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
You may have been busy, Krista, but Campbell was obviously even busier.
P.S. I'm glad the feds finally released you from the Witness Protection Program.
Posted by: Evie | December 13, 2009 at 12:51 PM