2 glimpses

Christmas Eve church service.
Both kids have been wonderful.
5 minutes left.
Willa's getting restless and starts talking louder and louder about the music, about the candles, about her tights...
I whisper that she needs to be quiet for just a little longer.
The minister announces a time for quiet prayer.
Willa talks louder.
I again ask her to be quiet.
She yells, "Mama, you're driving me CRA-ZY!"
Surrounding old ladies chuckle.

Minutes after this, the choir is singing "Silent Night."
It's beautiful.
Jim is holding Henry.
I turn to smile at him and notice he's wiping his eyes.

I leave church feeling very, very blessed.

Willa's imagination and Sinki status check

Willa just told me she'd like to go to 10 more stores today. All by herself. She's planning to go to the caterpillar store and the star store (where she plans to pick herself up a worm). When asked how she's going to get there she informed me she'd drive herself in a purple van, and she'd turn on music by herself. Soundtrack of choice? "Go for G" by They Might Be Giants.

I have in my back pocket a little post about my ride on the postpartum depression water slide. I'll be putting that up in a few days. For now, please know that having a baby (both times) make this naturally inclined homebody an outright hermit. If you've been feeling neglected, you're probably not alone. Time, a healthy baby, and medication have been making things much, much better, so Feliz Navidad to my psyche.

As I type, Willa is sharing her recently acquired fact that caterpillars turn into butterflies with Jim. Her eyes get wide when she whispers, "they turn into butterflies."

Rounding out the rest of the family check in, Henry is asleep and snoring on my lap. Jim is sitting on the floor with Willa on his lap rhapsodising about Christmas cookies. He's on day #3 of antibiotics, waging a war against ear infection #438 of the year. It's in his good ear, and making him nearly completely deaf. The doctor's connected him with a specialist, and next week we might find he needs tubes.

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone. Drive safe, hug your family, don't forget to leave treats for the reindeer.

Fa la la la la

Whoooo-wheeeee, I'm beat. We just had an exhausting 5 hour shopping extravaganza, and - save 2 $5 purchases at the grocery store - we're done! One might think hopping from store to store with a 2 year old and a 9 week old would be tricky, but it was a breeze. Even at the end of the night, Willa wanted to go to "more stores, please." There was a bit of a rocky moment when, faced with Santa, she turned shy. We have a lovely photo of Henry on Santa's lap (coming soon to a blog near you), and a less lovely photo of Willa's face with Santa about 15 feet behind her.

Christmas shopping has made Henry and I more familiar with fitting rooms along 28th street. In a pinch, sitting on the floor is a comfortable nursing environment.

I'm so, so, so excited for Christmas morning - and the Saturday after (when my family will gather)!

Off to bed...

brief

"I want to write a letter for my cousins."
"You do? What do you want the letter to say?"
"C. And E."

Snowy days

While Henry was turning 2 months old, it snowed. A lot. And then it snowed even more.

Luckily, the snow removal crew works for snow nibbles and hot chocolate.

The dogs have been enjoying the season too.

Our happy fella

No John-boys around these parts

Some examples of final words before going downstairs, leaving our sweet 2 year old to read a final book to herself by the dim globe night light:

"Goodnight, Bert."
-giggle- "Goodnight, Ernie."

"Goodnight peanut butter."
"I not peanut butter! You peanut butter!"
"Okay, goodnight jelly."
"Goodnight peanut butter."

"Goodnight Miss Piggy."
"Goodnight Kermit."

"Goodnight cutie-pants."
-giggle - "Goodnight cutie-pants."

"I love you soooooo much."
"I love you too."

Right this second...

Henry is in his bouncy chair cooing at the Christmas tree. Willa is playing with her train set. Jim is going through today's huge newspaper. He asked Willa what he should get me for Christmas. Her response? "Umm..... a dino-saur. Willa would like a dinosaur too." She held up both hands. Jim said, "10 dinosaurs?!"
"Yes! I would hold them a lot," she said while fixing the livestock fence from the train set.

More on the Santa Claus birds

I should say that I did not invent these guys. It's a fib at least 2 generations old now. Growing up, my parents saw the birds while my sister and I were arguing, or my brothers were getting into something they should. They also checked in on our cousins. And on Christmas Day, there were little notes in a special stocking ornament. The notes were reports Santa received from the birds about good behavior they observed: Lisa's been good at setting the table. Bill's been doing his homework, Brian is picking up his toys, Amy is -as always- the benevolent eldest sibling (ha ha, right mom?).
The Birds are evolving, as our Santa Claus Birds were invisible. I've changed that up - I think Willa would see right through the claim of invisibility.
HA! Get it? See right through.... invisibility. peeking outside to see if my invisible Santa Claus birds appreciate a good pun.

A related holiday tidbit: Willa is worried about seeing Santa right now. We watched Shreck the Halls on tv the other night. It showed Santa eating the head off of a walking and talking gingerbread girl. Anyone else have to convince a 2 year old that Santa is not likely to chew on their head?

Deception in the name of good oral health

Willa's gone on a tooth brushing strike this week. Protesting sibling-hood through the promotion of tooth decay, that one. Lucky for me - and her 20 precious baby teeth - Christmas is around the corner.

"Willa," I said this morning, "remember when mama told you that Santa Claus brings presents to boys and girls if they've been good? Well, Santa can't watch all kids all of the time, so he has helpers watching. His helpers are birds, and mama just saw your Santa Claus bird peeking in the window. So... do you think you should brush your teeth now?"

On the ride to school this morning, Willa and I talked about the Santa Claus birds. Hers, she told me, was a red bird. Instantly I thought of Cardinals, one of the birds we might actually see out the window this winter: jackpot!

Some bloggy business:
Jim asks that I mention that it's MaKenna on my lap in the photo below, and that Willa has not had a remarkable growth spurt that turned her into a four year old. HGH, to answer your question, she liked the new do.
Thanks to all of you for your words about both the haircut and the birth story. Kerri, I imagine that the docs okayed stadol and not an epidural because an epidural may have stalled contractions again and we did NOT want that.
Heather, I would totally be there to coach you on Wed, but I think I'd be too late by then. Good luck, I know you're doing a great job.

A little off the back

Finally. It's gone. During pregnancy, I grew my prenatal vitamin and hormone boosted hair out with plans to donate it.

Last week, Erin the fabulous came over with baby Brody and liberated my head from 10 plus inches.

Willa didn't notice until hours later when I held up one of the gigantic ponytails. She looked from the hair to me, "mommy! You have funny hair. Fix it! Put it back!" No dice, kiddo.

This mane is Pantene bound, ready to be made into a wig for a woman with cancer.