Campbell Dear, when you look back on this blog when you are grown I hope you will not feel the need to chastise me for being derelict in writing your monthly newsletters this fall.  You can rest assured that your Dotdot has been filling in for you in real time with several reminders that I am behind.  I think a couple of your aunts and uncles may have started a rumor that we've entered the witness protection program to explain the long absence of news from Danville. The truth is Mommy has just been busy and has fallen behind.  No fun excuses or dog ate my homework stories here.  Just a promise to try really hard not to ever fall four months behind again!

That said, it has been a very busy few months.  Just after my last letter I had my big meeting of the year and was away for a week.  You and Daddy survived once again.  Then the next weekend we packed up and headed down to Glasgow to pick-up the newest member of our family - Marlo.  It has been a year since Tex passed away and we decided we needed to find Fitzy a new home. (Which I am thrilled to report he has a wonderful new home, has adjusted very well and is super happy!)  In that ensuing year you were becoming increasingly skittish around dogs while at the same time were more and more urgently pleading for a cuddly little pet of your own.  So, Mommy did some hard core research and we determined that a Boston Terrier was the right fit for our family. We struggled with whether or not to find a rescue puppy but after the experience with Fitzy I was so gun shy about another bad fit with you so little that we went with a middle ground.  We got Marlo from a farm where she was an accidental litter - not a major puppy breeder situation.

You and Marlo became fast friends.  And she has proven to be the perfect choice.  She is equal parts indestructible and totally passive - perfect because she can withstand the occasional body check that happens while playing fetch and she hasn't bitten your hand off any of the times you have picked her up by her head. And unfortunately despite many lectures and time outs and countless other approaches you still insist on picking her up by her head or squeezing her around the neck at least half a dozen times a day. But overall you are doing very well with Marlo and have really enjoyed teaching her to play fetch and helping to feed her - which she loves to eat! And over Thanksgiving during our visit to Boston you were much less anxious around the Pollets' dog, Ivan, so I think the decision to get you a new puppy was a good one.

So, Marlo was the big news from September.  October, of course, brought Halloween which was a little rocky around our house this year.  First the fun details - you decided you wanted to be a witch.  But not any kind of witch - a happy witch.  So after looking at all the little girl witch costumes and deciding that none captured the essence of a happy witch - I ordered you a Glinda the Good Witch costume - complete with tiara and magic wand.  You loved it!  Fast forward to Halloween - Dotdot and I took you to Centre's Halloween festival and you had a pretty good time though you were a little cranky because you didn't take a very good nap that day.  Turns out this was a preview of what lay in store - and it brings me to the explanation of why I dread nap time.  Bedtime doesn't bother me - nap time is my least favorite time of day. Why? Because you fight taking naps like a champ now.  And on Halloween day you flat refused to go to sleep - despite my assuring you we would not go trick-or-treating if you didn't nap.  So, we did not join Ben, Lexi and Nathaniel for our traditional TOTing. 

However, I wasn't going to be totally deprived of pictures of you dressed up so we went to Debbie's house. Where it turned out you probably had more fun than you would have walking around downtown.  You helped Debbie pass out her candy and read books with her in between.  The first couple of times the doorbell rang Daddy told you to "Execute Campbell, pass out the candy"  So from then on every time the doorbell rang you sprang up, yelled "Execute" and ran to the door.

November brought the great plane count down.  We told you at the beginning of the month that you were going to be able to fly on a big plane at Thanksgiving when we went to visit Ganny, Popper and the Pollets family.  You were very excited!  In fact, when I went to my annual conference about a week before Thanksgiving you were very upset when you thought I had gone on the plane without you.  You did very well flying.  Both landings hurt your little ears some but nothing a sucker didn't fix. On the return flight you cracked us up making friends with the little girl in the row behind us.  All of a sudden you just turned around and started babbling a mile a minute to her about your dog and various other topics.  After we were off the plane and going to baggage you were very concerned - "Where my little friend go, Mommy?"

You had a great deal of fun playing with Brynn and Wendy and the rest of the crew over Thanksgiving. We took a trip to the Kennedy Library and the Children's Museum. And of course, opening your Christmas presents from Ganny and Popper was a big hit.  The highlight of the presents was when you modeled the full rain gear ensemble including the umbrella.  You and Popper even took it for a test run out in the rain - though it took you about 10 minutes to walk the 4 feet out the door because the boots are a little big.  But you put the Morton's salt girl to shame you were so cute!

That basically brings us up to today.  This weekend we decorated for Christmas.  You are very excited about seeing Santa and you keep assuring me you will sit on his lap and talk to him this year. I for one am very excited about spending this Christmas at home.  I know it is hard for your Daddy not being with his family at Christmas but the traveling holiday show that is required for the years we do Christmas with the Johnsons just doesn't feel like Christmas for me.  And I'm excited to share the Rinehart Christmas traditions with you for the first time.

