Christmas

A few things we tried this year: kid gifts to each other, Christmas dinner was one selection by a family member cooked together, gift advent calendar, "snow globe" advent calendar, Christmas tree lights on all night in their rooms Christmas Eve, let them play with the toys as they open them.

Some funny stuff:  T had picked out a stuffed cat for "W", but then informed Papa that he needed to get "one for T and one for W".  When they woke up, they couldn't wait to open their gifts to each other.  W seemed genuinely excited for her brothers to open their gifts.  T seemed genuinely excited to open his stuffed animal cat toys.  He did pick out a perfect gift for E.  A stuffed owl that E loves.

The second most popular item was a grandma gift I would have never thought of.  Keyboards.  They put their stuffed cats in front of it and the cats "play the piano"  These keyboards have 15 different songs.  I think they like them most for these songs.  Like having their first ipod I guess.  Usually I'm the one that controls the radio in the car and I really don't play music for them electronically during the day.

T is finally big enough to play Legos.  I think J has been waiting for this since the day we got married.  He put Legos on our wedding registry and one of his buddies got it for him.  When he found out that T and I started putting the first one together, he was a little disappointed and asked T if he could do it with him the next day.  No problem Papa!

E really liked all the new books.  We got a bunch of new books for them from Grandma in the Attic.  E seems to know they are new.  Even though they are not board books, he enjoys looking at them.  I have seen him several times get just the new ones from the shelf and peruse them while I am cooking or something.  Oh yeah.  E totally knows how to say the titles of his favorite books.  His language skills still amaze me.  He is even a little bilingual.  Mina's favorite (and mine) is how he says naranja.  He can't get the consenants very well, but he definitely has the vowel and the accent correct. 

We went to see the model train exhibit at a nearby museum.  All of our favorite train had real steam coming out like a real steamie!  Although the trains that were the smallest scaled ones were almost the top of W's list of the best.

Getting his music going before helping with cooking his part of dinner at Christmas

They were most excited to open the gifts they have for each other

This is why.  twin cats to play with

Watching the Grandam An movie.  Even E is enthralled

Boys looking at train closely

Making a fire

Using his new gift well

helping mommy make cinnamon rools

christmas with preschoolers

I was telling a few friends some stories and realized how silly some of the stuff is that my kids do. 

Here is the story of the green pickle.  My mom bought me a green pickle ornament years ago to hide on the tree.  I read the tiny paper that describes the tradition and T and W thought it was a great idea.  Hide the pickle ornament and find it.  Over and over.  They "hide" it up high in the tree, but to me it is front and center and eye level. 

I finally got irritated at how much they were playing in the tree and moving ornaments around that I told them no more green pickle.  W's solution?  Cut one out of green paper.  No problem Mom.  And she even made a miniature pickle to hide on her miniature tree. 

E takes ornaments off the tree.  He knows he is not supposed to.  Just like how he knows he is not supposed to take the heater vents off the heaters.  How do I know?  Because I can hear him saying "No no!" in his cute E voice as he is in the act.  He does the same thing when he is ripping jewels off the crown W made or taking thumb tacks off her bulletin board.  It is so hard to be destructive when you tell on yourself.


T and W were balancing on a retaining wall at the park and pretending to be trains, choo chooing and all.  So that is exactly what E did, too.  They call him Percy because E has a green jacket now and Percy is a little engine just like E.  If I took him off the wall, he would ask to get up and say "balance?"

T has figured out, finally, how to pump on a swing.  He was properly motivated the other night when I said pick the last thing.  He picked swings and I told him I would give him one push.  And he was swinging away for quite some time.

E also mimics T at play in crawling down the playground stairs like a cat, going down the slide like a cat, walking around the house with his huge fuzzy over his head with "hair" like T, jumping around like the kids, etc.

T invented a new game called hair cut.  He folds his baby blanket up so he can balance it on his head.  That is when he is a girl cat, but when his long hair gets in the way, he runs off into his room and gives himself a haircut, in which he takes off the blanket and then can play freely again.  E likes to do the same game.

