Anyway, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around these parts. Not so much FEELING like Christmas outside - we had rain all day today and it was 65 degrees. Yesterday I took Erin for a walk and then we went outside to swing and play on the slide. Dex went to the playground with Daddy, and was playing outside with no coat. All the snow we had is now long gone.
But we look like Christmas inside the house. So here's a few million photos from the month of December:
December 1 - helping Daddy string the lights
This one really had no interest in the lights.
Dexter made a Christmas list for Erin at school. Apparently she wants a train. And a race car.
Then he decided that I needed a list for Santa, as well. So he made me one.
If I remember right, I do believe I am asking for a monster truck. Smooshing a car. I am also asking for Santa's help with Dexter's "M's"
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care... (Please note, we are not allowed to start a fire til AFTER Christmas. Dexter worries about burning Santa.)
Erin is officially walking 100% of the time. I rarely see her crawl any more, as she is now capable of standing up in the middle of the floor, holding on to nothing. She is wearing as many winter/snow/Christmas shirts as we own.
She digs the Santa snow globe. The only other globe I got out this year was our new train snow globe from Grandma. Which broke after exactly one day. It's still cool, though. Now we have a train music box, with Santa riding on the back of it.
We have pulled out all our Christmas books, and I picked up a few extras from the library.
We brought home our tree on Dec 10, and Dexter and I decorated it on Dec 11. Dex did the lion's share of decorating. His favorite were the big red balls. He hung all the snow flakes that Nonna made. "These snow flakes are TRICKY!" he exclaimed, "They are white, and the paper they are in is white. I can't see them!"
Dex and I set up the Polar Express train. I had to put the track together as Dex couldn't quite get the pieces to push together. But Dex did the train part all by himself. Which is good, because I would have not known what to do.
Erin, surprisingly, is the bigger fan of the Polar Express. Her newest sign is "train," which she signs enthusiastically every time she is at the top of the stairs looking down at the tree.
Dex liked playing with the train for a day. And then he enjoyed video taping it for a couple days. Now he prefers to build his wooden train track over the Polar Express track and in to the Christmas tree. His official job for the holiday season is that of "train fixer" every time the train derails.
He still also very much enjoys the Christmas train (that plays Christmas music, really loudly) that we got from Ms Katie and Mr Brian.
Pretty tree this year. We've had a pretty tree every year we've gone to Pine Valley tree farm.
More ornament hanging. We had a couple casualties. One very old ornament of mine broke as Dex was just hanging on to it. And Dex took a bite out of a gingerbread ornament. We'll hope there was nothing toxic in it.
Erin, bless her, has not even tried to touch the tree. Mostly because she insists on having the train running any time she is in that room, and the train speeding by keeps her away from the tree itself.
We've had mass quantities of holiday craft things coming home from school, including this gingerbread house made from graham crackers.
Erin spends most of her time on the blue couch, with the train remote nearby, and surrounded by random assortments of whatever toys she has gathered from around the living room.
"Why does Erin blow the train whistle so much?" asks Dexter
One doesn't need much more in life than a wooden Santa and a star cup.
Maybe a tickle from Daddy. That will complete life.
When not sitting on the couch, Erin is usually walking circles around the house, with something in each hand. "What is she doing?" John asked a couple weekends ago, as she kept making passes by the open bathroom door. Who knows, who knows. Just taking a stroll.
Thursday was Pajama Polar Express Day at school. Dex was concerned that he didn't have any Polar Express pajamas, but settled for Santa PJ's instead. He took his own (library) copy of the Polar Express, and had me call his teacher before school to be sure that she knew he was bringing it and wanted her to read it.
Looking for gift ideas for Erin? Apparently a box filled with socks is a winner.
Beyond walking, Erin has increased her sign language significantly over the past few weeks. Mostly just so I can remember these for Erin's next photo book, here's a list of what she is signing:
Milk
Drink
Eat
Mama
More
Help
Yes
No
Music
Socks
Hat
Sleep
Bath
Bird
Brush Teeth
Book
Diaper
All Done
Bye bye and blow kisses
TRAIN
She also says uh-oh and Mama, and pants to mean dog, and blows a raspberry to mean horse. And she still says hi.
Not all her signs are unique. Train and sock are very similar, although train seems to get much more enthusiasm. Eat and Mama are identical signs, as are more and help. But you can usually figure things out in context. See a baby standing in front of the blue couch signing something? Likely she's not signing "more." Likely she's signing "HELP - get my ass up on this here couch RIGHT NOW before I start screaming." Not that she's impatient. Or dramatic. Or anything.
