Adventskalender

Grandmommie sent an Advent calendar from Germany. Sean was very excited about opening the doors to count down to Weihnachten- and eat chocolate!

Yay, der Weihnachtsmann!

The Holiday Pageant

Sean was in his first ever school play! His class was first to perform - the teacher played "Jingle Bells" while Sean and his classmates shook sleigh bells - well that was the idea. One boy ran off, one boy was frozen, one girl was totally into the performance, and Sean was more interested in the scenery in the background:

Sean was very interested in the "hot" and the "lights" behind him.
The show was super-cute and Sean jingled his bells like a pro. Meanwhile, our first snow of the season started to fall outside:

Afterwards, we ran some quick errands while Sean marveled at the snow and chatted about snowmen.

Fast as Fast Can Be

You'll never catch me!

Merry Merry

The Creche

Last year, Grandmommie gifted us with our own Nativity to remember that Christmas isn't all about santa, trees, reindeer, and snowmen. I was a little hesitant to put the creche out this year, considering the presence of a toddler in our house, but we went ahead and Sean was immediately curious. The Baby is safe since He isn't due to make an appearance until the 25th, but some of the manger animals have mysteriously disappeared:

... and a couple of pretzel fishes have taken their places.

...and again!

Santa came to Sean's school! Luckily, Sean's teacher grabbed a shot with her phone:

Tanta! ...again

The boy can't get enough! We visited another local garden center that had a nice lights display, pretty trees, and... real live reindeer! And of course, we saw Santa.

Where's tanta?

Hi dee-dee (reindeer)!

Waiting for tanta with Daddy

Sister!

What's more exciting than Sean being a big brother? Being a big brother to a little SISTER, of course! We got the exciting news yesterday at Mommy's 20 week appointment. That's right, we're 20 weeks along - halfway there! Sean's little sister looked healthy and measured just right for her age. The doctor estimated her weight to be about 13 ounces.

Sean on Sean

During Sean's sick day on Friday, Daddy showed Sean the video from the Tanta post and he was delighted - especially hearing his favorite new phrase, "Excuse me!"

All turned around

We turned Sean's carseat around and now he faces forward! Sean spent his inaugural ride squealing with delight and laughing so heartily.

In Daddy's car:In Mommy's car:

Busy Week

First of all, a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the Pepper! Pupsy is FIVE! He didn't want us to make a fuss this year, so we just gave him lots of extra kisses and puppy cookies.
Mommy had a trip to North Jersey, Daddy had a business trip to Tucson, Daddy finished his semester in grad school, and Sean got yet another head infection. We're talking eyes, ears, throat - you name it. Back to the pediatrician's... ugh.

Thanks to the magic of antibiotics, Sean was well enough to go to the craft store with Mommy this morning. When I asked him to help me choose between the Modge Podge with matte or gloss finish, Sean grabbed both out of my hands, screeched "TWO!" and giggled like mad.

Tanta!

I think we've mentioned before Sean's new-found love of all things Christmas. He especially gets excited about Santa, snowmen, lights, and trees. He knows that Santa says "Ho Ho", snowmen are cold, and lights go "night-night" when they're unplugged.

Sean's especially enamored with the Santa hanging out right outside our window:

(Note that after Sean pushes Pepper out of the way, he says "excuse me" (me-me). We're working on good manners!)

Last Saturday, after talking about Santa all day, we took Sean on a little outing to a local garden center. The giant blow-up snowmen at the entrance was a good start:

The Christmas tree showroom was a hit, as well as the display of animatronic puppets doing a variety of Christmas and wintertime activities like ice skating, riding trains, caroling, and visiting Santa.

Cheese!And finally, it was time to meet Santa! Sean took one look at the man, stopped talking and sloooowly inched his way backwards away from Santa. Luckily it wasn't crowded, so we let Sean run around for a few minutes to get comfortable and he agreed to sit on Santa's lap. And here's Sean's first picture with Santa!

Very familiar

One of the more fun aspects of our pediatrician's office is the murals painted on the walls in the exam rooms. Some of the rooms we've seen often are the Dr. Seuss room, the carnival room, and the sports room. But this past appointment on Wednesday found us in the jungle room and I knew we'd visited this room before, but I couldn't think when it was - I was a little distracted by the 18 month old boy running circles around the room.

After posting to the blog Wednesday night - I suddenly remembered! We were in this room last summer!The little Seanybear just 17 months and 20 pounds ago:

18 month check-up

We went to Sean's 18 month check-up tonight - apparently evening appointments were in demand in November. The doctor said Sean is very healthy and on target with his speech and walking, and his fontanelle is healed! Super!

His 18 month stats:
Height: 33 1/2 inches (75-90th percentile)
Weight: 28lbs 13oz (75-90th percentile)
Head: 19 inches around (90th percentile)

Waiting on the doctor - up! up!

"Cheese!" He's so good to humor his mommy :-) Sean loved looking at this birdie... in a crocodile's mouth? After seeing the doctor, we snacked while waiting for the nurse - who was bringing 4 shots for Seanybear That's right, four shots! Sean cheered up considerably when we drove by our local shopping center to see their awesome tree and lights:And now we don't have to go back until Sean turns TWO!