I'm finally catching you up on our October photographs that languished on our broken computer. Here they are! Too precious to pass up.
A few weeks ago we went to my mom's for Thanksgiving with my sister's family. Myles can't get enough of his older cousin Kaleb, and remarked to Seth, "Kaleb's the most important kid in my life right now." We celebrated his cousin Finn's third birthday too. Good food, crazy chaos, and a little sugar from baby Rhy made it a wonderful Thanksgiving. It's such a blessing to have my sister's family so close! And the boys all love being at Grandma's, where they get to ride the golf cart, play in her big driveway, and sometimes run around the golf course behind her house. Finn cried when they left, and no doubt all the boys will be happy to reunite this weekend when we will converge again to celebrate Christmas early.
We have decided to proceed with building a privacy fence. It's always been hard to have two outdoor dogs (now three since they had puppies) on one side and another outdoor dog on the other. We want Myles to be able to play outside without worrying that he will go near the dogs (who are sweet and friendly pit bulls on one side). I think my mom will breathe a huge sigh of relief once we have this up; she worries about those pit bulls all the time. They really are sweet and well behaved, but it will also be nice to go outside and not have all the barking. Seth has been really excited about this project, and is helping as much as he can. We hired our friend Spencer from church to do the job.
This season is absolutely magical with an almost four year old. Myles has been having some more fits recently...it's usually one step back before two steps forward. Despite this (and the good news is that Seth and I are getting better at handling the fits), he is totally into Advent and Christmas. This weekend we got our first real Christmas tree, a step up from the Charlie Brown tree we had last year. We decorated it with Uncle Jon's Christmas mix playing in the background and mugs of hot chocolate all around (which Juniper proceeded to drink out of...that dog is something else!). We also have an Advent calendar that challenges Myles' patience (just one each day) and an Advent wreath that we made here at home (orange candles were all we had) that we light at dinner, and a Christmas list that Myles has made with Seth. We're participating once again in our church's effort to encourage giving...Myles picked out a gently used toy to wrap, label, and put under the tree at church to go to a little boy at the Presbyterian Home for Children. He's learning songs for his performance at preschool and the first ever Christmas pageant at church (we'll see if he participates in that one, last week he refused to go to the rehearsal) and knows the story of Christmas. It's a season of wonder and awe for him, and it's a really beautiful thing to watch. This morning he has no school due to the snow (a dusting). He learned this morning that you can't sled on a dusting of snow...
Mylestones: Myles has really gotten into telling stories. I think he and Seth are two peas in a pod. I remember when I first met Seth and then again when we first started dating being a little intimidated by his animated gestures when he gets into what he's talking about (hands flying all over, long arms going everywhere). Perhaps it's the Brooklyn gene, talking with the hands. Whatever the case, Myles has inherited it (along with walking on his toes) and yesterday he was so intent on telling a story (it lasted over 20 minutes) that he couldn't eat his lunch and had to be reminded countless times to use his inside voice (we were in public). His hands were zipping all over, arms flying every which way as he told an exciting tale that included sharks, Santa, pirates, bad guys, and cars. It was an action packed plot with quick twists and turns, and included just about every character being swallowed by a fish or shark and then spit back out onto dry land (we learned the story of Jonah and the whale this fall and it made quite an impression). Myles has also turned over a new leaf with dancing. There's a video of him dancing to Neil Diamond that I promise to share soon...anyone who knows Seth knows that Myles the nut didn't fall far from the tree if he's dancing to Neil Diamond. At one point, Myles' dancing broke out into a gallop, and it reminded us of our wedding night, when Seth rode an imaginary horse around the dance floor a few too many times.
Myles Says: Almost every night Myles gets "VERY hungry" right before bed. We usually let him have some applesauce or yogurt. The other night he said, "Oh bover (bother), this applesauce is getting all over the place!" (He gets "bother" from Thomas the Train, originally a British program). The other night, after I told him he had made a good decision that day, he said as I was tucking him in "I make good decisions, I'm beautiful, and I'm loved." (I tell him all the time that he's my beautiful love so that's where he got that from). These are exactly the things I want him to believe about himself, so it made me feel good to hear him say it. He also doesn't hesitate to tell Seth and I that we are beautiful, one time saying to Seth "We are beautiful together."
That's about it from the Hendler-Voss household for now. Stay tuned for the upcoming video of Myles dancing to Neil! I hope you and your families are having a wonderful season.
