Merry Christmas!

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Wylie, the flirt

Tonight the four of us ate dinner with Granny, Jim, and Kathy at the Island Cow.  The wait for a table grew as we kid-toting early birds dined happily on the front patio.  Wylie's high-chair was fortuitously positioned with the view of the sidewalk and all of the people waiting for their table. 

Our little man entertained himself for the entire meal, in between stuffing his face, by flirting with cute, young girls loitering nearby.  I swear he had one girl's attention for a good fifteen minutes.  He would grab a bite or two and fill his little mouth with chicken or beans.  Then, he'd cock his head and smile, do his latest little "groovin', groovin" wiggle-dance move, maybe wave, or really flail his arm.  Always the charmer, the girls would laugh and smile back and he would grab some more food and continue his flirty ways.  A riot!

(As I'm writing this, Jason and I are enjoying the quiet, or semi-quiet, of our half-empty King's Crown condo, odd without Grandma and Grampa.  I'm savoring the last of the Christmas Bailey's and hearing traces of Finn singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," as he falls asleep.  Flipping channels I come across a lot of kid-friendly programming, considering it is 9:00 at night.  Polar Express is on and I pause for a moment to laugh with Jason at how many times we've seen this movie just this week.  A minute later, Finn is lurking in the hallway, perplexed because he heard Polar Express and went on to explain which scene it was.  That boy!)

Bike Ride on Sanibel

Jason, Finn, and I were so happy to hop on bikes and ride down to Sanibel's lighthouse.  And, we really enjoyed huge ice cream cones at Pinocchio's on the way back!  Wylie enjoyed his time with G & G, but Finn told him we'd bring him along next year.

Finn, Commander in Chief, Shell-Finding Expedition

This year Finn is interested in finding seashells.  Actually he wants to find starfish, too, like Grandma has in a glass jar in her bathroom back in Schaumburg, but today he was contentedly set on a shelling mission.  And, it turns out, in his mind, shelling is a competitive sport.  He and Grandma were one team, with a large orange bucket. Finn designated Jason and my dad as another team with a small green bucket.  Wylie and I were the third team with a very small red bucket.

Our mission was well orchestrated, by the four-year-old, as we brought with us two essential items:  a kite--flying in the air--and a chair, which Finn carried (until he passed it off to Grandma), in case he "needed a rest."  And we set off down the beach, picking up shells and putting them in our buckets, slowly deducing the willy-nilly rules of Finn's Shell-Finding Expedition.  Big shells were best, but colorful ones did garner some attention and/or possibly points.  Any sort of seaweed, coral, sticks, or other beach debris (as my Dad frequently tried to introduce) was strictly forbidden and were to be thrown straight into the water.

We paused, at one point during our expedition, to dig holes.  Random holes that may or may not lead to China.  In the end, Finn disregarded the shells and took up a new digging project, but overall was beyond happy to be hanging out on the beach! 

 

Wylie getting used to the sand, mostly by ingesting it.

Seems he doesn't like crawling in it, so he honed his bear walk.

Cruisin'

Yesterday, our first day on Sanibel, Wylie figured out how to "cruise."  He wanted Grampa's sunglasses, so he made his way down the coffee table and got them.  Today, a toy truck motivated him to do some more cruisin'.

Christmas Card Bloopers

And we're still on the Polar Express

Walking into our room this morning, Finn said, "This night I didn't sleep."

"Why, what were you doing?" I asked, knowing that he really did sleep, or else Jason and I would not have slept.

"I had to work, work, work."

"Why did you have to work?"

"Because I'm a conductor."

Yes, the holiday season has begun and in our house that means we are on a non-stop train ride to the North Pole!

Wylie at Ten Months

December already and Wylie is changing so quickly.  He is now crawling like a mad man.  It is a riot to see him motor from the living room, through the play room, and pop into the kitchen, seemingly proud of his new-found freedom.  He pulls himself up easily now and is just about to start cruising along the furniture.  Here are some glimpses of Wylie at ten months...

Trying to get a close up look at the Christmas tree, but where is Wylie?

There he is!

Look, my head can go this way.

Starting to figure out this whole waving concept.

Whistling Finn

All of a sudden Finn can whistle.  Not only can he whistle, but he uses his new skill to entertain himself while he's trying to fall asleep.  So far that's the only time I've heard it, wafting down from his room.

Cousins!

Welcome to the family, little Lyra!

The Circus!

