Christmas 2011

So I'm way behind on uploading pictures/doing blog posts, but I supposed that falls into the "better late than never" category.  I only took a few pictures while we were in Texas, but I'm sure I can convince my mom and some others to share with me.

The day before our flight, we celebrated Christmas at home.  Jack got a musical table and the Haba Wonder Dice (passed down from Elise) and Elise got an art desk and the Plan Toys Animal Memory game.  Elise has to be bribed to smile for the camera, and apparently I forgot to try it in these pictures :)

We had a great trip to Texas and really enjoyed our time with family and friends. The kids slept well away from home and Mike and I took full advantage of grandparents (aka free babysitters).  We got to go see two movies (in a theater!) and went on double dates with the Woods and Bergstroms, two couples that we've been friends with for a long time.  I got to have lunch and girl time with my college roommate, Cassandra, and have brunch with a bunch of my high school girlfriends.  I actually ate at Kerbey Lane Cafe 3 different times over the course of 11 days :)   My dear friend Shannon and her kiddos met Elise, Jack and I in Kyle to have lunch and play at Chick Fil A.  We've each had a kid since the last time we saw each other, and we might have monopolized the play area with 5 little ones.  Baby Jack also got to have a playdate with his buddy Luke.  Luke's mom Gretchen and I have been friends for 18 years!   

Here are the kids with Uncle Bryan, Aunt Michelle, and Aunt Jennifer

Kids with grandparents (we are so thankful that they live less than a mile apart... we told them that they aren't ever allowed to move!)

Our little family

Jack (7.5 months here) and Luke (5 months)... Luke already outweighs Jack!

Jack's party trick

This boy is so proud of his push-ups that he claps for himself whenever he is done! Enjoy :)

Way too many pictures of Jack

The little man and I had another "photoshoot" in the playroom today while he was desperately trying to crawl. I love how this shirt brings out his blue eyes (and I didn't even edit any of them!). Grandparents, enjoy!

Blurry, but you can tell that he's working on his pushups...

Mom, this is hard work

Clapping...

And more clapping...

Jack is 8 months old!

Happy 2/3 of a year, sweet little boy! Your mommy, daddy, and big sister absolutely adore you. You are at such a fun age right now and I wouldn't be upset if you stayed a baby forever :) I tell you this all the time and you just smile. The other day, I was cuddling Elise and told her that she would always be my baby girl, even when she was taller than me. Her response, in this tender moment? "When I am taller than you, I will drink Dr. Pepper."

Jack had a great 8th month. He got to spend 11 days in Texas for his first Christmas and was very spoiled by his grandparents, aunts, and uncles. He got to meet his girlfriend Lila (John's little sister) and future in-laws Ross and Sarah, and has just been a busy little boy.

Stats: He is still a little guy, weighing in at approximately 17 lbs and measuring roughly 27.5 inches. He fits really well in 6-12 month clothes, but most of his winter clothes are 12-18 months so I just have to roll up the sleeves. He still just has the two bottom teeth.

Sleeping: He continues to be a great sleeper. In fact, I think he sleeps even more than Elise did at this age (16-16.5 hours per day). He has started reaching for his crib when it is time to go to sleep. He even slept well in the pack and play during our trip to Texas. He still loves to suck his thumb. We purchased a video monitor for his room during this past month, and it has been so much fun to watch him play around in his crib. He snuggles up in the corner next to his bumper to sleep. He loves to practice getting on all fours and rolling around. I washed the bumper the other day and he was only without it for one nap and scooted himself back so that both legs were stuck outside the crib.

Eating: He is an excellent nurser and that makes the 2-child thing so much easier, as long as I can keep Elise out of his room for the 10 minutes while he is eating :) I am very thankful for this. He has learned to use the milk sign and very often "asks" to eat when it is a normal nursing time or time to eat solids. He makes his left hand into a fist and flicks it back and forth... so cute! He eats roughly 4 oz of fruits, veggies, or cereal for lunch and dinner but definitely prefers nursing to eating solids. I think he got a little spoiled by eating Sprout baby food and squeezy packs during our trip to Texas. Now, if he sees Elise eating a squeezy pack, he flips out until he gets to have one too. He's very interested in table food but hasn't mastered the pincer grasp yet, though he does like to nibble large pieces of fruit that he can hold in his hand. He gets milk in a straw cup probably once a week.

