The Banks Family: Ringing in 2016

I'm a bit behind on my posting. We had plenty of time over the holidays (almost two weeks off work!), but I was a tad depressed and missing my family so I didn't feel like posting. Then January hit and we were in full swing again. Christmastime had it's fun moments for sure. First, my friend booked out a whole carriage for us on the Essex Steam Train "North Pole Express" shortly before the holidays. The girls had SO much fun. It was cool to have all our friends on the same train, drinking hot chocolate, singing carols, and saying hello to Santa. We had an unseasonably warm December, so we just had to pretend that we were in the North Pole because there was no snow. The next weekend, a local park (Hubbard) does this massive lights display, mostly of various animals made out of lights, and you can just drive through at your leisure. It was great to start a new tradition. For the holiday, we dressed up and went to our local church for Christmas Eve which did a kid-friendly nativity reenactment, and then that night, of course Santa came and filled our stockings and put presents under the tree, so we had a fun Christmas morning opening presents from him, as well as from our families who mailed gifts ahead of time. In the afternoon, we managed a 3-way Skype between Seattle, Connecticut, and Brisbane, Australia. So amazing; go technology! After my big Thanksgiving feast in November for 4--my first time ever cooking it, complete with turkey breast, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, and of course cranberries out of a can--I didn't do a big Christmas dinner, but we were so busy with our new toys that I don't think anyone noticed. For New Year's Eve, I planned out several games for the girls including a laser tag maze and a silly string fight. That night was especially hard for me because I usually spent it with my sister Neely and my best friend Amanda. It was good to have the girls laughter to distract me.

Glen was supposed to go to Germany for a work trip, but we had Winter Storm Jonas, and his flight got canceled. The blizzard lost steam by the time it got to Connecticut, so we only got about 7-8 inches. Thankfully it was on a weekend, so we just had fun playing in it. Claudia enjoyed playing with her neighbor BFF and sledding. Teagan was a bit more cautious and mostly just liked eating the snow, but she will come around in another year or two. Glen has started a new fitness routine for 2016. He has a gym at work and goes most days. I've very proud of his hard work and he's getting HUGE muscles. I activated my YMCA gym membership that I get free with Teagan's daycare fees. I'm going once every weekend, so not much, but it's a start.

Teagan, she is quite the talker now. She still mumbles a lot, but when I can understand her, she says the cutest things. Some of my favorites:

Do I have school today? (Yes) Yay! I love school.

I'm a big girl.

Mommy, you're my best friend.

Mommy, I love you so much.
Is this broccoli spicy? (No). Are these noodles spicy? (No). Is this water spicy? (No).

In general, I'm just so happy with our current situation for Teagan. She loves going to school every day and she's maturing right before our eyes. About twice a month she gets pajama day or show & tell at school. At first she was confused and uninterested, but now she is totally into it and looks forward to these special days. We have many nicknames for her: cutie patootie, teagan beagan, and chicken nugget. She is still a little rascal and struggles to articulate her frustrations with us other than whining, crying, or hitting. Thankfully she doesn't hit at daycare, but she still takes it out on poor Claudia and we like to say (jokingly), "that's a bad Teagan". We keep asking her to "use her words"... hopefully it will click soon. When she wakes up in the mornings (or sometimes in the middle of the night), she just cries for me instead of getting out of bed and coming to get me. Claudia and I like to laugh "are your legs broken?", but I do recall Claudia going through this same phase, around this same age. She has a very strong attachment to me and in the mornings we sometimes have to snuggle on the couch for 5 or 10 minutes before she can get rolling.

For Claudia, I'm not sure what to report except she is such a delight. Okay, everything, except one thing. She is the biggest staller in the mornings. It doesn't matter what time we get up, it's always a lot of nagging and annoyance to get her ready for school. Please tell me this gets better? But other than that, she is such a well behaved kid who has an excitement for life and learning. I was a bit of a tomboy as a kid so I don't totally understand it, but she likes to be "pretty" and enjoys dressing up, wearing makeup (just at home!), and doing her hair. She also loves to listen to music, sing, and dance. Her friend had a roller skating birthday party, and we went a second time over the holidays too, and she loves it. She is still mostly holding onto the side, but is getting the hang of it. Teagan gets to have trainer skates with wider wheels, so she's just as good (a little unfair). Glen is a good sport and walks out on the rink to help the girls while I alternate whizzing by on my roller-blades and helping the girls.

Roller skating for the first time!