1st Haircut

Now that he's reached the ripe old age of 1 we thought it was time for Christian to get his first haircut. (I'm so not talented that way so I don't give haircuts at home.)

Look at this mess of hair!



He was so good, he just sat patiently and let the hairdresser wet and comb and cut his hair. Not a single tear.



Of course the cartoons helped.



I hardly recognize him! He looks so big now.

Happy Birthday Christian!

It's hard to believe, but Christian is already 1 year old!



He is getting so big, and doing new things every day. He crawls, "cruises" around on everything he can pull up to standing on, has 4 teeth, and loves his camouflage blankie. He loves to follow his big brother and sister around, and especially imitates everything Andrew does. He's still a mama's boy but likes to make new friends. He isn't really saying any words yet (sometimes "mamamamama" for me, and the occasional "dada" so we think that's "daddy"), but he understands everything you say to him and makes his desires known by forceful grunts when he's not pleased and giggles when he is. He studies everything, and very quickly figures out how things work. We're so excited to have him in our family! (and he better start walking and talking quick because baby sister will be here soon...)

He didn't really get the hang of opening presents, even with all the practice at Christmas, but he had 2 helpers that were more than willing to jump in and lend a hand -- which, of course, may be why he didn't feel the need to rip open the presents.



His helpers also blew out his candle for him.



He didn't dig right in to his cake, just gingerly felt the top of the frosting and then looked around like, "Okay, what am I supposed to do now?" But as soon as he got one bite he was happy to keep 'em coming.





Andrew and Willa had to capture the moment with their cameras as well.



Happy Birthday Big Boy!

Snow!

It started to snow yesterday as Willa and I were going to school, and she exclaimed, "This is the best day of my life!" School let out 2 hours early, so they had plenty of time to play in the white stuff.

They had a lot of fun playing with the neighbor's dog.




The dog especially loved following Willa around, licking her and stealing her gloves.



Don't worry, I warned Andrew about yellow snow.



I was too mean to take Christian out with them. Mostly because carrying him around these days really does a number on my back. Poor kid.

Crawling

By popular demand, here are pictures of mobile Christian.

He pretty much has this look on his face whenever he's crawling. He is loving being mobile.



Andrew and Willa love it too, and they get so excited for the end of the day when homework is done and they can play with him.



Andrew is the greatest babysitter. I actually love the evenings when homework and school are finished too, so Andrew can take over and play with the baby until bedtime. And Christian just worships Andrew.




One of the downsides to his being mobile is this. Wherever I am, Christian finds me and starts climbing up my legs. What can I say, he's my little buddy.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a relaxed affair at our house this year. It was the first year in at least 4 years that we were on our own, without Brenda. Which means it was the first year in a while that I've had to do the cooking, hence the relaxed attitude. Oh yeah, it was also the 3rd year in a row that I've been pregnant for Thanksgiving, which is a little crazy. I'm looking forward to not being pregnant or having a baby on major holidays.

Andrew and Willa were fascinated with the turkey. I was a little afraid Willa was going to get her fingers chopped off while Casey was carving. She kept insisting that it wasn't a real turkey.




Andrew had his customary dinner of rolls and sweet potatoes. One of these years we'll get him to try the turkey!



At preschool Willa's class got to dress up as the pilgrims, while everyone else was the Indians. This was my 4th year at the preschool Thanksgiving feast, and I found myself getting a little nostalgic because it will be my last for a while.

Baby Dave and Baby Jane

When the kids were born they got these beautiful Madame Alexander dolls from Grammie and Papa. And because I didn't want them to get ruined, I put them away until they were older. I was digging through our "storage" last week and came across them, and decided that maybe they are old enough to take care of them now. Baby Dave and Baby Jane have become their favorite toys. Andrew sleeps with his baby, and even took it to school for show and tell last week. Thanks Grammie and Papa!

Laundry

Every week. Wash, fold, put away. Every week. I really hate laundry, especially now that cold weather is here. My laundry almost doubles. Complaining about it really helps, though.