Jingle Bells Dashing Through the Santa Baby

Addie LOVES christmas music. We had to listen to it a LOT during the months of October, November, and December. The car radio was always set to the Christmas song channel and at home Addie always asked for "Christmas Pandora" (Pandora is internet radio and you can choose theme-based channels. It made me laugh when we were at the store and a Christmas song came on and Addie said "Hey, they have Christmas Pandora too!"). She knows the words to the songs better than I do sometimes and often corrects me when I get them wrong, but if she doesn't know them, she'll just make up the words herself "O, Holy night, the stars are brightly SHI-ning, on a speck of food we left for santa...." Speck of food? Wha?

Anyway, between all the songs, reading of How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Bear Stays up for Christmas, Addie was excited, to say the least :) We bought the kiddos matching PJs (And some for cousin Julie, too, you'll see later down the post) and couldn't resist having a photo shoot one night after bath. As you can see, the kiddos hammed it up for us!





(fuzzy phone pic)

We then packed the car up and the "Southern Silvestros" (as Uncle Douggo likes to call us) headed North to Doug, Alli, and Julie's house in New Jersey where Yaya and Poppy met us to celebrate the big day. Christmas Eve included a lovely pasta dinner and Addie setting out Cookies and Milk for the big guy (and a carrot for Rudolph). Yes, she's using her stocking as a glove. No, I don't know why.


No chimney to hang the stockings on with care, so we "hung" them on the back of the couch. Here is Addie posing for the photo shoot. Lest you think she's a master picture taker, lately, when you say "smile for the camera" her eyes immediately dart to the side and you have to BEG her to look at your forehead in order to get any eye contact. Let's just say, digital cameras are my friend.

Matching PJs!! Plus cuddling with Uncle Douggo

See video below to see Addie's morning story of how she found her stocking. I made her re-tell it, so it's dramatic, but not AS dramatic as the first round.

Time to open presents!!!

We got some amazing stuff! Thanks to the WHOLE family. We are so lucky!

Seriously AWESOME aprons that Great Aunt Robbie made for me and Addie!

Cuddling with the g-p's


Addie and Julie had matching holiday dresses so we plunked them down for a photo shoot.


Cole was plunked down towards the end. I think he was upset because he was still in his PJs and the girls all looked fancy. Don't you think? Again, I'm a terrible mom, because seeing him cry like this in the picture makes me laugh!

Ah, that's better mom. NOW I look more presentable.

RAWR. I gonna EAT choo.

Playing in the baby cage with Julie.


All that playing and being a baby tiger tired our poor Bubba out.

Actually, all the kids had colds (hooray for runny noses!) but we didn't know that Cole was getting sicker :( We spent two nights at Doug and Alli's then headed down to Yaya and Poppy's for two more nights. While there Cole got a bit worse and had some breathing problems. It's handy to have a pediatrician who can call in some medicine, huh? But what if you have 18 inches of snow? Yikes! Luckily, Poppy was a rockstar and cleared out the driveway and he and Steve braved the unplowed streets (before the main ones) to get the meds for the little man.



The rest of the weekend consisted of lots of fun and yee-hawing!



And despite the snow, we made it home safe and sound (it hadn't snowed here, so no driveway to plow! Woot woot!)


And I leave you with a few videos of the weekend. Enjoy!!

Can I brag?

So yeah, a family blog is pretty much all about bragging, right? So I can feel free to scream from the rooftops (of this limited blog readership) that Addie has started to read! She can sound out short words! She started doing this a couple of weeks after she turned 3. She has this great DVD called the Leap Frog Letter Factory--it has little songs that tell you how the letters sound " A says "Ah" "B says "Buh" type thing. And here and there while reading we will sound out a word--like in "Where the Wild Things Are" the character Max has his name on the boat, so we'll point to it and say "Muh-Ah-Xs--MAX"--you get the idea. In the bathtub we have these letters that stick to the wall when wet and just recently she started just reading what we were writing!

Full disclosure: I had to bribe her with some chocolate to make these videos--she groans when I whip out the camera these days. :)

Here are some short videos:


Addie reading the word Mug

Addie reading the word "Tip"




This is how Addie learned to spell her name, with this little song

She had sounded out and read these words already, she isn't usually this fast.

Cole is 8 (and 9) months old!

Well it's been awhile since a Cole update came along and he's done SO much since the time he turned 7 months until now. He's learned to crawl, clap, wave, point, stand, and eat a ridiculous amount of food. Seriously, during several dinners he's eaten at least 5 times the amount of food as Addie and he's successfully eaten anything we've given him, whatever it is, he finds a way to eat it. Steve says, "This kid just needs a giant hoagie."

