This week in Pierce...

Christmas Eve and Day

We had an amazingly wonderful Christmas! For me (the Mommy), it was the best Christmas EVER!
Pierce and I spent Christmas Eve day with Allison and her Mommy (Tammy) at the "Christmas in the Park" display in downtown San Jose. It's the town center park transformed into a Christmas wonderland with mechanical displays of dancing penguins, busy workshop elves, and fake snow (soapy bubbles) falling from the sky.
In the meanwhile, Bill was out & about doing his Christmas shopping. He who shops last, shops best. (I'll explain that later.)
That evening, Allison and her parents came over for Christmas Eve dinner. I made a standing rib roast with Yorkshire pudding, pan-fried New potatoes, and gravy. Tammy brought Fruited Squash, Zucchini Pie, and Apple Crisp. STOP! Don't judge the squash and zucchini before you taste them - they were Delicious (yes, with a capital D). It was a fun, comfortable night, we ate like piggies, the kids opened their gifts from each other, and an Ella Fitzgerald CD played carols in the background.
Later that evening, Pierce's Nana also showed up after the Larsons left. Pierce was still awake, and we did all the Christmas traditions; we put out cookies and milk for Santa (the milk goes on a special Christmas coaster), of course we remembered the carrots for the reindeer, and we yelled "I love you Santa!" into the Christmas stockings before hanging them on the mantle. Then we read "The Night Before Christmas" (a gift from Pierce's Grandad & GrandPaula) and sent Pierce to bed. Next, we brought out our gifts for Pierce - including the super-duper present Daddy picked out - and put them under the tree. Next we quickly settled down to sleep so Santa could come to our house.
Christmas morning Daddy woke first and went downstairs to make coffee with Nana. Pierce and I followed shortly after. The tree was surrounded by so many presents and it's lights gave a special warm Christmas-Morning glow. The first thing Pierce noticed - as if it could be missed - was the shiney, new, sparkling blue, complete-with-bell, tricycle! He kept repeating "Bicycle!" "Bicycle!" and had a look of disbelief on his face. Daddy quickly helped him on his new bike and the expression on his face turned to pure joy! Later, as he rode it around the house (he can't pedal, so he was pushed) while wearing his matching sparkled blue helmet, his face was absolute pride! He kept yelling "I love you!" while he was on the bike. And...yes, he's talking to the bike. Now, if you haven't figured it out - it was Daddy who picked out the bike on Chrismtas Eve, hence the "He who shops last..." comment.
We had a relaxed day opening gifts and munching on leftovers. Pierce really enjoyed taking time to play with each new toy or reading each new book before moving onto the next present.
It was really just a special weekend, filled with happiness, love, and joy. Lots and lots of joy.

The 29 Days of Christmas...

The month of December has been one huge Christmas fest.
It actually began in November - when two local radio stations started playing all Christmas music all the time. Yes, I am one of those freaks who lock those stations into my car radio's 'speed dial'. What was so encouraging is that Pierce likes Christmas music too! I nearly burst into tears of joy when I turned the car off one day and he started saying "More Christmas music. Please." Yay!!!!!!!! Poor Bill is now outnumbered!
Pierce sings (yells) "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells", likes The Little Drummer Boy & sings along with the Rum Pum Pum Pum part, and sings the 'aaaaaaaah' part of lots of different songs that have long sounds - (Think '...fiiiiive goooooold riiiiiiings", ...Whiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite Christmas, "Noooooooooeeeeeeel..., etc.).
The bad news is, the little guy is afraid of Santa Clause. Yup, we were watching Elmo's Christmas video when Santa came on, Pierce hid behind my legs. Then when we were at the mall with his Great-Grandmother in Virginia - he saw Santa in the flesh and wanted to watch him, but had no interest in going anywhere near him. Too bad; there was no line to sit on his lap.

