THE GREEN(wald) HOUSE … (growing rosemary & raising a little wolf)

Greetings from the frozen state of MI! We have had constant snow basically all month long (it is actually snowing again as I type this). The way things are going - I don’t think we will see any green (other than on my clothes) until May around here.

We had a great time over the holidays, Our Christmas was mellow and relaxing

And Rosie was a big help lighting the Chanukah candles this year

We went sledding on Christmas Eve - it was a lot of fun, both kids loved it (as did Joe and I) and I think we are going to make it a new Christmas Eve tradition (weather permitting)

I almost forgot to get my monthly update done, with all the chaos of moving into the new house. Oh yeah, did I mention we just moved into a new house, in the middle of a huge snowstorm and below zero weather - not the best timing…

New House! (Summer view obviously)
I’ll have more photos next month after all the moving in and decorating is done
We now live around the corner from Aunt P, Uncle Emil, and cousins Marisa, Noah, Cory and Ari. It is so nice to live near family and be able to visit more often. Rosie can even walk to her cousin’s house once the weather gets nicer (and cousin Marisa can walk over to babysit

OK - on to this month’s news:
Sammy is definitely talking and communicating more - his new phrase is “Oh No!” which he says whenever he drops something or loses something - it is so cute!
He has been really using the “more” sign lately, though his version looks more like clapping. Some new words are: chicken, puffs, football, balloon, strawberry (ba-bay-e) banana (bla-la), train, and I know there are more - but I can’t think of them at the moment.

I finally bit the bullet and decided it was time to get him night weaned. After only a couple nights of him crying out a few times (for just a few minutes each time) he got used to the idea that I wasn’t going to go get him every 3 hours to nurse anymore. Now he sleeps most nights from 7:30/8pm until around 6am (sometimes as early as 4/5am)- then he nurses and goes back to sleep for another 1-2 hours or so. Yay for me finally getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a time!!! Though of course, this new sleeping pattern coincides with Rosie starting to climb in bed with us in the middle of the night, so I am still not getting the solid sleep that I would like *sigh* - oh well, someday soon….

Sam is also now learning to drink from a cup - he spills a lot, but he is really getting used to it and I can’t wait to finally be free from all the various sippy cups that seem to always be missing lids and other parts. He also really started to love coloring and drawing and frequently grabs a pen and requests to “daw” and scribble on any available paper. He painted for the first time when we were making our yearly batch of dough christmas ornaments, and he figured out pretty quickly that paint does not taste good. He loves the new train table that Santa brought him, but whenever the track breaks (which is often) we hear the inevitable “OH NO!”. But most frequently out of Sammy’s mouth is “ball!” he loves throwing balls and playing catch, he thinks it is the best thing ever. I think he says “ball!” at least 100 times a day, if not more.

Rosie has been talking a lot about the future and making plans for things she will do “when I’m 4″ or “when I’m a mommy”. Some of the things on her list:
Blow her nose (when she’s 4) - for some reason she refuses to do it on her own, but tells me she will when she turns 4.
Go to school (when she’s 4) - though Joe and I have been interviewing and visiting pre-schools in the hopes of getting her in someplace ASAP for a few mornings a week, just so I get a break and some one-on-one time with Sammy.
Drink coffee (when she is a mommy)
Watch whatever it is I tell her she can’t watch or eat whatever it is that I don’t want her to eat - she always asks (When I am a mommy, I can have/watch/eat/do that?)
I always tell her “Yes, when you are a mommy you can _______. But that won’t be for a VERY long time”

Her view of time is a bit skewed, she told me the other day that “It’s almost Christmas time!” and I had to explain to her that it was going to be another whole year until Christmas was here again. And I went through all the months and whose birthday was coming up next and she finally kind of got exactly how long it would be until it was time for Christmas again.

She still loves dancing, and will put music on and instruct me to watch her dance, and do her own version of “ballet” which is a series of spins and jumps and kicks and jumping and rolling on the floor.

She has been going through a phase of not eating much, or refusing to eat dinner, saying she is not hungry, but then asking for a snack 5 minutes later. Her favorites are cereal, crispy rice bars, or carrots and hommous - she would eat those all day long if I would let her (which does happen occasionally).

Her new big love is temporary tattoos. She thinks they are the best thing ever - and has gone a little overboard with decorating herself. Joe and I played around with it and Joe gave her a “prison tattoo” on her neck, and I gave her a “tramp stamp” on her lower back. It was pretty funny for a while to see a 3 year old bend over and see a little hello kitty face peeking up over the waistband of her pants.

Ok - that’s it for now, I just wanted to get a quick update in before the month was over, more news and current photos to come in February! And, stay tuned for my exciting WHEEL OF FORTUNE news!!!!