Ethan Flees from Baby Jesus

The kids at church had their Christmas musical this morning. Very cute. Ethan had his first nativity scene appearance as a reluctant, headless cow. Oh well. We will try again next year. By the way, having tired, teething Emmaline clinging to me the whole morning did not make it easier to get 5 semi-grumpy toddlers into their animal costumes. But we did it! A little creative persuasion was necessary: "Only kids in costumes get to go see the Mommies and Daddies." And "Your Mommy told me it was okay to put your costume on."

If anyone needs interpretation, those pitiful sounds coming from Ethan are "My no like dat!"

After this video, while the other animals stood quietly and respectfully around the manger, Ethan spotted Levi and ran to him. He came back to me after a little while. Then, when the nativity scene was done and we were all going back to the children's department to play, Ethan's desperate screams echoed through the sanctuary. "Daddy! Daddy!"

While Mom's Away...

Our church is doing a drive-through Christmas lights display this year for the community. Last night, I went down to help direct traffic and wave people through the display. It was 3 hours outside in the parking lot (and 16 degrees) so the kids stayed home with Levi. And Joel. And our friend Joel Bannister. No problem, there are 3 adults, only 2 kids, right?

Well...apparently Ethan realized that with mommy gone, slightly less attention would be payed to his whereabouts, and much of the adult attention in the house would be geared toward the basketball game on TV. He seized the opportunity.

Offense 1: Yogurt was swiped from the fridge, fed to the dog, smeared on the dog's head and back, and globbed all over the kitchen floor.
Aftermath: Adults were laughing too hard to dole out appropriate punishment.

Offense 2: Parmesan cheese was swiped from the fridge, carried through the house, and sprinkled liberally in Ethan's bed.
Aftermath: Appropriate discipline was administered. Offender spent the next 30 minutes crying for Mommy. I would not have been sympathetic.

But Emmaline went to sleep for Levi with slightly less screaming than usual, and the Christmas light display was a success! No frostbite, nobody run over in the parking lot (there were some near misses), and about 80 cars came through!

You can still feel the crusty yogurt spots on the dog's back. It may be time for a bath.

Reflections

I caught Emmaline today standing by the shiny oven door, smiling, cooing sweetly, and giving her reflected self slobbery kisses.

She Walks!

It's official! Steps have been taken! If you are thinking, "Aww, I wish I could have seen those precious first teetering steps in person," well, me too! I was doing the dishes and Levi was dishing up some ice cream when Joel called from the living room, "Dude...she's walking."

In other news, we got our first ever Christmas tree on Saturday morning! We packed up the van to bursting (the dog did not fit very comfortably), and headed out to the national forest. Ethan got his picture taken with Smokey the Bear when we stopped to get our permit. When we got to the national forest, Levi and Joel hunted for a tree while Ethan, Emmaline (on my back), and I stomped around in the snow and tried to keep Samson from eating a partially-decayed deer head that some hunters had apparently left behind. Yeah. Gross. Anyway, the tree hunt was a success. It is a little too big for our house (funny how they grow when you get them inside), but it looks nice. Ethan runs straight for it every morning. "Pretty Christmas tree! Mommy turn lights on!"