I don't know what I'm going to do when Christmas is over and Alexis wants something. I've been telling her for a while now that she can't add to her Christmas list, but once Christmas is over and she wants something, she doens't have it to look forward to anymore. Oh the trials of being three! We went out for as a family this morning (I'll tell you in a minute why this was momentous) and she wanted EVERYTHING. But as my mom said, how can she not see something, think it's cool, and want it? Isn't this perfectly natural when a kid is three? All about balance, right? Anyway, we went to World Market for a while and got some Christmas goodies, and then we went to Petsmart a few doors down so that the kids could look at the animals. It's the next best thing to the zoo, seriously. They had a dog class in session, which is what I was really hoping for, and they both spent most of the time there watching a dozen dogs from behind glass walls. Micah especially thought it was hysterical, and we also looked at birds and fish and mice. Afterwards we headed over to Olive Garden, just like last year, and had the bottomless soup, salad, and breadsticks. I still love their salad, but they have a creamy soup that has sausage and kale and potaoes in it that Jason and I both love. Plus, it's niceto go out to a nicer restaurant but not have to wait twenty minutes for our food to be ready. Since our normal babysitter was sick, it was good for all of us to get out of the house.
And the reason WHY is was so good ot be out of the house is because everyone except me has been sick. Micah got a cold first, then Alex started getting sick. We're pretty sure she had the flu becauseshe was running a fever for a few days, but she's doing better now. Micah seems completel fine except for a bit of a runny nose. And Jason just got a cold we think. It wasn't exactly the way we anticipated spending our first week of vacation, but overall it's been nice. We've just all been cooped up in the house and unable to go out as a family until today.
We still have snow on the ground here from almost a week ago because it's been so cold. Alex loved playing in it last week before she got sick, and her interpretation of playing in the snow was to help me sweep the sidewalk ;) She wants to help a little too much sometimes, but that's how it goes when you're three. A neighbor of ours came over last week to get some baby clothes, and Alex wanted to help give her every single piece of clothing. Amy was really nice about it and commented on what a helper Alex was, although I expect it mostly stemmed from her desire to be in the middle of ANYTHING that is happening. Amy, who teaches kindergarten, did tell me that she thought Alexis' language skills were great and that she knew a lot more than some of her students did, which made me feel good that Alexis doing fine.
Micah continues to babble and babble babble. He's been playing with a set of flash cards a lot recently and is learning a lot of different objects that way, and he has started to get into wooden puzzles, just like she did. He still loves to be in someone's lap if he can get it, and is just as sweet and stubborn and energetic and crazy as he has been. He has recently started coloring a lot and will sit down at his table with a book and crayons and be content for five or ten minutes just doing that.
Jason and I are excited about having Christmas, too. We're starting our own traditions, which is really nice. For example, we've been putting together a gingerbread house, and Alex thinks it's tons of fun. I'll have to post a picture of it after the holidays. We're going to wake up and do presents on the morning of Christmas Eve, and then we'll leave to go see family that afternoon. I think she'll like what she got. They both ahve stockings this year, and we got her mostly things that she can make. However, we did buy her a toy shopping cars, and yesterday when I asked her what was on her Christmas list that she really wanted, she said the shopping cart, so I'm feeiling pretty good right now. Micah's main present is this train that he can sit on that has letter blocks tha that he can push in one place andhtey shoot out another. It was a great yard sale find :) I went through the process a few days ago of taking out a bunch of their toys to make room for some new ones, and I think that in a few months it will be time to start to getrid of a few older toys instead of just cycling them in and out. Otherwise, our home will just be one big toy box!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Holiday Updates
The kids are gearing up for Christmas! We put up a tree for the first time in five years, and Alexis got a huge kick out of helping decorate the tree. I got her a snowglobe ornament with her name on it, and she thought it was really cool that she got to hang the first ornament on the tree. We had to block Micah with the coffee table while we were doing it, and we have to block off the actual tree with an ottoman, but the kids still love it. We have few decorations otherwise, which is good because we don't really have a place to put stuff. However, we do have two stockings hanging from our bookshelves that we'll fill up with goodies for the kids. Our plan is to open presents with the four of us on Christmas Eve, probably in the morning.
