I don't know what I'm going to do when Christmas is over and Alexis wants something. I've been telling her for a while now that she can't add to her Christmas list, but once Christmas is over and she wants something, she doens't have it to look forward to anymore. Oh the trials of being three! We went out for as a family this morning (I'll tell you in a minute why this was momentous) and she wanted EVERYTHING. But as my mom said, how can she not see something, think it's cool, and want it? Isn't this perfectly natural when a kid is three? All about balance, right? Anyway, we went to World Market for a while and got some Christmas goodies, and then we went to Petsmart a few doors down so that the kids could look at the animals. It's the next best thing to the zoo, seriously. They had a dog class in session, which is what I was really hoping for, and they both spent most of the time there watching a dozen dogs from behind glass walls. Micah especially thought it was hysterical, and we also looked at birds and fish and mice. Afterwards we headed over to Olive Garden, just like last year, and had the bottomless soup, salad, and breadsticks. I still love their salad, but they have a creamy soup that has sausage and kale and potaoes in it that Jason and I both love. Plus, it's niceto go out to a nicer restaurant but not have to wait twenty minutes for our food to be ready. Since our normal babysitter was sick, it was good for all of us to get out of the house.
And the reason WHY is was so good ot be out of the house is because everyone except me has been sick. Micah got a cold first, then Alex started getting sick. We're pretty sure she had the flu becauseshe was running a fever for a few days, but she's doing better now. Micah seems completel fine except for a bit of a runny nose. And Jason just got a cold we think. It wasn't exactly the way we anticipated spending our first week of vacation, but overall it's been nice. We've just all been cooped up in the house and unable to go out as a family until today.
We still have snow on the ground here from almost a week ago because it's been so cold. Alex loved playing in it last week before she got sick, and her interpretation of playing in the snow was to help me sweep the sidewalk ;) She wants to help a little too much sometimes, but that's how it goes when you're three. A neighbor of ours came over last week to get some baby clothes, and Alex wanted to help give her every single piece of clothing. Amy was really nice about it and commented on what a helper Alex was, although I expect it mostly stemmed from her desire to be in the middle of ANYTHING that is happening. Amy, who teaches kindergarten, did tell me that she thought Alexis' language skills were great and that she knew a lot more than some of her students did, which made me feel good that Alexis doing fine.
Micah continues to babble and babble babble. He's been playing with a set of flash cards a lot recently and is learning a lot of different objects that way, and he has started to get into wooden puzzles, just like she did. He still loves to be in someone's lap if he can get it, and is just as sweet and stubborn and energetic and crazy as he has been. He has recently started coloring a lot and will sit down at his table with a book and crayons and be content for five or ten minutes just doing that.
Jason and I are excited about having Christmas, too. We're starting our own traditions, which is really nice. For example, we've been putting together a gingerbread house, and Alex thinks it's tons of fun. I'll have to post a picture of it after the holidays. We're going to wake up and do presents on the morning of Christmas Eve, and then we'll leave to go see family that afternoon. I think she'll like what she got. They both ahve stockings this year, and we got her mostly things that she can make. However, we did buy her a toy shopping cars, and yesterday when I asked her what was on her Christmas list that she really wanted, she said the shopping cart, so I'm feeiling pretty good right now. Micah's main present is this train that he can sit on that has letter blocks tha that he can push in one place andhtey shoot out another. It was a great yard sale find :) I went through the process a few days ago of taking out a bunch of their toys to make room for some new ones, and I think that in a few months it will be time to start to getrid of a few older toys instead of just cycling them in and out. Otherwise, our home will just be one big toy box!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Holiday Updates
The kids are gearing up for Christmas! We put up a tree for the first time in five years, and Alexis got a huge kick out of helping decorate the tree. I got her a snowglobe ornament with her name on it, and she thought it was really cool that she got to hang the first ornament on the tree. We had to block Micah with the coffee table while we were doing it, and we have to block off the actual tree with an ottoman, but the kids still love it. We have few decorations otherwise, which is good because we don't really have a place to put stuff. However, we do have two stockings hanging from our bookshelves that we'll fill up with goodies for the kids. Our plan is to open presents with the four of us on Christmas Eve, probably in the morning.
We did celebrate Christmas in Greensboro a little early this year. We drove down there the weekend before Thanksgiving and had a great trip other than Micah not wanting to sleep the entiretime we were there. However, we still had lots of fun. Dad took Alexis out just the two of them, which was really cool. She got a unicorn pillow pet that she basically adores and sleeps with every night, and Micah got this racetrack toy with cars that slide down ramps. They actually bothhave fun with it, but it's been especially cool to watch Micah learn how to truly use it. Alex also helped decorate dad's tree in Greensboro, which she loved, and we got to see the Silers, which was great.
We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house again this year, and mom and Earl came up and we had a great, relaxed time. Most of what I made was desserts: red velvet cupcakes, cream cheese truffles, and black forest brownie pecan pie. I also made sweet potatoe casserole for lunch, and mom brought home-grown vegetables. We ordered a chicken and papusas from Guapo's and had a grandThanksgiving feast without too much work! Alexis really enjoyed being a part of things this year instead of just falling asleep on the couch. She especially enjoyed helping with the desserts, as evidenced by the massive amount of sprinkles on some of the truffles! It was nice to have leftovers but not too many leftovers.
December has been pretty busy. We've been hanging out with a lot of people, which has made life a bit hectic but really nice as well.The kids have been enjoying finaly hanging out ith other people again; it took us a long time for everyone to be healthy again. Yesterday was actually the first day that all four of us were able to be at church in a long time.
Alexisis really looking forward to Christmas and learning about the birth of Christ and giving presents and all of that. She is also learning that Santa isn't real. I know - we're THOSE parents, but I don't really see a reason to tell her that Santais anything other than a nice, fun story. And she likes Santa, so that's fun. She is going through a stage of everything being amazing or the depths of despair. Wait! Did I write about that alst time? Oh yeah... this stage is called BEING THREE! She is wonderfully expressive and loves to play jokes but has a HARD time when she doesn't get her way and can cry at the drop of a hat. She is, though, learning lots of new things and has a hugeinterest in the world around her. Andshetruly is articulate and funny. Yesterday her father taught her to say "The Christmas tree is an innocuous symbol of Christmas. It's not pagan anymore." Thsi cracked meup because it was basically the first thing she said to me when I came downstairs. She hasno clue what it means, of course, but it's pretty hysterical to hear.
Micah is talking up a storm. So far, as far as words, I can recall the following that he says: mommy, daddy, eye, nose, hi, ball, sit (his favorite), dog, cat, fish, bird, pig, duck, car, ma/pa (for Guapo), cup, and some other things that I can't think of right now. It's cool to hear him say all of these things, especially when Alexis started speaking so late. Each kid is different, though, right? Micah is especially stubborn and gets frustrated fairly easily, so that's something that can be a challenge to deal with. He doesn't respond to verbal discipline the way that Alexis did, but he's learning. He also finally sat still long enough for Jason to read him an actual book the other night. While he'll usually sit in your lap for good periods of time, he only wants to grab th ebook that you're reading from. (That's another favorite word: book.) He's starting to figure out puzzles - the wooden kind where you fit an animal into a space.
And the spinning. Oh my goodness the spinning. I think the boy would do it all day long if I let him. Other than saying "sit" over and over again so that you'll pick him up and put him on the couch, spinning is his favorite activity. (However, he can get ON the couch on his own now, which presents a whole new area of challenges.) He will spin until he falls downand then get abck up and spin again. Other favorite activities: pulling the dishtowels off of the stove in a powerful, control-hungry flourish, getting naked, trying to turn on Alexis's snowglobe ornament, sitting in your lap, and disupting mealtimes. Least favorite activities: being ignored, sleeping (this has been a problem the last few weeks), mommy leaving the room, not being picked up, being ignored... did I mention this boy likes his attention? :)
We did celebrate Christmas in Greensboro a little early this year. We drove down there the weekend before Thanksgiving and had a great trip other than Micah not wanting to sleep the entiretime we were there. However, we still had lots of fun. Dad took Alexis out just the two of them, which was really cool. She got a unicorn pillow pet that she basically adores and sleeps with every night, and Micah got this racetrack toy with cars that slide down ramps. They actually bothhave fun with it, but it's been especially cool to watch Micah learn how to truly use it. Alex also helped decorate dad's tree in Greensboro, which she loved, and we got to see the Silers, which was great.
We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house again this year, and mom and Earl came up and we had a great, relaxed time. Most of what I made was desserts: red velvet cupcakes, cream cheese truffles, and black forest brownie pecan pie. I also made sweet potatoe casserole for lunch, and mom brought home-grown vegetables. We ordered a chicken and papusas from Guapo's and had a grandThanksgiving feast without too much work! Alexis really enjoyed being a part of things this year instead of just falling asleep on the couch. She especially enjoyed helping with the desserts, as evidenced by the massive amount of sprinkles on some of the truffles! It was nice to have leftovers but not too many leftovers.
December has been pretty busy. We've been hanging out with a lot of people, which has made life a bit hectic but really nice as well.The kids have been enjoying finaly hanging out ith other people again; it took us a long time for everyone to be healthy again. Yesterday was actually the first day that all four of us were able to be at church in a long time.
Alexisis really looking forward to Christmas and learning about the birth of Christ and giving presents and all of that. She is also learning that Santa isn't real. I know - we're THOSE parents, but I don't really see a reason to tell her that Santais anything other than a nice, fun story. And she likes Santa, so that's fun. She is going through a stage of everything being amazing or the depths of despair. Wait! Did I write about that alst time? Oh yeah... this stage is called BEING THREE! She is wonderfully expressive and loves to play jokes but has a HARD time when she doesn't get her way and can cry at the drop of a hat. She is, though, learning lots of new things and has a hugeinterest in the world around her. Andshetruly is articulate and funny. Yesterday her father taught her to say "The Christmas tree is an innocuous symbol of Christmas. It's not pagan anymore." Thsi cracked meup because it was basically the first thing she said to me when I came downstairs. She hasno clue what it means, of course, but it's pretty hysterical to hear.
Micah is talking up a storm. So far, as far as words, I can recall the following that he says: mommy, daddy, eye, nose, hi, ball, sit (his favorite), dog, cat, fish, bird, pig, duck, car, ma/pa (for Guapo), cup, and some other things that I can't think of right now. It's cool to hear him say all of these things, especially when Alexis started speaking so late. Each kid is different, though, right? Micah is especially stubborn and gets frustrated fairly easily, so that's something that can be a challenge to deal with. He doesn't respond to verbal discipline the way that Alexis did, but he's learning. He also finally sat still long enough for Jason to read him an actual book the other night. While he'll usually sit in your lap for good periods of time, he only wants to grab th ebook that you're reading from. (That's another favorite word: book.) He's starting to figure out puzzles - the wooden kind where you fit an animal into a space.
And the spinning. Oh my goodness the spinning. I think the boy would do it all day long if I let him. Other than saying "sit" over and over again so that you'll pick him up and put him on the couch, spinning is his favorite activity. (However, he can get ON the couch on his own now, which presents a whole new area of challenges.) He will spin until he falls downand then get abck up and spin again. Other favorite activities: pulling the dishtowels off of the stove in a powerful, control-hungry flourish, getting naked, trying to turn on Alexis's snowglobe ornament, sitting in your lap, and disupting mealtimes. Least favorite activities: being ignored, sleeping (this has been a problem the last few weeks), mommy leaving the room, not being picked up, being ignored... did I mention this boy likes his attention? :)
Monday, October 18, 2010
Micah
At 15 months he is 22 pounds and 2 ounces. He is also 30 and 1/4 inches long. He's doing fine. He has a bit of an infection that we just thought was allergies the past few days, but he's on some medicine to help knock it out before it becomes anything bigger. He also has a hemorrhoid; I didn't even know kids could get those, but I'm glad I asked about it. It could very well go away on it's own, or we may have to get it removed at some point, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him too much. Overall, though, he's doing just fine.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Homecoming
Jason was in Peru and Ecuador for the past week and a half. Alexis wasn't very happy about this and was missing him a lot during this trip, understandably so. She was a little mad at him I think because she (pretty adamantly) refused to talk to him on the phone. When we got home from picking him up, Jason put her to bed and she rolled ovver like she would go instantly to sleep. However, she then popped up quickly and said "Now, don't go to work EVER AGAIN." And rolled back over to go to sleep. I think Jason's heart melted right then. Cutest thing ever.
Jason is home, and we had a nice day with the kids yesterday since he was off. We were going to go to a festival, but it decided to rain all day and we stayed home. On Saturday (if our car is fixed... again...) we're going to go out and celebrate our anniverary. Seven years. Hooray!
Micah has a 15 month appointment on Monday, and I imagine his doctor will tell him he is completely fine. He still never walks anywhere, only runs. My favorite is when he gets some speed up and is jogging along making little grunting happy noises and his fat cheeks start bouncing up and down. All he wants all of the time right now is to be up on a couch or a chair. Literally. He's trying to climb into my lap right now as I type. The problem is that he hasn't yet figured out how to get up on his own. Hopefully that's coming soon, but I'm glad it didn't come earlier like it did with Alexis. I think if he tumbles off a couch it's not really going to hurt him at all right now, which is what I always worried about with her. He'll sit on the couch, though, and if you have a few picture books, he'll usually be content for a LONG time just pointing out pictures and having you say the name of the picture and then trying to repeat it. You can really see his vocabulary beginning to take off and he readily knows words like milk and banana and will point or go to where they are when he wants them. He's also starting to point out some pictures like clock and pig, which is very cool to see. And, of course, He adores his Guapo, which is his best friend elephant. He also enjoys playing chase with his sister. It was amazing the other day to hear them upstairs, playing in their rooms, and laughing for over five minutes straight while they were doing this.
