December 2013

 



Oh, December.  What a crazy but wonderful month you have been.

We started off the month driving back from our Thanksgiving trip to Louisiana.  The kiddos were amazing in the car again - we're so thankful for great travel companions!  Bruce wasn't as engaged with his toys on the return trip, but the iPad had a fully charged battery and there were enough videos to keep him entertained until we arrived back home.

Charlie had to be away on business trips for a good portion of the month.  He was at a convention in Las Vegas for nearly a week, spent a couple of days at the Kansas City office, and then spent several days in Canada working on a project.  He was exhausted and fighting a nasty cold, but he survived and we were thankful to have him home in time for Christmas!

While Charlie was home, we had fun decorating the house some for Christmas, playing outside in the snow and ice, and opening all of the Christmas presents as they came in the mail early.  I think Bruce enjoyed them better that way because it wasn't a massive toy overload.  I just hope he realizes that once January gets here, there won't be magical boxes that appear on our doorstep daily filled with all kinds of wonderful surprises...

 

making Frosty is great fun

throwing Frosty is even more fun

The Crystal Coop

While Charlie was away, I took the kids up to see Charlie's parents for a few days.  Bruce got some tractor driving in, Granny K got to love on some grandbabes, I didn't have to juggle two kids at dinner/bath/bedtime for a few nights, and Grandpa Bill got some "help" with farm chores.  Well, Bruce may not have been too much help, but I think he's kind of like that spoon full of sugar that helps the medicine go down.  I'd imagine farm chores are a little more enjoyable when you've got a beaming buddy tagging along with you.  Bill and Yvonne also made a trip down to our house one evening to have an early Christmas with us and to help once again with getting the kids to bed.

loading up his smaller tractor on his "trailer"
- just like Grandpa

 

We got along fairly well on the days when I was by myself with the kids at home, too.  Not nearly as much crying compared with Charlie's first business trip away.  I was a little worried because the trips were sandwiched between two different winter storms, but we actually had a few really nice days while he was gone where Bruce and I could run around outside a bit (barefoot even!) while Abby was napping.

 

my little helper

And when we were stuck inside, and I was tied up with Abby, we made good use of Netflix.  Yes, we're still using the television as a babysitter.  Bruce's attention span is growing quite a bit, and he can enjoy a show that lasts 20-30 minutes now.  He really enjoys watching Barney (my high school self would roll her eyes at this, but my mama self actually doesn't mind it too much and appreciates all the songs that make Bruce enthusiastic about brushing his teeth and washing his hands, etc.), Bob the Builder, and Mighty Machines.  He even sat with Charlie and watched his first feature length movie - the Polar Express.

Bruce found a train caboose!

Bruce's attention span isn't all that's growing either - I think Bruce must have had a growth spurt recently because all of his pants became two inches too short over night, and he seems so much more like a little boy now and not a toddler.  When do they lose that title anyway?  I'm not sure,  but I definitely wouldn't use that word to describe Bruce anymore.  His vocabulary continues to grow by leaps and bounds as well.  It makes me giggle sometimes to hear the words and phrases that come out of his tiny mouth!

Not to be outdone, Abby has a few new developments of her own!  She had her two-month well baby check up at the beginning of this month and everything is great!  At a little over 11 pounds, she's in the 42nd percentile for weight, the 96th percentile for height, and is meeting all the recommended benchmarks.

 

I'm also happy to announce that she's able to stay awake with a pleasant disposition for much longer periods of time now - easily an hour, sometimes even an hour and a half before she starts getting cranky.  And she's full of great big squinty-eye smiles that will make your day!  No laughing yet, but lots of squeals and happy sounds that she'll echo back when you talk with her.

She also is really good at finding her hands, knuckles, and fingers now.  I wouldn't say that she's a thumb/finger sucker yet, but she really enjoys gnawing on her fists.  She's working really hard on opening her hands up so she can play with toys, too.  Right now her favorites include a crazy soft owl blankie buddy, a bug rattle, and a small Eeyore stuffed animal.  Again, super soft.  How do they make fabric so soft these days?  She likes to grab them and pull them up to brush against her face.  And chew on them, naturally.  What does she like to hold on to most of all though?  My hair.  With both fists.  All day long.  I would tie it back in a pony tail, but Bruce freaks out when I do that... "Take it off!  Take it off! Take it off!"

