Christmas, Part 2

I keep looking at these photos from our Christmas Day celebration with my Dad, Kit, and the rest of family.

I just love them.

It's the small details-- like my dad's smile. Or Ruby's boots with her Christmas dress. Or the two dogs that could keep Ruby's attention for hours.

It's what makes me love Christmas so much.

Happy Birthday Joe

It feels like December and January couldn't get more packed full of celebrations.

Joe turned 41 on Dec. 20th and it started what will be 3 weeks of parties and fun. Unfortunately, it probably will not make the list of Joe's Top 10 Favorite Birthday Celebrations. We were stuck in traffic for 3 hours trying to get to my mom's house (she was going to babysit so we could go on a date and we had to get out of the house for one or two nights because of the smelly work being done on the door that was being fixed after the break-in). Oh, did I mention both kids were sick? And, that Ruby cried for almost the whole time? And it was snowing so hard we could hardly see where we were driving?

We were finally smart and pulled off the road and ate at the Green Mill in the suburbs with the kids. We were the only ones there. But, we actually had a really fun time and laughed hard. When we got to my mom's house finally, we had cupcakes and Kai said with great concern, "Oh good, now Dad had a good birthday."

Today

I was thinking today of this blog, http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/, while on a walk with Kai.

I had stopped to talk to my neighbor who was driving by in her car. We were chatting about Christmas and dog walking and cookies. The normal neighbor chit chat. Kai, bored with the conversation, asked me if he could cross the street to look at the poster stapled to the telephone pole. I walked with him to the edge of the sidewalk (what sidewalk? It's all snow here!) and we both looked to see if cars were coming (they weren't) and then he scurried across the road and looked at the photos of the dog who had been found that were listed on the poster.

About two minutes later, I hear a man (who was out shoveling the next house down) yell in a very unpleasant voice, "HEY LADY! WATCH YOUR DAMN KID!!"

I didn't even respond. I was flabbergasted (hard to do with this gal).

I mean, first, I was watching my damn kid.

Second, I trust my damn kid. In the four years I've been Kai's mom, Kai has never darted across the street without checking in with me first. We bike together, we walk together, we even have been known to jog together. We have a good routine going on when I run and he bikes. I run a little bit in front of him and when we come to an alley or a street, I say, "Go!" and he knows he doesn't need to stop. It's fun. It's easy. It doesn't make me nervous at all.

This is all to say: Honeyboy and his mom have a good thang going on. And, how has it come to be that kids can't even cross the street anymore by themselves? Or ride to the park on their bike? Or even walk home from school or the bus stop on their own? Would I let Kai do all of this in a couple of years, I don't know. I don't know if that's the point. Or maybe it is.

Check out the blog and let me know what you think.

Look!

Look at who we caught coming to our house!

Merry Christmas

We had such wonderful Christmas this year. Ruby June is 9 months old and Kai is almost 4 years old. Watching Kai throughout all of the festivities reminded me daily why Christmas is the best holiday of the year!

We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and as you can see, Kai was over the moon with excitement. The second we walked in the door, he said, "Ok, guys, are you all ready? Let's open presents." He could hardly wait. My mom's house is beautifully decorated and since we actually spent 3 nights before Christmas at her house (because of work being done at our house after our break-in) we had plenty of time to get in the Christmas mood. My mom spoiled Kai silly with presents after a month or two of Kai getting out his Christmas wish list whenever she came over...he is no dummy.

Kai bought his dad and Uncle Joey a t-shirt with his favorite person ever on it. I was hoping it would be a good lesson in giving (it was) but it was also hard because he was expecting a shirt of his own, too. He has been wearing his dad's shirt as a dress now. I guess that works...

Ruby loved the boots that Leesa gave her. In fact, Ruby has more shoes and boots now than I do! Check out Leesa's company, Pedoodles, to get a glimpse of how cute Ruby's feet are now. We don't go a day without someone asking about her fashionable feet. We are getting so used to Leesa's packages that when Kai sees a delivery man he asks if Leesa sent us another package. Yes, we are very spoiled.

