Holiday Catch Up
So, playing catch up here.Thanksgiving went great. The kids traveled well on the plane, although Nick generally cries a bit on the descent. They slept during most of the red eye flight. Of course, that meant that they were awake shortly after we got settled in our hotel room. Paul took them down to the lobby around 4 am and let them run around and make friends with the night staff. Then he came up for a nap and Susan did the same.
The kids loved the hotel. We had huge windows overlooking the city, which we liked, and the freeway, which they liked. There was an indoor pool (and a gym, which was great for our early morning workouts) and buffet breakfasts, which are Lux’s favorite.
Nick stayed with Aunt Danielle and Gina while Lux, Paul and Susan went to Big Game. He apparently enjoyed himself and managed to escape during a diaper change and pee on Danielle’s carpet. Lux enjoyed herself and said her first word in Spanish “vamanos!” when we weren’t exploring the tailgates fast enough. We were impressed until we realized she was just quoting Dora the Explorer. She looked really cute in her cheerleader outfit and fell asleep about 3/4 of the way into our fabulous victory.
We had a great time celebrating birthdays with a brunch at Danielle’s where Lux and Nick got to play with Hera. She was very sweet to Nick and will make a great big sister.
The drive south was a bit long, but the kids did pretty well. We had to turn Nick’s car seat around to let him watch videos with Lux, and that helped, but the last very trafficky few miles into the Palisades were pretty tough for him. An exciting game of peekaboo helped him somewhat.
Nick and Lux loved being at Grandad and Janie’s house. Lux was really excited because she had picked out a gingerbread man toy for his dogs and had been waiting to give it to them for weeks. We weren’t sure how Nick would relate with the dogs, but we need not have worried. He thought he was one of them. He crawled around with them, chewed on their bones and wasn’t scared when the barked or snarled at each other.
Paul and Susan were able to take one whole day without the kids and get all of our Christmas shopping done, and have a nice meal in a restaurant as well. It was great.
For Thanksgiving Lux loved eating Grandad’s turkey and insisted that we bake her a blueberry pie. Nick had turkey baby food and a jar of sweet potatoes then ate most of a slice of pumpkin pie.
There were lots of toys and fun at Grandma Paula and Grandpa John’s house and Lux especially liked the slide outside. She also still talks about playing “bat ball” and golf at Paula’s house. And so long as there was plenty of chocolate around, she was happy. Grandma Paula had also bought a fluffy hamster for the kids, which Lux named Coco. We love pets that live at someone else’s house!
The flight back went smoothly, again with a little crying from Nick during descent. It was a great trip, and when we got back we started getting ready for Christmas.
Lux really got into Christmas this year. She understood who “Christmas Man” or Santa is and was excited about him coming through the fireplace to bring presents. She loved the tree and really liked our advent calendar filled with chocolates. She opened a door each night with her father in a very sweet ritual.
Nick, who had stopped commando crawling and started getting faster, didn’t seem to understand what was going on, but liked playing with the nutcrackers. Luckily, there were so many presents under the tree that he couldn’t get close enough to it to be able to take ornaments off of it!
Some of the most special ornaments on the tree were ones that Lux made at school, including a glitter coated pine cone and several painted paper shapes.
We didn’t visit Santa, but after the Scottish parade in Old Town Alexandria we did run into a guy who looked just like him in the pub. This man had been in the parade and was wearing a kilt and a Santa hat and Lux was thrilled to see him. Paul took her over and they had a nice low key chat and a high five - no pressure. She was very happy. We also looked at Santa at the mall, but she wasn’t interested in interacting with him.
Grandma Paula sent a care package full of many types of cookies that she used to make when Paul was young. Lux enjoyed sampling them and liked the chocolate ones best, natch. Nick liked the almond cookies (with the almond removed).
