Giada has been happily talking to herself for twenty-five minutes in her bed.  Now all of a sudden it is quiet.  Maybe she will take a nap.  She got up at 6:19 this a.m. with a runny nose.  I am supposed to take her to the shoestore this a.m., but I hate to take her without a nap.  Then she falls asleep in the car and wakes up before she’s gotten enough rest.  That is what happened when I took her on Wednesday. 

Giada is her usual happy self.  She and I went to the ponds to see the ducks and geese this afternoon and then to Kindermusik.

These past two months have been ones of big changes for us with Giada. She is growing so fast. Her words have increased from mama, dada and  “Bad Bad” (the cats – we are always saying Bad bad kitty! So she thinks that is the name of both cats) to Cheese, yes, and Juice.

She thinks sneezing is hilarious, which Brad is devastated about as he is a “One and Done” sneezer. We can’t believe that from her 1 year old birthday (I STILL haven’t gotten thank you notes out grrr…) where she was an unsteady walker, that she has turned into a full blown toddler. Where did our baby go!!!???

She is still a super sweet baby though we have just now gotten to the where we say “no!” and she thinks it is funny to keep doing what she is doing or take whatever she’s not supposed to have and make a run for it. I had to pull out the what to expect in the toddler years for what to do about this as once you get vaguely forceful with her about the “no” she dissolves into tears which is awful!

We are about to start the torturous process of finding a preschool. Competition is fierce for placement and these aren’t even fancy pants schools.  WHY DID I NOT SIGN HER UP LAST YEAR!!! I love the Montessori concept but the one near us has 10 seats and unfortunately (or fortunately – uncorruptable people are few and far between) this school owner is not one to be b.s.ed, swayed, lead or coerced. We’re almost afraid to try as she will think our family is uncommunity like. But we’ll see.

So I thought I would send this picture to prove this child is actually mine as well as Brad’s She has looked like him for so long without a drop of me when I saw this one I was like, Vindicated!! I don’t think there is a ton of me, but think you can see a good dose of Canterbury.

Yesterday was Michael’s 68^th birthday.  We play bridge on Fridays so I ordered a cake from Central Market and alerted all the players to bring cards and scratch-offs.  Amy picked up the cake and brought it and Giada to the rec center at lunch break.  Of course, Michael enjoyed showing off his granddaughter who happily sat on his lap and ate cake.  The scratch-offs did not produce any birthday bonuses, but he and his partner did come in second so that was good.  Amy and Brad had us over last night for shrimp cocktail, ribeye steaks, roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower and wonderful mushroom risotto, a specialty of Amy’s.  There were even leftovers which we are going to eat today with a couple of lamb London broils.

Christmas 2010 was great, but it is rapidly receding.  Kate and David got here Thursday.  Unfortunately the weather has been cold and rainy until today.  Christmas Eve we went to Mass at St. Rita at four.  This is the second year we’ve gone to the children’s Mass in the gym.  I don’t like it.  The church was so beautiful today with the life-sized Nativity in the vestibule and the beautiful white one on the altar and gorgeous red poinsettias everywhere.  Evie and Giada went to church with us this morning.  Then we stopped for Mexican food.  We had just had a great Mexican dinner Christmas Eve at my sister Delores’ house, but twice a week is not too often for Mexican food.  Christmas Day three of my sisters and my brother came over for brunch:  your Petit Jean ham, Mary Ann, Polish sausage, grapefruit and oranges from Florida, and my cinnamon rolls.  Those oranges are the epitome of what an orange should be, Janet.  When you cut one in half, it looks too perfect to be real except for the tantalizing aroma.  Christmas night we had our traditional shrimp and crab appetizer and rib roast.  Amy brought fudge and several kinds of cookies.  I made sugar cookies with the girls and cocoons for Michael and cathedral window cookies for myself.  Tonight I cooked a turkey and made sweet potatoes with big marshmallows ( I agree with Joe on this) and cranberries and salad (we’ve got to get back to normal a little at a time) and rolls.  The cookies are going fast.  Soon it will all be over, but first we need to go see Tangled, go ice skating like Olivia, see the 500 Santas at the Arboretum and who knows what else.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Dallas had a record high of eighty-five yesterday.  Giada and I had a great time at the park and with the sand table in the back yard so she couldn’t understand why we weren’t outside today.  It is so funny to see her next to the sand table.  She is just the right size for it.  Evie and Jane will look like giants next to it.  We will have to look for a larger one on sale.

It is so true that children make everything worthwhile.  Double that for grandchildren.  And of course there is the promise of a new year. Merry Christmas and God bless us everyone.

Giada has been very good with the tree and all the decorations.  I do have to watch her around the Advent wreath though.  She likes to take the candles out. We’ve had some spectacular weather.  Michael took Giada in the stroller down to the ponds to feed the ducks this afternoon.  We have a huge goose down there who definitely feels in charge.

We enjoyed seeing Tim’s family and Bud’s family at Menzie’s baptism yesterday.  She is a very cute, sweet little girl and seems to be a very good baby.  Everyone looks great.  Nolan has grown noticeably since Thanksgiving.  Allison looks really good, and so do her girls.  The fajitas at El Guapo were so good that I could hardly eat anything at the cookie exchange I attended in the afternoon.  Giada loved the guacamole.  She and I watched the tortilla lady making the tortillas for everyone.  She also loved watching Sophie and Arlette running around being “big girls”.  It was nice to have a chance to see everyone before Christmas.  We are keeping Giada this afternoon as Amy is starting her baking.  I hardly do anything any more as she does a wonderful job.  I will gladly babysit for my share.