A New Year

Well, 2009 has officially arrived and it only took Mum-mum until January 19th to upload the Christmas pictures. This month has found Ba and Mum-mum returning to full-time employment, C extending his day at preschool, and a return to temperatures that are just way too cold.

Like all good preschoolers, C has learned many new and interesting ways to push Ba's buttons (bathtime being the primary culprit) - a feat Mum-mum thought could never happen (goes to further solidify my theory that children hold a Ph.D. in psychology). It's truly interesting to see the thought processes of a 3-year-old (and actions, of course...C is currently "streaking" down the hall in the buff, pretending to be Spiderman).

With C, it's never truly a boring moment in our home. You never know what he's going to say (or do) next. Whether it's pretending a golf club is an umbrella (for which Ba is required to sing a new version of "Singin' in the Rain") or pretending to be a dragon (surprisingly enough, the Halloween costume still fits), C is quite inventive indeed, as evidenced by his using the "Gator Golf" club as a pool stick:

E joked yesterday that C is turning into our Biblical literalist. In Sunday School (and Children's Church), the kids learned about Jesus being baptised by John the Baptist and the spirit of God descending upon Jesus in the form of a dove. So, after the lessons, the kids were given time to color pictures (based on the lesson). In addition to coloring, at Children's Church C was given a dove sticker to place on his picture. So where did he put his sticker? On Jesus' head and face, of course...Unfortunately, Ba accidentally recycled the wrong picture so no photos.

Here are a few highlights from Christmas. Hope you enjoy!

Cousin A, Uncle K, and C having fun in the Christmas snow


Cousin A and C goofin' around


C's breaking out his inner rock star


And you thought C got it from Mum-mum...


Mirror, mirror on the wall. Guess who's stocking is biggest of all?

White Christmas

We had a White Christmas! What a rare treat! PA had snow before we arrived; then ice on top of the snow. So even though it was warmer than freezing most days we were there, the snow didn't melt until after Christmas Day. We were able to take advantage by getting the sled out and taking C and Cousin A sledding. With the ice crust on top, sledding was fast. C and A also could sled on their bums because they weren't heavy enough to break through the crust--just sit them on the hill, push, and let them go! C doesn't have winter boots, so Oma wrapped his feet in plastic bread bags (two layers of course) to protect his feet. Uncle K insisted on being buried in the snow... You'll note that the evidence clearly shows that E is placing blocks of ice on the ground rather than on K.

We all had lots of fun. On Christmas Day, we traveled to E's aunt P and uncle J's place for a family dinner. C got to use his new backseat DVD monitor to watch movies during the travel. He thus slept less than usual! C played with second cousins R and L. Aunt J, Uncle K and Cousins A and H arrived on Friday and we got to open even more presents. C got toys, DVDs, books, puzzles, clothes, a subscription to an animal magazine, a pig pillow (if this sounds bad, H got a "skunk" pillow according to Opa--it's a penguin, but Opa is from PA and figures if its back and white, it's a skunk). He should be set for a while...or at least until Sunday when Oma found another puzzle for him...

C had lots of fun running around basement--that is, making Ba and Opa be "monsters" and chase him in circles around the basement. He has to run in the basement, because, as he puts it: "Oma no run upstairs." He also loved to play hide and seek with Ba and Opa, though, good kid that he is, he always tells us where he is going before he goes there to hide! When Cousin A arrived, we also got to march around the basement and sample their "cooking."

Aunt J reported that A cried for almost an hour during their ride home to NJ because she wanted to play more with C. On one hand, it's terrible that they don't get to see each other more often; on the other, it's remarkable how--when we are able to get together-- they immediately pick back up as if it hadn't been months since they last saw one another.