So, yeah.  It's reeeeeally cold outside.  The kind of cold where you kinda feel like a bad parent getting your kids out, especially when they won't wear hats or mittens.  Since when do eight month old babies learn to be defiant of their parents anyway??  Elliot always gets so mad when he gets put in his carseat and covered up with a blanket, and forget about the hat because he won't wear it for longer than 5 seconds.  Harry is getting a little bit better in this department.  When the weather got cool enough to wear a coat or jacket all of the time, he was having absolutely none of it.  It was such a battle to get him to put on the thing that a few times (when it wasn't this cold, of course!) I gave up and let him be cold.  However, lately he hasn't protested and will even---gasp!!---let me put his hood up.  Yay for Harry!!  Maybe since things are going so swimmingly I will try mittens.  I am such the optimist! 

 Harry has really been knocking it out of the park with his speech lately.  Every day we have a moment where we are like, did he just say that??  He has been cracking me up lately with his new favorite question:  How 'bout dis one, Mom?  As in, how about this snack, or this game, or this shirt, whatever he wants at that moment.  He also switches it up with "how 'bout dis way?" when he wants us to turn on a certain road.  It is really cute.  He also still loves to talk about the car wash even though it scares him to go through it.  Travis must have told him the price of it because now he add that in to the car wash conversation.  "Car wash fifteen dollars.  Water and soap."  You're telling me, buddy!  Outrageous!  "Dora, Elmo, and Mickey in seat at car wash (they have dolls of some cartoon characters in the drying part of the car wash for the kids to look at).  We go bye-bye car wash, Mom?"  Um, nope.  That's why your dad told you it was fifteen dollars each time we go in because we can't afford to go every day!  He has also started to ask why questions a lot.  This morning we went around and around about not being able to go all of the places he was listing off because I had to go to work.  We go bye-bye to store, Mom?  No, sorry buddy.  Why?  Because, I have told you about a hundred times today that I have to go to work!  Grrrr.  I am beginning to think that he hates to be at home because he is always asking to go somewhere.  Hopefully that is just his way of making conversation! 

The Christmas spirit is starting to kick into full gear around our house.  We put our decorations up last Saturday which was fun.  We have a little tree for the kids' playroom and I bought some Sesame Street ornaments last year after Christmas on sale, and I think Harry thought it was pretty cool to decorate his own little tree.  Friday night after doing a little bit of shopping, we drove through a Christmas light display that a tractor dealership sets up in our town.  I think it is pretty cheezy (sorry if you live around me and think it is cool!), but I agreed to go through for Travis and Harry's sake.  I'm glad I did because Harry was totally eating it up!  He pointed out every thing, he even spotted things up ahead that I hadn't noticed.  I will be excited to get the shopping started after my monster week at work coming up....I am working this weekend, and on top of working extra for a co-worker whose wife just delivered their new baby, we are getting a new computer system next week which I will need to come in extra for as well.  Fun times!!  I don't typically have to go the extra mile for my job so it's okay.  I'm just ready for it to be over!