around town: Denver Zoo Lights.

For an outdoors-lover in Colorado, there's always something to do. Each season yields dozens of things to do outside of the house. Though most outdoor activities are very kid-friendly, the wintertime with a toddler is a different story. Too young to make snowmen, too little to go snow-shoeing, and too heavy-headed to go sledding, Gabriel has been stuck indoors the last few months more than he cares for.
One of the greatest ways to get outdoors around Christmas time is to go to see the Denver Zoo Lights. We enjoy staring glazy-eyed at the thousands of twinkling lights with some family friends and a very warm thermous of cocoa. Among offerings of heated spirits and fire jugglers are carved ice sculptures, changing light shows, and even Santa and his sleigh. After an hour or two of taking everything in, we like to go out and have a Mexican dinner to warm our bellies. If you're in the area and have a free night and some warm mittens, I suggest you spend it there.

Waking Up On the Wrong Side of the Bed.

When I was young, my mom used to say I slept like an angry wolverine. Thrashing, talking (mostly complaining about my big brother, I guess), twisting, and kicking, I'd sleep the night away like all kids do. For little ones, so much energy is spent during the day growing, learning, experiencing, and changing, it's surprising that they move at all during the night.

Gabriel's always been an energetic sleeper, but has recently taken to sitting up in the dark and re-positioning himself entirely. I wake up half a dozen times throughout the night to find a pair of little feet resting on the pillow next to me.

This morning, I had to move the pillows so that he wouldn't accidentally roll off the edge.

Note that the head of the bed is to the left of the photograph...

Staying In.

With temperatures in the single digits and a bout of the sniffles, Gabriel and I have had to find ways to stay entertained and engergized indoors. Among other things, we've dug out our ancient box of Legos, filled and re-filled the bathtub with warm water, bubbles, and bath crayons, drank many cups of tea (he seems to like blueberry the best), and danced to far too much Talking Heads.

Oatmeal! MarbleWorks! And Tom and Jerry...

Old Friends.

Welcome back, December.

I've got a feeling it's going to be a good month...