Scarlett and Santa: Take 2

"You better not pout, you better not cry, you better watch out, I'm telling you why ..." Guess how Scarlett's second meeting with Santa went? You guessed it ... not well. At the Carrington Coleman Santa party the following weekend, Scarlett's fear for jolly old Kris Kringle went from bad to worse. This Santa was a bit more traditional looking, but it did nothing to calm poor Scarlett's fears. I think she was starting to worry that every couple of days we were going to force her to sit on some strange bearded man's lap while a bunch of people stared at her and snapped photos while laughing hysterically.





At least poor Scarlett wasn't alone in her misery. Her friends Laurel and Archer were none too pleased with Mr. Claus, either.





And in the event you find crying-baby-with-Santa photos as funny as I do, click here to see some more from the San Francisco Chronicle. Ho, ho, ho and Merry Christmas!

Scarlett and Santa: Take 1

Santa and Mrs. Claus came to our neighborhood tree lighting a few weeks ago and Scarlett took a turn on Santa's lap. Santa looked a little ... creative. Harper and Campbell quickly pointed out that he was NOT the real Santa Claus, and after some discussion, decided that he was actually Santa's cousin St. Nick. So without further ado, I present you with Scarlett and St. Nick.

"Who are you strange man with a scraggly beard and fake garland in your hair? I mean, what's up with that? And better yet, why did my Mom just put me on your lap?"



"Um, hello out there -- does anybody see that this strange guy has me?"



"Ok, Seriously. Will somebody PLEASE rescue me??" (That's sweet Harper's arm reaching out to comfort Scarlett. I was too busy snapping photos and giggling.)



"Alright, that's it. GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" (Note the chocolate remnants on her lower lip and chin. Although the verdict on Santa/St. Nick was thumbs down, the verdict on Scarlett's first brownie was two big thumbs up.)

Who you calling turkey, turkey?

Scarlett's first Thanksgiving was a great one. We headed down to New Braunfels with BB to celebrate the holiday with Scarlett's Grandma and Grandpa and the extended Schwegmann family. The elusive cold front that threatened to blow in at any moment held off until late afternoon, so Thanksgiving day was uncharacteristicly balmy. Scarlett was somewhat cooperative for a quick photoshoot, although her tolerance took a fairly quick nosedive ...









"Enough with the photos -- I need some turkey and dressing!"



Some of Scarlett's cousins decided to teach her how to text (now she'll probably ask for an iPhone 4 for her first birthday). She tapped out something along the lines of "p2doody" (seriously, it was surprisingly close to an actual word) and we weren't sure whether she was trying to send a text message to P Diddy or whether she was trying to tell us something about the state of her diaper.



And we wonder why Scarlett loves an audience ...



Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! (And five bonus points for anyone who gets the reference in the post title.)

How 'bout them Cowboys?

Scarlett comes from a long line of Dallas Cowboys fans on both sides of her family, so she is genetically programmed to be one too. This will likely lead to a lot of heartache. And yelling at the television. And endless complaining about Jerry Jones. But miraculously -- despite a disaster of a season -- the Cowboys beat the Lions a few weeks ago when Scarlett made her first visit to the new stadium to watch the Boys in action. Papa Tig was in town, and we were all excited to check out the incredible new stadium, which you have to see in person to believe.

Posing in front of the stadium on the way inside. (Scarlett was confused as to why her Daddy and Papa Tig were wearing Lions colors instead of Cowboys colors. To play it safe, Scarlett decided to wear pink.)



Go Cowboys!



Time for a break.



Watching Emmitt Smith get his Hall of Fame ring at halftime.



Afternoon nap in Mommy's arms.

Ten Months Old! (November 21, 2010)

Scarlett is in the double digits now -- 10 months old! She officially no longer looks like a baby, and it's incredible to see how much she changes practically every day. She seems to be lengthening out and her hair is filling in and getting longer (she's starting to sport some Elvis sideburns and is getting some little curls at the nape of her neck). She continues to make funny faces all the time, including "kissy face" and the newly mastered "scrunchy-nosed smile" where she squints her eyes, scrunches her nose up, and flashes a mischievous grin that is occasionally accompanied by a flash of her four teeth (still just four teeth, although it feels like a fifth one might be sprouting up on her lower left side). She is standing up all the time, and although she is pretty steady, she still holds onto something nearby with at least one hand. It's hard to say whether she'll be walking soon. She hasn't started "cruising" on furniture (walking while holding on) but it sure seems like she could do it if she tried. Still no official words other than "mama" and something that sounds like "hi," but she jabbers quite a bit and also likes to squeal and grunt/moan (especially when she's concentrating on something, like a looking at a book). She still loves to eat, but she wants to be fed. We're working on getting her to pick up her own food and put it into her own mouth since we don't want to still be spoon feeding her when she's fourteen. One surprise in the food department is that Scarlett hasn't been too fond of meat so far, although we're not ready to proclaim her the first Schwegmann vegetarian in history quite yet.

Scarlett's ten month birthday was a big day. Her Papa Tig was in town for a visit and we started the day with a walk on a new nature trail in our neighborhood that leads to a vista of downtown Dallas and then headed to Scarlett's very first Dallas Cowboy game at the awesome new Cowboys stadium. Cowboys game photos will be in another post, but here are some other pictures from the day.

Checking out Coombs Creek with Papa Tig and Winnie.



Posing in front of the Dallas skyline.



Sweet girl.



"Kissy face."



"Scrunchy-nosed smile" (note the crazy hair and crazy dog in the background).



Scarlett and her Papa Tig.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Kleenex? What Kleenex?



I wasn't pulling Kleenex out of the box. I was just getting a toy out of this basket here. Really.



Ok, so you caught me. But I'm too cute to be in trouble, right?

Happy Halloween from Scarlett the Lobster!

That's right. Scarlett was a lobster for her first Halloween. Perhaps an unorthodox choice, but I figure I should dress her up in particularly ridiculous outfits of my choosing while I still can. Soon enough she'll be demanding to be a princess or a fairy or -- heaven forbid -- Lady Gaga. Plus, lobsters are delicious.

Scarlett the Lobster made her first appearance at her Daddy's office for a Halloween party ...



... and promptly tried to make a break for it.



Winnie the Lobster is frozen with shame.



Cha Cha the Bumble Bee prays it will all be over soon.



And Missy the Banana wonders what she did to deserve this.



The Chef and her tasty lobsters.



The whole gang.



The Lobster getting ready to trick or treat with Harper the Vampire and Campbell the Pirate. Too bad lobsters can't eat candy.



Only 11 months and three weeks to decide what she should be for next year ...