Greetings for 2010

The holiday season flew by in this house. Aaron managed five days off at Christmas which were spent working on the bathroom in the basement and celebrating with my side of the family...including hosting the extended family gathering at our place this year. It was a lot of fun and it was nice for Maria to see her cousin Reese again. The kids were spoiled again this year, although gift opening was actually quite traumatic for Maria. As some of you may know Maria is afraid, no terrified, of toys that move on their own. For some reason she was certain that every toy she opened this year had to potential to move and was therefore scary. She also extended her fear to include toys that talked making the range of "scary" toys even greater. Thankfully, after some battery removal and time she has now decided that her "My Little Pony", "Mrs. Potato Head", and William's "Thomas the Train" are no longer scary. "Thomas" is even allowed to make noise once again. I sure hope she gets over this fear before William gets his first remote controlled car, otherwise I forsee hours of sibling torment on the horizon.

Other developments: William has achieved forward movement! He has been trying to crawl since the new year began, but was getting increasingly frustrated with his ability to move in reverse only. Last week he finally put it all together and moved forward. He is a much happier little man today! Of course, with this forward movement he has discovered his new favorite pasttime - taking every toy Maria is currently playing with. The sibling rivalry and "fighting" has commenced. Maria doesn't want William playing with "her" toys (being whatever toy she currently has - even if it was one of William's gifts), and William gets quite angry if Maria takes a toy from him. I knew the "loving" stage could only last so long....oh well.

Maria got new skates for Christmas and has been able to get out twice now to try them out. It seems she is a bit of a natural on skates and was able to "walk" on the ice within the first few minutes out. By the end of the first time out she was "gliding" with adult assistance from one end of the ice to the other. It is great to have a frozen storm pond just a little ways from the house, so we don't have to pack her too far. With the weather warming up I'm hoping she can get out a bit more often. Of course this is dependent on my brother at the moment, as Aaron and I have not yet located our skates so Uncle DJ has taken up the role of skating "instructor". I have a feeling he enjoys it as much as Maria does.

The warm weather has also allowed us to get out and finally play in the snow too. Maria and I had a great morning earlier this week creating the "Betke snow family" for 2010. She was a great help, and was very excited to make the "Maria" and "William" snowmen as they were small enough for her to actually push and lift the snowballs. The house needed to be cleaned, and still does, but I wouldn't have traded that time with her for anything.

Aaron continues to work away from home and we miss him terribly. I know he misses being here too, especially with William reaching these milestones when he is not here to see it. Hopefully the new year has him home more often.

I hope the new year brings you all happiness, adventure and wonderment. If you have the opportunity try to experience life through a child's eyes this year. It is amazing how different the perspective is.

Maria's first musical - Sunday School Christmas concert 2009

Just a short clip of one of the songs from this year's pageant. Maria is only in bits and pieces are we were creating a video to be shared with all Sunday School parents, but this was one song that showed her a bit more often. Enjoy.

Christmas is approaching...

The baking, shopping and decorating are finished. Or as finished as they are going to be. So I thought it was high time I updated this blog. Christmas is going to be a lot different this year, as Maria is really getting the concept this year. She understands that there will be no opening of presents until the "24" on the advent calendar is covered, that "Santa Ho-Ho" brings presents to good little girls (thanks TV), and that Christmas is baby Jesus' birthday (thanks Sunday School), just like Maria's "March-March" (picture her marching around the house as she says this) birthday. However, she is a smart cookie and is looking for ways around the 24th limitation on gift opening. She has asked a few times if she can cover the "24th" on the advent calendar so that she can open "just one present". She even went so far as to try convincing the babysitter on Friday that she should be allowed to open a present. And here I thought I had at least one more year before that started happening.

This year also marked another first in Maria's life: her first Sunday School concert. She made a very cute mouse, and while I would love to post the video of the entire concert on here, 45 minutes is just too long. Once I am able to edit a few clips of just Maria out of the larger program I will be sure to get them up on here. For now, you will have to settle for a picture.

William, as always, continues to be a happy and content little boy. He is trying so hard to become mobile and can move a few inches when sitting (I have a feeling he will "butt skooch" instead of crawling). He laughs and giggles anytime someone interacts with him, and has started clapping his hands, but is still not babbling (and his mom's a speech therapist for pete's sake). For now, I try not to worry, but it's hard when you work in my field not to be a bit concerned. One area he is not behind in is eating though. The kid eats a variety of finger foods already and prefers to feed himself (and the dog, who is loving this new era of finger foods). He's up to a very solid 21 lbs now.

As for the two of us...Aaron continues to work away from home while I continue to hold down the fort. Not the most pleasant arrangement and certainly not the first choice for either of us, but for now we make do. I am certain that this, like many things, shall pass in it's own time.

For now I will leave you with a Merry Christmas and a great many blessings for the new year.