The Fifth day of Christmas

 

 

 

 

Wednesday, the kids and I went to my parents' and we decorated gingerbread men and a house. They had their new disposable cameras and took lots of pictures. Once the house was built and they were decorating it, Adin drizzled tiny colored balls on the house and said, "It's snowing in Pepperkakeby!" which means 'it's snowing in gingerbread town'. He said this about five or six times before I started the video and unfortunately, you only catch a little at the beginning, but then Erik started saying it, too. We have already begun to eat the men and house. I figure they aren't going to get any better. Adin ate the arm of his man, but tonight refused to eat his leg.
Update: Ok, I just posted this, and I can't get the video to play. It may just need some time to load, but I am not up for tinkering with it tonight! I will try to repost tomorrow if it still isn't working.

The second day of Christmas

 

 

Sunday evening my parents and Gary came over for dinner. We played a game that Harald and Ronnaug sent us home from Norway with this past summer and we saved as a Christmas present. It involves filling in picture cards with colored pegs. We've had to make a house rule of being able to share pegs with the other players to help the game move quickly enough to keep the attention of a two year old.
The boys became enraptured with my mom's disposable camera and wanted to take lots of pictures with it. They then wanted to use our digital camera, as well, which makes us nervous! So we used a little of their Christmas money to buy them each a digital camera. It will be fun to get the pictures developed and see all the pictures of the walls, floor, and who knows what else!

Christmas Day

 

 

 

 

So Friday evening, Joe's dad and sisters came over, but I guess I didn't take any pictures! The boys got a toy chainsaw and hedgetrimmer from Paul. Our tree is very well trimmed, let me tell you!

Christmas Day we went to my parents' and Joe's sisters and mom came too. We had a delicious lunch of meatballs and roast. During gift opening, Erik frequently commented that this was the best Christmas ever!!! He and Adin received a variety of police cars and fire trucks and Erik also received a fire fighter costume, complete with a little extinguisher and a little bullhorn. (Is that what they're called? You can talk into them to make announcements? He loves making announcements.) Adin received an mp3 player and microphone which he said were really cool. Oh, and Santa brought him 'a fancy guitar' which he had been talking about all month. It is so fun to watch him play it. He frowns and takes a wide stance with his legs to brace himself like he's working very hard. I will have to try and video it sometime.

Christmas Eve morning

 

 

 

 

My parents and uncle came over Christmas Eve morning for brunch. Gary brought Adin a puzzle, which the boys enjoyed putting together. My parents brought along some cookies that my mom's cousin Cindy and aunt Barb had made. They made some Sally Ann (or Aunt Sally?) cookies in the shape of gingerbread boys. They had found frosting markers and decorated them with faces and red bow ties, very cute. One had Adin's name on it and one had Erik's. Adin enjoyed playing with his gingerbread boy and talking to it, but he would not eat it.

Julebord

 

 

 

Adin has been attending Barnehage with my dad some weeks and me other weeks. In December they had a Julebord. Family was invited and they had some activities for the kids to do. People brought finger food to share and then there was a short and informal program. The kids sang some songs from class and then we all joined hands and walked around the Christmas tree. Finally, julenisse came with a big bag of presents for the children. It was very fun, although hard for kids to wait their turn to get something from julenisse. Adin had fun and participated in all or most of the activities. I don't remember why Erik wanted to wear his pajamas, but it didn't seem worth it to fight him on that count!

O Christmas Tree!

 

 

 

Here are some pictures of the boys helping to decorate my parents' Christmas tree. They enjoyed climbing on the step stool to reach up higher. I notice that the next time I visited, some of the ornament clumps had been more evenly redistributed around the tree! The picture of them lying on the floor shows how they posed when asked to sit in front of the tree for a picture.

playing and sharing

Last week I posted about the boys just starting to play together more. This week there have been amazing stretches of them playing together. They played together in the basement for a half an hour while I made dinner. Today they played in Adin's room, tossing stuffed animals back and forth. What's been really wonderful for me to hear, is how they will do a little negotiating. Erik will state how he wants the play to happen, Adin might say a slightly different plan, and Erik will comment on how they can do both, or take turns or compromise. It's really different from just a couple months ago, when any idea that wasn't his was an affront to Erik's very personhood.

Adin has finished up another round of antibiotics this week and getting him to take the medicine was challenging. One strategy that sometimes worked was to continue to insist that he take it until he became mildly upset, then offer a treat afterward. Adin would then counter offer to eat the treat first and then take the medicine. And he actually usually did. Monday night, Joe was at a meeting and I was trying to get the medicine into Adin. We reached the point where Adin (and Erik) would get a sugar cookie after taking the medicine. Adin never counter offered! I was frustrated and told Erik he could go ahead and eat his cookie. No, he said he wanted to wait and eat it when Adin ate his. Adin's cookie fell and one point of the star came off. I let him eat it, but still he wouldn't take the medicine. Knowing we had more stars and hoping to get him a little upset, I ate one of the points off Adin's star. When he was running around he crashed into me, the cookie fell and one or two more points fell off. I ate more of the points. Still he wouldn't budge. Finally I ate the cookie (planning to give him another star cookie if/when he took the medicine). Adin was upset and I was about to tell him my plan, when Erik ran over and told Adin that if he took his medicine, Erik would give him half of his cookie! Adin agreed, took the medicine and Erik gave him half his cookie!

post Christmas crib talk

Adin was cracking me up so I went and got my computer. The things he said after I started typing weren't quite as funny, but you might get a kick out of them. I have no idea what he was talking about in the first line.

What does that other thing you got for Christmas after something else?
Mama did you know that you and me and papa and Erik all have beds? All of us!
Why did you get a turkey baster for Christmas? [this was a gift from Joe]
Mama, my favorite game is football.

lillejuleaften 2010

The following vignette perfectly summarizes the boys' relationship right now:

I came out of the shower and they were playing doctor in the rose room.
Erik: checked Adin's right ear "Looks fine."
checks other ear "You have a carrot in there.
checks first ear again "You have a potato in here".
Puts blood pressure cuff on Adin. "Looks good."
Looks in doctor bag, pulls out plastic bandaid. "Are you ready for a bandaid?"
Adin: backs away, cringing. "Noo! I'm not ready."
Erik: gets really mad, "Well you need a bandaid and you're stupid."
Fighting ensues.

So basically, they alternate between playing together wonderfully, and fighting over things like a glass of water. (Anne: "We have plenty of water! You don't need to fight over that glass!") I learned that they are not yet able to control themselves better when I threaten them with Santa watching, so I have given up.

Merry Christmas everyone!