Christmas Festivities

I can't believe this was my third year celebrating Christmas! Each year it gets better and better though! I can participate in all the fun activities and better understand the reason for the season. We kicked off our holiday on Christmas Eve by decorating the gingerbread house! I had fun sticking pretzel sticks and  candy canes on the house, but even better was decorating all of the gingerbread men! Daddy helped me with the sprinkles so they would look great! Later in the day we went to church to celebrate Jesus. After a delicious dinner of spetzel soup (I had three helpings) we sang Christmas carols (Jingle Bells is my favorite) and finished the evening opening our exchange presents. I think Cora liked the gift that I got for her. Plus, we got fishing rods from Mommy and Daddy that I can't wait to use at the pond!

Opening my first present!

Tonka Trucks!

The next morning, Santa had left our presents! I made sure to sleep the whole night (a perfectly wonderful Christmas present for Mommy and Daddy) so that Santa would know that I am a good boy and deserved the Tonka tucks I asked him to bring me. Sure enough, it worked! I got my Tonka trucks! A concrete truck, dump truck and extra large trash truck!!! He also got me some clothes, Thomas train stuff, my own doodler, and more blocks! The new toys kept me very busy the remainder of the day, although we were able to sneak in a walk on the greenway to enjoy the beautiful sunny Christmas weather and also see all the grandparents on the phone! We also saw Uncle Marcus, Aunt Tracie and Saige who got me a Mater Truck! I LOVE Mater!
The last few days have been nice and relaxing, especially with Daddy not having to go to work. We had a special visit from Uncle Mike, Aunt Sandy, Kaitlyn and Lauren a few days after Christmas! They are fun to hug! Plus, they brought more Christmas presents which are always fun to open! They gave me a stool with my name on it! It's a perfect place for me to sit! I enjoyed spending the afternoon with them.

Oh Man, Lots of New Phrases for the Season

I have been perfecting some great words and phrases this holiday season. Some, very naturally pertain to Christmas, such as Jesus, Santa, Elves, Rudolph, "One Horse Open Sleigh", Jingle Bells, etc. Others, Mommy and Daddy wonder just where they came from. My favorite phrase du jour is "Oh, Man!" It's not the most festive of phrases, but it has come in handy because with all the excitement going on these days; I get told to stop doing things or to pay attention quite a bit!
I enjoyed Cora's Christmas pageant. I really liked that she would wave at us every few minutes. Plus I could hear her sing - something that I'm extremely used to - and it sounded better most likely because she was wearing a golden halo like an angel. The best part about the Christmas pageant had to be the cookie afterwards, and of course acting goofy while Mommy took our picture!

My First Enjoyable Santa Experience

This year I defied all odds and actually enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap. I debated it for a second before he lifted me up, but once I was up there I was able to tell him I wanted a concrete truck for Christmas! It was so exciting seeing Santa! Cora was a big help making me feel comfortable with it.
After we visited Santa we got to eat cupcakes and enjoy a sleigh ride in a sleigh drawn by huge black horses! It was fun! Our visit with Santa started the weekend. The next day, we enjoyed the Wake Forest parade! The weather was beautiful to sit and enjoy waving at the floats and yelling, "Merry Christmas!" My favorite part of the parade was the fire trucks!
We rounded out the exceptionally fun weekend by decorating cookies at the neighbor's house, then eating a turkey dinner, complete with pumpkin pie! All of these fun events are getting me really excited for Christmas!

Anchors Away in Savannah!