We did celebrate Christmas in Greensboro a little early this year. We drove down there the weekend before Thanksgiving and had a great trip other than Micah not wanting to sleep the entiretime we were there. However, we still had lots of fun. Dad took Alexis out just the two of them, which was really cool. She got a unicorn pillow pet that she basically adores and sleeps with every night, and Micah got this racetrack toy with cars that slide down ramps. They actually bothhave fun with it, but it's been especially cool to watch Micah learn how to truly use it. Alex also helped decorate dad's tree in Greensboro, which she loved, and we got to see the Silers, which was great.
We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house again this year, and mom and Earl came up and we had a great, relaxed time. Most of what I made was desserts: red velvet cupcakes, cream cheese truffles, and black forest brownie pecan pie. I also made sweet potatoe casserole for lunch, and mom brought home-grown vegetables. We ordered a chicken and papusas from Guapo's and had a grandThanksgiving feast without too much work! Alexis really enjoyed being a part of things this year instead of just falling asleep on the couch. She especially enjoyed helping with the desserts, as evidenced by the massive amount of sprinkles on some of the truffles! It was nice to have leftovers but not too many leftovers.
December has been pretty busy. We've been hanging out with a lot of people, which has made life a bit hectic but really nice as well.The kids have been enjoying finaly hanging out ith other people again; it took us a long time for everyone to be healthy again. Yesterday was actually the first day that all four of us were able to be at church in a long time.
Alexisis really looking forward to Christmas and learning about the birth of Christ and giving presents and all of that. She is also learning that Santa isn't real. I know - we're THOSE parents, but I don't really see a reason to tell her that Santais anything other than a nice, fun story. And she likes Santa, so that's fun. She is going through a stage of everything being amazing or the depths of despair. Wait! Did I write about that alst time? Oh yeah... this stage is called BEING THREE! She is wonderfully expressive and loves to play jokes but has a HARD time when she doesn't get her way and can cry at the drop of a hat. She is, though, learning lots of new things and has a hugeinterest in the world around her. Andshetruly is articulate and funny. Yesterday her father taught her to say "The Christmas tree is an innocuous symbol of Christmas. It's not pagan anymore." Thsi cracked meup because it was basically the first thing she said to me when I came downstairs. She hasno clue what it means, of course, but it's pretty hysterical to hear.
Micah is talking up a storm. So far, as far as words, I can recall the following that he says: mommy, daddy, eye, nose, hi, ball, sit (his favorite), dog, cat, fish, bird, pig, duck, car, ma/pa (for Guapo), cup, and some other things that I can't think of right now. It's cool to hear him say all of these things, especially when Alexis started speaking so late. Each kid is different, though, right? Micah is especially stubborn and gets frustrated fairly easily, so that's something that can be a challenge to deal with. He doesn't respond to verbal discipline the way that Alexis did, but he's learning. He also finally sat still long enough for Jason to read him an actual book the other night. While he'll usually sit in your lap for good periods of time, he only wants to grab th ebook that you're reading from. (That's another favorite word: book.) He's starting to figure out puzzles - the wooden kind where you fit an animal into a space.
