Home for the Holidays

We were lucky enough to get to have all of our family come to us for the holidays. No packing up the car or trudging through the airports with a restless toddler for us! That, in itself, is a great gift! But it also meant we needed to get the house in the holiday spirit! As documented in an earlier blog, credit for our beautiful Christmas tree goes to Ryan and Steve. And credit for our beautiful house decorations go to Jason (and perhaps his assistant, Will)! He bought wreaths this year to hang in the upstairs window, on both of the front doors, and to flank the brand new garage door. Absolutely lovely!

Happy New Year!

Jason's parents came up to see us for New Year's and to celebrate Christmas. They even volunteered to stay home to baby-sit so we could go out for dinner! We went to a new-to-us restaurant called Wildfire where Jason had their signature item: a horseradish crusted filet. Yum! I had the scallops and we shared salad and pecan pie.

Before we left for our dinner, we got to see Will in his pajamas. He had an early outfit change after eating three bowls of homemade broccoli cheese soup for his dinner. He got most of it to his mouth, but not all of it!

We also got to watch Will and Grandpa Ed play catch. Ed was very impressed with Will's ball playing skills; especially his ability to carry his basketball, football and baseball all at once! And Will LOVED when Grandpa would through all the balls at once for him to go get, so this worked out great!

Bedtime stories with Grandma
But it's not bedtime! It's game time!
New Toy Story 3 Matchbox cars

Thanks for everything Grandma (and Grandpa)!

19 Months Old

My baby boy is now 19 month old! Jason and I are continually impressed by how much he can do and say and understand, but now I'm struggling to think of specific examples.

• Favorite word: Mama! (usually followed by Up!)
• Favorite things to do around the house: watch football, play basketball, color and draw, read and listen to books, run laps while giggling, practice somersaults (no idea where he learned that!) and climb into the rocking chair to rock himself.
• Favorite food: clementines (which we call oranges; he'll easily eat three of them)

We still think he may be left-handed. He regularly throws balls, eats, and colors using his left hand. But, he also uses his right hand at times, so we'll see!

He continues to do incredibly well with his routine. He can go from racing around like a wildman to being quietly content in his crib in less than 5 minutes if it's naptime or bedtime. You just have to give him his blanket and pacifier and turn on his fan and his Baby Einstein soother! :-) But he'll wave good-bye to you and sit down with his stuff and if it's nighttime, you won't hear from him again for 12 hours.

These new pictures are from our first trip to the children's area of our public library, which Will would have happily played at for hours.

A Very Merry Christmas

Lots and lots of pictures, because we had lots and lots of fun! My parents flew up on Friday morning, and Will and I picked them up from the airport. As a special treat, Will got to wear pajamas almost the entire weekend! Different pairs, of course.

Oh how Will has missed his Grandpa Roger! They haven't had a chance to play since Will's birthday party in May! First up, a game of tug-o-war with a wrapping paper tube.Then, some indoor sledding on Will's Christmas 2009 sled!Then, as a reward for putting on clothes, cookies on the couch!Finally, it was Christmas Eve night, and Will got to pick out a present from under the tree! He opened a lawn mower from Grandma and Grandpa and thought it was great fun. You'll also notice Tickle Me Elmo in the sled. That was from us as an early present (a few weeks ago). After Grandma and Grandpa left, the Elmo count was up to 3!We had a very white Christmas, so we had to take advantage of some outdoor sledding as well.

And then more presents! We let Will open some more of his presents before lunch and then did the non-Will presents while he was taking his afternoon nap. Luckily we saved a present from us, because we needed it last night to distract Will when he broke down after all of his guests left.I got exactly what I asked for; and apparently I asked everyone for it! My wish list included a reusable coffee cup sleeve, and I got three of them! Jason also gave me the reusable coffee cup that I had picked out and then decided not to treat myself to on an earlier shopping trip. Look at the joy on that young boy's face!

Ryan and Steve remembered Jason's love for A Christmas Story and bought him the DVD and some "Oh Fudge!" fudge.

What a fun weekend! I'll also have to post a picture of yesterday's excitement once I download it: a giant coyote in the backyard!

Brrr at the Zoo

We live in a cold city, so we just have to bundle up if we want to get out during the fall and winter. Saturday evening we went to "Holiday Magic" at the Brookfield Zoo; which I have been calling Brrr at the Zoo (instead of the somewhat warmer, Boo at the Zoo in October)! Although we were wearing plenty of layers, our exposed faces got a little wind burned. We spent about an hour or so at the zoo looking at lights, seeing a little song and dance show and playing inside at the Family Zoo.

Hurry up, Daddy! It's getting dark!Lots and lots of Christmas treesPretty carousel
The main concourse had lots of neat displays

Checking out the household pets in the Family Zoo

(that's a black bunny rabbit with crazy red eyes)

Those Funny Little People singing carols in the Holly Jolly Theatre

(i.e. the big refreshments tent)
Cold but cute!

