As I sit down to write this, Justin is smiling and cooing at me and everyone else is napping. Bliss! The sun is shining as a cool breeze flows through the open windows (yes, open windows in the middle of November!). It is the month for gratitude, and I am feeling very grateful for my children and numerous other blessings.
Grant's birthday month has finally arrived. He has been looking forward to his birthday all year it seems...but now that November is here, all he wants to do is talk about Christmas. He asked me last week if we could set up our Christmas tree. I told him it was too early, but he argued that the store already had their Christmas decorations up. Even though he is a masterful negotiator, I won this one - simply telling him that our family tradition is to wait until December to put up the Christmas tree and other decorations. My answer, however, did not keep him from asking if we could bake the Christmas cookies a few days later. I'm secretly glad that he is so excited for Christmas (and not just the presents he knows he will receive). I believe children hold the key to the magic of Christmas.
The best Grant moments are when he is "teaching" his little brothers about things. He has been teaching Justin all about what to expect during his first Christmas season. Justin will smile and kick his legs excitedly as if he understands what Grant is saying. It's really cute.
Grant was very excited about his Halloween costume this year. He knew exactly what he wanted to be: Darth Vader. The strange thing is that he has never even seen any of the Star Wars movies. I didn't realize he even knew who Darth Vader was. Christian didn't want to dress up at all (I guess it wasn't his idea). Justin got dressed up as a skeleton - kind of funny since he is such a chubby little baby.
Christian hasn't completely given up the "terrible twos" just because he is three now, but he does seem to be easier to reason with lately. His head is full of ideas and stories. He is either making us laugh or pull our hair out. There's not much in between.
Some recent "Christian-isms":
Grant and Christian have been watching this new children's show on PBS called "Dinosaur Train". Each episode teaches about a different type of dinosaur. One such dinosaur was the giganotasaurus (prounounced jig-a-note-a-sore-us). Christian calls it the "Chicken Nugget Saurus", so it has become a little family joke: he is our little chicken nuggetsaurus, in more ways than one.
Earlier in the week Christian had a cough which made him gag and throw up a bit. He hasn't vomited in a very long time, so this was strange for him. He said "Mommy, I blew up". He meant "threw up", but it was so funny, I had to laugh.
Here is Christian - thoroughly enjoying the remains of his birthday cake.Well, Justin has stopped smiling and is now fussing and ready to eat. I will have to finish my thoughts another day.
~Andi
