Christmas Eve Revelry

We took a few great shots of tonight of our Christmas Eve dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's. Noah was in on the action, and Liam was very excited to go home and get to bed. He picked a special candy cane cookie for Santa.

At dinner, I grabbed the camera and said, "Let's sing for the blog." If you listen closely, you can hear that mom is singing Jingle Bells, Cheryl We Wish You a Merry Christmas, and Ryan Little Drummer Boy.

Nobody's quite sure what John and Yan are doing... Coulda used Beth tonight...

Brother comparison

Liam and Noah each giving their best, "So, what can I do to get you to buy this car tonight?"

They're really starting to look different from each other at the same age (look close enough and you'll notice they're on the exact same blanket, with the exact same toy...)

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

Liam's preschool. He's square in the middle at the beginning of the video (the one stretching and yawning...).

The one with the pipes is Liam's friend, Will. 

Priceless.

Christmas Prep

Last weekend we put up our tree. Liam inspected every ornament. He wanted to know who gave us which ones and who made what ornaments and when... (I took credit for most of them).

Tonight was Apex's 50th Christmas Parade through downtown. Of course, in true Jeff and Jeni form we've been here for six years and only heard of it today. We thought, "oh, that'd be fun." We picked up and left the house with Liam without so much as an extra sweatshirt. The parade started at 5pm... It was Loooong... By 7 we were in a huddled mass keeping each other warm, really wondering when (and if) we'd see the Santa Float. But Liam loved it. It was good "small town fun," and every group that passed was handing out candy. Liam made out almost as good as on Halloween!

We met our friends Janice, Donald, and Troupe Jones (Noah was home with G and G). As you can see, Liam couldn't tear himself from the action... 

Big plans for next year: (1) proper winter attire, (2) food, (3) thermos of hot cocoa.

Here we go

Liam's on two wheels. Noah's not just going to stand by and let him get all the glory. He has a few tricks up his sleeve. Recently, he found his feet.




And today Noah caught Jenia a little off-guard with a new trick, but we got it on video. He just started rolling over like this tonight. Three or four times before bath.

Tummy Time

Noah's really liking his tummy these days.

Tired of the Papparazzi.

With Liam.

Freedom!

Today was Liam's first day without training wheels! It was great. Just like with swimming -- no interest whatsoever in getting instruction from Daddy. Also like with swimming this year, he was completely reluctant to try it out until he was ready. I urged frequently, "Hey, let's take those off and practice!" and was almost always answered with a shrug, "Not today. Maybe later." Well, later was apparently today... This morning, he said, "Daddy, let's practice without my training wheels." We took them off, and he rode away -- just like that.

...Come to think of it, that's pretty much how he potty trained himself, after Jenia and I gave up and decided we wouldn't mind if he was the only 6th grader still wearing Lightning McQueen pullups. And, you know... That's more or less how he gave up the crib... That, and Jenia and I also were resolved to him being the only kid in his freshman dorm still in a crib. If you leave him alone, he pretty much figures things out, and if you push him too quickly... (well, it doesn't really go well, for anybody...)

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This first video is only the second "run" after we first took them off. The first was about 10 feet before I grabbed him... If you can't hear it, he's saying, "cheese" as he rides by (wanted to get a good picture, I guess).


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Listen closely to this video -- turn up the volume on your computer -- it's funny. You can hear him panting quickly as he pedals. He's so determined to beat his 8-year old buddy, Luke.