https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OzhNKe9VGGNhLnT__HmjpJYakxGhj99K/view?usp=sharing
One exciting development for Atticus is his love of baseball. He'll hit a ball, run to two bases (NOT three for some reason) and then run home over and over. Santa brought him two bats and a tee. The Belliston baseball blood runs deep in our family and we're hoping he follows in Nana's footsteps.
Hinckley is growing like a weed. His 2-month appointment is tomorrow but he's about to outgrow his 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers. He still loves head rubs and kicking. He was really struggling with gas for the first two or three weeks of the month (we were alternating gripe water and mylicon and having to do a LOT of dancing!) but it's gotten less severe for the last week. He really doesn't like to sleep on his back (he's an upright or tummy sleeper, for sure!) so hopefully the doctor doesn't rip us a new one tomorrow. He spits up more than we would like (occasionally it's a shower, but most of the time it's not too bad!) and has started sucking on his fist. We've just about given up trying to get him to take a binky.
Our favorite development for Hinckley, however, has to be his smiles. He has become so smiley! It all started when he met his Great-Grandma Zoe. We LOVE it.
December was quite the month for our little family. Early on in the month we had a ward party. Atticus had a blast. He met Santa and all Atticus could say was, "I want a candy cane." I think he ended up saying it 6 or 7 times.
Poor Santa was a little confused, asking, "Now, what's your name?"
When he got off Santa's lap, he looked at me and asked, "Where's my candy cane?!"
Santa made up for it in a day or two, leaving a giant candy cane on the Christmas tree with a note for Atticus. I wish I could end the story there, but that darn candy cane lasted the entire month. Atticus would wrap it up and keep it in the refrigerator. I think Santa felt a fair amount of regret over that present... ;)
Atticus also got to meet another favorite person: the Grinch! A member of our ward puts up a huge display every year and dresses up as the Grinch. Atticus was SO excited on the way there... but was terrified when we arrived.
But the Grinch gave him a candy cane, so he was all smiles on the way home. By the way, he can quote a surprising amount of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas (and loves his Grinch beanie and gloves, much to my chagrin!- thank you Bobba and Nana!)
I was in charge of joy school on Dec. 19 and 21 and we had some fun learning about the letter N. A friend of mine who teaches dance came and gave them a great movement experience about the "Night Before Christmas" on Tuesday.
Then, on Thursday, we had a live Nativity, went caroling and decorated sugar cookies.
Atticus was a wise man and sang "We Three Kings" while following a star (his version of the song, anyway).
Yes. Atticus insisted on wearing is Batman mask when we went caroling. Naturally, the snow boots and bathrobe had to be worn, as well. Bah. Three-year-olds.
Hinckley slept through the whole thing. What an angel!
My birthday was the next day. Some dear friends had surprised me with lunch the week before and Dane spoiled me with sushi (it was a very selfless move for someone who doesn't eat fish!) 32 is going to be a great year.
We decided last minute that we would go stay with family in Utah for Christmas and we are so glad we did! We even managed to keep it a secret from Dane's mom and gave her a good surprise on Christmas Eve.
Atticus had the time of his life on this trip. He is still asking to go back to Utah and back to the mountains, ha ha. Poor little guy.
Christmas Eve was spent with Dane's family. We went to church with them and Atticus surprised his grandparents by singing "Angels We Have Heard on High" at the top of his lungs (amusing many nearby ward members). Marti actually got tears in her eyes, she was laughing so hard. It was pretty cute. He keeps surprising us with that memory of his.
We spent that evening with Marti's family at Aunt Paula's house. They had a live nativity and Atticus was an adorable little wise man, again.
Here he is, singing Christmas carols with gusto at Paula's house.
Hinckley got plenty of attention, too.
He was so excited when we got ready for bed that night. We put out pumpkin bread for Santa and an apple for the reindeer (poor planning on our part) and snapped a picture of the boys in their matching PJs.
The next morning Atticus came to wake us up at 5:30 AM (Vegas time).
"Let's go see if Santa came!" he said excitedly. I couldn't get his pants on before he was up the stairs, looking at the presents under the tree.
Atticus had so much fun! When he wasn’t looking for a snow camp site with Uncle Danny, he was shooting a nerf gun with Uncle Corky, snuggling with Ashton, sitting on Isaac’s lap, sledding down the hill with Noah, looking for monsters with Ellie, wrapping presents with Kennedy, or pretending to sleep in Uncle Danny’s bed with Natalie. Hinckley was no less spoiled, being held by his Mimi, Grandma Terree, and all three of his aunts (it made my job relatively easy, ha ha!)
I never really
got to know my cousins while growing up, and this really gave me a glimpse of
how things could be if we lived closer to all of these awesome people. The thought makes me a little sad, but I’m
also just grateful we were able to make the trip up to see them. It’s so important to form those ties- and the
sooner you can do it, the better.
It was not easy to leave after having such a good time, but Dane had to get back to work. A very sleepy Atticus made the rounds and gave everyone a hug.
Since getting back, Atticus has been enjoying many of his new presents, particularly his cowboy boots. The second he opened them he grabbed his snow boots, put them in a bag with tissue paper and informed us he wanted to give them to Bowman. I couldn/t believe my eyes- he was retiring his superhero boots for cowboy boots! It was hilarious.
Finally, we rung in the new year by having a polar bear, hot tubbing swim. We plan to make it a yearly tradition. Dane was the only one brave enough to take the plunge. Hopefully I'll be up for it next year.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JeFMjguqSBA218agb3nXpUo8ard0pQyG/view?usp=sharing
Happy New Year and Merry Christmas! Welcome, 2018.
Atticusisms:
- "This is so awesome!" (First said regarding sledding and now it's being used fairly regularly.)
- "This is so much tool (cool)!" (said when opening his cowboy boots.)
- "I don't want him to spit on me!" This is said fairly often. I'll let you guess who he's talking about.
- "I don't want to go on a cross." (This statement seemed to come out of thin air, but it led to a good conversation about Jesus.)
- "I LOVE boollets!" (While playing with the awesome nerf guns Uncle Corky got all the grandkids.)
- "Let's kill her!" (with Bowman, in reference to me... eek!)
- "I'm gonna cut you open!" (with Bowman to his daddy...)
- "Can you get a _____ show for myself?" We love his constant use of "myself" and "yourself."
- "Dumb monkey!" (This was said while he and Dane tore this poor toy monkey apart. I hate to say it, but the monkey had it coming- it has frightened Atticus since he was an infant.)
- "Sometimes... I do the wrong thing." This was stated very thoughtfully and soberly after a frustrated mother was complaining over two or three messes he had made in a row. I immediately apologized, letting him know that moms do the wrong thing, sometimes, too. It was such a sweet, wise moment. As CRAZY and LOUD as our little boy is, there is so much good (and potential for good) in that little (growing!) body.
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