Thanksgiving and Santa!

We had a great Thanksgiving holiday. I was able to make an apple pie...I think the key was not committing to it ahead of time; I needed to make sure that I had the energy and that my hands weren't full running around after C. Now I have a good idea of how to make the pie even better next year.

When we were visiting Ba Ba, we went to a special brunch where C got to see Santa and build a Gingerbread House, or what he likes to call his "Candy House". He doesn't totally get Santa yet, but he is fascinated by him and is starting to ask us lots of questions. "Who da lady? (Mrs. Claus). He wants to know where Santa is right now. What he doing? He has a book where Santa's feet can be seen peeking out of a fireplace, so he knows that Santa goes down a fireplace (good thing we are moving into a house with a fireplace!). C likes looking at "Santa trees".

I have a feeling that we will be talking a lot about Santa between now and Christmas. At dinner last night when we told him that Santa brings presents, rather than just be excited, his eyes got really wide and he kept asking "Why? Why he bring presents?"

C was surprisingly focused on the candy-house making, although he definitely ate more candy than he used for decorating. I would say, "put one on the house" and then he would give us his sneaky face--the one that he usually does at bedtime when he asks for another book even though he knows that it is time to go to bed--and he says, "one for my mouth?"

Trick or Treat! Roar! Woar!

C loved being a lion for this 3rd Halloween. He started his day with a parade at school. Even though the parade didn't start until 10:00 am, he was so excited to see his teacher's in costume that he insisted on putting his costume on as soon as we got there! He perfected his roar "WOAR". Although we technically only went to our next door neighbors to trick or treat, he loved emptying our candy bowl into his pumpkin. He had his first piece of candy--a mini Three Musketeers . You can see the chocolate drool on his costume! We spent the rest of the week saying hi to the pumpkins (our neighbors Jack O' Lanterns) every night before dinner.

Quick Trip to CT

A couple of weekends ago, way before WH lost power for 8+ days, C and I took a quick trip to CT to visit Ba Ba. Even though we were only there for 24 hours, we made the most of it. C loved seeing his new favorite character--Curious George--at the library. He tried to make friends with the big girls at the playground and was not swayed in the least when they told him to go away! We went shopping and got some winter snow boots. At dinner, he serenaded his great great Aunt with songs and dances, and when asked where his Grandpa was, we would extend his arm, point, and say "RIGHT there!"

Pumpkin Time!

Despite it being an unusually warm 80 degrees, we treated this weekend like it was really October and went to the Pumpkin Farm. Ma Ma and C got ready the day before by making construction paper apple trees. C loves to pick 0ut his own pumpkin, ride the tractor, and get up close and personal to the animals. He crouches down right to there faces and then shouts, "HI BILLY GOAT! HI SHEEP!" Possibly the funniest thing that he saw was a pig digging a hole in the dirt with his snout, and then taking a bath, only to roll in the dirt right afterwards.

When C was getting in the car with Da Da, the our pumpkin managed to roll out of the car and pretty far down a hill back into the farm. The pumpkin survived without too much damage, and C thought it was hysterical.

Now we need to figure out what C is going to be for Halloween!

Happy to You! The 2nd Birthday

Earlier this month we had a great time celebrating C's 2nd birthday. On his actual birthday, I brought in cupcakes to school. While all his little friends sang "Happy Birthday", C proceeded to eat his first of two cupcakes in ONE BREATH. Well, it might have been more than one breath, but the cupcake did not leave his mouth the whole time...he held it to his mouth and kept pushing it in!

That weekend we had a Sesame party at our house. C loved his cake, and ate Elmo at the party, and Bert later in the week. He gave Ernie to one of this little friends. C loved the balloons, presents, and especially all of the family and friends that came to celebrate. Mama and Dada gave him a big boy bike. He likes to tell us which way to go down the street, and gets a little frustrated with us when we suggest a different path!

After the party, C had a special week with his Mimi. He had such a good time with her here that he is already talking about when he gets to go to her house.

