Christmas Weekend

We have had a great three day weekend celebrating Christmas with my parents and brother. They got here on Saturday morning and Will quickly walked them through the nuances of train operations. We gave Will another set of tracks and trains for Christmas, so now his table is even busier! Grandpa Roger's giant balloons were a huge hit. After the red one got popped, an orange one replaced it.

After playing hard all day, we let Will open one present before bed. He chose a present from Uncle Ryan: a matchbox car and stickers! The car went to bed with Will. The adults stayed up and continued our pool tournament.

Look at this special surprise waiting under the tree on Christmas morning! It was greeted with a "Whoa!" and many smiles. We opened up presents and then enjoyed a delicious brunch!

The grand finale gift was from Daddy: Will's first set of golf clubs! He's been playing with our clubs this past year - mostly my lefty clubs - and clearly demonstrated that he is left-handed, so we could finally buy him his own.

Here he is giving a putting demonstration. Looks like he's used to using a belly putter and will have to redo his grip with the smaller clubs.

Super excited about the tractor! He scooped up his blankets and cup and dumped them out (and repeat).

The afternoon was seasonably cold, so Will bundled up and took Grandma and Grandpa on a bike ride. They hadn't seen him ride his bike before this trip.

On Christmas night we used our new ping pong paddles and balls (gift from Ryan) to have a playoff. Ryan also made up a batch of his famous egg nog. Delicious! A very fun (and filling) weekend was had by all!

Christmas Time In the City

I LOVE big cities during the holidays! There are so many things to do, and the lights and decorations are so beautiful! One of our holiday traditions has been to spend an evening at the Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza (i.e. the German Holiday Market). We picked a nice evening to go last night; the temperatures were relatively mild and the crowd wasn't horrible. Will and I went into the Sweets House for a cookie after potato pancakes bombed (although he did love the applesauce). We decided not to get "dark chocolate cat tongues" but opted, instead, for a large gingerbread cookie in the shape of a reindeer.

Starting in on the gingerbread cookie. Uncle Ryan is enjoying his Gluwein - a traditional spiced wine. This was one of the few times that we could get Will to sit in the stroller. Usually we just used it to hold our stuff.

We went to Macy's on State Street in the Marshall Field building to see the Christmas Tree in the Walnut Room before heading home.

I was also very impressed with these trumpets decorating the outside of the building.

And the window displays were lovely. We were all saying a lot of Will's other favorite phrase, "Look at that!"

All we have let to cross off our holiday event to do list is Zoo Lights. We'll see if we get to that. It was so cold when we went last year!

All By Myself

One of Will's favorite thing is say is that he'll do it (or he did it) "all by myself." I need to get a video because he says it "I did it ahhllll by my-self." Here's a cute picture from this weekend when he put on his purple hat ahhllll by him-self but then decided he didn't want to add pants or shoes, so we just watched Daddy out the front door instead of going out ourselves. And he continues to love having his Rachel around.

New Room Assessment

Will moved into his new room at daycare a month ago. Here's his "One Month Move Assessment" from his teacher:

"Observations: Will is doing very well in the room. He quickly adjusted to our daily routine. He sits well for circle time and participates in all group activities. Will loves to do art projects! He's always the first one to the table. Will has a very positive attitue and terrific sense of humor. He is talking more & more each day. Will enjoys building with blocks. He's so creative and is very focused when he's involved in everything. He is aware of what is going on around him. Will has fantastic table manners! We love having Will as a part of our class and all of his friends love to be around him.

Goals: Sometimes Will needs a few reminders to follow directions. He loves to act silly and follow his friends & make them laugh. With an extra reminder, he uses his listening ears."

Happy Holidays

I'm Two!

Conversations with Will this morning:

W: I want to watch Thomas on TV. Two Thomases (holding up 2 fingers).
Me: Ok; we can watch two Thomases because you're two years old.
W: I two! (holding up 2 fingers).
Me: How old is Mommy?
W: Mommy 3 (holding up 3 finger).
Me: Mommy is thirty-three.
W: Thirty three?
Me: Yes, three - three. And daddy is thirty five.
W: Thirty five?
Me: Yes, three and then five.
W: (Practicing his three and five hands). . . Daddy's old!
Me: (Laughing) Yes, daddy's old. Is mommy old?
W: Nooooo.....Only Daddy old.. . . .Mommy old, too. I'm not old. Daddy old and Mommy old, but I'm not old. I'm two!

Last night I got home after Will had gone to bed but I smelled a stinky diaper and went in to investigate. Sure enough, time for a diaper and jammie change. Then he was all wound up after that and wanted to play - even though it was 9 p.m. I lay with him in his bed for awhile to settle him down but he was laughing and being silly and he got a chance to play his favorite game: I got your nose! We do that to him sometimes, but he has elevated the game to a new level. . . .

W: (Grabbing my nose) I got your nose!
Me: Oh no, what are you going to do with my nose?!
W: (Pretending to toss it in his mouth) Chomp! I eat your nose!
Me: You can't eat my nose or I won't be able to smell anything!
W: (Pretending to cough it back up into his hand) Here your nose! I give it back! (And then he "reattaches" it.)

Wonderland Express

Jason took Will to the Chicago Botanic Garden to see their Wonderland Express train display, and he loved it! Jason needs to email me some pictures to post, but for now, here's a link to a promotional video from their website. Will's reactions were pretty similar to the excited kids in this video.

http://www.chicagobotanic.org/wonderland/

Christmas Lights Trolley

Our homeowner's association organized a trolley tour again this year to drive us around town to see all of the great Christmas lights. Our neighborhood is actually one of the most consistently decorated ones, so I wonder if we're on everyone else's tours?! This was the best house - although there were two or three others very close - and the only one where the trolley stopped and let us out to explore it up close.

Will can count up to 20. I wonder if he can count down? His favorite at this house was the waving Santa in the window above the "Believe" sign.

And we finished up the night with a pizza party. Santa also greeted us as we got off the trolley with candy canes. Will happily took a candy cane and was smiling at Santa, but we didn't press our luck with a photo op.

Growing Up

Will keeps reminding me that he's not a baby or toddler anymore. Mostly it's his great memory that does it. Last week I was wildly unsuccessful at sneaking books and a Nerf football into our grocery cart without him noticing. But the best is this conversation that we had last night recapping the Christmas tree decorating. Will brought up Uncle Ryan after seeing his picture. I reminded him how much fun it was to have Uncle Ryan over recently and here's how the conversation went:

W: Uncle Ryan decorate Christmas Tree. . . .Daddy did it. . . Will did it.
Me: Did Mommy help?
W: No.
Me: What did Mommy do?
W: Mommy sat on the couch and watched.