Christmastime at the Mayos

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone we are jumping right into Christmas. I had actually started decorating the house and listening to Christmas music last week...the first year ever doing so before Thanksgiving. I think because Titus is at such a fun age right now, discovering everything, I'm so anxious for Christmas. I have most of my shopping finished and am trying to make myself hold off on the wrapping. We were planning to wait until Sunday to get our tree, but...went out today for it instead. I've always loved going out to get a tree each year. As a child I remember going with my mom, sister and brother. My mom always wanted the perfect tree. We would walk up and down the rows of trees trying to find the perfect one for our house. We always cut one down. I don't remember ever buying an already cut tree. When Steve and I got married we continued the tradition of cutting our own tree (and searching for the perfect one). I would drag him up and down the hills of trees, never able to make up my mind. Last year we didn't get a tree. We decided that since we would be leaving to spend the holidays with our family before Christmas day that it made more sense not to buy a tree. This year with Titus, I knew I wanted to get one. A place opened up across the road from us last week selling trees. They are, of course, already cut and shipped in. Even so, we had fun walking around the trees searching for one that would be ours. Titus didn't quite know what to make of it. He went around looking at and touching many of them. Steve would ask him, "do you want this one?" and he would shake his head no. Finally we chose one that is about 5 feet tall and just the right size for our little home. We laughed at how small it looked as Steve stuffed it in his trunk and then carried it up the steps to our front door. However once we got it set up it looked just right. I wasn't sure what ornaments I would use since we have tile floors and I didn't want to hang my glass balls. I found some snowflakes that I had hung on garland in the past years and some bead snowflakes from my collection. As a finishing touch we threw fake fluffy snow all over. So my theme this year for our tree is...snow. Titus doesn't seem to be too taken by it so hopefully it will stay intact. I did tell him at one point to "go sit next to the tree" so I could take a picture and he did just that. It will be fun to see his face in the morning when he first sees it again. I am loving every minute of seeing Titus experience Christmas this year. The excitement on his face is just magical. My favorite memories from my childhood are all centered around Christmastime. My mom always made it a special and exciting time for us. My goal is to do the same for Titus.

Thanksgiving Break

Steve's Thanksgiving break started on Monday and we've been enjoying every moment of it so far. Last year we went "home" for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and for two months over the summer. We've never been here for an extended period of time during which Steve didn't have to teach. It's been nice this week to relax and experience more of what south Florida has to offer. We truly feel as though we are on vacation this week. Yesterday we went to Ft. Lauderdale beach for a late lunch. We sat outside and ate by the ocean. Then we walked with the stroller along the beach shops. This morning we headed to Deerfield beach ("our beach") to take pictures for this year's Christmas card. I am so pleased with how they turned out. I had a vision and Titus cooperated fully. They turned out exactly as I had hoped they would. I'll post the pictures after I send out the cards. But for now...here are a few I took from our time at the beach after taking the Christmas pictures.

Boy and His Wagon

A few weeks back Titus got a package from Grammy and Pappy. It was a fancy new wagon. He's been pulling it all around the house, filling it with different toys. Today I decided we should try it outside. We started out behind the condo by the boats. He pulled it up and down the dock stopping to fill it with rocks. After that he went around to a giant tree. He then continued to pull his little wagon on the sidewalk, to the parking lot and then to the pool. We started out pulling his elephant and sippy cup in the wagon...by the end of our walk, the wagon was also carrying rocks, nuts and a stick. And, for a minute, Titus.

Family Flashcards

I've been letting Titus "play with" pictures of his grandparents so that they look familiar to him when we see them in person. The other day he had the picture of Mom-Mom (Steve's mom). I told him it's his Mom-Mom...to which he replied, "Mom-Mom." Then he put the picture down. I asked him a little bit later, "where's Mom-Mom?" He went right over to the picture and picked it up. Now the real test will come in a month and a half when we go home for Christmas. We'll see if he recognizes anyone. :)

I do have some hope that he will because...

Yesterday he was playing with my wallet and found my license. Steve said, "that's Mommy." Titus looked at the picture, then looked at me, then hugged the picture, then looked back at me and back to the picture and on and on.

So maybe he will connect the faces in the pictures to the people in front of him.

Basketball at the Park

We're at the end of a wonderful weekend spent together as a family. Steve stayed late at the school on Friday so that he wouldn't have to bring home so much schoolwork this weekend. We started the weekend with a trip to the beach Saturday morning, then another morning on the beach today and we ended our weekend with a late afternoon trip to the park for some basketball. Titus is a blast at the beach. I think he would stay all day if we let him. We now have found "our spot" on the beach...at the end, between two rock formations. There are many rock formations spread out along the beach at Deerfield. It works well for Titus because it keeps him somewhat contained. He loves the rocks and spends most of his time by them. Today, for the first time, he gathered seashells in his little bucket. After the beach we came home for Titus to have lunch and a nap. After naptime we went to the park where Titus played with the basketball and ran around discovering things. I've been looking at Titus the past few days and feeling like he suddenly grew overnight. He looks like such a big boy now. His vocabulary is growing each day and sometimes shocks us. On our way to the pumpkin patch last week while in the car, Titus was fussing. Steve said, "You're going buck wild, Titus." To which Titus replied, "buck wild." It was clear as day. We looked at each other and laughed so hard. He is quite the little character. We're still struggling with trying to control his temper. I think it's going to require a lot of prayer. We're also noticing how shy he is at the moment. In the past when a stranger would talk to him he would look away, and he still does this if we're holding him. However if he is standing and someone talks to him he will put his head down all the way until his chin is on his chest. I try to gently lift his little chin and tell him to look up. I notice that I often say, "he's being bashfull" or the person who he's hiding from will comment on him being shy. I don't want him to be labeled (and then become) a shy child. It's not necessarily a bad thing for now, but I don't want him to continue to be scared of people. We just need to work with him and figure out how we want to handle it. He has been doing very well in nursery which is encouraging. We know that he will develop into just the person God wants him to be.

Side note- the second to last picture...Steve shot the ball from behind Titus. Titus didn't throw it that high...yet. :)
Also, the wristband...Titus found it in our closest and wears it for hours. I think he forgets it's there.