The hardest part about life with Abby these days is her sleeping habits though.  It can be maddening at times!  She still takes super short naps, around 30 minutes a few times a day, and is still waking up a couple of times at night to eat.  There have been a few nights where she only woke up once, and I start to think we're entering a new chapter of better sleep, but then we're right back to more frequent wake ups.  Since we agree with the Fourth Trimester philosophy of parenting for the most part, we had decided to wait to start sleep training until halfway through January.  After this last week though, we decided to start a few days early!  After two nights in a row of her waking up every 30 minutes wanting to be bounced back to sleep, we decided to start letting her cry it out.  She's been handling it really well, so that makes the crying a little easier on our hearts!  Next item on the sleep training agenda is to move Bruce to his big boy bed...      

And how did we spend Christmas?  We did a little "Destination Parenting" down in Horseshoe Bay, Texas with my side of the family.  We drove down on Christmas Eve and were able to spend a couple of days there before needing to head back.  After the 13 hour trek to Louisiana last month, the 9 hours it took to get to my mom's house felt like a cake walk.  It was great to spend time with my family, even if most of that time was spent tending to a baby or wrangling a Little.  And just about the entire family and all of our odds and ends were able to come for part of the time we were there, which was really nice.  We had lots of great food, and everyone really outdid themselves when it came to presents.  Abby was a little more alert for this vacation compared to our trip at Thanksgiving time, and I think she was a little overwhelmed with all the new faces and the unfamiliar environment.  She gave away a good share of smiles, but definitely had some major meltdowns and didn't sleep all that well.  Bruce, on the other hand, had a fabulous time!  He enjoyed the extra attention, had great fun playing with his cousins, and loved going on walks to look for "reindeer" and other animals.  He even got to share a bedroom with Papa and Grandma for the first time and didn't seem to be bothered by that a bit  (Although he did learn how to climb out of the pack and play).  I would like to think back on this trip as "Abby's First Christmas," but I think we'll more likely remember it as the year we forgot to bring the kid's suitcase with us...

opening presents

helping Grandma open her presents, too

just like Bob the Builder!

Cracker Barrel road trip break

We drove back to Oklahoma on Saturday, just in time for our friends to stay the night with us as a "halfway point" in their holiday traveling.  Seeing Dan, Leslie and Liam in this way is getting to be a Christmas tradition that I love, even if we only get to see them for an hour or so before they get back on the road.

Since being home, Charlie hasn't had to go into the office for work, so we've been enjoying some family time - taking it easy, unpacking all of our Christmas goodies, slowly getting caught up on house chores, recovering from colds, and putting away Christmas decorations.  We didn't make any plans to ring in the new year, and we definitely won't be staying up until midnight tonight, but that doesn't mean that we're not looking forward to 2014 and all that it has to offer us!

November 2013

 

With temperatures finally cooling down, we welcomed Fall the beginning of this month by making a visit to the Orr Family Farm with some friends from our church group.  It's a place I've heard a lot about since moving to Oklahoma, but have never made it out there before now.  Abby slept most of the time we were there, but Bruce thoroughly enjoyed the hay ride, pumpkin patch, petting zoo, "corn crib"  (think gravel pit, but with dried corn kernels) carousel, and especially the train ride.  The conductor even let him "drive" it for a few minutes while passengers unloaded and reloaded. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first week of November was an odd mix of Halloween candy withdrawals and Daylight Saving's Time adjustments.  Overall, I think we fared well.  One nice thing with the time change is that it gets dark now before Bruce goes to bed.  Bruce loves the book Goodnight Moon and lately Charlie and he have made a habit of going out to say goodnight to the moon before bedtime.  It's been a real sweet new tradition for them.    

 



a compromise of sorts...



 

Most of the month flew by in a blur of juggling feedings, diaper changes, and naps along with play times with Bruce, but we're finally finding somewhat of a rhythm, which is nice.   



