Arlo's First Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving Eve, Nick and I took Arlo to the weekly storytime at the library. Nick’s work hours have been shifted temporarily to the evenings because of the demands of his current project, and initially I was disappointed about (and, okay, sourly resistant to) losing that nighttime togetherness. Turns out that this change has worked out unexpectedly well for us. Nick gets to spend the bulk of his time with Arlo during the day when Arlo’s fresh and fun, instead of in the evenings when he’s walking a fine line between grumpy and overtired. And, even better, Nick gets to share in some of those cool daytime experiences with us, like storytime.
This week at storytime we sang songs about turkeys, learned various baby signs for Thanksgiving-related words, and listened to stories about grand, belly-stuffing meals with loved ones. The library lady who organizes storytime anticipated that the story crowd would be lean due to the holiday, so she excitedly planned a little Thanksgiving craft for the wee ones in attendance. (This storytime group tends to be really large, and sometimes prohibitively so.) Together the three of us made a turkey out of cardstock, construction paper, and finger paint–I traced Nick’s hand, he traced mine, and then we each traced one of Arlo’s. We cut out the various handprints, and these became the feathers of our turkey. We each took turns holding a paint-glopped brush with Arlo, guiding his hand as he painted the turkey’s body. I’m sure you understand that this made me tear up several times: once when I realized that this would be Arlo’s first piece of refrigerator art; again as I watched Nick tracing Arlo’s plump hand; and then again as we both marveled at our turkey in its completion, its plumage made all the more resplendent by the perfect pair of tiny yellow handprints at the center. Oh, how I love those two little hands. And yet, it was the largest handprint in the background–the red cutout of Nick’s hand–that lept off the page at me. Had his work hours not shifted, he would not have been in attendance when we made this turkey, and the turkey (and the whole experience, really) would have been sorely incomplete. It felt like the perfect Thanksgiving takeaway for me, finding a profound gratitude for something as seemingly pedestrian as a piece of red construction paper. There is always something to be grateful for. Sometimes it's hiding, but it is always there.

We spent Arlo's first Thanksgiving with the Watkins fam, which was our first time celebrating a major holiday with them. Arlo and I rose bright and early Thanksgiving morning and Turkey Trotted with Auntie Hannah, which was a chilly, but cheery way to start our day. We met Auntie Sarah and Cousin Lauren for coffee afterwards, which was the first time Lauren had met Arlo. Snuggles ensued. We enjoyed a warm-spirited and relaxing rest of the day, complete with a delicious meal in the jovial company of those we love and have historically seen far too little of.   We returned to Cape Girardeau with full bellies and full hearts.

Thanksgiving Eve airplane ride with Grandpa!

Scootin' around with Auntie Sarah on Thanksgiving!

Gettin' our Turkey Trot on!

So Much to Be Thankful For

My gratitude for this blessed little fleet is unyielding. It keeps my sails full.

Happy Thanksgiving!  

Robot Baby

With the stress of transitioning to our new town, we decided weeks before Halloween that we would take it easy and keep it simple. In early October I found this adorable hooded sweatshirt for Arlo (a total consignment shop steal at $2.50!), and we decided that this would dandily stand-in for any Halloween-related mischief- and merry-making:

But then, while shopping for Arlo's first winter coat (!), we stumbled upon this squishy and squeezably cute robot costume. It only took a few seconds for us to agree that it was coming home with us. (It was also a total consignment shop steal!) We ooohed and awwwed over it, but, as you will see, Arlo thought differently of his new get-up. He was notably far less amused by it than we were.

 
What? You mean robots don't like to have a snack at the dinner table?

And they act all coy and embarrassed when made to take pictures with their parental units?

A robot's favorite thing about Halloween? The trick-or-treaters! He loved standing on the porch with Nick spying on all the spookily adorned little ones and helping hand out candy. Truth be told, the only time he wasn't attempting to free himself from his robot garb was when he was happily distracted by trick-or-treaters.

We had exceptionally well-mannered trick-or-treaters, and it would appear that our new 'hood is quite the Halloween hot spot. Since it was a nice night, we had the windows open, and for hours--even well after our last bit of candy was dispensed and our porch light extinguished--Nick and I smiled at each other every time we heard the costumed foot traffic outside giggling, laughing, and blowing their vuvuzelas.  And Arlo finally smiled at us...once we took off his costume.