Museum, Aquarium, Rodeo, and Big Boy Bed

C has had a busy couple of weeks. I took him to the Boston Children's' Museum. Being a bargain shopper and someone that tries to make the most of my Fridays at home, I was determined to get into a museum on a free Friday. (We tried a smaller one a couple of weeks before and it was a disaster day for me...we never got it...even though C still thought it was "fun"). This time we got in and had a great time. The top photo was right after a much older kid soaked him at the water table. He really was shocked, but managed to smile moments later. The only downside of the day was that right as we were leaving, he tripped on his feet and fell on his face. It was only a small cut on his lip, but we still made a visit to their first aid room.

The next weekend he went with his Dad and our good friends to the New England Aquarium. He loved looking at the fish and splashing in the touch tank, but he didn't actually like touching the fish. He got a stamp on his hand at admission (and now at home he likes to put little pieces of masking tape on his hand and our hands so we all get stamps).

Yesterday his school had a little "rodeo" fair. Their were two ponies that you could ride, but C was not interested. He pet them but would not ride them. He preferred to rock out to the music and point out the two guitars, and follow around his little friend. M and I still managed to enjoy the rodeo even though we had a traumatic week with daycare. Through a big fluke (that will NEVER happen again), the playground gate wasn't locked properly, so C managed to walk out and follow the geese for a couple of steps. Having your kid make a break for it at school is not what you expect for an almost 2-year old!

Finally, after weeks in the making, we got C into his big boy Elmo bed. Every little step we did he noticed immediately. Big bed OUT! Big boy bed for C! Elmo bed! At M's great suggestion, we tried the bed during nap time today. It was a LONG 90 minutes of putting him down, closing the door, hearing the chaos ensue, and then putting him back down. We could hardly blame him, besides it being someplace new to sleep, this is the first time he had free reign of his room and access to a bookcase of his favorites. But I am amazed to say (and don't want to jinx it!) that C went down to bed almost immediately tonight. I had to risk it a take a photo!

It is funny to note that that he is sleeping next to his best buddy Ernie. At the "rodeo" one of his teachers asked me if there was someone in our family named something like "Arnie?" When I asked why, he said that when C gets upset at school he asks for Ma Ma, then Da Da, then Ernie. No wonder we are having a Sesame party this year!

See You Ah Da Beach

C had a great couple of says that "da beach" with Ba Ba and Aunt Kate. He liked to go for walks with Ma Ma, go "up and down" in the pool with Da Da, go in the ocean with Aunt Kate, and play "shark" with Ba Ba in the pool. He had a fun time scaring Ba Ba and Aunt Kate with a crab leg....EWwww! This is the first time that C said the word "Grandpa"...he would say "Grandpa's room" but if you ask him who sleeps in Grandpa's room, he says "Ba Ba." C used the excuse "I'm too big" when he didn't want to go in the pool, but he always changed his mind once we all joined him. He hit the beach a 7:00 am (when all the other kids were "sleeping"). During the early morning when the beach was empty, he took his time collecting shells and rocks. At the end of the day when he was overtired and worn out, he relaxed by watching the "frog song" on the computer (Kermit singing "It's Not Easy Being Green").

He definitely liked being a beach boy. When we got back home, he would pick up his play phone and "call" people, saying, " Hi, see you ah da beach, bye bye."

4th of July Down South

We had a great week long trip to New Orleans. C had a fun time swimming in "Aunt a Lou's" pool and playing with his cousins, particularly singing and dancing! He saw dad catch two little fish. We went blueberry picking, which C loved once he realized he could eat as he went along. He tried to dive into our stash as soon as we brought them home. We spent an afternoon at the Children's Museum, where he rode a bike, drove a police car, and spent the most time trying to serve us food in the "cafe". It was hysterical to see him have no fear, elbowing his way past 3rd and 4th graders to get his utensils into the serving trays. He cleared some of the adults' tables a little earlier than they were expecting. He was determined to serve us a pineapple on a plate, but it kept rolling off. He must have dropped it five times, but he did not give up...we eventually got that pineapple! C loves to be a Mimi's house. He loved riding his "car" on the sidewalk and going for walks. His new favorite game was hiding in Mimi's closet. We knew that C would miss his Mimi, so we brought home a special book that she recorded so we can hear her tell stories at our house. He loves the book, except he is surprised when she doesn't sing certain songs to him!