Good-bye Training Wheels

Ethan is very close to a new milestone: biking without training wheels.   Last weekend, he finally got up the nerve to give it a whirl.  With lots of practice he made it around the cul-de-sac by himself!

Today we went to our nearby park, and he also did great--until he crashed, head first into the concrete.   He scraped his chin, got a fat upper lip and hurt his teeth (luckly none were broken!).   But with some gentle encouragement, he tried again.   I am pretty sure that by summer he will be riding really well!

Holiday Season!

Well, we are ready for a visit from Santa.   Our tree, which we put up the weekend after Thanksgiving, looks great.   We put it in the living rooom this year, and it sits quite nicely in the bay window.   Alaina mostly resists the temptation to pull the ornaments off the tree, though if she is left alone she does grab at them.   We decided to not put the train down this year to avoid it being broken.

   

I finished sewing Alaina's stocking about a week after the tree went up.  And our fireplace is blocked to keep Alaina from crawling in!

This year, we even added some outdoor lights to merry up the outside of our house.  Now all we need is a holiday wreath (the one on the door is a thanksgiving/fall one)--we will wait for the after Christmas sales to get a cool one for next year!

Ethan and Alaina have had not one, but two visits to see jolly old St. Nick, one at the mall a few weeks ago, and another time yesterday, when Ethan and his friend Shelby went to see him together.   Ethan's wish: a curious george t-shirt and an airplane that flies by itself.   We'll see if he is good.....

11 months

A day late, but the picture is from yesterday.   What a sweetie pie.  She has two teeth now, her hair is really growing in, and she has mastered speed crawling.  She is pulling herself up to a stand, but no signs of walking yet.  Even with her mobility, her new favorite word is "up"--she loves to be held.  At the table, she is really getting the hang of table food--so much so that she also will put anything that she finds on the ground while crawling into her mouth--obviously quite dangerous!  I am paranoid she will "eat" one of Ethan's toys. In one month--a year!

Ethan's first letter to Alaina

The other day, Ethan brought this home and proudly presented it to his sister.  It made me smile and I thought I would share.   Sorry it is on its side, I can't figure out how to get it flipped in the proper orientation.

The big 3-6

This week Jason celebrated his 36th birthday.   Both of us have been very busy at work recently (December is always a busy month as people squeeze in procedures before their deductibles reset in January), but we were fortunate to both get off early to celebrate on Thursday night.

As per routine, Jason requested crab for his birthday dinner-and I was able to get some that had been caught that day.  Ethan and Jason were in seafood heaven, while I ate some pasta, and Alaina crunched down cheerios.
Of course, we all (except Alaina) enjoyed ice-cream cake for dessert.

to extend the celebration, last night, we went out with Jason's best friend, Matt and his wife for an adult only dinner, which was also quite nice.

Happy birthday Jason!!

Thanksgivukkah!

This past weekend, we were fortunate to celebrate two holidays in one: Thanksgiving and Hanukkah.  Per Wikipedia, "one physicist has calculated that, if the Jewish calendar is not revised, Thursday, November 28 will not fall during Hanukkah again until the year 79811.  However, since the Jewish day does not begin at midnight, but on the sunset before it, there will be two more years in which Hanukkah and Thanksgiving partially overlap, with the first night of Hanukkah beginning in the evening of Thanksgiving. These will be the evenings of Thursday, November 27, 2070 and Thursday, November 28, 2165."  So maybe the kids will be around for another overlap, but Jason and I won't!
  

  

We had a great celebration with Jason's family.   We enjoyed the traditional Thanksgiving dinner--turkey with all the fixings--as well as some Hanukkah themed additions, such as potato latke appetizers.  And I made Challah for our bread.   Yum!  

Jeremy flew home from Belgium to join in as well, and his visit made quite an impression on Ethan--when we all went around the table to say what we were thankful for, Ethan chimed in that he was thankful for Jeremy coming! Very sweet, and hopefully made his long flight worthwhile!

Alaina enjoyed some jarred turkey and sweet potatoes to mark the holiday as well.