Holiday Merriment

December is here!  Snow.  Cold Cold Temperatures.  And Christmas!

Cirrus celebrates his 10 month birthday, perfects his sitting technique, pulls up to a kneeling position and gets his first top tooth, bringing his total tooth count to three.  Cadel and Senja are learning to put their things on higher tables to keep them out of reach of their little brother!

Our ever eccentric Senja, wearing a lion costume under her snowsuit, tries out her skis and pulls along a content little Cirrus.

Cadel and Senja work on their cookie creations.  Along with our baking at home, Stacey and Cirrus took a trip down to Boston to attend our friend Wendy's annual cookie making extravaganza.

Stacey, Cadel, and Cirrus attend the "Festival of Lights" celebration at the Mariposa Museum, our local Museum of World Culture.  Here are Stacey and Cirrus wearing festive troll hats for one of the stories.  Yes, the hat is bigger than Cirrus!

Cadel gets ready to go out and play one cold morning.  If you can read the thermometer in the photo you can see it is -2 degrees Fahrenheit.  Cadel is not to be deterred.

We all took part in the Christmas Pageant at our local church's Christmas Eve service.  Cadel was assigned the role of one of the shepherds and Senja "his" sheep.  She was SO excited to wear a "fuzzy fuzzy suit" and was more than happy to follow her big brother around.  Cirrus, being the youngest member of the participants played the role of Baby Jesus.  While not exactly newborn size at 10 months, he played the role well of the Baby Jesus as depicted in the Nativity scenes of the Renaissance painters.  And, instead of sleeping through the performance, or laying quietly in Mary's arms, he spend his time in the limelight happily smiling at the congregation and pulling at the vines on the stable.  Stacey, by default as the mother of Baby Jesus, got the role of the angel who 'delivers' the Baby Jesus to Mary (and who then sits next to the stable in case the baby is not cooperating!).  Justin even got a role, being a light bearer.  We all had quite a bit of fun.

We went to Tuckaway (the Cox Family Farm) the day after Christmas for a few days of horse-drawn sleigh rides, skiing excursions, and lots of playtime with cousins.  Here are all six of them!

Cirrus's Baptism, Hiking, Thanksgiving, Cadel's First Lost Tooth

November began with Cirrus's Baptism.  It was a beautiful fall day and all our family joined us at Lee Church (the same church where we were married and the service was led by the same pastor that presided at our wedding).  Auntie Annalisa (Justin's sister) and her husband Uncle Joel are Cirrus's godparents. Cirrus cheerfully accepted water being poured over his head while being held by Auntie Annalisa and then smiled as he was carried around by Pastor Gail to be introduced to the congregation.  We had a wonderful time after the baptism celebrating and enjoying the day with our families.  We would have loved to have Lau Ga Ga (Great Grandma Jennivieve) be with us on this joyous day and knew she was surely smiling down on us and that her spirit surrounded us and will always be with Cirrus.  We feel very blessed that Cirrus had many moments to spend with his Lau Ga Ga before her passing last month.

Fall Hikes
We got out on a few hikes this month up Pack Monadnock.  We've gone up two different trails but have yet to reach the summit.

Cadel and Senja contemplate going further, but then Cadel confidently declares that we have reached the top. We agree and start heading down.

Cadel and Senja enjoy finding rocks to climb as we hike about..

Here are Cadel and Senja climbing on rocks two years ago, in October 2011 in Oregon.  Cadel is three (same age as Senja in the current photo above!) and Senja is one.  How fun it would be to have three year old Cadel be able to spend a day with three year old Senja!  And, yes, just a day...not sure we would survive more than that with two three-year-olds.

Thanksgiving
On a very cold Thanksgiving morning, we headed to Keene for the Wobble Gobble road race.  It was the first race that all five of us did.  We started out optimistic, each of us with a jogging stroller.  Two and half miles into the four mile race we had three crying children.  Oh dear.  After a few reconfigurations of children in the strollers, we sent Justin zooming off with a crying Cadel in one stroller to go retrieve the car and left Stacey with a crying Senja and Cirrus on the side of the course. Perhaps we should have picked a warmer day for our first attempt at this!

