Holiday Highlights, Part II

After a morning of visiting with family and playing at the park, Christmas Eve officially began with the donning of festive holiday attire. Lucie is not used to having someone to match with, and was so excited that her doll had an identical dress (thanks Gigi).

We enjoyed an delicious cioppino dinner, our traditional reading of "The Polar Express", and a pile of gifts for the kids.



The next morning Lucie and Ryan were delighted by a note from Santa letting them know he'd left gifts for them in their living room at home. That Santa Claus really is a considerate guy, and made our packing on the way home a lot easier. We headed off to Grandma and Grandpa's house for several more days of celebrations, including a delicious turkey dinner, complete with sweet potato fries for Lucie and Ryan, and a visit to Christmas in the Park.



Over the next few days, Ryan enjoyed testing out his new sports equipment with Daddy, Grandpa and Uncle Greg, and his space puzzle with Jessica (soon to be Aunt Jessica -- hooray!). Lucie was in pony heaven caring for several new little friends, and put on a fashion show for Grandma with jewelry from her new jewelry box.



Many thanks to our families for such a special and memorable holiday. We're looking forward to many more wonderful times together in 2010.

Holiday Highlights, Part I

My two little fliers and I prepared for take-off and headed up to Gigi and Papa's house several days before Christmas. Their pre-flight reading is now routine, not because anyone really cares where the emergency exits are, but more because L & R love looking at the picture of the plane "landing" on water. Uncle AJ will have to explain the physics of that at a much later age.

For the first year, Lucie and Ryan were willing to sit briefly on Santa's lap at a family party, at least until he gave them a gift, and then they bounded as fast as they could back to me. They were both impressed that Santa gave them books with their favorite "My Little Pony" and "Handy Manny" (or "Handy Mandy" in Ryan-speak) characters, and declared that he was actually a pretty nice and observant guy, despite any earlier reservations.

Much more Christmas fun was had at Gigi and Papa's as we went on a holiday train ride (complete with fake snow flying alongside of each car's windows), checked out neighborhood lights, and spent a morning constructing Lucie and Ryan's own gingerbread house scene. Lucie spent most of the time eating chocolate kisses, while Ryan constructed a multi-story marshmallow snowman he named "Giant". We were sure "Giant" would bite the dust at some point, but we propped him up with a graham cracker and lots of frosting, and Gigi says he's still standing to this day.


Unfortunately Tate was too sick at the beginning of the week to join us, though once he was feeling better, we paid him a visit for some always high-energy and fun cousin time. The kids raced around the house on scooters while Caleb looked on with delight. You'll be crashing into walls at high speed with them in no time, big guy.

Snowbound!

Strange to think about snow on a day when the mercury hit 82 degrees, but Lucie and Ryan have gone more than four years without having ever experienced snow. And while that is mostly due to geography, it's a little sad. Fortunately, the streak is scheduled to end next month when we head to the mountains for a long weekend.


Since that trip (and probably all snow trips for the next few years) will be focused on sledding and snowmans, I decided to sell my snowboard gear. I haven't been on snow since 2003 and better to free up valuable garage space for L & R's Christmas presents.

And even though L & R demonstrated great form at age 2 1/2, we'll probably wait another year or so before strapping them in.

Christmas Spirit

Even though this is our second Christmas in the house, we only managed to put up a paltry little tree last year. This year, Lucie and Ryan insisted we prepare early to avoid a repeat performance.

So last weekend, with Grandma and Grandpa's help, we got started. First order of business was a wreath for the gate. Nearby pine trees contributed pine cones while L & R made paper snowflakes with Grandma.

Next up was outdoor lights. After last year's holiday let-down, I bought LED lights on clearance sale and, for eleven months, the boxes have been gathering dust in the garage. It took a few hours to install the hooks (nothing says Christmas like dangling 15 feet up armed with a hammer, drill, hooks, and electricity...) and tuck power cords out of sight, but our house is now officially lit every evening. And while the brightness of the LED lights is a little underwhelming, at least it only costs us 20 cents per week to light them up.

Finally, we decided not to get a tree — just didn't make sense this year. After much discussion, we arrived at a compromise: the lights intended for the tree would be put up in L & R's room instead. The lights are turned on each night at bedtime and turned off once no creatures are stirring.

