Do They Know It's Christmas Time At All?

We braved the snow and made our way up to Oak Harbor for the holiday. How much snow did we brave? Well, check out Havana trekking across our back yard.

Christmas was a blast. There were so many things going on that were just so overwhelming to Antonio. But one thing he came to understand, Santa is good.

He got so excited when he received this "The Night Before Christmas" book that we read it every night before the big day. Many nights we read it multiple times. "More Santa story," Antonio would say.
This Christmas was the first Christmas Antonio got the concept of Santa. He still knows he's the scary guy whose lap he has to sit on once every December, but now he also knows him as the guy who breaks into Grandma and Grandpa's house and leaves stuff for him. That part's pretty cool.

There was also lots of cousin time. He loves all of his cousins, the big ones:And the little ones:
The only problem with the little one, however, is that whenever Antonio would turn his head for even a second, Elijah would sweep in and grab whatever toy Antonio would be playing with. One of Elijah's favorite words? "Mine."One toy he won't be able to get his hands on is Antonio's new motorcycle. Look out ladies, Antonio is a badass biker in a cardigan sweater. But in the end, Antonio learned that Christmas is really about family. Like spending time playing with Mommy.
Or learning how to use his cool new DJ Aunt Bobbi gave him.
He was so excited about all the Christmas activities that he hadn't napped for three days. That isn't a problem anymore.

La La La - Laurie

We have been teaching Antonio sign language since he was very little and it has been such a great tool for us. And now that he talks, he wants a sign for every person in his life and if we don't give him one he makes one up. For example, for Grandma he signs apple.

He had been asking for a sign for Laurie so I started making an L with my fingers. This has been going on for a few weeks and each time Antonio tries he just points his one finger and doesn't use the thumb, until today.

The smile says it all - he was SO proud of himself when he figured out how to sign for Laurie all by himself!

We are all still battling the winter cold, but Antonio is still having some fun while we are recovering. And lucky for all of us Jeff is here now and we are all excited to be together for the "Winter Blast 2008" - maybe Jim Forman will come to our neighborhood and film the mess.

Let it snow!

This is the first year Antonio actually understand snow, though I'm not sure he likes it. He won't touch it and today was the first day I could convince him it was ok to walk through it...



He did like walking in it afterall but only when he had his blanket around his shoulders and Luigi and Guido in each hand. Of course every few feet he would drop one of them in the snow and we'd have to dig to find them.

In the end he was happiest looking out at the snow from inside his warm house.

Quote of the Season

Oh, yes that is right...as Antonio was looking for his own penis, after his bath, he proceeded to tell me, unprovoked, that yes indeed, Baby Jesus have a penis. His new book told him so and Antonio is darn proud to be in good company. Happy Holidays.

Snow and Brunch Day

Today Seattle woke up to snow, and so did Antonio. However, he wasn't as excited as we thought he would be to play in it.
Instead we treked to Anthony and Jeff's for the annual Il Borro Brunch where many other brave souls ventured out into the snow. Great food and fun for all and Antonio loved giving hugs to everyone, especially Anthony and Joe...I think he knows that Joe is with Clare and he LOVES Clare.

With all this snow, poor Havana has to go out and go potty and get her delicate little feet wet, which she hates. But now Antonio is helping to encourage her on, even saying her name correctly now.

Santa Sucks!

Antonio and his cousin Elijah went to see Santa. And with all the prep and talking about it they seemed pretty excited about it, until the big guy made them sit on his lap. "What the heck?" they both said and screamed.....

These will go down in the Barge family treasure troves of great Santa moments.

NOTE: I posted this picture on our facebook page and have gotten more comments than I've ever gotten on the site. Everyone loves a funny Santa picture.

An Apple A Day - but not celery

If you've never had allergy testing you may not realize how sad each of these little marks are. Each is a mark for a test and each dot is the place where the liquid and prick happen. For little people it happens on their backs rather than their arms. Yes, Antonio screamed. Well some kids are allergic to nuts, not Antonio, he is allergic to raw celery. He has what's called OAS (oral allergy syndrome) which really means he is like his mom and is allergic to pollen but his body thinks the celery is a pollen. And for most kids what a blessing to be allergic to a green vegetable right? Well not Antonio, because that is the Wonder Pets FAVORITE thing...and just a few months ago Jeff had someone tell him, "my kids loves celery because of the Wonder Pets" so of course we tried it. And like clockwork he wanted it....but his body did not.
Poor Antonio, no more playing with his celery and Wonder Pets....I may have to lie to him and give him something else and tell him it is celery.

In the meantime, an apple day might keep "another one doctor" (as he called the allergist) away.

Clare's Back!

Well, Sunday was Antonio's annual photo session with Clare. And once again she captured all of Antonio's best faces! This is one of our sneak preview pics....can't wait to see more.

New Update:
For a few other sneak peeks check out:
http://claremariephotography.blogspot.com/2008/12/antonio-year-later.html

Love or Obsession

Antonio LOVES his cousin. It was Torin's birthday this weekend and Antonio went over to visit. And in that visit, couldn't keep away from his biggest boy cousin. He was SO excited to spend the day with him.




Happy Birthday Torin!

Cuddle Time

There are days when Antonio does nothing overly special, he is just Antonio. He is learning to help clean up all his toys and will gladly gather all his cars and put them back in his bucket at various times in the day - he'll put his bath toys away - he'll help take Havana potty and hold her leash - he'll eat all his meals relatively happily - he'll imagine and play and read and just be him.

And then he'll sit and cuddle with mommy and listen to music (sue-mick as he says) and talk to Santa. He is really just a great boy.