Elmo Hayride

As mentioned in an earlier post, Scarlett's Paw and family friend Randy put together an amazing hayride for Scarlett and the kids (and heck, the adults too) at Scarlett's birthday party last weekend. We knew we were going to go on a hayride, but had no idea about the fun twist they had planned. The first clue that it was not going to be your run-of-the-mill hayride was the video we watched after we sang Happy Birthday to Scarlett. The video featured Randy reporting the late breaking news that Elmo had been kidnapped by the dastardly Prospector Pete (of Toy Story fame) and that it was up to the kids at the party to rescue Elmo using a series of clues. With our mission clear, we loaded up for our adventure: little kids in one trailer, bigger kids in the back of a truck, and adults in another trailer (with special adults-only beverages).





Our first stop was the Sheriff's office to find out more about poor Elmo's disappearance. Guess who answered the door? None other than Woody, Scarlett's favorite Toy Story character. (The role of Woody was played by Danny, Randy's son.)





Woody showed the kids Prospector Pete's wanted poster (apparently Pete already had a lengthy rap sheet before the Elmo incident). It read:

WANTED
DEAD or ALIVE
PROSPECTOR PETE
for
Stealing Woody's Hat
Selling Buzz Lightyear's Laser
Plucking Big Bird's Tailfeathers
Stealing Grouch's Trashcan
Eating the Cookie Monster's Cookies







Sheriff Woody sent us on our way and told us that our first clue would be at the fork in the road. Here's what we found.



The clue at the fork in the road read:

You are doing fine
Continue on a straight line
Look left and right and up and down
The next set of instruction must be found

In the forest where a tree is shining
There lies a box with silver lining
The box when opened, as you will see
Will contain more directions to get you to me

As we headed into the forest, this is what we spotted.



The next clue said:

Since you have made it this far
I’m beginning to think you may be a star
But not yet have you reached the end of the trail
You sure are going slow, are you a snail

Turn left when you pass through the gate
Please don’t make a mistake for goodness sake
There are three men under a tree that get no pay
But if you look they will help you find your way

The next clue was at a wood carving of three faces Bill made in a tree stump near their front gate.



That clue said:

You are getting close but the situation is getting grave
In fact this thought you had better save
For more instructions you must find
So don’t delay and use your mind

Follow the road down the hill
Where you will find some people who lay very still
A lone cowboy will have for you
What will be your very last clue

Getting the last clue from the cowboy skeleton, which said:

You have done so very well
To the cowboy you must say farewell
And continue down the road and up the hill
At my camp we will meet with much goodwill

Elmo is now so very near
You have nothing at all to fear
Freeing Elmo has been your goal
All it will take is all of your gold



When we made it to the field filled with gold nuggets (and stray golf balls from Paw's driving range), the kids got out and filled up the bucket with gold to use as ransom for Elmo.







As we continued on, we finally stumbled across Prospector Pete (played by Scarlett's Paw). Pete was pretty scary looking, complete with a long gray beard and a shotgun.



And there was poor Elmo being held prisoner!



After a botched ransom exchange (we managed to keep the gold so Prospector Pete didn't get it after all), we nabbed Elmo and took off. Sweet Scarlett comforted a very nervous Elmo and told him everything would be ok.



She even offered him a taste of a gold nugget in an effort to perk him up.



A grand time was had by all, especially Scarlett!



Thanks again to Paw and Randy for putting together a most memorable hayride!

I Stand Corrected

I noted in Scarlett's two year post that she can't count to ten, but rather just identifies the numbers individually. Turns out she can! I asked her this evening how many shoes her octopus toy was wearing, and she said -- at about 90 miles per hour --

"onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightNINE!!!"

(The "NINE" was said with such emphasis that I half expected her to bust out with jazz hands.) I asked if she was sure the octopus was wearing nine shoes, to which she responded skeptically, "maybe ten?"

Another funny thing she did tonight: she pointed to the Longhorn on my shirt and announced "that's Longhorn!" I asked her what the Longhorn's name is, and she said "Bebo." Now I need to start teaching her some Aggie jokes. I figure it's never too early to start brainwashing teaching her.

Scarlett's Elmo Taco Birthday Party

Scarlett celebrated her second birthday with an Elmo-themed Schwegmann taco party at her Grandma and Paw's place down in New Braunfels last weekend.