Another random funny E story.  There I was.  Trying to sneak some chocolate as I was making dinner.  I had a few chocolate candies when E came over asking for me to read him a book.  He obviously smelled my breath and recognized it as chocolate from his morning fix.  More on that later.  He looks at me, opens his mouth, says aahh, and peers into my mouth, inspecting it for chocolate.  He doesn't see anything so he does it again. 

I am creating chocolate addicts, but oh well.  We can all be addicts together I guess.  One thing I remember as a kid being so much fun is the advent calendar.  I just loved getting a chocolate everyday.   But I wanted an advent calendar that focused on the season, not on the materialistic side as much.  So I got boxes and put candies in them with papers of stuff about giving gifts to Christ.  Well.  I don't know.  The chocolate wins every time.  They are getting up earlier now.  W gets up and gets dressed, makes her bed, etc very quickly.  She can't wait to open the box.  E cries with huge tears from the time we get the basket down until either W or T finds the right number and opens it.  They are a little hard to open.  T got desperate one day and ripped open the bottom.  He is in quite a tizzy.  And of course they pick theirs first, then the next oldest child and E gets his last.  Quite a time these mornings.

It happens to be that this last week before christmast that we are doing school is my week to teach.  Good thing it is fun because I sure am getting absolutely nothing done for Christmas.  But they set it up so we have passports and they visit different countries and learn different traditions.  It is sooooo much fun!  We have "been" to Sweden, Israel, Germany, London, Mexico and maybe one other.  It seems that the Christmas traditions have all be incorporated here in America.  I don't know if that is true, but it sure is fun to see. 

T ground a whole bunch of wheat one day.  Probably about 2 cups.  That takes a lot of dedication.  He put his water bottle and the rest of his snack on the window sill for his breaks from grinding.  When he finished his snack, he wasn't sure what to do because he might get hungry again.  Cracks me up.

T also was so considerate of his pre school friends.  One of them didn't come today because she was sick.  He said he missed her.  He was already making a card for her due to the gift exchange next time, but he really wanted her to know she was missed.  He also knows the favorite color of another kid.  Pink and green because that was what was on her bday cake 2 months ago.  Good observation and memory.

W gathered up a bunch of toys and spread them out very nicely so E could see and play with them all.  She was so cute about paying attention to his most favorites.  So thoughtful!

J offered to do popcorn chains and watch a movie with the kids.  Sounded like a great idea.  But I forgot that fine motor activities for boys at the end of the day is not a good idea.  j was disappointed and said it was a bust.

I think having small kids go shopping for gifts might be a bust.  I might have to wait until they get the gimmies for it to be meaningful and a useful practice.  But it still might work out.  We will see.  W and E were with me shopping for T.  We talked about some things T likes.  W pointed out the stuff to me that she likes.  But then I was able to point out some ideas for the boys and she seemed to like them.  She also found some really cool toys for the boys that they won't be getting this year.

J was having a similar experience.  T found something for W.  He found two, one for him and one for W.  It is something he really likes.  Then J helped him by finding something w would like, but T insisted she wanted yellow over purple.  Really. 

The Christmas party about melted my heart.  W and T were given the choice to be an angel or a shepard.  pretty obvious choice.  Lots of girl angels and boy shepards.  They sang very nicely.  I loved it.  I asked them later what their favorite part of the party was.  T: Santa.  W: getting the candy cane.

Even E says Santa really well and then laughs, smiles and gives the biggest grin ever.  W didn't want to sit on Santa's lap at all.  E didn't understand the question, just kept repeating Santa.  Until I placed him on his lap and it was all screams and frowns.  T talked W into it. He instructed Santa "one leg W, one leg T".  They are too big for poor santa to hold both of them, but he tried his best.  It was only worth it for W for the candy after. 

Their Sunbeam teacher loves Christmas and went all out.  She got all the kids in the class a mini nativity set, a mini card game, and special CTR rings.  She picked out a red one with a car on it and a white one for W.  They are some sort of bendy plastic with a bit of metal in it and they totally stay on.  T loves wearing it on his index finger.

I love how E has to have his huge fuzzy in order to read his books.  He runs to fuzzy, not mommy, if he is only mildly hurt or upset.

