Doll House Delirium

I don't remember wanting a doll house as a child. In fact, what I do remember, is that my father worked away in the basement for many weeks making me and Brenda a Little House on the Prairie house and barn, and I also remember my mom telling me, not that long ago, that we didn't play with those wonderful hand crafted structures very often...if at all.

Perhaps I was too young for those toys. Because now? I'm ready. Which is why I bought Casey this doll house for her third birthday. It came with an adult bedroom set, a living room set, a kitchen, and a bathroom.

Grandma Gregson sent the child's bedroom set, which Casey played with tonight for about 30 minutes, until we dragged her off to bed!

Nana Panush sent a Grandma and Grandpa doll and also a dog house with some animals. And one of Casey's friends, Devlin, brought a whole bunch more dolls, so now my family can grow virtually (since we're probably all done growing it actually!).

Birthday Monkey!

Our dear friend E.L.F. brought Casey the cutest hat ever for her birthday! It's a SOCK MONKEY HAT! I'm pleased to say that the hat is nearly big enough for my head, and that Casey may have to fight me for it.

Casey put the hat on earlier tonight, ceremoniously, it seems, in preparation for the polishing off of the beloved birthday cake. Her dad threatened to eat her last piece, but Casey waved him off with her fork!

Proud Casey Pays for Breakfast!

Or, at least the tip. Here's Casey with the $3.00 she got from Grandma Gregson for her birthday, all set to plunk down her cash for her birthday breakfast at Pamela's! We didn't have the heart to tell her that her cash only covered a portion of the meal...because we loved her generous gesture!

This morning made me think of how Casey has always been aware of money. When she was one year old her favorite card from my wallet was my blue USAA cash card. She would take it out of my wallet and hide it all over the house! Once, in Nashville, she hid it so well I had to order a new cash card! We found the hidden one months later when we were cleaning up for our move!

This is What a Skeleton Birthday Party Looks Like

Casey likes scary stuff. I think she gets it from her dad, who has seen every "Saw" horror movie, except, perhaps, for "Saw IV." So, for Christmas, she got a pink skull from Santa, which immediately became one of her beloved room decorations.

Shortly after Jacob's "bowling birthday" (for pictures of that, see here: http://jacoblawrencenewman.blogspot.com/2010/01/jacob-turned-six-yesterday-and-reality.html), Casey asked for an unusual party theme of her own. "I want a skeleton birthday party, mom." "OK......" I answered, not completely sure what a "skeleton birthday party" would look like.

According to my brief survey of images on Google, cute pink skulls and skeletons are all the rage. I was even able to order (from my good friends at Oriental Trading) some cute pirate skeleton themed party items, including cute skeleton party napkins, party plates, candy bones, gum-ball eyes, and snap-on wrist bands. I decorated the cake myself, and made my own treat bags. The pink skull from Christmas got the place of honor as the party centerpiece.

And voilá! Skeleton birthday party!

Bouncing Birthday Girl and Friends

Two of Casey's best girlfriends, Anouk (in the pink shirt and blue jeans) and Crosby (in the pink sweater with brown pants) came to Casey's birthday party yesterday. Casey introduced them to her favorite game, which is taking the cushions off the couch and using them as landing pads. There's seems to be a bit of unbridled joy on these cherubic faces!

Party Day Miracle!

First of all, Nana Panush claims that she sent this outfit priority mail on Friday, April 16th. If that's true it only took one night to get to Pittsburgh in time for Casey's birthday party. The other miracle is that CASEY LIKES THIS OUTFIT, EVEN THOUGH SHE DIDN'T PICK IT OUT HERSELF.

Here is a typical morning trying to dress Casey.

Me: Casey, would you please wear the cute black and white outfit that you got for Easter?

Casey: No, it's TOO SCRATCHY!!!!

Me: Casey, it's not scratchy. It's very soft, see?

Casey: No, I wanna wear my SPIDER MAN CLOTHES!!!!

Me: Casey, it's not pajama time. It's school clothes time. Would you please choose an outfit from your drawers?

Casey: No, I'm gonna get my outfit out of the DIRTY CLOTHES BASKET. I DON'T LIKE THOSE OTHER CLOTHES. I DON'T LIKE THEM!!!!!!!

