Happy Hanukkah

We had a lovely first night of Hanukkah last night. Noah claimed his place as a full-fledged preschooler and made a salt dough menorah.



Impressive, no? I think he may be an artsy kid.

Also, a character. He was apparently too hot in his clothes, so he stripped down for menorah painting.

The kids loved lighting the menorahs



And then it was time for presents, and my favorite thing Noah did all week. I will try to convey:

Scene: mommy is going downstairs to get tonight's presents. Earlier in the day, Noah "helped" her wrap Daddy's present, a star wars DVD.

Mommy: is it time for presents?
Noah: yeah!! Daddy, can I watch that movie?
Daddy: huh?
M: shhh!
N: (starts to jump in place) daddy, can I watch that movie?
D: huh? What movie?
M: Shhhhh!!!! Noah, just wait!
N: ( jumping) Daddy, we got a movie for you!!!  Yeah!  Can I watch that movie!?!
D & M: hahaha

So far, the approach to three years old has been a real challenge.  So it's great when his energy and intense earnestness can be used for cuteness instead of thwarting my every plan.

Happy Hanukkah everyone!

Eva cleans up

She may not be walking, but I've got her hard at work.

 

 (yes, she's not walking. That trip down the hallway I showed you last week was apparently a false alarm.  Apparently she wants to do these things on her schedule, not mine.  Huh.)

Dining room dance party

Good god, this kid cracks me up.

Little cousin

Yup, still busy. Haven't connected my phone to my computer in days. But look at the great pictures dad took of the kids!

(Also, my apologies to Charlotte, to whom this process and my children in general seemed a tad overwhelming)

Cheese!!

I love you, baby Charlotte

I'm not sure how to appropriately caption this one, Eva seems to have gotten used to having her picture taken, Noah seems thrilled with the responsibility of holding the baby, and Charlotte's mind has apparently been blown by the super soft texture of Henry's ear. In summary, this is probably the best picture we'll get of the three of them for the next several years.

Breaking News

That's right folks, she's a walker!!!!



Of course, that video was taken last night and this morning she has absolutely no interest in walking on her feet (the knees are perfectly acceptable, thank you). So we shall see where this gets us.

Still cause for congratulations, in my opinion. She's barreling towards big-girl-ness at the speed of light, leaving only a thin trail of drool behind her.

Baby Playdate in Silhouette

Eva and her buddy Alden, both 10mo. Please ignore the mommy chatter in the background.



I love watching the two of them play - they are so interactive. Shortly before they discovered the screen door, Eva picked up a small teddy bear and knee-walked over to hand it to Alden. They will coo at each other and pat each other on the head. They will both listen to a story together, one of them turning the pages while the other watches. I think they are both so relieved to get to interact with one friend who's at exactly their level, instead of trying to keep up with big brother.

Production

Scene: Our living room

Noah: Let's do a video!
Me: Do you want to be in a video?
Noah: Yeah! Let's do a video!
Me: What do you want to do?
Noah: A song.
Me: Ok, you can sing a song and dance and I'll take a video.



You are welcome.

Also, I swear we don't feed him much sugar or any caffeine. He is just hopped up on preschooler crazy.