Well, we're about 2 weeks from Christmas, so I thought I should get on posting something.
We've been a little busy here, so I apologize for the delay. We had Thanksgiving in good ol' J'ville and it went really well. We had a lovely time with both sides of the family and at Jeromy's side we learned a very valuable lesson. We learned that we will never be owning a dog. Gracia will just not allow it. I'm not sure how the terror got started, but the child HATES dogs. Well... that's not entirely true. She hates getting close to dogs. I believe that she views them like zoo animals... really neat to look at from a good distance away. Provided that distance is there, she will point them out and get very excited when we see them but if they come anywhere near her the kid goes into meltdown. Oh well. With three cats that I'm pretty sure will never, ever die (they are just that stubborn) we don't need a dog! But other than that it was wonderful to see everybody and just have a chance to be.
At my side's Thanksgiving (on Saturday) we had a wonderful time as well. Gracia's cousin Sean (we're going with cousin because I'm not sure how the relation is exactly... this is simpler) was the best thing to ever happen to her. Sean is in the 5th grade and I'm pretty sure that Gracia now worships the ground he walks on. He played hide and seek, built towers of bristle blocks, did summersalts, and generally just acted goofy to her utter delight. The kid ran around the house yelling "Don! Don! Again! Again!" Don was as close as she could get to Sean. Not too bad, I thought.
We had the best transition from traveling to being home that we have had yet so I am very encouraged that we will again be able to travel someday without wondering if we want to go badly enough to put up with the aftermath. Jack actually slept the whole way home! Hooray!
Gracia has become quite the copy cat. Mostly it's really cute. However, it has come to my attention that we will need to be watching our language very closely from now on. Thankfully my first realization of this point happened to be pretty harmless. My cell phone rang and it was sitting on the charger so I had to go get it. I hit the answer button just as it quit ringing and dropped the call. Without any heat behind it, I said "crap" and behind me I hear a little voice say "CAP!" I'm very, very glad I did not choose to use the other form of that word!
We put up the Christmas tree this past weekend and it's beautiful and Gracia is pretty enthralled. For that matter, so is Jack. He stared at the lights for a good long time while we were putting it up. But Gracia has decided that she likes the way the lights look when she looks at them and then shakes her head while keeping her eyes open. Often I'll walk around the corner and the kid is standing in front of the tree just shaking her head and laughing. It makes her look a little, um, special, but we're coming to expect that.
Jack is getting to be a big boy. He seems to be on a gaining trend of 2 lbs a month. That's a LOT! We had him in for a shot to help him through the RSV season and they had to weigh him to get the correct dosage. The kid weighs 16 pounds, 1 ounce! That's quadruple his birth weight!!! Insane!! I'm also finding out that "boy" behavior seems to be genetic and not learned. He filled his pants the other day (not an unusual event) and I was attempting to get him cleaned up. I started moving aside all pertinent parts to get into the folds surrounding said parts and the kid starts to giggle! He giggled 2 more times while I finished cleaning him up!! I just had to laugh.
We're getting geared up for Christmas and I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to keep the wrapped presents under the tree from being molested by either Gracia or Gus. I'm not sure that I can do it. All the presents may come from Santa this year, regardless who's name is on them!
