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. 

Not for the Faint of Heart

The following two entries are not for the faint of heart, so flee now if you have issues with disease or dead mice. For the brave among you, read on....

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is a common viral illness of infants and children. The disease usually begins with a fever, poor appetite, malaise (feeling vaguely unwell), and often with a sore throat. One or 2 days after fever onset, painful sores usually develop in the mouth. They begin as small red spots that blister and then often become ulcers. The sores are usually located on the tongue, gums, and inside of the cheeks. A non-itchy skin rash develops over 1 to 2 days. The rash has flat or raised red spots, sometimes with blisters. The rash is usually located on the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. HFMD is caused by viruses that belong to the enterovirus genus (group). This group of viruses includes polioviruses, coxsackieviruses, echoviruses, and enteroviruses. (CDC)

Daniel's run-in with HFMD commenced on September 16, 2009 and had mostly run it's course by September 20, 2009.

The Gift Giver

Our cat Mira loves to bring us gifts -- little dead mouse gifts. Even though I praise her profusely, I truly do not like her gifts. I am dependent upon Will to dispose of the gifts, which he does with his mouse scooper tool! Unfortunately, I have to wait for Will to come home from work to deal with the gifts!

Homework

Will called me a nerd when I told him that as a student I loved homework. Well, he can call me any name he wants, but I'm not backing down! I LOVE homework! Earlier in the week, Abby's teacher sent an email saying that homework would be sent home on Friday. I'm not ashamed to admit that ALL week I've been anxiously awaiting Friday to see the homework assignments!!! Abby fussed at me a bit and told me that it was homework for the children and parents were only allowed to help. Drat! Oh, well! Helping is better than nothing! Right?

I of course thought she/we should start the homework yesterday, but she refused, saying, "We have all week to work on it! I need a rest."

Well, one can only be patient so long, so I insisted she (we) start the homework tonight. Abby did really well and even said, "I can't wait for the next day of school! I like homework!" That's my girl!!!!!

P.S. The next post will very likely be about the pure joys of the Scholastic book order form which also came home in Friday's book bag. Oh, first grade is really fun!!!

P.S.S Abby insisted on "eating" school lunches all week and appears determined to eat them next week as well. She told me she is experimenting with school lunch and she told my sister Lisa (Tonto) that she might as well give it a try because she has "nothing to lose!" She even ate two green beans on Friday!!!!!!  (For those of you not in the know, Abby never allows a vegetable to clear her lips unless she is under total duress!)

First Day of School for Abby and Daniel

Abby started first grade today and Daniel started at his new nursery school. Abby has been "freaking out" (her words) for the last week or so. She has been so stressed out about changing schools.

Noni and Granddad joined us for breakfast and the school drop offs.

Abby was so nervous, but she put on a brave face and when the time came, she marched into school with her classmates.

I stopped by Daniel's school during his lunch and was pleased to see him doing very well. He was sitting at a little table eating chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans and peaches. Each time he picked up a green bean, he growled at it before popping it into his mouth. He does have a great sense of humor!

As I waited for Abby after school, I was nervous and curious to see how her day had gone. She came out with a determined walk and immediately started telling me about her day. She was excited to be able to check a book out from the school library and kept telling me that she gets to keep it "for two whole weeks!" I asked Abby about the hot lunch she insisted on trying today and she made a face, but she said she wants to experiment again tomorrow and give the school meals another try!
Waiting with me was Abby's best friend Olivia from her Montessori school. (Olivia's sister is in second grade at Abby's new school.) Abby was delighted to see her and the two friends sat down and looked at Abby's new library book.

Another old friend from Montessori called Abby tonight to see how her first day went. He said, "I heard you were kind of nervous." She said, "Yeah!" He told her he was kind of nervous today as well.

And what a sigh I have sighed tonight! I hope tomorrow goes as smoothly!

We just got back from Itasca State Park -- home of the Mississippi River headwaters and beautiful red pine trees. Daniel and Abby loved the great outdoors and both were fine travel companions, including the 5.5 hour car ride. Unfortunately, Abby's trip was rudely interrupted by a bout with the stomach flu, but she rebounded nicely!

Daniel is a big fan of walking sticks and even walked up to a hiker and attempted to steal said hiker's walking stick. Here he is holding his own mini version of a walking stick.

Abby loved walking across the headwaters of the Mississippi and did so SEVERAL times!

Daniel and Abby pose with Noni and Granddad in front of the CCC built cabin in which we stayed.

Five

Today Abby is five. Tomorrow Abby will be six. In celebration of her last day being five, the Stotts came up with the following five cool things that happened when Abby was five:

1. Abby became a big sister (and a great big sister, at that)!
   
2. Abby traveled internationally for the first time.
   
3. Abby learned to read.
   
4. Abby lost her first tooth.
   
5. Abby graduated from Montessori.
   

(Abby is not doing "jazz hands!" She's actually informing the viewer that she is still five!)

First Steps and New Words

Tonight Daniel took his first steps -- three to be exact -- and he took them as he walked into Abby's outstretched arms. We were so excited. Abby celebrated by accidentally dropping Daniel on the floor. He wasn't amused and refused to take any additional steps!

Last night Daniel added "more" to his vocabulary. When he wants more food, he says "mo!" It's rather cute! He also has recently started saying kitty and peek (for peek-a-boo). Both are said in a really high-pitched voice that makes us laugh every time!

He's a great baby!!