Jonah and the Tooth Fairy

Well...the Tooth Fairy paid us another visit, this time for Jonah. Just a couple days after he turned 5, he lost his two bottom front teeth. In typical Jonah fashion, he didn't even know when they came out. In fact, he most likely swallowed them both. He was very concerned that the tooth fairy would not leave him any money because there were no teeth to put under his pillow. But he wrote her a note and she said it was no problem, happens all the time...Looking back on it, I think I know the moment they came out--it was right after ice skating and he said there was a weird sound in his mouth. Funny that this comes less than a year after Maya lost her first tooth, and the kids are almost 3 years apart in age! I would post a picture of his new smile, but alas, the camera is buried somewhere under piles of Christmas things and well, I just haven't gotten to it yet.
I haven't reported on our recent activities because, well, I guess I have been too busy enjoying the season to spend much time in front of the screen, unless you count watching movies, which we have done a lot of.
Brett made it home safe and sound from Turkey--he was pretty wiped out, they worked long hard hours without much of a break, but he was able to spend some time off, take the kids out some and catch up on sleep. We spent some time putting the rest of the Christmas decorations up and had our place in good shape for Jonah's birthday last weekend. We had 7 kids here (4 others were too busy or sick to make it, but I think that is probably a good thing, space-management-wise) for a Magic Treehouse party. It turned out really great. Jonah loves being the center of attention on his special day and we found a lot of great ideas online for party games for this theme--like deciphering hieroglyphics, popping balloons with dinosaurs in them, playing Magic Treehouse charades and attempting a 3-D puzzle sphere that was a challenge even for the dads.
Christmas a couple days later was low key and relaxing--after prezzies we spent much of the day putting together Jonah's new Harry Potter Lego castle with nearly 1000 pieces. Maya has been playing with the sewing machine (thank you neighbor Jean for setting it up for us) and since we received 7 new DVDs in the past week we have been watching a lot of family movies! It has been relaxing and fun and mellow. Which is a sharp contrast, by the way to what it is like on the streets outside at the moment. This place is a zoo over the holidays! That isn't all bad. If you aren't harried and doing too much it is quite festive and lovely to be surrounded by visitors from all over the world, walking down packed sidewalks with signs of the season on every corner--ice rinks, lights, decorations, storefront animated window displays, carolers, holiday markets. It is amazing.
This weekend we are looking forward to visits from two different sets of friends from the west coast--Joe and Jen and their 3 boys are here for a few days en route to Ireland, and Sonjia and Mark are here with their twin babies visiting relatives in New Jersey.
Thanks to all of you for your wonderful holiday cards. I love seeing how much your kids have changed over the year and hear what is new with your life. Also thanks for all the abundant gifts. It was such a delight to receive so many parcels in the mail to put under the tree. Wishing you all a cozy and peaceful last weekend of 2007.