Pierce and I had a great visit to Virginia in December. He really seemed to recognize everyone. We had a blast with his Great Grandmother & Great Grandad, which is where we spent most of our time. We all loved to watch Pierce dance to the singing monkey (OK, for the first few days it was fun - then I had to hide it). Grandma had Christmas presents under the tree for Pierce, he opened a few each day and played with them until he was ready to open a new gift. A toy truck with a squeak hammer was a hit, as was the pretend food with plastic dishes. But despite all the wonderful gifts and toys, nothing was more fun than his own Great Grandparents. He is still talking about Grandad's Black Label, snow, and Grandma's tail (Phebe hung a scarf out of the back of her pants, prompting Mommy and Pierce to do the same and then we all ran around swinging our 'tails'.)
We had so much fun with his Grandad (who let him steer the wheels in his car and on both his tractors). We also got to watch Grand Paula bring in a big fat Christmas tree she had hunted and brought home, then Michael & Natalie came over and we all trimmed the tree. Pierce also took the opportunity to share a plate of cookies with the Rotweilder (she ate half and he ate half), then - in the giving spirit of Christmas - Pierce hand fed a cookie to the smaller dog, Gracie. (He thought it was funny, I have some new gray hair.)
Bill had been working with him to practice "Go 'Skins!" before we left and he perfected it while we were there. He also now refers to any canned drink as Black Label and can also say "My beer!"
The following week was busy busy busy getting ready for the holiday - we were having the Larson's over for Christmas Eve dinner and Pierce's Nana was coming to visit. We helped liven our Christmas spirit by letting Pierce open a couple of his gifts - including a super-cool ride-on ATV from his Grandma and Grandpa (Stotzner).
Here are a few pictures, including Pierce's first time in snow, storytime with Uncle Mikey, and us shaking our 'tails'.

Teacher's Notes

Here's a little snippet of Pierce's week - as written in the Daily Reports from Pierce's teachers:

Dec. 2nd - Today Pierce played in the sandbox, rode a bike, threw a ball and ran around the yard laughing & screaming. He also went with me to the atrium to read stories, play with puppets in the puppet house, and to stack blocks. :) Leanne

The daycare has a big open room with high ceilings, skylights and kites in the center of the building. All the classroom entrances open into this room. The atrium has a comfy sofa, a couple chairs, a gallery of kids' artwork, some toys, and of course - the wood play-house castle - that has a puppet show 'stage'.

Nov. 29th - Today Pierce did crayon art and tape art. Then he pretended to eat the pretend fruit. Pierce also played with Lego's and small cars. He climbed the climbing wall and played with foam shapes with water and stuck them on the window. :) Christina

The 'climbing wall' is  a series of parallel, horizontal wood bars that go across the wall. There are mirrors behind it, so the kids can watch themselves climb, and lots of padding underneath. It's inside the classroom.
Outside in the yard is a play structure - basically a raised platform that has stairs leading up it, a steering wheel to turn at the top, and a slide going down.

Sept 30th - Today Pierce looked at books and played on the structure. He gave Tara a hug. And when Lily was crying, he walked over and rubbed her head. Then he danced with Alicia (a teacher) and worked on the shape sorter. Pierce also put the base of the stacking rings on the back of the Turtle pull-toy and pulled it along.  :) Christina

It's late, so I'll write more tomorrow. Lots to tell about Christmas music, Christmas trees, more words, and less hair!

 

Talking, Running, & More

TALKING TALKING TALKING
Pierce's vocabulary is growing in huge leaps and bounds. (I read somewhere that at this age they can learn about 7 words per day... PER DAY!) I have been meaning to write about how he has been using 2-word sentences almost exclusively. But now I need to report he is mastering 3-word sentences! He's been saying things like "a cat" "Mommy's car" and "Daddy's cereal". However this weekend he jumped to "More cereal please" "Mommy brushing teeth". Of course, many words he says requires parental translation - most other people don't understand him. Cat sounds like "tat", teeth = "tee", milk = "mok", and "more" has the slighty urban hip-hop sound of "mo'".

