Tuesday, December 29, 2009

twas the days before Christmas

Grandpa barely made it out of the snowy East to visit us for Christmas. We did some final shopping and took a trip up to the Evergreen Aviation Museum. He was here just as Ben was transitioning to walking. Now walking is his preferred mode of transportation. He crawls only if he has to go fast to keep up with Owen.
Grandpa got to go to Owen's swim lesson. Owen can now swim across the length of the small pool. They were playing Policemen while waiting for the lesson.

We had a yummy Christmas Eve dinner at Susie's house before the Christmas service. Ben was being very cute and photogenic.
We donned our 2009 edition Christmas jammies, and Grandpa read the boys Twas the Night Before Christmas. Owen was beyond excited about Santa coming- he and Richard tracked Santa on NORAD all evening and Owen went to bed once Santa hit North America.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

holiday greetings!

2009 is winding down, and we will be enjoying its last two weeks at home together. Ben is on the verge of turning one. He is taking a few unassisted steps, and is definitely saying "ball" now, along with Mama, Dada, hi and bye. He gets me up at 5 each morning, and around 7 the two of us go in and wake up Owen- that is Ben's favorite part of the day- jumping on his brother and getting to play with him. Owen in turn loves his little brother and talks about how they are best friends. He does a great job sharing toys and has been very patient with Ben. Owen is enjoying pre-k, loves his teacher Richard and the activities they do each day, including yoga and gardening. He's working on his reading and writing, and still obsessed with airplanes. Ben will start at Owen's old school- the Monroe Center- in January. It is hard to believe that he is old enough to go there now, but Owen was the same age when he started. I think Ben will be happy there. Richard and I are keeping busy with the boys and with work. We enjoyed NOT renovating our house this year- it was time to reap the benefits of last year's chaos.

We are looking forward to Christmas at home with my dad, assuming he can snowplow his way to the Richmond airport tomorrow. We will miss everyone in Vermont this year, but wish you love and will see you this summer after the melt.

Friday, December 18, 2009