On our drive home from Florida, we stopped in Savannah! It is a special place because it's where Mommy and Daddy got engaged! I guess you could say it's where all the magic started. I wouldn't be here if it hadn't. Anyways, it was great to get out of the car and stretch our legs exploring Savannah. The river was fun to see, but I really enjoyed a park that had huge old anchors in it. Cora and I climbed all over them. I liked pretending I was driving on them. After we had fun running around we had dinner at a restaurant that had big sharks hanging from the ceiling. Every time we walked past one I would yell, "Shark!!" We eventually made it home the following day, but I'm glad that we had an enjoyable trip home from Florida.
Although we got back to school and our normal routine (EXCEPT morning milk in the big bed - I'm not liking the lack of it at all) you can tell Christmas is coming! One evening after dinner we went to pick out our Christmas tree. Christmas tree lots are fun places to run around and scream! The guy selling trees got a huge kick out of me using my imaginary chain saw to trim the trees. My imaginary chain saw comes complete with sound! After our tree was loaded on top of the Green Bandid, we headed home and Daddy set up the tree. It was perfect! The following day we got to decorate the tree and add holiday cheer to our house - not to mention the dancing Santa who dances under the Christmas tree in the play room! He has to take a lot of breaks in between dancing, but every time he starts up - I turn and smile!

Turkey Time!

This year's Thanksgiving was celebrated with warmth, sunshine, fishing, boats, lots and lots of new family and coconuts. We went to Florida! It was a long trip in the car to and from Florida, but it was well worth it. And, Mommy and Daddy were able to endure the trip because I kept my meltdowns to a minimum while in the car thanks to the many movies we got to watch! I even did fairly well during our stays in the hotel along the way.
My holiday was made better by the fact that there was another person, cousin Saige who was my exact height, allowing me to have someone to talk to and watch while everyone towered above us. And by everyone, I mean a lot of people, including some new faces I met for the first time or had only met once. Luckily there were some familiar faces like Mimi, Papa, Uncle Marcus and Aunt Tracie which made me a little more comfortable. I was quite frightful of others, Arne in particular, until I realized that he was lots of fun, and drove a boat, and was a fisherman. I also saw Judy again and met Helene, Philip, Simen and Anette for the first time. Philip managed to talk to God on the phone at one point and Helene was lots of fun in the sunken bathtub.

We had time to explore the house where we stayed, which had a pool (fun for splashing) and a canal in the backyard that we could throw shells into. Uncle Marcus talked to a coconut floating down the canal, so we all said goodbye to it when it floated out of view. We visited a park where we ran around chasing each other to get all of our sillies out from our car trip. Most exciting though was walking to the beach and digging in the sand. Mimi made Cora, Saige and me superhero capes for us to run in. I love my batman cape! We went to the beach twice - and as we prepared to leave the on the second trip, I specifically went to my room to get my cape to wear to the beach!
I'm not much of an eater, so Thanksgiving meal is just another meal to push around my plate, but I can say that there were some exciting parts of the day. When we went to Arne and Judy's house, I got to wear a hat Philip got in Mexico which made me feel special. Then, after realizing Arne was a fisherman, he just so happened to be fishing by his boat and let me reel in a Ladyfish he had caught! It was exciting! I know there were some large fish in the canal because when we were visiting Arne and Judy when it was dark, there was a green light in the water attracting the fish. They were fun to watch "come out of the water." Too bad we didn't have more time in Florida, I would have really liked to take a ride in the Missing Norway. Thankfully, the time we did have was great fun!

Preparing for Winter!

As the cold weather settled in this week (and did it ever) Mommy got out my big puffy coat! The first day I wore it outside  then insisted that it stay on while we were inside. It's really comfy!! Mommy thinks its cute how I like to use my pockets, I do it to keep my hands warm!
I have become quite a little singer. My favorite tune to belt out is still working on the railroad. Sometimes I get so into it, I just keep repeating the first two words, "Oh I; Oh, I; Oh, I;" Sometimes I'll pick a random tune that I've heard and start singing. I suppose it's only natural for me to do that given that Cora is constantly singing herself!

To celebrate the last mowing of the season, Daddy let me help mow the lawn! I have been practicing with my mower inside, so it wasn't hard at all. In fact, I wish he would have let me mow the whole thing! The morning we mowed the lawn together, I enjoyed spending time with just Mommy and Daddy while Cora was at school. I love Cora (which is obvious when I run around the house screaming "Where's my Cora?") but there are very few occasions when its just me, Mommy and Daddy.

New Car!