Me: Casey, I'm not going to have this fight with you anymore. [At this point I pick up her dirty clothes basket so she can't choose anything out of it]. You can choose from any of the clothes in your dresser. When you're dressed with your socks and shoes on for school you can watch one episode of Sponge Bob.

Minutes later, Casey emerges with some odd combination of clothes that are too small for her, and/or pajamas, and/or the wrong season. But, she's dressed, I don't have to fight with her anymore, and we can go to school.

So, suffice it to say that Casey wearing this cute flower outfit from Hanna Anderson is a PARTY DAY MIRACLE. Congrats, Nana, you won this round!

Bean Bag Birthday Girl!

Casey has always loved Casey-sized chairs. We have been meaning to get her one for the last two years, but because we often celebrate Christmas far away, we've never wanted to buy the chair, and then spend the money to ship it home as well. Maybe that's a lame excuse, but it's the truth!

This year Josh put "pink bean bag" on Casey's wish list, and she got one! This one came from Nana. Josh and I got Casey a doll house, and the doll house came partially furnished. One of the furnishings was a small pink bean bag chair! You can see Casey posing with it in the pictures above!

Casey spent the whole day of her party playing with the bean bag chair. Sometimes it was her "throne." Sometimes it was a boat. Sometimes it was a bed. Casey also conned some of her party friends' dads into spinning her around in it. It certainly confirmed our suspicion that Casey would love a chair of her own!

Stay tuned for more birthday pictures! Casey is going to open some more presents from the Gregsons and the Panushes on her "real" birthday (April 19th).

The Ears Have It

Jacob is a tireless artist. He whips out drawings at an extraordinary rate. Josh had the awesome idea to paper our hallway with the kids art, and, while Casey has some pieces there, most of the work is Jacob's. Jacob has a very touching, whimsical style. His forte is the smiley face, and he gets a lot of mileage out of the simple portrait. Lately, though, the ears on Jacob's people have grown larger and larger, to the point where the ears are almost as big as the head itself. It's made me wonder: is Jacob concerned about being heard?

Same Park, 8 Days Later

We returned to the beautiful trails at Frick Park last Sunday, 8 days after our most recent visit (scroll down a few entries). In 8 days it seemed everything was bursting out: leaves, blossoms, and color of all kinds. In the 2nd photo, notice that the same tree has some white blossoms and some purple blossoms! The kids get to perch on Josh's shoulders when they are too tired to walk.

Carnival Conversations

Carnival, you might remember, is the annual ride and CMU-student booth built festival in the parking lot outside of Casey's daycare. Casey's educators asked us to keep track of the "Carnival Conversations" happening in our family, so here are a few dialogues over heard the last few days.

Yesterday, when I went to get Casey out of her crib, she piped up: "Is carnival open today?" "No, not today. Friday. In 3 days." "Waaahhhh...I wanna go to carnival," Casey wailed.

Later, in the car, she interviewed Jacob: "Are you scared of the rides, Jacob?" "No, I'm not scared of any rides." "But," Casey replied, "don't they go fast?" "Yeah," said Jacob, the roller coaster goes really fast. I love it!" "I'm scared of the roller coaster and the Ferris wheel," Casey wailed. "I'm scared, I'm scared!"

Today Casey and I walked by the carnival rides together. "I want to go to the monkey house, mom." "OK, you can go to the Monkey House." "But I don't want to go on the Ferris wheel." "OK, you don't have to go on the Ferris wheel." "Why," asked Casey, "does the bug ride go to the Monkey House?" "The bug ride doesn't go to the Monkey House. It just spins around by itself." "Why do I like the Monkey House, mom?" "Because it's not a fast ride. It's just a house with mirrors and then a slide at the end." "Mom, am I scared of the bug ride?" "You were last year, honey." See pictures of Casey on the bug ride last year here: http://jacoblawrencenewman.blogspot.com/2009/04/carnival-how-we-love-thee.html

This year some of the Freshman I teach are building booths for the first time. I told them to look out for my brood as we visit carnival on Friday afternoon for the first time. "I'll be easy to spot," I said. "I'll be the one carrying the little girl to the Monkey House. And the little girl will be scared and laughing and screaming and happy, all at the same time."

Day before Easter: Temperatures up to the Mid-80s!

Alabama eggs?

