the 1,000th candy cane

bluelips=fun

catching up

"cousins, identical cousins"?









herding cats is easier than posing 5 kids 4 and under (julia not included!)



Jacob got to spend some time with all five of his cousins last month: Julia, 7; Caitlin 4; Ryan 2; and Maddie, 4 and Katie 2. Katie and Ryan will be 3 in March so they are just six months older than Jacob. It was so good to see my brother, Mike and sister-in-law, Jen as they made a pit stop here before heading up to my folks' house for Thanksgiving. They've been back home for a while, but Jacob still talks about "Big Ryan!"

You can't plan for these things

We had gone to the mall with Santa over the weekend and showed Jacob Santa (No, No, NO Santa, Mommy!) and the trains. So yesterday, we went to the same mall again. I never even mentioned the "S" word. We watched the trains then I went in to a store and he went to the window display and I guess saw Santa from in there.

Then he came up to me and said "I Want to ask Santa what I want for Christmas, mommy!" I said, "You do?! Ok, sure! But what do you want for Christmas?" He said "Christmas." When pressed, he replied, "Christmas eve."

With that, I grabbed Jacob's hand and marched over to wait in line to see Santa. It was about 10 people deep. There were a few moments of "I Want to go home." or "I Want Pizza." But not enough to abandon ship, especially since when our turn was getting closer, he said "I want to sit on Santa's lap." He was very determined.

Unlike last year, he was so brave and marched right up to Santa said "Hi!" and got up on his lap and never cried at all. He was such a trooper. Then we had pizza. And went home.

the most wonderful time of the year

That song that seemed trite and overbearing is now one of the most truthful things these days. Life with a 2-year-old is wonderful. And fun. (for the most part, that is.) Especially this time of year.

To summarize, anything with lights is "Christmas" to 2-year-old Jacob. For example, when he sees a house decked out with christmas lights, he says: "Christmas!" To the tree, he proclaims, "Christmas!"

Little snippets of christmas carols come wafting from the crib: "...then one foggy...eve" or "down the chimney with Saint Nick..." or "Frosty the snowman had a very shiny nose..." Combining them in a 2-year-old rap just seems perfect.

It's so sweet how he is really "getting" Christmas already. He loves to play with the manger (thank god it's plastic). He knows Mary and Joseph and calls the angel a "butterfly." We've talked about them in the past but now that he can put names to faces (while holding little action figures), it's all coming together.

Last year and the year before I wondered how I was going to begin to perpetrate the whole Santa myth...it seemed like it would require a herculean effort. But like most things with parenting, for good or ill, it's just kind of happening. And any forethought now seems naive and a waste of time. Without really being able to pin point where he got informed, he has a good working knowledge of santa, frosty, rudolph--all the essentials. And of course, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus--and the butterfly.