12.22.10 ~ Santa!

This morning Jason, Liam, and I went to visit Santa at Macy’s. First, to enter Santaland, you walk through a stationary train car that sort of rumbles and makes choo choo sounds. When you come out of the train on the other side, you’re in the North Pole. There are dancing bears, penguins, toys, lights, decorations, and model trains everywhere. Liam seemed pretty amazed. Especially by the elaborate train set up. You follow the path through Santaland until you get to a group of cabins in the back. The bubbly elves lead you into a cabin and there’s Santa! Liam eagerly followed the path and approached the cabin, but stopped dead in his tracks when he laid his eyes on Santa. He shoved his hands in his pockets and remained totally silent as I picked him up. Liam and I sat on the bench next to Santa on one side, and Jason on the other. Santa talked to Liam in a low and mellow tone (seriously, I think Santa has been trained on how to talk to kids without freaking them out) while an elf snapped a few photos. Liam kept his composure and never cried, but if I had to guess, he was expecting Santa to give him a flu shot, change his diaper, or pick him up and carry him away from his parents at any moment. But when the visit was over and Liam realized he was leaving unharmed, he immediately relaxed and then cheerfully waved goodbye to Santa.

12.19.10 ~ A New York Christmas

Santa came to our house tonight since we'll be in Baltimore for the real Christmas. Last week Liam had a great time playing with his friend James's harmonica. So, Santa brought him one. Which really brought his Christmas caroling to the next level.

Jingle Bells Blues from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

12.19.10 ~ Sydney Bean

Sydney is a little Angela Mini. Buuut, there are some similarities between Sydney and Liam. Or am I the only one who sees it? They both have a sweet scowl.

12.17.10 ~ Goodbye to the Infant Room

Here are pictures from the last batch we'll be getting from the Infant Room. We're going to miss the teachers and the other kids in there a lot. It was like a little family with the older kids and the babies coexisting in the same space - and sometimes even helping to care for each other. It was amazing to see Liam grow into his older kid role as he went from one of the youngest babies in the room to the oldest leader. The teachers gave Liam almost as much love and attention as he gets at home, which has always been a huge source of comfort to me.

Liam is already loving the Toddler Room - so I know he was really ready for the transition. But for me it's bitter sweet. On the one hand, it's great to watch him welcome the challenge of a new classroom and new, older friends. Yet, on the other hand, its just one more sign that he's no longer my tiny baby.






Liam's birthday party in the Infant Room:


And here's Liam during a "Pajama Party" with his new crew in the Toddler Room (Liam wasn't so into putting his pajamas on, so he's the one in street clothes. Typical.).

12.16.10 ~ Liam’s Big Day

Today was the first time that Liam ever pooped in his potty! It is actually the first time he’s done just about anything with that potty. It’s the same little potty I used when I was little. And about four months ago we brought it out of storage and put it in our bathroom – where it sat and collected dust while Liam ignored it. Up until a week ago, anytime I asked him if he’d like to sit on his potty, I got a defiant “NO!” And then suddenly he showed some interest in sitting on it. For about four seconds at a time. With his pants on. Until tonight.

After his bath he started talking about the potty. He was still naked so I asked if he wanted to sit on his potty and he - much to my surprise - said “Yes”. So I put it on the hallway floor for him and he sort of sat on it. And stood. And squatted. And sat again. And then the poop came. And between the sitting, standing, and squatting, most of it landed in the potty. I was so happy for him that I didn’t even mind cleaning some poop off the hallway floor.

Earlier today Liam reached another big milestone. For the past two weeks at school he’s been transitioning from the Infant Room to the Toddler Room. There are many big differences between the two rooms. But the biggest difference for Liam is that naptime takes place after lunch on a mat on the floor; whereas in the Infant Room it took place on individual schedules in cribs in dark nap rooms. It’s been a running joke between Jason and me that Liam will never sleep in the Toddler Room because of the whole mat-on-the-floor-next-to-your-friends situation. In fact, the first day the Toddler Room teachers tried a nap with Liam I sat in the observation booth to watch – purely for my own entertainment. And it was indeed entertaining. All of the toddlers fell asleep. And then both of Liam’s little colleagues who are also transitioning along with him fell asleep. And then there was Liam. The only one awake in the silent room. Making elephant noises.

