So I thought about making this a "Separated at Birth" installment, but that just seemed too mean... but if I DID, it would include a picture of this guy:
...next to a picture of Tate.
But since I would never post a picture of maniac Charlie Sheen on my son's blog, I will just explain that Tate's new obsession is "winning." And by "winning" I mean beating me to the car, beating other cars at stoplights, being the first to get to the kitchen table, etc, etc.
At church a few weeks ago the pastor called for the children to come down for the children's sermon. Tate sprinted to the front, turned around with his fists in the air and yelled "I win!"
He also gets upset when someone passes me on the highway. He says "Mommy, that car is now winning! You need to go faster!" and he says this in a very authoritative, irritated tone.
I've used this to my benefit as well. When trying to get a picture of Tate with his cousin Blake, only Blake would smile. So I said "Blake is winning at smiling for the camera." Instantly, we had a smiling Tate.
I must admit he comes by it honestly. I'm told that when I was the same age, my mom was teaching me how to dress myself and I asked her "How do I win at this?"
So my blogging has slowed down lately, and it has a little to do with me being pregnant/tired and a lot to do with my photography skills and Tate's, shall we say, "independence."
For example, on an unseasonably warm January day today, we decided to go on an adventure by riding the train to downtown Dallas and just seeing where the day would take us. It would make for a lovely blog post except that when I went to download the pictures I realized....well, see for yourself...
Riding the train...
Checking out all of the pre-Super Bowl activities...
Sitting on the patio of Sonny Bryan's and watching the trains go by...
I swear that really is Tate we took with us today! He just doesn't cooperate with pictures anymore, so this is all I get...
Here he is, not happy about having his picture taken with his presents when all he wants to do is play with them...the themes for Tate's presents this year were dinosaurs and cars.
The other theme for his gifts could be "heroes," as in....
Fireman Tate!
Super Tate!
Tate Skywalker!
After Christmas, we had a visit from Nanny-sippi, and we saw ICE at the Gaylord...
....and checked out some dinosaur stuff at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, among many other things.
And now the new year is off to a good start as we get ready for an exciting 2011. The year 2010 will be tough to beat in terms of changes in our lives....Rob and I both started new jobs: he reporting for the Fort Worth Business Press and me working for a different division within my company that allowed me to start telecommuting, which has been life-changing in terms of work/life balance. We bought a new house in Home Town, a "new urbanism" neighborhood in North Richland Hills, and love all the families and activities in our new 'hood. Tate started at a new preschool where he had been on the waiting list since birth. It's a "lab school" connected to a college and has been wonderful for him. And then, most excitedly of all, we learned we are expecting a baby girl in May 2011.
After all that change, we are trying to enjoy a little peace and quiet before Lily Jane makes her debut!
Our card perfectly reflects our year with a 2 year old... .
Merry Christmas family and friends! We are looking forward to next Christmas as a family of four.
Special thanks to dear family friend Brandi Luig of Muddy Road Productions for the fabulous photography and card inspiration. I now feel a little bit bad about getting her and my sister in trouble when we were growing up...ok, I'm over it.
We are thrilled to announce that a baby GIRL will be joining our family in May. We had planned to have the doctor put the answer in an envelope for us to open on Christmas with our family. However, I am not good at waiting for surprises. And Rob wanted to find out before everyone else did, which I understood. So we had the sonographer tell us...GIRL! And then we were so excited we couldn't wait to share the news, so I took Tate to see Santa and made a little sign:
Rob called his out-of-town family and then we used the picture to tell my family at dinner that night. We have known our girl name since we got married. My mom's name is Janet Lillian. Rob's mom is Lillian Janette. Both of their maternal grandmothers were Lillians. And so, not only is it very special, but I also absolutely love the name. So Lillian Jane Robertson it shall be! I plan to call her Lily Jane but Rob is already calling her just Lily or "LJ." We'll see what sticks when we meet her.
And thank goodness it was a girl because Rob was pushing for Archie or Augie as a boy name which meant I was pushing my family to get new pets to name Archie and Augie just to cancel out those names. (How do you think my parents got a dog named "Eddie" three years ago???)
Ok, enough about all that. I have some girl shopping to do....
Tate says things that aren't always quite right, but I've started figuring them out.
For instance:
"Old Lady" = Old Navy
"Old McDonald's" = McDonald's
"Vader" = Star Wars
"Frosty the Snowman, was a very hungry tale" = the first line of the song, "Frosty the Snowman"
There are many more, but these are just a few examples from tonight. Also, here's a conversation Tate and I had tonight....
