November & December 2011

Despite what it looks like, that's not cheese he's selling...

Well, the past 4 weeks have been pure insanity. Mimi and Pop and Aunt Mary came to visit for Thanksgiving and although our family was just getting over bronchitis - we all rallied thanks to steroid & Vitamin B shots and some major meds and had a blast! EH helped Mimi and myself cook quite a bit. He peeled carrots and stuffed the turkey. He also helped make pumpkin and pecan pie. He continuously asked when we were having our "feast!" Of course, when we got to the table, he barely ate anything.

Edmund took his family to the Garage, which used to be a parking garage from the 30's & 40's and now serves as individual display cases for the current owner's humongous collection of antiques.

Here's EH (bottom left) at Hampton Crago's birthday party at the zoo. Please note how he's sitting and listening to the presenter like he's supposed to - all Norman Rockwell-like.

Now take note of KiKi who's walking aimlessly around the room and who would eventually stand next to the presenter - always front & center. Could you ask for two completely different kids?

Caty Van standing (perilously) in the wagon with one of Emily's very good girlfriends - Elizabeth Lee. We're very thankful they're in walking distance!

Caty Van at her music class. Let me tell you this, I'm already buying my 2028 Lilith Fair tickets because girl's got rhythm. I'm hopping on that money train like Billy Ray (without all the drama of course)!

Caty Van is easily one of the worst food processors of all time - hands down. There are vultures who have nicer eating etiquette than CV. Since she won't drink milk, we have to encourage other dairy friendly foods. Her favorite is Greek Yogurt, and she'll eat an entire adult-size container. 40% ends up in her tummy. (EH's yogurt choice, by the way is the low calorie, fat free kind - of course).

[sigh] Before you think us bad parents, EH tricked us. He would never reach to grab the hot oven door, would never even glance at our breakable household items and never climbed up on anything. So Emily & I figured all kids were like this. As you can see, we have a liability on our hands (or one of those poltergeist things). Funny side note - the table was sticky from her aforementioned yogurt breakfast and she found it amusing to stomp in the yogurt on the table! Had to take a picture before her obvious trip to time-out.

Edmund at his Thanksgiving performance... The only one who would do the motions and knew the words - well, besides his best bud, James. I also enjoyed that the school dropped those itchy, cumbersome, politically correct and universally accepted terms like Native American. Edmund had "Indian" week, and he was an Indian boy. Not joking, they were told to sit in Indian style (vs. the "criss cross apple sauce") and they did the Indian brave war cry like we all used to do - you know...when TV was in black and white. Roll Tide.

We're obviously now in full Christmas mode. And that happened when? You guessed it. Immediately following our feast, we dove straight into Christmas ...

It was raining outside and we were desperate for an outing. Our normal plan in this situation is to head to Brookwood Mall, a lovely establishment with a parking garage and a Chick-Fil-A. That combination to a family with two under 4 is much like an all-inclusive package at Playa del Carmen for young honeymooners!

Coincidentally - on this very special night, Santa had landed. It was his second evening on the job and not a soul was in line because you know...everyone was still "digesting" their Thanksgiving meal.. EH decided to creep up to the line. He stood back (about 50 feet) and watched for about 10 minutes. Santa waved a few times and motioned him over - but sorry Santa - EH doesn't just walk over to anyone. Would Diddy do that? I don't think so.

EH and I discussed his list (which yes, he'd been working on since Halloween) and then he directed me to go dictate the list to Santa. I said, "Well, unfortunately, Santa only listens to children." *Mommy's brilliant.

Very disappointed with this news, EH decided to go a little closer with the hopes of hollering his list to him. But, finally, he side-stepped his way up to St. Nick and without making eye contact, he stood next to him and told him what he wanted: a spaceship, boots, and a remote-control robot (news to us). Seeing no one in line, Santa decided to take a little time with EH and ended up getting him to sit on his lap, discuss boots, and Dora (EH's imaginary dog). Ten minutes later - they were old pals. Now, EH loves to see Santa. He's not so eager to sit on his lap - but constantly tells Caty Van that he's not scary.

Because Caty Van is in that "Santa scares the bejeesus out of me" phase, Daddy took her to Journeys - which if you're not a mallie, is the urban shoe store at the mall. Daddy wants to get Keeks some DC Shoes SOOOO bad. They look so cool!

Note for new parents: don't even mention the holiday until about 3 days before the presents come!

Our rookie mistake created a son with a split personality between this guy:

"Yes Father-Captain! Yes Mother! Your insight is appreciated and revered!"

and this guy...



BLEGH! NO!

In other news, EH sings Christmas carols - Feliz Navidad is his favorite this year (Daddy can't quite get him into "Do they know it's Christmas") - all day long and discusses Jesus' birthday, Advent, lighting the white candle, punching out the spots on the calendar, keeping secrets about presents, and staying on the "nice list."

Speaking of which, Daddy had to call Santa the other night (when the Scrooge part of EH made a visit) and told him to put EH on the naughty list after being so rude to everyone. EH redeemed himself and Daddy called Santa back. EH was proud to move back to the nice list - and has obsessed with staying "nice" ever since! Nice work, Daddy! *that was the ace up my sleeve - got nothing for January.

A few fun notes - EH has LOVED getting little packages in the mail. We got ornaments, books, and even a gingerbread house from family members. We've read every book a million times, and he's shouting out lines from the Night Before Christmas and hanging the ornaments. EH shows the ornaments to everyone who stops by! We've hung up all the Christmas cards (finally sent ours out yesterday and today). Caty Van notices "Anta" everywhere we go and tonight even said, "Ho Ho Ho." She is scared to death to see a "real one" - but loves to see the blow up version! EH has suggested that we make our car look like Rudolph on numerous occasions and said any type of a "blow up thing" in his yard would be great.

Seeing as I am Jim Nance's daughter - I haven't really warmed up to either of these suggestions - but we'll see. EH is just holding off waiting for his trip to Zhi Zhi's!

Cheers from Homewood!

The Balls