Odds and Ends
Dave blogged about Christmas and the snow fort he and Phoebe built, but we weren’t idle during the rest of the month of December! Here are a few photos from last month.
On December 1, Dave gave me a “free day” to go on a caving trip. I had a great time…it was really fun to get underground and a pleasure to be out on my own.
Here’s a video of Benjamin sucking his thumb on December 2.
December 4. This is Benjamin taking some amoxicillin for an ear infection.
The indignity of being a baby; here’s a video of Benjamin working on some poop while hanging out at my office.
On December 9, Phoebe and I went over to “help” Brenda and Michael get ready for their holiday tea. (We contributed to a couple of different cookies, mostly by working Brenda’s very beautiful stand mixer.) Grandma Hoot bought Phoebe an apron made by one of her acquaintances; we let Phoebe open it early so she could use it while we were baking.
Benjamin often gets up to eat around 5:30 a.m. and then wants to stay awake until 10 or 11. Here he’s asleep a little earlier than usual, around 9 a.m.
Benjamin accompanied me to Dave’s Eltron Christmas party, which is always an excellent potluck. The Indian dishes always stand out, and I had an enormous piece of pecan pie. Dave played his oboe with the Eltron band—they have a decent number of musicians willing to play a few holiday favorites.
We had a busy morning on the 15th: first Phoebe’s final swimming lesson, then Marin’s birthday party, where the kids got to make their own pizzas, and then Take-A-Break’s annual gift to parents—three free hours of care on a Saturday! Dave and I got to watch a movie (at home) in the middle of the day.
On December 16, we enjoyed Brenda and Michael’s tea. The kids got to make gingerbread men, and the grown-ups got to gorge themselves on cookies, biscotti, and hot apple cider.
Benjamin has the sweetest little curls around his ears, at least when his hair is clean.
Phoebe went through a phase in which she spent a lot of time pretending to nap. (No, that didn’t mean she was more eager to take real naps.)
Phoebe and I worked hard on Christmas cookies. We made all the classics: the whole holy family, mistletoe, Christmas trees, a snowman, and many more.
More napping…
The day after Christmas we headed to—where else?—the coffee shop! Phoebe kicked off her shoes and spread out on the couch. If you look closely, you can see her Queen tee-shirt. Auntie Elaina would be so proud! (Not to mention Mommy, Daddy, and various Queen-loving grandparents.)
We recently read a Junie B Jones chapter book in which Junie B is convinced her newborn brother is a monkey. Here’s our take on it!
December 26 was fort day, but Dave and Phoebe also made some spritzes, a Swedish favorite.
Here are a couple of videos from the great fort construction.
This is a long video, but I couldn’t stop—Phoebe was reading to Benjamin, and she didn’t know I was there!
We tried to do something fun each day of our holiday break. On December 30, we went to Old Chicago to watch the loser Steelers beat the bigger-loser Browns. We split the kids into factions and took some photos to show how we feel about our teams this season.
As the new year began, we took some photos and videos of baby Benjamin.
