Christmas, Christmas Time is Here

Now with that earworm planted firmly in your head...

It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas... back in early November. After the mid-December, super-foggy warming, there's not a lot of snow left on the ground anymore. That's okay. The milder temps have allowed us to get outside more with the kids, instead of having them cooped up inside.

This year we started early on Christmas (buying our new space-saving tree back in early November), but it's taken a while to get into the Christmas spirit. I speak for myself, because Felix has been gung-ho about Christmas ever since the air turned colder. He's been busy making notes and drawings for Santa. We've also been debating if the mall Santas are the real deal, helpers or elves. Felix insists they're elves... who look like Santa.

We've gotten some improvement out of the kids lately. The fuzzy jar has inspired better behavior and habits out of both. The problem is remember to give them the fuzzies right away for their good deeds. They've been earning small suckers with each full jar. And when they've been having a rough day, that's what a Tom & Jerry is for, right?

Speaking of seasonal alcoholic beverages, we just got to try our latest batch of homebrew (an attempt to replicate Magic Hat #9) last weekend. Mmmm. And we started a raspberry red ale. Double mmm (I hope). We got our beer kit last Christmas and have been able to make 8 batches. The red ale is #9.

One quick public service announcement - please turn on your headlights when the visibility is low (dusk, dawn, foggy, rainy, snowy, etc.). Heck, turn them on always! I don't know if there's something in the water up here, but the number of people that neglect to do that is astonishing. You in the gray car on a super foggy day - I appreciate your faith in my eyesight. So yeah. Lights on and buckle up!

Felix: 5 yrs & Iris: 2 yrs

T-Time

When things go certain ways, it's important to remember all the things for which you're thankful. And it hasn't been an easy few weeks for us. Some backstory...

As you may recall, Felix's transition to Kindergarten hasn't been the smoothest. He's gotten better about some of his physicality issues with other kids. But he's got room for improvement in other social areas. We had his first parent-teacher conference in the middle of November. His teacher suggested we all meet together with his guidance counselor (so we can be consistent with him throughout the day), and that we take him to the doctor to see if there is a physical reason for his recent spate of potty accidents. During the latter, Felix got a belly X-ray and it was determined that he was full of sh!t. Literally. Some medicine has been helpful in that area, and the meeting we had gave us some direction and gave us some hope that aren't completely out of whack parenting. We're trying the marble jar approach (or in our house, a fuzzy ball jar) to encourage better behavior from both kids.

How do you deal with a 2-year-old who doesn't want to be someone's friend? In Iris's class, there's a cute little girl who is very polite, says good morning, and wants to be Iris's friend. The teachers tell me they've been best friends and play together during the day. In the past few weeks, Iris has said, "I don't want to be M's friend anymore." She has no response when I ask why. On 12/3, M was being dropped off at the same time. Iris point-blank told her "don't say [talk] to me." Cue a talk about how we are friends and nice with everyone. I don't want her picking and choosing at 2, especially when the only thing that might be upsetting Iris is that this girl is potty training quicker than her (well, M is two months older, after all). Ugh. I expected some drama having a girl, but at 2?? Her teacher tells me it's a control thing and that they play together well during the day. Time will tell...

So, we were very thankful to have time with family over Thanksgiving. We had kid-crazy meals with each set of grandparents. And thankful that the crazy early-winter weather we've had this year didn't hinder our travel plans. And for "cheap" gas - $2.79!

This year, I'm especially thankful for family, friends old and new, the opportunities that have come with relocation, and the knowledge that this is just a phase that will end eventually. Right...?

Felix: 5 yrs & Iris: 2 yrs