Let the season begin

Today was the day we headed down to the basement to break out the Christmas decorations, much to the girls' delight.

 Silly me, I'd told Lily she was too young to wear stockings. Note also the jingle bell belt accessory.

General basement silliness. What's funny is that most of the stuff down there is in the donate pile. But somehow when it's discovered in the basement, it's so much more fun than when it's been in your room the whole time.

 How the Grinch used the old don't-tell-them-you're-already-recording trick.

So thankful...and just plain full

We had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday with our friends (and their families). Beth and her husband have three kids, two of whom are about the same age as Lily and Amalia. Above, Lily is using digital technology to answer computer math questions.

 

Amalia is a lover of dogs and babies as it turns out. When Claire, ~8 months, was napping yesterday, Amalia kept asking, "Where's the baby?" Over and over.

 The Claire-proxy and Amalia eating dinner. Their border collie, Xavier, hoping she'll get lucky.

 Beth's husband, Brian, was kind (and foolish) enough to offer the kids kangaroo rides.

The pre-dinner time-occupier small-bead art project. Lily has me on the hunt today for more bead supplies since she enjoyed it so much. Big surprise.

Baby Claire. She usually is lighting up the room with her smile and happy noises. Seriously. I've not met a cheerier (or chubbier) baby. 

 Lily and Colleen planning their holiday performance.

 This is the first time Amalia had on tights. She called them "sock pants."

 I scream, you scream. 

 The jumper. 

 More kangaroo rides. 

 It was an ice skating show. 

 The Thanksgiving monkey pinata tradition. 

 Another attempt for a picture with the three of us. 

I don't know if Xavier is stuffed from all her food scraps or fake sleeping to get away from Amalia's persistent loving attentions.

Homework: Symbol of America

So many emotions ran through me as I saw Lily's homework tonight:

1. First, bewilderment. Not to give away too much of my personal religious journey, but how did God get into her head? (Much the same question I asked about Lily and Disney princesses when she was 2 1/2.) 
2. Second, more bewilderment. Why did she select God as a symbol of America? (We don't even have cable TV--hence, no Fox News.)
3. Finally, pride. At least God is a girl. 

 "Of course God's a girl. But Jesus is a boy," Lily informed me.

Making conversation

I'm not sure how well these will translate on the blog, but I wanted to capture them anyway. Andy and I continue to be amazed by Amalia's growing ability to carry on a conversation. I'm sure we felt the same way about Lily, but this doesn't diminish our amazement at all.

Last night on the drive home, I was idly making conversation with Amalia and commented that it was getting dark. 

• Amalia: No. It's not getting dark.
• Me: Yes, see? The sun's going down.
• Amalia: No. Not getting dark. The sky's still blue. 

 And she was right. The sky was still blue--just darker. But no matter.

Earlier this week, also on the drive home, there was some promo on the radio about what shows were on Fox that night. As the female voice prattled on about Bones and Fringe, Amalia all of a sudden piped up and said, "What lady saying?...She talking about my bow?"

Not to mention Amalia's newfound favorite device, "Why?" (which I have mixed feelings about). 

You wouldn't believe how hard I had to look for a paper bag

It seems like just last year I watched little kids dress up like Pilgrims and Indians and sing Thanksgiving lyrics to the tune of popular children's songs.

Perhaps Lily was thinking about how the White Man would soon take away her land and drive her to a life of alcoholism and diabetes.

OK, so last week Lily announced to me very matter-of-factly that Garrett (pictured above) had fallen in love with her. When I asked Lily what that meant, she said, "Well, it means we're pretty much going to get married." So I figured I'd better get a picture of my future son-in-law. (He's not blowing a kiss at me; he was still chewing his food. Brownie points for keeping his mouth closed.)

A decent docent

Three things I learned from Lily after her field trip to the White House today:

1. A piano once fell through the ceiling. True story.
2. The President's dog, Bo, wears a collar and a leash but Barack Obama doesn't hold onto the leash when he walks down the halls -- and Bo still follows him! (Lily got all of this from a photo she saw.)
3. The Blue Room is white. So is the dining room.

I also got a convoluted story that started with Lily informing me that there was once a big war and the White House caught on fire, but devolved into a giggly retelling of how her friend Gabe said that instead of horses, men were riding around on unicorns that kept crashing into the White House.

I didn't set foot inside the White House until I was 28 and I don't recall such fascinating insights.

Sleep training--who's training who?

I suppose all parents have embarrassing stories related to trying to get their children to sleep, especially in their own beds. Well, here's ours.

Amalia's bedtime stall tactics are quite impressive. She continues to find new ways to push the boundaries of our standard routine -- bedtime stories, lights off, songs, and then good night (in her own bed). We generally have lots of trips back and forth between our bedroom and hers--for various and assorted reasons. The other night I was impressed that it didn't take her nearly as long to finally go into her room to go to sleep, only to realize she'd actually fallen asleep at the foot of my bed where I couldn't see her.

And then last night her "final" resting place was Blue's dog bed. Well, at least we're sticking firm to the rule that she's not in our bed. That's something, right?

Self expression

 It's good that Lily has an outlet to vent her frustrations.

 The Pierce family walking through the autumn trees. 

Not one to be left out. 

 Then up to Lily's room for a dance party. 

See what Andy misses out on when he leaves town?

When tinsel goes bad

Just after I posted the last blog entry, Amalia came over and saw this photo on our computer screen. It's Lily under the Christmas tree at my parents' house, obviously a few years ago. Sounding very concerned, Amalia asked me, "Is the worm getting that baby?"

Somehow I don't think baby-eating garlands was the theme my mother was going for that year--unless she was inspired by Tim  Burton.

The floor exercise

Nadia and Mary Lou, with Andy playing the role of Bela Karolyi. 

It's the time of year when we start looking for ways to tire the girls out indoors. Amalia's wearing Lily's leotard from earlier this year. It's a little big on her, but not by much.

The pairs competition.