Farewell 2010 from Atlanta

As we say farewell to 2010, Bobby and I find ourselves in Atlanta with friends Jeremy and Janet Wilde.  We drove down earlier today to cheer on the South Carolina Gamecocks as they played against the Florida State Seminoles in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.   A special game for me as it was my first SEC football game, however the Gamecocks couldn't pull off a win tonight.  Many thanks to Mamere and Papere who are on "the loop" with the boys.

Merry 4th Day of Christmas!

On this 4th day of Christmas, we learned Graham's return flight to NYC was cancelled and she'll be in Asheville until Thursday morning.  While dealing with cancellations and delays is never fun, selfishly, I'm thrilled we've got a few extra days with her on CBL (especially since the Christmas snow storm made it impossible for us to get together in Cashiers even though we were only a few miles apart).

Mascot Fever

One aspect of our Christmas weekend can best be described a "college-talk". The current ESPN commercial advertising college football which "features" Alabama fans (Roll Tide Ya'll) had us in stitches all weekend...and Thompson's imitation was priceless.

And if that was enough, Poppy taught T the Michigan State (his alma mater) fight song a few months ago and he still has it committed to memory.

Go right through for MSU

Watch the points keep growing

Spartan teams are bound to win

They're fighting with a vim!

Rah! Rah! Rah!

Snow on "the loop"

Our neighbors took a picture of our home on Christmas Day for us!

Snow Time!

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

We're dreaming of a white Christmas...and it's exactly what we got! Snow began falling at 8 am and didn't stop until the sun went down.  The end result: 8". It's a good thing the "prep and landing" crew made it safely to Annie and Poppy's home!

Thompson's Christmas can best be described as Star Wars and Lego-themed.  Thank goodness Santa remembered Luke Skywalker from Episode VI!  T also found a few other surprises in his stocking, including Carolina Panthers items, Boba Fett action figure and Lego garage.  He spent countless hours constructing Lego sets and I'm sure more building is to come.  He's amazed us with how well he can follow the instructions that come with each Lego set.  He also received books, Trouble, I Spy, Blokus, Toy Story 3 puzzles and some t-shirts.

William's Christmas resonated with toothbrushes. Yep, anything with a brush on the end is a good gift...toothbrushes, paint brushes, brooms, etc.  As expected, he was much more interested in tissue paper than what was in each bag.  He's enjoyed his new construction roller, puzzle, books, wagon and clothes.

While the snow was beautiful, the down side was our not being able to see Mamere, Papere and Aunt G.  They were stuck on Pinnacle Ridge!  Thankfully, we were together Christmas Eve at church and at Annie and Poppy's for dinner.

No doubt we enjoyed delicious foods and great fellowship.  Both Thompson and William are enjoying their time with Aunt Allison.  As William marks 13-months today, we've all been fascinated with his communication skills and his attempts at speaking, saying words including dog, bird, please, Amos, brother, Thompson, mama and poppy.  And I think what's even more amazing is his comprehension when speaking with him.  To highlight (in addition to brushes), he enjoys dogs, snow, taking a shower, playing "Where's William?" when he hides in the curtains, and chasing Thompson down the hallway.

Prep and Landing

As Thompson found this his favorite movie this Christmas season, I guess it only fitting we (Mr. and Mrs. Claus) find ourselves our very own "prep and landing" team this year. Yep...at 2100 hours we discovered Santa's box had been left at the North Pole. So we had no choice but to abandon course and direct the sleigh home to recover the goods. Needless to say, this was a big oops on Mrs. Claus's part and will provide laughs for days and years to come!

Christmas Eve at Annie and Poppy's

 

2010 Christmas Card

Here comes Santa Claus!

The boys enjoyed their visit with Santa this afternoon at Biltmore Forest Country Club's Santa Luncheon. According to Thompson, Santa says he's on the "nice list".

In a galaxy close, close to home...

there was a Star Wars birthday party for Padawan Thompson Friday afternoon. For the past several months, he has talked about how wanting to invite only boys to his birthday party. To this end, I began to wonder, how many boys could we realistically handle under one roof? Having heard an ideal number of birthday guests is the age of the birthday child, we let Thompson invite four boys and told him he made number five since he was turning 5 five years old. And the good news, he took to the idea well and we survived. From here, the pictures should tell the story...

The badges our young padawans received.
Upon the completion of the 4 jedi trials, they would become jedi knights.

Trial #1: create your own light saber
(decorate a paper towel tube)

Trial #2: learn the force
(using the light saber designed in Trial 1, see how many times you could keep a balloon afloat)

Trial #3: blow up the Death Star
(using bean bags, try to get as close to the center of the Death Star)

Trial #4: Star Wars Bingo
(homemade I might add!)

Dinner time!
Complete with Padawan Pizza and Jabba Juice

Celebration of becoming Jedi-Knights
(cupcakes were courtesy of Aunt G,
whose gift to Thompson each year is his birthday treat)

how William enjoyed his cupcake

Party favors for our young jedi knights

Thompson's gift from Annie and Poppy...
the long-awaited Darth Vader lunch box

Mamere and Papere always give Thompson an "experience". This year's "experience" is a trip see the "Bodies Revealed" exhibit in Greensboro. The exhibition reveals the secrets of our boides that lie just under the skin. And to help prepare him for the "Bodies Revealed", he received a pop-up human body book.

Happy Birthday T!

Here's wishing our "T-man" a Happy 5th Birthday! Where has the time gone!? Thompson, you continue to be an absolute delight and joy to our family. We love you.