Me, I want a hula hoop

Lucie and Ryan made their stage debut at the preschool Christmas show last week. There were so many sweet and funny moments throughout the night, my favorites including Ryan's enormous yawn on stage, Lucie's chipmunk ears falling over her eyes, and how little Fiona (next to Ryan) kept looking over at him for clues on the final words to "Away in the Manger".

Lucie wore a dress that was my Christmas dress as a girl, sewn by my Mom with a matching one for Rachel. It fit Lucie perfectly. She was so proud to wear it, declaring to her friend's dad that "This was my Mommy's dress!"

The kids were exhausted when we got home, especially after the post-show sugar cookie rush wore off. When I tucked a sleepy Ryan into bed, I told him how proud I was of his singing. "Oh Mommy" he murmured, eyes drooping shut, "it was nothing."

Tech-Savvy Boy

While we weren't paying attention, a little boy has become quite proficient with all kinds of gadgets and buttons around here. It started with an interest in learning to use our digital camera. In no time Ryan had mastered taking photos, deleting photos, changing the date/time stamp, and mysteriously turning on a chirping noise every time a photo is snapped.

That was just the beginning. Now Ryan can hook the camera up to the computer, upload photos and add them to his personal folder in iPhoto, all on his own. He's very proud of this achievement, and meticulously arranges his roughly 84 uploaded photos, routinely going through his assortment of random (and mostly unflattering) shots of his parents, firetrucks outside the grocery store and poses of his loved ones, batting helmet, and train tracks.

Once Ryan mastered the digital camera, he became quite intrigued by the Netflix envelope that occasionally appears in our mail. For many years we had kept this a secret, maintaining that only "Mommy & Daddy shows" could arrive in a red envelope. Everyone seemed okay with that, until we were all sick one week and I began searching Netflix for some kids' movies to get us through a long stretch indoors. Once Ryan caught sight of the Diego and Little Einsteins movies on the computer screen, the jig was up. Our queue has never been the same since.

This all seems so different from my childhood, when developed photos came in paper envelopes at Longs Drugstore, and movies were a slumber-party treat on a rented VCR from the video store. Now our four-year-old now knows how to work a TiVo remote and greets me at preschool pick-up with, "Mommy, mommy -- did you get Daddy's text?"

Thankfully, low-tech games involving a blanket, a giggling sister and yelling "BOO!" out the door at the rain (I don't get it either) are still some of the favorite activities in our house.

Happy Birthday Daddy

As our kids love to do, the countdown to Daddy's birthday was started over a week in advance. Everyone from Lucie and Ryan's preschool teacher to the guy behind the counter at the smoothie shop was kept well informed of how many more days remaining until December 1st.

Once the day came, it did not disappoint. L& R each got a "Happy Birthday" helium balloon at the grocery store, we celebrated with mint chip ice cream cake, and the first windows of the long anticipated chocolate Advent calendars were revealed. No wonder these kids were excited. It was a wonderful celebration for a wonderful-in-every-way Daddy and husband! We love you.

Thanksgiving 2009

We're thankful for so many things this Thanksgiving...

We're thankful for feasts at preschool, where the favorite dishes are kiwi, macaroni and cheese, and cupcakes.


We're thankful to live in such a beautiful place, where two little people can accompany us on a three mile hike without a stroller (many shoulder rides were given on the final stretch home).


We're thankful for four-year-old cheerleaders declaring, "Our Mommy is going to win!" and plentiful high-fives at the end of the neighborhood 5K Turkey Trot.


We're thankful to celebrate the holiday surrounded by family, and many helpers in the kitchen. Ryan makes a terrific pear, cranberry and walnut green salad.


We're thankful to have graduated to the "transition table" at our family Thanksgiving so Lucie, Ryan and cousins Maggie, Milo, and Julie could take over the kids table.



We're thankful for holiday plays organized by Katie and Aunt Betsy where everyone gets stage fright and forgets their lines.


We're thankful for one little turkey who spent the entire drive home (at 10:30 at night) wide awake, playing "I-Spy" with his Uncle Andrew and giving minute-by-minute traffic reports. We're just hoping he'll sleep in this weekend...

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Goofballs

Lucie and Ryan's laughter is such a pure, infectious form of happiness, that I'm guilty of trying to provoke it myself. These two can turn a seemingly normal word into a laughing fit of uncontrollable, gut-wrenching giggles. The next thing I know, I'm rolling on the floor with them over something as silly as Ryan saying "beluga whale" over and over again, or a rendition of the latest song from the "Fresh Beat Band" (a music group that sometimes plays after their favorite TV program). L & R's punchy moods can be contagious.

