Long weekend

We've had a nice, low-key long Thanksgiving weekend. On Thursday, we made a crock pot meal, with turkey, stuffing and cranberries, with mashed potatoes, gravy and cranberry bake on the side. It was delicious, and much less work than the traditional meal considering only Matt and I really ate much of it.

After dinner, the Christmas season officially began. We put the boys in some Santa jammies and introduced them to the old Rankin and Bass Rudolph movie. Simon loves it, and runs around squeaking like Rudolph's nose.

On Friday we got Simon a haircut and found a sleigh that was perfect for a photo op. The boys, however, were not quite as accommodating:

We also hung around the house and played Legos. Simon created a rocket that we had to somehow attach to his back, like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story:

Nate watched and tried to eat toilet paper:

 On Saturday, we had a playdate with one of Simon's friends, Finnegan, and we all went to a new park together.

After the boys were in bed, we decorated for Christmas, with the exception of the tree. We are also waiting for some new stockings, I'll post some pictures of the house when those get here.

Today, Simon and Matt got the lights up outside and then we baked our first Christmas cookies for the year. Simon was a great helper...and a great dough taster. Nate tried it too...and he learned to point and wave this weekend, big stuff!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The birthday

Finally, we celebrated again on Nate's actual birthday, 11/14. I decided to attempt an elaborate cake and was pretty happy with the results! Here are a few pictures from that afternoon.

The party!

We had Nate's party at a place called Twirl Cafe, which has a great playspace for kids plus a party room. They did a great job and it was a perfect space for a rainy November night.

Nate and Simon got to spend lots of time with the family...

 

...and Mama and Daddy too!

 

We had friends come and celebrate with us...

And of course, there was CAKE!

Where there's cake, there's a messy one year old! Happy birthday sweetie pie!!

1 year old!

WHAT? 1 year already!

Ok, that's out of my system. This year has flown by, for sure, but it also feels like forever ago that he was born. We have all adjusted to being a family of four and it's nice to be able to interact more and more with Nate. Simon in particular has been having more fun with his little brother these days.

Nate is doing really well, although suffering from a constant runny nose, an unavoidable phase that comes with winter in daycare for the first time. Speaking of daycare, he will be moving to ELDC, where Simon goes, in a couple of weeks. It'll be a big change, so we're a little nervous, but we know he'll be great.

He is finally off of his reflux medication, which is such a good thing. That whole experience feels like forever ago, thankfully. He is starting to communicate a bit, he is doing something that is either a wave or the sign for milk, he does high five, likes throwing/rolling toys back and forth with us and LOVES to dance.

We had a really fun party to celebrate his birthday, and Grandma, Papa, Grandpa and Aunt Karyn came out to celebrate with us. I also went a little crazy and made an elaborate cake for his actual birthday, so it was a sugar-fueled week for the kids!

I will put together another post or two about the party, for here is Nate's 1 year photo. We love you baby boy!

Biggest Fan

Nate loves to dance...and there's nothing that will get him moving like the sweet sounds of his brother on the guitar: