Graham's First Word and Celebrating Advent

Graham officially has his first word! It's not 'mama' or 'dada' like I thought it would be. He does say 'dada' but not in context of Behn, at least not yet. Anyway, Graham has loved playing with balls for months now. He know how to roll them and chase them. It's one of his top choice items for play (that and measuring spoons). Over Thanksgiving weekend, we all noted how Graham now says 'bah' in context to the ball! My smart boy! He'll seriously say 'bah?' when he can't find it or if he sees it. He's also smart enough to go find the ball if I say 'where's the ball? Go find it.' Wow!

Graham understands the word 'where.' He knows it means to look for something. Often before Behn comes home, I'll say, 'Graham, where's Daddy?' and he looks at the window, at the door, all around the room, looking for him. So sweet. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up. He's still not walking, but my parents got him a toy walker thing (looks like a dinosaur/dragon) for his early birthday gift that he pushes around now. He's still working on steering, but he's getting the hang of it!

Behn and I decorated the living room for Christmas. I didn't do as much as last year, partly because of the babies getting into everything, and partly because I didn't feel like doing the extra work. We bought a little tree, which is carefully on a table out of reach of little hands. It's about the size of the one we had our first year married, living in a small apartment. It's a sweet little tree. Behn and I are also taking time this year to celebrate advent each day. My dad gave us a daily advent devotional from the seminary he went to. It has different authors for each day and he's one of them :) So far, it's been a blessing and I'm so glad we are taking time to celebrate advent, the waiting for, the hoping in the coming of Jesus! My mom also gave us an advent wreath with 4 candles. I spruced it up with a garland and we lit it on Sunday. I'm sure this will continue to be a family tradition. This time of year just feels so sacred.

I'll post pics of the house soon!