Moving on Up

Vivian moved up to the toddler room in January. She was very attached to her infant room teachers—Ms. Louise, Ms. Gloria and Ms. ChiChi—and we worried that she might have a rough transition. As it turns out, she was more than ready to graduate. After some initial hesitancy, she was soon eating at the table and sleeping on a cot with the rest of her classmates and loving her new classroom environment (especially the climber). Unlike her brother, Vivian is an excellent eater and seems to like most foods, including vegetables. One day her teachers reported that she had three helpings of diced carrots! Not long after moving up to toddlers, Vivian also started feeding herself with a spoon. It’s amazing what a difference a healthy appetite can make. So far, her only words are “mama,” “dada” and “bye bye,” but she’s been chattering away, so others may soon follow. Well done, Vivi!

Christmas 2010

After a busy run up to the holidays, we had a relaxing Christmas at home with Bryant’s parents.  We went to eat at our favorite German restaurant--Old Europe--and attended Christmas Eve mass at St. Mary’s.  This was the first year that Henry was old enough to understand Santa Claus (thanks, in part, to a talking book rendition of “The Night before Christmas” from Mimi Pauline), and he enjoyed setting out cookies and milk for Santa (and carrots for the reindeer).  We also were glad to have Vivian with us this year.  She spent last Christmas in the hospital, recovering from meningitis (see Christmas 2009).

On Christmas morning, the kids seemed a little overwhelmed by all the presents (as did mommy and daddy).  Henry received a castle, a red wagon, lots of new books and games, and the Toy Story 3 DVD, which quickly became his new favorite movie.  Vivian received a toddler trampoline, a tea set, and a baby doll stroller and crib.  Bryant and Elise got a new printer and, courtesy of Bryant’s parents, a 42 inch flat screen TV and Blu-ray disc player for the basement.  Now, if we only had more time to watch TV…

 

The day after Christmas, we visited the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor, just across the river from Alexandria.  Every year the hotel hosts an ice sculpture exhibit and other seasonal activities.  This year’s theme was “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”  We had brunch with the Grinch at the hotel (and got to watch the cartoon while eating green eggs and ham) and then toured the ice sculpture exhibit (see pictures below).  Afterwards, Henry, Elise and Paw Paw tried their hand at ice skating.  Paw Paw never made it to the rink, but Elise and Henry went around several times.  Henry really enjoyed ice skating – so much so that Elise is now thinking about signing him up for lessons.

 

 

For a while it looked like we might get hit with the big snowstorm that was headed for the East Coast, but in the end, all we got were some flurries and lots of wind.  It wasn’t a White Christmas, but it was good weather for eating leftovers from Mimi’s delicious Christmas dinner and some homemade gumbo.  On Monday, we said good bye to Mimi and Paw Paw and returned to the work/school routine, wondering how long it would take to dismantle the tree and put away all the decorations (about two months this year).

Holiday Rush!

We had a busy, busy holiday season.  We returned from Michigan with a full calendar and lots of shopping and decorating to do.  The first weekend back, we headed into Old Town Alexandria where we watched the annual Scottish Walk parade and bought our Christmas tree at the St. Mary’s School fundraiser.  The gentleman helping us couldn’t believe we wanted to purchase the first tree we saw, but when you have two small children and it’s approaching lunchtime, you have to be decisive.  We spent most of the week busily decorating our tree and front lawn.  We stepped up our outdoor decorations just a notch this year with real pine garland and red ribbons around the front door.

Next weekend we headed to Williamsburg, Virginia to experience Christmastown at Busch Gardens.  For a few weeks each winter, the park opens up for a seasonal celebration.  Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate this weekend.  We spent a lovely morning in Colonial Williamsburg, looking at the traditional decorations and browsing through the Christmas market. However, in the afternoon a steady rain began to fall and continued throughout the night.  We had told the kids we were going to have dinner with Santa, so (despite our better judgment) we bundled up tightly, bought some ponchos and hoped against hope that the rain would stop.  It didn’t, but we did manage to meet Santa and Mrs. Claus.  We decided to skip the rest of Christmastown and try again next year.