Why an Elmo taco party, you ask? It's simple, really. Scarlett loves Elmo. And Schwegmanns love tacos. Taco parties are a sacred Schwegmann family tradition that has spanned many generations. There has been a lull in recent years, and Scarlett's birthday and recovery from her health scare last fall gave us a great reason to revive the tradition, Elmo-style! (And no, the tacos did not feature Scarlett's favorite furry red friend. Although I bet he tastes just like chicken.)

Enjoying the beautiful weather the day before the party.









Seasoning the meat the night before. Paw gives it a sniff to make sure it's just right. Although there's a closely guarded written recipe, much of the preparation is done by "feel" (or by smell, if you will).



Some playtime before the party.





Spreading the meat.





Frying (there are four "fryers" working at the same time).



The finished product, hot and ready to serve. There were 300 tacos in all!



Elmo decorations.













And of course, Elmo cupcakes!





Blowing out her candle.



The Elmo cupcakes were delicious!



Pinata time! (No worries, it was a pull string pinata, not a "beat Scarlett's favorite friend with a stick until he busts open" pinata for fear of traumatizing the little ones.)





Even Max got in on the Elmo action.





The party guests included my godmother Cherry, her husband Jim, my godfather Bud, his wife Kay, Bud and Kay's kids Kaysie and Radford (who grew up two houses down from me) and their kids. They all live in the area, and it was great to see everyone.



The guests of honor taking a break to check out Scarlett's new book from Cherry.



The highlight of the party was an Elmo-themed hayride planned and orchestrated by Scarlett's Grandpa and family friend Randy White. They really outdid themselves, so much so that I figured the hayride deserves its own post, which will be coming shortly. Until then, here's a group photo with some of the party guests.



Happy, happy birthday Scarlett, and a special thank you to Scarlett's Grandma and Paw for hosting such a special party!

Scarlett is Two Years Old! (January 21, 2012)

It's hard to believe, but it's true -- our sweet and feisty girl is two years old! In some ways it seems like she was just born yesterday, but at the same time it feels like she's been a part of our family forever.

This age is just so much fun. Watching her vocabulary explode is nothing short of amazing. In a few months she went from having a handful of words to saying complete sentences and expressing abstract thoughts. Some of the things she's saying now include:

"How about me?" (when you tell her you're about to do something or go somewhere and she wants to as well)
"Good idea!" or "I have an idea!"
"Where did Mommy/Daddy/Roz/etc. go?"
"But I'm not tired/sleepy!"
"Let's go to the playroom/park/outside!"
"Good job!" or "You did it!"
"I'll help you!"

She knows all of the major colors, including gray (the color of my car). She knows most of her numbers up to 10 (although she doesn't count through them all the way up, she can identify them if you show them to her; the other day she brought me her "8" magnet and announced, "this is the number eight!"). She throws out all kinds of unexpected words: wine, helicopter, iPad, microwave, probably. She says please, thank you, and you're welcome, usually without prompting. (In fact, she corrected Papa Tig the other day when someone told him thank you and he did not say you're welcome back.)

She picks up on inconsistencies and points them out, like if everyone but one person is wearing a coat, she'll take note and ask "where's your coat?". And she calls you out if you tell her one thing and later tell her another. Some birds made a huge mess on my car recently. When it rained, I pointed out to Scarlett that the rain was cleaning the bird poop off. Several days later, Scarlett pointed up to the moon roof and said, "Where did the bird poo poo go?" I told her that I cleaned the car and got up on the roof with a towel and scrubbed it clean (which was sort of true; technically the Fuel City car wash did that, but I figured that was a mere technicality). She shook her head and said, "No, Mommy, the rain did that."

Scarlett will repeat back absolutely anything you say, which can be really funny when you get her to say crazy things like "I'm hungry like the wolf" or "Shake it like a Polaroid picture" or "Take me to your leader", but also fairly dangerous when you say something that doesn't sound quite so cute coming out of the mouth of a two-year-old. I said "shoot" in the car a month or so ago and apparently said it with enough emphasis that Scarlett took note and thought to herself, "self, this is a word I must learn and use dramatically when something frustrating happens, like Mommy just did." So now she says "shoot" when she can't open something, she drops something, etc. Chris recently said the not-so-nice-version of "shoot" in the car. I jabbed him in the ribs, shot him a dirty look, and yelled "peanut butter!" (I read somewhere that if you accidentally drop a bad word in front of your toddler you could try to distract her with another interesting word said with emphasis). Thankfully, Scarlett assumed Chris said "shoot," because she started to repeat it over and over and over from the backseat. She also probably thinks I am losing it and/or really into peanut butter (I'm pretty sure Chris has reached the same conclusion). She also periodically announces out of nowhere that "Mama says shoot", so I am really, really glad that is, in fact, all I said that fateful day.