We had cheese fondue for Christmas eve dinner and on Christmas went to our friend Tom’s for dinner. Christmas was a long day - there were so many toys that we had to take a nap in the middle of opening them. Lux really enjoys the doll house people and furniture she got for her doll house and her Cinderella doll. She also loves her mailbox and the soft building blocks that are really Nick’s. Nick loves his dump truck and basketball game, as well as those soft blocks.
Sadly Nick and Paul were sick with colds on Christmas. Lux had a lot of fun, but Nick was subdued, which was sad. Then, just in time for New Years, Lux caught the cold, so we all stayed home for a quiet night.
Nick can climb all the stairs easily now, but still hasn’t mastered turning around and going down them backwards. We remind him when he is sitting at the top, calling “backwards Nick, backwards!” For a while he just stared at us, but then he started to understand. Now when we say “backwards, Nick!” he starts crawling backwards, and ends up just getting farther away from the stairs! This cracks us up and frustrates him to no end, but it is nice to know he is learning the word backwards.
Nick also cruises very, very well, but still seems a bit away from standing and walking on his own. He and Lux play pretty well together, but there is still a lot of jealousy from Lux when he plays with toys she perceives as hers (which is everything!). Their favorite game is “Nick is going to get me!” which Lux plays every day. It involves a whole lot of screaming at the top of her lungs and hiding under the dining room table or in the closet. Nick obliges by chasing Lux and helps by screaming too.
Nick is very vocal, but doesn’t have any real words yet. Lux is very excited for him to talk and is convinced that his first word is going to be Cinderella.
Lux continues to enjoy play school and Nick is now old enough to play well with the big kids (or next to them) for most of the class. The two also love music class. Lux runs in circles around the room, swinging her arms and singing along. Nick claps in time to the music and sometimes decides to chase his sister.
Singing has become very big for Lux. All during Christmas she demanded at least once a day that we turn on the Christmas music and dance. Her favorite song is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, as done by the Brian Setzer orchestra, so she has learned a kind of swinging rendition.
Lux’s language has also exploded and she is getting very good at identifying emotions. Sometimes, however, she gets it wrong. Like when we tell her, firmly, that we want her to do something and she replies “Don’t cry Mommy/Daddy. Don’t be sad.” We explain we aren’t sad, we just want her to eat her green beans. That is a bit of a problem, as she currently hates all “geebos” except carrots in a butter/maple sauce. Still she is getting better at trying new things and actually requested salad last night.
Nick only wants to eat real (not baby) food these days, and wants very much to feed himself. Meals are very messy. Nick can use a sippy cup now and will likely be switching to milk from formula around his first birthday.
Nick plays pretty well by himself recently, especially during the hour or so a day when Lux is napping and he is awake. He likes to attack the cat, empty the pantry and read books. He also likes to climb and has started to climb up the step stool at the sink alongside Lux when she brushes her teeth. He loves water play. Which means we have to be really careful about the toilets.
Both Nick and Lux are in swim class now. Nick loves his class. Lux loves talking about the class, going to the class and playing in the shallow end before class, but recently was asked to leave in the middle of a session, since she was unwilling to do anything but cling to Paul and cry. Of course, as soon as they returned to the shallow end she was lying on her belly and kicking and having a great time. Hopefully continued exposure will put her more at ease and this summer we should be members at the pool, so that will be nice.
Both children went through a “bubba abatement” program when we returned from California in an attempt to get them less dependant on their pacifiers. Now they use them for sleep only. It was a little tough for a couple days for Lux, but now she doesn’t seem to miss it. If Nick finds one lying around, however, he’ll just plug himself in. Lux always tattles on him, though. I guess there will be plenty of that in the future. She also likes to hug and grab him and not let go, which he eventually tires of. There will likely be some pretty knock down fights as he starts getting bigger and stronger.
When Nick doesn’t get his way he throws himself to the floor in tears. We’re trying to ignore that, but it is pretty funny because he looks so devastated. It does lose its impact, however, when it happens 6 times a day.
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