Happy Holidays

Cuddles under the tree keep us warm at night.

walk slow

Who would've thought that going on a simple walk around our neighborhood could be SO MUCH FUN? You are such a fun dude to hang with and exploring our neighborhood is most definitely our new favorite hobby. Your little legs won't get us anywhere quickly and you’re quite the little explorer so we had a slow go of it on our (first ever) walk to the park.

At first I wanted to help rush it so we could get to the park before it started raining again, but within half a block you had me wrapped around your curious little pinky finger. Leaves, clouds, trees, trucks, grass, trains, fire trucks, PUDDLES! We wore our boots on purpose – puddle jumping was at the top of our agenda. Little puddles, big puddles – you don’t discriminate. All the while, walking your doggie Lucy. With Lucy you are attentive, always careful to not trip on her leash and making sure she keeps up “Come on, Goose!” you proclaim; she will always oblige. Good girl, Goo...that ole girl keeps up pretty well. She, however, is not as big a fan of puddles as you are.

Today was such fun, once again you schooled me on a few things...Here we go:

Pay attention.

Look around.

Name colors.

Look up – birds and trees and clouds.

Look down – Rocks and moss, bushes and leaves and PUDDLES.

Look forward.

Don’t look back – we've been there, we know all about it, it’s boring. ;-)

Jump. ALWAYS JUMP! This is my favorite – please mama, always jump. Jump up, jump down, jump in puddles, jump up steps, jump down mountains. Always jump.

Get dirty.

It’s going to rain. Get wet. It’s cool.

Most importantly…Walk slow. Walk slow so you can enjoy every minute. Because sometimes, on a cold, rainy fall day, magic happens. Magic rules.

Walk slow, little babe. Walk slow. 

Santa = Satan?

You LOVE Santa.

But when you SAY Santa, it sounds like Satan. It's funny and cute and so you.

Little Feet Christmas Party

Last night we packed up and went to your very first Christmas party, boy was it just loads of fun...and very eye opening for your daddy and I, who rarely get to observe you in your 'natural environment' with all of your friends!

You have some pretty special friends at school, so it was time to suit up and march into the madness of 20ish kids between 3 months + 5 years (and all of their parents) and party on down.

It just warms my heart to see that you have SO MANY friends at school! Who knew a 22 month old could be such a popular dude?!? It probably has something to do with the fact that they moved you into the preschool class about 9 months early, so you've had a chance to acclimate, playing with girls and boys a tad older than you. They all love you to pieces and take such great care of you! All of the little 4-5 year old girls dressed in their beautiful Christmas dresses yelled your name when they discovered you had arrived. One by one, they would run up to give you a big squeeze - and of course, you delighted in reciprocating. What a stud.

The real highlight was watching you hang with your best bud, Benny! We first learned of Benny a few months ago from your teachers. He was new at school and the two of you are only about 3 weeks apart in age. You two are like twins - it's just the cutest dang thing! As soon as you both warmed up (it was pretty overwhelming in there with all of those people!), you were like two peas. We watched you play with absolutely nothing all night. No toys, just you two. You seem to be the alpha in the relationship - whatever you do, he's happy to follow. If you're jumping, Benny's jumping. If you're walking on your knees, Benny's close behind. You and Benny played in your fort (under the fold-up tables) for quite a while, giggling and chasing each other. The three of us played ring around the rosie (your favorite game right now), and then you two played for a while, and fell ON each other. Apparently there's also a 3rd musketeer who's one of your favs at school, but she was busy working the room. Her name is Amelia and she's a sassy little thing, so full of personality. Sadly, we didn't get to play with her much, but you and Benny were happily in your own little world. Here you boys are:

And here's you and Amelia, your other best friend at school:

The night ended with a visit from Santa. Sadly, it was pretty close to what should have been your bedtime, so by this time, your patience was wearing thin. From a distance, you were totally cool with the old bearded guy. You even waved to him as you got closer, saying "Hi Satan". But the minute you were (almost) placed on his lap, no dice. (Note: you were snatched out of my arms by our least favorite teacher at the last minute, so I am naturally not in any Santa pics, nor could I comfort you when you started crying. She has no kids of her own, she doesn't get it. We'll forgive her, some day. Grrr.). Santa got you an awesome Thomas the Train set and your secret santa (Benny) got you a super rad Sesame Street truck. So thankful for all of your friends and your social butterfly ways. 

Your very first Thomas the Train Set - what a happy boy!!