Our Thanksgiving

I know, I'm a week late.  Who's talking about Thanksgiving anymore?  It's Christmastime!  But I couldn't let this year's go by because we had a great trip to Mom-Mom and Papou's house.  So, by way of quick photo summary, what do you think Baby B is most thankful for this year?

A. Walks in the woods

B. Laugh out loud playtime with his grandmothers

C. Visiting the Christmas trains with Daddy and Papou

D.  Learning that he is going to be a big brother (!)

The Park

In the last year and change, I have found that finding things to do each day is one of the more difficult things about being a stay at home mom.  I've been feeling that way a lot the last couple weeks, so today it was a relief to lean on that good old-fashioned stand-by: the park.

Wait for me!

This gate may be my favorite part of the park.  Containment has become quite the challenge with these two!

They may look like they're following each other but they're about to go two separate ways and stay that way for most of our visit...

Why is the bee wet?!

Yay for me!

Couldn't be happier!

No really, couldn't be happier:)

Growing Pleasures

Baby B is going to be 22 months old this week, almost two years old!  Although he has passed many of his "first" milestones, he continues to do and say new things that characterize the lively and independent little boy he is becoming...

Like many kids, Baby B loves to hear his favorite stories read to him over and over and over (and over and over!) again.  While this gets pretty old for Hubby T and I, what doesn't get old is hearing him settle down next to us to read and say, "I like dis book" or "I like dis one."  He says it softly, almost like he's talking to himself, but it's so precious to hear this expression of what's going on in his head.  Plus, what parent's heart isn't warmed to witness their child loving reading?

Another funny habit Baby B has developed recently is answering his own questions with the answer he wants us to give.  Frequently when he makes a request we will repeat it back to him, mostly to make sure we understood it correctly.  Instead of confirming his question, he answers it!  For example:

Baby B: I want mo' cheerios.

Me: (In mock disbelief) You want more cheerios?!

Baby B: Okay!

 

He is starting to sleep with a blanket!  Most new parents these days adhere to the philosophy that you can't put your baby to sleep with anything that could smother them or cause breathing problems.  This includes crib bumpers, stuffed animals, blankets, etc.  So until recently when it's been cold we've dressed Baby B in layers and left him to his own devices in his very sparse crib.  (This may sound mean but he's honestly been completely fine.)  In the last couple weeks as it's gotten cold we decided that maybe he was ready for a blanket, because hopefully in the next year he'll learn to sleep in an actual bed!   The first couple times we put a blanket over him he giggled at us, as if the blanket was tickling him.  Most of the time he just accepts it now, although I've yet to see him embrace the warmth of a blanket the way I do on a cold night.  I'm sure he kicks it off pretty quickly but occasionally I'll walk in to check on him before I go to bed and he's still laying there, fast asleep with the blanket over his body, occasionally with his teddy bear tucked tightly under his arm.  At what age will my child not be completely adorable while fast asleep?  (Sorry, no picture for this one.  No picture is worth taking with a flash in the dark and awakening my sleeping child!)

What else is there to report on my little bundle of energy?  He's moved up to size 4 diapers (I think they only make them up to size 5...we're getting closer!), he talks enough to carry on a conversation with Hubby T over the phone during lunchtime, he wants to walk everywhere by himself (i.e. don't you dare try to strap me into a stroller!), he picks out his own Curious George book from the library every week, and every time I sit down at the piano he runs over and demands that I play "Old MacDonald Had a Farm", or in his words, "E-i-e-i" and we always sing about the chicken first.  I am so looking forward to the holidays in the coming weeks so that some of our family can see him again and share our joy in how much he's grown this year...

Election Day

The year after I graduated from college I lived with two other young women outside Washington, DC.  Every morning I carpooled with one of them to the Metro station.  This young woman was the same age as me, a Harvard graduate, and a citizen of the country of Zimbabwe. 

On Election Day that year, I got up early, went over to my polling station to vote, then came back to pick her up and head to work.  Once we were settled in the car she asked me, "What was it like?"  At first I was confused by her question.  "Well, it was like normal.  I went in, showed my ID, got my ballot and voted.  The line wasn't that long, that was nice."  As I went through this routine description, it occurred to me that my experience was anything but routine for her.  In her country, if and when they have elections, they are not free and not fair.  I suspect that while voting was a completely ordinary thing for me, it was a completely extraordinary thing for her, who could still not participate but only ask what the experience was like.

While I do have strong opinions on who I am voting for tomorrow and why (and who I am not voting for and why) I will spare you a political tirade.  We're all tired of that at this point.  What I do hope this post reminds you of is that voting is a privilege.  Please don't take it for granted.  Make time to exercise your right to vote tomorrow and be grateful that we live in the country we live in.  Even if your candidate of choice doesn't win tomorrow, this will still be the home of the free on Wednesday and I thank God for that.

Halloween

I just spent ten minutes scrolling through my Facebook feed, looking at all the pictures of my friend's kids from Halloween, and feel woefully behind.  Apparently not having a smart phone that allows me to take pictures and post them to the web instantly is leaving my poor kid in the dirt!  So, for those of you wondering what Baby B was up to for Halloween this year, I present...the cutest (and shortest) Harry Potter ever!  Thanks again to all our family members who helped me put this costume together:)

What is this?

The back of our car at our church's Trunk or Treat event last weekend

Happy Halloween from a happy boy

P.S.  A word to the wise.  If you think it's a cute idea to buy a small pumpkin to make a small jack-o-lantern because you have a small kid, be warned that the distance between your candle and the top of the pumpkin is not very much.  And if you're not careful, you will burn the top of your pumpkin, like me.  Yikes!