The Lowcountry, Court-Style

We spent a wonderful long weekend in Charleston this month with Court's maternal great-grandmothers, great aunts and uncles, and all three of his godparents (who are also his aunts and uncles). Court was showered with attention from the entire family and he had special playdates with his godmother/aunt Ann Kimball and his great aunts Trisha and Mary Ann. Everyone was so generous with their time, allowing me and my brother Andrew to run a half-marathon together and to attend a College of Charleston basketball game with our uncle Gus and our cousin Kenny (husband to Ann Kimball and one of Court's godfathers, along with Andrew).

Court also joined my brother and me for some fun field trips to the Battery, the Charleston Aquarium, and Waterfront Park, where we replayed our own childhood memories and watched Court form some new ones of his own.

Look Who's Two! (part 2)

Court hosted a few friends for a birthday brunch and book exchange on the morning of December 31. We dined on mini chicken biscuits, quiche, fresh berries, and croissants, and washed it all down with birthday cake. In lieu of gifts, we asked everyone to bring a wrapped book to the party, which the children exchanged with each other. We also had a "breakfast necklace" station set up for the crafty baby bunch, with bowls full of cherrios and fruit loops for stringing onto strands of yarn. Tied around one's neck, it makes for a convenient and portable cereal snack. It was a lovely morning!

(note the breakfast necklace above)

Look Who's Two! (part 1)

Court has the great (mis)fortune of a late December birthday, so we segue from one celebration into the next with little rest in between. As a family, we have resolved to make his birthday a distinctly separate event from the holidays, which we achieve in part by taking down all of the Christmas decorations on December 26th.

Lucky for Court, this year he had two celebrations to commemorate turning TWO. First, he celebrated with a dozen doughnuts alongside his Grammy, Papa, aunt Melanie and uncle Alex on the morning of his actual birthday, December 29 (photos below). Then, he celebrated with a birthday brunch and book exchange in the company of some of his dearest toddler friends the morning of New Year's Eve (photos to follow). Both parties were filled with lots of smiles and hugs and Court definitely knew that something special was going on!

Train Table Love

Santa brought Court a train table for Christmas! Upon coming downstairs on Christmas morning, he was elated to find such a fantastic toy and he proceeded to spend three straight hours playing at it. The novelty still has not worn off!

Making the Switch

Many of you may not know that Court spent his first two years of life as a pescetarian. Propelled in part by our already-limited use of red and white meat in our home cooking, and in part by some typical toddler digestive woes, we opted to keep his diet meat-free until he turned two (last week!). We decided to make a splash out of the gate by giving him a McDonald's cheeseburger for his first red meat experience. We do not intend to make this delicacy a part of his regular diet, but it was pretty fun to experience the happiness of a Happy Meal with him on New Year's Day.

(The tuxedo-clad talking Chipmunk was a big hit as well!)

Third Time's a Charm

Phew, there went the holidays!
We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's but boy did it keep us busy. We had the great fortune of celebrating with many friends and family and we're still getting used to the normal, non-holiday routine.

Court had the opportunity to meet Santa on three different occasions this holiday season. Well, technically, the second meeting was with a Santa Cow, but we will count it! The first two interactions were marked by lots of tears and exclamations of "No Santa!" but then, amazingly, Court made his peace with the big guy on their third meeting and it was all smiles and high-fives from there!

First meeting: Mom holds hands with Santa in an attempt to reassure a crying Court

Second meeting: Court loves his chicken biscuit, but not his Santa Cow

Third meeting: the sweet spot! Santa comes bearing gifts, which warms Court up to him

(fist bump!)