i prefer the 1st-24th of december much more than the 25th. i enjoy the build-up so much more than the actual day. i just get sad when the last present is opened, all the excitement just falls, flat. i am not a grinch at all; i love the entire season. i just get a touch depressed when it all ends. ok, maybe more than a touch. i usually want to take all my christmas down by the 27th. not kidding. i just want to get it all put away and get things back to normal. can anyone else empathize?
i meant to post these pictures of my babies before christmas came, but with all the hullabaloo (i love that word and feel it isn’t used as often as it should be…;)) i didn’t get to them until now. i am glad though, first, because i needed the break, and second, because they helped me get out of the christmas aftermath funk.
gunnar wanted everything he saw on tv during a commercial for christmas, “ooooohhhhh, i don’t have that.” “i really want that. no wait, that’s what i want” “i have to have that mom.”. there were just too many things on his list so santa opted for his favorites. before opening each present he would ask, “hmmmm, what’s this?” before every. single. present.
he still thinks he rules the land of transformers and bakugons, and as of december 25th is the new official leader of the ben 10 alien force.
gunnar was baffled by his advent calendar; he just couldn’t wrap it around his mind why he had to wait another day to eat another chocolate.
that was usually what he wanted for breakfast each morning, “i’ll have my calendar chocolate mom.”
i stopped to observe it one day and noticed all the doors had been opened, but the chocolates still in their houses. perhaps he was just checking to make sure there really was one for each day. good thing. not sure what else i would have done for breakfast had there not been anything in there. 😉
he was so motivated by santa though. if he had a tough day with listening all i had to do was go to the phone and tell him i was calling santa. he shaped right up. another reason i am a touch depressed: what will my main discipline technique be now? sending all the loot back where it came from? that could work…
the look i get on his face when he is in complete accord with me:
i thought the tree was going to topple over a couple times, this little was so enthralled by it, but it survived and so did she. i had to chuckle when i passed it though and it had a new decoration: match-box car, sippy cup, baby shoe, half-eaten chocolates, you know, the normal stuff you see on a tree.
baby is sugar and spice. she has such an awesome personality. really. being with her is ultra-fun. she loves to be a part of everything, but if she doesn’t want anything to do with the everything we are a part of she will let you know. the “letting you know” usually includes a loud yelp, a shrieking growl, or snooty head shake. it’s hysterical.
she loves sweets. i think that will actually be a huge motivator for her someday. gunnar doesn’t hop when it comes to candy or treats, but i think lark will. she is particularly fond of m and m’s and would eat them by the handful if i let her. she isn’t even bothered when her candy falls in the dirt. it just adds a bit of texture.
santa brought lark a cabbage patch and a stroller. she is better to watch than any sit-com. she pushes that stroller around like she owns the place, and gets so frustrated when the stroller gets stuck and she can’t get it to move. when that happens we for sure hear a grizzly yelp. the other night we were getting everyone ready for bed. it was bath time so naturally the kiddos were naked. jaren had bath duty and i was doing something in our room. i heard the stroller and a little bit of banging at our door. i turned around to see the cabbage patch in the stroller, pushed by a naked baby. so awesome. and she walked in so proud. the memory itself is making me laugh. so so awesome. the other night she and i were playing baby. i told her to go and get me her dolly. she brought her back to me. i loved her for a minute and rocked her in my arms and then she put her arms to me like she wanted to hold the doll. she took the baby, held her close, and started rocking her. larkee is 15 months. it is so interesting to me the things they know inherently and the things they pick up on just by being present. then she stood up, still holding her dolly, and backed herself up onto my lap and snuggled her baby, and i snuggled mine.
larkee is going to love girl things for sure, but she also has an affinity for whatever her brother has.
or maybe she just has an affinity for him. he is a good big brother to her; i hope it stays that way.
gunnar and lark, my you continue to stroll babies, rule empires, and touch my heart. i love you both so much, xo mom
hope everyone is getting ready for a new year with much celebrating and resolution-ing to be had. i have updates to post and more from the home-front and our holidays. not to mention a few shots of the kiddos’ big, big present!! 😉 until then enjoy the fleeting moments of 2009…