Meeting Santa Claus

Well, I took the little tikes out to the Mall for the first time and they met Old St. Nick. Overall it went pretty well, but Miss Kate did not like Santa. Carson was completely in awe of his beard (which was real), and he even talked to him a little while I attempted to calm down Kate.

Waiting in line to meet Santa. I guess it’s entirely too much to ask that they not yank off their shoes and socks in the car, eh? The twins went barefoot instead.

I think Kate knew something unpleasant was about to go down because all of the other kids were screaming and crying.

Carson looking at Santa’s beard, Kate looking at me. I knew it was about to go downhill fast once she gave me “the look.”

I took these with my little crappy camera. This was pre-meltdown Kate.

Carson hung out with Santa while I tried to calm down (unsuccessfully) Miss Kate. He even stroked Santa’s beard.

This is their “official” Santa photo; taken by a 16-year old Mall employee dressed up like an elf. I paid $35 for this piece of photographic mastery. Oh well. It was worth it, and the photo just cracks me up. Santa looks drunk with his eyes shut, Kate looks freaked out, and Carson was leaning forward and therefore looks constipated.

As for the rest of the Mall experience, I managed to restrain myself. I did buy a UT pennant for Carson’s room and we browsed in Baby Gap but I didn’t buy anything. I met lots of other moms in line for Santa and in the Food Court area. It’s funny how every one of them said, ‘I just had to get out of the house! I can’t handle the cabin fever anymore.’ It was nice to momentarily feel like you have found a kindred spirit. It was refreshing to get out and about today.

Whew! Carson’s Room is Painted.

I still have a ton left to do, but at least the painting is completed. Yay! (I hate posting photos of unfinished projects, but my mom is dying to see the bed she bought Carson for Christmas.)

Here’s the Carson’s Room Project To-Do List:

• Decide on window treatment & get them
• Find new quilt for bed
• Finish setting up his crib area
• Find a nightstand
• Find a lamp
• Hang artwork/pictures
• Install ceiling fan
• Move-up the glider
• Move-up antique highboy dresser (was my dad’s as a child)

If anyone cares…

Paint: “Hunting Coat Red” by Ralph Lauren, “Restrained Gold” by Sherwin Williams, and “True Blue” by Ralph Lauren. Oh, and Ralph Lauren paints sucks! It’s almost as thin as water.

Bed: Rooms-to-Go Kids. I just love the bed. It’s my favorite part of the room.

Here’s to hoping Carson likes sports!

Anatomy of a Twin Fight

Mark and I might be the only people who find this funny (because out of nowhere it’s been happening a lot lately), but I accidentally captured the twins having a spat over a toy this morning while we were killing time before day care.

Like most of their fights, it was over a toy. Kate wanted Carson’s toy. She eyed it and then went after it. After swatting it out of his hand, she proceeded to claw his face rather deliberately. That’s when the fight was on. Kate was being playful (as you can see in her face), but Carson was not a happy camper after getting scratched in the face. It ended with Carson bulldozing her over, and then I broke them up.

Sorry the photos are of crappy quality but I had low light, the action was very fast, and I was both laughing at them and verbally trying to stop the fight (which, with 9 1/2 month olds, does not work. Lesson learned!).

I made a mosaic out of the fight. A frame by frame of how it all went down.

Tidbits

I’ve gotten a few emails wanting updates on some things I’ve blogged about in the past, so I thought I would do a quick tidbits post.

• Carson’s ringworm has been gone for a long while now. It was never too severe (based off of what I saw on the net), and the Lotrimin cleared it up fast. In fact, let me just go ahead and give a plug to Lotrimin…it’s great. I never imagined I would use it as much as I have. The twins tend to get fungal diaper rashes (Carson’s issue currently), and Lotrimin is the only thing that works.
• Kate is a new and improved baby! For the past week, she is just simply different. Happy, hyper, active, and not fussy. She seems to be completely over her separation anxiety, which turned out to be short term. She is getting into everything! The excitement of the Christmas tree has faded a bit, and now she is focusing on the mantle garland and the entertainment center (specifically the cable box and DVD player). She continues to amaze us with her super human appetite. I can’t believe I fought with her for 3 1/2 months on eating solids and literally overnight she just went after it. Kate is wolfing down twice as much baby food as Carson!
• Last night, Carson started eating a cracker that I handed him. Kate has been doing that for a week, but that was the first time he grabbed something and ate it himself.
• We are still battling sleep issues. On one hand they seem to be doing better (less wake-ups), but on the other they sometimes want to start their day at 4 AM or 3 AM or, in the case of Kate last night/this morning, 2 AM!

I know there’s more, but I am tired. Here is a photo from this afternoon…Carson was napping and Kate was in my office with me. Our (still recovering) dog Schatzie was not happy that she was locked out, but I was afraid she would hit Kate in the head with her “lampshade.” So, Miss Kate and Miss Schatzie had a stare down at the French doors.

Carson’s Room & Carson’s Rump

Since the twins were at Miss Jennifer’s today (well, one of them…more on that in a second), I started working on Carson’s room. His big boy bed arrive on Saturday night, and I just love it! Given Carson’s lineage (damn, that sounds snobby), we decided to do a sports themed room for him. I will finally have a place to put some of my dad’s baseball stuff. Anyway, the headboard and foot-board are made out of baseball bats….love it.

I am taking my first crack at painting stripes, and I’m a bit nervous about it. So far so good, but I’ve only done the easy part so far. I can’t decide what to paint that middle stripe. I wanted to do UT’s burnt orange, but the paint guys at Home D*pot are full of crap when they say they’ve cracked the copyrighted code to that color. What they gave me as a sample looks more like the University of Tennessee orange. I am open for suggestions. Oh, and I have some left-over dining room paint, and that could be an option too. The goldie yellow would look good with the blue & red. Cast your vote.

Mr. Carson was sent home at 10:30 this morning from Miss Jennifer’s because of severe diarrhea. I don’t know what’s going on with him. He seems to be feeling okay, and if anything he has been hyper. However, for the past two days he has refused (turning his head to the side) all baby food and has been on some poo producing world record. Seriously, NINE blow-out poos just today (and it’s only 4:30 PM)! He hates PediLite, so I am going to make him keep up on water to avoid dehydration. Thanks to all of these blow-outs, Carson is also suffering from some nasty, nasty diaper rash. I’ve done Butt Paste, Balmex, baby powder, and corn starch. The poor baby just screams when I have to change his diapers. The pedi nurse suggested switching him to a soy formula until this passes, and soaking him in a warm bath several times a day.

So cast your vote for the paint color on that middle stripe, and we are off to pick up Miss Kate.

P.S. The paint was still wet when I took the above photo, so it will dry even darker. Also, I still have another two coats to put on — damn that Ralph Lauren paint…it’s like slapping on water.