Thanksgiving

After a few weeks during which Matt was putting in a lot of late nights and early mornings at work, the Thanksgiving holiday was a very welcome few days of relaxation and togetherness for us.

We had some special visitors from California staying with us, and Alice utilized our time together to bestow Baby D. with as many kisses, caresses and I love yous as possible.

What's that you ask?

Why yes, indeed, that is a bona fide pair of underwear gracing Alice's little tushie. We started potty training a few weeks ago and are still going strong, with lots of successes and fewer and fewer accidents.

 

Sure, we have some kinks to work out, like the fact that any visit to a public restroom requires the complete removal of shoes, pants, and underwear, "so that it's not so slippery." [Huh?] Or the fact that it's still too soon to call her bluff when she asks to go to the bathroom multiple times in a row just because she's bored (twice in ten minutes in church and three times in 20 minutes when we were out to dinner last Saturday night). Or the fact that two minutes after I snapped the below photo, Matt and I had to perform the you-hold-the-kid-under-the-armpits-while-I-take-off-the-pants-and-remove-the-offending-material-and-clean-everything-up-and-then-get-new-pants-on-her maneuver.  Nonetheless, she really is doing great, and, most importantly, seems really proud of her progress.

Anyways, back to Thanksgiving. 

We spent the morning cooking, playing outside, and watching football, and spent the afternoon feasting, playing inside, and watching football. A fairly standard Thanksgiving made special by having family in town to celebrate with.

On Friday, we showed Baby D. one of Alice's favorite spots in Denver, the Children's Museum, so that he could show off his new-found crawling skills to all the Denver babies. 

We visited a new brewery in our neighborhood, where the kids behaved long enough for us to enjoy a few beers and a pretzel together.

And, just before the Wiethes hopped the plane back to L.A., we hit the park for some swinging and slide time.

And now, my friends, with our turkey soup nearly all eaten up, let the Christmas preparations begin! We got out our box of Christmas supplies from the garage and have carefully and lovingly scattered them all over the floor and under the furniture, festively tripping over them when we try to walk around the house. 

Last year's Christmas jammies still fit, and the hat and socks from Alice's first Christmas have been resurrected as baby doll clothes. 

We also got out our box of newborn clothes, which Alice has discovered are also a perfect fit for Baby. 

I've never been very good at getting ready for Christmas much earlier than, say, a week ahead, but something about knowing that we'll be here in town and having a two-year-old to get excited with has made me want to start the fun as early as possible this year.

Here we go!

October of Fun

This October went by in a flash, thanks to the jam-packed adventures that I had, perhaps a little too ambitiously, planned for every weekend of the month. 

First up were two back-to-back weekends away for me: a girls' weekend to Austin, TX and my cousin's wedding in Augusta, GA.  I'm told that Matt and Alice had a great time here on their own, hitting their favorite date spots for breakfast, assembling the crib for the nursery, and visiting an indoor playground that we hadn't visited in a while. He gave me just enough information to make sure I knew they were having fun, and kept me in the dark about all those tedious details related to taking care of a two-year-old that I was so happy to escape for a few days.  What a guy!

After two weekends of solo parenting, it was finally time for Matt to relax a little (and for me to keep my October of Fun rolling).  Karen and Greg arrived on the Thursday before my birthday and got right to work baking me a cake, making the house festive for a little birthday celebration, and, most importantly, entertaining Alice. 

Then, on Friday afternoon, Matt and I hightailed it out of town for a weekend getaway in Aspen.  It was splendid.

Self-timer outtake.

Finally, for the last weekend in October, it was time for us to hit the road as a family. We loaded up the iPad with all the Super WHY! it could hold and headed to the airport for a quick trip to Manhattan Beach to celebrate cousin Dylan's baptism.  Matt and I have the honor of being this precious little guy's godparents.

  

Alice was thrilled to celebrate Dylan's special day, although she remained confused about the fact that we were eating cake in his honor, and yet it wasn't his birthday.  She finished wrestling with the issue just in time to eat a large slice.

My mom made it away from the East Coast right before Hurricane Sandy hit, and ended up extending her stay in California a bit due to flight cancellations.  Poor thing: she had to miss the chaos of the hurricane and suffer through a few extra days of snuggle time with Baby D in sunny California.

 

We got back to Denver just in time for Alice to realize her dream of dressing as a carrot for Halloween.  By the time we were ready to head off to do some candy grubbing, the no-nap-that-day-attitude had already settled in and I wasn't able to get any good photos of the little root vegetable. We hit about 5 houses on our block and then we did about 5 rounds of "trick or treating" at our own front door before calling it a night. The boots (two sizes too small and on the wrong feet) were a non-negotiable last-minute addition that Alice added to the ensemble.

Now that November has rolled around, our travel plans are on hold until Baby Girl #2 makes her debut.  Here's to hoping November and December are festive and relaxing for everyone!