December, First Half

I've been considering starting to blog half way through the month, so I don't forget things that happened earlier in the month, and so the task of blogging isn't so daunting at the end of the month. 

Been considering, hadn't done it. Then Lydia started signing yesterday, and I thought, "I must blog this!!" 

She's doing "all done" and less frequently "more" and "milk." She's not entirely accurate or consistent with her signs. But she's so proud of herself!

Above: art for Everett is not limited to the paper. He really sees no reason to spare his hands, face, or clothing. And Lydia tries interpretive dance.

 This is the way she drinks now. It's not a fun little trick. It's the way it's done.

Gion bought a snowman Santa hat for Everett and reindeer antlers for Lydia. Everett was a very willing model. Lydia wanted nothing to do with strange things on her head.

My mom volunteered to ring the Salvation Army bell, so on the way to get our Christmas tree, we visited her. A little fun and entertainment during a very cold and boring shift.

Everett was VERY excited to help choose a Christmas tree. We were "those parents" who let their kid run around the tree farm like a . . . very happy kid running through Christmas trees. Pretty quickly we stopped him, though, and Brian explained that we wouldn't be choosing one of the fancy display trees. We had to choose a tree from the cheep bin. But it's still a lovely tree.

We didn't plan to get a tree on Saturday the 7th because it was supposed to be raining. It wasn't raining, so we got our tree. We also got to enjoy some awesome "rainy day" skies.

We had fun decorating the tree. We put on Elf, made some hot chocolate, and tried to protect the ornaments from Everett's crushing feet. Just kidding. Sort of. He was very excited and tried to be very helpful. Mickey in the train didn't stand a chance, though. That ornament is too tempting and too fragile to be on the tree.

A quote from Facebook: 

"Everett is hilariously bad at hide and seek and telling jokes. 'What do astronauts eat? Cheerios and milk! And nuts! Have you ever heard of nuts in space?!?'"

He loves playing hide and seek, but he often wants to hide in the same spot over and over, and he can't wait long in a new spot. But he's getting better. 

He's also learning a ridiculous amount at school. I'm not ready for my baby boy to be spelling his name!! 

Lydia's been having a lot of fun lately. I brought out the play table she got at her shower. She loves playing with it when Everett's not pushing her away. She's also started getting the biggest kick out of putting her head on pillows. Put a pillow on the floor, and she will smile and laugh laying her head on it.

I realized lately that we had put the trampoline away, so I got it out. The kids have been enjoying it. Last week, though, Lydia got on top of it and stayed there for maybe 30 minutes! I thought it was amazing and wonderful (she seemed to be enjoying herself), but then she started whining and crying, and I realized she thought she couldn't get down by herself (she can). Oops!

I had a lovely birthday this year. We started celebrating a few days early with my parents (my mom was at a conference on the 12th). Chinese food and pineapple upside down cake. On the 12th, I was wild and took a sewing class (my parents bought me a new sewing machine for my birthday!!). In the evening, Phil and Gion had us over for a little party. My dad was also able to attend. They made me eggplant parmesan and flourless chocolate cake. Yum! I guess food is an important aspect of my birthday celebrations.

Saturday the 14th, Brian and I went to Kai Lana and had a lovely sushi dinner (despite--or because of--the terrible Christian Contemporary Christmas music they were playing). Then we went to get a few groceries at Vons, JUST THE TWO OF US!! And lastly, we went to Yogurt Creations. Unfortunately, they weren't offering "Euro Tart," my flavor of choice.

Overall, I think 31 was more relaxed than 30. Although I had a lovely time turning 30, I felt pressure (all self inflicted) to be doing more (the date was 12/12/12!!). But I was largely pregnant and had a 2.5-year-old. It was not an appropriate (or comfortable) time to "party." And I don't even LIKE to "party"!

"Here's the mail it never fails. Makes me wanna wag my tail. When it comes I wanna wail: MAIL!!" That's what we sing when we get mail (it's from Blue's Clues). Here the kids are opening (eating) wonderful cards from Gretchen and Mark.

Last weekend, we went to the Cambria Christmas Market. It was very fun. Brian summed it up best as, "yep, that's a lot of lights." But it was festive (there was hot cocoa involved), and not nearly as crowded as some of the other holiday attractions in the area.

Speaking of holiday attractions, we haven't taken advantage of all the parades, Vine Street, Winter Wonderland, etc.. They're all so crowded, and at the beginning of the month, it was very cold. Maybe when the kids are older and really WANT to check these things out. We did attend the tree lighting at Sunken Gardens. And we went to the Hunters' "annual" Christmas movie night. I think that might be my favorite holiday tradition. I had so much fun, I didn't take any pictures!

And last for today. Everett had his school holiday performance last night. It was adorable. He knew all the songs and hand motions. Unfortunately, there were a lot of distractions for him during the actual performance (he was much more focused during rehearsal), but he was very cute. I was mostly relieved he didn't hurt anyone with that "wand" they gave him.

 Of course, the Grandmas and Grandpas came and were very proud of the "littlest snowflake."

After the show, we went to Roundtable to celebrate!

Until next post, which will include Christmas!!!

November Post

Well, hello December!