RUNNING JUMPING SKIPPING
For the longest time Pierce didn't run... it was more like a prance. His little knees would go up and his feet would go off to the sides a little bit. It was such a cute baby trait. This weekend we noticed he was running like a big boy with big, surefooted strides. I'm surprised it took this long, since he's been walking since January - more than half his life. But we're a little sad to see the end of the Pierce prance.
Jumping with both feet off the ground has been a favorite pastime (and skill) of Pierce's for over a month now. But this week jumping has been replaced by a form of skipping - he's running and jupmping sideways at the same time. It makes Ring-around-the-Rosie a little easier. :)

FUN FUN FUN
We've been over to the Larson's house a few times. We all have a great time together (and Pierce like's sharing Allison's toys). We've taken Pierce to the park where we saw ducks and rode on a little train. Pierce and Allison have also been to the park together. They both like the swings and slides and like to cheer eachother on. They both say "One, two, three, GO!" when the other goes down the slide. They kick their feet and giggle at eachother when on the swingset. They're such a couple of hams!

Langston & Halloween Update

I can't believe it's mid-November and I'm still trying to post photos from October! There are just so many pictures we want to share.

LANGSTON VISITS
Shortly before Halloween and while Pierce's Nana was here, old friends from my New Mom's Group came to visit; Laura and Langston. They had moved to Chicago at the beginning of the summer and we have missed them!
We hung out with them a few times, they came by our house for a visit and we also met them at the Children's Discovery Museum for a play date. The boys had a blast painting, playing with Play-Doh, and playing in the special sparkly sand. But the grand finale was the bubble area - where they spashed their hands in big tubs of bubble solution. They then proceded to play the guy's version of beauty shop by smashing suds into their hair and putting it on their faces.

HALLOWEEN UPDATE
After going to Willow Glen with Allison and Tammy for trick-or-treating Halloween morning dressed as a SCUBA diver (wearing his yellow & blue sunsuit and holding a starfish while a snorkle and mask hung from his stroller), Pierce decided he didn't want to wear a costume that evening. Instead, he was much more comfortable in his Spider Man pajamas (a gift from his Great Grandparents). He loved knocking on the doors and he even managed to say something that sounds like Trick-or-Treat. He was so facinated by the items going into his bag! Once he even started grabbing handfulls from the neighbor's treat bowl. For the rest of the evening he helped Mommy hand out candy (and Play-Doh).

ABCD Dinosaur

While Pierce has not outgrown his once-favorite song Old MacDonald, he has a few new songs that he loves. There is one I catch him singing to himself. (I don't understand most of what he says, but I can make out the tune. And I hear some similar lines.)
It's sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" which is also the Alphabet tune. Here are the words:

A - B - C - D (sung to "Twinkle Twinkle")
Dinosaur (sung to "little star")
That is what the D stands for (sung to "how I wonder what you are")
Some are big and some are small (sung to "up above the world so high")
I like the babies best of all (sung to "like a diamond in the sky")
A - B - C - D (sung to "Twinkle Twinkle")
Dinosaur (sung to "little star")
That is what the D stands for (sung to "how I wonder what you are")

I know when he's singing it because I hear him sing "I like babies, Mommy likes babies." It's sooooo cute.

I Love You

The little man has a cold - sneezing, stuffy nose, etcetera - and is having trouble staying asleep. Tonight after we let him cry for a while, I went up to give him a hug and tuck him back in. As I was silently holding him & stroking his face, he looked at me and in a soft little raspy voice said, "I love you".
Mommy melted. :)

Happy Halloween

We've been getting ready for Halloween. This includes the annual ritual of driving to Rodini Farms in Santa Cruz - the pumpkin patch by the sea - to pick our own pumpkins.
This year the weather was warmer, but the fog prevented us from having a view of the ocean. It was close enough to hear, but - as it often does - the fog sat on the edge of the beach.

Pierce (and Bill, and Pierce's Nana, and I) got filthy! While I picked pumpkins, Pierce played inthe dirt, search for sticks & rocks, and enjoyed the occasional wagon ride from Daddy. We all also did a quick stint through the 4 acre corn Maze - we cheated and escaped out the side.
Pierce enjoyed his first experience decapitating and gutting pumpkins. He was facinated with the gourd's innards. His favorite part of the task was scooping the seeds out of the collection bowl and pouring them back into the gutted pumpkin. While we were impressed with his small motor skills and use of the spoon, it was a little counter-productive.

