He Does Exist!

This past weekend Jim and I took Ethan to meet Santa Claus. I don't think Ethan knew what to make of his long flowing beard! He looks a bit terrified.

Twas the night before Christmas . . .

This hat reminds me of the line in this poes that reads: "And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap, had just settled down for a long winter's nap."

Ethan kept trying to take his cap off.

Bah Humbug!

Zero was having a difficult time getting into the Christmas spirit.

Mohawk . . .

Ethan's hair is getting longer each day. You can really notice it during bathtime. A few baths ago I thought it might just be long enough to try the ever popular bathtime mohawk picture that everyone seems to capture! It sort of worked . . .

Fat Lip

Ethan has been more adventurous lately . . . and with that comes falling. I have been told this is the first of many falls!

"I SAID MORE!!!!!"

He was pretty hungry . . . and aparently I was not moving fast enough.

More Please!

Chiara began teaching some sign language to Norah when she was about six months old. I was sceptical at first, but when Norah was about 10 months or so, she began signing. The first sign Norah (and Ethan) learned was the sign for "more." The sign for more is "the fingertips of all five fingers on each hand move toward each other to touch in front of your body." (I quoted the baby sign language bood I checked out of the library). Anyway, when babies make the sign, it looks more like clapping in front of the body- it's pretty darn cute though! Of course, Ethan's first "more" sign was for his aunt Cecca when I was at work . . . oh well! Here are some picks of "more" in action.

PS- Chiara tells me that he will probably use more for everything for awhile, but then he will slowly get the other signs. We have also been working on "eat", "all done", "milk", "bath", "dog", and some others . . .

Oma And Grandpa

Oma and Grandpa came to visit over Thanksgiving for about two weeks. It was great having them in town. Jim and I make a "to do" list for them when they come (they stay rent free after all!) but we didn't have too much on it this time . . . there's always June!

Meijer Gardens

Before Thanksgiving, Chiara, Norah, Nonna, Oma, and I went to Meijer Gardens to walk around and see the Christmas decorations. It was a lovely brisk Michigan afternoon. We shoved Norah and Ethan into the double stroller and bundled them up, they seemed to enjoy themselves!!

Christmas PJ's

Norah and Ethan can't wait for Christmas! It was very difficult trying to get them to face the camera at the same time, they were more intersted in the play kitchen.

Thanksgiving 4

James always brings 10 or more different board games when he and Chiara come to visit. They always have a lot of fun playing, Jim's brother Mark even came over because he had such a good time last year!
Norah had fun putting in and taking out Ethan's pacifier from his mouth. She would also push it to the center of his mouth if he was sucking it on the side of his mouth. Norah likes to have order in her world, and Ethan just needed to accept that!

Thanksgiving 3

Marco and Nicholas tyring to look cool, Francesca and Ethan, Chiara and Alessia, the three girls, and all five of us. It was a fun night.

Cousins

These two are adorable! Norah enjoyed her Thanksgiving meal, she kept asking her parents for "more" - it was very cute!

Thanksgiving 2

We continued our feast at Nonna's house. Here is Chiara and Ethan, James and Chiara, and the two people who gave Ethan his drop dead gorgeous looks!!

Thanksgiving

Ethan's first Thanksgiving was great. First we stopped by the Bradford's for a late Thanksgiving lunch before making our way to the Jasinski's for Thanksgiving dinner. Here is Kerri and Mark, Ethan and Aunt Kerri, and Jim and Aunt Tess. Ethan really seemed to enjoy watching everyone enjoy the food! (He did have some sweet potatoes and turkey later on!)

Cheerios!

Ethan loves Cheerios! He also loves posing for pictures. We were eating dinner tonight and Ethan had some cheerios stuck on his bottom lip (see bottom picture), anyway, I'm getting the camera out and ready and as soon as I aim it at him, he gets this big smile on his face. It was hillarious!