Henry and Eleanor celebrated Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa in Michigan – and what a fun time! We got to hang out with cousins Mackenzie, Jack and Ben and Auntie Susan and Uncle Gabe. Henry especially liked the trains that Grandpa set up in the house, and the ceramic dog that guarded the tracks. Eleanor loved playing with the doll house and other friends upstairs, and of course the large supply of oatmeal scotchies for sharing :) After a fun Christmas, we jetted off to Florida for some warm weather. We got Eleanor a pair of arm floaties that ended up being a big hit. She loved being able to float all by herself in the pool and quickly learned to navigate for herself. Henry also loved the pool, especially all of the fun toys cousin Genet brought with her. Several nights after dinner Henry got in a “hugging” mood and proceeded to run around hugging everyone that he could find – all the other cousins got a kick out of this and reciprocated his hugs. Grandpa put on a few magic shows which Henry found very interesting – Eleanor was a bit less attentive but did enjoy the bunny trick. Both kids did great on the planes and car drives, even tolerating a two hour baggage delay.
On a “firsts” note, Eleanor slept in a regular twin bed for the first time while in Florida – she was excited on the first night, but by the last couple nights was asking to go back to her air mattress. For Henry, we turned his car seat around this week so he is now facing forward and loving the new view. On the way to the airport, he started counting “tunnels” (which are really just overpasses) with great enthusiasm – Mom and Dad both laughed out loud as he reached nine and promptly started over again at one. We’ll have to work on those teen numbers.
