Madeline and the Whale

Madeline has taken quite a shine to the green whale that hangs from her swing. Last week we noticed her grab for the yellow ring and hold it for the first time, and now she loves to spend some time every morning cooing at her little green friend.

What Walks Down Stairs....

We've been thrilled that some of Patrick's favorite Christmas gifts are toys that are close to our hearts too: Legos, Matchbox cars, and...slinky! Patrick loves watching this crazy thing go down the stairs and likes singing the slinky song, which has to be one of the catchiest jingles ever written. I even found an old clip of the commercial on YouTube; I still remember that brown shag carpeting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdjNH34a2l4.

The Best $20 We Ever Spent

"I bet the only way they ship that thing is overnight" our friend Steve said when we told him we'd finally broken down and ordered a crib tent...and paid extra for express delivery. After a month of bedtime struggles we were beside ourselves—Patrick's bedtime was creeping closer and closer to 10 p.m. and his behavior had taken a downward spiral as a result. So we caved. At least the crib tent (a mesh dome that fits over a crib and acts essentially as a baby jail so they can't jump out) would contain him. We've had relatively peaceful nights and much better bedtimes since the tent arrived, and last Sunday Patrick surprised everyone by laying down in the big boy bed and taking a 2-hour nap! The photo shows his special treat for sleeping in the big boy bed: he got to wear his football jersey and pants for the first time in a month! We'll try again for the full big boy bed transition in a few weeks, but for now we're happy that he is safe and contained and sleeping a bit more than before.

Christmas Vacation

The week between Christmas and New Year's is such a great time to play with new toys and hang out with friends. We got to do a little bit of both with a trip to the soft playroom, a Night-Before-New Year's bash at the van Goethem's, Sabrina's mermaid swim party, a New Year's visit with Mariel and Bailey, and weekend outings to the Building Museum and the train exhibit at the Botanical Garden. The tropical climate inside was a wonderful relief from the bitter temperatures outside. Patrick wanted desperately to touch the beautiful trains, but was consoled by chasing cousin Sophie around the atrium, much to their mutual delight.

Roanoke Christmas

We had a beautiful white backdrop of snow to celebrate our Christmas in Roanoke. Patrick loved hanging out with cousin Colton and cheered as Colton took his very first sled ride in Gran T's backyard. There was lots of fun inside as well. We all enjoyed Gran T's delicious meals and many treats; Papa's golf ball collection once again fascinated Patrick, who slept clutching a golf ball in one hand and a baseball in the other; and a roomful of presents kept all children occupied. Both Madeline and Colton got to meet Aunt Shirley, and (second? third? it's complicated) cousin Aidan, who is up on all the movies and video games that mom and dad are hopelessly clueless about. Patrick convinced Aidan to chase him around the dining room at Hidden Valley and now talks quite enthusiastically about monster trucks. Patrick is happily into many different kinds of toys and loves all of his gifts, especially his puzzles, legos, and trucks and race cars. He carefully packs his cars, trains, plastic animals, and small footballs into little lunchboxes or his backpack and takes them to the "airport," where he hopes to catch a plane to Bermuda. Mr. Potato Head has also proven fascinating, as has a can of tennis balls. Patrick spent most of the 4-hour drive home emptying and filling a can of tennis balls again and again.

Gingerbread Men

I didn't get to do nearly as many Christmas crafts as I wanted to do this year, but Patrick and I did manage to decorate two gingerbread men on his snow day. A good deal of the sprinkles, raisins, and frosting ended up in Patrick's tummy and propelled a game of "chase and catch me" as Patrick raced around the house shrieking "can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!"

Connecticut Christmas

Grammy, Grandaddy and Aunt Melissa brought a New England—or possibly Alaskan—Christmas with them when they came to visit the weekend before Christmas. D.C. got the biggest snowfall since the 1920s, which threw our celebration plans into a bit of chaos but provided a beautiful backdrop for opening presents on Saturday. Patrick had a blast goofing around with cousin Sophie as usual and in the snow helping Daddy and Grandaddy dig out the cars. Madeline got tons of cuddles and especially enjoyed meeting her Aunt.