a very merry christmas

We had a typical Christmas celebration with little kids: Charlotte woke up cranky from her nap on Christmas eve, Noah threw up the night before Christmas morning... but then there were also lots of smiles, giggles, glowing eyes and mouths wide open under the tree, excitement, ripping open of packages, joy, wonder, and sweet sibling love.

Ahhhh, some days and nights can seem long & endless but the years fly by and the moments are fleeting -- it was a very merry first (and third!) Christmas to be treasured.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

before & after

Charlotte was very excited to go & pick out the Christmas tree this year. In fact, she picked two!

 

 

 

 

trick or treat!

  

We realized we have not yet done our big Halloween costume reveal!

In staying with her animal character theme, Charlotte chose to be a FUNNY BUNNY!

And determined that Noah was a.... PIGGY! Sorry Noah, Mama had to agree ;-)

Holiday season is treat season... from Halloween candy to Christmas cookies. And in typical toddler fashion, Charlotte is pretty excited about those prospects: now that she knows what treats are. Last Halloween, Charlotte went for her first trick-or-treating... and also had chocolate for the first time, which was an exciting event for her!


















In fact Charlotte was ready to end trick-or-treating right after the first house: sitting down on the sidewalk to enjoy her very first bite, rather than going on... Instead of grabbing as much as she could, Charlotte also thought trick-or-treating was some sort of trade: told that sharing is such a good thing, she insisted on not just taking a candy from people but on giving one back (never mind that it was half-chewed).


This year, Charlotte was a much more seasoned trick-or-treater and came home with a good loot! (which was of course "shared" with Mama & Daddy ;-)

Other than that, Charlotte enjoyed a jolly good time handing out candy at our house and parading with all her little dressed up friends -- especially since daycare was quite a 'zoo' that day...

We can already tell that Halloween will be one of Charlotte's favorite holidays. [Sie ist halt eine rheinische Frohnatur!]

 

 

 

falling for fall

Before we get into the winter holidays for good... Noah has very much enjoyed Fall too:

Granted, he snoozes a lot when in the stroller but he LOVED staring at all the beautiful leaves and colors when awake during our walks.

And so did Mama! Our neighborhood is full of beautiful old trees that turn into brilliant reds, oranges and yellows in the Fall.




Like Charlotte, Penny liked ruffling through the piles of fallen leaves best ;-)

 

 

about time

It's the second year that Charlotte is excited about advent calendars counting down to Christmas.

Last year, it was clearly all about the cookie she could pull out every day with a big grin.

This year, she loves having a little book to read each day too but, most importantly, she is excited to know that something special is going to happen in the future.

Charlotte has started to grasp and enjoy the concept of time this fall: she loved observing the change in seasons and talking about the different months -- noting how leaves change color and fall off the trees in October and that we celebrate Halloween then, and how the first signs of winter appear in November and that we celebrate St. Martin's lantern walk (a German tradition) and Thanksgiving in that month.

Charlotte also talks about time now, using "yesterday" for everything she did in the past, and "tomorrow" for all that is going to take place in the future. And great anticipation is always marked with a big "I can do that LATER" ;-)

So December is all about Christmas... the countdown is on: Charlotte can't wait for all the pockets to be empty, all the treats to be eaten, and all the booklets to be hanging on the advent tree!

potty progress

A little update on Charlotte's potty training progress: she is pretty much done -- the promised Christmas gift from daycare!

Apart from being excited about flushing...
















...her favorite parts were:

reading books...

...and cheering herself on, happily chanting

"Go Charlotte,

go Charlotte" ;-)

the pack

Charlotte loves to be where baby Noey is. (In fact, she wants to play in his room most of the time.) And Penny, being the good herding dog she is, wants to be where her kids are... so we find this pack of three quite often together ;-)

snow day!

One of
the great things about seasons, are snow days.






The first snow of the winter season shut down DC today... With government offices and many others closed, we all enjoyed a day at home together mid-week ;-)

So we went on a winter walk: Charlotte went sledding for the first time and wanted to do it again & again, Noah bundled up and enjoyed snoozing in the fresh air, and Penny loved running and rolling through the snow. And we all built a snowman together before heading back inside for some hot cocoa.

A big high five for a wonderful winter day!

noah, noah what do you see?

I see a big bear standing right in front of me!

Noah, 3 1/2 months

brown bear, brown bear what do you see?

I see a little baby bear lying in front of me!

Noah, first week