Thursday, January 26, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
May I Have Please?
Claire continues to learn at an alarming pace. She's learned her full name "Cware! Owuise! HEIzeur!" and is using "me" a lot more often... it's both strange and cute that she still refers to herself in the third person a majority of the time.
Claire has also learned a new phrase that ratchets up the manners meter more than a few notches. Instead of saying "[noun] please," she's now saying "may I have [noun] please?" and the answer is always "Yes!" because she's just so darn cute doing it. She nods her head at each syllable and says "maye - iye - haf - bwed - pweez?" Over the last few days she's gotten a lot of practice but still requires prompting, though not much. Here's how it works at suppertime:
Claire: "Bwed! Bwed! Bwed!" (she's asking for bread, a traditional request at supper)
Mommy: ...(blank stare at Claire)
Claire: "Bwed pweez?"
Daddy: ...(encouraging stare with raised eyebrow)
Claire: (head nodding) "Maye - iye - haf - bwed - pweez?"
All: "Yay!" (bread is served)
She's also applying this phrase to a lot of other things. Much of it works and some of it doesn't. We'll correct her eventually, but right now I like that she's getting practice at it and I'm not going to split hairs about the difference between nouns and verbs. For example:
- May I have color [with] Daddy please?
- May I have read book please?
- May I have pick me up please?
Claire has also learned a new phrase that ratchets up the manners meter more than a few notches. Instead of saying "[noun] please," she's now saying "may I have [noun] please?" and the answer is always "Yes!" because she's just so darn cute doing it. She nods her head at each syllable and says "maye - iye - haf - bwed - pweez?" Over the last few days she's gotten a lot of practice but still requires prompting, though not much. Here's how it works at suppertime:
Claire: "Bwed! Bwed! Bwed!" (she's asking for bread, a traditional request at supper)
Mommy: ...(blank stare at Claire)
Claire: "Bwed pweez?"
Daddy: ...(encouraging stare with raised eyebrow)
Claire: (head nodding) "Maye - iye - haf - bwed - pweez?"
All: "Yay!" (bread is served)
She's also applying this phrase to a lot of other things. Much of it works and some of it doesn't. We'll correct her eventually, but right now I like that she's getting practice at it and I'm not going to split hairs about the difference between nouns and verbs. For example:
- May I have color [with] Daddy please?
- May I have read book please?
- May I have pick me up please?
As a side story, Claire has never liked it when Daddy gets sleepy and shuts his eyes. If I close my eyes on the couch or in the rocking chair, Claire will shout "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" until I open them back up... this can repeat quite a lot if I'm really sleepy. The most recent development in this exchange is her mastery of the word "Awake" so that when now Daddy shuts his eyes, Claire shouts "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!... WAKE DADDY!" In addition to this, Claire is more tolerant of James being asleep but also likes to announce when James is awake; I suppose this is because he was asleep in her presence for so long (and she was constantly reminded of that) that she's pretty happy when he's "AWAKE!" The other day, Amanda asked Claire to quiet down in James' room because he was sleeping; the obvious solution for Claire was to go to his bassinet and rock it while shouting "James awake!" - problem solved.
Happy Little Boy
In the last several weeks, James has gotten over a lot of his fussiness and is smiling many times a day. If he's in a good mood, he can spend nearly 15 minutes alone on his play mat batting at his toy zebra and listening to music. At the table, he can sit for 5 or more minutes in his Bumbo seat and at least keep his head from falling too far backward or forward... and he'll enjoy it longer when he gains more body fat to help keep him upright. Speaking of chubbiness, he's really starting to fill out in all directions; you can really see it in his cheeks but his legs are the real hoot - they've gone from twigs to jelly rolls!
James prefers mostly to be held and still doesn't like tummy time for very long, but he certainly makes an effort to pay attention to what's going on in his field of view. He gets to watch Claire playing a lot and might be either grateful or annoyed if he could understand some of the things she does to keep him entertained. James also is taking a bottle each day; he still doesn't like it and complains every time, but more often than not his desire to eat overpowers his dislike of the bottle.
James likes to bounce at the dinner table
His favorite face is Mommy, of course
James is getting used to the camera; more smiles like this means many more pictures
Family story time
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Two Month Stats
At his checkup yesterday, James weighed 12 pounds, 4 ounces (75th percentile) and measured 23 inches (50th percentile). He sure is a growing boy!
