santa

visiting santa is always an experience.  i remember taking john to see santa for his first christmas.  he was only 5 months old and he loved santa right away.  i think it helps that my dad has always had a beard.

john & santa 2007

his second christmas was a little more eventful.  he would have been just over a year old.  he did not want anything to do with santa, and we ended up with mommy sitting next to santa and john sitting on my lap. 

john & santa 2008

i can't seem to find a santa picture from 2009.  i am surprised.  i am pretty sure that we took him every year to see santa.  2010, gillian was five months old and john was a little over 3 years old.  he was very excited to meet santa that year.  the line was ridiculous.  gillian slept the entire time, but mommy and daddy had to keep taking turning taking john for a walk.  by the time we go to see santa, he was exhausted and gillian woke up from her nap.  luckily, we got a cute picture of the two of them together. 

john, gillian & santa 2010

it's amazing how quickly things change in a year.  this year, we have been talking to john a lot about santa.  i asked him if he would sit on santa's lap and tell him what he wanted for christmas.  john quickly replied, "no!"  he did not want to sit on santa's lap.  we went to the mall really early today to get some of our remaining christmas shopping done.  we got on the santa line around 10:45 and santa was due to arrive at 11.  the line was not too bad.  gillian sat in her stroller and waved and blew kisses to santa.  john and another little boy on line were trying their hardest to not get in too much trouble.  as we got closer to santa, john kept saying that he would not sit on santa's lap and that he would not talk to santa.  there was a brief conversation about what santa could say or not say.  i think he thought that santa couldn't speak english.  that may have been my fault (i have told him in the past that buddy does not speak english).  anyway, we got to the big man, and john jumps right into his lap and starts talking to him.  gillian, on the other hand, took one look and buried her head into my shoulder.  santa explained to me, that i could sit next to him and have the illusion of gillian sitting on his lap.  as soon as i sat down she started crying.  poor little girl.  santa didn't even talk or look at her.  just tears.  oh well.  there's always next year. 

john, gillian & santa 2011

penguins and toothbrushes

today was penguin day at the lincroft center for children. they had the penguin from the jenkinson's aquarium come for a visit. all the kids got to see the penguin. her name was checkers and according to john "she waddled around a little bit." he also told me that a man brought the penguin. and he brought some stuffed penguins too.   john is going to the jenkinson's aquarium next week with his mimi.  he is very excited to see checkers again!     

a couple of the penguins from jenkinson's

we have been trying to get john to do more things by himself. he is pretty independent, but there are still a few things that we help him with. this week we have been having john brush his own teeth. both kids like brushing their teeth.

gilly loves brushing her teeth

we got a video of john brushing his teeth this morning.  i have to admit.  it is one of the funniest things i have seen in a long time.  enjoy :)

mr. sun

while blow drying my hair this morning, john walks in the bathroom and says "mommy why are you making so much noise?" i said i am doing my hair. "but mommy, why are you doing your hair in the middle of the night?" it was about 6:30 in the morning, and a little dark out. i explained that it was the morning. and he replied "no mommy. it's the nighttime. mr. sun is not here yet." i continued to ask him why he was awake if it wasn't the morning yet. he quickly replied "because you were making all that noise!"

decorating the tree

we bought our christmas tree this weekend, with the intentions of decorating it yesterday.  unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to work on the tree yesterday.  so we decorated tonight.  i am a little anal retentive about the lights.  daddy understands and left me with john to put the lights on the tree.  before we started, i gave john the game rules for putting up the lights:

1. no stepping on the lights
2. no throwing the lights
3. listen to mommy

he did an awesome job.  he did ask a lot of questions, but that is to be expected.

my big helper

we called daddy and gillian back to help us put the ornaments on the tree.  we set aside all the unbreakable ornaments for john to put on the tree.  gillian helped in her own little way.

gillian took one of the moosie ornaments and pushed it around in her stroller

i love decorating the tree.  i love pulling out all the old ornaments and remembering the first year we got them.  we pulled out the ornament my mom and dad made with john daniel when he was a baby.  it has his little hand print in the plaster.  john's hand looks huge compared to that little hand print now.  

we finally got the tree decorated and it was time for john to put the star on top.  





best picture of the two of them from tonight

 

buddy

we have an elf on the shelf.  his name is buddy.  for those of you that don't have children or have never heard of elf on the shelf, let me give you a little background.  an elf on the shelf is one of santa's helpers.  he or she comes to your house and your child gets to name him or her.  he or she then watches your child during the day and at night they go back to the north pole to report to santa how your child was throughout the day.  the next morning, your child will find his or her elf in a different spot.  also, you can't touch the elf or he or she will lose their magic. 

buddy first started visiting us last year.  he found john at the ranch last thanksgiving.  john decided to name him buddy (with a little help from mom & dad).  buddy came back again this thanksgiving and john was very excited to see his friend again.  since gillian was a baby last year, john explained to gillian that buddy was "one of santa's helpers."  john is also very concerned that gillian will want to hold buddy and snuggle him.  john told buddy "you got to stay up high, cause gilly will want to hold you like a baby."  we have been very lucky, buddy has listened to john and stay where gillian can not reach him. 

gillian is recognizing him now too.  she says "buddy."  and points to his location.  before we leave for school in the morning, she does blow him kisses and says "bye-bye."  last night, we went to aunt trish & uncle kevin's house for sammie's birthday.  while we were there, we saw sammie & kyle's elf "cute elf."  gillian saw cute elf and said, "buddy."  it's a little hard to explain to her that there are multiple elves.

buddy in today's spot

 

butter

a few months ago, kyle picked us up breakfast of toasted bagels with butter. the bagels were drenched in butter. gillian ate an entire bagel and smelled like butter. daddy & i kept saying "gilly, you smell like butter!" and she would laugh. to this day if gillian has a stinky diaper john says "oh man, gilly you smell like butter!"

first day

today was the kids first day at their new school. i was very nervous. john was very excited. before we left the house, he said to me "mommy can you hold my hand when we walk in?" we got to school and john showed me where his cubby was and he found gillian's cubby too. i walked him to his class and he found some sharks and fish to play with and he sat down. i took gillian to her class. she was a little clingy and did not stray from my side. i left her for a moment so that i could get the rest of the stuff out of the car. and she was crying. i checked on john and he was coloring a picture. he gave me a kiss and basically threw me out the door. as i walked past gillian's class she was still crying. it just breaks your heart. i was so proud of john and worried for gillian at the same time.

i called to check on them later in day and the director said they were doing great and that they were such happy kids. i mentioned that gillian was crying when i left. she said by the time she got in gillian was happy and playing with a babydoll when she got there.

i picked them up tonight. john was happily playing with a couple of boys. his teacher said that he did really well and had a great day. i found gillian in another room sitting at a big table covered in paper. she was coloring and didn't even notice me when i walked in. i again talked to gillian's teacher who said gillian was awesome today. as we were leaving gillian was waving and blowing kisses. yay for a great first day!