Turkey Month

A few highlights for November, as we have quite a few important things that occurred this month. Number one, Nella started walking! About a week before she was officially a 'walker', she was showing some persistence and heavy interest. She kept trying to get up to her feet, take a step or two (sometimes pivoting on her right foot), and inched forward. Until finally, she took off! She really took off taking steps when Mal and I were in the kitchen. We were both working with her, and I was sending her off to Mal when she confidently took one, two, three steps on her own. This girl has an agenda, a motor, but doesn't seem to have any caution or fear. She clearly loves the freedom walking has provided, because she can now pull cups of water off the table and onto her head, carry things like tablets and phones while she tries to run away, and has become a much better climber. The other day she had climbed out of her high chair and fell onto the floor, with her upper lip smacking her water bottle. Madie and Finn were much more cautious. One fall like that for either of the first two, and they learned to hold back. Finn used to sit at the top of the stairwell and wait for Mal to get back after doing laundry. He didn't dare go downstairs at her age. The stairwell door opens for her? She's pushing everyone out of the way to get there in-time before it closes. I love her drive, and feel it will propel her to do many things in life. It will be interesting to see what interests she takes to as she gets older.

At Grammy Haskins, we went for a quick Sunday visit after Stake Conference and her and Nella happened to be wearing almost the same identical outfit. I didn't notice it until I snapped this photo. The rocking chair just happened to be next to Grammy, and Nella loves climbing in (and standing up!), so I thought it would make a good photo. Then the outfit thing hit me, then they made eye contact...BINGO!

For Madie's birthday present, I promised to take her rock climbing a few times. She has really taken an interest in it this year, and not just for the shoes (which she has requested multiple times already). She is really strong, and is also a very self-driven girl. I took her on a special date to go climbing at the indoor gym at Camp Beach Cliff after I got home from work. She literally climbed for nearly two hours straight. Most of the other kids climbed for 5-10 minutes, then went off to do something else for 20 minutes, then came back for a final climb. Madie stuck with it, and really caught onto the lingo, and how to tie in. Afterward, we went to the Somesville One-Stop for an ice cream treat. It was after 8:00 pm, so well beyond her 7:00 pm bedtime. We sat at the little nook, chowed on some ice cream, and headed home. In the car, she said, "Dad, can we do that next week too?" We did go again the next week, only I brought all three kids (Nella on my back, Finn and Madie taking turns).

Did I mention Madie is a self-starter? She checked out a 90 page chapter book about Disney's Frozen, and read it all on her own. Mal gave her the sheet music to Let it Go (again, from Frozen), and she taught herself the right and left hand of the entire first sheet, without assistance from Mal. She has been very impressive at the piano. She even played a piano/violin duet at the Primary Program in October.

Mr. Finnman has been as fun and jovial as ever. He has also had his screechy 3's moments, which hit Madie especially hard at this age. I don't think he has been as difficult to deal with as Madie was at 3, but there have been some rough patches. His challenges arise mostly with accepting when it's time to stop watching a show/movie. He has been getting much better at being gentle around Nella, and is probably our most vocally polite kid by always being quick to say please, thank you, and is great at sharing. He has a big heart, and loves to watch and play Octonauts. I actually really like this show because the kids learn so much about marine life. That is one huge difference between shows I watched growing up, and shows my kids watch. They are so much more focused on education and learning, and much less on entertainment.

For Christmas, he told me he wants "a sword, a gun, and a bow and arrow." I'll do my best Finn, but no guarantees. To make a bow and arrow, he has been taking two equally sized sticks, crossing them (as an arrow would cross a bow), and throws the 'arrow' stick at his target (usually Elvis). I love watching the imaginations and creativity kids have. I think in todays world, many parents are doing their kids a disservice by feeding their interests with toys the kid may seldom use. It's a difficult balance, because I feel that need with my own kids. But I also love to hold off feeding those interests to see what they come up with on their own. Finn expressed interest in a bow, but I couldn't give him one right a way. But in his mind, he created a bow and arrow. I think that if I took a step back to admire my kids imaginations more often, I would probably find more examples like this. I love it.

Finn hasn't taken to climbing quite yet. He took one look up the wall and said, "Dad, I'm not climbing up there." To be fair, we happened to go climbing on a bad day where a really bad cold was just setting in. We'll shoot for another time.

 We participated in the Bar Harbor pajama sale again this year. It's essentially a tradition now. We get up, run to town, hit up all the shops that offer free and other highly discounted items, and head home for a big breakfast. This year was definitely the warmest pajama day sale since we moved here, which made it easier to be outside. But the kids enjoyed the hot chocolate, free fudge, salt water taffy, and the toy store (Stone Soup).

At the Pajama Day Sale

Mal made a mincemeat pie for Pie Night this year. It was almost as good as this crust looks perfect. She is quite the baker.

For Thanksgiving, we bucked tradition a bit and headed to Dover-Foxcroft instead of Brooks. It's great living near so much extended family in Maine, but we ultimately decided to spend it with Grammy Haskins at her home. The kids love going to her home, and we love seeing Gram. I'm always impressed with her memory. Although she often mixes up the names of the people involved in the story, she has a great memory for the actual chain of events of the story. And she is always good to tell Madie stories from her past or fairy tales. Madie loves listening to stories read or told. She is a really good listener. Uncle Shawn joined us for dinner. The kids, of course, at the rolls...Finn ate some Turkey...and pie. That was about it. Even Nella, who fights me for the garbage disposal role was picking up the food on her tray and tossing it to the ground (her way of saying 'I'm done', after which our 'cleaner' (Elvis) usually comes and cleans all the food off the floor). We also got to help Grammy set up her Christmas tree and FaceTime with Grammy & Grampy.