Oh George!

Our elf, George, has been a bit of a slacker this year...he forgets to change his location most days, and then Ava freaks out if he's in the same place the next morning.  More than once, she's discovered him in his same location, and when she hasn't been watching, I've moved him, and then asked her to show me where she saw him last.  I think this has caused some confusion for her when she looks for him, and he's not where she saw him last.  I told her that George and I had a little chat about him choosing new locations, but...I have a feeling it's only a matter of time before she catches me moving him.  Today, I had him hanging off of a cabinet handle in our kitchen.  When I opened the refrigerator, he fell, so I had to readjust his placement on the cabinet.  Eagle-eyed Ava noticed the slight difference and asked a million questions about what had happened to George.  Note to self: choose locations where he can't be jostled AT ALL during the day.

We got Ava's report card for the first trimester, and overall, she's doing pretty well.  The only thing she's not making great progress in is P.E.  Huh?  How does that happen?  I tried to ask her about it, but that conversation went nowhere.  I might need to reach out to her teacher to see what she's NOT doing in class.  Not kicking a ball?  Not running?  ???  I know she likes to use the "my legs are tired" excuse when she doesn't want to play whatever game is going on, so...hm.

She's also been getting some more "yellow days" in school...all because she's talking too much, and not being quiet when asked.  When I picked her up on Friday, I asked what color day she had.  There was silence, then she sucked in a big breath, and said, "Weeeeeeelllllll...my brain was asking me a lot of hard questions today. Do bananas have ears?  Are bananas telephones? RING RING RING!"  And it went on and on and on...turning into a tirade of vegetable jokes.  In between me trying not to let her see me laugh, I asked if she's getting other people in trouble by talking to them.  Her answer was no...she is talking to herself.  Awesome.  We just don't know what to do with that girl.  I think Garrett's arrival is finally taking a toll on her.

Speaking of...Garrett's still the sweetest little baby possible.  He's sleeping pretty well, and generally going a few hours in between feedings.  Sometimes he likes to eat every hour, but we're trying to extend that time period for him, as it gets to be really hard on me when he does that.  This coming week's task is to find a daycare for him - that's causing me a lot of stress right now, so that needs to be my main focus!

Last night I went to the cookie exchange at my neighbor's house and met a ton of really nice women in the neighborhood.  They're all around my age, and most have young kids.  It was so nice to get out for a bit and have some wine, and adult conversation.  I'm really looking forward to getting to know people better...last night reaffirmed my thoughts that moving to this neighborhood was the right thing to do.  In fact, everywhere I've gone in Rosemount, I've met really friendly people.  This morning, at the grocery store, I ended up chatting with the cashier and the lady behind me for quite a while, as they were welcoming me to the area.  That sort of interaction really warms my heart...this is something that has been missing from my adult life, and is something that I've wanted for a number of years.  Minnesota hasn't felt 100% like home to me in the last 20 years, but I think I have a really good chance of finally feeling settled, now that we've made this change in our lives. 

As I was cleaning up after dinner, who did I see peeking over the couch?  Little G!

Chatting Daddy's ear off...

Working on her letters - and being silly!

A little bit of sibling cuddle time

I love it when he's alert like this!

So comfy...

Enjoying his swing, and the taggie from my coworker!

It should be another fun week ahead of us...I'm bringing G into my work tomorrow since I'll be in the area for a doctor's appointment.  And then we've got a Christmas party next weekend, fudge making, family photos, Christmas cards, wrapping gifts...and the non-ending task of unpacking!  Such a busy, but fun, time of year!