I guess it's time to blog about November!

It was a fun month. Looking at all these pictures, I realized I might have met my goal to decrease the number of pictures I include, but then we had Thanksgiving! And it was a lovely celebration with family visiting from nearish and far, plus it was at our house! 

Below, 3.5 is the perfect age to enjoy all the cheapo non-candy trick-or-treat treats.

It's so nice having my new camera. I can't help taking advantage of light like this. Another reason these blogs are so long! 

A couple days after Halloween we had to get Lydia (and Brian) dressed up again. Being in the Baby Bjorn was part of her costume (Baby Beorn), but we'd never felt like putting her in the carrier during the Halloween festivities.

 The cutest baby bear on the block. And always such a good sport.

She still loves eating! And she's eating almost everything now except meat, so she's becoming more and more involved in the family meal, which she loves. We all love it.

On November 5th, I went into Everett's classroom to do a craft project. It was fun. The kids seemed very proud of their creations, which was the most important thing to me. The craft took a bit more prep time than I would have liked. I'll try to cut back on my own out-of-class time commitment next time.

They were learning about monarch butterflies, that's why I designed that particular craft. A couple weeks later (not the next, postponed by a yucky stomach bug), Everett brought in an empty chrysalis from our monarchs and a couple pictures of him with the caterpillars and chrysalises.

Lydia is such an amazing little person. She's so much fun. She's so different than Everett. I mean, Everett was (and is!) amazing and fun, but in a totally different way!

She turned 9 months in November. I'm looking everywhere for her stats from her last check-up (bad mom!). She was over 19 pounds and 30 inches. Very tall!

She's such a mover! I like to imagine she's on quests. Mini Don Quixote.

She recently learned to make kisses. She won't kiss anyone. If you put skin next to her, you get open mouth. But she will kiss the air.

More and more, her sounds seem intentional. "Mama," "dada," "buh buh" for "brother," and there's even something that sounds an awful lot like "Everett."

Posted on Facebook: "Lydia's been doing this laugh/noise that reminds me of Gob Bluth talking about his three thousand dollar suit. It cracks me up."

The kids love to attend Grandpa George's puppet shows. This last time, Everett got stickers for answering questions correctly! Comprehension! 

More about Everett.

He's not taking regular naps anymore!! We made it to 3.5. That's pretty good. I'm a little nervous about what we're going to do with our extended time together, and about dealing with the grump he sometimes becomes in the evenings without a nap. But I'm also LOVING skipping the ordeal of getting him down for a nap. And it's exciting to think of the new things we can do because we won't be working around nap time (his nap time--she still needs to sleep). If you're curious, we decided to stop naps because, all of a sudden, on the days he napped, it was very hard to get him to go to sleep at night. He'd be coming out over and over until 10 pm. He'd also not been regularly napping on his days with Phil and Gion (historically, he had gone down very quickly and easily for them). And he wasn't always a grump in the evening after skipping a nap. Sometimes he is. But not always. We'll see how it goes. New adventure!

We watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I skipped the "scary boat part," so Everett became obsessed and insisted he needed to watch that part. He thought he was very brave watching it, and he hasn't had any related nightmares . . . yet! 

Posted on Facebook: "Brian just told Everett not to be like Harry Potter. 'If you need help, ask an adult!' Nerd parents."

Bath time is pretty fun lately! She can only be in there a couple minutes with her rowdy brother, but she loves it.

She can hold her own with the splashing, I tell ya. These two can soak a bathroom!

She hasn't been sleeping well. I don't know if it's illness (she had some bronchitis a couple weeks ago) or development. But this mama is ti-red! She's so cute, though. I almost (ALMOST!) don't mind the late night/early morning cuddles.

Sometimes she doesn't want to cuddle, though. She cries inconsolibly and doesn't want to nurse, rock, or be bounced. What I've found works, watching Beyonce and Lady Gaga videos. Seriously. 

On to Thanksgiving!

Brian was crazy ambitious and volunteered to host. He did a great job organizing and cooking. And our family all pitched in with the food (and plates and chairs and champagne flutes).

We were so lucky to have Aunt Sue and Cousin Bob visiting. Sue from Boulder, Colorado and Bob from Alamo, CA. It made the occasion even more special.

 Playing Go Fish with his Grandmas. These kids are surrounded by love and fun.

Brian "being observed" by Phil the "master chef." Above, Aunt Sue recovers from having her earring yanked on.

I liked these two pictures above for showing the room a bit. Adults gathered around chatting. 

 Get ready for too much Lydia cuteness:

 She can't get enough of Grandpa George's beard.

Bob had a lot of fun with Lydia (and vice versa). He learned what we already knew. She's such a kick! Not even one year, and she has such a big personality. A big, joyful personality. 

Getting to use our (relatively) new table with all three leaves! Eight foot long table!! Worked perfectly.

I tried to get some good shots of the kids with their grandparents. It was a little late in the evening for cooperation.

 The wall hanging Everett made for us at preschool. Above, Lydia and Bob making noise.

Aunt Sue waited until the end of the evening to get out her iPad, knowing the kids would be immediately entranced.

Next month should be at least as fun! And by fun I mean looooooong! Christmas ho!!