Advent Calendar Day 3 - See Santa

This morning when Lucas woke up he asked if we were going to see Santa today. I told him to check the advent calendar and sure enough, that was what we had planned for day 3. We went and had a great time. Lucas was intimidated by Santa and could hardly bring himself to speak, much less smile for the photo. But he did manage to tell Santa that he wanted Diesel (the train). On the way home he told me that he forgot to tell Santa that he wanted the Diesel that moves by himself (battery-operated). We will have to write Santa a letter...good thing that's in the advent calendar at some point. Sam was not very happy to be on Santa's lap and would not even look at him. Overall, I think the photo is pretty cute and I love this tradition. (Of course, I like the Bloomindgale's Santa much better, but our friends were going to Macy's, so we went too.)

On the way home from Macy's, we sat next to a woman on the subway who was very old and tiny and frail-looking. Sam reached over and touched her coat to get her attention. She fell in love with him and ooohed and aaahed over him. He flirted away like never before. Then she looked up at me and said, "Oh no! I missed my stop. Now I will have to walk. Well, it was worth it!" I agree - these boys ARE worth it.

Christmas is coming...

I love this time of year, especially here in New York. This year we are starting a new tradition in our family with an advent calendar. When I was growing up, we did one and I have fond memories of it. Becky (Doug's sister) made this advent calendar and gave it to us for Christmas last year, so I have had a year to think about it. We hung it up today and I explained how it works to Lucas. Now I need to get the slips of paper in it tonight so the fun can begin tomorrow. Some of the things on the slips of paper are:
- Decorate a gingerbread house
- Play in the snow (if it snows)
- Make paper snowflakes
- Bake cookies and decorate them
- Go see the train show at Grand Central Station (Doug, this one is for you guys to do!)
- Go see Santa (this Thursday)
- Wrap Presents

We also put up the Christmas tree (small though it may be). I usually like to wait until it's actually December, but Lucas really wanted to do it. I am excited for him to be at the age where he gets excited about this stuff. It only took Sam a few minutes to pull the tree over on himself, but since then he has not gone near it.






I am looking forward to December, filled with more moments like this one:


Oh, and tonight just before bed Lucas said, "You are the best grown-up ever."

The Pre-Christmas Purge

It is always a challenge to find places to put new things in an apartment with limited space. Because Luc's birthday comes right after Christmas, I feel like it's tough to find room for his new toys. So, this week I did the pre-Christmas purge of the boys' toys. I got rid of all of the broken toys, toys with missing pieces, and stuff that they don't play with at all. Now the closet is organized and it won't be difficult to put new stuff in it.



This is what happened when Sam realized he was trapped behind a bunch of toys with no pathway out...

The new horse

Lucas got this new horse the other night. It even makes horse sounds. He has been galloping all over the apartment on it.


Of course, Sam wanted a turn and Lucas wouldn't give in. Note Sam's face in this picture (he is squawking at the top of his lungs - a regular occurrence around our house):


The result:

Puzzles and Mouse Trap

Lucas has loved puzzles for a long time. I found him on his bed putting this puzzle together the other night. I said, "Wow, you are a good worker." He replied, "I know. I am a good worker, but Sam's not, he just throws things." He has a point.


The other night we went to the basement for a scooter ride. Sam had been sick, so we were feeling a bit cooped up. Our basement has a swap table where you can take/leave things that are no longer wanted. On it was the game Mouse Trap. It caught Luc's eye and he wanted to bring it upstairs. I tried to dissuade him since I was certain there would be pieces missing, but he insisted. So, we brought it upstairs and I tried to put it together. Sam was crawling all over me and I finally said I couldn't do it without the instructions. Lucas went over to the box and brought me what he called "the destructions." But I wasn't doing it to his satisfaction, so he took it all up to the table (out of Sam's reach) and proceeded to put it all together - by himself. There were pieces missing, but as he said, he would just "improvise." He has been playing with that game non-stop (pretty much) since then.

The dirty park

My kids love the Playgarden, which I call the dirty park because every time we go there the boys get ridiculously filthy. But they love it and it's enclosed, so it's a little easier to keep track of both of them at the same time.







When I snapped this photo, Sam was pretending to pump gas into a car, but during the shot he fell down (lest you think I paused to take a picture of him like this instead of running over and helping him up). Anyway, he is so funny - any time he falls down he just lays there flat like a pancake and makes no effort to get up.

St. John's Cathedral

We met our friends at St. John's Cathedral last week. We love that place!

Waffles

Both of my boys love waffles. I couldn't help snapping some photos of them side by side eating their Eggos. Too cute.

Friends

Riding home from church with Gavin:


Visiting with Declan (who just woke from his nap):

The boys