Everyone recovered and we enjoyed a warm afternoon happily eating and playing with Oma and Gimpa Luoma, Auntie Kerry and the Fuellhart cousins.

The cousins line up to compare heights.  It will be interesting to see how the line-up goes 20 years from now!

Meanwhile, Cirrus (not in the line-up since standing was a pre-requisite) does the final inspection of the turkey prior to carving.

The Story of Cadel's First Lost Tooth
On Saturday, Nov 30th, Cadel lost his first tooth.  He'd been saying his tooth was loose, but he'd been saying this for the past year, so we didn't think anything of it.  On Thanksgiving Day he told Gimpa Luoma it was loose, but again, we didn't think anything of it.  Well, on Saturday, as Stacey was driving home from Tuckaway (Justin's family farm) with all three kids, they were quiet and Cadel and Senja were happily munching on apples.  Cadel commented that his tooth hurt.  Stacey kindly acknowledged his concern, but drove on.  About one minute, and a few bites of apple, later Cadel said, "I think my tooth just dropped out."  Stacey was completely surprised.  In reality she had no idea it was even loose!  (We do pay close attention to our children, but Cadel has a very vivid imagination so he often believes many things to be true that are true only in his world).  The tooth was never to be found (it's possible a tooth goes down just like a crunchy bite of apple, or perhaps it dropped somewhere in the car but a small tooth is likely well hidden).  Cadel's imagination jumped right in and he was convinced that he did find his tooth and put it under his pillow.  After two nights, we thought, if he believes it's there, then the tooth fairy may also believe it's there, and she made a visit, turning his tooth into a shiny Canadian Quarter.  

Happy Halloween (Cirrus 8 months)

October brought with it the turn of the seasons.  The warm September led to a perfect New England autumn. 

Stacey and Cirrus went on their first solo trip down to the Washington, D.C. area to visit family and Stacey's Boston College roommates.  Cirrus was a fantastic traveler and was thrilled to meet his extended family (cousins and aunt on Oma Luoma's side of the family), including his newest cousin (maybe second cousin once removed, or something along those lines), three month old Ryder.

Work in our co-housing community this month included building a 20'x40' hoop house.  Cadel and Senja happily helped out, drilling, hammering, and playing during the weekend-long construction project.

Cirrus observes the construction project.

Senja ensures Cirrus has plenty of toys, bringing them one by one and piling them up on top of him.

I wonder if she remembers Cadel doing this same thing to her (with the same toys!) in March 2011 when she was seven months old?  Here is Senja, piled high with toys! 

And, of course, the month ended with Halloween, giving us the chance to come up with a completely silly family costume.  We happened to come upon three dragon suits so we had matching little dragons, and there is Justin as the Prince at the top of Cirrus's castle, and Stacey the princess at the top of the other.  Luckily we live in a safe neighborhood, since, being trapped in cardboard boxes, we were completely useless if Cadel or Senja needed help!  We enjoyed the evening, in spite of the rain.

Farm Fun (Cirrus 7 months)

On September first we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with a family outing to our local pond for swimming and picnicing.  Cirrus joined in the picnic by trying his first solid food.  He was skeptical, but gave the mushy millet a good try.  Ah, a romantic anniversary indeed.

September brings with it Lee Town Fair, the fair in Justin's hometown.  Justin did not disappoint in the Farmer Competition, with events including throwing and stacking haybales and a wheelbarrow obstacle course. 



Senja and Cadel work together to attempt the hay bale throwing...

 but opt for some help from their Papa.

 Cirrus wears his "team colors" sporting his John Deere "Farmer in Training" onesie.

 

Justin raced in another trail race this month, the Pisgah Mountain Trail Race.  A mere 14 miles.  Cirrus is very pleased with his Papa's performance.

Cirrus celebrated his 7 month birthday by receiving the official title of being a "schootcher".  He can now move, not necessary fast, but definitely with purpose, on his belly using his forearms and toes. 





 Cirrus enjoys the fall harvest.  Is this what is meant by "solid" foods? 

Other September events included Cadel starting his second year at Cobb Meadow School and bidding Auf Wiedersehen to our friends and neighbors, Sven and Katja, who returned to Germany this month.  We greatly enjoyed their company, and Cadel was always testing Katja's translating ability by asking how to say words such as axle, drive-train, and front loader in German!