Speaking of spoiled, Uncle Joey stole the show by getting Kai some Star Wars goodies. I wasn't sure if I wanted Kai to have it, so Joey crossed out the word "Battle" and told Kai these were things people used to light up the sky. It worked! Since Kai hasn't seen Star Wars and has only looked through picture books, I think we can keep him in the dark a bit longer. Or I guess actually, thanks to these things, not in the dark!

Osa, Joey's dog, is a favorite of Ruby June's!

Santa made Kai very happy. He ran down the stairs and saw his Playmobil castle and yelled, "Santa, you are the most awesome man EVER!!" Kai also didn't catch on that Santa's handwriting is just like mine!

And, finally, the two cutest kids on the block....in their Christmas dandies.
More photos to come of Christmas Day too.....

Santa Message

Look at what Santa sent to Kai this morning (Thanks Mom for arranging this message!).

All of us were amazed that Santa knew exactly what was going on in this house. It's pretty unbelievable. Kai was mesmerized by the video and Ruby waved at Mr. Claus. We're off this morning to visit the big guy in person. We will post more photos soon.

Happy Holidays!

Kai had his holiday concert at his school yesterday. We have been listening to him sing, "I've been working on the railroad" and the "Snowflake Song" for the past month. He has found a new love of singing and I often have to remind him to use his inside voice when he sings because he screams the words and does break dance moves. You've never seen a more lively version of the classic, old time railroad song.

Here he is all dressed up for the big day! Note: He wanted to wear the buzz light year shirt that his neighbor gave him (Thank-you Liam for all of your hand-me-downs) but I had to bribe him to put on something a bit more spiffy. He said, "But, mama, you never pick out my clothes. I always do and I do such a BETTER job than you do." You could be right, little man.

If you're lucky, I just may post a video of it and maybe two other people will watch it (Jen and Tricia?).

Then, there is this little cutie (snotty from her cold, but so cute)

My mom (Nonny), Me, and Ruby J

RJ with her two grandmas

Nana Kit and Roo

Party in the Potty

So, many of you know all about the pooping drama in our house. I know, I know, poop, poop, poop. It feels like all I talk about.

But, those days could be over. I certainly hope so.

Ruby just turned 9 months and she finally is pooping just fine. When she was born, she didn't poop. We went through tests and saw all sorts of health practitioners to try to help her (doctors, chiropractor, cranio-sacral therapist, applied kinesiologist, and homeopath). But, we were stumped. We did find out she had an "abnormally" long intestine, but the doctors said it shouldn't prevent her from pooping and she certainly shouldn't be so uncomfortable by it.

But, finally, the combination of her learning to crawl, seeing the cranio-sacral therapist weekly, and introducing the potty did the trick!

Now, Ruby June wakes up in the morning and the second she is put on the potty, she does her magic! I bet most people wouldn't write a whole blog post about it, but it truly has made Ruby June an even happier baby and we love not needing to change so many diapers. Like Ruby's doctor said today at her 9 month check-up, it certainly is "green."

In fact, if we are around the house, Ruby will pee and poop in the potty all day long. I've gone all day without her needing a diaper. It's called "elimination communication" by some folks and I tell you it certainly works for Ruby.

We did this with Kai too, probably when he was a bit older, but it didn't work as good as it is working with Ruby. He always just crawled off the potty and went on his way (and usually peed in his diaper). We initially did it to try to help Ruby get used to relaxing her muscles in order to "let go." I'm not sure if we were more surprised or she was, but now I'm a believer!

Oh, the things they say...

Kai: Mama, do you have a baby in your belly again?

Me: (wearing Ruby in my new Boba baby carrier, straps cinched tight, with plenty of mushy fat spilling over) No, Kai, I don't have a baby in my belly.

Kai: Are you sure? I'd like a baby brother now.

Me: Nope, I'm positive. No baby in this belly.

Kai: Well, it looks like you have one with all of that fat in your belly. It looks like my baby brother is just about to come out!

I laughed out loud and patted my little pooch and felt good remembering what this leftover mush kept so safe and sound for all of the months before Ruby came out. It doesn't bother me that it is still keeping me company. To say thank you, I went and fed it a cookie.

