We’ve had a busy few days, traveling, baking, wrapping…unwrapping… So I for one am looking forward to some calm family time for the next day or two!
Carrie says “Merry Christmas” too!
Merry Christmas
Month: December 2007
3.2 Years Old!
Dear Carolyn,
Have I ever told you what a good kid you are? I feel like a lot of our days consist of me counting to three, repeatedly, but really, you’re very good the vast majority of the time. I don’t think I catch you in the act of being good often enough, but I’m trying to get better at it.
This month you’ve been working on your sense of humor. You know now two knock-knock jokes (who’s there? ach. ach who? god bless you! is my personal favorite) and the “you EIGHT the sandbox?!?” joke. You try your jokes out on everyone you can, including complete strangers in the mall. Never let it be said that you’re a shy child.
You’re also working on learning the days of the week. We don’t have the regular old names for them, though, we have “playgroup day”, “school day”, “Simone day”, “school day”, “dance day”, “Daddy day”, and “church/family day”. Every morning when you wake up, you ask me what today means for you. It’s nice to have a familiar routine, for both of us. Of course, that routine is going to go out the window for the next week or two, but hopefully the fact that it is a routine will make it easier to get back into the swing of things after the new year.
You’ve become quite the social butterfly at school, and have even started asking if you can invite one of your school friends for a playdate. Actually, I’m pretty sure you asked her to come over during school, because the other day you were very sad that she hadn’t come to visit yet. I had to explain that mommies get to set up playdates, not kids, and that we’ll have to arrange it after the holidays. I’m really happy to see that you’re making new friends!
This has been such a busy, crazy month, and even though you’re looking forward very much to tomorrow and seeing what Santa brought (you asked him for a dollhouse and a yo-yo this year) I’m looking forward very much to the new year and a return to calm, every day life. Well, as calm as life gets around here, anyway!
Love, Mommy
My Little Angel
One of the things about sending Carrie to a church preschool is that there is no attempt at being politically correct about the holidays. In fact, they held a Christmas pageant with costumes and everything. It was one of the cutest and funniest things I’ve ever seen. All the kids were in the three-year-old classes, so they had one of the teachers narrate instead of trying to teach them lines, but there were many songs and all the kids really did a great job. There were such funny little moments I had a hard time holding the video camera still. (Note to self: next time bring a tripod and get there early enough to sit in the front row!) Let’s see, the baby (luckily only in doll form) nearly took a header when Mary went to put him in the manger. One of the wise men was very reluctant to part with his gift. And the sheep were rather…enthusiastic…about baa-ing.
Carrie, of course, was one of the angels. She told me later that she really, really, really wanted to be Mary, but I suspect that’s just because Mary got to hold the baby doll. I personally think she was perfect as an angel!
A Very Tuba Christmas
When I was a kid, my grandparents used to take me to Midtown Plaza to ride the monorail and see Santa. It was really magical. And then as an adult I discovered the tuba Christmas event held in front of the giant Christmas tree. Well, this year is the last year that either of those things are going to happen there, since they’re going to be demolishing the building sometime next year, so we decided to take Carrie to the final Christmas at Midtown.
I have to admit, I was fighting back tears several times – not for what the place is now, but for my memories of it. And the place was packed. More than I’ve ever seen before. Maybe if they’d had those kinds of crowds in past years the place wouldn’t have gone so far downhill that it would need to be demolished…?