This sweet and simple silliness doesn't always translate to writing, as so much of it is in tone of voice, pronunciation or corresponding dance moves (the best!). Often times too, the intention is perfectly serious, but whatever comes out of their mouth makes everyone laugh. These recent gems are just too funny, sweet, and innocent not to write down.

Lucie: "Ryan, do you want to go on a space mission with me?"
Ryan: "Sorry, can't do it, I have to go pee!!!"

Lucie, at the dinner table: "Daddy, I will NOT eat pizza, I will ONLY eat broccoli!"

While working together sweeping under the kitchen table, Lucie to Ryan: "Ryan, you're making me work ALL DAY!"

Lucie, at bedtime: "Mommy, how do you say I really, really, really, really love you in french?"

And, lastly, one of my recent favorites is Ryan's adoption of the word "perhaps", though out of his mouth, it sounds like "be-haps". It's hard to catch sometimes, but if you hear him say it, I guarantee you'll smile.

"Yegoyand" Revisited

To celebrate a successful effort at reducing finger/thumb sucking and Tate's new status as a big brother, we ventured to Legoland last week. Aunt Rach, Tate, Gigi and Papa all flew down to join us. Sharing the adventure with family, combined with beautiful weather and virtually no lines, made for an all around great day.

We've only been to Legoland a few times, but each time we go I'm reminded why we love it. The park is clean, small, and perfectly suited for the preschool set with tons of simple -- yet to a 3 or 4 year old quite thrilling -- rides and playgrounds. This past trip was particularly special because it was Tate's first time, and Lucie and Ryan got to share all their favorite adventures with him. Our kids also got to try a few rides they hadn't been on before, now that they've reached age four.

Anything that the kids were able to steer themselves was declared the favorite of the day. Lucie particularly liked the car ride, and maneuvered her way around the mini-track with such ease and nonchalance it was as if she had done it hundreds of times before.

One morning a week ago Lucie woke up declaring that she had a dream that night where she drove a car "on the freeway, Mommy!!" So clearly, she'd had some recent practice at this.

Like last year, Ryan was a big fan of the boat ride, again because you could steer yourself. As co-captain, I gave him full control of the wheel and gas pedal. His captaining style involved jerking the boat all the way to the right and then all the way to the left, repeatedly, even spinning us in a full circle as we motored into the landing dock.

Ryan also kept one eye on the water, and the other on a fire fighting show going on right next to the boat ride. Boating while watching fire trucks -- what more could a little guy ask for?

When I asked Tate which ride he liked the best, he said he liked the "dinosaur" ride. Aunt Rach and I both tried to remember a ride with dinosaurs and couldn't come up with anything. Then Rachel remembered that there was a good view of some dinosaurs from one of the rides -- that had to be his favorite. Here he is with Papa, enjoying the view of the dinosaurs (and figuring out that you really didn't have to pedal to keep the train moving).

Houses of Bounce

My lingering cold gives me the opportunity to catch up on a few posts I drafted earlier this year, but never published. Funny side story about bounce houses — L & R were at a party for a preschool friend today and one of the moms (a recent transplant from South Korea) asked Megan if it was normal for American birthday parties to include an inflatable house. Based on our experience, it is in So Cal.

This post should have gone out sometime in April...

We went through a long stretch in February and March where just about every weekend presented at least one opportunity for bouncing. A couple of birthday parties for buddies, the twins club spring party, even a random party at our local park. At first, L & R wanted a parent to bounce with them, but soon figured out that it was more fun with just kids.

By now, they are seasoned pros and are starting to ask if they can have a bounce house for their next birthday.

The Astronaut and the Fairy/Princess/Ballerina/Butterfly

On Sunday morning Lucie looked at me sadly and asked, "Mommy, how come Halloween is only one day?" We had so many celebrations leading up to the big night -- two pumpkin patch trips, a party at preschool, and countless costume discussions -- it's no wonder she felt let down when it was over. Halloween at age four is a lot of fun.

Ever the fashion lover, Lucie had two different looks this year, which was actually quite useful when attending both day and night time events. One was a princess gown, and the other was a fairy costume with a glittering, fuschia tutu. She sometimes was both a fairy and a princess, depending on whether she wore her tiara, butterfly wings, fairy crown, or some combination of the three. If it was pink and sparkled, it was part of her costume (not surprisingly, many girls in preschool shared this same costume criterion).