Alexis is turning into a super cleaner upper in the evening. She has the responsibility of cleaning up the basement and her room, and (most of the time now) she does a really good job. She gets incredibly excited about us seeing what a good job she does and thrusts her head into the bed or sofa until we come and see her handiwork. Her favorite thing right now is making crafts, and our dining room table is usually littered with scraps of paper and crayons and stickers and glue and foam and yard for her to create something special. (She has also started saying, around 7:30 at night when we go to bed), that she REALLY wants to do something SPECIAL tonight. It's pretty funny. She is developing a good vocabulary and busted out with the word purchase a few days ago at the store, and a woman overheard her and laughed because she thought it was very impressive to hear that from a kid her age. That made me feel good. A few months ago I got the most recent Ramona Quimby book at a used bookstore, and she saw it in her closet and claimed it as her favorite book. We've actually been reading it at night, and she will begin chapter 3 tonight. We'll see how long this lasts, but it's pretty cool that she's listening. I sometimes have to convince herto listen a bit, but she always enjoys it, especially when she can delay bedtime! The one thing I'm really trying to work on with her is consequences. She has a hard time focusing on things, so I'm trying to learn to appropriately enforce her decisions. For example, if she says she wants to go outside and play sidewalk chalk and then she plays for about twenty seconds and then stops, we'll go inside. Last night when I told her she could have a cookie after she did a good job of cleaning up and she didn't do a good job, she didn't get a cookie. Hopefully she's learning from these things.
Overall, the kids are doing really well. Alexis prays for her new cousin, Elizabeth, every night, along with her parents. Elizabeth was born at 27 weeks and just over two pounds and is quite a feisty one I've heard. She had surgery to correct some birth defects earlier in the week, and she'll have to have more done at 3-6 months. It looks like she'll be in the hospital for 6-9 months at this point, which is incredibly difficult. We pray for them. We also pray for Earl every night, and mom, as he goes through shemo treatments. Jason has today off, too, so we have a long, four-day weekend to enjoy together since he was gone. Hooray for family time and relaxing!
Jason is home, and we had a nice day with the kids yesterday since he was off. We were going to go to a festival, but it decided to rain all day and we stayed home. On Saturday (if our car is fixed... again...) we're going to go out and celebrate our anniverary. Seven years. Hooray!
Micah has a 15 month appointment on Monday, and I imagine his doctor will tell him he is completely fine. He still never walks anywhere, only runs. My favorite is when he gets some speed up and is jogging along making little grunting happy noises and his fat cheeks start bouncing up and down. All he wants all of the time right now is to be up on a couch or a chair. Literally. He's trying to climb into my lap right now as I type. The problem is that he hasn't yet figured out how to get up on his own. Hopefully that's coming soon, but I'm glad it didn't come earlier like it did with Alexis. I think if he tumbles off a couch it's not really going to hurt him at all right now, which is what I always worried about with her. He'll sit on the couch, though, and if you have a few picture books, he'll usually be content for a LONG time just pointing out pictures and having you say the name of the picture and then trying to repeat it. You can really see his vocabulary beginning to take off and he readily knows words like milk and banana and will point or go to where they are when he wants them. He's also starting to point out some pictures like clock and pig, which is very cool to see. And, of course, He adores his Guapo, which is his best friend elephant. He also enjoys playing chase with his sister. It was amazing the other day to hear them upstairs, playing in their rooms, and laughing for over five minutes straight while they were doing this.
