"I'll be your best friend"

Yes...at 2 1/2 you have officially mastered the art of bribery. You were in the tub the other night and wanted me to "fetch" your cars that were downstairs. I told you I was fixin to bathe you and we would get your cars tomorrow. With a smile on your face and your head cocked to the side and your puppy dog brown eyes you said "I'll be your best friend!" What! Where it the world did you hear that and how do you know the context in which to use that remark? Son...you continue to amaze me everyday.

Christmas was great. This was the first year you were truly excited and understood all that was going on. You made quite the hall. Here is a brief list, there was sooo much:

Two dinosaurs - rah
"Cars" Cars: Chick Hicks, Mater, Doc Hudson, Red, Sheriff
A wooden tractor trailer truck with "Seth Allen" on the side - Nana and Papa
Ornaments - Nana and Papa
Gasoline Truck with Helicopter - The Hess'
VCast Video Game - Mema
Tractor from the "Cars" - Aunt Sue and Uncle Roger
Police Car - Granny
Big Truck - Uncle Donald
Tank - Aunt Denise and Uncle Gene
$50 gift card - Grandma and Grandpa
Gumby and Pokey
Fort
Lincoln Logs
Bath water coloring
Bath paints (do not recommend)
Shoes
Clothes
"Cars" Bedding
"Cars" Blanket - The Dugan's
"Cars" Shirt - The Dugan's
Aquadoodle - The Reeves'
Horns - Eric Reeves
"Cars" Tricycle
Books
Safari animals
Hungry Hungry Hippos
and...and

That is most of it...lessons learned...scale back for next year. It took us two days to open all of the gifts. You will be fine sweetie...you won't even notice. We had ham for dinner, by the way, you LOVE ham. And for dessert you asked for a brownie and I told you we didn't have any brownies and you preceded to say "we have cookies though". Boy...you proving to be someone your Dad and I are going to have to stay one step ahead of.

You went to Jump Town with Taylor on Friday and you had a great time. Jump town is an indoor facililty that has several different types of air jumpers. You climbed, slid, bounced and showed off to your hearts content. We grabbed lunch at Johnny Carino's and he wanted no part of settling down to eat, you were too ramped up from the 1.5 of jumping so mommy and you had to make a quick departure. By the time I read your story you were OUT. It was a fun day.

The rest of the weekend was low key, you helped me take some of the Christmas lights down and rode your tricycle. You also helped take our donations to Goodwill. You are starting to asert your authority and Dad and I are prepping for the challenge.

Sunday we went to visit Granny and Great Papa. They were very much looking forward to your visit. You played with Papa and he showed you his toys and you showed him yours. We are going to make an effort to see them once a month in the upcoming year. It was great to see the love and joy on their faces with having a little one around.

Happy New Year little one. It's going to be a great year.