Thanksgiving 2012

To start our day off right: tacos at El Chilito. Migas for Fletcher, plain cheese for Louisa. I should take this moment to note that she has said her first words! "Uh-oh" was the first, followed the next day by "tickle".

And the other day, word three! "Cheese", pronounced "Chssss".

Dallas and I had prepped most of our Thanksgiving meal in advance, which left the kitchen free for Fletcher to make the dessert: pumpkin dump cake.

I know, it sounds gross, right? The beauty of it is that he was able to so much of it by himself. He mixed the canned pumpkin, the evaporated milk, and the sugar...

...and cracked the eggs.
 

 

He sprinkled the yellow cake mix on top...

...and chopped the nuts by smashing them with a spoon. Pictures of the final result below.

Sorta coordinating Thanksgiving outfits, enlivened with some flair: Halloween socks and buttoned-up collar.

 

 

 

Brussels sprouts with pistachios and shallots; chestnut stuffing; mushroom gravy; cranberry sauce and cranberry relish; stuffed pumpkin. Not shown: mashed potatoes.

We talked about the things we are thankful for. Fletcher surmised that Louisa is thankful for milk, "things babies eat" and her family. He's mainly just thankful for his family..."65 thankful".

"65 thankful" is a big, big deal around here. "65" is kind of the ultimate number. No, I don't know why. For example: "Fletcher, are you hungry?" "I'm really hungry, Mama! I'm 65 hungry!'.

On rare occasion, it is possible to like something more than 65. The scale goes something like this:

All the numbers below 65
"as much as our house"
65
"more than 65"
infinity
infinity plus one

Dallas claims that he once heard something described as "65 infinity", but that's a concept too big for me to wrap my head around.
 

Meanwhile, Louisa ate her stuffing...

...pausing only to admire the ceiling fan. She loves a good ceiling fan. Like, she loves the ceiling fan 65 .

 

Another new trick: squinting her eyes. She does this whenever anyone narrows or closes their eyes. As you might imagine, I make her do this very often.

More ceiling fan! Fourth word: "Cee"!

And then more squinting.

 

 

A postprandial stroll to Alamo park.

Some climbing.

 

After the outing; Fletcher's pumpkin cake

It was 65 infinity good!

Louisa's Birthday Adventures

 

We took the kids to the Capitol for Louisa's first birthday, just like we did for Fletcher three years ago. She's not nearly as obsessed with climbing stairs as he was, but she does enjoy some wide open spaces to roam.

Before we went in, we stopped to admire the trees.

Let the toddling begin!

Can't sit for a picture on the star, she has places to go.

Like around corners...

...and up stairs.

Louisa now...

...Fletcher then!

She'll sit as long as her brother is there, being entertaining.

Is it my imagination, or is she rolling her eyes?

I'd like to mention that it's Fletcher's choice to button his shirt all the way up, not mine.

Back at home, there was sparkling wine for the adults, and the kids had their favorite beverages. For Louisa, water out of her brother's sippy cup, and for Fletcher, good old tepid water.

Fletcher set up the birthday wreath for her.

For dinner, a few of Louisa's favorite foods: cheese, tomatoes and bread, together at last.

The birthday girl dined under the table.

And then it was time for presents - an outfit from Grandma and Papa...

...a card (which fascinated her)...

...and a Peanuts book from Nancy (and Sophia and Olivia)...

...and a bag of one hundred balls from us.

First cupcake! Chocolate frosting over banana cupcake, in honor of  her banana obsession.

Brother does the honors for her.

Fletcher's first cupcake, way back when.

And finally, the traditional First Birthday Bath!

Happy Birthday to, as her brother says, "a cute, cute, cute, cute, cute, cute, cute baby"!