Of course, it's not all puppies and rainbows and adorable anecdotes. Two can be a very frustrating age as well, as anybody who has ever parented a two-year-old can attest. Lots of loud demands for "More Little Bear!!" (her favorite t.v. show); regular screeches for "More grapes/milk/peanut butter jelly/etc.!!" at the top of her lungs, despite the fact that you are sitting two feet away from her; struggles to get her to take a bath (although you can usually call her out on that one and tell her if she doesn't take a bath, it's straight to bed without books, at which point she usually changes her tune and hollers, "bath! bath!"); the seemingly impossible task of getting her to eat anything green (the week-long broccoli love fest came to an end as abruptly as it began); and, of course, the famous "No I don'ts." But since I like a girl with a bit of sass, I'm not concerned, and the sweet certainly outweighs it.

We gave Scarlett a red retro kitchen complete with pots, pans, food, and condiments for her birthday, and it was a big hit. She loves to cook just like her Daddy (Chris is the cook in our family, lucky for all of us), and she is quite the hostess, offering her guests an intresting array of food, from mustard to orange juice and hot dogs.











Happy second birthday to our beautiful girl! Here's to a healthy, happy year!

Two Month Comparison

Don't you think they look alike??

Scarlett at two months (March 21, 2010).



Max at two months (January 17, 2012).

Two Months Old! (January 17, 2012)

Mr. Max is two months old! He had a checkup with Dr. Curry yesterday and our little guy isn't quite so little anymore. He's 13 pounds 8 ounces (90th percentile), 24 1/2 inches long (95th percentile), and I can't recall his head circumference but it's at the 90th percentile. It's amazing to me that he's grown 4 inches in two months!

Max started smiling a few weeks ago, and it's so sweet to see. He also coos now, and he makes a really loud chirping sound every once in awhile when he wants to get your attention. He's settling into a sleep pattern so thankfully we are developing more of a routine. He loves to look around and take everything in. Ceiling fans, his sheep mobile, and Scarlett seem to be his favorite things to watch.

And speaking of Scarlett, she continues to be great with him -- still no signs of jealousy or aggression whatsoever. When Max cries, she asks, "Why's baby brother crying?" If I ask her why he's crying, she says, "He wants you, Momma" or "Baby Brother's hungry" or "Baby Brother has a poo poo." The funny thing is, she's got Max completely figured out; these are, in fact, the main three reasons why he cries! She likes to give him things (blankets, stuffed animals, tea cups so "Baby Brother can drink tea"), so I'm hopeful she'll continue to be good about sharing with him. At least until he's bigger and the "sharing" is no longer Scarlett's idea but is initiated by Max (and is less like sharing and more like nabbing).

Here are some photos of our handsome two-month-old boy.

Playing tea with Sister.



Smiling Max.



Two month chalkboard shot.



Happy two month birthday, sweet boy!







"Enough already, Mom!" (You better get used to it Max. You've got many, many months of birthday photo shoots ahead of you.)

One Month Old! (December 17, 2011)

I'm off to a late start with Max's monthly photos but will get caught up shortly. At one month, he already had great head/neck control. Sleeping (especially during the day) has been a challenge, and he had (and continues to have to a lesser degree) a really fussy period in the evenings. We finally figured out it was because he was exhausted from not sleeping enough during the day, so we've made every effort (including driving him around in the car, which puts him to sleep like magic) to make sure he gets enough daytime sleep so he's not completely frazzled by the time evening rolls around. He loves to be held and loves snuggles, which is nice since Scarlett isn't much of a snuggler! It could be my imagination, but I think his hair is getting a bit lighter. His eyes are still dark blue, and it seems like he is getting longer and chubbier every day.

Here is sweet Maxwell on his one month birthday.