Reese's birthday

For the longest time after Callie's birthday, if you asked Reese how old she was, she would say "Five!" Thank goodness her birthday comes two months later, because it took that much time to convince her that she was not five but was in fact turning two.  Based on her numbers, though, it is clear that she is not five yet.  At her doctor's appointment she came it at a height of 33 1/4 inches, which placed her in the 40th percentile.  Her weight of 23 1/4 lbs put her in the 5th percentile.  Although a little shorter than her sister was at this age, she is still holding true to form overall.

We have some traditions in this house.  And although the girls are not twins there are certain things we did with Callie for her second birthday that we figured should happen for Reese as well.  So we invited the Chrismans over for dinner and dessert.  We bought an ice cream cake from Graeters.  And we did not buy a present for Reese.  You might call this lazy and cruel.  We call it fairness.  Besides, neither Reese nor Callie will understand it all until they sit down and read this, and by then we can explain it away.

Reese certainly knew that the evening was about her, and ate every bit of it up.  She has no problem being the center of attention.  And we were able to get her to show the camera exactly how old she was.  And apparently another tradition for us is the birthday girl shirt that Callie once wore.  Trust us, if it fit, they would each have to wear it every year on their birthday.


Reese also embraced the birthday song and was pleased to have it all about her.  Of course she was also excited by the tasty cake on display in front of her.  Callie also enjoyed celebrating her sister's big day and wanted to make sure that everything was just right.

And even as we are writing this, Reese is squirming on Sarah's lap, squealing in delight at the pictures, and singing "Happy Birthday to me!"


It would not be a real Bowes girl birthday party at this point without the Chrismans present.  The girls love them just being there and we love the bottle of wine they always seem to bring.  Seriously, though, we even held the dinner party on a night when we knew they could be there.  You can see in this picture that Reese is well aware of how to pose properly with such important people.


Although her parents did not get her anything, Reese was still showered with gifts and loved opening every last one. It was good practice for Christmas, that's for sure. She certainly is at the stage where the joy comes from opening the gifts, not from what is inside. That will change soon, we are sure.

 And at the end of the day, we had a girl who was two years old, which is still hard to believe. She came into our lives as a bundle of energy and has not slowed down for a second.

Christmas Prep

I am sure we are not the only ones who think that Christmas comes too quickly. It felt like as soon as we got off the plane from Connecticut after Thanksgiving that we had to begin prepping for the next holiday.

It all begins with the tree, and we made a return trip to our favorite local tree lot. The process was pretty quick and painless, except for the part where John couldn't figure out what had happened to the lock on the Mazda's trunk door and spent a frustrating 45 minutes going crazy before realizing all it took was a simple solution. Ask him about it some time. He loves to relive those moments of idiocy.

Once we got the tree inside and up it was time to start decorating. Callie has come to love the whole process, and like her parents oohs and aahs over her favorite ornaments.  She was a very productive decorator this year.  Callie also enjoyed the Christmas music that went along with the decorating and made a point of requesting the Grinch.  Good times.

Reese's productivity is slightly below her sister's, but she did seem to enjoy the evening.  But she really enjoyed posing and looking cute upon request.  As always, such pictures must come with a disclaimer.  This cuteness is just a cover for all the craziness that she is planning behind those blue eyes.

We had several opportunities for the girls to get in their fancy Christmas dresses.  The first came with the annual Giggles and Grins party at the Mayfield-Ingle's.  John was flying back from Seattle, so unfortunately he was unable to attend, but the girls got all dressed and ready to go.  Not pictured here as well is Santa, who as far as Callie and Reese were concerned, was not welcome.  One of these years Santa will be in their good graces at picture time.  

The girls continue to enjoy each other's company, which makes each morning an adventure.  With the exception of typical disagreements over whose purse is whose and the like, they make a great duo.  The following pictures provide evidence of that.

Nothing like a pair of sunglasses to get the day started.  A little bit of glamour never hurt anyone.  In fact many mornings start with an endless search for a purse, lip gloss, or proper bows.

Not that every morning is full of glamour.  We do enjoy spending time in our pajamas when the schedule allows.  Indeed, on a normal morning breakfast is served in the family room with a small dose of Dinosaur Train, Dora, Berenstein Bears, or Sesame Street and is followed by some play time organized by Callie.  Depending on her whim Reese and John either have to play School, Restaurant, or more recently, Cats.  And we are not talking the musical.  Then it is time to switch gears to put on clothes, brush teeth, and brush hair.  And if we are all still in a good mood it is easy to get out the door.  If is the important word there.

The holiday season is also about keeping healthy as well as happy.  This meant that John had to take Reese and Callie to the doctor so that Reese could get her second flu shot.  Both girls behaved well and chose a blueberry lollipop out of the basket at Dr. Warner's office.  One short car ride home later, this is how their tongues looked.  Oh my.

The next big Christmas preparation activity was making cookies.  The girls were a big help in the whole process and were excited at the opportunity to get their hands into the sprinkles.  This was the first family cookie-making day and it was quite a show.  John showed his true colors and requested to have some cookies left plain for his enjoyment.  Apparently the apple does not fall from the tree, as this is a request his father has made for years.  And Sarah showed her true colors by having a variety of sprinkle and candy options for decorating purposes.  Hence, even more reason for John to request plain cookies.

During the season of Advent, the girls were more than happy to get dressed up in Christmas colors every Sunday.  They were and are a wonderful pair.  

As a special treat that we hope will become an annual event, Sarah and Callie went to the Lexington Opera House to see the Nutcracker performed live.  Callie is very much into dance and live performances and was very excited.

It turned out to be a great day and both Callie and Sarah loved the whole thing.  In fact, when they got home we were able to purchase a performance of the Nutcracker through our digital cable so that Reese could see the ballet as well.  In Sarah's opinion, the Royal Ballet in London we saw on the TV was a bit more impressive than what she saw in Lexington, but no one under the age of 6 needs to know that.