At the Circus!

Today Lennox was in the St. John's Preschool Circus. He was a clown. I have been hearing the songs a lot lately. I think he knows everyone's songs, the elephants, the bears, everyone. Lennox's teachers have been stopping me all week to tell me how wonderful Lennox was in practice. I was a little worried because last year Lennox was a lion and saw me in the crowd and started crying. 

 But, my big four year old did perfect. We had front row seats and you could see how happy he was when he came in and saw the crowd. He said hi to me and then walked himself right up onto the stage :-)

Lennox was by far the loudest and most excited of his group when they came up to sing. I was so proud and so upset that Daddy missed it. (he was on a business trip). This was one song:

Be a clown, be a clown. All the world loves a clown. We're the height of circus fun. And we're always on the run. We stand up. We fall down. All the world loves a clown. Be a clown, be a clown, be a clown. 

And then a little poem:

I have a funny little hat. I have a funny nose. Sometimes I'm  fat, sometimes I'm not. My shoes have floppy toes. I wiggle wiggle all about. I jiggle up and down. I make the people laugh and shout. It's fun to be a clown. 

After they performed, all the kids in his class took turns introducing themselves. Lennox was loud and clear. Such a contrast to his performance last year. I am so happy he felt comfortable in front of everyone. Maybe we have a little actor/singer on our hands :-)

Lennox and his friend Gabriel were so happy after the show. 

And even more excited that they were having a playdate later!

Lennox, Gabriel, and Sophia after the show!

We all went to Chick Fil A and played in the kids area. Then Gabriel and Sophia came over to play. It was a rainy day, but they got to play outside just a little. Glad he has such good little buddies.

A little sad this is our last circus. But, mama is inspired to do some productions at Ortega next year since Lennox will be there to perform in them! I told him tonight how proud I was and told him he was smiling so big. He said that was because all the people were there to watch. So sweet! 

January Highlights!

Lennox helped us ring in the new year at Okinawa with our friends. He was all about the peace sign in the month of January and this night was the beginning of his new favorite gesture.

At dinner, Lennox became quite good at using chopsticks. Guess he takes after his daddy!

Later that night we stayed up late doing our own fireworks in the park out front and then watching the downtown fireworks from a park bench! Probably the latest our little man has ever stayed up. On New Year's Day we hung out at home. Lennox worked on his "artwork."

I call this the "Butt Man." January was a big month for our little artist. Lennox is finally coloring in the lines and he is obsessed with making his artwork perfect. His name is getting clearer and clearer and he now knows ALL his letters by sight and their sound. He can also tell us which letters start words by sounding them out. Big stuff!

We spent the last few days of our holiday break spending some good quality family time together. 

Daddy had a big birthday party and Lennox insisted on wearing his birthday hat. My mom actually brought this to him in the NICU when he was a day old. Lennox called it his "energy pack" because the candles light up.

On January 3, we went to the Lipizzaner Stallions thanks to a gift from our neighbor. 

Of course Lennox left wanting one of the costumes from the show. Not sure where we can find those!

Some other fun January stuff included hanging out with his new buddy Bella eating some very nutritious meals ;-)

Gran got Lennox a really cute Homies Remote Control Car. Here he is showing off his little man that goes with the set. I think the beanie and laundromat really make this picture *perfect* 

More of the peace sign. Lots of PhotoBooth fun.

Lennox got into this thing this month where he would say he didn't want to eat because he wanted to be a baby again and get small. We had to tell Lennox about how proud we were that he was growing up and how excited we were that he would be in Kindergarten soon. Seems to have helped.

We had some weighty discussions which stemmed from conversations about Michael Jackson of all things. Today Lennox told me about his guardian angel who will "keep you from being dead." But, he told me "when you die and fly up into the sky you will see Michael Jackson and see the Michael Jackson rides." He is all about Neverland :-) 

Last week Lennox asked about his "puddle pants" which we occasionally talk about. Adorable little pants that he wore when he was teeny tiny. Mark and I nicknamed them puddle pants because with his little diaper the pants always looked droopy. Lennox asked me to pull them out. Mama saves everything. I was shocked at how small they were and had a hard time remembering that little 4 pound baby from almost 5 years ago. Really could he have ever been that tiny? It is amazing. In four months we will have a 5 year old on our hands, a Kindergartener. My baby is growing up too fast. 

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve was spent at Oma and Opa's with the Cross family! Lennox started off the evening all dressed up, but ended up in his jammies as soon as he could!

He opened his first few presents.

The favorite being his Dragon Castle!

Then we went home to get ready for Santa and put out our homemade cookies!