Back home, we frantically continued shopping, mailing Christmas cards and preparing to host a holiday party for some friends from daycare.   On Saturday morning, we took in Elmo’s Healthy Heroes (Seasame Street Live) at the Patriot Center.  Later that evening, six three-year-olds and their parents and siblings gathered at our house to eat, drink and be merry.  Elise pulled out Aunt Pauline’s recipe book and made Tom and Jerry’s (eggnog fortified with brandy) for our adult guests.  After a brief and very messy cookie decorating exercise, we sent the kids downstairs to play in the basement and enjoyed a little adult conversation with our friends. 

Finally it was the week before Christmas and we still had more shopping to do!  We attended to the last few items on our list and got ready for Bryant’s parents, who arrived a few days before Christmas with a truck full of presents and food.

Thanksgiving in Michigan / Vivian’s 1st Birthday

We spent Thanksgiving with Aunt Pauline in Michigan. Despite the threat of TSA protests, we managed to get ourselves and two kids through the airport with no problems.  Fortunately, the flight is only about an hour and a half and we have a portable DVD player (which is invaluable when traveling with small children).  In Michigan, we had dinner with our friends the Lathoms, caught up with Tom and Anna Soehl (who are finishing up three years in Anne Arbor where Tom has been in law school) and met Pierce Blanchard, newborn son of Sarah Walter and Clay Blanchard.  We also spent time with the Baker-Brown family, who drove over from Detroit to help us celebrate Vivian’s first birthday.  Aunt Pauline ordered a special red velvet cake for the occasion, which Vivian really enjoyed (see below).

Right on time, Vivian started walking on her big day.  She had taken a few tentative steps before, but it wasn’t until Michigan that she really began moving.  Of course, now that she is moving, she doesn’t want to stop!  Henry had fun playing with Mimi Pauline’s many dog toys and his cousins Emily and Alexander, who stayed for a sleep over.

There was another milestone of sorts.  On Thanksgiving Day, Bryant took Henry to his first movie: Tangled.  Maybe it was the movie (which was actually pretty good) or maybe it was the large bag of popcorn, but whatever the reason, Henry did really well in the theater.  He sat quietly through the movie and even asked to use the potty when it was time.  It gave us hope that we might be able to take in other movies in the long winter months ahead.  Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, as always.  Aunt Pauline cooked a perfect turkey and we all ate far too much.  It was a nice visit catching up with family and friends and a chance to rest up before the busy holiday season ahead.

 

Vivian's Surgery

In mid-November, Vivian underwent minor surgery to correct blocked tear ducts in both eyes.  This was the same surgery that Henry had when he was one.  Vivian’s condition was a little more severe, so she had her procedure just before her first birthday.  Everything went fine.  In fact, the surgery and recovery went so quickly that Vivian and Elise were back home before Bryant could return from dropping off Henry at daycare.  At first we were worried that she might need to undergo a follow-up procedure as her eyes were still watery afterward.  But eventually they cleared up and now are more beautiful than ever before (see picture below).

Autumn Scenes

Below are some photos of the kids, playing outside and dressed up for their school's annual Fall Festival.

 

 

 

Halloween 2010

 Dinosaurs and fairies took over the Morris household this Halloween.  Henry has been learning about dinosaurs in his preschool class and decided he wanted to be a triceratops.  Vivian didn’t express a preference, but we thought she would make a lovely fairy.  This was the first year in which Henry was old enough to understand Halloween. Our neighborhood really gets into the holiday: several of our neighbors put up elaborate Halloween displays (strangely enough, the homes without children seem to be the most elaborately decorated), and on Halloween afternoon, the neighborhood association hosts a huge block party with catered BBQ, moon bounces and a costume parade.  Henry was intrigued by the Halloween decorations (he called them “spookies”), particularly the witches and skeletons.  He made Bryant drive him through the neighborhood each night on the way home from school so he could look at the displays.

  

We have a lot of young children in the neighborhood, and Halloween night is a pretty big affair. We started the evening with a potluck dinner at a neighbor’s house and then trick-or-treated for several blocks until Henry’s bag was so full of candy he could hardly carry it.  There were even drink-or-treats for the adults: one family was giving out sangria (with dry ice, of course) to the parents.  Vivian mostly observed this year but no doubt she will soon be following in her brother’s footsteps.  After it was over, Henry was sad to see the spookies go, but he took some comfort in the fact that Christmas lights and Santa Claus would soon be replacing the neighborhood ghouls.