Happy Holidays!

We opted for a non-traditional holiday "card" this year. Giving credit where credit is due, this idea came from Winston’s Auntie Sarah. In the interest of being "green", as well as appearing technologically savvy, we are sending an electronic holiday card. We hope you enjoy it.

All our best wishes for a most happy holiday season

Lots of Nana (as in Jesse HtW Gray)

There has been alot of Nana reminders around lately.

I was at a memorial service on Friday and they concluded the service with a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace." On any given day that hymn wrecks me. Teary, teary, teary. But on bagpipes? Forget about it. Tears? Try sobs.

Then this weekend I have been making Scottish shortbread. Lots of it. With every poke of the fork in the dough before baking, with every cut of the cooling shortbread, I remember Nana.

I know we can pass memories down, and I will. But they of course won't mean the same thing to Winston as they do to me. Since we live so far away from family we try to talk about the family members who are still with us. Make them real to Winston. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.

But by sharing with him my memories of my grandparents, I give him family history. Legacy. All that good stuff. Granted, he won't have the attachement to them that I do. Nor should he. I want him to build his own memories of his times with his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. But he will have his own memories of his mom telling him stories, making him help with the shortbread and talk about his great-great-grandmother. I will share as many stories as I can about relatives who have passed. But the "Nana- Connection" runs deep in family lore.

I can tell him that he had a cousin who always reminded us of Nana. A cousin who died within 4 days after he was born. Whose spirit I am convinced hangs out with Winston occasionally. I can tell Winston that he has an angel named Gail, who was alot like Nana. I can tell Winston that I think his cousin Leah looks like Nana. Winston and Leah are only 6 mos apart. And I can ask Winston to look in the mirror. Look at his eyes. The only person on either side of his family that has/had eyes quite that blue was Nana - aka Jesse Hewitt Thompson Walker Gray.

He's so funny!

Winston is cracking me up lately. I love this age.

He's a little director. "Mama, this way. Mama, sit down. Watch. Look."

This all said while he pushes or pull me in different directions to go play, watch Elmo, whatever. At daycare drop-off one day last week he found a tow truck, took it over to a pile of mats, sat down, patted the seat next to him and said "Mama, sit down. Look. Big truck."

He knows his name now and loves to use it. He'll put a blanket over his head and say, "Where's Winton? Winton where ahhhhhh uuuuuuu?" then throw the blanket aside and say "Peek ahh Boo!" He also likes to give himself self-affirmations. He'll do something and then say, "Yay Winton! Go go Winton!" I won't even be in the room and hear him playing and cheering himself on.

Nana Tutu even got an unprompted"I love you" on the phone the other day, that was huge.

And he knows how to play it up. We have started to get the fake cry. When I called him on it, he actually stopped, looked at me sideways and giggled. He thought he was hilarious.

Oh gosh, there are a ton of other funny things. He can't say "Oscar" or "chalk" quite right yet, but loves to talk about them. (Oscar the Grouch and the sidewalk chalk in the basement) So, Oscar is "ocker" and chalk is (still) "cawk." Oh, and Grinch sounds something like "bitch." I just pray he doesn't pull that out at school or in public.

Last one ---
Winston says "ay yigh yigh" meaning "EI EI O" and that he wants to sing Old MacDonald. I always ask him if he wants a Mexican hat dance. "No, mama! AY Yigh yigh!!! Moooo mooo! Onk onk!" And it must be sung by mama. The two discs we have in the car with professional versions just won't do.

W: "No, mama! Maaaaaaahmmaaaaaah:
M: "You want mama to sing?"
W: "Yep. Mama."

So we sing, and sing, and sing. All the way from daycare home. I won't be done with the verse and he's already instructing me as to what the next sound should be. He's not limited to animals. He's asked for "tractor" the other day. Our funny little man!

The name game revisited. And other fun talking tells

Ok, so I posted before about how Winston knows his name. But that was just his first name. He's got the whole thing now!

He can say "Winston Judah" clear as day.

Ok, the Winston actually sounds like "Winton" most of the time, but the "Judah" is crystal! Then, when prompted he'll give us the last name.

I need to get it on video and post. It makes me all googly inside when he says it. Swoon, over my little man!

PLUS --

I think we are having another word explosion, with sentences this time. Last night in the car he said “I want bokuku” – which translated means “I want a popsicle.”

He gives me directions with things like “Momma, light please” and “Momma, this way” as he leads me around the house. And my personal favorite complete sentence “I love you Momma/Dada, up a skies.” (said at bedtime)

Ah, this is such a fun age!