Then earlier this week the teachers tried again. This time I wasn’t observing, but the teachers reported back that he cried for 20 minutes while everyone else slept. He only stopped crying when they took him out of the room and went and got his Infant Room teacher to comfort him. So this morning I gave Liam a little pep talk. As his mother, and the person in charge of convincing him to do things he doesn’t want to do, I have come to realize that sometimes direct instructions are the best way to handle Liam. So I looked him in the eye and said “Today at nap time I want you to lie down on your mat, close your eyes, and go to sleep”. He looked back at me and said “No nap”. But then he DID IT! At nap time he fell asleep on his mat along with the rest of his friends. And slept for an hour (which is a pretty decent nap by our standards).

Two big achievements in one day! Go Liam!!

12.11.10 ~ More December Merriment

Today we went to the Atlantic Street Mall which houses one of the few Targets in New York. In addition to the wonderfulness that is Target, the mall also boasts a real live Santa sitting on a big Santa chair in the middle of a large winter wonderland display. We scooted by there with Liam to point out Santa. We didn’t even think about standing in line to sit on Santa’s lap, because at this age Liam would not enjoy that. Guaranteed. At first Liam was MUCH more interested in the large snowman on display. He kept yelling “FROSTY!!!” However, as we stood there watching the other kids hop on and off Santa’s lap, Liam watched with wide eyes. Meanwhile, Jason was trying to explain to him that Santa would bring presents for him and put them under the Christmas tree. Then Santa looked right at Liam and waved. And Liam waved back. And smiled. And then when we turned to leave, Liam said “more Santa”. So we’ve decided that we’re going to take Liam to visit Santa and Macy’s next week. Because if your parents are going to make you sit on Santa's lap for a picture for the first time, he should be the legit Santa. Too bad Macy’s doesn’t also have a legit Frosty.

Today we also decorated a Gingerbread house. I got a kit as a gift from one of the other mothers from Liam’s class. Liam actually participated. I applied the icing and he stuck the candy on. In addition to applying candy to the outside of the house, he also filled in the inside of the house with candy through the open window. He worked very carefully without eating one single piece. Until Jason ate a piece. And then he realized it was edible. And then all decorating stopped and he tried to eat as much candy as possible as fast as he could before I stopped him. So with Liam on his sugar high we put on Frosty the Snow Man and simultaneously played Dark Side of the Moon – that’s a thing, right?

12.8.10 ~ Jill, Pia, Frosty, and a Christmas Tree

For several reasons, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here.

One, this year marks the very first time that Jason and I have bought a real tree. In the past we’ve only had what we call “Charlie Brown” trees. You know, little ones. This year our tree is BIG! We even remembered to bring some of our ornaments from Baltimore. However, the few we brought didn’t even begin to cover the tree, so we went to Kings Pharmacy and picked up some silver balls, some very sparkly blue stars, and the most hideous tree topper star you’ve EVER seen. The blue stars will be making a repeat performance from now on. They were super cheap, but I LOVE them.The tree topper, on the other hand, might find it's way into the dumpster before next year.

The second reason is that - thanks to his Nana and Grampa - Liam has fallen deeply and passionately in love with the classic Frosty the Snowman movie. His love for the movie has resulted in a lot of this:

Frosty the Snowmaannnn! from Nina Philipsen Hetzner on Vimeo.

Three, last week we were also lucky enough to have both Jill and Pia come visit us. Incidentally they were both in New York for work, although their visits didn’t actually overlap at all. When Jill was here we went to Jason’s company’s holiday party. His office is in Rockefeller Center, so his company plans the party on the night of the tree lighting. We watched the festivities from the conference room windows. It was definitely cool. Even though I had my camera with me, I totally failed to take a picture of Jason, Jill, or myself. I’m a looser. So here’s a picture of the Rockefeller Tree once it was lit.

Then Pia came to visit. We went out to dinner with Annette, Ryan, and Greg (while Jason stayed behind with Liam) on Saturday night and then had a wonderful lazy Sunday together. I took pregnancy pictures of Pia. Doesn’t she look adorable? What do you think? Boy or girl?

And lastly, I’m actually making good progress on our Christmas shopping too. I’m more than half done and its only the first week of December. That’s pretty good for me. Now if only I could put together a wish list. Everyone is asking. There is no other time in the year when I have any trouble coming up with things to want. It’s only now – under pressure – that I suddenly have no idea.

Happy December, everyone!