T does really well when he has a job to do.  He totally has a " I've got this Mom attitude".  When E had a cold, T made everyone "medicine".  Warm water with honey and lemon juice.  Wintertime lemonade.  I don't know if it works, but Mina and all of Argentina swears by it.  And I went to get E baby medicine for colds and those were the ingredients.  Whatever.  I can make my own at home.  Anyway, T made four doses of it and was so very sweet with E as he gave him his medicine.  E took it better from T anyway.

E's training of us.... the rest of the family

Rub a dub dub three kids in the tub

This was the flashlight playground walk night.  E was having so much fun running down the hills and climbing up and down the stairs.  Laughing so hard

A very cute pic of E

boys playing together

W looking at my favorite light display at the botanical gardens. The slug. The white slime lights behind the slug were twinkling.  So perfect

W angel and T shepard

W next to her friend Bella in the  center

T shepard

Here is your hidieous santa picture.  I was trying to capture it while keeping E from going off the stage.  Santa is buried in too heavy big kids

Too much excitement

E driving cars two fisted

T made a big brother flower.  W made a little baby flower.  They put them on wheels

E was lining up cars and making train noises

Fell asleep in action

The advantage of mini Christmas trees in their room.  enough light to get sleeping pics. I don't have those of these guys any more

T out for the night.  He sleeps on top of his covers.  A technique I also employed to get out of making my bed

E continues to amaze me.  He is so good at training us and we do it with pleasure.

E for some reason loves to walk around with one of W's slippers on his feet.  He gets really upset when he can't get it on, like on the wood floor. 


E also likes to brush his teeth and wash his hands like the big kids.  He even ends the toothbrushing time by hitting the toothbrush against the counter in perfect imitation. Video below

And him saying "what?!"  just like I and J both do when I call his name continues to crack me up.

E likes to kick a ball.  He can catch a ball rolling on the ground with his hands, get it in the right position and kick it to me.  He thinks it is especially funny to go through puddles.  I guess early verbal skills and ball kicking skills are hand in hand.  T and W never really thought balls were much fun.  T was so into his mop bucket and W into drawing and crafts.  But E doesn't get mop bucket.  T used to push that thing around the house for hours, driving it, parking it, etc.  E plays with the handle a little bit and splashes in the water, but after that he is done.

E was crawling around meowing just like T likes to do in play.

Since it has been cold (ie since he got home from Grandma's) T has gotten to really love wandering around the house with "kitty fur" on.  If he isn't wrapped in a blanket, T calls himself a "kitty skeleton".  Just like Papa, wandering around the nice warm house in a blanket.  I think that is why E was crawling around.

E also fake laughs to a lot of stuff T and W laugh at. 

His first word combination that I understood was "more rice".  He ate a kid bowl of eggs and a 2 kid bowls of rice with fish sauce for dinner tonight.  Then a lot of milk.  That is a lot of salt.

E figured out how to climb all the way onto countertops Dec 11.  He pushed the stool over to the counter then finally figured out which box he can flip over to make it a perfect stairway for him. 

He also decided to help me make bread for the first time while he was up so high.  Maniac that melts my heart.

I left him at someone's house without any family members with him for the first time.  I was traumatized.  I got back and she said he didn't cry at all, but stayed by the front door snuggling his blanket for.....  the first 2.5 hours I was gone.  I was gone a total of 3 hours.  The only thing that got him away from the front door was lunch.  He was sitting at the table just fine eating like a big kid.  He has been at this house before and has played fine, but always had siblings with him.  The kids that live there were trying to entice him to play with him, but he just said "no" to all their offers.  The oldest kid said he said no so cute and he was the cutest baby ever.  That absolutely sounds like my charmer child.  She said he did cry a bit, when he turned away from his fuzzy for a bit.  I hope there isn't a no blanket rule in nursery.  He can conquer the world as long as he has fuzzy.  Without it, the end has come.

We went for a flashlight walk.  It was in the low 60's for a day, so we went outside.  It was only sprinkling.  But we had to do it by flashlight since the sun sets at 4:17 pm.  With clouds, it adds even more to the darkness.  We met some dogs that had flashing lights on their collars.  E and T both liked that.

On our flashlight walk we went on the playground, splashed in tons of puddles, and threw gravel in the puddles, too.  We also went "fishing" with reeds pushed into the water.  T and W found a "spikey spooky forest", bushes as high as them devoid of leaves.  E loved running up and down the grass hills.  It was so much fun! Way better than being stuck inside all day like we have been.  Then we came home and rode bikes in the dark.  All adventures you all can't go on before dinner like we can.

E was making me laugh because I really didn't think he could balance on the curb or run up and down hills just like the big kids.  They are steep hills and his boots are really big on him still.  But he did it.  It only ended when he started screaming about how I pulled him away from throwing rocks in the puddle.  He didn't like that.  But he might have also been a bit cold since his arm inside his jacket was wet.  His jacket goes to the top of his boots and he hates his hood. 

Another thing E does to train us is read books.  He has been especially bad about this since returning from Grandma's.  And it amazes me how long he can do this.  He comes over to me or J asking to read a book.  If he doesn't have his fuzzy, he has to go find that too.  Then he backs up and sits in our lap.  And then he does it about 10-20 more times in a row if no one is fighting and I tell him no more books.  He can easily repeat this for about 20 minutes.  I still have a theory he will get languages later in life. 

We had a girls night where I invited a few people to go look at the Christmas lights at a nearby botanical garden and then come back to our place to make snowflakes and drink hot cocoa. I'm still not sure if W liked it or not but I really was impressed with how patient she was about it.  For some reason I thought it wouldn't rain.  Boy was that dumb.  It poured.  I had brought our warm gear, not our waterproof gear.  So W and I walked the other half of the trail with the paper brochures on our heads instead of hoods.  W's friend thought that was funny.  The paper got so wet, it broke at the fold and fell off of us.  W didn't mind.  She ran down the hill back to the car in the downpour saying she was a "soggy buggy just like a raincloud"

The next day J was home during E's nap and T declined a trip to the playground, so we had some real girl time anyway.

I love how T does well with important jobs.  He is so caring when it is his job to give E something to eat.  Or how well he did hanging up all the learning box school stuff on the walls.  Or fixing something.

Dec 1 week

E might be good at languages later in life.  We will see if my theory holds true.  I think he is talking way too early.  It has nothing to do with the fact that my baby is growing up too fast.

Still, it always amazes me how much amazing human growth and development is.  And this suddenly getting stuff.  E is saying all sorts of crazy stuff.  And understands plenty.  I don't think anyone outside the family could understand him, but we do.  He says chapstick, out, whooshing (as in whooshing steam when the kids pretend they are trains running up and down the hallway), points to the letter b in a book over and over with each page turn and says  the b sound, full, hot, cold, milk, dark, etc.  He also gets concepts and directions much earlier than I thought possible. 

Animals sounds are cake.  He often points to Owl (recent friend) and hoots after saying owl.  Same with after he says cat he meows, and after he says dog, he barks.  He hasn't figured out how to say some animal names yet, so he just makes the noise, like horse and sheep.  And after he says frog, he just laughs.  I guess frogs are too funny to mimic.

We were playing in the freezing cold wet outside and he was done after a 1/2 hour.  Hates gloves.  So he puts his wagon away in the garages, says inside and off and goes up the steps to go inside and take his jacket off.  Ok E!  No prob.  Sign language is for babies, right little kid? 

He also loves to put on chapstick, but can't get the lid off yet on his favorite kind.  He knows that T also loves chapstick.  So he pushes the stool over so he can open the top drawer and fishes it out.  Then he says chapstick? and offers it to T, who will then apply first to himself, and then to E.  At least four times a day.

T thinks lots of things are hilarious.  I am still used to W who usually cries at T's pushing and shoving or his jokes.  E thinks most of it is funny.  The only time he gets upset is if he "bonks".  Then he goes to his fuzzy crying "bonk, bonk".  Sometimes he will ask me for a kiss.  But most of the time the stuff that is funny to T is funny to E.

E also is the first kid of mine that entertains himself.  He was the one thank honks his own nose, instead of mommy's.  Or played peek a boo himself instead of someone else putting the blanket on and pulling it off for him.  He also finds his own belly button and tickles it, laughing mightily when it tickles. 

W is liking taking care of E or other things.  She helped me put up Christmas lights on the outdoor tree.  By the way, she likes colored lights more than clear.  Even informed me at the store when I decided to get clear ones so I didn't have to figure out which colored lights matched which ones.  She is very excited for Christmas

She tells me after a dinner she likes "guess what I am going to say after dinner mom?  I really enjoy this dinner".  I eat it up.

