All Matty Wants for Christmas

Matty is at the age where he is very vocal about what he wants for Christmas.  His response has been unwavering for at least 2 months.  If you ask him, he'll give you the same answer.  There is exactly 1 item on his list for Santa:  Switch & Go Transform Dino--the big red, T-Rex!!  (Pictured below--the giant one behind all the other small dinos). 

One day I asked if he was sure there wasn't anything else he wanted for Christmas??  He thought it over and said maybe a doctor's kit and a Big Boots toy (a new Matchbox line that comes with a vehicle and a guy with enormous boots--the figure always lands on his feet; kind of like weebles for boys?)

Fingers crossed Santa comes through.... :-)

All Juliet Wants for Christmas

What does Juliet want for Christmas?  I'm not sure!!  :-)  She hasn't really told us, but hopefully Santa can think of some things that she would like to play with.  Since her favorite reponse is "Nooooo", even asking her if she wants something doesn't usually get an accurate answer. 

If I had to guess, I think Juliet would love a new dollie and dollie stroller, plus maybe a new train (she LOVES playing with Matty's trains). 

Can't wait to see what Santa brings for Juliet!!

Aaa-choo! Sick for the Holidays?

The kids have been fighting a nasty illness since last weekend.  They were both feeling woefully under the weather and having a hard time kicking it.  A trip to the doctor revealed that Juliet had a double ear infection and Matty had a sinus infection.  Miracle antibiotics to the rescue! Now that they are on the medicine, they seem much better and are already fighting with each other again.  Hopefully they will be back to 100% for all the Christmas festivities!

Christmas Bonnet

Who says Easter is the only holiday where you get to wear a special hat?  Juliet and Matty both have special Christmas hats this year.  Why?  Because they are just too cute to pass up!  (Obviously referring to both the children and the hats.) 

Here Juliet is taking a lovely December stroll in her Christmas best and hat. 

The Facts of Life

We love Matty.  He's hilarious and energetic and always keeping us on our toes.  The other day, he took all of the couch cushions off and piled them into the center of the room.  Then, he did a perfect full flip off the couch onto the cushions.  <That display of acrobatics was followed by a lecture of why we aren't allowed to do that anymore.>

He laughs a big belly laugh whenever he sees or hears something he finds super funny--top on his list is potty humor. 

We have been in that stage for awhile now where everything is questioned and punctuated with a "why?" 

Matty's latest line of questioning took me completely by surprise.  I wasn't at all ready for this subject and thought we had a little more time, but no luck.  He also has been persistent and thoughtful, coming up with new questions each day.  The topic?  How are babies made/born?  I have no idea what brought this topic up, but it's his favorite line of questioning lately. 

I thought the best approach would be to keep the explanation simple. He countered by asking question after question.   

Some of Matty's follow up questions:
" (Pointing to Mommy's belly) Where is the hole that the baby comes out of?"
"Like a craft?" (Follow up question when I told him that a Mommy and a Daddy make a baby together)

My favorite may be when Matty decided to mime being in Mommy's belly (all curled up on the couch), then jumped up and said "Hello World!" as he pretended to be born.  

Tree Lighting

Has it really been a week since I updated the blog?  Yikes!  I'm falling down on the job!  Let's try to get back on track. Lots of holly, jolly, Christmas merriment abounds.  First up--decorating the tree!  The kids helped put the ornaments on, Matty especially was doing a great job.  Juliet looks for every opportunity to remove ornaments from the tree.  It's been a fun game, but one she's losing interest in, so fingers crossed we don't find anymore hidden caches of ornaments among the toys. 

Seriously, time to sit down and smile!

And now...the "normal" cousin picture!

Cousin Craziness

After dinner, we wanted to take a picture of the cousins.  I think they may have been a little hyped up on sugar and excitement.  Since they were being silly, I told them to all stand on their heads for the picture--this was the result:

Aunt Jenny Time

Hanging out with Aunt Jenny and reading the black Friday ads while the turkey is roasting. 

4 Turkeys

Family Photo!

Look at that bird--our 26 lb turkey--yum!  Too bad I didn't watch Top Chef before Thanksgiving--I didn't know that you were supposed to put at least 3 lbs of butter under the skin of the turkey.  A tip to try for next year. :-)

Thanksgiving Best

Matty and Juliet were looking sharp on Thanksgiving.  They were waiting patiently for our company to arrive ALL DAY!  :-)

Happy Thanksgiving

Dancing Queen

Juliet LOVES to dance.  Anytime my cell phone rings or she hears a commercial or any type of music at all--she dances!  (In this video, it's a Thomas the Train book that plays the songs.) It's hard not to smile when she is cutting a rug.

At first, she got distracted by the camera, but she quickly got her groove back...

The Mythical Unicorn

Yesterday, I was shocked to discover the mythical unicorn in our house.  Well, as close as we can get to a mythical creature--the napping Matty!  Instead of taking a nap, he takes a "rest" in his room, but I can't remember the last time he napped!  He gets to play quietly on the floor of his room, but yesterday I found him sound asleep!

