December Fun, Part 2

Zoo Lights

We met up with Emily at the Denver Zoo for Zoo Lights the Monday before Christmas. The weather was great and it didn't feel too packed with people. We had taken Lennon to the zoo for the first time in June and he wasn't totally into it, but he really enjoyed looking at the animals this time.

Lennon connecting with the komodo dragon:

Emily and I having fun in Santa's sleigh:

After the zoo we went to Emily's place so that Lennon could open and play with his Christmas gifts (the hat is for Lennon, not Emily):Lennon with his Auntie Em:

Cookie Baking and Decorating:

We did a couple rounds of cookie baking and Lennon helped each time. He's been helping me in the kitchen more lately and it's been fun to start that tradition early.

We spent the morning of Christmas Eve decorating the cookies, which Lennon loved. He went a little crazy with the green sprinkles. The shaker had big openings and we were too slow to catch him before he turned the shaker upside down and were left with the entire contents in a huge mound on the tray.

Lennon was pretty quick at taking bites out of the cookies. I think at the end of it, we had about five half-eaten cookies.

Here's a video of Lennon decorating:


Right before leaving for Christmas Eve service--Lennon really liked the singing of the hymns and the candlelit Silent Night (and he had his candy cane to keep him content, which always helps).

Right before getting ready for bed on Christmas Eve, Lennon laid out some cookies for Santa. When we brought them down to the tree, he decided he wanted a cookie too and took a big bite out of one. When we said those cookies were for Santa, he smoothly placed that cookie back on the plate as if nothing happened (I'm sure Santa didn't mind!)

December Fun, Part 1

We've been having a lot of fun this month, trying to get Lennon as excited about Christmas as possible and enjoying all the activities of the season.

Parade of Lights

We took Lennon downtown to see the Parade of Lights the first Saturday in December. We were running late, so we didn't get a spot all to ourselves, which meant that we were standing between a fence and a huge crowd behind us. Lennon was not thrilled about the crowd of people around us, but he really enjoyed the parade, especially the lights and the marching bands. We will definitely go again next year, we will just go extra early to stake out a spot all to ourselves.

How come Santa is always at the end of the parade? The parade was about 15 minutes too long and Lennon was ready to go, which meant the tears came just in time to see Santa. Although, he did stop crying when he saw Santa, his face didn't really show it!

Cookie Decorating

We got together with all the kids to decorate cookies. Unfortunately, Lennon was teething really badly that day and decided he wanted to scream and cry for hours, which wasn't fun for anyone! There are now 7 kids between all of us (ranging from 2 months to almost 3) and there were at least 2 kids crying, screaming or in timeout at a time (Lennon was always one of them). So because of the extreme crankiness, Lennon didn't decorate any cookies, so we will be doing that this week and I will be posting pictures of that soon. The rest of the kids had fun going crazy with the cookies, frosting and sprinkles and making a great mess. I don't know about the kids, but all us moms were exhausted and I'm sure slept very well that night!

Silas (with Huck watching in the background):

Ashlee and Harper:

Tree Cutting and Santa
We went up the mountains with the Halder, Dow and Perlman families to cut down Christmas trees, though we ourselves didn't get a tree. The volunteer firehouse in Buffalo Creek hosts an annual fundraiser for all of the tree cutters by offering Chili and Santa, among other goodies.

So all the kids got their chance with Santa--Lennon wasn't thrilled, but he didn't cry like I was expecting him to (I feel like this is Lennon's trademark face).

In the firetruck:
Lennon had fun in the backpack, and everyone left with great trees!
Lennon loves candy canes--he's gotten several throughout the month and then we bought a package for decoration around the house and he always has one in hand. Unfortunately, it didn't take long to learn how to open them.

Lennon enjoying the Christmas tree, and his new hammer that he got from his Aunt Beka and Uncle Jared:

Lennon loves the musical ornaments that my grandma made me each year for Christmas as a kid. The music boxes have gone dead in a few of the ornaments and the working ones will soon follow with the amount that Lennon plays them!

Christmas, Round 1

Adam's parents came over Thanksgiving, which was a really nice visit. Unfortunately, Adam got the stomach flu the day before Thanksgiving, but was feeling better on Thursday when his parents were flying in. However, he then passed it around to the entire family. Thankfully Lennon didn't really get sick--just once little bout for him and then it was over.

Papa and Lennon:

Lennon loves hanging out with his Grandma and Papa, and Adam and I even got to go on a little date, which was long overdue. The visit was nice and laid back--their last night in town was spent doing Christmas, which Lennon loved.

Though you can't totally see his face, he's very excited about the presents:
Clearly concentrating on the present-opening:
Here's a video clip that gives you a glimpse into how meticulous Lennon is with things, including opening presents.


Lennon loves the tools that his Aunt Beka and Uncle Jared got him--he'll go around the house hammering, sawing or using the screwdrivers. It's so fun to see him in imaginative play.Lennon is the only kid that gets this excited about getting clothes--I think he was more excited about the clothes than anything else:
Giving Grandma and Aunt Beka kisses and thank-yous:
Here are some other November photos:
Adam shot this video without Lennon's knowledge...doing dishes will definitely be one of Lennon's chores when he gets older so he's getting his practice in:

Happy Halloween

We all had a lot of fun celebrating Halloween this year--trying to get Lennon into the festivities as much as possible.

Lennon was not thrilled about carving pumpkins. I feel like last year he was intrigued and this year he was just annoyed. Adam would scoop the pumpkin onto his tray and Lennon would immediate try to put it back in the pumpkin.

Since Lennon was a lion, I thought a lion jack-o-lantern would be appropriate (but I'm not promising I can replicate his costume in pumpkin-form in the years to come):

But he enjoyed having them done and lit up.

CCU's Harvest Festival

Each year Colorado Christian University does a huge Harvest Festival and Adam and I thought Lennon would have fun. We didn't know what to expect because neither of us ever went to it when we actually went there, oddly enough. It really is a great event--Lennon was too young for a lot of the activities, like the bouncy castles and slides, but he had fun with some of the games, like the beanbag and ring toss.

Lennon wasn't thrilled with the pony ride, but it was fun for Adam and I to watch:

As always, Lennon goes straight to the balloons!

Lennon decorating a cookie:

There were a ton of people there, and Lennon had to take breaks every once in awhile--people wear him out (he's like his mom):

Trick-or-Treating

We went down to our friends, Alex and Nicole's house Sunday night--they live in a great neighborhood for trick-or-treating and it was a fun, relaxing evening.

Lennon's first stop--getting candy from his dad. He didn't like the concept of putting the candy in his bag, so he just ended up holding on to a piece of candy in each hand. It took him a few houses to learn that he could get more candy.

We thought he might want to get more candy if we let him try one--we gave him a bite and he started to giggle! He was much more open to getting more after that.
Harper, who is two, could hardly stand the excitement--she wanted to get to each house as fast as she could--and those little legs can move!

Back at the Dow house for the final stop. By the end, Lennon had it down pretty well--he would know to free up a hand and grab a new piece (or two, or three) of candy.

Back at the house, enjoying his candy.

Huck, trying to get in on the action.

Lennon, Huck and Harper:

Thankfully Lennon hasn't figured out how to open the candy yet. Although, Adam caught him taking each piece of wrapped chocolate and biting through it, trying to get at it--so we had about 10 pieces that had huge bite marks in them. Adam knew something was fishy when he noticed that Lennon got suddenly quiet! And yes, I enjoyed all the candy--Lennon's too young to have all that!!