Thankful

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of four kicked off with the annual Thanksgiving feast at Abracadabra. Patrick and all of the munchkins came running in wearing Indian headbands, made a beeline for the dessert table, and had cleared it of most of the cupcakes within minutes. The whole event was complete in about 45 minutes but it was lots of fun to watch.

On Thursday it was just us, and we spent a fun day playing animal bowling and running around on the tennis courts. Both Thomas children took a nap on daddy in the afternoon and then we shared a feast together for dinner. Donald and I have more blessings than we can count this year.

Crafty

Patrick love "crafts," and prefers to work in the messiest mediums: paint, markers, and glitter glue, but I still encourage his art. One of his favorite new crafts is an animal collage kit that includes confetti-like tissue paper, buttons, googly eyes, feathers, and sequins. He loves to take it out, glue one or two items onto a cardboard cow or a sheep, and then just play with the rest of the items in the box, as he's doing in the picture.

While he takes after me where his art is concerned, I've noticed Patrick can be as mentally crafty as Donald, and is starting to negotiate with us in clever ways. Last weekend when it was too cold and rainy to go outside and play T-ball he told us "I'll just put on my jacket and play outside for a little while." A few days ago, when confronted with the sad reality that his Halloween pumpkin full of candy was pretty much empty he told me "I need to go trick-or-treating some more."

Visit From Grammy and Grandaddy

Grammy and Grandaddy came last weekend to meet Madeline and spend time with Patrick and Sophie, who provided all of the weekend's entertainment. Patrick adores "Soph" and they had fun being super silly together. Patrick also had a great time playing football with Grandaddy in the back yard and tackling him repeatedly. Grammy stayed for a few extra days to help me out and we had a nice time hanging out with Madeline; we even took her out to lunch in Old Town, which she was kind enough to snooze through.

That's What Big Brothers Are For

"Can I squeeze her?" Patrick asks us as he reaches for Madeline's head—we're trying to learn to be gentle. Last night he spent ages fiddling with all of the music and lights on Madeline's bouncy chair as she peacefully snoozed away, and then asked if she could sleep in his crib with him when we put him to bed. He typically reserves such a request for a favorite new toy, so it seems like a good sign. I always wished for a big brother and am so glad that Madeline has such a nice one. He definitely has big brother instincts though. He thinks it's hilarious to put things on her head, like crumbs from his toast or a spoonful of yogurt, and loves hearing the sounds she makes as she fills up yet another diaper. And we love the picture of him "adjusting" her hat: classic big brother tricks.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Donald and I got a cute glimpse inside Patrick's preschool world last week with our first conference with Ms. Ayne. He's adjusted to school beautifully, and really enjoys all of the activites: art, kitchen, dress-up, storytime, "cozy corner," and especially playing outside. We even discovered that our shy guy loves circle time when they sing songs and each kid takes a turn doing something silly in the middle of the circle. Patrick got a lot of praise for his verbal skills, helping to clean up, his sorting abilities, and independence. As at home, Patrick is wanting to do more and more "all my-byself," and is especially good at putting on his own shoes and socks. Ms. Ayne gave us some cute photos of Patrick doing some favorite activities, which include, much to Donald's dismay, trying on girls' shoes (the sparkly-er the better), which was mitigated by photos of two of Patrick's boy classmates wearing princess dresses.

The Madeline Show

Madeline has been subjected to numerous photo shoots these past few days as I try to get the perfect shot for her birth announcement. The two pictures at the bottom of the post compare Madeline at 1 week and Patrick at about 2 weeks. I think they look more alike in person than in the pictures. Madeline is doing great; eating and sleeping with gusto, and we think she is going to be a thumb-sucker. Patrick preferred his paci or all of his fingers stuffed into his mouth, but I've seen Madeline go for her thumb twice now. Patrick is a huge help with his little sister and helps us find her diapers and other baby accessories as needed. When she cries he gets upset and worriedly asks us "what's she saying to you"? If only we could figure that out!

Welcome Madeline Grace

Madeline Grace Thomas arrived at 10:54 a.m. on November 5, weighing 9 lbs, 8 oz, and measuring 21 inches long. Apparently she kicked off a big baby day at Sibley--Dr. Johnson delivered 3 more 9 and 10-pounders before November 5th was over. It was the talk of the maternity ward!

Things were a little crazy this weekend. We were scheduled for an induction but contractions began shortly after we arrived at the hospital. Then came the news that there might be complications in delivering such a potentially large baby. A c-section was unplanned and a bit scary, but we got our little girl quickly and safely and are thrilled to have Madeline Grace with us at last. And even though she's big by baby standards she is still so small compared to Patrick we can hardly believe it.

Flu concerns meant that Patrick couldn't come to the hospital to meet his new sister. Instead he spent three days basking in the attention of Gran T and Papa, who took him all around town to see his friends and down to the waterfront to feed the ducks on Saturday. When brother and sister did finally meet yesterday Madeline brought along a new football helmet--just in case cuteness alone wouldn't cut it. Patrick however is delighted with both Madeline and the helmet, which he wore shopping at the grocery store and brought to school this morning to show his friends. He has a cute way of saying "Madeline" and likes to tickle her toes and kiss her on the head.

It's so nice to have a baby in the house again with all of their teeny tiny things and delicious smells and warm cuddles. It's still amazing--and exhausting--the second time around. And even sweeter because we know how quickly these baby days will pass—and how much we will love the person she becomes.

Four-Alarm Halloween Fun

We kicked off Halloween weekend with Patrick's school party, which featured a costume parade and buffet of treats that included his beloved m&ms. Donald and I found a fireman costume earlier in the week (CVS, sigh) and it suited Patrick much better than the pumpkin. In fact, he's spent the better part of the week wearing his fireman hat and coat and wanted to wear it all day on Friday—including to playgroup where the rubbery coat seriously impeded his speed on the slides.

On Saturday morning we carved our pumpkins, and Patrick particularly loved scooping the seeds. We went to Luke's Halloween party and had a great time playing with friends and once again, finding a stash of m&ms. We weren't sure if Patrick would "get" Halloween but clearly the concept clicked-—we practiced knocking on our own door and instead of saying "trick or treat" Patrick just looked at me flatly and said "candy."

When it finally got dark we set off down the street with our "Halloween bag" and collected treats at several houses. Patrick absolutely loved it and kept asking to go to another house. Down Maple Street we got a special treat—a woman dressed up as a softball player saw Patrick eyeing her ball and glove and offered him her softball. So we added a "baseball" to the Halloween bag—best treat ever! And on his first Halloween trick-or-treating. Needless to say, he went to sleep clutching his new baseball, and is now the world's biggest fan of the holiday.

We've been thinking for weeks that we might have had some company on Halloween—baby sister. But she seems quite comfortable in her current location and doesn't seem to be going anywhere. We can't wait to me you, little sis!