We had lot of exciting new things this past week! To start off, some men came and planted a new tree in our yard! I loved watching the bulldozer pick up the tree! While the men meticulously built a wall, Mommy took me outside so I could see the bulldozer and truck up close! Now our front yard looks beautiful and there is lots of mulch to play in! The day before the project started a praying mantis visited our front yard - I think it was a sign that something special was going to happen - and it did!
As if that wasn't exciting enough, we got a new car! We said goodbye to the Silver Bullet and got a new Silver Bullet! I enjoy riding in it, so much that I fall asleep! On the way home from the car dealership I fell asleep. When we got home and I woke up, I looked at Daddy and told him that I really liked our new car. Additionally, every morning when I come downstairs I ask to see the new car in the garage! Although it took a while to buy the car, Cora and I had fun running around and watching airplanes coming and going to the airport!

The day after we bought our new car, we drove it to a park where we had a picnic and hiked through the woods. I loved the unlimited amount of sticks available to pick up and carry. At one point I was pushing leaves around with my stick like a rake and with another stick I was stabbing leaves. We got to hike over a stone bridge and throw leaves in a stream.  It was a perfect time for me to practice my colors as the leaves were all wonderful shades of yellow, red, orange and brown!

Happy Halloween Rooooaaaarrr!!

For Halloween I dressed up as a werewolf! (Or a Mitten as I call it) The days leading up to Halloween I practiced my roaring so I could make a good werewolf, but everytime Mommy would ask me what I was, I would say dinosaur, or lion anything BUT a werewolf. I don't even think werewolves roar, they howl. Oh well. I looked really cute in my costume that Mimi made for me, I don't think it matters what sound I made.
Thankfully for Daddy, I was very brave when we went trick-or-treating and didn't cry once. He would ask me if I wanted to go to a house, and if I thought it would be scary, I would say I didn't want to go. I carried my bag the entire time and didn't need to be carried much at all! Mommy was worried that I wouldn't be brave for trick-or-treating because this week at school I got scared when Tracey put on a witch's hat. Luckily, the witch on her front porch had a bag over her head so I didn't have to worry about her on my way into school.
In addition to the trick-or-treating we got to carve pumpkins the night before Halloween. I helped Mommy carve the pumpkin I picked out at the store. I tried to help, but I was not a fan of getting pumpkin on my hands. She and I made a scary pumpkin: a devil with horns!! I think it looked really good when we put candles in it and it would glow outside in the dark!

Halloween Themed Drawings

Just in time for Halloween, I have begun to expand my new drawing talents to arachnids! This week at school, we finger painted spiders and that put me in the mood to draw spiders. Although my spiders may have two or twenty legs, the important part is that I can draw circles and lines together!! At school,  Ms Tracey was very impressed that I started drawing circles, in fact she called me precise and focused - quite a compliment for a two year old!! Ms Tracey found it amusing that everybody else painted their spiders at 9AM, and I didn't allow her to put my hands in the paint until 11AM! I am quite particular about certain things! To name a few things I'm particular about: I must have all my friends just so in my big bed before I can go to sleep; for naptime I must have at least 2 trucks with me to fall asleep; going potty is not complete without trying to poop.

Opening mail!

Drawing spiders!

In other news regarding the upcoming Halloween holiday - I am excited for it to be here, and excited for it to be over. Why, you may ask? I am terrified of any type of mannequin or masked person. Even if I see the person put a mask on (and it's a 4 year old child) I don't like it. Ms Tracey has a human sized witch figure on her front porch that freaked me out when I went to school! Scary things are everywhere right now! Pumpkins, spiders, skeletons, I can handle those. Masks, NO THANK YOU!
I got a nice compliment from my cousin Kaitlyn the other day. She said I'm really good at talking on the phone. That comes from good practice with grandparents as well as some great role models.

Pick a bulb out of the bag....

...and toss it in the hole!

Last but not least, the weather has been spectacular this weekend! We have spent a lot of time outside including our second annual bulb planting at Daffodil Days. This time we planted bulbs at the pond and I did a great job throwing the bulbs in the hole!

Plumber's butt whilst digging a hole for bulbs!