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!