Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Christmas Time

The house is decorated, the tree is up, there are presents under the tree. I play Christmas music whenever we are home and I'm getting ready to have another house full of guests. It even snowed here. in Georgia. in December. It is an exciting time.

Christina is doing great with the tree, isn't taking down the ornaments like she did the first day. She is keeping her distance from the presents and hasn't unwrapped one in weeks (although I have stopped her a couple of times). Gwen is watching Baby Einstein Baby Santa and we are all just in the holiday spirit.

Since we aren't sending out Christmas cards this year and don't have an official family photo yet, here is the best I can do :-)


We went to a holiday party at my college and the kids got to decorate cookies:





Nik likes to lay under the tree and look up at the lights. He has been doing this since he was a kid. He has gotten Christina interested in it and this year, he put Gwen under the tree also. They look so cute with their little legs sticking out!


Here is proof that it actually did snow!


Here are all of the decorations we have out and around the house:

















I hope you all have something nice planned this year. Happy Holiday's!!!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Toddling Christina

Gwen just hit six months old and CC is just about that much plus two years. Following my recent Gwen update, here is an update on Christina.

My two and a half year old . . .

-loves sweaters, but usually calls them jackets. She likes to wear one over her PJs on most nights. She especially loves the handmade sweater that her great Aunt Dot made for her and sent from England.

-turns around and sticks her butt out at me when she wants me to pick her up so that she is facing away from me. It is always so that she can reach something that she is not allowed to have, like junk food or a "snack" as she likes to call it.

-loves to take her waterbaby in the bath with her and wash her with the washcloth.

-on the one hand is very independent, will often say "I'll do it" or "I got it" and even "be right back", but on the other hand, still can bare to skip a chance to cuddle with her parents and says at least once a day "Daddy hold me" or "Mommy hold me".

-likes to undress Gwen

-pronounces Gwendolyn "blendolblyn" or some variation of that. It is really cute.

-refers to Gwen as "sister" most of the time since she can't pronounce Gwendolyn very well. But, it sounds more like "teacher" than "sister".

-loves to tease her older cousin Evie and really gets a kick out of pushing her buttons.

-likes to give her sister lots of things to hold on to, like baby dolls, blankets and books.

-tries to sing-a-long whenever I'm singing to a song at home or on the radio.

-is over the moon excited about Christmas, Santa and presents, even though she is terrified of getting within eye shot of Santa. There will be no pictures of her sitting on Santa's lap this year. She will repeatedly say "Santa is coming to town." I've also told her that it is Jesus' birthday and she loves to say "Happy Birthday", but then she immediately starts talking about her cousin Evie's birthday which is two days after Christmas.

-says "baga" for the word "garbage", which is really weird. It doesn't even sound like "garbage", so I have no idea why she consistently calls it "baga". But at least she is consistent.

-loves pull-ups and wishes I would let her wear them instead of diapers. Considering that she really isn't using the potty yet and pull-ups are only attractive to her so that she can easily pull them off and run around naked, I'm not ready to switch.

-likes to run around yelling "naked girl, naked girl" when we are changing her into or out of her pajama's.

-loves to ask "what is that?" for just about anything. Also will sometimes call out "where are you [insert name here]"

-is always saying "my Mommy works" and "my Daddy works"

-is deathly afraid of mascots or anyone dressed up in a character costume. That is probably why she is afraid of Santa.

-is very loving with her sister. She gives her hugs and kisses, she pats her back and strokes her hair. When Gwen cries, she says "Don't cry sister, Mommy is coming."

-continues to eat a very small variety of food. She mostly eats chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, and pizza. Well, ok, I guess we can also throw in french fries although that is not a meal (to her surprise). She wants "snack, snack, snack, snack, snack" ALL.THE.TIME. I try and try to make her believe that snacks are all sorts of foods like fruits, cheese, veggies, AND the very special cookies and cakes that she can only have on special occassions, but she doesn't buy it. "Snack" to her is strictly a food that she has to fight for -meaning "junk food". When it is time for breakfast, she shuns the pancakes and desperately calls for "snack", when I am cooking an awesome dinner, she doesn't care, she wants "snack". It seems like a losing battle, but a battle I need to continue to fight until I win. I hope it gets easier.





















Saturday, December 18, 2010

Half birthday

My baby is six months old today! It is her half birthday, something Christina never really got since it fell on Feburary 29th. And now for Gwen's first official update,

Gwendolyn Eve . . .

-hasn't started solids yet, but I'm only delaying so that my Mom can see it first hand when she is here to visit for Christmas.

-can sit unassisted, but for only thirty seconds or so before she starts to fall over.

-rolled over for the first time from back to belly on 11/11. It was very exciting. I missed it the first three times, but after that third time I refused to let her lay on the floor until I was ready to sit in front of her and watch. After Nik got home, I layed her down, told her to roll over, and she did!

-giggles all the time when I blow raspberries on her tummy. I noticed it for the first time on 11/21.

-loves to sleep late

-is starting to really enjoy Baby Einstein movies

-gives me the guilt trip with her eyes whenever I have to pass her to her Daddy so I can cook, get ready for bed, etc. She stares at me in a way that you totally know she is judging me for giving her up and she will follow me around the room with her eyes!

-started teething on 11/12 but still doesn't have any teeth

-continues to love blankets

-is quite the sports fan. She likes to watch live events (basketball, wrestling) and sports on TV (football).

-loves toys and is much more interested in them then CC ever was

-gave me a hug on 11/12. I'm sure it was an accident, but boy was it nice.

-whines when she is on her belly, trying to crawl to a toy, but just can't do it.

-sort of crawled for the first time on 12/5. She scooted a little to the side and I saw it first hand. Based on what I saw, it counts, but it isn't like she is crawling all over the house (yet).

-sometimes sleeps with her eyes partially open (like her Daddy use to do at that age). It is really weird and it makes it hard for me to check to see if she is still asleep. If I try to close her eyelids, then she wakes up, so I'm stuck leaving them slightly open.

-likes her swing but almost never sleeps in it. CC use to sleep in it whenever we put her in there, but not Gwen. Both of them liked to put their arms out to their sides while swinging though.

-refuses to do anything cute when the video camera is on. I swear she is camera shy and stops whatever she is doing immediately when I pull out the video camera.

-continues to love all toys even though CC was not at all interested in them at this age.

-has been sick several times in her short little life, but never as sick as CC was at this age. Knock on wood, she has not had anything more than a cold.