Sugar and Spice

A caveat before I get going: this blog entry probably will not be very funny. This morning on my way to work the radio announcers were reflecting back on the year's headlines in preparation for the upcoming new year celebration and it got me reflecting as well. I spent the drive in this morning trying to find a word or phrase to sum up 2010. I tried out several from "hope" to "miracles", but the one that kept popping up was "grace." For obvious reasons, 2010 is a year I will never forget, since it is the year my sweet Pumpkin was born. As any parent can attest, that is a memory I am betting does not fade. Yet, 2010 and her birth were so much more. To fully appreciate my 2010, I had to go back through the pain of the years preceding it. It's fitting that Pumpkin's middle name is Hattie, because the grace that has embodied this year began with her great grandmother, for whom she was named. In 2005, I lost my grandmother. I was by her side for the...

It's your lucky week - call it a Christmas gift - but I am blogging twice in one week. The events of last night (er, this morning) warrant another post so none of us forget (and I remember to pay Matt and Samantha back for their "thoughtful" Christmas gift to Aly). The picture above is from last month, but I had to use it so you could get a good image of the culprit in last nights mystery (and no, not Aly). Read on for the Case of the Ghostly Games. Despite getting her third tooth in, Pumpkin was sleeping relatively peacefully last night. That means Aaron and I were also deep asleep. Suddenly, I am jolted from my slumber by these words: "Peek-A-Boo, I see you!" It wasn't Aaron's voice and Pumpkin doesn't talk. It was a high pitched, sing songy, creepy almost mocking sound, faint but clear. I never thought such childish words could invoke such terror. I sit up, convinced I must have been dreaming when, in that same awful voice I hear in the distance...

My, my, we've been busy getting ready for and celebrating the various holidays of the season! I hardly have time to blog because aside from work (which has been crazy), I've just been enjoying every little minute of Pumpkin becoming a full-fledged little person! At 7 1/2 months old, Pumpkin's made many milestones including unsupported sitting, two front teeth (one top, one bottom), and solid foods. She also has a full array of consonant sounds and freely expresses emotions - blowing = anger; laughter = music to my ears. She has likes and dislikes and she knows how to make them known. For example, when her hands start clapping if someone doesn't start singing Pat-A-Cake REAL soon there is going to be some blowing going on. And although we haven't quite gotten belly off floor yet, we are very, very close to crawling . Just the other day I thought my immobile child was sitting on her play mat and I looked over to see her squirming her way up under the television! After...