Teeth

I am posting these photos tonight to remind me about how happy Ruby June is when she is NOT getting her top front tooth in....my goodness, the bottom two teeth came in without all of this fuss and pain. The poor girl is in agony and we have tried so many different remedies (Homeopathic, Flower essence, Orajel (Have you tried this? I did and it burns. We will not be using this again), wet washcloths, teething toys, lots of nursing, sling time, and sleeping cuddled up to me all night long).

We are taking suggestions if you see we've missed something...so far, frozen bananas and an amber necklace (This is pretty woo-woo, therefore I'm surprised I haven't heard about it) are on the list for things to try tomorrow.

Poor little Roo-Roo. I keep trying to imagine how it would feel to have a big tooth come in. I think it probably sucks.

I asked Kai if he knew what a blizzard was and he said, "Yes, and I love going to Dairy Queen." Good boy, he takes after his mama!

But, here in MN, we are having a blizzard and the Zimsen-Campe household is loving it! When else do you have a wonderful excuse to not leave the house all weekend?

We spent a lot of time shoveling today (they say we got over 16 inches in Minneapolis), going on a snowshoe hike down the middle of the road, and playing games inside. Ruby lasted only a few minutes on the hike since the wind was whipping her breath away. The snow was up to my thigh in spots in our backyard. It hasn't been this crazy, wild with snow in a long time. Our agenda tomorrow includes snow tunnels and Russian Tea Cakes. A perfect combo.

Tree

Kai picked out our Christmas tree this year and it was quite the event. He wouldn't stop hugging it and telling it what a nice family we were and to not be afraid.

It was a VERY cold day when we went, so Ruby and I had some fun hanging out in the car waiting for the boys to strap the tree to the car. It feels like we include Ruby in just about everything, but now in the chilly MN winter, she spends a lot of time getting dressed in her snowsuit, then just a small amount of actual time doing the fun activity. Darn cold weather.

Kai has this new posed smile he uses when we say smile...it looks very strained. He was actually quite happy in the moment.

We love taking "family photos" this way.

Long Hair

So, this post is about hair.

Ruby's hair is starting to grow back, after having fallen out a bit. People used to think she was going to be a redhead, but now it seems like she has a bit more blond in it. I'm sticking to brown. We are all brunettes around the Zimsen-Campe household.

Next, Kai had a haircut about a month ago and Joe brought him. Can you tell? It's Short. Joe lets Kai decide completely what type of cut he wants. I go in and try to be that type of parent (the good one who lets their children decide what feels good to them with their hair) but I always end up saying way too much.....like, keep it a little longer over the ears and oh, keep it a little longer to give it a little curl and do you mind just layering it in the back, etc. I'm probably the most annoying type of mom: I try to be low-production, but yes you guess it (especially if you know me), I am anything but this!

Then, there is my hair. I am growing it out! I know, crazy, right?

Since 1997 (when Joe and I were about to move away from each other and possibly break-up and I walked by a hair salon and went in out-of-the-blue and had them cut all of my hair off, just because it seemed like right thing to do in my out-of-control world), I've had short hair and I love it.

But, after having Ruby June, I never got around to getting my hair cut, so it started to grow out. Then, finally, when I got around to seeing my friend who cuts my hair, we realized if I ever wanted to grow out my hair, the time was now (since I was well into the growing out process). So, I thought, why not? So, I'm growing out my hair really because I was lazy and because now I want a fun change and since we can't afford a new house or to go on vacation, I guess I'll use my hair, once again, as a way to spruce up life around here.

I can't say it looks super cute right now, but since I don't really care that much about how I look (otherwise I'd take a shower every day, right? or change out of dirty sweatshirt that I've been wearing for 3 days in a row), I'm going to have a little fun with it.

My heart melts...

"I love you Mama. I love you so much I can't even hold my breath." - Kai

Cassie, the tortoise

Over Thanksgiving break, Kai's name was drawn from a hat to watch his classroom pet, Cassie. She is a tortoise and we loved having her. I've never spent time really with a tortoise and I was amazed watching her move, eat, and claw her way around her cage. We would let her out and that gal can move!

Kai told me exactly what to write. He has another sign on his door saying, "No girls allowed in my room (except for Ruby June)"