We also had to leave the magic Santa Key on the front door, so Santa could get in the door and not have to bother with the chimney!

We cuddled up on the couch to read Night Before Christmas and then my sneaky elf stole a bit of Santa's cookies before heading to bed :-)

Santa had a very busy night getting toys built and set out at the Cross house. This is the scene that Lennox woke up to on Christmas morning!

A Trio Castle, some Potato Heads, costumes, a Transformer, a Sponge Bob skateboard, and a king costume!

Racing down the stairs!

And checking it all out.

Then Lennox hit the stocking! 

And tried on some of the costumes. Here is GI Joe.

Mama and Lennox spent the morning building his Trio castle. Of course he did this all in his new king costume and crown!

Later that afternoon, Den and Pop came over for dinner and more presents! Poppy gave him a framed picture of him from Vietnam and a bunch of coins from around the world.

And Den and Pop got him Spike, the Imaginext remote control dinosaur!

All in all a great great Christmas! 

Almost Christmas!

We had so much to do to get ready for Christmas in the days after our cruise. Lennox tried on his Christmas jammies again. (I think he looks a little like Hugh Hefner...lol).

Then on the 22nd, Lennox got a very special delivery from Santa Claus! A letter!

Baby Jesus made his way around the house. Now he likes the piano.

On the 23rd we did lots of baking, black bottom cupcakes, cookies, all kinds of goodies. Lennox is a great helper!

We also made a Gingerbread House.

One sneaky little elf liked stealing sugar from the sugar bowl!

Bahamas 2009

On December 17, we all climbed aboard the Carnival Fascination in Jacksonville and headed to the Bahamas for a Holiday cruise. Lennox had been talking about it for months. He was so excited. We ended up giving him a Dramamine before we left, just in case he got sick. It knocked him out. He slept all the way through embarkation. Daddy actually had to pick him up and hold him out and walk him through the metal detector.

He woke up just in time to watch the Embarkation Deck party!

He checked out all the gear on the deck, watched as we went under the Dame Point bridge, and then turned into a dancing fool. Turns out, the dancing turned out to be the theme of the trip for little Lennox.

This is what you get when you ask Lennox to "shake your booty." So funny :)

That evening we took Lennox to dinner with the big people. He did really good and made good friends with our waiters, who spoiled him with chocolate milk and pizza. Then we stopped by the room to change and found our first towel animal, a seal. Lennox loved this.

We let Lennox go to Camp Carnival for a little bit. It was pirate night. We picked him up in time for the show and he had been transformed into Pirate Lennox :-)

He spent some time playing "Guess Which Hand" with Daddy before the show. He loved the show and the performers. We were so excited to see how he enjoyed it all.

The next day we were supposed to be in Freeport, Bahamas. But, the weather had other plans and we spent a long day on the boat. Lots of Camp Carnival, naps, and roaming the ship. In the evening we dressed up for Captain's Night.

And found our second towel animal after dinner, an elephant :-)

On Saturday when we finally made it to land, Nassau, we were all ecstatic to get off the boat. We made sure to get a shot of Lennox's first step on foreign soil. The night before he had made a t-shirt in Camp Carnival and insisted on wearing it during the day.

Our first stop was a little store where Lennox got some pirate flip flops.

We shopped around the straw market for awhile. Turns out that was pretty difficult with a stroller. Then we went back to the ship to change in to beach clothes. Lennox wanted a picture by the Michael Jackson hotel, Atlantis. We had told him Michael Jackson used to stay there. 

We ended up on a tour to Fort Fincastle, where we climbed to the top for a view of our ships at the dock.

Then we went to the Queen's Steps, climbed to the bottom and discovered a little waterfall.

Then our tour guide took us to the beach and Lennox dipped his toesies in the Caribbean!

Finally, we ended up at the Michael Jackson hotel and checked out the aquarium.

Lennox sat in "Michael Jackson's chair" as he calls it.

That night we found our next towel animal.

That night we had a crazy tired, silly little man! Such a knucklehead.

Then there was a whole lot more dancing on the deck. It was hilarious. Everyone around got such a kick out of watching our little dancer.

On our final day, Lennox spent a lot of time at Camp Carnival, getting ready for his debut in the holiday show that evening. 

Lennox's age group was in charge of the ornaments. And afterwards there was a whole lot of fake snow.

Our final morning ended up much the same way that we left, another tired tired baby boy. He slept through the whole debarkation process. Lucky for him.

It was such a great family trip. We got some fabulous family time. Lennox will be talking about it for months. We are all ready for round #2 on a cruise!