Schedule:

7:15-7:30 - wake and nurse #1

9-10:30 - nap #1

10:30 - nurse #2

12:15ish - lunch

1:30 - 4:15ish - nurse #3, nap #2, nurse #4

6:00 - dinner

6:45 - nurse #5

7:00 - bed

Playing: He is happy just about anywhere. After he wakes up, he likes to play on the activity mat for a while until he is bored and rolls or scoots away from it. He likes to move around on the floor and "chase" after his toys. When he gets tired of this, he likes to sit up with a bucket of toys, and then he usually ends his "playing session" by standing and playing with his musical table, standing and watching his sister, or playing in the jumperoo or exersaucer. He is so happy and easygoing. He does get frustrated when he wants a particular toy and can't figure out the right way to roll or wiggle to get to it.

"Learning": It is fun to see him start to pick up on things and recognize words. He definitely perks up and giggles when he hears "Jack", "eat", "milk", "clap", and some others. He doesn't babble nearly as much as Elise did at this age, but he still does use the "ba" and "be" and "buh" sounds. He started clapping on command this month and we're working on a few more signs to add to "milk".

He enjoys riding in the car, stroller, Beco, and is very easy to take anywhere, as long as it isn't nap time.

back of the hair - filling in nicely!

teeth

trying so hard to crawl/wiggle those hips/move forward... any day now!

I still think they look quite different, aside from the eye color and the thumbs in their mouths. Here are my babies at 8 months.

Babyproofed!

This house posed quite the babyproofing challenge, but we're done and happy with the result. I just wanted to share in case others need ideas for difficult layouts. We didn't need gates when Elise was a baby... we had a one-story house and just kept the bathroom door closed.

Our main problem areas are stairs... we have four half-flights that are constantly used. It didn't make sense to gate the top and bottom of every set of stairs... it would have been very annoying, potentially unsafe with Elise on the stairs, and very expensive to buy the attachments that would actually fit these stairs since there aren't mounting options on both sides. So, I scoured craigslist for a few weeks and bought two used Kidco Hearth Gates. Together, they block off the main stairs, front door, kitchen, both bathrooms, basement, and bedrooms while granting access to the play areas and living room.

Front door is on the left, bedrooms are upstairs, kitchen is through the door on the right

View from upstairs (we moved the table that used to be in this space and the playroom is around the corner on the left beyond the couch)

Next, we took down the shutter-style doors that connected the playroom and kitchen and replaced them with a North States Super Gate Easy Close Gate. This link is for the extra tall version, which we are using in another location. The thing I like the most is that these gates have a stay open feature. They are also easy enough to open that we will be able to teach Elise how to open them so that she can go to the bathroom by herself, etc. I don't think she would be able to figure it out without us showing her, though. You can see the gate on the left side in the open position.

And here, of course, is the reason for the gates...

The next problem area is in the kitchen, because we have another set of stairs that connects the kitchen and living room. These aren't carpeted, but we definitely didn't want to have gates at the top and bottom, which is why we added the previous gate to block off the kitchen so that we don't need a gate at the top.

And last, we finally finished the basement. We have so much room for storage that the basement is better used for playing. The totes that you see are blocking off exposed brick, golf clubs, and cords. Jack has a playpen (thanks, Mimi!) and exersaucer (thanks, craigslist!) and we moved the slide in from the backyard (again, thanks to craigslist!). The washing machine and dryer are to the right of the picture, so this is a great way for Elise to entertain herself while I am doing laundry.

This girl is so happy about her basement play room... (excuse the hair, we just came from gymnastics!)