1.8 or, Big City Lights

Dear Miriam,

The holidays have arrived, and you love the Christmas lights.  Grandpa and Uncle Alex and Corbin put them up on Thanksgiving Day.  You love to turn them on and make them blink.  One night after you helped Grandma turn them on, you went around saying, "Red, green, red, green, red, green!"

The only way you can tell it's the holidays is because people seem to really enjoy decorating their houses.  The weather has gotten cooler but it still feels like fall to me, with warm, sunny days.  You still go on long walks with Grandma in the mornings.  We still play outside most afternoons.  It's really nice to be able to just play outside in a hoodie without getting all bundled up.  It has gotten cooler at night, cool enough that I got out your space heater for your room.  I have to remember to set it lower than we did in MN, though, otherwise your room gets way too warm.


We did some science this month when a package of frozen steaks came with a big block of dry ice.  We spent some time making plain water and soapy water bubble.  You thought it was pretty interesting for a while, although not the several hours that Corbin did.

One of your favorite things to do right now is to take your farm animals (and cars, and insects, and whatever) and put them on the kid sized table in the living room.  You will spend an hour putting them all in the right spots.  You bring them in a show them to us and then take them back to the living room and rearrange them on the table.  It's funny to watch because I can never figure out why something goes in the spot that you choose.  To me, they just end up in random places, but you seem to have some kind of organization in mind.

You also love to watch movies.  You love the Sorcerer's Apprentice part of Fantasia.  You like the beginning of Black Beauty.  You really like the Dora DVD that we have, which you pronounce, "Dorda."  And you especially love Winnie the Pooh movies.  We have two different stuffed Pooh dolls and you carry them both around.  You carry around the stuffed Piglet doll.  You even carry around a Tigger Pez dispenser.  Pretty soon, I'll need to move the Pooh books to your room, since Corbin doesn't read them much anymore.

Dad went to China for work this month.  He was gone just over a week.  I don't think you really realized that he was gone during the week, since you mostly see him on the weekends.  I know he missed seeing you.

We had a lot of holiday visitors this month.  Grandma's sisters, Aunt Cele and Aunt Alice, came to visit.  We took them to the Botanic Garden and the Cabrillo Aquarium and the Santa Monica Pier.  You walked with them down to the nature center at the Madrona Marsh, too.  They helped us celebrate Grandpa's birthday and we even had a Christmas party with them.  We called it our first Christmas.  You had fun seeing the little Christmas tree that we put up and helping me open your presents.  Aunt Alice gave you a little stuffed duck which you liked very much and a donkey and a dog to go with your animal collection.

Then for Thanksgiving, Uncle Alex, Aunt Lena, Maria, Aunt Tabetha and our friend Ty all came over for dinner.  Aunt Lena and Maria made a delicious turkey with stuffing.  We put up Christmas lights and played games and had a very nice day.  You ate a pile of turkey, which Maria particularly enjoyed watching.

You are sleeping much better now.  We spent a week doing some sleep training with you, and now you're much better about laying yourself down and falling asleep without us in the room.  You still protest when we put you in bed, but you're usually asleep in five or ten minutes.  Although one day, instead of taking a nap, you played with your stuffed animals for an hour.  Grandma tried to take a nap, but she kept hearing you say things like, "Oh, no!" and "What's that?" and "I see you!"  Those are some of the new words you've started saying lately.  You've also started saying, "No!"and, "here."  What really surprised us was when you started counting with us (up to 12) and when you started singing the alphabet song with us.

We were not surprised at the singing part.  You love listening to music and you like it when we sing to you.  Sometimes that's the only way I can get you to hold still while I change your diaper.  You like to dance around with us to any music, but you really love one CD with dance versions of all the usual nursery rhymes.  That CD also has the Chicken Dance, which Grandma and I danced for you once.  Now when that track starts, you say, "Chicken!  Chicken!" and start trying to flap your little wings.  One of these days, I'm going to get video of it, because if that isn't the perfect blackmail material, I don't know what is.

Love,
Mom

Playing with dry ice:

Playing with Scout:

At the Botanic Garden with Grandpa:

Playing in the sand box:

Miriam's Table of Toys:

Watching movies:

At the Cabrillo Aquarium:

4.9 or, Enter the Holidays

Dear Corbin,

The holidays have begun!  You can only really tell because of the lawn decorations.  People seem to get very into decorating their houses and yards for each holiday.  The weather continues to be like a warm Midwestern Autumn, which is so nice for you and Miriam.  We can still play outside all afternoon.  You even put shorts on one day.

Our month started off slowly, but ended up quite busy.  You had your last gymnastics and swimming lessons for that session.  We were all happy to be done with swimming lessons.  We might pick them up next summer when it gets warm again.  The whole family was invited to the last gymnastics lesson, so that you could demonstrate all of the things you had learned.  Man, you really like that class.  It's understandable--you got to run and jump and climb, all the things you love to do.  So when the registration started for the next session, we signed you right up for the session that starts in January.

We did some science this month.  An order of frozen steaks came with a big block of dry ice, so we spent a whole afternoon watching it bubble in both plain water and soapy water.  I thought it would be fun for a little while, but you kept it going for a couple of hours.

Dad went on his first work trip to China.  He was gone for just over a week.  You and I drove him up to the airport, so that you could say goodbye to him and see the planes, but you fell asleep on the way there.  I tried to wake you up at the airport, but you slept all the way back home.  A couple of nights when he was gone, you asked if he would come and snuggle you for a while.  I had to remind you that he was around the world from us.  It didn't seem to distress you, but it made me a little sad.

That same week, Grandma's sisters, Aunt Alice and Aunt Cele, came to visit.  It was fun to see them.  We took them to the Botanic Gardens and the Cabrillo Aquarium and the Santa Monica Pier.  We even had a little Christmas celebration with them.  We called it our First Christmas.  You helped Grandma decorate the little fake tree that we have.  You and Miriam and I made gift bags out of brown lunch bags and Christmas stickers.  I gave everyone little cloth animal ornaments.  Grandma gave you a set of card games aimed at children, so we've been playing some Old Maid and even some Hearts, which I think is fun.

Grandpa's birthday was this month, so we got to have birthday treats for him.  You and Miriam gave him a DVD of Cars, which you all enjoyed watching.  And we gave him the cookbook from a cooking show that he's discovered, so we'll have to go through and find some recipes to make.

Speaking of recipes, the month ended with Thanksgiving.  Aunt Lena and her mom Maria made a delicious turkey and stuffing.  You helped Grandpa, Dad and Uncle Alex put up some Christmas lights on the front of the house.  Aunt Tabetha came over with her friend Ty and we made them play Old Maid with us.  It was a very nice day, and a nice way to end the month.

Love,
Mom
 

Fun with dry ice:

1st Christmas tree:

At Cabrillo Aquarium:

 

 

At the South Coast Botanic Garden:

Growing a seed you brought home from school:

My favorite boy: