Merry Christmas

Miss' Favorite Gift: A beautifully illustrated version of Rapunzel.

Master's Favorite Gift: $2.00 beach ball to kick around the house. "Baaaaaallllll!"

The Littles' Favorite Christmas Moment: Putting Baby Jesus in the manger on our Advent Calendar. When we announced, after breakfast, that it was time to do this, they both screamed with delight, and Miss ran in circles around the dining room table. Their excitement caught us a little bit off guard, but it made us realize that they really had been anticipating Christ this season (as much as a 3 year old and 18 month old can). Each day, we added a character or object to the nativity scene, and we finally reached *the* moment. The moment when the Baby Jesus came.

Mr. and Mrs.' Favorite Christmas Moment: See above. Kids are the best. They teach us new things every day, and they surprise us moment by moment.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Anticipating Christmas

We have had a great week, anticipating Christmas and enjoying the new sights and sounds of a new environment this year. On Wednesday, we went to the "Holidazzle" parade in Downtown Minneapolis. We positioned ourselves above the parade in the skyway, so that we could take it all in without freezing. Miss was entranced. Master was, uh, less than entranced. But, a good time was had by all, and we enjoyed the hustle and bustle of the city, just a few days before Christmas.

On Thursday, we experienced our first snowfall, which was beautiful and short-lived. The snow is expected to be completely melted by the end of the day tomorrow, ruining any chance of a white Christmas. But, we enjoyed it while it lasted, and know that more will be on the way soon. Here are some pictures of our recent adventures:Miss checks out the parade from the skyway.

Since Master wasn't thrilled with the parade, he took the opportunity to clown around with his hat. He's getting to the point where he knows when he's funny. And he loves it.

We stupidly failed to bring our stroller to the parade, so we had to hoist *heavy* Master all around town. Fun times.
Our bird's eye view.

Miss and her little snowman. The snowman now consists of nothing more than a teeny pile of mushy snow. Miss is sad, and doesn't understand *why* the snow has to melt. Ahh, the disappointments of life.

Learning to Talk

Few things are as heartwarming as listening to your child's first words. Master is using more and more words these days, and we are beginning to get more and more of a glimpse into his little mind.

His favorite word right now is "book." A while ago, Mr. Peanut started the ritual of allowing Master to choose his bedtime reading material. Each night, he carefully selects a favorite from the shelf, looks at me with a big grin, and says "Thiiiis. Thiiiiis booookk." He hands me "Owl Babies" or "Goodnight, Moon", backs himself onto my lap, and settles in for a snuggle and a read. At the conclusion of the book, he squirms from my lap, and heads straight for the bookshelf to make another selection. This process is repeated a few times, until I place him in his crib, with his little hands still wrapped around the last book we read together.

If I fail to remember that he wants to take a book to bed, he adamantly reminds me by pointing at the bookshelf and again declaring, "Thiiiis! Boooookkk!!"

Just a small thing. A tiny part of our day. But such a reason to smile. Hearing our little guy's voice. Beginning to know his favorite things, and getting to share those with him. Amazing.

Performer

From the very beginning, Miss has been a performer. She was a fun first baby, because she would happily learn and display various tricks for our entertainment. She has always been *very* (oh, and I do mean *very*) verbal, and so we could teach her to say and sing funny things at a very early age. Master, on the other hand, does not seem to be as enthralled by applause as our Miss has always been. When I ask him to show me his nose or ears, or to say certain words, he usually looks at me with disdain, as if to say "I do *not* perform on command."

Well, Miss had the opportunity to be in her element earlier this week. All of the children at the Community Bible Study I attend sang in front of all of the moms as part of a Christmas program. Mr. was able to get some time away from work, and we sat side-by-side, laughing, and shaking our heads as we watched our little performer. She was loving every minute of her opportunity to be on stage. Most of the kids in her class stood completely still, not singing, or wandered aimlessly around the stage. Miss, on the other hand, sang her heart out, and did a very sassy, dancing version of the hand motions that went along with the songs. After the performance, she walked down the aisle, passed right by me, and said "Bye, Mommy. You have fun, now."

She has been running around the house with her toy guitar, singing and reliving her moment of glory, ever since we returned from the big performance.

Next year, Master will be up front, as well. Something tells me that he will be looking for me in the audience, and that he will be thinking, "What am I? Nothing but entertainment to you people?!"

Such different personalities, in two equally sweet little monkeys.

A Haircut and A Trip to St. Paul

A tour of our weekend, in pictures:

Master had his first haircut!

He was not thrilled, but survived the experience.

This is the best 'after' picture I could come up with. Don't worry, we did not slip sedatives into that juice box, it just looks that way.

After the haircut, we went to Rice Park in downtown Saint Paul.

Miss enjoyed the statue of famous Saint Paul native, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

She enjoyed Shroeder and Lucy even more.

She did not enjoy Santa at all (look at that expression), but was fascinated by him. We got to sit in his chair, because she said, "Um, I don't think so right now," when asked if she wanted to sit on Santa's lap.

She decided to play a trumpet, like the angel, instead.

It was a good weekend. Mr. Peanut is panicked by the lack of snow on the ground this close to Christmas. I would love a white Christmas, but I have a feeling that we will have a chance to see many of them in the years to come. For now, I am enjoying the 30-ish degree temperatures, rather than the normal below-zero's they usually expect this time of year. This Californian needs time for transitioning!

Things I Never Thought I'd Have to Say

Sweetie. Honey. Please do not rub your fingers on the bottom of your shoes and then lick them. I know they taste salty. There's a lot of salt on the roads right now.

But, please. Please.

Do. Not. Lick. Your. Shoes.

I Am Doomed

No, not because Master is enamored with the Christmas tree. He is actually doing quite a good job of enjoying it without destroying it. He walks up to it, points to it, says, "Biiiiiiig. Nooooooo." And walks away. So far, so good.

Rather, I am doomed because this same little Master has officially learned to turn doorknobs and open doors. This very day, I saw him do this thing five times in a row in his sister's bedroom. He stood at the door, reached up, turned the knob, smiled, and then closed the door in order to repeat the process. He was practicing (I could tell) for future escapes from my attempts to keep him confined in one room or another. He was thinking, "Ah-ha! I've got her now. There is no stopping me. This house is all mine."

Just when those holiday treats are threatening to pack on the pounds, I will have a new reason to exercise. I will be forced to chase a laughing, squealing boy through the house, tackle him with tickles, and smother him with kisses over and over again throughout the day. I suppose that things could be worse. Let the calorie burn begin!