the Rockettes at Radio City

Mom and Dad treated the whole family to the Rockettes Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall and then dinner afterwards. It was fun to see the famous legs, kicking indeed in perfect unison. Seb enjoyed it, and Liesl was enraptured. Cousin Hana narrated the entire first half ("teddy! teddy bear! stars! Oooh! Santa! bus!"), which was hysterical.  

packing packing packing

We are in the throes of packing - sorting, culling, wrapping, boxing, labeling, stacking. Discovering that, like all good Americans, we have too much stuff. The kitchen is packed with things we rarely use, the clothes closets are stuffed with ill-fitting and no-longer fashionable items, the toy shelves overflow. I have too many clothes, too many photo albums.  Steve is better on quantity, but worse on the organization.  Packing has made our imminent move to Portland feel much more real.

The children stayed on at Grandma and Grandpa's on Long Island after Thanksgiving dinner, while we came home to tackle our to-do list. We'll see them later today for a Rockettes show at Radio City. I've been in this city 13 years and I've never seen the famous Christmas dancing show or been to Radio City.

Thanksgiving was great - turkey and all the usual trappings, and good company all around. It was great to see everyone and the children had a terrific time playing with cousin Rio and their aunts and uncles.

Annual checkups

Sebastian and Liesl both were at the 50th percentile for height and weight. They are healthy and developmentally on track.

At 5, Seb is now 37.5 lbs and 42.5 inches tall.

Liesl at 2 weighs 26.5 lbs and is 33 3/4 inches tall.

Sebastian turns 5!

Five!! Five years!! It's almost too much to understand. How could our baby be five? Wasn't it just yesterday that I was pregnant? 

We had a strange birthday weekend - some fun things, but then Seb became ill and feverish, with no appetite or energy. We delayed his birthday dinner (his very specific request: steak, pumpkin pasta, peas, and strawberry shortcake) by one night and will have to take him for a fun adventure next weekend instead. But on Saturday, before he became sick, we took the kids to Stone Barns and joined in an egg collecting tour on the farm. It was cool to reach into the nests and take out the still-warm eggs, but neither child liked the chickens pecking at their toes and hands and crowding around. We also went to a trampoline gym called Bounce!, in Nyack, and let the two of them jump and jump. They both loved it, especially the part where they got to bounce into a foam-filled pit. Pictures below, although of course all the ones from Bounce are blurry. :)

 

We had presents, of course - books, a stacking game, tshirt and hoodie - which caused Liesl to have a total jealousy-induced meltdown. She couldn't understand why Sebastian got all the presents and the one sticker book I bought as a sop to her didn't satisfy.  Mean, uncaring, mommy took pictures throughout. :)   Grandma Raab came over on Sunday night with presents and stayed to look after the kids on Monday, Veterans Day, while Steve and I both worked.

Go Liesl go

Liesl is talking so much, and so much of it is ridiculously cute. A sampling of her favorite phrases, for me to remember:
I did it! Go Liesl go!
Oh, I can't do it.
She sings: Twinkle twinkle, happy birthday, ring around the rosy, ABC song
Frustrated. I frustrated.
Huh? (in confusion, asking for clarification)
Okay mommy? Okay? Boo-boo?
Shoot! (this is hysterical)
Oh my god. (she's copying Seb here)

When her daycare was closed from Hurricane Sandy, she spent the day with me at the office. It was really fun to have her there.

visiting Grammy and cousins in Massachusetts