To quickly cover a few of the funnier things you have started doing . . . . You have all but totally emerged from your shell.  You rarely shy away from getting "on stage" and singing Twinkle Twinkle or the alphabet to anyone who will listen.  You also enjoy making up songs - and those are always entertaining.  Lately you have added composing to our bedtime routine.  Each night you ask me to tell you one story on a topic you choose and then I sing our song to you before you go to sleep.  Lately you have requested songs of the same subject as the story and when I say I don't know the "Mommy plane song" or the "Dora playground song" you proceed to sing the songs to me.  These little serenades have quickly become a highlight of my days.  You continue to crack us up with funny stories and sayings.  Last night at dinner Daddy told you about how when he was a little boy there was a candy store near his school.  In reply you informed him that "When I was your age Daddy I got candy for treats and it was the best in the whole world."

So, my little entertainer - I promise to do a better job documenting these fun times as you grow up way too fast and also I will try to post humorous anecdotes more frequently before I forget them.  In any event - thank you for making the last two and a half years the best of my life.

All my love -

Mommy

Let me preface this story by saying, up front, yes I bribe my child sometimes.  I try not to do it in response to bad behavior but sometimes yes I've bribed my child to sit on the potty or, in this instance, to help her make it through a three hour football game. I know there are parents out there that frown on this sort of thing but you know what - you are better parent than me if you can get a two year old to sit through a three hour football game without a little something novel.

For Campbell, her bribe was a sucker.  She's never had one before and was super pumped.  They were small suckers not some giant as big as your head Blow-Pop.  And yes, she had more than one.  But I digress - the point of this post is to laugh at what is in store for me in a few years because I know when she's actually thirteen and the exchanges aren't as cute I will have a much harder time laughing.

The first glimpse of a teenage Campbell came Friday when she insisted on playing in her room with her door closed. Luckily rather than locking me out - I can remember several teenage exchanges with my mother about locked bedroom doors - when I said "Campbell whatcha doin in there?" She poked her head out, said "Who me?" and then responded she was playing. I asked if I could come in and play, too and she gladly admitted me. No theatrics.

At the football game we were behind the stadium walking around to change the scenery some when she spotted kids playing on the large anchor outside the stadium. Campbell wanted to join them - which she couldn't do because it was outside the fence and I didn't have our ticket stub and because she would have gotten clobbered by the teenagers playing on it assuming she didn't fall off and bust her head open.  So, to distract her I told her I had one more sucker in our seats and asked if she wanted to get it.  The following exchange still cracks me up:

Me: "Do you want to go eat the last sucker?"

Campbell: "Yes.  You go get it. I'll stay here."

Me: "Well, honey, you're only two so I'm not leaving you here. We'll go back to our seats."

Campbell: Pause for deep thought "You stay here I'll go get it." (I follow as she starts to walk away - and she notices) "No Mommy! You stay here! I'll go get it."

Oh boy is Mommy late with this month's letter!  And while I'm apologizing for this month I'll go ahead and apologize for next month because I'll be late then, too.  In fact, I won't even see you on your month birthday in September because I'll be gone to Tolls - a thought that makes me very sad!

You continue to grow like a weed.  We have discovered that you have rather large feet as this has been the month of musical sparkly shoes.  I was at Target one day and grabbed a pair of adorable light pink glittery shoes.  As I knew you would, you loved them. Only they wouldn't even pretend to go on your feet.  So I ended up checking the other Target to find a larger size and brought home a hot pink pair and a silver pair.  The hot pink ones do not fit but the silver ones are fine as long as you wear socks. In giving Lexi your too small pairs I have learned that you are a size 6-6.5 compared to Lexi's 5-5.5 - and you guys are the same height. So either you are going to end up tall or you have inherited the Rineharts' fat, wide, square feet for which I am sorry!

During this month in your young life you have truly begun to embrace the joy of imagination and make-believe.  One of your favorite new games is to line up the chairs from your little table in the middle of your bedroom floor and pretend they are a school bus (you are obsessed with school buses and one day riding one).  We then sit in the chairs and repeatedly travel from park to park or farm to farm or store to store depending on what scenario you have chosen. You still desperately want a "kitty my own" and fairly regularly you walk around with your hands cupped "papping" imaginary kittens and giving them as presents to your friends and family.  You are also starting to embrace the art of story telling.  After learning that Aunt Quinny's house was struck by lightning, you went around recounting the adventure to everyone for nearly a week.  It went a little something like this: "Quinn in bed and storm and BSHSHSHSHSH! and woke up and TV dead, she got new one - Can you believe that?"

