby and Daniel the pumpkins.

At first Daniel looked at us as if we were crazy, but then he got into the spirit as well and attempted to scoop out the little pumpkin he brought home from school. (This is the same little pumpkin that Abby dropped out of the car. The same little pumpkin that rolled down our driveway and across the street.)

Daphne paced around the table attempting to score pieces of discarded pumpkin.

And after the work was done, Abby and Daniel enjoyed their tasty Halloween cookies. Abby picked out her cookie which is why it is as big as her head.

And at the end of the night, Tonto and Daniel danced!

And here for their world debut, are the Stott pumpkins. Abby drew round eyes on the pumpkin on the left, so I carved them for her and asked what kind of nose and mouth she wanted. She suggested a bat or spider, so we decided on a bat! Will carved the pumpkin on the left!

Another October Snow

We had a beautiful snowfall on October 23. As soon as Abby got home from school, she suited up and headed out to play -- wearing her new snow pants for the first time.

Looking at this photo, I noticed I need to turn the outside water off, put away the hose and the summer toys!! Winter may be ready for us, but we are not quite ready for it!
Abby begged me to come out and play with her, but I insisted I couldn't find my boots and stayed inside the warm house!! She pushed on without me and made her very own snowman!!!

Hair, Shoes, Socks and Snow

Much is happening in the Stott household these days, but updating the blog simply doesn't seem to happen as often as it used to. Abby is enjoying first grade, Daniel has started at a preschool and is adjusting relatively well. Daphne is still simply out of her mind and the cat continues to offer dead mice at the door.

Daniel woke up this morning and seemed to have a lot more hair than when we put him in his crib last night! It's funny how that works. Another haircut is imminent.

Daniel's feet have also grown recently, so he's now wearing the socks and shoes his foster family gave us in Korea. He laughs and laughs when we put them on and often points to the shoes on his shelf in the morning and says, "shoes!"

The other day I looked at Will and Daniel and got a good laugh. Daniel was sporting his cool Korean socks and Will had on his wild Rose socks that Noni gave him for Christmas in honor of our Abigail Rose.

We had our first snow of the season October 12, which is crazy early for Minnesota. Abby couldn't wait to get outside and play in it, but Daniel was only allowed to watch from the window as his little body fought off a viral infection. He pointed out the window and said "no," which is his version of snow. I told him I agreed and said, "No snow!"

I was impressed with Abby's arm as she threw snowballs at the window. I stood and watched until it dawned on me that my child was throwing snowballs at the window. She wasn't very pleased with me when I fussed at her and told her to stop throwing at the window. But then she turned and had a wonderful snowball fight with the tree.