 

  

 

Charlie went on his first business trip towards the beginning of the month and was gone for four days.  I survived flying solo with two kiddos, but there was a lot of crying, that's for sure.  It never failed that Abby needed help settling down for a nap at the same time that Bruce was ready for lunch, or Abby woke up wanting to eat in the middle of Bruce's bath, etc.  Thankfully, I managed to keep my composure and had a pretty good attitude through it all.  Needless to say, everyone was excited when Daddy came home.   

 

  

I don't know if it's being indoors so much because of the cold weather, being two years old, being a boy, having competition around now or what... but Bruce has definitely become more physical this month.  I would call it more aggressive, but that sounds malevolent, so we'll call it more athletic.   He never walks anywhere anymore, only runs.  He's really into climbing everything, and throwing everything, and hitting everything.  He seems to be innocently good natured about it all so it's hard to know what to do about it.  Our favorite of all is his new interest in gymnastics - he spends a good twenty minutes before falling asleep every day flipping up the walls of his playpen and standing on his head!

Charlie found a great deal on a used swing set listed on Craig's List, so we're hoping having that around will help Bruce get some of his extra energy out.  He loves it!  Especially his rocket swing! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since Bruce has been watching so much television lately, we've tried to invent and incorporate some games to go along with whatever show is on.  So when he's watching the Russian girl make her soup, he likes to play with a big soup pot of coffee beans, and when the dinosaurs visit the farm, we "hitch" the ottoman to his pedal tractor and he gives hay rides to his stuffed animals.  He's the one who decided that he could play with a plastic coat hanger and pretend it was a hang glider when he was watching a Curious George cartoon, which we thought was pretty fantastic. 

 

playing "ice cream"

 

starting to enjoy building things with blocks

 

"Peter Rabbit" hiding from Mr. McGregor in his garden

 

helping me make soup

 

olive fingers... irresistible to all kids

 

eating parmesan cheese at Sam's...
Our standing Friday lunch date with Charlie

 

playing at Sam's Club

 

We had a small ice storm the week before Thanksgiving and Bruce loved playing with (and eating) the icicles and piles of sleet.  He never seems to mind the cold - good thing Charlie's such a good sport so I can stay inside with Abby while they play!

 

 

giving the pig an ice bath

 

Abby turned two months old at the end of this month and, as expected, is changing and growing every day.  She now is smiling all the time and starting to “talk” quite a bit too.  Bruce never babbled or cooed much when he was this age, so these sweet sounds are nice to hear.  She had been sleeping fairly well in a swaddle wrap up until about a week ago when she rolled over in her sleep.  Now she’s having to learn how to stay asleep without letting her arms and legs flail about - it’s been a challenge, but she’s adapting.  She's taking super short naps these days, only 20-40 minutes long, but is sleeping solidly from 8 pm until usually 2 or 3 am which is really nice.  She also has toned down the crying quite a bit this month.  She's still crazy loud, but usually only cries for a little bit when she's tired and ready for a nap.  Between naps she's still only awake for brief periods of time, but we're loving the fact that she's getting more and more social with us and engaged with her surroundings daily!   

 

 

 

We went to St. Martinville, Louisiana for Thanksgiving this year to spend some time with Charlie's mom's side of the family.  It was our first major road trip with both kids, and for a thirteen hour endeavor, I think we managed nicely.  Abby hardly cried at all and slept most of the way, and Bruce happily played with toys and talked with us for most of the trip.  Late afternoon no-nap cranks were mediated nicely with videos on the iPad and it wasn't until we hit what should have been bedtime that the meltdowns ensued.  We arrived not too much later though, so it was pretty tolerable. 

We got to spend several days with extended family which we're really thankful for - lots of trucks, wrestling, snuggling and laughing, good food, a mini-Christmas, a trip to the zoo and a visit to the horse farm.  It was a great week.

carrying a basket of trucks from Aunt Carol's house
to Aunt Christine's house

 

A cherry picker in the parking lot! 
Dreams were realized!

wondering what Abby thinks of these fellas

Louisiana Cousins!
 Daniel and Matthew with Bruce and Abby

helping Granny K set the table for Thanksgiving Dinner



needing to take a drum break from the chore at hand...

Grandpa and his boys at the zoo

We'll pack up the van tonight and head back to Oklahoma in the morning - hopefully with the same good fortune we found for the ride down.  We're loving this holiday time and are looking forward to getting ready for the Christmas season next!