Her writing is improving quickly.  She asks me how to spell things and even asks if it should be lower case or upper case.  She knows them all.  Yay learning box school.  Although one day she said she didn't want to go to learning box school because she doesn't like the pledge of alligience.

She also has taken to her two wheeled pink bike more and practices riding it fast more than T.  She has started reading E books.  I think the ones she has memorized for the most part, but she likes to read them.  Good thing.  E loves to read book after book at the moment.  And I rarely resist him

He comes up to me holding a particular book and usually quoting it somehow.  He says knock knock or moo when he wants Mr Brown Can Moo.  Or saying foot for the Foot Book.  Or saying choo choo for his train books.  He seems to like trains.  Thank heavens.  That means I can pass down the toys.

T is started to understand how to create through building more.  He made an airplane, complete with a "battery " ( a long tube that the 100 glow sticks from Amazon come from) and a hole for the poop truck to empty out the throw up from all the kids using their bags from the airplane ride.  This plane is from cubes that W likes to play with.  He also pretends Owl is going to visit his "grandmother's house" and specifies how long it takes by plane or car.  He added an owl seat for him on his plane that day.

T also likes to go to the self check out lane so he can scan all the items.  I mentioned going to look at the house under construction and he got ready really fast to go on that walk.  I got out the legos thinking he would like them.  he did.  He pretended with W that it was raining legos.  Nope.  Need a few more years for the tiny legos still. 

We've been trying out some of the fun festivities.  Making gingerbread cookies.  We started out with men but then somehow got to making gingerbread cats.  T is really into playing cat at the moment.  He wraps himself up in his blanket so that his blanket creates soft cat paws.  He even wanted me to call up his friend on the phone to tell her that he likes to play cat now.  E says cat and meows a lot since he keeps hearing the word.

We also went to snowflake lane.  It is foamy snow, drummers and a dancing type show.  E liked it the most I think.  He said wow a lot and was singing and dancing in his baby backpack.  Although W and T said they liked it when we got back in the car and they would want to do it again.  I was most impressed with my hubby.  We were the second to last car accepted into the closest parking garage and he squeezed my van into a compact spot between two other cars, plus got us back before the others so we didn't add to my scratched van....hahaha!  Like I would even notice.  Then he picked the correct lane and we got back home all before 8 pm.  Wow!  E is not a fan of life sized polar bears.

We went to check out the house that grandma brought him to.  But it was much more fun when Grandma brought him.  He didn't talk about it too much today, but he did like showing us around.

We also saw a full moon.  It isn't too common in the winter to see them due to cloud cover.  I think that was my favorite show of all.

T made an airplane

Mommy and E

T worked so hard he put his water and snack on the window sill un case he got thirst and hungry.  Which he did

E's favorite spot to look at the Christmas tree

 

 

T with his "car" and "trailer"

Very carefully decorating her tree

W liked my suggestion that we make gingerbread men for their learning box school Christmas gift exchange.  They looked like each kid

T worked really really hard for this.  he was grinding wheat off and on for about a 1/2 hour.  He really wanted a taste of my bread

E's first time helping with bread

T insisting that owl wanted to help.  owl was helping by jumping into the tree branches

My snugglers

E reading his favorite train book from Grandma Anderson

E cooks owl for breakfast

W feeding E his morning green smoothie

First day of "snow globe"

Naptime!

Pulling on Papa at Snowflake lane

new jacket.  He didn't like it at first

 

thanksgiving

W decorated her own branch with the Christmas lights

She looks like she could go pro, right?

T being a fabulous little brother and pulling his big sis.  She had a blast

E also got lots of rides from his brother and had a blast too

W made most of this large star herself

T pulling his bro

It is a little cold mom

 

I love the lacy look right after a snow storm

I read a comment about how we are not honest in our online conversations.  We only share the best and none of the worst.  I agree.  I totally do not blog about personal struggles, days full of temper tantrums and the days of rain and freezing sun.  It is not uplifting to me in the slightest.  So if anyone is comparing their life to this, don't.  It is one sided on purpose.  To talk about the FUN part of having kids.

