Letter

Once again, it's time for a Christmas letter, or rather, a series of pictures with the briefest descriptions I feel like I can get away with. Normally I tend to go through the year roughly chronologically, but I figured this year I'd try something new and organize the pictures first by theme. We'll see how it goes.

Running Man

I know I've mentioned before how much Alex likes to kick his legs. Well, as you can see, he comes by it honestly:

Take Your Bow

With all of the enthusiastic dancing Evan does he needs to learn to take a little credit for the entertainment he provides every once in a while:

Callie Kitty

A few posts ago I mentioned how much Evan likes to sing the Bob the Builder theme song. Well, he was at it again today, this time while dragging Callie Kitty along for the ride:

I'd translate what he's singing for you... if I could figure it out. I think it's basically the lyrics of the BTB song if every line ended with "Callie".

Folding Clothes

It's always a challenge to find tasks you can perform while wrangling a baby, especially as that baby becomes more interactive and figures out how to use his hands. One chore Steph has found she can get done is folding clean laundry, which is a task we both seem to be pretty good at avoiding. You've just go to do it a certain way so that Alex stays entertained:

Bob the Bunny

Bob the Builder is Evan's new favorite show, and he's taken to singing the theme song at any occasion with a variety of lyrics. I'm sure he picked up that habit from us (Steph and I are prone to changing a line or two when we're singing around the house), but the bunny obsession is entirely Evan:

Velociraptor

Alex has really gotten into screeching like a velociraptor (or maybe a pterodactyl) recently:

Flip

Steph found out today (so I found out this evening) that Jodi (our regular babysitter) has been helping Evan to do a flip of sorts. Here are Steph and Evan practicing:

I've never seen it for myself, but apparently when Jodi does it Evan whips all the way around without catching his leg or anything (which happens to us almost every time). We'll keep practicing, though.

Still More Exersaucer

We just keep getting better pictures of Alex in his Exersaucer...

And video, too:

Big Boy Utensils

Evan has been eating with a fork and spoon for quite a while, but if there was cutting to be done he mostly called in the big guns (or rather, the big knives), Mom and Dad. That might be about to change, though:

Of course, he probably would have been wise to choose an easier target than a green bean for his first time using a knife:

Exersaucer

Up until now if we wanted to put Alex down for a bit we had to put him in his bouncy chair or lay him on the ground under his Kickee Bear or some other activity mat. Nowadays he's got enough upper body control to play in our Exersaucer, though:

Alex thinks the Exersaucer is just as much fun as Evan used to:

It's so much fun he's got to talk about it:

Assisted Standing Up

Alex loves pulling on fingers to sit up, or even stand up:

It's maybe his favorite form of entertainment right now.

Tummy Time

We haven't been quite as rigorous about giving Alex tummy time as we were with Evan, partly because he really hasn't liked it, partly because it makes him spit up even more than usual (and he spits up a lot!), and partly because we just get busy or distracted and forget. Steph has been remembering to set time aside recently, though, and Alex is now strong enough that he can push himself up a bit so he's enjoying being on his tummy a lot more:

He's even making attempts at rolling over, some pretty successful:

Big Grin

Alex was in the mood for some big grinning today:

He really likes this "garage door" game Steph plays with him sometimes.  In fact, I got there a little too late to capture it on video but she claims he may have even made his first real laugh playing it.  I may have missed the laughing, but I did get plenty of big smiling:

Dog Training

One of Evan's favorite pastimes is giving Peekay treats, which we mostly indulge figuring it can only help improve  their relationship. Presumably just by imitating our interactions with her in similar circumstances he's become a passable dog trainer along the way:

Christmas with Jodi

We leave to go to Santa Fe tomorrow, so we had Christmas with our regular baby sitter Jodi today.  Jodi obviously knows what Evan likes since she spends three mornings a week with him, so it was no surprise that her gifts were a big hit, especially Evan's own Lightning McQueen!

In this first picture Evan is exclaiming loudly the joys of having a Lightning McQueen car:

These two videos are basically more of the same:

I don't know if you could make it out, but Evan asks in the second video if he can bring Lightning McQueen to bed with him. It's not like this happened anywhere close to nap time, but what would happen to Lightning when he was asleep was already on his mind. I guess you could say in Evan's automotive pantheon Lightning McQueen is first among equals.

Kickin' It

Alex really likes to kick his legs.  So much so that we made up a little song:

Alex is kickin' kickin' kickin'
Like a chicken chicken chicken
Bawk a bawk a bawk a bawk a bawk

Pretty good lyrics, huh? You should hear the tune!

Anyway, since he likes kicking so much Evan's old Kickee Bear is the perfect toy for him:

Drawing Cars

Evan got a new Cars drawing tablet from our friend Loren at our post-Thanksgiving brunch, which he absolutely loves.  And what does he spend most of his time drawing on his new tablet?  Cars of course:

Cheerleading Practice

Not that we really want Alex to become a cheerleader, but if that's what he chooses to do he's got a head start in his training:

Chuck E. Cheese's

We were planning on going down to San Diego while we were down south and stopping by Legoland along the way.  When we realized how much it was going to cost (over $600 just to get in if we all went!) and balanced that against how much of the park Evan was going to be too small to enjoy we decided to abort that plan and instead go to Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch.

Evan was a little unsure of several of the louder and flashier games, but he did have a good time riding in a patriotic car with Delaney:

watching Mommy play a horse riding game:

and marveling at the magic that is Chuck himself:

Watching Chuck perform inspired Evan to run, although I'm not entirely sure if he was running towards the stage or away from it... you be the judge: