Well, our house was a-buzz this season...the boys were so excited, Drew especially, about all that goes along with Christmas...they loved all the decorations in our home and the neighborhood, Christmas shows, Christmas crafts, Elf-yourself videos, fireworks (Benbrook has fireworks every year to welcome Santa!), yummy food and special times...oh, and the idea of presents, that might have come up once or twice! We did our best to take some time each day to focus on Christ, and they did a much better job with listening to our stories for the Jesse tree this year, so that was a blessing! It is certainly a challenge to keep our focus there, but the daily reminder was a wonderful grounding for us all.
Drew and Daddy have really upped the video game time this month...it is truly Drew's favorite thing to do. They like to play the Lego games on the PS3 and Daddy says Drew is starting to get it and understand how to play, what to do, and can even play some by himself now...something they are both very proud of. We are certainly going to have to come up with a limit on when and how video games can be played, because for an active boy, he sure loves his screen time, and could probably do it for the majority of the day if we let him, but we don't, but hard to believe this is already a challenge at 4...my goodness! But, they do enjoy their time bonding together.
Our favorite games and toys continue to be Tickle Monster or any chase type game really, but also enjoys the Castle toys and super heroes more and more. Drew really is starting to like the little Lego pieces/sets as well now too. He is also expanding his love of strings and hooks to now include magnets...it is truly so fun to watch his mind play and figure out some of these things in our universe and see how he puts them all together...he is on cloud nine when he finds a way to connect all 3!
Drew brought home his first "book" to read for homework this month and was very proud of himself and excited to share it with us! It's wonderful to see him with such enthusiasm for reading and learning...we sure hope that sticks around! The same day he also brought home a gift he made for us for Christmas and he was literally excited to the moon about it and couldn't wait for us to open it...a cute ornament he made and painted...so sweet!
Drew loves his movies, and loves snuggle time, especially if it means he doesn't have to sleep alone, so he LOVES movie sleepover nights. This month he begged for one for quite sometime before we could find a good night to do it and he was so excited we got to have it in Mommy and Daddy's room/bed...he loved sleeping with us! We do often find him watching us sleep...slightly creepy, but I think it really shows how much of a thrill he gets out of it, as well as sense of contentment...he really craves our presence...his love language is very obvious at this age! :)
A funny thing Drew has been saying lately is using the word 'kill' instead of 'cut'...i.e. "will you kill the skin on the apples"...not sure where that came from, but hoping to correct it quickly!
Our backyard was turned upside down this month as the construction on the pool began the first week of December. Daddy has been very involved, Mommy has been involved only with as much is the least necessary, and the boys enjoyed watching the construction. Drew got to stay home with Daddy the first day they dug the hole, which he liked, but at one point sadly said "That's where I play baseball..." Daddy quickly re-assured him we have plenty of other yard space to play and that he would enjoy the pool too! The yard was a mess and it didn't help that 2 days after they dug we got a HUGE ice storm, which of course all melted and made a huge muddy mess...Mommy's excitement through the process revolved more around how clean everything was versus the actual idea of having a pool!
So yes, we had a huge ice storm that hit the first weekend of December. It was literally about 6 inches of pure ICE, not snow, ICE! It looked beautiful that first day, and it was SO cold! We stayed inside most of the first 2 days, getting out just a bit to break some cabin fever from happening, but it was truly too cold to be out too long. The boys enjoyed slipping around in the front yard. And Mommy and Daddy had a first...shoveling ICE! Mommy had to go to work on Saturday (yay for hospital work) and a drift of ice formed right outside our garage door, making it next to impossible to get out, so we got to shovel that Friday night. We of course did the bare minimum, because in Texas, it rarely lasts more than a day or two, but it was still there on Monday, trapping Matthew home as well again, but thankfully he can work from home, so by Tuesday we were able to chip enough away he could get out of the garage, but it took quite awhile! Now back to Sunday, we were able to bundle up, the sun came out and we walked down (pulling the boys in the sleds) down to the golf course in our neighborhood where there are some good hills, and oh my we had fun! (Yes, we have sleds! Daddy got some a few years back, knowing we usually get snow/ice at least once a year - yay for Daddy!) We were able to sled about 200 yards down the hill on the course once we got the hang of it, and it was perfect! The boys loved it and asked the next several days to go back, but it all started to melt that Sunday/Monday, and the sledding days were gone...but what a great time we had! :)
The boys both had dentist appointments this month and we were amazed at how well they did! Drew has really come a long way, now able to sit in the chair by himself, and even tolerated x-rays this time. We are so proud, and relieved...when we started, it was a full on wrestle match to get the shortest exam completed! Noah did fantastic too...Mommy couldn't stop grinning and laughing, we got right up into the chair by himself, chatted with all the ladies, did exactly as they asked and truly acted well beyond his years...it was adorable to watch!