And the spinning. Oh my goodness the spinning. I think the boy would do it all day long if I let him. Other than saying "sit" over and over again so that you'll pick him up and put him on the couch, spinning is his favorite activity. (However, he can get ON the couch on his own now, which presents a whole new area of challenges.) He will spin until he falls downand then get abck up and spin again. Other favorite activities: pulling the dishtowels off of the stove in a powerful, control-hungry flourish, getting naked, trying to turn on Alexis's snowglobe ornament, sitting in your lap, and disupting mealtimes. Least favorite activities: being ignored, sleeping (this has been a problem the last few weeks), mommy leaving the room, not being picked up, being ignored... did I mention this boy likes his attention? :)
We did celebrate Christmas in Greensboro a little early this year. We drove down there the weekend before Thanksgiving and had a great trip other than Micah not wanting to sleep the entiretime we were there. However, we still had lots of fun. Dad took Alexis out just the two of them, which was really cool. She got a unicorn pillow pet that she basically adores and sleeps with every night, and Micah got this racetrack toy with cars that slide down ramps. They actually bothhave fun with it, but it's been especially cool to watch Micah learn how to truly use it. Alex also helped decorate dad's tree in Greensboro, which she loved, and we got to see the Silers, which was great.
We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house again this year, and mom and Earl came up and we had a great, relaxed time. Most of what I made was desserts: red velvet cupcakes, cream cheese truffles, and black forest brownie pecan pie. I also made sweet potatoe casserole for lunch, and mom brought home-grown vegetables. We ordered a chicken and papusas from Guapo's and had a grandThanksgiving feast without too much work! Alexis really enjoyed being a part of things this year instead of just falling asleep on the couch. She especially enjoyed helping with the desserts, as evidenced by the massive amount of sprinkles on some of the truffles! It was nice to have leftovers but not too many leftovers.
December has been pretty busy. We've been hanging out with a lot of people, which has made life a bit hectic but really nice as well.The kids have been enjoying finaly hanging out ith other people again; it took us a long time for everyone to be healthy again. Yesterday was actually the first day that all four of us were able to be at church in a long time.
Alexisis really looking forward to Christmas and learning about the birth of Christ and giving presents and all of that. She is also learning that Santa isn't real. I know - we're THOSE parents, but I don't really see a reason to tell her that Santais anything other than a nice, fun story. And she likes Santa, so that's fun. She is going through a stage of everything being amazing or the depths of despair. Wait! Did I write about that alst time? Oh yeah... this stage is called BEING THREE! She is wonderfully expressive and loves to play jokes but has a HARD time when she doesn't get her way and can cry at the drop of a hat. She is, though, learning lots of new things and has a hugeinterest in the world around her. Andshetruly is articulate and funny. Yesterday her father taught her to say "The Christmas tree is an innocuous symbol of Christmas. It's not pagan anymore." Thsi cracked meup because it was basically the first thing she said to me when I came downstairs. She hasno clue what it means, of course, but it's pretty hysterical to hear.
Micah is talking up a storm. So far, as far as words, I can recall the following that he says: mommy, daddy, eye, nose, hi, ball, sit (his favorite), dog, cat, fish, bird, pig, duck, car, ma/pa (for Guapo), cup, and some other things that I can't think of right now. It's cool to hear him say all of these things, especially when Alexis started speaking so late. Each kid is different, though, right? Micah is especially stubborn and gets frustrated fairly easily, so that's something that can be a challenge to deal with. He doesn't respond to verbal discipline the way that Alexis did, but he's learning. He also finally sat still long enough for Jason to read him an actual book the other night. While he'll usually sit in your lap for good periods of time, he only wants to grab th ebook that you're reading from. (That's another favorite word: book.) He's starting to figure out puzzles - the wooden kind where you fit an animal into a space.
And the spinning. Oh my goodness the spinning. I think the boy would do it all day long if I let him. Other than saying "sit" over and over again so that you'll pick him up and put him on the couch, spinning is his favorite activity. (However, he can get ON the couch on his own now, which presents a whole new area of challenges.) He will spin until he falls downand then get abck up and spin again. Other favorite activities: pulling the dishtowels off of the stove in a powerful, control-hungry flourish, getting naked, trying to turn on Alexis's snowglobe ornament, sitting in your lap, and disupting mealtimes. Least favorite activities: being ignored, sleeping (this has been a problem the last few weeks), mommy leaving the room, not being picked up, being ignored... did I mention this boy likes his attention? :)
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