Sikes Family Blog

Monday, December 7, 2009

While at chesterfield Sophia explored the north pole and the all the surrounding scenery. Patiently awaiting her photo to be processed Sophia showed her new penguin she received for visiting santa around the mall.

First, they sat on the bench.

Here, they were watching the crowds go by in the mall.

Next, they checked the signs for directions around the North Pole.

The third stop was here outside the wintery wonderland where green plants grow in abundance.

She showed the penguin all that she could.

Finally, it was time to go and she took penguin for a ride in her stroller back to our car. Sophia loves her animals and this new one proved to be no exception.

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Saturday, December 5, 2009

December 5, 2009 In Search of the Perfect Santa Claus

photo 1

photo 2

Up on the housetop reindeer paws, out jumps good old Santa Claus. Down through the chimney with lots of toys all for the little ones Christmas joys!

This year I have been telling Sophia for a few weeks that Santa is watching her and will be coming down the chimney into the fireplace to bring her toys. She looked at me like I was crazy at first but after watching several Christmas stories I think she is starting to get it.

After many visits to see Santa , Sophia is warming up to him. Today I decided was the day to make the photo. So this morning I decided it was time to get the Santa Claus photograph for 2009.

This weekend we took our annual trip to the North Pole. We packed up the smallest Elf in the house and Daddy Elf and Mommy Elf set out on our day long journey in search of the perfect Santa Claus with a fancy elf dress and plenty of extra clothes, milk and cameras galore.

First stop, Chesterfield Mall transformed into the North Pole. Sophia Elf was so excited that we were going to see Santa Claus again. We wound our way through the walkway of mall through the North Pole. Sophia eagerly trotted through the little Santa village set to find her new friend Santa Claus. She ran right up to him and gave him a high five. She sat on his lap and told him she wanted presents. The photographer snapped the photo above (photo 2 in the post). He gave her a candy cane and a coloring book which she was excited to receive.

As we moved through the village, we were magically transported back to the Chesterfield mall to select our favorite photograph.

We told Santa that Sophia Elf and Mommy Elf and Daddy Elf would meet him over at the next mall after he fed his reindeer a nice lunch. We packed up the troops and headed to West County mall for a second option for a Santa photo. Here we found Santa waiting patiently for our arrival. Sophia Elf once again went up to see Santa and sat right up on his lap. Santa's photographer elves snapped the photo and you can see this was a better photo. (See photo 1 in the post). Sophia Elf once again told Santa she had been good and wanted that kitchen for Christmas. All in all it was a fun day spent in search of the Jolly Old Santa Claus. Merry Christmas to all!

December 5, 2009 More Home Photos after a full-day of shopping and searching for Santa

Mommy and Sophia photograph taken by daddy in front of our our Christmas tree.

Sophia loves her new beads from Grandma that just happen to match her Christmas dress.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Cat staking out a new place to sleep

So 6 boxes of ornaments later and the tree is mostly up. There is still a lot to be done but I feel like we are doing better than last year this time. As I came into the room I noticed my cat has taken up residence under the tree. She is going to have a rude awakening when the villages are set up and possibly the train. If only I could find the tree skirt so I can move forward from here. I know it is one of the storage boxes I just haven't found it yet. There are still tons of boxes to bing up so maybe I will find it soon.

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December 3, 2009 when is Santa coming to town?

Sophia really has no concept of time as of yet other than night and day and naptime. I decided that this advent calendar will help her understand when Santa will be coming to town.

So each morning before Scott goes to work we move the little marker forward a day so Sophia knows when Santa wil be here. The short video clip shows her enthusiasm
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December 3, 2009 gingerbread ornaments good enough to eat

Sophia made these gingerbread oraments this morning to hang on our tree. They are made of foam and glitter so I told her not to eat them but I admit they did look like cookies.

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December 2, 2009 dancing around in new hat

Sophia was dancing around in her pjs in the family room in her hat she received for being a big girl Black Friday. She put it on correctly all by herself this evening.

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Wednesday, December 2, 2009

December 1, 2009 Christmas is coming soon....the big girl

Christmas 2009 should be more fun than the past because Sophia is starting to understand what is taking place. At two years old she has an amazing perception of the world around her. She was so excited about putting the tree up that she danced around the family room to the Christmas music Scott had playing on the piano. Not only has the house begun to look a little more like Christmas through our efforts, other signs Christmas are happening as well.

One such family tradition is our annual visit to the North Pole where Santa Claus lives. This year we have had to make several visits with Santa to familiarize Sophia with him. Although she has met the jolly old elf in years past, two year olds seem to have a huge fear of a large man in silly red pajamas with white cuffs and a huge beard. Any other day of the year we would be telling Sophia to stay away from a person she didn't know dressed in clothes like that. At Christmas however, we tell children to go up and sit on the lap of a complete stranger who is dressed very oddly. You can understand the fear. So far, we have visited Santa more than 5 times and I think she is warming up to him a bit. She willingly sat on his lap at the mall on Monday. So we may be close to taking that photo with Santa like we do each year.

My hopes for this year is that Sophia is fully potty trained before Christmas. She has been wearing big girl panties not Pull Ups, for almost a week now with very few accidents. My husband exclaimed to us the day before Thanksgiving when he returned from Costco with the huge Pull Ups box that this was the last box of diapers her was going to buy for her. Who would have thought she understood what he said, but maybe something clicked in her mind. I would love to stop buying Pull-Ups since it has been a year, Thanksgiving last year that we have been training. The day after Thanksgiving Sophia said to me as I was getting dressed, "Mommy, I want wear pretty panties too!"