We celebrated the day with his school Christmas program followed by an impromptu afternoon playdate with a few neighborhood friends. His restaurant of choice for dinner was French Fryz, complete with a corndog, french fries and chocolate milk. Upon returning to home, he discovered the birthday present fairy had stopped by and delivered Luke Skyalker's Lego Landspeeder, 3 Star Wars action figures (General Grievous, Darth Maul, Emperor Sidious) and a book.

He is anxiously awaiting tomorrow afternoon when he transforms into a young jedi-knight (aka Luke Skywalker) to celebrate his birthday with a Star Wars party. Recap will be posted tomorrow!

A Few Favorites

William's favorite books...

Thompson's favorite board game...

I wonder what Santa might have up his sleeve this coming Christmas?

24 lbs 5.5 ozs & 29.25 in

...William's stats from his 12-month well-visit this afternoon. We know WY's our "big" little boy..."Fireplug" as Poppy likes to call him...and compared to T at the same age, WY is 3 pounds heavier and a mere 1/4 inch taller. (T hit 24 lbs 8.5 ozs at 18-months.) These numbers puts him around the 75th percentile line in weight and the 30th percentile in height/length. I guess the old wives tale that babies double their birth weight by 6-months and triple it by a year is holding true for WY. (It did for T as well!) Oh, and his head is big, but we knew that already as we have to stretch the necks of many of his shirts. Our pediatrician Dr. Paschall had great things to say and encouraged us to "keep on keeping on".

WY turns 1!

Where has the year gone!? It's hard to believe our "little" William turned one today...what a special Thanksgiving! No 1st birthday is complete until the birthday boy has indulged in his red velvet cake. And in true William form, he devoured his!

This past month, William's walking has become more proficient, and along with that has come his determination to walk where HE wants to go, not necessarily where WE want him to go. He added his 6th tooth and I think he's starting to work on a few more. He's discovered the rolling pin. This past week he figured out how to stand up on his own rather than crawling to an object and pulling himself up. He still naps twice a day and sleeps great. He can down an 8-oz bottle of milk in no time flat...and loves meal time. He prefers to hold whole pears and apples and eat them like an adult. He can sign "please" and "want" and we're working on "more". It's been fascinating to watch him comprehend what we say. For example, when we tell him it's "eat time" and he needs to go to his chair, he'll walk to his booster seat and lift his leg in an attempt to crawl into it. He will sit your lap when you tell him it's time to "read a book". He has also taken to his blanket and when he's without it, he's dragging something around, reminding us of Peanuts' Linus. And I'm sure this just scratches the surface. Happy birthday sweet William! Thanks for all the laughter and smiles. We love you.

Happy Thanksgiving

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at home this year and were joined by our parents, Annie & Poppy and Mamere & Papere. This holiday marked the first time Bobby and I cooked a turkey...and we have to admit, we fared well. On this Thanksgiving, we hope you took time to reflect on your many blessings. Our God is so good.

Smarty Pants

In trying to decide which piece of Halloween candy he was going to have after lunch, Thompson inquired, "Do Smarties make you smart?"

Head Shapes

This morning en route to school, Thompson said, "Mommy, you and I both have round heads. Not like daddy. He has a straight head. Our heads have curves. His has edges like Spookley the square pumpkin." Very interesting observation and wondering where William falls? Although I think with the curves.

Daddy always fixes things

Prior to getting into bed tonight, Thompson told me daddy had fixed his bed. (Apparently during quiet time today he was playing with the bed slats, causing one of them to fall to the floor.). I reminded Thompson he could have told me so I could help, to which he replied, "I know, but I told daddy because daddy fixes things."

Happy Halloween!

our little octopus and Luke Skywalker
(from #6 - Return of the Jedi - complete with the scab on his, I mean Luke's, chin)

posed in front of our pumpkin
(my attempt at Yoda as requested by Luke Skywalker)

our favorite witch Annie joined the boys for trick-or-treating

and "Haint" made sure he didn't miss out the festivites as well!

And to answer the question from the previous post...
the top octopus was William and the bottom one Thompson.

Halloween Quiz...Who's Who?

T's 1st Thank You Notes

This morning I had Thompson write his first thank you notes. I think you'll agree he did a great job. He opted not to write his name as he reminded me it is already printed on the reverse of the cards.

Top: "Thank you for the garbage truck shirt"
Bottom:" Thank you for the Star Wars coloring books"

WY at 11 months

Houston...we have lift-off! (or should I say take-off?) That's right, William's walking! As you'll recall from my last post, his confidence was building and he reached this milestone yesterday. Before his nap, he would take 3-4 steps attempting to walk between mommy and daddy, and by dinner time he was walking across the kitchen. Simply amazing. When he gets excited or starts to laugh is when he's most likely to lose his balance. This past weekend we also noticed his signing is becoming more distinct and purposeful in an effort to communicate with us. For example, when we tell him it's "eat time", ask if he wants "more food", or he sees something he wants, William signs "yes" (with a half "please")...pretty cool. I guess he's trying to see if he affirms what he wants with a "yes" if he'll get it. No such luck though when signing "yes" in hopes of playing in Dobson's water bowl. William's discovered Thompson's car and truck box and enjoys pushing anything that has wheels along the floor. He too loves the dishwasher, both the LeapFrog Fridge Farm on the outside and the silverware on the inside. (I've had to learn to load and unload the dishwasher when he's on the other side of the room.) He's got a great little personality, loves to laugh, and infectious smile (that shows off his 5 teeth). We are looking forward to the next month and can't believe he's almost one!