He's babbling a ton and we think he actually says "mama" on purpose! When we say "Yuck" (you know, if he's picking something up he shouldn't put in his mouth), he sometimes responds with "Duh." He also repeated "butt-butt" after Addie said it the other day--why on earth would they be saying this, you may be wondering. Well that's the name for diaper cream that Addie's friend Shannon taught us many moons ago and it stuck. So yeah...Cole's first word was...butt butt? Not sure we're going to realllly count it ;)

He LOVES to dance. Any toy that plays music and he'll hit the appropriate button over and over again just so he can bop to the music. His favorite game to play is "Where's Coley?"/Peekaboo. His favorite book is "Moo, Baa, LA LA LA" by Sandra Boynton. You just say the name of the book and he starts giggling. Speaking of giggling, this is Cole's main mode of communication. During dinner, Cole starts fussing, I can ask "Cole, do you want water?" No response. "Cole, do you want a mumum cracker?" "Huhhuhhuhuh" Ah....the giggle tells it all. :)

He has his daddy's adventurous streak--is that door closed? He wants to know what's behind it. Is that a curtain? Wait, I NEED to know what is behind that curtain NOW Is there something underneath that pile of nicely folded laundry? I'll take care of that (sigh).

Cole is a sweetheart, he's cuddly, he's smiley, and he's ticklish and has the best belly laugh in the world. It doesn't get any better than that.

He recently did his first art project. I usually save Addie's art projects for when he's taking his morning nap, but we were in the mood so I thought--hey, it's non-toxic.

You want me to do what now?

Ooh, this is fun

See how good I am mama? I'm keeping so clean!



Yeah...the minute I put the camera down after this picture, he smeared that stuff all over his cheeks :)

The results of his first art experience. It was fun, but....it will be awhile before we do that again :)

Coley's first experience with snow

Standing and updating the blog



Just being super cute




Verdict? Adorable. It cannot be denied :)

Holiday Happenings

Oh Joy, the holidays are here!!

First up is Thanksgiving. Yaya and Poppy came back down even though they were just here for Addie's birthday--thank you for making the trips!

Here Addie is eagerly awaiting their arrival. I love this picture.

Addie and I made placecards again like last year


Cheers! Not the best pic in the world (especially of Addie's weirdo wink) but since I only took TWO of the big meal...beggars can't be choosers.

We are all grateful for nightly rock n' roll concerts

Addie and I have been working on some fun projects. We made these cool applesauce-cinnamon cut out ornaments.



Look cool, huh? Yeah, big fail--they all fell apart!


Sad about the disappointment of the ornaments, Addie wanted to get ready for the next holiday--Hanukkah. Addie decided to cuddle with the menorah while watching TV


And here she is with Princess Hanukkah (P.H. even has little menorah confetti in her skirt)


Lighting the first candle...Here is where Cole shows us that he's a big ham for the camera. Concentrating on the candle, then...
...oh, hey, photo op!!

Addie got something each day--some more practical things, like her winter coat, and some fun stuff like this set of blocks. I just like having some things to keep her busy as the weather has been way too cold to play outside.


Back to the christmas-esque holiday festivities, one night we bundled up and headed to Rockville Town Center for their big tree-lighting.

You're never too cold when you're cuddled with love!

Back home we decorated a gingerbread house thanks to the magic of a Trader Joe's kit

Evidence #2 of Cole's ham-y-ness

oh, hey, photo-op!


Cute, huh?

Then came tree-trimming time!!

Addie took this job VERY seriously.

Cole wanted to eat the ornaments so he kept busy hanging out in a box.

Addie hanging her special name ornament

Addie took a picture of the newest member of the Silvestro household, "Panera" the penguin. Yes, he was named right after a trip to Panera for bagels last weekend. I only found out that this picture was taken when I uploaded them to the computer, so I thought he had to be included in the holiday photos. Oh excuse me, "she"--all of Addie's friends and stuffed animals are girls.

Back to some Hanukkah fun, we headed to Gaga's house for some latkes!
While we waited for the food to cook, there was some crazy Candyland action...
...and some riding toy fun...
...and some Busy World of Richard Scarry.

Yum! Delicious food, thank you Gaga! Wait, where's Cole? Oh yes, he was napping during the big meal.

Don't worry he enjoyed his carrots and matzo ball soup later :)

oh, hey, photo-op!! :)

Mmm....food coma.....

And just last night we headed to the Gaithersburg Winter Lights Festival. We had an early dinner, brought lots of extra snacks and toys, and despite all our preparations, Cole cried for almost the entire 90 minutes we were in the car. Eep. Addie was a trooper and the light displays were really cool, the pictures don't do it justice.


So yeah...we've clearly been in the thick of the holidays in the household. Hope you are all having a good holiday season, too! Stay warm!!