Favorite Things Friday...A Day Late

My friend Tiffany started a Favorite Things Friday on her blog and I've been meaning to get on board and join in the fun. Since I haven't posted Disney pictures yet or Christmas pictures, I thought I would do a picture post and combine them with both events. In a nutshell, I'm lazy.

1. I love Artem's smile. His whole face lights up when he smiles and he always has so much expression on his face. People tell us all the time how animated he is and how much expression he has.


2. I love my thrill seeker. Artem loves to ride rides at amusement parks and is not content with the little rides. He wants to go fast and he wants to go high. He cried when he couldn't get in the wind tunnel and skydive with Randy and now when he watches Randy fly his powered para glider he tells me, "sky?" and points into the sky and nods his head "yes" like he wants me to tell him that he can go in the sky with daddy.

3. I love how friendly Artem is. He waived at all the people watching the carousel as if he were a rock star and they were all there to see him.

4. I love my littlest race car driver. Artem loved "driving" the cars at Disney but could not see over the dashboard but Randy said he looked out the side of the car when he was steering. I would love to return to Disney when Artem is 16 or so and see how tall he is at that time. I have a feeling he'll be towering over mama. I have a picture of me sitting with my father on a bench at Knott's Berry Farm when I was about Artem's age and we went back when I was in high school and recreated the same picture on the same bench. I would love to do that with Artem.

5. I love how my son can sleep through the loudest parades. Artem has no interest in the characters at Disney so we decided it would be a good time for him to take a nap. I thought we might get 10-15 minutes out of him but to our surprise he slept through the ENTIRE parade and beyond, despite having front row seats and being so close to all the noise.

6. I love how Artem always wants to read. We were waiting for Randy to bring our truck around the house to load up to see family for Christmas Eve and Artem took a minute to read a book. Whenever it gets quiet in the house, I can always find Artem and Bella in his room reading books. It's something I hope to foster in him for a long time.

7. I love Artem's sense of style and how he's not afraid to wear his sunglasses at night. Lately he's learned to put his hand in his pocket and he looked like such a big boy in this outfit. All he needed was a pocket full of change and he could jingle it like the old men do at church.

8. I love how excited Artem gets when he opens presents. He opened up a tractor on Christmas day and he squealed, "Oh WOW!!" The whole room started to laugh at his innocence and excitement.

9. I love footed Christmas jammies pulled snug over toddler pot bellies and diapered bottoms. It makes me smile when I watch Artem shimmy down the hallway to bed with his little rump shaking side to side.

10. I love being a mom to this incredible little boy. This was the best Christmas and it would not have been possible without the love of my little guy. Being his mom was my favorite present this Christmas.