Christmas photo blog 1

Christmas morning, checking out all of the loot. B actually ohh-ohh-ahh-ahh'd like a little monkey when she saw the play table.
















Little miss mischevious realizes there is even more booty in the stocking.




















B in her new dress from Aunt Cara and Uncle Rusty.




















B and her new baby.




















Much more to come.

I guess she must be a genius

Below is an article from AmericanBaby.com showing you how to determine if your little nose picker is indeed a genius like you’ve always suspected. I’ve included it verbatim from the website with my thoughts about how each particular item pertains to Brynna in parentheses.

Is Your Child a Genius?
Signs that your child maybe be gifted. (this item doesn’t pertain to B but I does seem a bit ironic to find such a blatant typo in the title of an article about being a genius)
By Kristen Finello



According to the National Association for Gifted Children, approximately 5 percent -- or three million children -- in the U.S. are considered gifted. How can your tell if your child is one of them? Here are some of the early signs of a gifted preschooler, from the American Association of Gifted Children at Duke University:

· Learns quickly and remembers easily (she gets this from her daddy, yesterday I almost remembered what I went into the bathroom for)
· Seems mature for his or her age (she’s definitely the most mature one year old in our house)
· Has a large vocabulary, displays an unusual interest in words, or already reads independently (yesterday I caught her skimming through Homer’s “The Iliad”)
· Experiments to solve problems (true, her current focus is how to get her pesky parents to let her do whatever she wants and is accomplishing her goal by systematically denying us much needed sleep thus rendering us powerless to say no the fifteenth time)
· Prefers older playmates (she digs older men, a fact that I’m sure will lead to lots of therapy for me when she gets a bit older)
· Seems sensitive (yuppers)
· Exhibits intellectual curiosity (how could my child not?)
· Shows compassion for people or animals (she does give Chancy half of her food and screams and squeals as she chases itty around the house)
· Enjoys puzzles, mazes, and numbers
· Questions authority (yes, but only when we ask her to do something)
· Seems to get bored easily (if sitting still, yes)
· Has a high energy level (only if you consider the scene from Home Alone where the Caulkin punk kid runs around the house screaming and holding his hands in the air to be low energy)

If you child has several of these characteristics, consider having her assessed by a child development expert. You can also help nurture her natural talents by reading to her and introducing her to interests such as art, music, nature, and sports.

End of article.

If you ask me, I think the person who developed the list must have had a hyper active demon child who was always acting out and was desperately trying to rationalize the reason for this. With that in mind, I propose adding one more sign to the list.

· Acts afraid of his or her own feces/urine (because, quite honestly, we have no idea what the deal is with that)

Doggy birthday

On Sunday, we got Chance together with three of his siblings for their yearly birthday melee. What do you get when you combine four large dogs sharing one brain? Answer, lots of barking, peeing, peeing some more, some skirmishes and one bloody ear apparently. Chancey pants has officially gotten his first ass whuppin, by his sister Laika no less. Early in the festivities Chance had stopped to bask in the attention of Laika’s owner when, from out of nowhere, Laika’s jealous streak got the best of her and she jumped on Chance grabbing at his big, floppy ears and knocking him over. All told, it was done in only a handful of seconds (when we pulled them apart) but Chance walked away with a bloody ear and I would assume a bruised ego. Laika, who is about 25 pounds lighter than Chance, walked away without a scratch.

This is one of several bloody towels that I used to try to stop the bleeding.



















Buster, being the only dog there who still has his wedding tackle, showed his nurturing side and tried to continue the ear cleaning.














Chancey is currently on the mend and we're hoping to avoid yet another expensive vet visit but we won't know for another day or so.

oh the (in)sanity

Memory lane

Marcy recently found this pic of when herself when she was 2 years old. Do you notice any resemblance to a certain little one? Yeah, me neither. BTW, who is the dirty hippy holding her anyway? 

Fun with hats

B's current infatuation is with hats of every size, shape and color. They go on and come off, go on and come off, go on and come off, go on and come off and on and on and on until you just want to super glue the friggin thing on there for good.

With that in mind, here are some fine pics from my lovely wife (who, coincidentally, wants to super glue my butthole shut but thats a topic for another day).


 

Butt floss

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “butt floss”.  It refers to a woman’s g-string essentially flossing her crackasoreass.  The other night though, we witnessed the beginnings of a new meaning.  The whole Dam fam was at home Sunday night and I was flossing the ole pearly whites while Marcy was attempting to show B how to solve a quadratic equation.  Unfortunately, Marcy just isn’t that bright so she asked for my help.  Sensing the urgency of the situation, I carefully set the floss down on a magazine on the coffee table to be disposed of afterwards.  As I was explaining that a quadratic equation is a second-order polynomial equation, Chance snuck in and ate the mint flavored floss.  I guess I can’t blame him, ever since being put on his new diet he has willingly (eagerly even) eaten anything that even remotely resembles food.  Unfortunately though, he’s going to have to suffer the consequences as he “passes” the floss in a day or two.  My only hope is that it is contained in a single, umm, dook or else he may end up with a second, slightly stinkier tail.

