Month: December 2003

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Santa’s Village

We had a few Christmas type outings on our calendar for the month of December. Given our incredible bout with the flu (maybe we’ll write more about this later – it’s why we haven’t been blogging lately) many of our plans went out the window but early in the month we were able to attend TNPC’s Festival of Lessons and Carols, and the next Sunday night we took the children to our local Santa’s Village.

It’s an entirely free (unless you purchase snacks) Christmas wonderland for kids, put on by various companies and city organizations. There are about 20 small structures: Santa’s firestation, Santa’s Library, Teddy Bear Shop, Post Office, etc which kids and their parents can tour, and enjoy some activity inside pertinent to the building’s theme. There are musical performances and puppet shows to enjoy, and lights and decorations everywhere. While we stood in a long line waiting to take the obligatory picture with Santa, we were delightfully entertained by a juggler who was quite good. The kids loved him perhaps more than Santa! (Nicolas refused to sit with Santa this year!) We also all enjoyed a well-done marionette performance.

Anyway, we would like to share our pictures from our outing with you. Enjoy!

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Bunny-Dunking

Our baby, Nicolas, just turned 17 months. And oh, is he ever cute. He is currently in a stage of life where he is developing new skills quickly, and he gets more and more interactive with each week. Even thought he doesn’t talk very much yet, we know from experience that he can follow some simple directions, such as “please take this phone and go give it to Daddy”. Though I have no doubt as to his intelligence, he does do one particularly ridiculous thing fairly regularly. And he doesn’t seem to yet understand the consequence to his action.

Nicolas’ favorite sleepytime friend is a bunny, actually a stuffed version of the famous “Pat the Bunny”. He refuses to go to bed without it. But he also loves to take Bunny on adventures around the house and even out and about town. These adventures usually involve trying to drown Bunny, whether it be in the toilet, bathtub, or Sid’s water dish. There is usually at least one attempted drowning per day. After each successful dunking, Bunny has to get washed, and in general I’d say he makes a trip through the washing machine 3 times a week. Each time this happens I have Nicolas touch the sopping wet Bunny and show him the process as I put Bunny in the machine, you know, just in case his little 17 month old brain might start getting an inkling that after the “dunking”, Bunny disappears for quite a time.

Tonight, upon returning home from TNPC’s Festival of Lessons and Carols (which was wonderful, a hearty congratulations and thanks to the many musicians and participants who worked so hard) Bunny was yet again dunked unceremoniously into Sid’s dish. This before we’d even gotten all the coats and bags out of the car. Nicolas is getting to be too quick for us! Well, of course, into the wash went Bunny, and shortly thereafter into bed went Nicolas. Where he remains, and where he continues to cry because he wants his bedtime Bunny (who is currently spinning through the dryer, trying very hard to get dry and fluffy again). It’s now 11pm and the cries from the Pooh nursery are pitiful and sad. Poor Nicolas!! He really does love that bunny…I’m just waiting for him to put two and two together about what happens when he pulls one of his dunkings.