Ryan passed along his beloved fireman costume to Tate, and decided to be an astronaut this year. Grandpa gave him colorful patches of various space missions, and Ryan helped me sew several on his flight suit. The patches made an otherwise plain costume look quite special, and Ryan felt proud. He liked to tell people that he was off "to the moon!"

After a month's worth of build up, the kids were so excited to put on their costumes on Halloween night and make their tour of the neighborhood with Daddy. I stayed back to hand out candy at home and try to remember all the cute costumes I saw to report back later.

The kids returned from their trick-or-treating exhausted and toting plastic pumpkins brimming with candy. Apparently their candy got so heavy towards the end, they worked out a system where Daddy would carry the buckets between houses and then hand them over when it came time to collect more treats. The kids each dragged home what seemed to be nearly their body weight in candy.

Though they loved the experience as a whole, some aspects of the trick-or-treating adventure were quite unnerving for them. Any house that had too many cobwebs, dangling skeletons, teenagers in gory costumes, smoke machines, or most terrifying of all, recorded spooky noises, was declared "too scary" and completely bypassed. The preferred house decor was a nice, bright porch light with cheerfully carved pumpkins grinning on the front step, and a brimming bowl of Skittles (for Lucie) and M & M's (for Ryan) waiting inside.

Chapel

Lucie and Ryan's preschool is affiliated with a community church, incorporating a small amount of religious instruction through Bible stories, short prayers and monthly chapel services.

From what I've seen and heard through the kids, the lessons are quite general, and would likely resonate with people of many different religious backgrounds. The prayer they've learned to recite before each meal, as sung by little four-year-old voices, is just about the sweetest thing I've ever heard.

Last week the kids participated in their first chapel service at preschool. Having never attended church before, I hoped they wouldn't feel confused or out of place, and wondered what they thought of the experience. They told me they liked it, and as Lucie explained, "A man and lots of teachers sang songs about God!"

Though pretty certain I knew the answer, I asked if they understood who God was. They both shook their heads no. Trying to keep things simple, I explained that God was someone who watched over us, and kept living things safe and loved. "Even plants and animals?", Lucie asked. Yes, I assured her.

Ryan, looking thoughtful and slightly dissatisfied, wondered, "Does God take care of green blankie and Bunny too?" I paused for a moment, and then said, of course. He smiled and gave Bunny a big hug. Any God we love must surely look out for our stuffed "loved ones" as well.

And there it was, our first religious discussion. It was very sweet and simple, exactly how I hoped it would be.

Banished

Three times we've dined at the local Soup Plantation, three times someone has thrown up. In the restaurant. Usually while at the table.

Lots of theories on why this keeps happening. Lucie's thinks its because she ate raw broccoli. Ryan says it was the chocolate milk. Megan is suspicious of the blue jello (rightfully so). I'm leaning towards the soft serve ice cream with sprinkles.

In the end, we and Soup Plantation have mutually decided to take a break from one another. Will also help save money since it takes a sizable tip to come close to compensating the staff for having to clean up afterward.

Prepared for Takeoff

It's no wonder Lucie and Ryan have both recently earned free roundtrip Southwest Airlines tickets. A few weeks after our trip in September, the three of us made another visit to celebrate Tate's 3rd birthday. With four flights in as many weeks, our little ones are getting pretty good at taking their shoes off in the security line and managing those tricky airplane seat belts.

When it comes to airports, Lucie and Ryan are easily entertained. They could spend hours staring out the windows asking "why? how? when?" about everything from jet ways to refueling tanks to baggage handlers. The one thing they don't like about airports is the bathrooms. Lucie is particularly terrified of the automatic flush toilets with their unpredictable nature and deafening sound. Her first question whenever we enter a new bathroom is always, "Do they have the automatic flush, Mommy? I don't like those."

These past few trips the kids have been fascinated by the airplane safety instructions found in each seat. They spent a good fifteen minutes each way mesmerized by their laminated sheets, chatting away about what they saw:

"Mommy, when do the slides come out? They look like fun! Can airplanes go in water? Hmmm... that's weird - how do the people float? How do these masks come down? Why is this lady opening the plane door? Where does it go?"