This month we - i.e. Mommy, Dotdot, Peepaw and Campbell - took a road trip to Grandma-Grandma's house. We started the trip off with a bang as Dotdot gave you a third baby to carry around - so we now have DollyCocoViolet. You were very excited about staying in a hotel coming and going and about getting to bunk with Mommy in the "big girl bed."  While in Pennsylvania we spent a lot of time counting horse-drawn buggies and exploring the area playgrounds. We've been trying to encourage you to go potty more often and, of course, you chose a road trip to decide to go poopoo in the big girl potty for the first time in weeks and so your reward was a new Diego toy which you love!  While at the Kettle Kitchen you experienced really good, fresh kettle korn for the first time.  You also learned about feeding the birds when you drop a piece.

Finally, this month you made your racing debut.  You come from a long line of runners and on your month birthday you competed in the Fastest Kid in Town race in Lexington.  You didn't win - it appears you have inherited my starting reflexes, or lack thereof - so we'll have to work on starts.  But you gain serious points for style as you are very reminiscent of Usain Bolt.  He is a good person to emulate since it also appears you will follow in Mommy's footsteps and be a sprinter and not a distance runner like Daddy.  The other night you and Annie were running laps around the patio at dinner and Annie could have gone on forever but after every turn there was a distinct pause on your part and a flash on your face as you visibly saw her keep running and thought "Really, kid, we can stop now, it's okay."  After a few laps you made the turn and both hands went to your side as you experienced your first side stitches.  Yeah, short bursts of speed definitely appear to be your style.  We'll start adding in obstacles to hurdle in a few weeks!

All my love to my little racer -
Mommy

Some co-workers and I have joked for months - no years - that we work at Dunder-Mifflin. We've said that we could make our millions and get famous by having a reality version of The Office filmed at our workplace.  Here is a snippet of what makes such statements so true . . .

Our office has been battling gnats for the last few months. The problem is our department secretary waters her plants and the plants in the common areas two or three times a week. So they're too wet - hence the growing gnat population.  After forcing all of our plants to dry out for a weekend on the patio the gnats were gone but have since returned.  So, we all have until August 15th to get all of our potted plants out of the building.

The offending secretary has removed all of her plants and they have been replaced by ceramic bears and cats and birds.  You know - beautiful pieces of art like this:

A few minutes ago I was in the bathroom and overheard the following conversation:

Secretary: "I named the bird on on my cat after you."
Coworker: "Really? Why?"
Secretary: "Because it is red like your hair."
Coworker: "Oh well that's better than if it were getting eaten and you wished I would meet a similar fate."
Secretary: "Well, maybe that's part of it.  Any ideas for what to name the black bear on my flower table?"

Yeah, this is where I work. Stay tuned for the first episode of "The Office: A Reality Show" on NBC this fall.

Late as always - I have so many funny stories to share from the last month in your life!  Just when I think I can't find you any more precious or hysterically entertaining you prove me wrong.  A couple of weeks ago went to the aquarium and the Hofbrauhaus for Daddy's birthday.  You loved the aquarium, though for the most part your attention span at any given exhibit lasted about 1-2 minutes.  The exception being the largest shark tunnel and the penguins. In fact, the penguins were such a big hit that we brought a stuffed baby penguin home with us - after several attempts the name Cash seems to have finally stuck.  At dinner you - with Cash (who at the time was Penny) on your head - danced around the nearby tables to the accordian band.

Over the past few weeks we have been exploring a house across town and are signing a contract on it this week - hopefully we will sell our house and things will work out so we can move.  The new house is in Streamland and will provide a much more child-friendly environment than busy Third Street.  As you grow you will be able to ride your bike and go to friend's houses and the neighborhood pool - not to mention Dotdot and Aunt Debbie's houses - with ease.  In an effort to get ourselves in order to sell, we worked cleaning and weeding around the house and yard all weekend.  You very much enjoyed helping Daddy scrub the screened-in porch and front porch.  At one point I came upstairs to find you covered in soap suds, half soaked smiling wide as you exclaimed "Look Mommy - I like Annie!"

Yesterday morning you were out in the yard helping me weed the patio.  You did more chasing the kitty around than weeding but you provided wonderful entertianment as you treated the neighbor's kitty like a real live, human playmate.  "Look kitty, I have a moose on my shirt."  "Come here kitty and snuggle."  "I play hide seek with kitty, Mama."  "Peekaboo kitty. Peekaboo."  "Kitty want to play with my shovel?"  Several times you felt it necessary to explain to me that the kitty "not my kitty. I my own kitty."  But despite several weeks of telling Daddy "I my own kitty to take park and hug" - Daddy is still holding out on letting you get a kitty. (Anyone reading this who finds it as pitiful as I do that Adam won't let Campbell have a kitten feel free to bombard him with hate-filled email.)