Sunday, January 8, 2012
James 2 Months, Claire 21 Months
We're getting settled back into a routine for the new year. Matt has returned to work after a nice two weeks off and my weekly activities are starting up again.
James is doing better. He's still pretty fussy but doesn't seem to have the reflux pain after eating anymore. He has a few happy periods everyday where he coos and plays. He will do a few minutes of tummy time but mostly enjoys being on his back on his activity mat looking at his toys. His favorite is his new stuffed zebra. He gives us several smiles everyday and smiles when we play peek-a-boo with him. He was good this past week about taking a nap in his room every afternoon at the same time as Claire (nice for Mommy!) He's eating about every 2 - 2.5 hours during the day and every 3.5 hours during the night. We've had a few times where he's slept for 6 hours, so hopefully that will be the norm soon. He sleeps swaddled in the Rock-n-Sleep which keeps him slightly elevated and also allows us to rock him to sleep without picking him up which would wake him up even more. James got out of the habit of taking a bottle while we were out of town, so we worked this past weekend to get him to take one again. He resisted quite a bit but eventually gave in.
Claire is having a little bit of jealousy of James, but it's not in an angry way--she just wants to be involved in everything he's doing. If we say "Peek-a-boo James!" we hear her say "Peek-a-boo Claire!" If we say "Smile James" we hear her say "Cheese!" The other night, Matt said "James is smelly" and Claire chimed in with "Smelly Claire, Smelly Claire!"
I was singing James a lullaby the other night to comfort him. Poor Claire must think it's a sad song because she started crying. Matt took Claire to her room, and I was with James in his room. Matt had a hard time calming her down because she could still hear me singing and eventually had to turn on her CD player to drown me out. Two days later we wanted to see if she'd react the same way; I wasn't through with the first verse of the same song and Claire quickly had tears in her eyes. We're not sure why she gets upset over this particular song.
Claire is beginning to do more and more pretend play. She likes to have a tea party for her stuffed animals and play with her dollhouse. She still enjoys being read to and can finish sentences and phrases in most of her books. Current favorites are "Little Kitten," "Llama Llama Mad at Mama," "Princess Party," "Tickle Me! My Name is Elmo" and "I Wish that I Had Duck Feet." She also enjoys stories from her children's Bible.
When we arrived home from Bible Study last week, I asked Claire what she learned. She said "Baby Jesus" and then said "Follow Me." I checked her take home material, and sure enough, they had talked about Jesus inviting the disciples to follow him. Usually when Claire tells me about something she did, I already know and am prompting certain responses with my questions, but this was the first time she told me something completely new that I understood.
We've been blessed with numerous friends bringing us meals over the past two months. This had given Claire a chance to try lots of new foods. She isn't a big meat-eater but does great with her fruits, veggies, grains and dairy foods. She's drinking a few ounces of milk everyday. She likes to dip things, but it's a big mess, so we save that for when she needs encouraging to finish something.
Claire gets a lot of booboos--or so she thinks she does. It probably averages at least ten an hour. We used to offer to kiss her booboos but she didn't want us to. Now, she declares "Booboo!...Kiss it!"
Claire naps starting between 1:30 and 2:00. It usually lasts about 2 hours. She goes to bed around 8:00 PM and sleeps until 8:00 AM. She doesn't fuss or cry when we put her down as long as she has her blanket. Claire is in size 4 diapers and 24 month or 2T clothes. James is in size 1 diapers and 3 month clothing.
James is doing better. He's still pretty fussy but doesn't seem to have the reflux pain after eating anymore. He has a few happy periods everyday where he coos and plays. He will do a few minutes of tummy time but mostly enjoys being on his back on his activity mat looking at his toys. His favorite is his new stuffed zebra. He gives us several smiles everyday and smiles when we play peek-a-boo with him. He was good this past week about taking a nap in his room every afternoon at the same time as Claire (nice for Mommy!) He's eating about every 2 - 2.5 hours during the day and every 3.5 hours during the night. We've had a few times where he's slept for 6 hours, so hopefully that will be the norm soon. He sleeps swaddled in the Rock-n-Sleep which keeps him slightly elevated and also allows us to rock him to sleep without picking him up which would wake him up even more. James got out of the habit of taking a bottle while we were out of town, so we worked this past weekend to get him to take one again. He resisted quite a bit but eventually gave in.
