Declan - 18 Months

A few weeks ago, I picked Declan up at A's and he was trying to do something that 2-year-olds would do. I picked him up, looked him in the eye, and told him that he was not two. He looked at me and let out a yell. He was not happy that I had told him he was not two. A and I got quite the giggle out of his reaction!

I maintain, he is not two ... yet. But he did turn 18 months today. The girls threw him a fantastic duplo cake half birthday party this morning to celebrate. They did want to know why there weren't any presents!

At newly 18 months, Declan is:

• Climbing. On everything. He can get up in his booster chair, on the kitchen table chairs (that he tipped over this morning), on the couches, tables ... doesn't matter if he should climb on it or not. He'll climb it! And laugh at you when you tell him to get down. Oh yeah, and he climbed out of his crib the day after Thanksgiving. That was a first for us! His mattress is now down to the lowest level (except the floor), so hopefully that holds him for a few months.
• Talking. He's got quite a few words now and is doing well at telling us what he wants. He has finally figured out how to say "Quinny" (to her delight) and it's his new favorite word. He wanders around the house, following his "Kinny" and "Nona." We enjoy asking him questions and hearing his little "yeah" (or "yesh") as a response. He is perfectly willing to have a fit if something doesn't go his way that, with two siblings, never happens.
• On borrowed time with his pacifier. I'm not taking it away from a three year old again. So after the holidays, it's going away. For the moment, he calls it his "cookie" ... so occasionally, I'll hear him in the middle of the night calling for a cookie. I get that - I often want a 2 am cookie myself!
• Growing. I am finally putting some 18 month clothes in his drawer. He's getting long enough, but he is so skinny that the pants just fall down. He never stops moving unless he's asleep, so I think that will be a common theme. We are just about ready to turn his car seat around because he's getting squished sitting in it. He will be so thrilled!
• Game for anything. He is such a go with the flow dude. He embraces new people and new experiences. In fact, he thrives in them. If it looks like a good time, Dec is in. He is happily the life of any party! He's so laid back that I discovered a new tooth had popped through today and I didn't even know it was coming in!
• Always moving. He is so busy and loves playing. He races up and down the hall with his sisters, plays wild Ring Around the Rosie, throws (and catches!) balls constantly, and shrieks with glee at the top of his lungs. He equally enjoys racing his cars and playing babies with the girls.

He is enjoying the hustle of the holidays and all the music that we've been playing. He's a great dancer and is so funny when we ask him to show off his moves. He occasionally pays attention to the holiday shows that the girls are watching and especially loves the cartoon Paw Patrol (because there are puppies!). While he may not be two yet, it is great to be one and a half.

I Was Wrong

We got a middle of the night text from A Tuesday night. She had a sick kiddo and needed to close on Wednesday. My day didn't look too bad, so I said I would stay home with Q and D. We had a great day together ... even after it started out a little bumpy.

I took advantage of staying home and slept in an extra 30 minutes. So I hadn't showered yet when they got up. They were playing so nicely after Fiona and Mike left that I figured I could take a quick 5 minute shower. I was wrong.

I told them where I was going, highlighted the ground rules, and left all the doors open so they could easily get to me. I was just putting conditioner in my hair when I heard Dec start to scream. I rinsed my hair while expecting Quinn to come running in to fill me in on whatever catastrophe had befallen the dude. No Q. So I figured she had stolen a toy from him. I had just turned the water off when two figures appeared in the doorway (I could still hear screaming). I peeked out the shower door to find Dec dripping blood down his chin.

Apparently there had been some wild Ring Around the Rosie and he had "all fall down"ed himself into Q's bedframe. He has a pretty fat lip, but the cut is pretty small (I suspect a tooth). It's more newsworthy these days when he doesn't have a split lip, so he's tolerating it really well. And now I know, 3 and 18 months isn't quite old enough for unsupervised during shower. But game on when the 5 year old is home too!

Later in the day, I took a video of their full contact Rosie-ing. Dec loves it and will spin by himself in the middle of the room singing "ashies ashies" on repeat!

