Monday, January 2, 2012
Christmas Morning
On December 20, we had our Christmas morning. We got a play castle for Claire and James. We set it up in the living room for her to find.
December at Home
Claire loves to play with her dollhouse
Starting to get some happy faces and smiles from James
We took the kids caroling with a group from church. We visited a nursing home and a shut-in. Everyone loved seeing the children in our group.
Claire was a good little hostess for our Christmas party
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
December 2011: James 1mo, Claire 20mo
We are adjusting to life as a family of four. Claire is very good with James. She likes to say hi to him, announce if he is "wake" or "seeping," and laugh when he coos. She still calls him Baby James and often points out "Baby James cying." She has her moments of jealousy when she wants Mommy's attention but is really handling everything very well.
James is growing quickly. He measured 21 inches long and weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces at his one month checkup--both in the 25th percentile. He's outgrown his newborn sized clothes and diapers. He has had a bit of a rough start with some reflux issues that make him pretty unhappy. We're still working to find the best combination of medicine and diet changes for me to help his tummy feel better. As of the last week, he is finally having some periods of time when he is awake and happy. He looks at the dangling toys on the activity mat and the fish mobile on his swing. He's eating every two to three hours, but we have gotten some long stretches of sleep from him the past few nights (3 hours is long at this point).
Claire just loves to learn and explore everything. She shows particular interest in tunnels and buckles (snapping them together but thankfully not unsnapping yet!). We got her a dollhouse as a big sister present, and she just loves to play with it. She reenacts the scenarios we've shown her such as having the dolls eat supper, take a nap, and look through the windows. She's starting to create her own little stories with the dolls too. Claire also enjoys coloring, working puzzles, listening to music, playing with her duplos (she's finally able to put them together by herself), and reading books.
She is talking so much! One long sentence she formed while playing alone with her dollhouse was "Baby Girl take a nap too." Many people comment on how clearly she speaks and how nice it is that she says "yes" instead of "yeah." She's started to request her independence by saying "by yourself," and she declares things to be "breakable." She watches someone's mouth closely to learn new words.
Both children had their first stage performances this past month--James as Baby Jesus and Claire with her Bible study class. James received rave reviews such as "We thought it was a baby doll!" Claire was a bit sheepish when the kids came to sing for the adults and sat in her teacher's lap the whole time, but she is the second youngest in the group and it was her first week back since James' birth, so she did pretty well.
Claire has had her four canine teeth come through this fall. They didn't seem to give her much trouble and brought her total number of teeth up to 16. Claire sleeps from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am most days and naps from 2:00 to 3:30 or 4:00. She is wearing size 4 diapers and outgrowing her size 24 month clothes.
Though tired and busy, we are enjoying the Christmas season and starting some family traditions of our own such as seeing a nearby Christmas lights display synchronized to music. Last year, Claire watched the lights a little. This year she squealed and made exclamations such as "lights!" "music!" "fast!" "yay!" James did not enjoy the show this year. We also attended the Candy Cane Breakfast at church where Claire devoured a plate of pancakes.
James is growing quickly. He measured 21 inches long and weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces at his one month checkup--both in the 25th percentile. He's outgrown his newborn sized clothes and diapers. He has had a bit of a rough start with some reflux issues that make him pretty unhappy. We're still working to find the best combination of medicine and diet changes for me to help his tummy feel better. As of the last week, he is finally having some periods of time when he is awake and happy. He looks at the dangling toys on the activity mat and the fish mobile on his swing. He's eating every two to three hours, but we have gotten some long stretches of sleep from him the past few nights (3 hours is long at this point).
Claire just loves to learn and explore everything. She shows particular interest in tunnels and buckles (snapping them together but thankfully not unsnapping yet!). We got her a dollhouse as a big sister present, and she just loves to play with it. She reenacts the scenarios we've shown her such as having the dolls eat supper, take a nap, and look through the windows. She's starting to create her own little stories with the dolls too. Claire also enjoys coloring, working puzzles, listening to music, playing with her duplos (she's finally able to put them together by herself), and reading books.
She is talking so much! One long sentence she formed while playing alone with her dollhouse was "Baby Girl take a nap too." Many people comment on how clearly she speaks and how nice it is that she says "yes" instead of "yeah." She's started to request her independence by saying "by yourself," and she declares things to be "breakable." She watches someone's mouth closely to learn new words.
Both children had their first stage performances this past month--James as Baby Jesus and Claire with her Bible study class. James received rave reviews such as "We thought it was a baby doll!" Claire was a bit sheepish when the kids came to sing for the adults and sat in her teacher's lap the whole time, but she is the second youngest in the group and it was her first week back since James' birth, so she did pretty well.
Claire has had her four canine teeth come through this fall. They didn't seem to give her much trouble and brought her total number of teeth up to 16. Claire sleeps from 8:00 pm to 8:00 am most days and naps from 2:00 to 3:30 or 4:00. She is wearing size 4 diapers and outgrowing her size 24 month clothes.
Though tired and busy, we are enjoying the Christmas season and starting some family traditions of our own such as seeing a nearby Christmas lights display synchronized to music. Last year, Claire watched the lights a little. This year she squealed and made exclamations such as "lights!" "music!" "fast!" "yay!" James did not enjoy the show this year. We also attended the Candy Cane Breakfast at church where Claire devoured a plate of pancakes.
Candy Cane Breakfast at Church 12-10-11
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Happy Noises
James has started to make some sweet little happy noises when he plays, and Claire just thinks these are so funny!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Huyser Family Living Nativity
James is the perfect age to play a live baby Jesus this year, so Dorman (our church Music Director) asked us if we would be willing to walk-on as Mary, Jesus, and Joseph in the live nativity segment of the church's Christmas show. Of course we gratefully accepted the offer, but we've been nervous for the last two weeks because James often has a hard time calming down when we need him to. The "no crying he makes" line has gotten a lot of mileage.
Matt's been growing a bead for no-shave-November, so he kept it on a few days longer and the naturally bearded Joseph was a bonus.
James had a rough afternoon today and we couldn't calm him down at home. We were tired and worried; but in a way that only a mother could, Amanda had the timing of his feeding and napping worked out so well that by show-time James was fast asleep in our arms. He was sleeping and peaceful for two performances today and everyone fawned over how beautiful he was.
Claire had a happy and hyper time in the nursery. She would've been an adorable addition as a sheep or an angel, but I think she had much more fun playing with her friends.
Monday, November 28, 2011
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