This week we went to the grocery store.  And then went again because we forgot some ingredients.  And then went again to adjust recipes to Papa's tastes.  But each time, T was so very careful and helpful.  He did a normal awesome job at pulling the grocery cart.  A few more old men noticed how good T is at helping.  It still surprises me at his skills.  I needed a few of them the other day.  I hit a parked car.  Pathetic.  Pretty sure T would not have done that had he been driving the car.

T also can be so conscious and careful with E.  I let E out of the cart and T wanted him to walk with him, so he took his hand.  Usually if I take E's hand, he protests and says he can do it himself.  But if T takes his hand, E is very content.  T also didn't think E could walk from the store to the car.  He can.  It is just usually not in straight line.  So I usually carrying E.  But my hands were a bit full, so T took it upon himself to protect his brother and carried him from the store to the car.  E didn't complain, protest or even have a face that showed he was in distress.  In fact he looked like he was the newest crowned king.

When we got to the car, T instructed W to help and the two of them hoisted E in the car.  Then T put E in his car seat.  I had no idea they were big enough.

They have been playing accident this week.  Pushing big boxes from Costco down the hall and throwing all the toys in a big pile, then crashing into the toy pile.

T has been instructing me on what to say on various topics randomly.  He tells me my parts and then waits for me to repeat them, just like a primary program.  Except it occurs any time of the day.

E has been playing train with the boxes too.  He gets his own box and pushes it around the hall behind his big brother.  He mimics his big brother a lot.  T was telling me about some spices and was pointing to his fingers, so E did the same thing a little later.

E thinks T is soooo funny!  He laughs at pretty much everything T laughs at.  He even laughs when T plays train in the dark and T turns off all the lights.  He doesn't seem to be afraid of the dark then.  It is kind of nice in that I can tell the same things are funny for each other.

W did almost all the cutting on a paper snowflake craft.  All I needed to do was to show her once and she did the rest.  I couldn't believe that.

E is saying lots. things like "CAT!" and then making the cat noise.  He also does it with owls, especially if he sees the Owl Baby book.  My mom has a faux fir lining on her hood.  Ethan was petting it and saying Meow!

T went on a walk with Grandma, who took him in a partially complete home.  Boy was he excited!!!  He was checking out all the details and then came home to tell me about the different pipes and what stage of being built. He was so, so excited.  He couldn't stop telling me about all those exciting things.

They all went puddle splashing today.  It turned into a huge mud pile, but they all had a blast and came home wet and muddy.

W wanted to make the table beautiful so she worked hard on making placemats for the table. 

They are counting down to Thanksgiving.  Purely for the Thanksgiving chocolate turkey to eat.  That definitely helps inspire a grateful heart.  I think I will have to think of something more sustainable.

Having Grandma and Grandpa leave is sad. Good thing we had a few things to distract us.  Like decorating for Christmas.  But then that started the Christmas countdown.  I admit, this year I am not really ready for Christmas to be popping up.  I feel I need more Thanksgiving.  Probably has more to do with the fact that my brain has literally been in another country.  W loved to help me with the lights.  It made it loads more fun to have company instead of decorating alone.

We really just had a blast today!  It snowed in the morning. I rushed them out the door to enjoy it because I knew iw would wrate.  I also just enjoyred listening to E say "no no" to himself, watch him do the fake laugh he has when something is funny or thinkds we should think is funny and galloping around the house.

T helped Push e up and down ever so quite.  E has sitting balance to lean forward going uphill. 

T also helped scan the items from home depot himself. And made prize presents for us all with the lights

T doesn't like walks much, but this made it better.  Later Grandma took just him to a house under construction and walked around inside of it.  He couldn't stop talking, he was so excited about all the stuff he saw

E riding in style with Grandma on a Sunday walk

W made everyone a Thanksgiving placemat

Grandpa got ready for the walk, but E needed a quick read from the Thomas book before he was ready for his walk

Creating together

E's first Din tai fung experience.  Loving it like the rest of it.  Dad was excited too

Life isn't worth living without grandma snuggles

Chocolate turkery T didn't eat all of it.  He saved the feet for later

This is W's favorite part of Thanksgiving.  She saved half of her turkey for later.  Partlybecause she wanted to enjoy it and partly because she was told she could eat only half