We do have a Christmas tree, and while it is not yet decorated, it already has presents under it! Unfortunately, the kids’ Grandma Lesley does not live close enough to for them to see as often as they would like, but they are fortunate that she makes a real effort to see them as frequently as she can. This past weekend, the kids did get to see their Grandma at their cousin’s birthday party, during which time they also received their Christmas presents. I brought them home, intended to hide them away until Christmas, but of course Franny found them before I got to it. Now that they know what they are, the excitement in this house has increased tremendously! Can we open them, now? is quickly followed by Can we open them tomorrow? , which is then followed by How long until Christmas? It is fun to see them so excited about this part of Christmas—this is the first year that they have been intently focused on the approaching holiday, rather than a series of seasonal adventures. And we still have 19 days to go—the anticipation is overwhelming!

…I get up in the middle of the night to find Delaney had somehow managed to get both of her little legs stuck in one of her pajama legs. Poor girl!

Today, I had a very special date with my wonderful daughter. Franny and I met up her San Diego cousins to attend the Classical Ballet Academy’s production of he Nutcracker. I’ve been wanting to do something special with her, and this seemed like the perfect outing for us. It was her first time to a ballet performance and her first introduction to the Nutcracker story, so I am sure that a lot of it was confusing for her. But, I also think she really enjoyed it. The ballet lasted for two hours, and she spent that entire time focused on what was going on the stage. On our ride home, she asked lots of questions about the different performers and what they were doing. I’ll get a better idea over the next couple of days how much she really enjoyed it and how much she understood—it always takes her time to decompress and to set things straight in her own perspective. I do know, however, that she liked getting dress up in her fancy dress and shoes—that is classic Franny. As for mother-daughter bonding, she later said that she wished that Cole and Daddy had come with us. If that is really true, I think it’s very sweet; but I think she enjoyed our time together as much as I did.

This morning we embarked on our annual Christmas tradition of cutting down our tree with Grandpa; both kids were also very pleased that Grandma joined us, again. Unlike last year, when it poured down rain and was cold and windy, this year the weather was gorgeous! It was a chilly 32 degrees, but the sun made it very pleasant. Franny and Cole were very excited, and were all smiles as we set out to find our tree. Franny was very interested in picking out our tree, while Cole was more along for the adventure of it all. It was a very fun morning, and we found a beautiful tree. Now, it finally feels like the Christmas season is upon us: the combination of family, the season, and our traditions—these are very special times.

Franny has had weekly homework for the past eleven weeks. Each assignment is the same: identify pictures in magazines that begin with the letter of the week, cut them out and paste them into a collage. A smaller part is to write a line of upper and lower case letters. Franny really enjoys it, bIut it can be a tedious process. Some letters are easier than others—it was difficult to find I and J pictures; A and D pictures were much easier. Franny has completed A-K, and I was looking forward to several easier weeks with L, M, and N. As of this week, however, Franny’s teacher has discontinued the homework, due to new child developmental guidelines that say that homework is inappropriate for her age, and that she should instead be having more unstructured playtime at home. Even she was surprised with the reversal—she has been teaching this class for six years and homework has always been part of the curriculum. Franny was very disappointed, so I told her we could continue with the assignments ourselves at home, and that made her feel better. There are letters she has been looking forward to doing, and she is frequently telling me different things she will cut out for future letters. I appreciate the school wanting to do what is in the best interest for the kids, but for Franny, homework has been a very positive experience. I love her enthusiasm and the fun she has in learning. I especially love the confidence and pride I see in her when she finally masters writing a letter. In my mind, that is more important than the lesson itself.

Franny’s interest in drawing and coloring has really grown over the last few months. Several months ago, she began drawing rainbows and kept asking when we would see one. I told her when it rains when the sun is shining. After that, every rainbow she drew had to also have a sun and rain. Her drawings have since become much more sophisticated, including rainbows with the actual color order. But, I am a little partial to her early attempts, like this one:

Here are some of my other favorites:

Cole looks quite content—cozy with his Lightning McQueen pillow and blanket, and if you look closely, you can also see his little Mater and McQueen cars. Add a cute little smile and it just looks like a slow start to the day. Unfortunately, this particular morning, he also woke up with a temperature of 102. After some sympathy company from Franny and a little Tylenol, he was up and running fairly quickly. As of this afternoon, his fever hasn’t returned, so hopefully it was just a short-term bug. It never ceases to amaze me how resilient kids are when it comes to illness. High fever one minute, and running up and down the halls thirty minutes later. I wish I could bounce back so quickly!

Today, Delaney went in for a weight check, and although it was two weeks early, since everything looked good, her doctor proceeded with her 6 month well baby check. In the process, we got the go-ahead for rice cereal and drinking water from a sippy cup. Sounds small, but these are huge changes for little Delaney! We probably won’t start the cereal until next week, but we gave her a little water today in a cup—she drank some with no problem, except she really wasn’t too impressed. We’ll have to put a little milk in it for her, next time…

As for her official stats, her weight is 12 lbs, 4.1 oz (3rd percentile), and her length is 66 cm (75th percentile). She is long and lean! Although she is slightly longer than Franny was at this age, she is nearly three pounds lighter, which explains why all those pants aren’t fitting very well! But most importantly, she is a very healthy and very happy little baby. Compared to the early months, this age is extremely fun: she laughs and coos, will reach for you and give you a hug, and prefers to be on her stomach to play more and more. She is her own little person—she is a little like Franny and a little like Cole, but mostly she is just Delaney. We adore her!

Welcome to the new Trio! I don’t remember where I acquired my last blog template, but it was laden with different bugs and irritating quirks that made it very difficult to work with. Through many blog tutorials, comparisons of different templates’ code, and web searches to fix different problems, I was finally able to remedy many of the issues within it. In the process, I learned to read, edit, and even write new HTML code. It was a very tedious experience, and by the time I was done, I had completely lost my enthusiasm for my template. So I decided to take my newfound knowledge and customize a new blog to include all the things I wanted it to. The result is the new Trio. I hope you enjoy it! Of course, a new blog format doesn’t mean that it’s any easier to take good pictures…I’ll have to keep working on that one.