On the First Day of Christmas...

Today we set up the tree...

Opened the Christmas trunk...

Maximo put on about 85% of the ornaments and we organized the Christmas books -

and Max enjoyed reading through them all day - and listening to Nana read "Frosty the Snowman" to him over and over and over again.  (He's definitely more into it this year.)

As always, Maximo graced us with a few interludes throughout the day:

Then Max had a birthday party to go to, then we came back home to a playdate and dinner with Kirsten and the girls.

We made these lovely delights (I need to add the stick arms, but the icing isn't dry enough yet):

And soon we'll have visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads.

I love the first two weeks of "Christmas", then I'm totally over it!  Which will work out perfectly this year, as we head to Phuket, Thailand on the 19th!

Photo Friday - Week 50!

Trying to outsmart the wiggly baby - laying her down and taking a picture while I'm pinning her down (and trying to make her laugh).

 Lola... Literally, into EVERYTHING!

The very white body is of Maximo - who added to the difficulty of taking photos because he was trying to put his "bits" in the picture... nice.

Book Character Day - Maximo

On Friday, while John and I were sitting through a marathon of parent conferences, Maximo had Book Character Day at school.  The younger grades had a day where they would dress up like their favorite character from a book and show how that character emulates an IB Learner Profile attribute.

We asked Maximo what character he wanted to be, and held our breath that it was actually a character that we could easily make a costume for.  He chose the "Mr. Mechanic Tow Truck" from My Truck Is Stuck.

 

Image from: www.readingnook.com

We had to help Maximo with the Learner Profile attribute.  Mr. Mechanic is both knowlegeable and caring.  We were going to go with caring because it's a bit easier for a four year old to understand and explain, but his teacher convinced us to put him in the "knowledgeable" category.

John wanted to take on the challenge... and he did an amazing job - it's just made out of a box from the copier room.  I think he's just signed himself up for many Halloween costumes in the future! 

Here he is fastening the straps to the car:

 Mr. Max Mechanic

 Maximo "snuggling Daddy" while he tightens the straps!

Photo Friday - Week 49 - Take 2

Today's photo shoot started off a bit like yesterday morning...  but we got a good one in the end, if you can ignore the banana-smeared-in-her-hair look.

She's feeling a whole lot better, but is cutting a huge molar right now, and another one broke through on Thursday.

Lola Caroline - 49 Weeks Old

Photo Friday Week 49...Kinda

 Look at that lip.

 She did not like the Photo Friday Morning Session - she wanted to play with my phone.

 Big Brother jumped in to save the day!

 But then he couldn't even contain the beast!

Oh, well...

I may try for another shot tomorrow.  

Lola was sick this week - stomach bug, cold and cutting teeth.

She left daycare early on Tuesday, I stayed home with her Wednesday and she's slowly getting better.

Photo Friday - Week 48

 Lola Caroline - 48 weeks

She's got three teeth trying to bust through her gums, and she's been a little snotty, but still cute and happy.  He has this machine-gun cackle/laugh that I've tried to get on film about ten times this week, but she stops every time I pull the camera or my phone out.  Hopefully I'll get it because it's a crack up!

Photo "Friday" - Week 47

 

 Lola Caroline - Week 47  

(or something like that) 

- I'm starting to realize that my numbers don't seem to match up to 52 weeks!

It's been another crazy week - John and I have grades due Monday, so it's been busy.

Lola's cutting another tooth and is continuing to eat like a 5 year old and 

demolishing our kitchen/living room, over and over and over again.  

Taking these photos are not fun, these days....

 I take about 30 pictures, and after every 5 or so, I have to stop and wipe the snot and/or drool.

 Then I give her something to try to get her to stop moving a bit - like a do when I change her diaper, which is nearly impossible without her flipping all over the place.  And she still won't look at me, she's watching her brother.

 

"Hey Max, jump on my back and make Lola laugh"

Really, anything to get this done.

 Again, not looking at the camera, but this face cracks me up!

  And by the end, she's fussing and losing it.

The torture parents put their kids through.

 

 So after downloading 47 pictures, and deleting all but the ones you see here

- we get an okay one...she's lucky she's cute!

And a little more Flavius love.

Maximo's First Dentist Appointment

We tried to catch up on appointments over Fall Break, but the dentist was full, so Max and I went there after school.  He got to watch a little Tom and Jerry and was really good when the doctor checked his teeth and FILLED. HIS. CAVITY!  What?!  Our little four year old had a cavity!  The dentist was a bit concerned and thinks that he may be prone to cavities (like his Dad), so he wants us to have him checked every 4 months.

Anyways, he was great and then sat patiently and waited while I had my check up and cleaning.  Luckily, he had Belle, his fire engine, to give him some extra support!