Holidays Catch-Up, Part 1

We are very behind in updating everyone with our escapades!

Thanksgiving was spent as usual, in Denver with friends.  Joseph enjoyed the sandbox outside, and Jadyn and her Denver friend Maxine were pretty inseparable.  Below you'll find them doing a craft project and dressed up for all the company on Thanksgiving Day.

 

Per usual, the 19.5 month old was not interested in napping or sleeping on anyone else's schedule, and he got a head cold to boot.  He was happy, though, to nap in Mommy's arms or to sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed at night.  That was a fun habit to break when we returned!

Here is Joseph fully awake and rested.  And the next day we road-tripped to Boulder.  After lunch out and a stint at a park, we enjoyed the view, briefly, from Flagstaff mountain.

A great time was had by all, and we are grateful to our hosts Joe and Deva who put up with our chaos every year.  Hopefully they will make a trip to Seattle to see us in 2014.

Back at home, you can see Jadyn is hard at work building cities and helping in the kitchen.

 

Just after Thanksgiving she started playing soccer in a Lil' Kickers class, which she thoroughly enjoys.  She also LOVED helping decorate the house for Christmas.  For the first year in our new house, and only the second Christmas Jeff and Jenny have ever spent in Seattle since moving there in the mid-90's, it was a real treat to be able to get all kinds of Christmas decor out of boxes and enjoy the season at home.

What is Joseph up to in late 2013?  His interest in books is incredible.  He loves paging through books on his own, and he often brings books to us so we can read to him -- he will do this at most any time of the day, if he wants to be read to.  Before bedtime, he sits through 4 or 5 books easily.

Shortly after returning from our Thanksgiving trip, he decided it was time to climb out of his crib, which began two difficult weeks of trying to keep him in his bed at bedtime and overnight.  Oh, life with a precocious toddler!  Here is his crib freshly converted to a toddler bed.

And there is no shortage of walks outside, even in the gray, cool weather.  Jadyn looks so grown up, posing by this tree that we walk past on our Saturday morning pilgrimage to Lighthouse Roasters coffee shop.  And while the kids do squabble now and then, they really do get along quite well most of the time.  Joseph adores his big sister, and we think that Jadyn is really starting to appreciate the playmate that is always there for her.

Christmas pictures are coming next!