November Post

Hooray for December!! It's going to be a fun one! I made this activity advent calendar envelope bunting, and I have activities planned for every.single.day--big ones on the weekends. I hope it's more fun than exhausting. Today we made coffee filter snowflakes and hung them up. They're mostly simple things like that. 

But November was fun too! 

Sweet baby Roz and the kids with their new clocks that will magically force them to sleep later. Ha. But they have been working a bit. Everett really understands the concept and only occasionally gets frustrated waiting for the light to turn green. It's hit and miss with Lydia. But any hits are days we get to sleep past 6:00 am! 

I love making these baby comparing pictures. I tend to think Roz looks a lot like Everett.  

Watching Dad shave, giant bubble time, Roz wearing a shirt Katie got her in London, and a picture Brian took of our beautiful backyard. Our neighbors had a fire (intentional fire). 

Lydia got her new teeth!! I am so pleased with them. I think they'll greatly reduce questions and unnecessary attention. They may even help her speech! And the sparkly silver lining: she hasn't figured out how to suck her fingers with the partial in!!

But back to speech, we had her final evaluation this month and she's made HUGE leaps! She's actually at age level for expressive language! She's still quite hard to understand, but that doesn't count for this particular category. We'll take it! But she is getting a lot clearer too. 

Rosalind is 4 months old. I've learned a new term that describes her perfectly: unicorn baby. She's so chill, only cries when she needs something, and she sleeps. You guys she sleeps! *I don't believe in jinxing. Jinxing is not a real thing*

She's been rolling over! Back to front all the time and occasionally front to back too. Her neck's getting so much stronger, moving right along with the developmental milestones!

I've found myself calling her "Roshy Baby" a lot lately imitating Lydia. We'll see if it sticks. Rosh? 

She puts up with Lydia who loves her and tells her she's the "best baby ever!" while simultaneously squishing her.

Everett's just slightly more careful. Don't worry, Roz. Soon you'll be able to play with them without an adult bodyguard.

A picture I got from Gion and Phil when they took Lydia on an adventure in Morro Bay. Later that evening, reading with Grandpa George. These kids have the most amazing grandparents.

All three kids watching TV together. Everett playing on the computer in his "Red Heart Man" pajamas. This is his superhero name. By the way, he's the head of a "Love League." Lydia's part of the League, and her name is "Love Girl." I'm designing some costumes in my mind. Partly to replace these pajamas that fit him well a year ago. I'm just waiting for that banana to pop. It's inevitable.

Brian had to go back to working Fridays, so I tapped in for parent participation. It's fun taking Lydia. I feel so much more relaxed bringing child #2. Plus, she's just fun!

I crocheted some slippers for myself. I joined this online craft group and they give challenges. They've been pushing me, and it's great! The advent calendar was also a challenge for this group.

Brian chopped the dead, orange pine tree down (hooray!!). I was out shopping and he sent me this picture. He got the paints out and they were painting pictures of the tree. Genius dad! A few minutes later, I get a picture of Everett's arms and entire torso painted. Of course. Of course he did that. And Lydia followed.

And Everett's letter to Santa. It says:

Dear Santa Claus,

I want a crane and a boxcar and a garbage truck and 2 circuits: one an airplane one, and two a one that has a blue light.

******

The crane he's talking about is Cranky the Crane from the Thomas Wooden Railway (boxcar included). The garbage truck is orange. I guess there's a Snap Circuit set that has an airplane and one that has a blue light.

I'm not sure how many of these things he will actually get. Snap Circuits for sure. But since he rarely plays with his train set or big trucks, I think "Santa" might be going "his" own way.

Lydia got her hair cut! We were all tired of dealing with the daily rats nests, she hates having her hair brushed. Our lovely friend Noelle (who also cuts my mane) was kind enough to come over. And Grandpa George came over to help, play Legos with Everett (who was off school for Thanksgiving break), and take some photos! 

She looks SO cute! Why did we wait so long? Brian has been pushing for it for months. He can say "I told you so" if he'd like. Totally warranted. 

Thanksgiving!! We had a lovely day hanging out with family, eating, playing games, playing train, and eating and eating. Phil and Gion made a delicious meal once again. And we were so happy Katie could be there--this time from Houston!

Katie very patiently helping Lydia with her numbers. Roz barely made a peep all day. 

We've been having a lot of fun with Cosmic Kids Yoga. She tells these fun adventure stories to get kids involved in the yoga. Everett always wants to do more when we're done. Brian was standing back watching us and said, "this is what I imagined my family would be like." 

Back to the Cisneros house to make the most of Katie's visit. Candyland and sisters in headbands.

Katie was teaching the kids some valuable skills: the selfie and the photobomb. 

Until next month! Next blog's doing to be a big one!