"Well, great, let's go get a pair in your drawer in your room!", I replied with way too much enthusiasm. We went straight to her room and I let her pick out a pair of pretty panties that she wanted to wear while shopping on Black Friday. Of all that days a toddler would choose to wear big girl panties instead of wearing Pull Ups, Black Friday was not the day I would have chosen with long lines winding through the stores and limited access to public restrooms. Amazing how nice people can be when you mention potty training toddler with a very polite but slightly urgent voice. I was nervous about shopping in the crowds and packed six more pairs of panties and plastic pants in my purse and diaper bag and several Pull Ups just in case. The good news I have to report is I came back from an entire day of shopping with most of those panties still in the diaper bag and my purse. She was dry all day until 8pm that night. She had an accident when we were shopping for her surprise or shortly thereafter. She was very upset. We had gone out to the Meadows for our last shopping mall of the day. During the day I wanted to put some urgency and meaning into the staying dry all day thing so I upped the ante by promising her not only that Santa would bring that kitchen for "big girls who use the potty" but that she would get a surprise at the end of the day if she wore panties all day. We kindly reminded her several times that daddy would call Santa Claus and tell him that she had been good all day and that he could bring that kitchen. So, we walked into the Gymboree at the Meadows and my daughter runs toward the cutest hat and gloves I have ever seen. She plops the hat on her head and starts sliding the mittens on her fingers.

The mittens had little dolls on each finger so that is what she wanted for her surprise. She said to Scott and I following cautiously behind her. "I want it! I buy it!" I looked at the pricetag and looked with concern at my husband. He said, "How much? That is fine because she was a big girl today. She can have it." He has that girl wrapped around his little finger, I might add. I was amazed that not only was the matching pair on sale but I also got 25% off just for signing up for their rewards points program there which costs me nothing. Yippee! I made it out of the store for less than $13.00. I was super excited. Originally, I had planned to buy a toy of $5 or less at Target or Walmart on the way home, so this worked out just fine.

Sophia has stayed dry the last 5 days so maybe she gets it now. I can only hope. This year I have a lot to be Thankful for especially a sweet two year old who suddenly seems to be motivated to be a big girl. She is really excited about everything related to Christmas and getting that kitchen from Santa Claus just might be the reason behind her motivation to be a big girl.

Mommy loves her big girl Sophia. Let's keep up the great work.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

November 21, 2009 Shopping Elves and Santa visit

Sophia elf and I, mommy elf, met her grandma elf for a full day of shopping. We had a great time!

The three Elves snacked our way through Costco while grabbing some last minute turkey day fixings. After enough food for a toddler elf's feast, Sophia elf asked to stop for lunch by requesting a hot doggy. What's a mom elf to do but buy her kid elf a favorite lunch at Costco. I knew it would be a long shopping day so I figured we should probably eat first.

Then, we skipped over to the mall where we found lots of fun stores. While in sears, Sophia elf spilled her entire glass of lemonade across the aisle floor. With not an employee elf in sight, I frantically called grandma elf who was too far to talk to help find someone to clean it up. Honestly, I was bit embarrassed that my kid elf made such a mess, but I am a parent elf and I guess these things are going to happen.

So we moved on from that to the middle of the mall where whom should we find but the big red jolly old elf in his red suit sitting in his big chair, Santa Claus! I asked Sophia elf if she would like to go see Santa and she replied, "Yes!". I was happy that she didn't seem scared like the week prior at the Bass Pro shop. So Grandma elf and Sophia elf trotted up to visit Santa. The photos aren't great because she never looked up at me, but here is the best of the bunch.

I hope we can get a really good photo with Santa this year in Sophia elf's Christmas dress. Hopefully, by visiting several times we will familiarize her enough with the big elf that she will want a photo with him.

After the Santa visit at the mall, we trekked over to Sam's club for more shopping and snacking. It was like a dream there was so much food there.

The last place Santas' elves hit was the ever popular Walmart. The elves were getting tired and needed to feed the reindeer but decided we better check out the toys here too. I knew in my mommy elf heart that we were drawing near to that moment when you wished you didn't say, "Let's make one more stop." Well, I ignored mommy elf intuition and paid for it later in the toy aisle of Walmart. We were looking around for toys and checking out all the neat ideas to ask Santa for when I noticed a bit of resistance on the end of the harness. I thought "Oh boy, how am I ever going to get her out of here without a fit?". Well sorry to say it folks, the littlest elf had a meltdown in Walmart and the mommy elf had to pick her up and carry her to the front of the store where we met grandma elf and told her we were headed straight for the car. I bolted out of there like a flash lightning crosses the sky. Once in the car the littlest elf settled down and listened to the music on the radio. The day overall was lots of fun and I wish we could have girl elf shopping days more often.
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Thursday, November 19, 2009

November 19, 2009 My little monkey swinging from the bars

Daddy and Sophia swinging from the bars

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November 19, 2009 Tumbling with her daddy

Sophia and Scott working with Teacher Amy on the parallel bars at Little Gym. She was supposed to hold on and touch her toes up to the bar she was holding.