Claire is having a little bit of jealousy of James, but it's not in an angry way--she just wants to be involved in everything he's doing. If we say "Peek-a-boo James!" we hear her say "Peek-a-boo Claire!" If we say "Smile James" we hear her say "Cheese!" The other night, Matt said "James is smelly" and Claire chimed in with "Smelly Claire, Smelly Claire!"
I was singing James a lullaby the other night to comfort him. Poor Claire must think it's a sad song because she started crying. Matt took Claire to her room, and I was with James in his room. Matt had a hard time calming her down because she could still hear me singing and eventually had to turn on her CD player to drown me out. Two days later we wanted to see if she'd react the same way; I wasn't through with the first verse of the same song and Claire quickly had tears in her eyes. We're not sure why she gets upset over this particular song.
Claire is beginning to do more and more pretend play. She likes to have a tea party for her stuffed animals and play with her dollhouse. She still enjoys being read to and can finish sentences and phrases in most of her books. Current favorites are "Little Kitten," "Llama Llama Mad at Mama," "Princess Party," "Tickle Me! My Name is Elmo" and "I Wish that I Had Duck Feet." She also enjoys stories from her children's Bible.
When we arrived home from Bible Study last week, I asked Claire what she learned. She said "Baby Jesus" and then said "Follow Me." I checked her take home material, and sure enough, they had talked about Jesus inviting the disciples to follow him. Usually when Claire tells me about something she did, I already know and am prompting certain responses with my questions, but this was the first time she told me something completely new that I understood.
We've been blessed with numerous friends bringing us meals over the past two months. This had given Claire a chance to try lots of new foods. She isn't a big meat-eater but does great with her fruits, veggies, grains and dairy foods. She's drinking a few ounces of milk everyday. She likes to dip things, but it's a big mess, so we save that for when she needs encouraging to finish something.
Claire gets a lot of booboos--or so she thinks she does. It probably averages at least ten an hour. We used to offer to kiss her booboos but she didn't want us to. Now, she declares "Booboo!...Kiss it!"
Claire naps starting between 1:30 and 2:00. It usually lasts about 2 hours. She goes to bed around 8:00 PM and sleeps until 8:00 AM. She doesn't fuss or cry when we put her down as long as she has her blanket. Claire is in size 4 diapers and 24 month or 2T clothes. James is in size 1 diapers and 3 month clothing.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Sandbox Video
While in Massachusetts, we visited a nearby park. Claire had so much fun in the sandbox!
Hershey
After a wonderful time visiting, playing, laughing, and eating in Massachusetts, we loaded up the car and headed home. On the way back down, we stopped in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to enjoy their family friendly Christmas festivities. Hershey Park was open in the evenings and decorated with lots of lights. Claire went on her first kiddie rides and loved them. During the day, we visited the World of Chocolate, went on a ride that tells how chocolate is made (Claire is still talking about the singing cows), participated in a chocolate tasting, and took a Christmas trolley ride complete with singing and a visit from Santa.
We left Hershey early Friday morning and finished our journey home--all tired but glad for the fun Christmas!
All bundled up. I'm actually wearing James in his carrier under my jacket in this picture. He stayed nice and warm and kept me warm too!
Around and around in the fire truck. Claire was holding on to the steering wheel and "driving" the whole time
About to ride the trucks with Daddy
Not sure what to think of the character
Mommy and Daddy's decision to ride one more ride was a bad move...Claire was done and wanted nothing to do with the Merry Go Round
Claire's mouth was covered in chocolate after the tasting show!
We left Hershey early Friday morning and finished our journey home--all tired but glad for the fun Christmas!
Massachusetts Part 1
We loaded up the kids and left Atlanta around 5:00 AM on December 21. We arrived in Washington DC around 7:00 PM where we spent the night in a downtown hotel. We walked a few blocks to visit the National Christmas Tree near the white house. It's a little cheesy, but it was late and cold, so we just pushed the strollers in front of the tree to take a picture.
We left DC early on the 22nd and finished our drive to Topsfield, Massachusetts, and the beautiful new home of Matt's sister Dana and her husband Andrew. James was pretty tired after such a long car ride!
The next day, Claire was excited to meet her canine cousin "Genny Dog!"
James cuddling with GG Weller.
Claire playing with Grandpa Huyser
Coloring with Dabo
James and Bamma cuddling
While doing some shopping in nearby Newburyport, we stopped for some hot chocolate in a little restaurant that happened to have a fun play area for Claire.
We had a delicious Christmas Eve dinner with some members of Andrew's family. Claire loved playing with the big girls!
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