Senja Turns Three, Cirrus Turns 6 Months

Cirrus is full of smiles, getting some snuggle time with his big sister.

We spent August swimming, catching frogs in the pond, and enjoying time outside, although much of it was unseasonably cool.  Cirrus and Senja went on their first hike on Mt. Monadnock, not quite making it to the summit, but thoroughly enjoying their hike with us and Grandpa Cox and Cousin Leif.

Senja celebrated her third birthday on August 15th!  Thankfully none of us was up at 4:50am to honor the exact arrival.  We started the day sharing cupcakes with friends at Adams Park.  Senja enjoyed kayaking and swimming in Cunningham Pond later in the day with the whole family and Oma and Gimpa.  We had a picnic dinner and a delicious three tiered chocolate cake to complete the day (I hope she's not expecting four tiers next year!).  By evening we were all bundled up...it was a cool August day.

The next day we celebrated Cirrus's half-birthday with a "half" a cupcake each (and some very funny expressions from all of the kids)!  While it looks like Cirrus gets one, that half is actually for Justin...now that doesn't seem fair!

Our big excursion this month was a trip to Quebec City.  It was the first time Cadel, Senja, and Cirrus have been out of the country.  We went up to Quebec City with several of our Boston running friends and Stacey ran the Quebec City Marathon.  Although not speedy, it was quite an accomplishment for the entire family to have Stacey finish a marathon just six months after Cirrus was born (and considering that even three kids in we are far from experts on infant sleep and so a full night of sleep is yet to be had).  About half way through the marathon Stacey was thinking, "If I am going to have four hours all to myself, I think I'd rather be sleeping...". 

Summertime (Cirrus 5 months)

July was full of simple summer adventures...strawberry picking, hiking, swimming...and picking garlic!  We went to Tuckaway to help Annalisa and Joel with their annual garlic pulling party where a group of friends pulled 10,000 - 15,000 garlic bulbs!  Here Cirrus examines the harvest.

We celebrated the Fourth with a local hike at the Wheeler Trail where much of our tromping was done through the creek instead of on the actual trail.  Cirrus slept for much of the hike (under his blue sun hat) and Senja exuberantly explored sticks and leaves floating down the creek.

Cirrus turned five months and spend this month perfecting his rolling skills and pushing up more and more on his arms.  He is quite pleased with his latest view of the world.  He hasn't figured out how to roll from front to back, so when he gets tired of being on his belly he quite politely squeaks to request to be rolled back or picked up.  He also enjoyed some nice time in the arms of his siblings.

Stacey managed to extend her 40th birthday celebrations for a full week, beginning with a fantastic visit from her best friend, Lori, who she's known since they were three!
We all trekked up to Glover, Vermont with Lori and her husband Jon to Bread and Puppet theater company.  Here we are with some of the puppets in the barn museum.  According to Cadel and Senja, "this puppet is even taller than Cousin Ryan!".


Stacey's actual birthday on the 9th was spend at home, complete with making a birthday crown and birthday hats for everyone.  And, the final celebration was at the DeCordova Museum outside of Boston...the eigth year to celebrate with friend Mariah who also shares a July birthday. 

Cadel and Senja logged lots of hours at our local pool and pond.  On the 27th Cadel "learned to swim".  He figured out how to hold his breath and suddenly could put his face in the water and kick his feet.

Kerry and Stacey were feeling brave and agreed to a sleepover at her house.  It was great and all the cousins had a fantastic time.  

The month ended with the departure of our friends and co-housing neighbors, Leaf, Eartheart, and Baby Ambrose (born just three days before Cirrus).  We wish them well on their next adventure in Washington state. 

Cirrus Rolls Over (June 26)

Cirrus rolled over for the first time on June 26th (4 months, 10 days old).  It was slightly gravity assisted, as he rolled from his back to his belly off the edge of a thick sheepskin mat.  But, with just a few days practice, he was rolling on flat surfaces.

Cirrus is quite pleased with his accomplishment of rolling over.

 Cirrus is not so sure about his fate if Cadel re-enacts the roll.