I just realized what day today is. January 22nd. Homecoming Day. Two years ago today we brought our son home.
Last year we celebrated with cake.
This year we celebrated by just having a wonderful day with our child. After breakfast together we played and then later went out to lunch. Then Greyson and I ran some errands and Ma-Ga (translation: grandma or possibly "my grandma") and Pop came over for a visit. Then he took a nap, played in the snow (which he was not fond of), snuggled and played some more. Basically we just spent the day enjoying this wonderful person in our lives.
So there wasn't cake this year. There was still wonder, love, and a deep appreciation of how far our little boy has come.
Let the holiday excitement really begin! Christmas is upon us!!
When I was growing up my family celebrated "Lil' Lil' L'Often", which is the Eve of Christmas Eve. On the evening of the 23rd we were allowed to open one present. It was usually something small, but enough to keep us tided over until the big day. Well, until the next evening when e opened gifts from the grandparents.
Now that I'm a parent I TOTALLY get this holiday (even if Michael thinks it is made up)! One little gift on the 23rd keeps the peace. It will hopefully keep the children happy and quite while you take care of all the final holiday preparations.
In our case I honestly don't know who enjoyed the gift more. Greyson or Michael? They spent the next hour building (M) and destroying (G) the train set.
This train set is AMAZING! Over the summer Michael bought a train table and box of "pre-loved" train track and cars from someone at work for like $150.00. Well this is now the 3rd time we've given Greyson train pieces from the box and we will probably be able to give him a bunch of it at least 2 more times. GOLD MINE! I think this train set can easily go down and one of the best purchases we have ever made.
Happy "Lil' Lil' L'Often" or Eve of Christmas Eve! May your holiday be bright and filled with joy!
So in all the excitement of Little Bird #2 I forgot to post our pumpkin photos.
We took Greyson to the pumpkin patch at Deanna Rose Farmstead a few weeks before Halloween. He had a great time with all the animals and picking out pumpkins.
Feeding the baby goats.
Playing in the TeePee. He LOVED this and wanted to stay in there all day!
Getting sniffed by the young cows. When we visited Deanna Rose this spring these cows were still tiny calves!
Driving a tractor with Daddy.
Going down the big hay slide in the pumpkin patch.
I claim these pumpkins in the name of toddlers everywhere!
Let's get this one.
Greyson wielding the carving knife! We took it away after this and he had fun with the crayon.
The boys took me out for Mother's Day today. This year we did pretty much the same things as last year and I loved every moment! There are some days when I just adore being Greyson's mom and today was most definitely one of them. He was in a great mood all day which made everything that much better.
Michael and Greyson ran out and picked up donuts, giving me time to get dressed on my own (a rare treat). After breakfast we packed up and headed to the Farmer's Market. While there we picked up 2 tomato plants, 1 sprite (grape tomatoes) and 1 roma. We also picked up some baby bok choy, which I added to tonight's stir-fry and some asparagus.
After the Farmer's Market we headed to You Say Tomato for lunch. I had Jane's Famous Kinish and it was wonderful. Really, wrap anything in pastry shell and I'll eat it!
Then we went to the Nelson Atkins Museum, where we played on the lawn for a while. I call this "Baby - with Shuttlecock"
Then we headed in to check out the Egyptian exhibit that opened today. They had a photo-op set up and after getting a necklace made with his initials on it in hieroglyph, Greyson sat on the throne armed with the reed and staff of royalty. He took ruling all of Ancient Egypt very seriously.
After the Nelson we went back home I spent some time enjoying my sweet baby sleeping on my lap. He was just so sweet I couldn't put him down. Snuggling with him was just divine. I cherish these moments because I know the time will come when he won't want to snuggle with his momma any more.
After naps we went on a walk to the park. Greyson is finally big enough to enjoy the playground. South Oak Park has a big playground and a little one. Greyson had a blast on the little one. He climbed up the stairs and went down the slides by himself. He did great! I just can't believe how big he's gotten.
To top it all off Greyson went to bed without a fuss tonight. He was just a delightful, fun little boy all night long. He was laughing and showing off his smarts by pointing to the parts of his body - he can do hair, forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, tummy, hands and toes! We read som books and just had a great time, then he went to bed happily and was asleep within just a few minutes. This is not normal, but I wish it was!
This was an amazing Mother's Day. I am so thankful for my wonderful son and terrific husband.
On Christmas Day we decided it was too snowy to go out so our family postponed festivities with Michael's family until the 26th, thinking the weather would be better. The drive out there was smooth and easy so we were sure we had made the right choice.
Perry family Christmas was lots of fun. Greyson opened some cool presents including a totally awesome, retro "popcorn popper"! I remember pushing one of those around myself! Greyson loves it and I know that once he gets the walking thing figured out he will have even more fun with it.
We also received "Harry Potter Clue" which is a really fun game, way better then normal Clue. After all the holiday cheer Greyson pooped out and took a nap while we played Clue.
Greyson sleeping off the holiday.
While we were playing we noticed that it had started to snow...and snow...and snow!
So we decided that as soon as Greyson woke up we would head home....but after 45 min. of trying to get out 100 yards from house we decided it was not meant to be and spent the night.
It was actually really nice being snowed in. We got to spend more time with Rachel, which is always always fun. We watched Julie and Julia (now I want to cook with BUTTER!) and had a wonderful breakfast of Creme Brulee French Toast!