Santa at the Legion

Last year, we decided to boycott the crowds at the mall and had pancakes with Santa at the KC Hall. We had a blast and were looking forward to doing it again this year. Except there was no breakfast with Santa at the KC this year. They were doing a spaghetti dinner - but Mike had a hockey game that night. Three kids. One camera. Spaghetti. Santa. I'm brave, but that didn't sound like something I wanted to attempt solo. Then Mike noticed on a sign at the school that there was a pancake breakfast with Santa at the American Legion this last weekend. So we decided to check it out.

What fun! They put on a full party, complete with craft tables, face and fingernail painting, a pancake, egg, and sausages breakfast, Santa, and several gifts. For free! We did not know it was full on party, so arrived right at 9:00 am. Santa didn't show up until 10:00, but between the crafts and breakfast, there was plenty to do to keep everyone entertained. The girls made ornaments for the tree, Fiona got a Rudolph painted on her face, and we saw Santa!

Quinn got really nervous when Santa came in, but was fine once we told her that she could stand next to him instead of sitting on his lap. She was perfectly happy to tell him what she wanted, as long as her feet stayed firmly on the floor. Declan was SO excited when Santa came in and kept saying "Santa. Santa." And Fiona hopped right up on his lap as well.

We stayed at the party until about 10:30 and then headed home. It was a very fun way to spend the morning together, while getting our Santa visit checked off the list.

Ho Ho Ho

Santa Declan wants to wish you a very Merry Christmas. [he didn't know I was taking a video, so he was saying "cheese" too ...]

First Snow

Thanksgiving day was made even better by the first snow fall of the year. It was so cozy to wake up to the flakes coming down and bang around in my kitchen in sweats, drinking coffee and making our holiday meal. The snow was even better once everyone arrived at our house safely!

Mike and I watched out the window all morning, willing the white to stick to the ground and accumulate enough so that we could go play in it. I mean ... bring the kids out to play in it. As we were putting the food on the buffet table, we agreed that the magic was happening. There was enough snow! We held that little news until after the meal and then told all the kids that we were going sledding. The people were super excited!!!

Serious sledders

We managed to cobble together enough snow gear from our stock to outfit our nephews, our smalls, ourselves, and my sister. Mike's sister had enough gear of her own. Some of the outfits (cough, Em, cough) were "special," but they worked perfectly for winter fun! While the rest of the group held down the dessert table, we headed off down the block to the field - now transformed into an awesome sledding hill!

Nate and Ben had grabbed a couple of the saucers before we left so they were flying down the hill about half a second after we got there. Not to be outdone, Dec plopped his little butt down on the snow and then looked confused at why he was not sailing down the slopes like the big boys. Luckily daddy and auntie were hustling down the road with the rest of the sleds!

Dec and Ben. I love this!

It was D's first time sledding and he had zero hesitation hopping in the sled, laying down on his belly, and sliding down head first - just like his sisters. We haven't gotten him good outside mittens yet, so he got to wear his pink "it's hard to have sisters" mittens. Sorry, dude! We promise we'll get you non-pink mittens before the next trip to the sledding hill.

Fiona and Quinn were immediately into the adventure as well. Quinn really did a great job on the sledding. Last year, she would do two or three runs down the hill and then would want to be done. This time, she really had a good time. And Fiona ... well, Grandma claims she's part Eskimo. She just flies down that hill and completely mastered the art of the saucer. She even managed to talk Auntie into staying out a few extra minutes with her after her sibs got cold.

Getting ready to race

Em, Mike, and I had a blast racing each other (or the kids) down the hill. We even piled in a single sled for an unforgettable photo op for Tracey (**my phone is ridiculous and can't hold a charge when it's cold. So big thanks to Em and Tracey. All these pictures are from them!**) Believe it or not, we didn't even break the sled! Tracey stood at the bottom of the hill and used her awesome photography skills. Thankfully, we didn't need to try very hard to convince her to take a couple runs as well!

We hope this is the first of many, many trips to the sledding hill this winter!

Brave Quinn

First saucer trip (he started out sitting!)

Doesn't she look like she just hates it? Ha!