We have had a great month! We had a wonderful Christmas and hope everyone else did too! It was fun seeing Tristan get excited about Santa and presents this year. A friend of mine had Santa come to her house and a bunch of us brought our kids over to see him. I wasn't sure how Tristan was going to react to Santa because he had seen pictures of him, but not the life size version since last Christmas. He was clingy at first, but with a little bribery he went and sat in Santa's lap for a picture. After all the kids had a chance to tell Santa what they wanted, Santa handed out gifts for all of them. Tristan became Santa's new best friend after that. He was so cute, he kept going over to him and thanking him. He even let Santa drive his toy car.
On one of the warmer nights in December, we went to Bellingrath Gardens to see the Christmas lights. We went kind of early and luckily it was not crowded yet. The lights were very pretty and we all had a great time walking around and looking at them. Tristan was very good and sat in the stroller the entire time. We let him out when we were almost to the end so he could burn off some energy!
We had a great time visiting with all of our families at various Christmas dinners. I was afraid that Tristan was going to think that every time we ate at someone else's house, he was going to get presents! He was just as excited to help hand them out as he was to open them himself. He got quite a lot of great things, and we are very appreciative. He loves his Little Einstein book with the animals. He likes to make me and Justin kiss the snake and the snail and then will say "Ewww, yucky!" He thinks its the funniest thing. Him and Buzz Lightyear have become best buds. And he really likes his fold out couch. He likes to sit on it like a regular couch, but he likes to nap on it too. He will carry it to his room and fold it out and go right to sleep. We were a little shocked at first that he went to sleep and didn't get up, but I guess its not too much different from napping on a mat like at school. We got him a vacuum cleaner that said it really worked. He likes to hold the dust pan when I sweep and then he carries it to the trash can and dumps it. There tends to be a trail from where ever he started to the trash, so I thought he could vacuum up the dirt piles and skip the dust pan step all together. The vacuum works, but only on the little styrofoam balls that came with it and not dirt. So my evil little plan did not work, but Tristan loves it either way, and that's what really matters. He also got a lot of winter clothes which he has definitely needed with this miserably cold weather. He loves his new tent that has a tunnel connected. He likes to keep all his Toy Story toys in there and it has also become his new favorite hiding spot. He will get a running start and be through the tunnel and into the tent in no time!
Tristan has been doing much better about eating whole veggies. He seems to like broccoli, corn, carrots, and occasionally peas. I was a little worried about him eating when we went to other people's houses for Christmas get togethers, but he did surprisingly well. He was really good about at least trying everything (telling him that if he didn't eat then he didn't get to open presents had nothing to do with it, I'm sure). Of all the different kinds of casseroles, he seemed to like broccoli and cheese the best-the cheezits on top helped quite a bit!
He was out of school for two weeks during Christmas break, so we worked a little bit more on potty training. He usually always wakes up from his nap with a dry diaper, so as soon as he would get up I would make him sit on the potty. He would pretend to strain and then tell me he couldn't go because it was too hard. But of course, not ten minutes later, his diaper was soaked. So one day, we sat for quite a while, and he finally peed in the potty! He was very excited and we told him what a big boy he was. And he hasn't done it since. Of course he still tells us when he wants his diaper changed if it is wet or dirty, but after the fact. Now that he has gone back to school, it has been a little bit harder to work on. He takes his nap there, so I will try to get him to go sometime in the afternoon. He tells me he doesn't have to, but usually he's telling the truth because he will still be dry hours later. Oh well, we will get there eventually.
Tristan talks even more and is still as silly as ever. Justin and I love playing with him and listening to him and seeing what funny things he comes up with. He is very helpful when it is time for me to check my sugar. He will say "Check Mommy's sugar, stick Mommy's finger." He puts the strip into the meter by himself and then he gets to push the button that makes the lancet prick my finger. After the meter reads, he likes to talk on it like a phone. He also likes to help make coffee and do the controls on the washer and dryer. Tristan is quite an opinionated little guy. He has always been picky about what shirt he wears, but now he is particular about which cup he uses, the color of his spoon, the color of his yogurt, which pajamas he wears, which diaper he wears, etc.... That's all fine except for when I don't have what exactly it is that he wants. So I just give him candy to distract him, no I'm kidding, but that does sound tempting.....
playing in the tub
napping on his couch
having fun on the swing
dancing with Elmo. I'm really not sure what happened to his shirt!
