Every day I notice that Soren is less of a "toddler" and more like a preschooler. We have fun conversations which usually start out with some kind of question he has about something. He'll ask me something like, "where is the moon and stars?" And we'll talk about day, night, the earth turning and so on... He's been asking me some pretty neat questions lately, you can see the wheels turning in his head. He seems particularly curious about weather (maybe because it's quickly turning colder!!). The funny thing is he thinks I'm in charge of the weather, he's been asking me to make it snow - when I tell him I can't do that, he does not seem convinced. Another "theme" lately has been fire fighters. This costume is the first thing he puts on and the last thing he takes off every day. He knows everything about fire fighters (via the dozens of books we've picked up at the library). He says "I need to put on my study boots," he calls his costume his "gear," and now refers to his bed as his "bunk." Sometimes he runs around saying "car on fire!!" and pretends to spray water out of a hose.
Soren's also been asking me a lot recently about our "old house." He'll say "where's our old house? Who's there?" I'm not sure what answer he is seeking, but I'll ask him, "where did we move from?" and he'll say "Pennsylvania!, but who's in our old house?" I'm not sure if he so much misses our old house, but is more curious about how someone else can be living there now.
I found a neat book at the library about garden projects for little kids - one of the projects is growing various beans. Kind of as a "science project," Soren and I planted beans and as you can see they took off. A little bit of green in the winter!
Ingrid is like our own little Christmas ornament! She enjoyed watching us run around, putting up lights and hanging the decorations. Soren is at the best age for enjoying this time of year. This morning I found him sitting at the tree gently touching and turning the ornaments he likes the best. It hasn't snowed yet here, but I was thinking to myself that now that our tree is up, it can get cold and snow - we're cozy inside and can sit around our tree and enjoy the sparkle. 
We got our Christmas tree! It was quite an ordeal getting it inside (as you can see). We had numerous pine needles to clean up, but it's totally worth it - I love how it smells and makes the house so cozy. Soren and Ingrid are waiting patiently here for the tree to get inside, Soren is ready to help us decorate!
We had a great visit with Grandpa Don and Grandma Kathy! Grandpa Don helped Soren build a football goal post at a Lowe's clinic for little kids - Soren enjoyed holding onto a hammer and wearing all the "worker" gear. 
I'm putting this picture up of Soren, a.k.a Fireman Frank, wearing his firefighter costume (yet again!) as evidence that he is STILL wearing his Halloween costume every day, pumpkin bucket included.
Ingrid has recently taken an interest in her books! It's so fun to see her look so studious, she really examines the pictures. 
Every day I notice that Soren is less of a "toddler" and more like a preschooler. We have fun conversations which usually start out with some kind of question he has about something. He'll ask me something like, "where is the moon and stars?" And we'll talk about day, night, the earth turning and so on... He's been asking me some pretty neat questions lately, you can see the wheels turning in his head. He seems particularly curious about weather (maybe because it's quickly turning colder!!). The funny thing is he thinks I'm in charge of the weather, he's been asking me to make it snow - when I tell him I can't do that, he does not seem convinced. Another "theme" lately has been fire fighters. This costume is the first thing he puts on and the last thing he takes off every day. He knows everything about fire fighters (via the dozens of books we've picked up at the library). He says "I need to put on my study boots," he calls his costume his "gear," and now refers to his bed as his "bunk." Sometimes he runs around saying "car on fire!!" and pretends to spray water out of a hose. 
