January 2010

Every morning you like to brush your teeth. You move your step stool over to the sink and get your toothbrush and toothpaste and call me over. You were working on getting in your molars this month.

You are very into helping Mom right now. You help me make pizza dough and our oatmeal each morning and you love cracking eggs. Playdate with our friends. You were so happy playing hide and seek in the tent.

Willem now loves to swing! In the past he wouldn't hold on and would lean forward. All of the sudden he's leaning back and holding onto the chains and begging to go higher. One day we went to the park with a friend who is a year older and was using the bigger swing and
Willem just jumped right on and did a great job.

Willem hasn't gotten very good at identifying which tomatoes to pick, now he just picks the green ones to tease me.

Christmas Eve with the Torry's

On Christmas Eve we went over to Paw Paw and Gigi's for quite a breakfast feast and to open presents. It was great having the family together and we had a nice morning together.


Someone was thinking of Willem when they made the fruit platter:)

Your big present from Paw Paw and Gigi was a wagon which you immediately enjoyed hanging out in, especially since there were other presents in there for you.

Paw Paw got you your first golf clubs and you are a natural! You do a great job of hitting the ball and not swinging to high when playing indoors. Since Christmas, you have taken several lessons with Paw Paw and your skill is improving nicely. Paw Paw expects you'll be on the PGA tour by the time you are 18.

Rachel and Chelsea got you a four wheeler which you immediately went to when we walked in the door that morning. Up until this week you've been hesitant to ride it, but now you are zooming all over the place!!

After awhile we headed over to Maw Maw's house for another Christmas celebration. The Vance Family came over and you had a great time playing with the other kids. Maw Maw gave you a pet dog for Christmas, which was great as it can alleviate the pressure on Mom to get a living, breathing dog:) The dog literally will follow you around and talks, you are still not sure what to make of it, but you love that it has a remote control.

We had a wonderful day with the Torry's and enjoyed catching up as a family.

Decorating the Christmas Tree (12-22)

We were very blessed this Christmas to have a lot of family with us for the holidays. Grandma and Tia Julie flew in a few days before Christmas and stayed with us through New Years. We had a lot of fun while they were here.

We waited until Tia Julie and Grandma came to town to decorate the Christmas tree. You were very excited when we put up the tree. You had been reading a book on Christmas and one of your favorite pictures was of the Christmas Tree.

You helped put on a couple of ornaments but much preferred watching others decorate the tree. You cheered us on each time we put up an ornament.

And then it was time to go to bed. When we said to say goodnight to Tia Julie and Grandma you blew kisses. It was so sweet!

Trip to Columbia Continued

You continue to love taking self portraits. You took this picture on the piano bench with Tia Julie. You loved playing Grandma's piano!

You also enjoyed Granta Pamela reading you lots of books. You were enamored. She gave you a Richard Scarry book while we were visiting and it has become your favorite book to read.

You loved being picked up by all of your little girl cousins, you must have figured since they were taller than you, that of course they should be carrying you around! You would go up to them and put your arms up asking to be picked up. Since we've come home you've done this a couple of times to random girls at the park, it's quite funny to watch.

Mom and Dad were not around when this one happened... But you were officially initiated into the time honored tradition of playing bar in Grandma Rose's basement.

Christmas Tea with Santa

The Weiss family attended our first ever Christmas Tea with Santa (sans the tea, add the hot cocoa). This has been a tradition on the Watkins side of the family for over 10 years and we now know why the tradition has carried on. We all had a great time and it was neat to see all of the little cousins hanging out together. It was like a big family reunion.

Jason thought we went a bit overboard with the red:)

You enjoyed putting sprinkles on the cookies but didn't care too much for the icing, just like Daddy.

You loved the piano, there was a gentleman playing for most of the event and you were just mesmerized. After awhile, he let you try it out yourself.

Willem, you looked so grown up sitting at the table with all the little girls.

We did meet Santa a few times but you were a bit hesitant with him. He warmed you up a little bit by giving you a candy cane,but you still weren't too sure what to think of him.

By the end of the event, you no longer put up the facade of decorating cookies, you took your bowl of sprinkles, sat on the window ledge and enjoyed your treat.

December 10th and 11th Visting St. Louis

From LA we flew to St. Louis. . Quite a shift in temperature but a great continuation of our trip.



The day after we arrived, we went to the Zoo with Aunt Laura. Apparently we were the only people silly enough to go with such cold weather, so we had the Zoo all to ourselves.

We stuck with the indoor exhibits. As usual you loved the monkey house. One of your favorite parts was playing with the broom and dust pan:)

 

We also explored the amphibian house which we'd never gone through before. You weren't thrilled by it but were curious. Dad thought it would be funny for us to take a picture with a huge Python. We were not thrilled.

 

That night we went to dinner with Grandma, Granta Pamela and Aunt Laura at Monsoons of course, which you loved.

 

And then that night we saw Tia Julie!! She had just finished acing her finals and ended the night giving you a bath. You were in heaven.

December 9th Dad's Birthday!

 

This morning you helped Opa set up the Christmas tree. You were quite happy to be of help.

 

 

For Dad's birthday we went out to lunch at Ruby's in Seal Beach. As soon as we could see the ocean, you lit up! You were so excited you started running toward the pier. All the way there we walked along the railing and watched the surfers, you were enthralled.

After lunch you ran the entire length of the pier, not letting anyone carry you. We predict you will continue to love the ocean as you grow older, it seems to be in your blood!

Happy Birthday Jason!!

 

December 8th Family Cross Country Trip

You were so excited to fly to Los Angeles. We often drive past the airport and you are thrilled to see all of the planes, so spending some time actually in the airport and then on a plane, was just beyond thrilling.

 

You spent most of the flight looking out the window pointing at the wing and looking at the sky and the ground below.

 

Then when we arrived in Los Angeles we had a great evening with our friends and family. You especially enjoyed playing with your friends Ely and Josiah and your cousin Esther.

 

 

December 5th APS Light Parade with the Vances

This year we went to a really neat parade that the elecrical company in Phoenix puts on each year. Companies and families decorate floats with Christmas lights and parade down a completely dark Central Avenue.

We went to the parade with our cousins The Vances and had a great time. We live about a mile from the parade route and as you can see from the pictures, it was quite cold that night (we're talking low 50's:)).

It was way past your bedtime but you couldn't tell, you were so entertained by both the parade and hanging out with the other kids.