15 month well visit

Marcy took B in for her 15 month checkup. Here are her stats:

weight: 24 lbs (70th percentile)
height: 32 1/2" (95th percentile)
head: ? (95th percentile)


 

She likes the attention

Have you ever wondered what a red afro would look like when stuffed into a hat? Well, here it is.














To keep with the theme, B also tried a bike rag on for size.



















In case you can't tell, B really hams it up for the camera. 

Jackpot!

It’s now official, I’m worth more dead to Marcy than alive.  My new life insurance policy is now in effect and Marcy stands to profit handsomely if I kick it between now and my 52nd  birthday.  I’m really should have thought this through a bit more though considering the number of times daily that I annoy Marcy and make her want to kill me.  I’ve always assumed that she was kidding when she would jokingly wrap her hands around my neck or threaten to stab me but I’m afraid that I’ve now given her the incentive to finally follow through.  Of course she’ll have to be more creative than that since I doubt the insurance company would buy her “he annoyed me to death” excuse.  I suspect she’ll find some way for my mountain bike to explode while in a remote locale.  I guess I’ll have to take an extra minute or two before each ride to be sure my wheels are on tight, my brakes work etc.  I’ve got my eye on you Marcy, you’d better walk the straight and narrow because remember, we’re getting a policy for you soon too…

turkey day 3

 

turkey day 2

Family photo














Looking for itty with Aunt Cara



















Thanks for coming, see you next year. 

Turkey Day

Another Turkey Day has come and gone in DAMNelson land and once again it was a true test of our mental and physical stamina. The day started out nicely with a quiet early morning at home but by 10:30 it was time to load up the wagons and head to the land of eternal blight. Actually, the areas that our parents live in are pretty nice but you have to travel through some pretty depressing areas to get there so at least it gives us something to be thankful for.

Stop one was at Mimi Jo and Papa Don’s for some lunch gluttony. Marcy and I both wisely took only small portions so as to not be doubled over in pain come 7pm. Unfortunately, once the pie made its appearance I was done for and quickly devoured two mighty pieces of chocolate cream pie. Yummy-liscous but unfortunately I went from merely satisfied to uncomfortably bloated in less than ten minutes. Woopsie, my bad.

After the meal, B-Girl did her best to entertain the crowd of droopy eyed carnivores. She also worked a bit on her dog-open-mouth-kissing routine giving Georgia (mimi and papa’s dog) an open mouth kiss. I’ll spare you the details but lets just say Georgia did some exploratory work within B’s open mouth. So sweet.















Two hours later, it was off to stop number two at the land of Lucas. There we successfully ate only very small portions. The highlight of the visit was B getting to play with her kinda cousin Trinity. Neither has quite learned to share but overall they got along real well and played nicely.

Next, it was off to tthe original Nelsons ™ (now with less sugar!) for big ole feast number three. Marcy and I were starting to feel a bit turkey weary so I ate strictly veggies, salad and a piece of strawberry cheesecake the size of a hubcap. Woopsie again!

Another successful family visit whirlwind.














Oh yeah, and since my post a couple weeks ago about B’s lack of verbal skills she has unleashed with an onslaught of new words. Some new favorites are, mimi (for mimi jo), papa (for papa don), da-di (for daddy of course), ma-ma (much more consistently now), babow (for bottle), ba-bi (for baby, her dolls), dow (for dog), iti (for kitty), tee (for tree), ba-bye, na-nite, mo (for more), eat (for, uh, eat), no( for nose), eye, up and how can I forget, No, No, No, No, No! 

test

This is a test of a new video hosting service. Let me know how quickly you are able to download this video.

Random B-pics

Take your pacifier baby.



















I said, take it already!  

Not so fast!

Here you go again daddy. I thought you had learned your lesson the last time. Let me give you an example, if my head is so big, why can I fit my whole head into your giant helmet?

Check this out. Is this a helmet or a spaceship?






































Your loving (sometimes) daughter.

Brynna 

kick ball

I don't think I've said this in a while so here it is again just in case you forgot. B has a giant, bulbous melon. Look at that thing! I don't have confirmation yet but I believe its the only head visible from space.
 

B-lates

What do you get when you cross a mommy doing pilates and a baby who wants to be the center of attention? Extra resistance and sore abs, thats what. 

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse...

Marcy here. Rick has been dealing with deadlines and meetings most of the week so I thought I would post a quick photo blog of recent happenings in the Nelson household.

On Wednesday (the only semi-decent day this week!) B and I took a quick trip to Pemaquid Lighthouse. We were there earlier this fall but, of course, my camera batteries died. Brynna seemed to enjoy herself. She had a blast watching the birds and waves. Every time a wave would crash or a bird would fly by she would wave and say "bye bye". The cute purple hat was made by B-girl's Grammie Nelson. Not surprisingly B is quickly outgrowing it - hint hint Grammie! :)


















































Ooh! I think I see a spot on your lens!


















Walking along the fence Brynna had to touch each board.


















One of the rare occasions when B looks small.