25+++ Days of Christmas

Let's be honest.  The Whitfield 4 didn't wait until December 1st to start celebrating Christmas.  Thanksgiving ended, and we began our Christmas season! 

I did wait until December 1st to kick off my daily Christmas adventures with Sophie (similar to what I did last year).  Every morning, Sophie opens an envelope that reveals the extra special activity of the day.  We have supplemented with a lot of other experiences, too---getting the Christmas tree, Daddy-Sophie date to Snowflake lane, hot cocoa and stories by the tree... and Cam has been getting in on the fun, too! Here is an official list of what we've done so far:

December 1st: Santa Train

Sophie preferred to find her old friend, the Big Bear, from a nearby cafe rather than see Santa.

December 2nd: Make: Wreath arts and crafts
December 3rd: Go To: Molbaks and buy new ornament

(getting good photos of both of them at the same time is so difficult!)

December 4th: Go To: Botanical Garden of Lights



December 5th: Go To: Reindeer Festival

After we fed the reindeer some apples, we explored the zoo...

December 6th: Make: Santa arts and crafts
December 7th: Visit Santa!!

December 8th: Write letter to Santa

(Lugging around two kiddos plus hats plus coats plus snacks, etc, etc has prevented me from even taking our camera out of the closet.  All of these photos are cell-phone quality!)

Other family updates:

1.  I was talking to Doug about how much fun it is for me to be home with the kiddos to have dance parties to the"Run Run Rudolph" song and to play by the tree in our pajamas.  Sophie overheard me and said, "(Re)member when you were over-tired?"  It took about 30 seconds for us to realize that she meant "retired" from work.  Funny slip.





2.  Sophie INSISTED on wearing her Santa costume from Halloween when she met with Santa.  Santa and his elves thought she was hysterical.  She told Santa how she said "Ho Ho Ho. Trick or Treat" on Halloween.  And she asked him some tough questions about why Clarice (Rudolph's girlfriend in the movie) can't fly.  Sophie requested the doll named Caroline and her cat, Inkpot, and she told Santa that Cameron wants a basketball hoop and a basketball.  Cameron sat seriously on Santa's lap for about 1 minute just staring at him; Cameron would look at Santa and then look at his sister and then look back at Santa. It was the most serious face he is capable of. Then, as the minute ended, he started to cry.  So cute.

3.  Cameron wants to move.  He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth.  He has figured out how to independently move his legs but not his arms.  This results in a lot of face plants.  It also results in me being a bit (perhaps, irrationally) emotional about my baby growing up.  Slow it down, Cam-man.

4.  When we returned home from getting Santa photos, Sophie asked to see all of the other photos of her with Santa.  We now have 4 of them.  She lined them up from the newborn photo to this year's.  She noticed how different she looked in the photos....and she was also perplexed by how different Santa looked in each of the photographs...

Boots, vest, mommy's scarf, hot cocoa... the good life. 

5.  Cameron loves to bang on the piano keys.  If he hears somebody else playing the piano, he immediately starts swinging his arms in the air until he is picked up and placed in front of the keys.  This has motivated me to spend more time playing the piano, too.  The kids and I have "set up shop" in the living room; I pull out toys, books, games, and blankets from their rooms and set up their stations in front of the tree.  While they play, I play Christmas carols on the piano.  Sophie will often sing and dance along with me, too.  It is magical.

6. The hair! The hair! Best things come to those who wait...




7.  And best of all, we had a visit from MB! She joined us for some of our Christmas adventures and both kids enjoyed being loved by their grandmother!

Sophie was trying to catch raindrops like snowflakes on her tongue...

GREAT Christmas adventures continue to await us!  Hope you are all reveling in the magic of this season.  

Love, the Whitfields

3 years and 6 months

Both kiddos had well-check visits with their doctor this week.  There was some serious cuteness:

Sophie weighs in around 31 pounds and 38 inches tall.  Cameron is a little over 17 pounds (25th-50th%) and 28 inches tall (90th-95th%).  Both kiddos are thriving in all areas, and we are so thankful.

A few hysterical comments this week.

1.  Sophie no longer simply accepts the answer that "God makes us."  She asks "How does God put a baby in a mommy's tummy?"  I responded that God takes a part of a Daddy and a part of a Mommy and makes the miracle occur.  That isn't good enough...."But HOW does that happen? That doesn't make sense.  What part of Daddy did he take?" I said that she needs to talk to Daddy about that because I was out of answers at this point.

2.  She and I were talking about the gifts and abilities that God gives us.  I was giving her lots of examples of abilities that different people have.  She asked "Why did God give Cameron the ability to drool so much?"  Good question, S.  Good question.

3.  We talk A LOT about choking hazards, emergencies, small toys vs. baby-friendly toys, etc.  Sophie has been really good about understanding that her 6 month old brother puts everything into his mouth, so we all have to be careful.  I had set up a blanket with toys for Cameron so he could sit and play by the Christmas tree.  Sophie was doing some make-believe game for hours and was playing independently, so I wasn't as tuned in to her movements as I probably should have been.  The next day, I was finally cleaning up all of the living room and noticed that there was a small drinking glass accessory from Sophie's dollhouse on Cam's blanket.  This cup is the size of a fingernail.  Doug and I immediately went into investigative mode and determined that she had brought 2 items from her dollhouse and put them with Cam's toys while he was there.  We only could find 1 of the items (the drinking glass) and couldn't find the little pink bunny accessory.  Although I never saw him choking on anything, we assumed that he probably did swallow it yesterday.  We sat Sophie down to talk to her about it.  Doug asked her why she brought those dangerous toys out to him.  Her response?  "Um, I kinda forgot he was already born."  (Update:  we found the pink bunny, so we are relieved he didn't eat it!)

We are in full Christmas mode--so much fun stuff in the pipeline as December 1st races to us.  We are all very excited for this magic Christmas.  We love experiencing it through the eyes of our little ones.

Thanksgiving 2012: Maui

We have just returned from a(n) _____________ Hawaiian family vacation (fill in the blank with any adjective meaning wonderful/perfect/special/amazing/glorious).  

The men of the family (minus baby Cam and Grady, of course)

Sand-eating machine

My dad and I enjoyed a kayak ride.

The two cutest boys and cousins in the world: Grady and Cameron (once again in matching clothes)

Not Cam's cutest moment.... 

The Whitfield 4 on Thanksgiving Day

A classic Sophie look and a classic Cameron look

Stop growing up so fast, my sweet baby

Much to be thankful for

We love these three. 

Grady was worn out after some ocean swimming. 

"Mahalo"to Papa and Grandma, Uncle Chris, Auntie Ali, and Cousin Grady for a FULL week. We are thankful for each one of you.