The Great Christmas Tree Hunt

In keeping with our post-Thanksgiving tradition, we went in search of a Christmas tree in the Kaibab forest. Last year we had to skip this because Clara was so little. This year everyone (except maybe Clara) was happy to join with the extended family in the trip out to the forest again!

Josiah standing by our tree while Jeremy mans the saw

This year rules have changed for Christmas tree cutting, allowing us access to swaths of forest previously off limits. In contrast to past years, we saw lots of pretty, symmetrical pinon pines. We even found ours within minutes of starting our hike!

Poor Clara did not want to be stuck in the carrier but couldn't navigate the rocky terrain without falling. She was bundled up and hated that, but was also cold (especially when she pulled off her mittens) and had a runny nose. Next year I hope she'll have more fun.

Jeremy with J, A, and C; Lydia wouldn't cooperate and refused to be in the photo

Anna stayed home with baby Willow, and Justin had to work, so we all looked for a tree for them, too. Daniel and Lauren ended up finding three good ones--for their apartment, for Pa and Grandma's house, and for the Singletons. Kezzie came along for the fun with all of us and was a hardy little trekker as we wandered the forest in search of trees.

Jeremy hauls our tree toward the car 

 Oh Abby

E helped pick out a tree for his family 

I love Kez's hat-scarf combo! 

These two have so much fun together 

 Picnic lunch

Clara was not thrilled with the whole experience

Em with Cedar and E

Abby Wants to Change Her Name

 Abby: "Mama, why didn't you name me Rumpelstiltskin?"
Me: "Well, Daddy and Mama liked the name 'Abby.' "
Abby: "I wish you guys named me Rumpelstiltskin."

Clara's Birthday

Just a month and a half late, I'm reporting on Clara's first birthday, which was about the most uneventful yet. Sorry, Youngest Child!

It fell on a Sunday, so we had the usual busy morning with Sunday school and church, followed by lunch and late naps. Clara is usually crankier on Sundays because of her missed morning nap, and this was no exception. I made a dinner I thought she'd like, and Jeremy wanted oatmeal cake, so that's what she got for the celebration.

Clara at breakfast, clapping for herself

Poor Clara was so upset when I put her tray back on her high chair after cleaning off the dinner debris. She wanted to get out! So she cried through our singing of "Happy Birthday" and only stopped briefly when she saw the candle on the cake. Then she struck up her sobbing again when we didn't allow her to touch the candle. Josiah blew it out for her (we hadn't practiced blowing, so she didn't know what to do). But her first bite of cake dried up those tears!

Here's the succession of birthday evening pictures:

I modified the More with Less oatmeal cake recipe to replace the sugar with honey (and reduce the amount) and used whole wheat instead of white flour. I thought it turned out pretty well! Everyone enjoyed Clara's cake, and I'm glad it redeemed the tragedy of being stuck in her seat a little longer.

We plan to make a "mud kitchen" (i.e., cute/fun outdoor play kitchen) for her as her birthday present, but it hasn't yet materialized. The older kids are pretty excited about the idea, though.

I took Clara for her 12-month check in mid-November. She continues to follow the pattern of her older sisters in height--she was 31 inches (gained an inch since her well check just two months before), which puts her in the 92nd percentile. She was in the 88th percentile for weight at about 23 pounds.

While she hasn't really added words to her vocabulary, she says "Mama" very clearly and often now. I love it! She says "Dada" for Jeremy and sometimes "da?" in a questioning voice in order (as far as we can ascertain) to ask about things. She growls when she sees animals--toys or the real thing--and is indiscriminate in this assigning of animal sound. Mice and sheep as well as lions and tigers and dogs growl, according to Clara.

She does more baby sign language--she says "ah" and puts her fingers toward her mouth to approximate the sign for "food/eat." She signs "more," "please," and "all done." (She likes to clear her tray with urgent sweeping motions if we don't quickly attend to her when she's all done, too!) She definitely enjoys food and notices when other people have something to eat. Though still pickier than she was initially, she seems to be relaxing a bit and accepting some things she's disdained in the last few months--like scrambled eggs. She has loved roasted sweet potatoes, chipotle pinto beans, and extra sharp cheese lately.

Clara had her first dentist appointment on Nov. 30th, and her eighth tooth finally cut through her gum. It's been working its way out for awhile and caused many a cranky day! (It's the upper right-hand incisor.) Clara also used her teeth in self-defense for the first time at the end of November: Abby was backing into her in order to push her away from certain toys, and Clara bit Abby in the leg--hard enough to cause Abby to cry.

Now that she's confident toddling about (with the cutest wide-legged walk you ever saw!), Clara hardly ever crawls. She likes to climb, too. Outdoors she enjoys the small fort: she climbs up the ladder and slides down the slide. She tries to climb up the big fort's slide, but can't make it very far yet. She loves to have people push her around in the little coupe car and push her on the baby swing we bought for her. Even if the older kids forget about her in the swing, she'll dangle and watch the action with little complaint. She loves to be where they are!