Me: Tate, it looks like you need to go potty.
(Tate hops around with his legs crossed)
Tate: No, I don't wanna go potty.
(This conversation repeats itself several times. Exasperated, I pick up the phone and hold it to my ear.)
Me: Hello, Santa Claus? Yes, you see Tate won't go to the potty. Uh huh. Um. Yes, well, ok, I'll tell him. (hang up phone) Tate, Santa Claus says if you keep telling your mom no, you won't get a present.
(Tate thinks for a minute and picks up phone.)
Tate: Santa Claus? Yes. Uh huh. No, I don't wanna go potty. Oh thank you Santa Claus!!
(Tate hangs up the phone and turns to me, smiling.)
Gotta get things caught up before the holidays are upon us, so here are the updates in sped-up style like the recaps of Glee each week:
So here's what you missed in the Robertson family...
Tate turned three and had his three-year-old doctor appointment. The doctor chewed out Jenny because she said "bedtime is a battle" and told her she was headed for an appearance on "Super Nanny." But that's all OK because Tate got a clean bill of health and has a height of 36.5" and a weight of 30.5 pounds, which means he's a little small for his age, but that's all OK because Rob was small until high school and then had a growth spurt.
Two days after the same pediatrician told me to stop worrying about Tate not being potty-trained and that it would happen when Tate was ready, Tate decided he was ready. And he was. And it was done. Just like that.
Then Halloween was upon us and Tate was a spider because he really, really wanted to be one. Even though Jenny bought a really cute dinosaur costume. I mean really cute. But he insisted on being a spider. So Jenny bought a spider costume and put the dinosaur costume on ebay. And then Jenny put the spider costume on Tate and he said "I want to be a dinosaur." Jenny told him he was three and that she would not reason with him anymore and that he was going to be a spider and he was going to love it. (And Jenny is sure that if she mentions all of this to the pediatrician, he will not only invoke the Super Nanny name again, but he will dial up the producers on the spot.) But Tate did love it.
He also loved passing out the candy more than collecting it, and even though I posted this video on Facebook several weeks ago, it's just so awesome that I'm posting it again.
We also went to a pumpkin patch and Tate rearranged the pumpkins and drove some tractors.
Now that Tate is three, we feel the need to list a few things he does, in threes.
Tate loves cars, trucks and dinosaurs.
His favorite books, which he can recite from memory, are "The Monster at the End of This Book," "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?" and "Pete the Cat."
His favorite songs are "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in the Tree," and "Sugarfoot" by Black Joe Lewis.
His favorite things to say, or -- more accurately -- OUR favorite things he says, are "Nooooo thank you!," "Something's missing!" and "I'll be right back. Don't move."
Oh, and in the middle of all that, Jenny announced she was pregnant and expecting a baby on May 8.
And that's what you missed in the life of the Robertsons....
Tate had fun with his uncles and Poppy who were in town from San Fran, DC and Jackson for approximately 24 hours for the World Series in Arlington. Go Rangers!
Tate's 3rd birthday was golf-themed, and my friend Eleanor at Pink Peppermint Paper created an adorable invitation to set the scene for the "Birthday InviTATEtional"
We planned to set everything up outside because October is supposed to be the driest month in Texas, and the temps are supposed to be nice and comfortable. Supposed to be.
It poured all day the day of his party.
So we called a mulligan and set the golf party up indoors. We declared the backyard a Water Hazard:
And set up the first hole in our entry way.
And holes two and three were down our hallway....
We moved furniture out of the living room and set up a kid-size table inside. I made the banner using scrapbook papers, and I found the "golf ball" poofs at Party City for $1 each.
My sister Nancy made "cake balls" which we put in green pails on the table to look like golf ball buckets. I used turf purchased at Home Depot as a table runner, and the cake was supposed to look like a 3-shaped golf hole.
As the invitation suggested, the kids were playing golf for the coveted "Sippy Cup." So each child got a sippy cup...
....which they were able to personalize and decorate themselves.
The cake and cake balls were a hit with the kids...
As was playing golf....
Each kid took home a set of plastic golf clubs, a personalized "Sippy Cup" trophy, and a sticker that said "I played a round at Tate's 3rd Birthday!"
The rain didn't stop us from having fun with all of Tate's friends!
The next morning was Tate's actual birthday, so we got out the special birthday tablecloth, plate and hat for breakfast with Nanny-sippi who came in for the birthday weekend.
