Christmas 2005


And more catching up.

Okay, since the last entry... William has now taken a full course (8 classes) at My Gym, in the Whiz Kids class on Saturdays. He really enjoys the class and has become more comfortable with being brought to it. It used to be, in the first few classes, that I'd have to enter the play area with him for the first few minutes, but he's gradually become more accustomed to the environment and needs me less -- although he still calls Mommy when he needs to go to the bathroom. (I hold James during his bathroom breaks.) His self-confidence is growing, though he's still tentative around new activities and new people. All good things in time, I guess.

William has also demonstrated further evidence of astonishing intelligence (for his age). One of his Leapster cartridges (Dora the Explorer) includes a Concentration game (flip cards to match pairs, or opposites in this case; try to remember face down cards previously flipped). I usually let William play with his Leapster on his own, but recently, I watched him play the Concentration game and noticed that (a) he's very methodical in his searching of the cards, and (b) he remembers the card faces unerringly after he has flipped them. The Leapster game includes only 12 cards, so I introduced William to the game using a full, physical deck of cards. A lot of cards, which was a lot harder, but as he progressed, he moved faster and got the idea of the game better.

James has developed physically quite a bit. When I left for the AGU meeting, he was crawling backwards and pulling himself up occasionally into a standing position, propped up by furniture. When I returned, he had begun to crawl forward, and he was pulling himself up more frequently. Now, he's crawling all around the house on his own and pulling himself up to standing position as often as he can get near something (or someone) to climb up. It's getting time to review household childproofing.

Both are doing well at daycare. Erin, William's teacher, is having her last day at the daycare center tomorrow. She leaves thereafter to finish her degree and pursue a job teaching at the grade school level.

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Christmas at home again this year. I put up the Christmas tree and the outdoor Christmas lights on 12/11 (or the day or two after), and we started decorating the tree the week before Christmas. (It's pre-lit, so we made do with the lights beforehand.) I also wrapped presents during the week prior to Christmas, as well as hiding presents from Uncle Dan (ordered and sent from Amazon.com). I had done my shopping at Toys'r'us after I put up the tree, during the week, and I even did some last minute shopping on 12/23 (Friday).

On 12/15, we went to the lab Christmas Party at Ed's house. During the gift exchange game, we managed to "win" a spinning magnets educational toy and an origami calendar.

I also spent a whole week after the tree went up building and completing the LEGO Star Wars Millenium Falcon model for William. He participated in much of the assembly, and I'm very tired of LEGOs right now.

This year, we decided to forego the Christmas Children's Vigil Mass at 4:30 PM on Christmas Eve, because (a) it's always incredibly crowded so that we never get good seats, and (b) James and William probably don't have the stamina for it. We also didn't go to Midnight Mass for the same reason, and we went instead to Christmas Day Mass on Sunday.

On Christmas Eve, we had smoked turkey breast and smoked ham, plus fixings, which Heather mail ordered from a smokehouse. As usual, the turkey was excellent, the ham good but not as good as the turkey. After putting the boys to bed, we exchanged presents. Actually, I gave her the first part of her present two days earlier -- a massage bar from Lush (www.lush.com) in Pasadena, along with two nights of full-body massage by me the previous two nights. I had seen the bars at Lush and knew immediately that I wanted to give them to her and to give her massages rather than buying her a gift certificate to a day spa. She seemed to appreciate it.

She gave me a Celestron Starseeker 130 mm GoTo Reflector. I had been drooling over it in the Orion Telescopes catalog for several weeks, and I'm really happy to have it. I gave it a try for a couple of nights since Christmas. It's incredibly easy to set up, with alignment done in minutes as opposed to the 1/2-1 hour time it takes me to set up a non-computerized Cassegrain on equatorial mounting. Plus, with the computer control and built-in database, I don't need star charts or anything to seek out objects for viewing. I can satisfy a night's craving for observation in a couple of hours instead of a full night.

On Christmas morning, I photographed and videotaped the boys opening their presents. This year, William knew what he was doing and opened presents on his own, whereas we had to help James.

William got

-- The complete collections of Burger King Star Wars toys from 2005, plus all six watches, in his stocking. He wondered why Santa Claus brought toys he already had, and I had to explain that the were complete sets, including toys he missed when Burger King was doing the promotion (e.g. the Millenium Falcon).
-- A set of Thomas the Train wooden trains, a Thomas the Train Figure Eight track set, and a Thomas the Train track expansion set. He also got a Gordon the train.
-- A Darth Tater. (Mr. Potato Head done as Darth Vader.)
-- A set of toy golf clubs and golf balls.
-- A Fisher Price baseball/t-ball set (bat, balls, T/pitching machine).
-- A Geotrax train (Oceanside Flier) and a crane (Crankin' Round Crane) from Uncle Dan via Amazon. Dan also sent a Harbor Docks Lighthouse, which William already has and which I returned to Amazon for credit.
-- Three Bionicles figures (from my last minute LEGO shop trip).
-- Lots of clothes, a Mr. Incredible figure, and a Buzz Lightyear figure, from relatives.

James got

-- A Fisher Price Incrediblocks Peak-a-blocks activity center.
-- Extra blocks to go with the activity center.
-- A set of Fisher Price Roll-a-rounds balls.
-- Three teething ring toys.
-- A Vtech Sing and Discover Piano.
-- A Fisher Price Peak-a-blocks Press and Go Train, a LeapsFrog Hug and Learn Baby Tad interactive plush toy, and a set of Fisher Price Nesting Action Vehicles, all from Uncle Dan via Amazon.
-- Clothes from relatives.

William and James together got an Explorer Globe by LeapFrog. Bessie got a new set of chew toys (a squirrel squeaker, a hedgehog squeaker, and a couple of solid tennis balls). Dan sent me and Heather a gift certificate for a Legal Sea Foods clambake dinner (with live lobsters) for two. The idea is that we have to order the dinner just before we cook it, for maximum freshness. I reciprocated with steaks from Peter Luger to Dan.

All in all, a good haul for Christmas. Pictures are up on the home page. I'll pull down the decorations maybe after New Years Day.

Posted: Thu - December 29, 2005 at 02:21 PM          

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