Clara has been quite a bit clingier to me in the last month or so. Even when we're at home, she often wants me to hold her. When she's well-rested, well-fed, and not teething, though, she can happily entertain herself for a decent stretch of time. She likes to play at the kids' play kitchen, with measuring cups in the real kitchen, and with various little toys and animals (most of which still go in her mouth).

She screeches when upset/annoyed, cries as if her heart would break when Daddy reprimands her, and definitely knows when she's being naughty. She likes to grab a marker from the kids' art drawer, pull off the cap, and run off as fast as her waddle will take her--she knows markers are a no-no and Mama will be after her!

We do love our Clara girl!

Friday

We went to a neighbor boy's superhero birthday party on Friday, and I tried shooting in manual for the first time--thus the pictures below.

Clara is toddling all over now. She loves nothing better than to roam the yard, parks, sidewalks, paths, etc. She plops down now and then to examine a patch of sand, or she leans over to pick up a stone or stick. Then up she gets and continues on. She wears herself out with all her exploration! Now if only that would translate to sleeping through the night . . . 

She enjoyed the birthday party because it meant new places to explore. She's not anxious about being right next to me when strangers are about (though she isn't fond of unfamiliar men). She liked to follow the kids playing football, sip out of unattended juice boxes, gather rocks, and try out the step between the concrete ramada platform and the grass.

The older three were so excited to go to the party. But when we got there, they turned shy and stayed close by me for awhile. Leo, the birthday boy, was turning six. His parents had hired Batman to come and show the kids some superhero moves, run games, paint faces, etc. All the kids were impressed with Batman's get-up and presence, but Josiah, Lydia, and Abby didn't want to join his superhero training course.

The girls opted to wear the provided masks and capes, but Josiah didn't want to dress up--until the very end of the party, when he finally chose a red cape and mask. Then they all wore their regalia to Trader Joe's and got lots of smiles!

Abby

Lydia

Cutest superheroes ever!

The girls warmed up enough to Batman to get their faces painted. Lydia wanted to be Spiderman (probably because the girl who went before her got that). Josiah called her "Spidergirl," and she retorted that she was not Spidergirl but the real-deal Spiderman!

It's fun to see them wear their masks and capes and let their imaginations run wild here at home.

Trick or Treat

In an effort spearheaded by Josiah, the kids had been planning their Halloween costumes for several months . . . possibly even since last year! They waffled a little once in a while, but for the most part, they staunchly stuck with their plan to be Robin Hood, Little John, and Maid Marion. 

When our church announced we wouldn't do our usual neighborhood Halloween night trunk-or-treat/outreach, we looked up some local churches that did something similar, not sure if our neighborhood would work well for trick-or-treating. 

Robin Hood

 

We ended up taking the kids to a church trunk-or-treat on the Friday before Halloween, but then last-minute decided to join some neighbor friends for a brief stint of trick-or-treating on Halloween before it got dark. The latter surprised me by being quite fun!

Maid Marion, Little John, and unidentified sidekick

This was my first experience with trick-or-treating, since my family didn't do Halloween when I was growing up. I was leery of taking our kids around the neighborhood because of the few houses with scary decorations, and I wondered if the un-decorated houses would just not answer to trick-or-treaters.

The merry gang

Well, it turns out most people happily pass out candy to cute kids on Halloween, at least around here! Lydia corrected everyone most seriously when they asked her if she was Robin Hood: "No. I'm Little John. 'Siah is Robin Hood." (She pronounces "John" with a French "j"--softened.)

Clara in some sort of little outfit I threw together so she wouldn't look entirely out of place

The kids were giddy with the excitement of running up to doors and getting candy, candy, and more candy. They had lots of fun with their friends Leo and Massi (neighborhood kids) as we slowly went about a block and a half before heading home. It's amazing how much candy they accumulated in just that distance . . . enough to last a looong time if Mama and Daddy didn't dispose of some of it.

When we got home, they had just about as much fun passing out candy to the kids who rang our doorbell. They'd race over, carefully pick out three pieces each, and importantly drop the candy into the kids' buckets. "My turn! MY TURN!" they'd yell whenever we heard the doorbell . . .

Last year I failed in the costume department (Clara was born the day before Halloween). This year I started earlier and came up with pretty easy but decent-looking Robin Hood and Little John outfits. I found a tutorial for the hats online, and I let Josiah and Lydia pick out a fake feather to glue in. I cut their short cape-things out of the same green felt as the hats and then criss-crossed a brown felt strip through holes in the front to look like lacing. They wore long-sleeved tee-shirts underneath the quickly fashioned tunics (Lydia's I cut and sewed up from an old tee-shirt of Jer's; Josiah's was a too-big sweatshirt). In the full-length picture of Josiah at the beginning, you can see his spats. I made those out of felt, and then we held them on with leather thongs and twine. Jeremy made the bows out of PVC pipe and string. All in all, I think those costumes turned out pretty well!

Abby's was more haphazard. I found the skirt at Goodwill, paired it with a white tee-shirt, and wrapped and tucked some stretchy white material over that. I used the same material to fashion a sort of headcover for her. Because she was with her siblings, most people figured out what her costume was pretty easily.

So Halloween was a success: the children had lots of fun, we didn't run into any traumatizing/frightening decorations or characters, and they're already planning their costumes for next year . . .