On our return flight a passenger nearby laughed at the commentary, and then began looking slightly terrified, possibly wondering if the kids knew something he didn't know. Of course (and thankfully) the kids' safety knowledge was not put to use. Though I also remember thinking as a kid that those exit slides looked pretty fun.

The party was a blast, complete with "Mater" cupcakes and a Diego impersonator (pictured at top -- no, that's not Uncle Jason with the orange satchel). We all enjoyed meeting some of Tate's little buddies and celebrating the big number three. Lucie and Ryan were especially excited to help him open and try out all his new gifts. The stomp rocket and new stories with cousins before bed were particular favorites.

The Rules According to Lucie

In recent weeks, our household has gone under new management, or so a certain four-year-old girl and her sidekick, Ella the elephant, like to think. Lucie has become quite interested in rules, especially her own rules. Perhaps this fascination came from preschool and its corresponding guidelines, or maybe this is just a normal four-year-old girl phase. Either way, Lucie and her rules -- hmmm, how do I best put this? Well, they rule.

When Lucie is asked to do something she doesn't want or like to do, she simply declares, "But Mommy, that's not my rule!" And, just to cement her point, she'll protest, "And it's not Ella's rule either!" According to the doctrine of Lucie, dirty hands before dinner, shoeless feet outside, and skipping the bathroom before bed are perfectly acceptable.

The rules of Lucie are sometimes adorable, sometimes enough to drive a parent or twin brother crazy. She loves to put her personal spin on games, from made-up adventures at the park with friends to "game night" with the four of us. She assigns her own meanings to the cards she draws during Candy Land, which curiously all get her closer and closer to Princess Frostine. While Daddy may offer a unicorn ride before bed, her rules dictate it should be a baby kitty ride instead, even though we all know she adores unicorns. The Lucie touch is everywhere.

This past week we met one little creature that didn't follow Lucie's rules, and made me just as upset as our girl. While at a pumpkin patch, a bee arrived out of the blue, and stung Lucie through the sleeve of her dress. As tears streamed down her face, she cried, "But Mommy, that bee didn't follow the rules! Why did it sting me if I wasn't bothering it?"

Fortunately, Lucie recovered quickly, with only a short bout of crying and some slight inflammation. She definitely had a point though -- if you bother a bee you might get stung, but what if you get stung while innocently waiting in line for a pony ride? That's just not right. As far as the rules of Lucie go, no bee stings at the pumpkin patch is one rule I'm more than willing to adopt.

"I Be-member"

As the kids get older, they are beginning to develop traditions based on their recollections of events in the past. It's really neat to see this develop as they associate certain locations or times of year with particular activities. There's nothing cuter than the pensive, slightly quizzical look on Ryan's face as he launches into a memory with, "I be-member..."

Many of these traditions are associated with the upcoming holidays, such as a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out this year's Jack-o-lantern or a desire to buy advent calendars at Christmas. Lucie and Ryan each remember their favorite details of these experiences from last year, and when this memory is triggered, they'll talk, talk and talk about repeating the same this year.

A tradition they've developed with their grandparents is apple picking in September. When we've visited around the kids' birthday, they've enjoyed helping Grandma and Grandpa pick from their backyard tree, and then munch on their pickings during a photo with Grandpa. The top photo is from this year, with the previous two years below. And so a tradition begins.

Pop Flies and Fishing

We found this orange bat and a soft baseball deep in the closet of the beach condo. Catching pop flies (and chasing sea gulls) became a favorite beach day activity. With a little coaching from Chris and Uncle Jason, a group of kids was soon running after the ball on the beach, including three sweet girls who happened to be staying with their family next door.

Our two and the three freckle-faced sisters became fast friends, with very little prompting from the parents. At first they were a little tentative around each other, but within a few hours, they were all calling each other by name, wrestling and sharing birthday cake. The girls took a particular liking to Ryan, and would alternate calling out, "Ryan, tackle me!" or "Ryan, come get me!" and then fall into a giggling pile in the sand. Ryan loved the attention. Everyone was sad to see the sisters go at the end of the weekend.

In later adventures, Papa took the kids fishing on the Capitola Wharf. We had a great time, and by the end of the afternoon, Lucie and Ryan were starting to get the hang of casting and reeling, wanting to practice over and over again. We didn't have much (or any) luck with the fish, but that didn't matter to anyone, as most of the fun was moving from spot to spot on the wharf, enjoying a different view and peeking in the buckets of fellow fishermen.