Conversations with Will

Will has some very clear words and then others just seem to make sense in the context. I'm sure he's not really putting this all together as "real" words, but it sounds like it.

Greetings:

Will: Hiiiii.
Me: Hi!
Will: Howzitgoin'?

When a car drives by outside:

Will: Izacar!
Me: It's a car?
Will: Yeah!
Me: Do you want to look out the window?
Will: Yeah!

We drove to the zoo tonight (that's another post for after I thaw out more) and the first 10 minutes he said "Izacar!" pointing out the window about a hundred times. Every once in a while I feel the need to interact and say, "Ooh, there's a big truck!" or something like that. Jason always looks like he wants us both to be quiet when we play that game! :-)

Will is also getting good at repeating words that we say although if he doesn't initiate them and use them regularly, they aren't added to the word roll. Last night he surprised us with one. He was with us on our bed and he was swinging around one of my beaded necklaces. He hit Jason in the face with it. I said, "Will, pat Daddy's head and tell him you're sorry." And, immediately he patted Jason on the head and said, "Owwy!" We were shocked! I had no idea he would actually do that.

Trolley Lights Tour

On Sunday the 5th we joined our neighbors for an hour long holiday lights tour throughout our town. We had three trolleys (each ran twice) fulls of residents - mostly people like us with their young kids. This is suspicious Will before we left the parking lot. He's sizing up the woman in front of us who was handing out caroling sheets. (Smart kid.) He ended up making friends with her 3 year old son, who very tenderly patted Will's hands during the ride. We learned he has a 10 month old sister at home and really likes being a big brother. On our car were two boys who will be in Will's class in school (when the 18 month olds get to kindergarten). One couple - Jim and Kate - had a remarkably similar story to ours. Their son, J.J., is about 10 days younger than Will, and they were also house shopping at 9 months pregnant! She lamented how her husband had to attend the inspections himself because it was the day after J.J. was born. I shared how my husband had to fly to our closing because I had a 4 day old baby at home. When we told her where we lived, she said they looked at our house, too (which she referred to as "the brown house" much to Jason's dismay). They weren't ready to buy yet since they had to sell their old house and were shocked when ours was under contract so fast. If you recall, back in April 2009, we were on a whirlwind trip to find our new home and get the contract executed all within a 5 day house hunting trip. It just so happened that the house we bought had only been on the market about a week when we saw it. We'll have to look them up again once the weather gets nicer and get the boys together to play!

There were 5 or 6 fantastically decorated houses in town and a few blocks that were consistently good. However, our neighborhood is one of the best decorated in town, so we're a little spoiled. The best was the neighbor to this house. They just had an arrow on the front of an otherwise dark house; the arrow was pointing to this, of course!

Or maybe it was these people's neighbors?! I can't remember, but another great one. I think the upstairs middle left window has the leg lamp in it.

So, Jason has been a little sensitive about our "brown house" (although it never bothered me to have one color) and since we've moved in we've been phasing out the monotone tan. The brown roof and shutters were exchanged for black ones and we just got our bright white garage door to replace the brown one. Next up are the porch lanterns, but that may not be until it thaws now. Either way, our curb appeal is picking up!

Our Christmas Tree

I'm just going to come right out and say it: this is the most beautiful Christmas tree ever! But, it did not just deliver and decorate itself! No, the Christmas tree process began hours before it was decked out with 900 white lights and dozens of ornaments. . . . . First, Jason had to fire up his new snow blower to clean off the driveway of the first real snow of the season so we could go buy the tree.

Then, we had to bundle up in our warm, winter clothes - including snow boots and a hat that got a little sideways.

Next, we ventured through the tree selection at the Cosley Zoo, which is next to our gym. They are a small zoo with regionally native animals like deer, fox, llamas, cows, goat, etc. Admission is free during their Festival of Lights and tree sale! So, we spent a few minutes looking at the animals before our family's tree expert (Jason) picked us out a beautiful 8 foot tall Frasier fir.

Then, we rushed home for lunch and to meet our holiday guests. Ryan and Steve spent the afternoon and evening with us baking Grandma Leona's favorites: peppernuts and popcorn balls! We made two versions of the cookies and had a mini drama with the sauce for the popcorn balls being too runny. (Don't worry, Dad, the second half of the batch was salvaged and awaits your arrival.)

Meanwhile, Jason thawed out the tree in the garage and trimmed the bottom up. We need to have room for presents for the little fella! Jason is really proud of that tool. He just bought it at an after Thanksgiving sale.

Later, it took all three guys to wrestle the tree into its base and get it turned to the precise angle for decorating and display.

And finally, a beautifully decorated tree to charm the baby! Although I should note that this was on Sunday evening; Will went to bed before the tree was decorated on Saturday.

Christmas Card 2010