Wild Christmas!

Louise is officially wild. She told Daddy that she and her friend Kate can be "wild...as wild as wild goats!!"

All three girls were wildly excited about Christmas. After declaring repeatedly that she hoped Santa brought her "cookies", Claire asked Mummy at bedtime, "Santa's coming?" Charlotte, who had no publicly declared wish list, showed symptoms of having watched too much West Wing in utero. "What next, Mummy? Presents?" Louise received a video email from Santa, in which he reminded her to say "please" and "thank you." "Pleasethankyoupleasethankyoupleasethankyou" was the refrain after she got the message...next year we'll let Santa know that Louise has been asked to say those words when appropriate.

We are blessed to have generous family members and friends, who gifted all of us with toys, clothes, money, and food. We are also delighted to have warm and generous neighbours, who invited us into their home for appetisers when we were sated with gift opening.

Louise came in to Claire’s room at bedtime with some of the instruments from Rock-n-Roll Elmo. “I’m going to sing ‘The End of the World’. No, Mummy – it’s okay, it’s a lullaby.” The lyrics went something like this: “The world goes round and round and round the sun./ You think it’s going to be forever. / But then it stops./ It’s the end of the world, end of the world, end of the world./ Tambourine, tambourine, tambourine…” I think she caught the expression on my face, however, because the lyrics then switched to “But the world isn’t ending, jamboree party!”

Today we went wild at Marbles. After we returned, home we got back to nature by planting branches from a discarded Christmas tree.

GRITS (Girls Raised In The South) 2011

Louise's Southern (US) accent is getting stronger, though she still pronounces garage (GAY-reg) as her father does. She sounds more Southern than Mummy's colleague from Mississippi, and now seems to think that "yeah" is a polysyllabic word.

Christmas Cheer

Pop and Granny have arrived! We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with them. They are helping us get into the holiday spirit - we decorated the tree, delivered cookies and cards to neighbours, and built a gingerbread house last weekend. To be accurate, Granny and Louise built it; Charlotte & Claire ensured that we didn't have too much frosting on the outside of the house. But Claire was clear about her intentions from the outset - "You build it, Mommy. Me eat it."

Don't it make my blue eyes brown...

Charlotte has somehow picked up the phrase, "my eyes are brown," and she uses it to mean "I'm telling the truth" - i.e., "I won't swing Daddy's hammer around! My eyes are brown!" It seems that Pops' efforts to influence the children through telepathy are being thwarted... (For those who don't know Pops: he's fond of saying, "Your eyes are turning brown" when he thinks that someone is full of something other than Truth).

What's in a name

Last night and this morning, we commented on how much C&C love one another - they were looking to one another (rather than Mummy or Daddy) for comfort when they fell down, randomly giggling and playing together, etc.

So this morning, we realized they might still need a little refinement before they're released into the world on their own. They each took turns reciting the lines for "A" and "B" for ten minutes in the car this morning:

A: "Boo boo head."

B: "I no LIKE it!"

A: "Boo boo head."

B: "I no LIKE it! MOMMY!"

[another family member: "Say sorry."]

A: "Sorry."

[reverse roles]

Sigh.

And don't call me Shirley

We all had a wonderful time at the General Aviation terminal at RDU yesterday, celebrating neighbor Alex's birthday. There were real planes & helicopters, paper airplanes, and ample space for running round in circles - what else does one need for a birthday party?!

As the usually delightful Louise commented later that day: "I'm always good, most of the time." She does have moments of rage, but she also can show great tenderness. Charlotte was getting a little frustrated at lunch today, so Louise intervened: "I'll get it for you, Charlotte. I don't want you to cry!"

Mommy asked Charlotte if she remembered traveling on a plane to England last Christmas. She didn't, but that didn't stop her from replying "Yes! I hit my head on England! I broke it. But Mr. John (our neighbour, and a child psychiatrist) and mommy fixed it. I got a boo-boo!" So perhaps she has some lingering memory of having the flu whilst on an eight-hour flight and in a two-hour immigration queue. Or, as Louise said, "she's just making up a story."

This morning, a tired (and soggy) Claire woke up with the words, "I bet my wed, Mommy."

Patience

Perhaps because she hears it so often, one of Charlotte's favorite phrases is "wait a minute." (She usually says it as we're trying to get her to bed). Claire likes that too, but she prefers phrases like "me do it", "MY Spencer Broder," or "What doin'?" She also has begun to insist that her middle name is not Alice, but Christine. Mummy finds this interesting, since she used to joke that Claire was the reincarnation of Nana Chris.

We all had a lovely Thanksgiving celebration at our next door neighbors' home - delicious food, great company, and no cooking, cleaning, or drama. Louise & Alex behaved beautifully and jumped at the offer to have a sleep-over a few days later. It didn't work out - the two Alpha Firstborns were overtired and had a rather heated dispute about toothpaste ownership - but they may try again in a few months. The next sleepover at Chez Atherton is more likely to be in Claire or Charlotte's room. One morning this week, Charlotte woke and, rather than going into our room, went to visit Claire.