Of course with Christmas upon us, there were lots of extra shopping trips with the boys this month, which can always be an adventure...for the most part they did really well, but certainly ones that didn't go so well! We have always tried to let the boys be involved as possible/appropriate for their age to help with shopping for OTHER people, so it was fun and interesting to get them to shop for each other and for Daddy or cousins, etc. Certainly there were mis-understandings and frustrations of why they weren't going home with anything for them, but I think if we keep it up, it will start to click. We also had to lock off our guest/exercise room this year for all the presents...there was just to much to stash in closets, etc for everyone and the boys did well to not go in. Granted, Noah still can't open doors, so that was certainly to our advantage, but Drew was told early on to not enter the "Chamber of Secrets" as Matthew called it or some of his toys would be taken back to the store...we didn't have any problems after that! And he also helped remind Noah as well! We'll see how well that works next year, for Noah especially! :)
Despite the awful ice storm, we did have some beautiful days this month and took those to our advantage...you never know when you'll get another one, so we soaked it up when we could. We probably had some record highs and lows for this month, so it was quite interesting and hard to mentally wrap our head around sometimes what season it was when it was so warm...or how people survive that live up North when it was so cold!
The boys had a Christmas program at their school and as always, was sweet and short, to the point...perfect for their age! Drew's class were the angels and they sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and did a great job being on stage the whole time. Noah's class came on 2nd to last and were sheep and 'sang' "Silent Night", but were so distracted by their sheep masks, all the other kids and parents that few sang...but still adorable of course! It was fun practicing their songs at home this month and they would call it "My song", and if the other started singing the other one's song, it would get pretty heated! So funny! Drew was sick for the church Christmas program, so we missed out on that sadly...but there's always next year!
In fact, all 3 boys got stomach sick this month, all lasting only about a day, but all a week apart. So it was very strange...Mommy got pretty worried we were going to be contagious for Christmas again, but not so and Mommy didn't get sick at all, so hooray!
Noah loved all the Christmas hoo-rah as well and one of his favorites were all the singing animals we've collected...he of course liked to play them all at the same time, so that was quite loud at times, but how can you keep happiness from a child?! He enjoyed playing with the winter window clings as well, and for whatever reason, he decided they were better on the glass shower wall vs. the window...whatever keeps you happy kid! He was also pretty cute when we were decorating and putting ornaments on the tree...he really enjoyed helping and did a great job, except that all the ornaments went all in the same spot, so we had to do some re-arranging, but happy he got into it this year! Our outdoor lights are plastic LED lights and whenever he would notice them, he would ask to "touch the strawberries?!" - which they do kind of look like, but really cute to hear his take on things!
Noah is actually starting to show a little more interest in riding wheeled toys this month, so that's been fun. Drew was able to do it so early on, it's been hard to wait around for Noah to get on board. But, he's been riding our little balance bike/motorcycle a few times up and down the sidewalk and actually propelling with his feet, so hoping this will increase his interest and skill quickly...it's hard to go on walks right now b/c Drew wants to ride his bike fast and Noah is no longer content to just sit and ride, so not really sure how to handle that...let's just teach Noah to ride a tricycle! :)
This month, for the first time, Noah demanded the use of a night light...I guess he picked up from Drew, or just learning this phase, that the dark is supposed to be scary. So we've started another crutch for sleep, but that one seems pretty normal, so here we are with that. He has fussed more at nights about going to sleep, but calms down pretty quickly, but it's always surprising when it comes out of nowhere. He's been having bad dreams, or not being able to go back to sleep when he wakes in the middle of night as much either, so he's definitely becoming more aware of things. He's also realized we can change the sound on his white noise app, so picking through those is super fun every night...sigh!
He started to show more interest in wanting to dress and undress himself...in general, just wanting to be more independent overall. We of course are all for this! However, when he is changing his shirts, he'll often tell us, or exclaim (depending on his emotion at the time), "No get dark!"...we finally figured out that he doesn't like it when the shirt gets stuck on his head and he can't see...makes sense, but kind of funny. :)
He's also been quite clingy to Mommy, seemingly more and more, to me at least, but maybe it's the same and we are more tired, we aren't completely sure! But school drop-offs are hit or miss and when at home, he will sometimes downright refuse help from Daddy, crying even harder for Mommy...so that's fun! But Mommy has tried to spend some extra time with him, even taking him along for lots of shopping trips...even when he's had the option to stay home and play, he has chosen to go with Mommy! So, along he comes, my little companion, my little Noah!
He is getting more and more chatty, and getting quite vocal. When he doesn't know the words, he'll just make ones up, but his vocabulary has changed without us even realizing it...he's growing so fast! He is enjoying singing songs more and more too...and he still likes to dance, when the mood strikes him! He will every now and then say our meal time prayers at bedtime after Mommy says prayers...very cute and sweet, but again, kind of funny!
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