It seems not a day goes by when there aren't at least half a dozen funny stories to share with family and friends.  The other evening at the pool you kept insisting that you were watching one Diego before bed.  So there you sat on the top step, swimmies on your arms, one finger in the air saying over and over "I watch ONE Diego get home."  Finally another little girl of about 5 swimming nearby stopped and looked at you and said "My name isn't Diego."

The other night walking with Dotdot you started dropping graham cracker crumbs along the street to feed the birds.  At one point we heard a bird and you held a morsel out in your hand in front of you and said "Here Mr. Bird, do you want some of my cookie?"  After holding your arm extended for about 30 seconds you threw the crumb aside, looked back with the most sincere face and said "He didn't want it Mama."

I still haven't fully grasped that you are two already. It just doesn't seem possible. But if stay half as funny as you are now, then this ride we're on is going to be a lot of fun - even if it is going by too quickly! (A little hint for the future, too.  The funny times are a good way to make me forget about the infuriating attempts to get you to go to bed before 10:00 or to take a nap or to use the big girl potty. So remember that when you're 13, 14, 15 and you have ticked me off.  You might be well served to do something hilarious and utterly adorable before asking me to go to the movies or to have a friend spend the night.)

All of my love-
Mommy

At what point in our lives do we forget how to just be happy? I consider myself a pretty content and blessed person. I laugh daily and enjoy the little things as much as possible.  But I'd venture to say you would have to go back a long way to find a picture of me where I'm this happy.  It's beautiful!  And so it is a new goal of mine to do whatever I can to keep it within Campbell's ability to be this gleeful for the rest of her life.

You turned two this past Monday and already it's hard to remember details about the big weekend as it is a blur of visiting family and total chaos. Just as we did last year, we chose to celebrate your birthday at the Great American Brass Band Festival with a full weekend of fun activities.  Your Ganny, Popper, GG, Aunt Kristin, Uncle Corbett and cousins Jack and Caden all came in to join those of us in Danville for the big weekend. We kicked the weekend off on Friday with concerts and fun downtown.  You had great fun playing and dancing with Jack, Caden and Ben and Lexi.

 

Saturday started bright and early with the second annual wagon decorating contest.  And, for the second year you were robbed. Which means your picture will probably be the centerpiece of next year's promotional pieces just like it was this year!  Our theme this year was a Boston Pops Tea Party.  You and Nathaniel dressed up like Indians and sat in our wagon decorated like a ship while your cousin Jack pulled you along dressed like a colonist. By far you had the biggest and loudest fan section (see below for just one small crowd of admirers) and our spys tell us that folks up and down the street kept saying our wagon was their favorite.  And there was no doubt you were the cutest kids so I don't know what someone has to do around here to win a contest!

After an afternoon of hanging out with DotDot and Peepaw at the festival and then a nice nap, we got decked out in our UK duds and met-up witht the Johson/Fosters for the picnic. Our table theme this year was "A House Divided: UK v Duke" though we spent most of our time once again dancing and playing with Ben and Lexi over by the stage. 

Sunday we celebrated your birthday - starting off first thing with the presentation of your present from Mommy and Daddy - a new kitchen!  The morning was filled with banging and clanging as you, Jack and Cade whipped up many an imaginary culinary treat. After sneaking in a nap, it was off to your party.  As with almost everything you do, you enjoyed your party to the fullest from eating cupcakes to running around and playing.  After you opened each present you ran, with your classic, open-mouthed Campbell grin out into the field as if to show off your new toy.  The big hits of the day were a Dora from Ben and Lexi, a Brobee from Quinny and Jay and a chef's hat from Annie. You were quite a sight dragging Brobee around while sporting the hat and your new Minnie shades.

In fact, you were so cute that it took no time for Popper to sell you to the news as a perfect story.  And, indeed, we have watched the 8 seconds of fame that made it onto the evening news many, many, many times as you get great joy out of seeing "Campbell's Mommy on teeeeeveeeee".

While I may have managed to retain fewer mental pictures and wasn't as able to savor this year's birthday as much as last's - it was a huge success nonetheless.  You had a blast which is the most important thing.  I still can't believe you are two. In some ways it seems like yesterday that we found out we were pregnant and in some ways it seems like you have to be older than just two.  Your doctor said just yesterday that he thought you could probably pass your preschool screening already - just more affirmation that you are a super gifted, amazingly sweet and funny little girl. With you, my darling, every day is a party!

All my love-
Mommy