Dec 2008

--lots of goings on this month. lots of packing and driving, and lots of gift-opening…and we had a blast doing it all!
--for several weeks before christmas, aidan was saying, “christmas will never get here.” it actually came early to the hunt house, at least santa did, but aidan had to wait…impatiently. he spent the time helping me decorate, watching christmas shows (dvr rocks!) and singing christmas carols. he learned a few, though he made a few cute mistakes.

--kiddos liked their santa claus…actually all of us did. aidan’s main gifts were “a bike with two wheels, a dinosaur transformer, roller skates, and ‘chutes and ladders’.” (he spouts that out whenever anyone asks him.) sierra's main gifts were a teeter-totter and a baby stroller, and they each got books and a stuffed animal, along with other smaller stuff. billy and i also got beach cruiser bikes from santa, so now we can all ride as a family (with both kids in our bike trailer, or sierra in the kid’s chair and aidan on his new bike.)

--we did our santa early since we went to nj/ny for christmas. we knew we’d have enough trouble getting everything from three sets of grandparents and aunts home in our car, without hauling santa stuff around too. man, were we right too…we had to use the roof rack, and we still had stuff packed under the kids feet and in the back so that i couldn’t even see out the back windshield! craziness!!! and now, i’ve spent days unpacking!

--we did have a good time up north with the yankees. it was a whirlwind though, because we were only up there six days and went to see three sets of family members. we spent christmas eve with billy’s dad and family. had a good (italian) dinner with them and fun with gifts, though i forgot my camera…sorry. we spent christmas day with billy’s mom and family. more food more gifts and more fun. it was even a white christmas too! i’ve only seen two of those in my life…one of which was in hattiesburg, mississippi, of all places! we spent saturday with my dad on long island for, again, more food more gifts and more fun. i know this isn’t very descriptive, sorry. it really became such a blur that i missed the specifics, but had a ball in the process. i do know aidan and sierra loved playing with their cousin riley, and all of us (and my sister) enjoyed finally meeting my dad’s fiance’s son andrew and his girlfriend.

--aidan now knows how to write his name. he knows his letters and he’s been spelling it for a while without reading it. however, getting him to draw anything more than a straight line or a circle was a major process. for whatever reason, one day he figured out how to write a few letters. granted, they’re not perfect, but he drew some from memory and some he copied what we wrote, progressing up to writing his name, mine, and billy’s. the day after that, he wrote his name all by himself, without looking at anything. then he wrote billy’s name from memory! he also improved his ‘n’ with the help of my friend shadra. now every time he writes an ‘n,’ he says, “up, down, up.” how cute is that?
--sierra is growing and changing daily. she adds a word a day it seems…or at least trys out a new word every day, whether or not she uses it again the next day. her latest phrases that she does use consistently include:
* “pee-pee” = pee-pee (or) poo-poo
* “jew” = juice
* “opp-ee” = apple
* “A – D – I “ = (“spells” like she hears aidan saying over and over…usually pointing to her cup with her name on it.)
* “mo” = more
* “tuh-tee” = cookie
* “ buht” = book
* “pay” = pray (as she clasps her hands)
* “mew” = moo
* “sow” = cow
* “ba-pa” = backpack (said over and over, like in “dora the explorer”)
* “eh-mo” = elmo
* “pa-pa” = poppy (or) paw-paw
* “ah-me” = grammy
* “bach” = back
* “jew peas” = juice please
* “mo peas” = more please
* “no, mom-meee” = no, mommy
* “doe tay-too” = no, thank you
--she also likes to sit on her potty. she goes in there whenever anyone else goes, or whenever the door is open, so i try to keep it closed because she also likes to unroll the toilet paper. at least she doesn’t shred it like aidan used to! she also goes to sit on her potty when she’s gone in her diaper, but that’s a step in the right direction for potty training, so that’s good. many times she’ll even scream out “pee-pee” as she runs in there.

--sierra like to “help” mommy. she goes to get her shoes when it’s time to leave. she likes to (try to) dress and undress herself. she puts wet clothes (or dirty clothes from the basket on the floor) into the dryer. she also puts dishes in the sink. she reaches as high as she can and drops her cup or any other dish she finds in the sink…of course we must make sure only non-breakable ones are left in her reach…and sometimes she puts in more things than dishes. one day i found a potato in there that she pulled out of the basket.
--and another thing she does is this fake laugh. she bursts out laughing and gets in your face to make you laugh too. or she plays peek-a-boo and cracks herself up…pretty funny.
--we went to the doctor for sierra’s 18month check-up. she’s 22.5 pounds and 33 inches…which is about 25% and 85% respectively. long and lean!