For trick-or-treating, the little guy is going to be dressed as a SCUBA diver. I plan on taking him to downtown Willow Glen on Lincoln Avenue. The businesses give out candy to the kids and it's become a big event in this area. The preschooler's timslot is from 10am-Noon. Then this evening we'll take him around to our neighbors, then we'll be passing out candy and mini-tubs of Play-Doh.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Pierce in Paradise - Part 1

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Pierce (and his parents) really liked paradise... imagine that.

We Stotzners went to Hawaii Oct 1-12th after cashing in all our frequent flyer miles for 2 first-class tickets to Kauai (Pierce shared a seat with Mom or Dad). The little superman - complete with a cloth napkin as a cape - went flying up and down the entire length of the plane. He made lots of new friends including the guy in seat 7C who high-fived him each time he passed and a got hugs and kisses from a wanna-be grandpa.

The first night we stayed at the Hanalei Bay Resort http://www.hanaleibaykauai.com/abouthanalei/index.html on the north side of Kauai. Pierce went swimming in the pool - a first - and absolutely loved it! He giggled and splashed until his lips turned blue and he started shivering. We then moved to our little cottage rental called The Lily Pad, also on the north side of the island.  http://www.hawaiiancottage.com/html/gallery.html (P.S. ...it's way cuter in person than in the photos on the web site, they've redecorated and it is smashing!). It was lush and green around the beautiful plantation-style cottage. Every day Cattle Egrets would land in the yard to feed, a rooster came calling and scratching in the yard in late morning each day, and we watched & chased geckos in the cottage each nite. The air was scented with the sweet smell of White Ginger flowers which surrounded the grounds and were part of the floral arrangements in the cottage that also contained Plumeria and Red Ginger.

Pierce's first swim in the ocean was that same day.  He LOVED it!!!! We walked from the Lily Pad to Anini Beach - a 2 mile long beach with calm water because it's protected by a reef. He played in the sand, he waded in the water, and went 'swimming' with Mommy & Daddy.  The next few days we repeated the... Bill & I traded off as to who went snorkling and who played with lapping waves, sand castles, and the little guy.

The snorkling was great - we saw all sorts of beautiful fish; Christmas Wrasses, Angel Fish, beautiful yellow Butterfly fish, Moray Eels, and the unofficial Hawiaan State Fish -Humuhumukununukuapua'a (AKA Picasso Triggerfish).

We did a night-time wade through Anini's waters one evening with Bill's SCUBA flash light. We saw flounder and a baby Conger Eel. Also at Anini, we dined on Fish Tacos from the taco 'roach coach' that parks there every day; the only commercialism on Anini beach. I really regret not getting a picture of it.  More photos and vacation stories to come...
Photo: Pierce with Ha'ena beach in the background.
Photo: Pierce watches a bird eat his snacks at Tunnels beach. BTW: There is a mouse eating more of his snack to the upper left.

Photo: Pierce helps Daddy with his fins at Tunnels beach.

Pierce Gets a Haircut - Visits Friends

Saturday morning we headed to the local kiddie hair salon for Pierce's 2nd-ever haircut. This is the salon where all the styling chair are kid's cars. Although Pierce was less sure of this whole set-up than he was last time. For starters, we didn't get the RED car, the one with the gears, keys, and other fun things. He got the yellow car, which is smaller and only has a horn and steering wheel. Bummer. Next - he seemed a little wary of the snakeskin-pattern smock - I guess he's not into 80's retro!
The fun part of the day was running into his first girlfriend; Abby! You guys remember Abby, the cute little red-head from my New Mom's Group who has been over to the house for play dates, birthday parties, and who Pierce sat with at the movie theater last summer - he put his hand on her knee and she had her hand under his bum! It was great to see her and her parents, Molly and Dylan. Abby is going to be a big sister next month. After haircuts we all walked over to the pet store and let the kids see the pet fish, reptiles, and birds for sale.
On Sunday we were invited to Tammy, Mike, and Allison's place for dinner (Pierce's current and favorite girlfriend whom he goes to playcare with). The kids had a great time running around the center kitchen isle - chasing each other on foot and on tricycles. At one point they were both laughing so hard they couldn't run anymore. They just went in circles and circles until they dropped. Pierce loved Allison's Giraffe tricycle and he was laughing like a maniac as he sped around their kitchen.
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