Look Ma, purple hand!

Travis and Jacob worked very methodically!

After the eggs were dyed, we painted them with glitter paint!

Pretty eggs!

Casey's gaga for yellow!

Jacob and Travis consider the colors!

Casey at a fork in the road!

Casey sliding down hill in the leaves!

Jacob's football moves.

Sweet smile!

Josh and Casey enjoy the beautiful temps!

Nursemaid's Elbow

Our glorious day of playing outside in 80 degree weather came to an abrupt halt on Saturday night. Josh was playing with the kids at Frick park, and holding Casey by the hand as she jumped from post to post on the "par course." Casey lost her balance and fell back a little bit, and Josh heard something in her right arm (the one he was holding) go "pop." He ran home carrying Casey, and when I heard her cry from the basement stairs I thought, "Oh God, something is broken!." Josh brought Casey upstairs and we tried to figure out what had come out of joint.

Casey was holding her thumb very protectively, so we thought that maybe she had sprained it or that her thumb had popped out of joint. We tried to figure out which one of us should take Casey to the hospital, when it finally dawned on me that we needed one parent to drive, and one parent to comfort Casey. We all piled in the car with some snacks for dinner and a DVD player just in case we had to settle into Children's Hospital for a long, long wait.

Casey got checked out and X-rayed fairly quickly, while Jacob and I scoped out the new snack stand. Then the doctor came in and told us that she thought Casey probably had "nursemaid's elbow." This is when the elbow becomes partially dislocated (subluxated), and it happens more often to girls 3 years and under, and more often on their left arm! You can read more about it here: http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/bones/nursemaid.html#.

After looking at the X-rays of Casey's hand, the doctor came back in popped Casey's elbow back into joint. Casey cried for a few seconds as the doctor performed the maneuver, but then everything was entirely back to normal. She could move her arm, with no pain, for the first time in 2 hours! It was an Easter miracle!

As the doctor was leaving Josh asked, "Is it hard to have to do that, to feel like you're hurting the child in order to make her feel better?" "Actually," the doctor said, "It's one of the few times in the ER that I can see an immediate improvement in how the child feels. I get to see immediate results!"

Josh and I had been planning an "indoors date" so on the way home from the hospital we picked up some sushi and some beer. Jacob fell asleep in the car on the way home, and Casey was very happy to have her arm all fixed up! They both went to bed without a whimper, and Josh and I reclined in bed with our sushi dinner to watch The Blind Side for our indoor date. We were both relieved that Casey was OK, and that we hadn't spent too much time in the hospital. And we learned a valuable lesson about "nursemaid's elbow"! We'll have to keep a close eye on that arm, because Casey will be vulnerable to a repeat of the injury if we're not careful!

Easter Morning!

Jacob woke up first at 7:00 AM. He climbed in bed and snuggled with me and Josh for a few minutes, but he was too excited about Easter to stay there. He got dressed and crept around the living room, looking for eggs and baskets. Casey woke up at 7:30 AM. Jacob helped her get dressed. Jacob fetched her underwear out of her top dresser drawer, and Casey put her underwear on in her crib before getting out. Jacob picked out a pair of underwear that had a picture of a carrot on them....for Easter!



By the time we got Casey out of her crib Jacob had already found 4 decorated boiled eggs and his basket. Casey got very frustrated that she couldn't find hers. "I think it's in the bathroom," I told her. "IT'S NOT IN THE BATHROOM!" Casey screamed. Her face started to turn pink. "Try the bathtub," I said. Casey took off running for the bathroom, but Jacob beat her there. He looked in the bathtub and got the basket out for her. Casey didn't care. All she wanted was the basket.



The big hits this Easter were the tiny milk-cartons full of gum balls that Nana and Papa sent from Arizona, and the chocolate "kinder" eggs that Jessica and Felix brought back from Germany and sent from LA. These chocolate eggs are filled with small toys in the center. Casey and Jacob also loved the chocolate-hazelnut "Hippos", which also came from Germany.



Casey also loved the Easter card she got from Grandma and Papa Gregson. She colored the flowers on the card with a pink pen. Casey and Jacob were also thrilled with the $5.00 bills that Grandma sent them. Casey has a little piggy bank and she spent nearly 30 minutes trying to stuff that bill through the slot!