Christmas in the air

Today was Owen's preschool's Christmas pageant.  Wow, what a crowd!  I don't know what I expected, but the parking lot was overflowing, the sanctuary at the church where his preschool meets was packed, and suddenly it seemed like quite the big deal.  Then, the spacey, glaze-eyed 3 and 4 year olds were led out in costume and stood there for about 15 minutes while a script was read, and if you studied the scene carefully, you could see that here and there some kids were executing motions and speaking parts to accompany the script.  And of course, we parents ate up every minute :)  Owen was a shepherd.  I was worried that sending Owen with the requested bathrobe costume might not be what they had in mind...his is bright blue and has trucks, traffic lights and his name embroidered on it...but when some of his fellow shepherds showed up in transformers and race car robes, my fears were relieved.  Owen was very excited about his 'show' and very concerned to ask us if we loved watching it afterward :)

Some other Christmas shots...many in response to Owen's, "Please take a picture of me with this!"

Aunt Liskin...we cheated.  We figured out that the baby's stocking was in your goodie box and we couldn't help ourselves because it looks so pretty hanging with the others and reminds us of how soon we'll get to meet our little girl!  Thank you!!  Owen has been filling it up all week with goodies he thinks his sister will like :)

Santa picture!

What a difference a year makes...can't believe how much older Owen looks this year!  Rather than crying after being sat on Santa's lap as he did last year, Asher instead planted his feet firmly, a healthy distance away from that strange man, and said simply, "No."  All urgings, comfortings, beckonings by his brother (C'mon Asher, Santa is waiting for you!):  "No."  So, we have a one-boy picture :)  When they handed out button pins as Owen got down from Santa's sleigh, Asher took his and tried to share it with Santa, though.  So he was curious enough to want to test approaching him, but no way does Asher share seating space on the first date.  And a year between dates makes it hard to get to know one another ;)

2010:

2011:

Default

Reuel, darling, if we do not come up with a satisfactory, agreed-upon name for our daughter in pretty short order, we default to one of my choices, most of which you are not very fond of.  Just stating the facts.  :)

Oh.

Asher's new thing is 'Oh.'

He has passed into the stage we all hope to avoid...smartness and willfulness have increased beyond the ability to distract, and behavior begins to deteriorate to often-intolerable levels.  I can completely correlate a good deal of the change in him to the onset of room-sharing with Owen.  They both get less sleep this way, and even though it's not a dramatic effect, I especially see that my very sweet-hearted and amiable little guy gets edgy and less sweet with mild sleep deprivation.  It's unfortunate, but not much to do about it at the moment :}

Anyway...he's gotten his first whoopin's in the last couple months (less than a handful).  He deserved them fully!!  Yesterday Owen was bugging him a bit, and he pushed Owen to the floor, took in a large mouthful of forehead, chomped down and held until I pried him off.  Owen was in orbit.  Asher was gleeful.  So, Asher got some smarting smacks, diaper down, with a controlled but intense tone from his mom.  His consistent response to this event has been unflappable silence-- no crying or upsetness--and then when he's turned around to look me in the eyes and be told NO, he responds quietly, "Oh."

Asher.  We DO NOT bite.  That is a NO NO!
"Oh."
Biting is VERY OUCHY and NOT NICE.
"Oh."
You got a big spankybottom because you bit Owen!
"Oh."
Please go say Sorry, Owen.
"Oh."
[Toddles off and says, "Sowwy, Owaaaahn!"]

It is actually rather hilarious the way he looks me right in the eye and says 'Oh.'  Luckily, I have not laughed yet...usually too mad for that.  But it softens me up quickly.  I don't think the spanking accomplishes too much, but sometimes you feel out of options for those moments when something is really off the chart.   I do think he's gotten more naughty since the first one...sort of testing what will happen.  I kind of wish I hadn't gone there with him yet...it's always easier to let oneself go to that not-so-effective option prematurely after you've allowed yourself to go there the first time (in my humble experience).

He's also on a serious nap-strike, which is not helping matters.  Right before a new baby!  Of course!

But he's still edibly cute and mostly wonderful...just not quite as fantastically sweet as he used to be.  We all have our seasons!

Should I be surprised?

Boys went outside to play (unseasonably warm weather this late fall...awesome!), and I just now peeked out the window to check and make sure all was well.  I saw that the garage door was opening...followed by noticing that Owen was 'riding' the door to the top...held on to the handle at the bottom of the door and stayed on until it started to get pretty high, then dropped off and landed on the ground.

Oh my.

Christmas for Christians

Worth linking to.  Food for thought-shaping.  Some great ideas. 

http://jenhatmaker.com/blog/2011/11/29/the-christmas-conundrum

Celebrate!

Well, after a small blip around the time of grandparent visiting (note to self:  exciting events may induce need for sheet-washing), Owen has re-accomplished his goal and more and has been dry since late October.  Finally, I realized I needed to follow through on his reward.  So we had a little party!  This is what you get when the 4.5 year old designs (and mostly executes) the cake:

4 tiers, smurfy blue, and lots of SPRINKLES!  We are mighty proud of that boy, and it's awfully nice to hear him getting up, climbing down from his new loft bed, and taking care of himself at night.  In some sort of Stockholm Syndrome phenomenon, it was very hard to part him with 'the beeper'.  He just wanted to keep wearing it...sort of a security blanket I guess.  I told him that for the last 2 weeks I hadn't even been turning it on, but that didn't seem to matter.  I had to offer to give him a dollar bill in the morning if he slept without it, and that did the trick.  Here's the graduate with his prize:

Congrats, Owen!  We love you, Mom and Dad