Potty Success and Fail

It's been an interesting week for Juliet and the potty:

POTTY SUCCESS!
On Saturday, November 10th, Juliet stood up at dinner and started saying "poop! Poop!"  Well, we let her get down off her chair and she ran over to the bathroom.  I put her on the potty and she sat there and peed!!  I couldn't believe it!  It hasn't been repeated since, but she certainly seems to be getting interested in potty training.  Of course, she does this the day I had purchased two jumbo boxes of diapers!

POTTY FAIL
I usually keep the bathroom doors closed in our house.  When I forget or someone leaves it open, it's a safe bet to assume that Juliet will find her way into the bathroom and close the door behind her, waiting for someone to find her.  She is also a huge fan of sticking her hands in the potty.  Oh joy.  Today, I was finishing up my work and had my cell phone next to my laptop.  Juliet picked up my phone, wandered into the open bathroom, closed the door, and proceeded to dunk my cellphone in the toilet.  (Not toss, dunk while still holding it in her hand.).  My phone is currently in a bag of rice trying to dry out.  I'll let you know if it survived.

What is Matty doing in the pack n play without a shirt on?  I have no idea!  He enjoys jumping in and out of the pack n play these days.  Clearly, I need to put it away again! I dug up an old picture of Matty in the pack n play, too--he's definitely growing and growing!

Matty in October 2012 at 3 3/4

Matty in October 2009 at 9 months

Is that a Cooler?

I guess this post supports the argument that a child enjoys playing with the box a toy came in rather than the actual toy most of the time.  Juliet decided to chill out (get it??) in the small cooler this morning.  Matty was more than happy to grab the strap and pull her around the house.  They had a blast.  :-)

New Car Seat

Matty and Juliet were both getting a little big for their carseats, so it was time to move up to the next level.  Juliet finally outgrew the infant car seat at 18 months (at a little over 20 lbs and 31 inches -- infant seat was rated for 30 lbs, 30 inches).  Matty has been growing taller and taller and was ready for his next seat.  As I was getting ready to put Matty's big boy booster seat in the cars, the kids decided to try them out.  They both approved!

Flight Home

The flight home was spectacular.  Juliet slept almost the entire way and Matty played on the iPad the whole way--videos, games, etc.  It was pretty stress-free for all!

Trick or Treat

Ryan, Matty, Brendan, and Juliet getting ready to collect some candy.

 Matty racing on to the next house!  His costume had one drawback--he couldn't reach his hands because the costume was too wide, so he was like a raptor with these tiny little arms sticking out.  If someone let him choose a piece of candy, he needed to hand it to someone else to put it in his pumpkin!

 Juliet was immediately thrilled with trick or treating when she started getting all kinds of yummy treats.  She was very happy! 

 One of the few moments where Juliet was holding Mommy's hand.  She usually would shun Mommy in favor of cool Aunt Jenny.

 Close Up!

Halloween!

With the craziness of Hurricane Sandy, Halloween was cancelled postponed until November 5th.  Of course we had to put on the costumes and go trick or treating through the neighborhood!! 

And the big reveal....

Juliet was an Elephant!

 Matty was a robot!

 <Matty's costume lit up with some cool flashing LED lights, but you can't see it in the picture.  I was pretty happy with how his costume turned out and he really enjoyed wearing it!>

Hurricane Sandy

Up until today, our blog has been coasting along posting all the updates I had queued up before the hurricane hit.  Between all of our "Halloween Fail" costume pics and our trip out to Colorado, we had lots of blog fodder.  When Hurricane Sandy roared it's ugly head (or eye?) and wreaked havoc across the state of New Jersey, we were without power for 5 days.  We were extremely lucky not to have any damage to the house, no trees fell, nothing but the inconvenience of living life like a Mennonite for a little while.  Luckily, Brian had bought a generator a few months ago, so we were able to keep the fridge cold, the electronics charged, and the basement dry.  Matty and Juliet were great and didn't seem to notice or mind to much that we didn't have any electricity.  We read lots of books, cleaned the house and the yard, and ate lots of snacks.  Trying to make the most of the daylight, we got into a good routine--dinner at 4pm, bathtime at 5pm, and bedtime at 7! 

We were very excited to have power back on Friday, but then the snowstorm came on Wednesday and we lost power again for about 12 hours--not too bad!

The biggest problem without electricity was that it was getting a bit cold...

Rocky Mountains

At a park with a great view of the Rocky Mountains

Babbling Brook

Juliet and Daddy looking at the pretty babbling brook...

Loveland Pass Comparison

Here we are at Loveland Pass (Elevation ~ 12,000 feet) this year -- 2012 and 2 years ago--2010.

Juliet is in both pictures, but she's nice and warm in Mommy's belly in 2010:

October 2012

September 2010

Loveland Pass

We crossed over Loveland Pass-- Elevation 12,000 feet.  Brrrrr--was it chilly!!!