We Believe!

Dylan did a great job singing at the Christmas program at school. I thought the better show might have been a video taken from the stage out towards the crazy parents trying to wave at their kids and get a photo and video simultaneously.

This Saturday we took Dylan to meet Santa - he could hardly wait! He did ask where Santa's sleigh was (on the roof of the mall of course) and where the elves were (still busy in the North Pole making presents!). As soon as he saw Santa from the line, he yelled "Santa! I want lots of presents!" But once on his lap, he had a "Christmas Story" moment and pretty much froze, just smiling sweetly and nodding to the gift ideas Santa had. Given Gavin's momma's boy personality, I was surprised that he didn't scream his head off! He was very interested in this Santa guy and I think it helped that our Santa looked like the real deal, no fake beard! Of course I've been getting the most mileage out of this season as possible, threatening to call Santa on my cell when Dylan is misbehaving. This usually works like a charm, so I'll be sad when Christmas is over this year! When Gavin misbehaves, Dylan loves to remind me "Mom, you need to call Santa and tell him Gavin's not being a good boy."

Dear Santa

Dylan has what seems like quite an extensive (expensive) Christmas list for a 3 year old:

* Motorcycle

* Tree house with pulley system for his toys

* Bike

* Bunk bed

Hopefully he won't be let down this year since he is only getting one of those items. The good news is that when he was asking me for "lots and lots of presents" the other day, I said "Dylan, do you know what Christmas is really about?" and he responded with "Baby Jesus!"

Dylan is also a great problem solver. He loves to come up with creative solutions. For example, at Halloween he couldn't wait to go Trick-or-Treating but we told him that he had to wait until after dinner. It was only late afternoon so he suggested "Then let's eat dinner now!" So we explained that you have to wait until it gets dark outside, to which he responded "Aha! I have a great idea! We could get a really, really big umbrella to block out the sun and make it dark!"

He is of course even more excited for Christmas. I recently saw him messing around with my alarm clock and asked him what he was doing. He says "I'm changing it to Christmas-Time!"

Gavin thankfully can't communicate a list yet but he has started talking more which is fun. A few new things, many of which are combined with sign language which helps us distinguish his words while he works on enunciation:

* Please

* Thank you

* More

* Uh-oh (often said BEFORE he purposefully drops something)

*Peek-a-boo (sounds more like dee-da-doo) where he covers his ears instead of eyes

His favorite word is still "Hi" as he meets and greets anyone and everyone throughout our day, including people on the TV.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving program at Dylan school. He was one of the Native Americans.
Grandma Solomon, Mom, Gavin, and Dad all enjoyed the show :)

Last minute, we decided to head to the Northwest for Thanksgiving at my brother's house. We looked forward to spending time with his family, staying at his new house, and catching up with my parents who flew up from San Diego. I loved the chilly weather that really helped me get into the holiday spirit.

Kudos to Dylan, the best little traveler we could ask for!


What do you need when traveling with a one year old? Daddy has the answer!

After hopping off the cross-country flight, we dove right into thanksgiving dinner, with Ryan and Michelle hosting over 40 people!

Catching up with old friends

Fun at the kids table

I am thankful for the men in my life Fun at Uncle Ryan's house

It's beginning to look a lot like Christsmas

A trip to Seattle is never complete without a visit to the Museum of Flight.

The ladies in my life...xoxo