Christmas eve

Making cookies for Santa.



Grammy J and Gus watch Viv make cookies.



Gus being his happy self.


Grandpa and Viv open a Christmas Eve present - A Cajun Night Before Christmas!

Santa picture

I know they're not smiling, but I love this picture. Mom & Linda took them last week while I was at work. Evidently, Santa was very nice to them despite Viv threatening to make the naughty list more than a few times this year. This season has been so much fun so far because Viv really gets what's going on now. She adores the tree, loves the Christmas movies and songs, and has the good sense to be "a little afraid of Santa," given that he can evidently see her when she's sleeping and know when she's awake and all. Although other things that she has been "a little afraid of" lately include Nonna and big trucks, so perhaps she just likes those words right now. No matter. She is clearly a genius, and Gus is the world's happiest baby. I am on track for a very merry Christmas - I have been given the best presents ever already.

Snow day

Exactly one week ago today, I was sitting in my office when Jenny said "open your blinds, it's snowing." Sure enough, it was. Vivienne and Gus got to see their very first snowfall that day. The last time it snowed in N.O. was the Christmas before Katrina. Here's the long awaited pictures of Viv with her snowman, a Lilliputian evidently.




Yesterday the kids had on short sleeves, and the high today is supposed to be 71.

two Gus videos

and after all that coaxing, the camera stopped because the memory card was full



new trick - sitting unsupported for a few seconds

Visitors in the yard

Last weekend was still relatively warm here, so we went outside in the yard to play.







Viv made sand cakes for us.



Later that day, our neighbor's puppies got into our yard and hid under the shed.




We know how to get puppies out from under a shed.

Storytime

Putting Viv to sleep tonight, I asked to her to tell me a story. She pauses for a second then starts- "You may know this one" (pause) "Once upon a time" (short pause) "There was a beautiful goat". I was intrigued, I have to admit. So I ask her what the goat's name was- "Cha Cha" says Viv. She pauses for a second then firmly adds "and the big goat's name was Gon Gon" (phonetically spelled, as is pretty much anything a 2 year old says). She then says that Cha Cha and Gon Gon live in the ceiling. That was pretty much the end of the story since she started singing happy birthday after announcing the ceiling goats.

I had no idea that we had a beautiful and a large ceiling goat.

(no pictures cause this is Curt posting)

Happy Thanksgiving

Three days of Viv

the trouble with happy babies

Yesterday we took Gus for his 6 month pediatrician appointment. He got one of his vaccinations and he got a half of a flu shot. With infants they break it into two doses, so he'll get another flu shot next month too. Gus is in the 50th percentile for both height and weight, and he looks great. Except one thing. Gus has an ear infection in his left ear. And we had no idea. There was no way for us to know - he never tugged on it, it never oozed, it never smelled funny. We've been attributing any fussiness on his part to his teeth coming in. Yes, teeth; the second one is officially out.

Our peditrician suggested that we might wait and see if the ear infection resolves on its own in 10 days. If it hasn't, we'll try antibiotics. So we have an appointment for the Monday after next to check it out again. We got sent home with a written prescription for the antibiotics though, just in case in gets bad over this weekend or over Thanksgiving.