August chose Christmas to sleep in a bit. So I had time in the morning to send some email and Facebook messages. He woke up at 7:50. Carly made Swedish pancakes for breakfast. There was some flour on the counter, and August stood on his stool and used a spoon and his finger to eat some of it, saying “Yummy flour.” He started a new thing this morning, which is saying “Hi” a lot, particularly to Carly. He did it throughout the day, including at the party.
Carly tried to Skype with her parents, but the connection wasn’t good, so we will try again tomorrow. A little before 10, we skyped with my parents. They and my my aunt and uncle had sent gifts, so we opened gifts over Skype. August’s haul included a wooden toolbox and tools, a wooden backhoe puzzle, a wooden train that spells his name, a Puff the Magic Dragon book and stuffed animal (the book he and I had read at the children’s library a few weeks ago), a book called Frogs Sit on Logs, and, from us, a baby doll which we have named ‘Baby Q’ (which is sort of what he was calling himself as a joke, and then babies that he sees). And of course some nice clothes, and Carly and I got sweets.
We skyped for an hour and a half. August took a nice nap and was up around 2. Carly had finished the enchiladas and we ate some for lunch. Derek was taking Rosie out for a walk our direction, so he came to our place, then we all walked back to his house around 3:30. There, we were inside for awhile, then Derek and Carly took Logan and August outside for awhile. I switched with Carly after awhile, just as Nathalie and her family showed up. August soon realized Carly wasn’t outside anymore, and wasn’t happy about that. So we all went inside.
With only the 3 families there for dinner, it was much less crowded than Thanksgiving. But it still felt very full and lively. August did wonderfully and was talking a ton, which everyone else hadn’t really heard before because he’s been more cautious before. There was ham and turkey and stuffing and enchiladas and green beans and plenty of other food. August, as usual, loved playing with all of Logan’s toys, and also liked visiting with the baby. I held her for a couple of long stints, and August would pull on my shirt when I was standing to get me to crouch or sit so he could see her. He would also see things that were similar or identical to things we have at home and say “for home.” At first I thought he meant he wanted to take it home, such as the doll which he was carrying after I came out of a room. He was carrying it by the head and kind of seriously said “Baby Q. For home.” But as he continued to do it with identical things (like the Where is Baby’s Belly Button? and Boynton ABC book) to what we have, I think it meant more like “like at home.”
August didn’t eat a ton of food, but he really liked the ham and mashed potatoes, and then shared my apple pie. The ice cream was his favorite part though, and he kept asking for more.
Derek took Rosie out for another walk as we left a little after 8 and walked over to Brownstone with us. At home, August and I played with Puff and Baby Q, then sat with them in the reading area and read his new books. He then spent a long, long time writing his 2s and Vs and other letters on the pads of paper. He had initially wanted to do stickers, so we went and got a bunch of those, but then he changed his mind.
Finally, around 9:30 he had to be coaxed/forced away from the paper and taken to bed, where he and Carly fell asleep.
At night, when he nurses, he has started to climb over Carly to do so.
He’s also been developing his sense of humor. In addition to the long-running “Becoming…” joke, today he was saying “O turns to Q turns to chicken!” And when I was reading or singing “Puff,” I paused because he knows the line “by the sea.” But instead of saying that he said “lived by the Q!” Finally, he knows a few author’s names, but the only ones we’ve been practicing lately are Mick Inkpen and Dr. Seuss. So we were reading the Boynton A to Z book, and I paused after saying “by…” He initially said “Inkpen.” I told him it was Sandra Boynton, and tried again, but he would only say “Inkpen” and laugh.
Also, it turns out that Derek knows the same numbers/letters songs as August because he using them with the classes he teaches. So August was singing the “Q is for question” line a lot. But because of the Carle book, he also really likes the word ‘quetzal’. So at the party he was singing “Q is for quetzal” a lot. And at home, before we left for the party, August was singing it and ran to the piano so he could play along while singing.
Eating flour:
Carly’s Christmas tree:
Opening presents:
Christmas party:
Ham:
Minions shirt:
He saw a Hangeul ‘d’ and ‘m’ in these blocks:
Full moon on the way home:
Baby Q:
Puff:
