Aunt Alice and Aunt Cele came for a visit, which I think was more lovely for us than for them, since they were coming from snowy Michigan and then it rained almost the whole time they were here. They did take you for a couple of walks around the neighborhood. Once they found a neighbor giving away plants, so you all brought home a bunch of succulents for the backyard. They also brought some Christmas presents, so we got to have a third Christmas. Aunt Alice gave Corbin a little monster that makes funny noises, which you promptly adopted as yours instead. She said, "I didn't know she liked monsters!" which we thought was funny.
You got new car seats this month, not because you hit any growth milestone but because we got sick of switching the seats out of the big van. They have built in cup holders, which you like to prop your feet in. Unless there is music playing, in which case you'll often tell me, "My feet are dancing!" as you kick them in the air.
You became part of a clinical trial this month, for a researcher here at my work. They needed blood samples from healthy children to help develop a test for appendicitis. I had to convince Corbin, but I just signed you up without asking you, which wasn't very democratic of me, I suppose. It was twice as traumatic for you: they had to try on both arms because you're so skinny. But the second one worked, and you got your reward, a $25 gift card. I thought you would have to share one with Corbin, but instead you got your own. So the next Saturday, we went to the toy store, and you got to pick out a toy to buy. You actually got two, but you stayed within your budget. You found a little plush dragon toy, and then you found a huge T-Rex that you love. It's become the Mommy T-Rex to your other dinosaurs. You even brought her with you to Target the other day.
You actually had two doctor visits this month, because you came down with roseola virus. Corbin had the same thing, when he was younger, but we took you in anyway. It was funny, actually, because we found our pediatrician again. We had seen her in Torrance, and then she moved to a Long Beach clinic location, and now we're in Long Beach, too. It was a nice discovery when I saw her name pop up on their website. She was happy to see us, too, and happy to tell me that you were perfectly healthy and didn't need any medication. Roseola goes away on its own, so you spent most of a week being kind of lethargic and not sleeping well, and then you were fine.
You and I went to the hardware store one Saturday and bought almost everything on our list, including two fruit trees. We had gone to dinner at a neighbor's house, Dave and Elena. Their daughter, Thalia, is six and in Kindergarten at Los Cerritos. They sent us home with a couple of lemons from their lemon tree, and Dad decided that we should have some fruit trees, too. So you helped me choose a lemon tree and an orange tree, and some planters which will eventually have milkweed in them. We had to replant some of the backyard to make space for the new trees, but I think they'll work out nicely. And hopefully we'll have some fruit in the future.
Dad and I took little second honeymoon trip this month. We drove up to the Humboldt Redwood State Park and did some hiking in the redwood forests. It was great--it was nice to be in nature and smell the woods and spend some time away. You didn't seem to miss us as much as Corbin did; at least you wanted to talk to us on the phone. Your bedtime routine suffered a little bit, since Grandpa isn't as strict as I am about making you fall asleep without someone else in your room. But otherwise, you seemed to survive our absence just fine. When you're older, we're definitely going to take you up there. It's an amazing part of the country, and a unique part of the world. The world has been changed by human activity for a very, very long time. It's valuable to have a view of somewhere that those changes have been held at bay. When you have been in a truly old forest, you have a much better understanding of why "the forest" was such a different concept for people thousands of years ago. But mostly it's just good to get out of the city, and out of the office. Although, if you keep on with this love of dinosaurs, your "office" will probably be some dig in Patagonia, and your vacations will be to big cities, instead. As long as one of those cities is where Dad and I live, I'll be okay with that.
Love,
Mom
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