Max and Esme

Watch those fingers. Esme likes nothing more than opening and closing doors. Which can be a dangerous occupation when you're not quite 17 months old. She especially likes to go in and out of the doors that lead to the front porch now that there are twinkle lights up in the window. Here she is making her great escape after mean mommy made her turn back. And yes, that's a crayon in her hand. You can guess what she's going to do with it next.

Christmas cheer. The hardest thing about being sick in December is that it takes some of the fun out of preparing for Christmas. We're doing our best though. We've put up a tree and decorated the house. Esme loves the lights - the first thing she does when we get home in the evening is go to the tree and point until I turn the lights on. Max has enjoyed the decorating process itself. When we ran out of ornaments and other holiday kitch to put around the house he proceeded to begin making new ones. He's been drawing dozens of pictures on index cards to be used as tree ornaments and to adorn the window sills. The pictures are representative of the season, depicting our tree, the fireplace with stockings, reindeer and Santa's sleigh, presents, etc... He's really quite good (maybe Grandpa's talent will be passed along?) although I have also been making him label the backs so that people other than his mother and father will know what he's drawn. On Sunday w...

Wildlife photography. For all of you (Mom) who ask why I don't have pictures of the kids taken together... this series is for you.

Update. Max is feeling much better today. Still has a strong cough, but with the fever gone his pep has returned. I reminded him several times today that it was supposed to be a rest day - r*e*s*t - rest. To which he responded e*n*e*r*g*e - energy! I took Esme to the doctor today as well and she's begun some minor antibiotics mostly as a preventative measure. This is our 4th visit in 3 weeks to the pediatricians office, so I'm sure they'll be glad to see the Girard family in good health again. So will I.

The House of Many Germs. Apologies for the lack of stories. I spent a week in London for business, with Mom joining me for a mini vacation. Followed by a busy work week trying to catch up. In the meantime the entire household has had a series of coughs and colds that have gotten progressively worse. Max and Peter have both been diagnosed with pneumonia. Esme and I are hanging in with a pair of head colds, but both of us are now developing a cough as well. No rest for the weary... I'll write with stories and pictures soon when we're all in better health.

Photos from afar. I'm in London this week, but am stealing photos from Uncle Robbie and Grandpa in order to update the blog. Here's Esme and Greta sharing the train at Thanksgiving. They played together (or in tandem) quite well, taking turns pushing each other for a ride. The kids were also treated to a short visit from Grandma and Grandpa, who in this photo is enjoying his turn at giving Esme a ride.

How we learn. Max's imaginative play has become much more complicated in recent months. A "game" might include some role playing, specific instructions for the various individuals involved such as what to say and how to react, and several steps that will invariably be repeated 89 times (Max's current favorite BIG number.) And now if you listen closely to his commentary when he's playing on his own, you'll hear "use the arrow keys to move the car from from the train tracks to the parking lot." Or maybe "click here to make the T-Rex eat Esme." Hmm... Are we having too much computer time?