Gearing Up

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!