Another instance where having kids gives me an excuse to do something fun that adults don't normally do--the circus!  I loved the chance to take Finn to his first circus.  We started off by arriving early for the "sneak preview," down on the stadium floor.  After a while Finn decided he'd rather get a bird's eye view and we climbed allll the way to the top on the United Center, exploring before the show started.  Luckily Finn had his binoculars at the ready!  

When the circus started with a whole lot of music and marching and colors and spectacle, Finn was definitely overwhelmed, but eventually he seemed to really get into it.  He said he would not want to be a tight-rope walker, but did plan to be one of the guys who risked his life flipping around in the spinning wheels that traveled 50 feet off the ground.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Thankful

Today I am thankful for the little moments, the simple pleasures, that added up to a really good day:

-the boys slept until 7:30
-Finn enjoyed the parades enough that I was able to sit on the couch for a good hour and a half, watching, drinking coffee, and perusing the ads from the newspaper
-the neighborhood kids gathered next door and played for long enough that I managed to straighten the house, get the table set, and take a shower
-my black legging didn''t fall down as much, now that I shrunk them
-Wylie was as happy as I've ever seen him, playing in a box
-Finn proud to show off the chocolate covered pretzels he made
-holding my new niece, baby Lyra
-Jason not electrocuting himself with the electric knife
-Finn leading "Grace" before dinner
-Finn is thankful for his legs
-Wylie's first Thanksgiving and he gobbled up tons of turkey
-talking about Kindles with Dad, and anticipating getting one
-Mom and Helen cleaning like crazy in the kitchen
-chatting with Robyn about breastfeeding
-watching Joe be a dad
-ending the day with my favorite movie, Miracle on 34th Street

First happy bath together

Over the past few months I have tried a handful of times to put Wylie in the bath with Finn, but for an inexplicable reason, Wylie just cried until I took him out.  Finally, last weekend, he realized the joy of a big boy bath with his brother!

Hmm, Wylie's thinking, maybe this is fun.

Finn "washed" Wylie and I was amazed Wylie put up with it.

And "rinsed" him, too.

Success!

5Ks

Brookfield Zoo Run Run with Jason

Sunday, September 25

Results:  Very happy to have run the whole thing.  Slower than molasses at 38+ minutes.

Frank Llyod Wright Races with Erin McCarthy

Sunday, October 23

Results: 37:58, 12:13 per mile

Pilgrim Pacer Races in La Grange, with Erin 

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Results: 36:28, thrilled that when we finished, people were still behind us! 

Erin and I are ready to run!

"Go, Mommy, go, although this is really kinda boring."

Early in the run, looking good.

Finn joins us to sprint to the finish!

Michigan Avenue Lights Parade

We seem to have turned this outing into an annual tradition!  Wylie's first glimpses of Santa and he seemed mesmerized!  And maybe one of these years I'll figure out how to take better pictures in the dark so I can really capture the magic and beauty of the night!

A super-bundled Wylie.

Watching the street cleaners after the parade.

Standing

Out of nowhere on Sunday, November 20, Wylie pulled himself up and was standing.  Amazing, these milestones!

Random Finn

A few weeks ago Finn achieved a new first--First 911 call!  Luckily the police officer that stopped by to follow up was very nice about it and seemed to understand the idea of practicing for emergencies.  The next morning Finn "wrote" a sign to put on the door, telling the policeman there was no emergency here.

I borrowed one of Finn's picture books recently to share with my sixth graders.  When Finn noticed I'd brought the book back he asked, "Mom, did your kids enjoy Billy &; Milly, Short &; Silly?"  So sweet!

He has surprised us with a number of adult-esque phrases lately:

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"  Yet he never told us what he was thinking...

"I just realized something!  I forgot to give my friends their pictures."

On the way home from the Thanksgiving service the other night we got Finn a milkshake. The next morning he opened his secret door by the front door and started drinking it!

Thanksgiving Service

Finn's preschool puts on a Family Thanksgiving Service - in lieu of a Christmas pageant - to parade all the kids in front of their parents singing sing-songy songs with corresponding gesticulations. It's cute, almost embarrassingly so. Finn and his classmates spent weeks preparing - he'd sing some refrains during dinner with us to practice. In addition to taking some solace in the fact that he can in actuality follow directions, go with the flow, and sit still for some length of time - we've had our doubts! - most of all, we had a classic "that's-our-boy-up-there" prideful experience. Just grand.

Backstage.

On stage.