Nana & Bampa's House

Though we're staying home for Christmas this year, we still did some traveling this month.  We visited Josh's family in Washington and had a lot of fun.  Eli loved seeing his cousins and Nana and Bampa.  He recognized them right away.  He's pretty good at remembering, but I also think it helps to have pictures of them on the wall in our house.  It should be interesting to see if he recognizes my parents when we visit them next month.

Eli got to play a lot with his cousins, which he definitely enjoyed.  We toured the Theo Chocolate Factory, which Eli was very sad to leave.  I can't blame him since he got all the free samples he wanted.  He loved the Children's Museum and the cannon shooting at the Pump It Up play center.  We went to a live nativity as well as the toy soldiers in Bellevue.  Most of all, I think we all just enjoyed spending time with family. 

Putting Up the Tree

  

 The Christmas tree is up!  This is only the 2nd of six Christmases together that Josh and I have put up a tree.  We've always been gone for most of December, as well as Christmas, and thought it wasn't worth the hassle.  This time we'll actually be home for Christmas, so this is the first year Eli has seen and helped us put up the tree.  He loved it!  He was so excited that he actually hugged the tree at one point and said, "I love you, Christmas tree."  He wants the lights on all the time, even during the day, and I have to continually remind him that the ornaments are to be left on the tree.  We even made some cinnamon gingerbread boy ornaments together, which he loved doing.  I think this will be a really fun Christmas since Eli is understanding it so much better.

Pretend Play

I'm vaguely remembering what it is like to be a kid again as I watch Eli with his pretend play. Though it was ages ago, I still remember dressing up and pretending to be somebody I wasn't or somebody I hoped to be. Now I watch as Eli does the same thing. His favorites lately are pretending to be an astronaut or pretending to be a gardener blowing leaves.

Pretending to be a gardener with a leaf blower
Accessories: Vacuum attachments

Pretending to be an astronaut
Accessories: Bike helmet, aviator-type jacket, and a cardboard box with frills

Pretending to be a diver
Accessories: Snorkeling equipment

Thanks for Visiting, Harmonica!

On Tuesday we had to say good-bye to my sister Monica who was visiting us for a couple of weeks. We really enjoyed her visit, and Eli began including her as part of the family. He made up this silly chant that included Daddy, Mommy, Eli, and Harmonica (as he calls her). He still tries to include her in his conversation even though she's no longer with us. In fact, when I came home from dropping her off at the airport, he excitedly opened the door for me and asked where Harmonica was. When I explained that she was on an airplane going home, he asked if he could go outside so he could look up and find her plane. Needless to say, he was a little sad that she left.

We had a lot of fun while she was here though. Below are pictured some of the fun things that we did. We went to Space Center Houston (Eli has wanted to be an astronaut ever since) and Brazos Bend State Park, where we love to see the wild alligators. Josh was able to come with us for those. He couldn't go with us when we visited Galveston, but Monica really enjoyed collecting the numerous seashells on the beach and seeing the many jellyfish that had washed ashore, and Eli loved digging in the sand. We went to Hermann Park as well as some smaller parks near where we live. I didn't get any pictures of those, but I know that Monica sure did. :-) And of course we went to Zoo Boo and the church trunk or treat as was mentioned and pictured in the previous post.

It was great to visit with her and give us reason to visit some of those places again. We sure do miss seeing our families often.