After setting up our Christmas decorations (only as much as we had time to set up this year), we were determined to enjoy some "firsts" for the kids. We took Otto to the sledding hill for the first family sledding outing. Matt and I took turns getting out of the car and taking Otto down the hill and over some jumps that other kids had left for us. He took a few trips down the hill by himself. Atticus and Vincent were snuggled in their full-on, fluffy Winter outfits and slept in their car seats.
Our annual passes to the aquarium were only a month from expiring so we took advantage of times we could all go together as a family. The babies were only beginning to become aware of the beautiful, twinkling, water dancing around them. Walking around with the stroller is a great way for us to get out places as a family and let the boys have their nap. They are very content to be in the stroller when it is moving and we take turns taking them out and carrying one of them to see more things.
We did our best to make a gingerbread house together, but it wasn't easy to get Daddy to stop eating pieces off of it right away.
We already had a knit stocking for Otto with a big red O on it. We went for a month-long search for matching stockings with an A and V. A was easy enough to find, but we had to order a V for Vincent. It brought me so much joy to hang our 5 stockings (+ 3 for the fur babies) on the wall by the fireplace together. The preparations for Christmas was a flurry of Amazon orders and packages at our door and letters to Santa.
Otto learned and practiced more of his "Super Powers" at school. He was challenged with using his Smile Magic and other powers to help others and himself have a happy day at school. I am proud of how much he has learned about making friends and what it means to help them be happy.
His great motivation for getting up and getting ready every morning was to pick out a treat from his advent calendar. It helped pass the days waiting for Christmas to come.
We are very lucky to have Grandma Carolyn staying close by at Aunt Lori's house so we could stop by and visit with cousins. Within one week, we made two trips up to have dinner in the Hooper/Roy area with Otto's family and my cousins get-together.
My California cousin, Dan came for a ski trip and it wound up with our cousin John getting taken down the mountain to the ER with a knee injury, OUCH. Those Reynolds cousins of mine can't seem to do anything together without an injury of some kind. Still, they were nice enough to have all of us together for dinner and Megan brought my Grandma Joyce down to see us too. Otto really loves playing with all of his cousins.
As a new family tradition, we decided to adopt some of the ancient Pagan rituals of the Winter Solstice and introduce our children to the values of respect toward the Mother Goddess. We lit the candles around our tree and green garland, we made a circle, and we said a prayer to be thankful for the return of the sun. The longest night of the year and beginning of Winter symbolizes hibernation and rest, a time of self reflection. Winter is a hard season for me, and this year I will be cooped up inside with babies most of the time. I want to view this as a time of bonding, working on ourselves and narrow our focus.It was our good luck that my childhood friend, Jessica, was in town with her new husband and daughter so they could join us! I have not seen Jessica since my wedding and we have been friends since she was 2 and I was 4. I was very excited to meet her family and catch up on the lost years. My cousin, Brett, too was able to join us. The kids played, we chatted and feasted and it was a wonderful making of memories.
We finally made it to Christmas Eve celebrations at Matt's Rasmussen family. It is more exhausting to try and juggle both babies and their schedule while getting to participate in the usual family traditions. Santa (Papa) dropped in for a visit so we could at least get pictures. No tears with Santa!
Otto was spoiled with all the Grandma, Aunt and Uncle, and Santa presents that night.I was feeding a baby when I missed the Nativity and Otto playing the part as Joeseph. . .as a T-Rex. His interpretation was . . .interesting.
We opted to head home that night to set up Christmas morning at our own house this year. I was eager to see Otto's reaction at the gifts Santa would leave and experience our first Christmas as a family of 5 (wow)!Nana and Papa came down to spend the night with us. We tried to set up our stockings in our "spot" but we were running out of room in our little living room so some of us had to share. Atticus and Vincent got to share the space to the left of the fireplace, Otto was to the right. They all got into their matching Buffolo Print PJs and off to bed.
Santa left a giant playpen for the babies to use when they get big enough to crawl around. He left Otto a giant T-Rex with some Star Wars action figures. They got some toys and treats in their stockings.
It took half of Christmas Day to open our presents and the other half to open the baby boys' presents after they had their morning nap. Then, it was a day of eating and watching movies in the basement.
It was only a few days later that we made it back up North-ways to be in attendance to The Greatest Showman sing-along at the Peery's Egyptian Theater. It really was a fun event and Otto loved singing along to his favorite songs. My aunt Gaylene, cousins/friends Chris and Jena, and my mom took turns helping me walk around with the babies. I spent some time with each one in the hall hoping they would get to sleep, but we had some fun together regardless.We celebrated the twins turning 6 months old as the snow came falling down down down.
We invited some friends and family to our house for New Years celebrations and game night! Megan, Coltan, Hawkin, and Dave and Thanh joined us to laugh and toast in 2019. Matt wasn't feeling well that night so he wound up going to bed with the kids.What I learned about the boys this month:
Otto: Being 4 comes with its own challenges when finding the balance between new independence and responsibility and still being a young kid that needs help sometimes. We have daily conversations about our "Power" and "Magic" so that he can learn to have power and control over his own choices and knowing it is okay to ask for help. He is a sweet friend to everyone he meets and makes friends instantly. His newfound obsession with dinosaurs grows every day and his new favorite shows are Dino Dan and Dino Dana. He has been practicing and learning to read and write. He reads his kindergarten level books with ease. He has a harder time with writing, but he can sound out the words to figure out the letters. He actually prefers writing than drawing (which I just don't understand). My favorite thing about Otto is that even when I have been short tempered and lost my cool with him, we have used it as a learning example on not being perfect, apologizing, forgiving, and knowing that we are all just doing our best. He is full of love, laughter, and a bright and shining bundle of joy in our home.
My favorite thing is how he lights up when I go to get him out of his crib or nap and he balls up his fists and gives me a big smile. When I pick him up, he stretches up his arms, tucks in his feet to his belly, and scratches the top of his head!
Vincent: My little bundle of sunshine. He has a smile with cheeks that melts my heart. He rolls up into a ball and grabs his feet. Now, when he sits in his high chair, he tries to get his feet up as high as they will go and gets them over his toys or tray. He was the first to roll over, but took a break. Now, his content to stay put wherever. We learned that he has some social anxiety when we kept taking him to family gatherings and he got overwhelmed and fussy. He prefers a quiet environment with only a few people at a time to get used to. It tends to mess with his sleep patterns too. For a few nights, he was waking up every few hours like a newborn.
Although we call him "the chubby one", he is only a few ounces heavier than his brother and has some nice little baby rolls. His voice is low, guttural, and he gives grunts instead of whining when he is asking for his turn with a spoonful of food.
He loves raspberry sounds and kicking his feet on things that make noise or crinkle.