Alexis is turning into a super cleaner upper in the evening. She has the responsibility of cleaning up the basement and her room, and (most of the time now) she does a really good job. She gets incredibly excited about us seeing what a good job she does and thrusts her head into the bed or sofa until we come and see her handiwork. Her favorite thing right now is making crafts, and our dining room table is usually littered with scraps of paper and crayons and stickers and glue and foam and yard for her to create something special. (She has also started saying, around 7:30 at night when we go to bed), that she REALLY wants to do something SPECIAL tonight. It's pretty funny. She is developing a good vocabulary and busted out with the word purchase a few days ago at the store, and a woman overheard her and laughed because she thought it was very impressive to hear that from a kid her age. That made me feel good. A few months ago I got the most recent Ramona Quimby book at a used bookstore, and she saw it in her closet and claimed it as her favorite book. We've actually been reading it at night, and she will begin chapter 3 tonight. We'll see how long this lasts, but it's pretty cool that she's listening. I sometimes have to convince herto listen a bit, but she always enjoys it, especially when she can delay bedtime! The one thing I'm really trying to work on with her is consequences. She has a hard time focusing on things, so I'm trying to learn to appropriately enforce her decisions. For example, if she says she wants to go outside and play sidewalk chalk and then she plays for about twenty seconds and then stops, we'll go inside. Last night when I told her she could have a cookie after she did a good job of cleaning up and she didn't do a good job, she didn't get a cookie. Hopefully she's learning from these things.
Overall, the kids are doing really well. Alexis prays for her new cousin, Elizabeth, every night, along with her parents. Elizabeth was born at 27 weeks and just over two pounds and is quite a feisty one I've heard. She had surgery to correct some birth defects earlier in the week, and she'll have to have more done at 3-6 months. It looks like she'll be in the hospital for 6-9 months at this point, which is incredibly difficult. We pray for them. We also pray for Earl every night, and mom, as he goes through shemo treatments. Jason has today off, too, so we have a long, four-day weekend to enjoy together since he was gone. Hooray for family time and relaxing!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Alexis
Micah started saying Alex's name yesterday afternoon. It sounds like a two-syllable "ice" amnd is really adorable because he was doing it over and over and over again. She was the first person in his room this morning, and I heard him say her name when she walked in. It's pretty stinkin' cute.
His favorite thing right now is to run to someone, turn around, and sit in an available lap. I don't know what it is about this that he likes, but it's one of his favorite games. And I'm definitely not complaining that he wants to be close! I'll take all the cuddles I can get since he's always so on the go!
His favorite thing right now is to run to someone, turn around, and sit in an available lap. I don't know what it is about this that he likes, but it's one of his favorite games. And I'm definitely not complaining that he wants to be close! I'll take all the cuddles I can get since he's always so on the go!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Language Explosion
Micah is experiencing a language explosion! He is finally starting to identify objects more readily. He'll go get his ball, a book, his Guapo (elephant), Maardvark, and even his cup sometimes. He'll also say "ba" for ball, and we were just reading a book that had a picture of a car on it and he looked at it and said "ca" without any prompting. It was so cool! He's going to talk more quickly than Alex did, which will be a little weird for me simply because I'm not used to that. Let the fun begin!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
A Disgrace
I haven't updated since Micah's birthday. SHAME ON ME!
In August we went on a wonderful first family vacation. We were lent the use of a house in Wintergreen, and it was amazing! It was this huge house that slept fourteen people (easily), so we closed off the basement and used the top two floors. There was a huge, open kitchen/dining/living area, and there was even a little playroom for the kids to use! Jason and I slept in a loft bedroom, and Alexis slept in a room that had a forest mural painted all over the walls. She loved it and slept in a regular bed for the first time. She did fall out on night, but she was fine the other nights. While we were there we took the kids to the pool, to the lake (they played in the sand and had lots of fun digging), to a small museum where Alexis got to "dig" for fossils, went hiking, watched movies and tv, and generally just had a very relaxing time together, which was the whole point. Alexis keeps talking about going on vacation, so I think it was an exciting time for her. I thikn of all things she was most excited about her bug net! She caught a number of cool bugs in it.
We've been spending quite a bit of time lately fixing some things around the house. We still have a number of things to do outside that aren't completed yet, but Alexis is very willing to "help" with anything and everything! It's hard to believe how big she is getting. We've been going over letters in a workbook that she has, so she's starting to pick up a little bit on what sounds make what noises and what words start with what letters. We've only done a handful, but I think she's doing a reasonable job of learning. She has also recently gotten really good at coloring. It was like something clicked inside of her, and now she can color in the lines and WANTS to color in the lines. She is still taking a nap in the afternoons, but we'll see how much longer that lasts. She also went to camp in the mornings for two weeks this summer, and she LOVED it! The second week was at the park, and they have a water playground there, so she went swimming every day. The first day she came out saying "I went down the slide all by myself and didn't swallow any water!" She is also picking out her own clothes most days and is really helpful when we go out; she is very cooperative, rarely cranky, and can get in and out of the car by herself, which is really nice. She does go back and forth with pouting or being really upset when she doesn't get her way, but we're working on that. She has actually really responded to time outs. She doesn't like to go and udnerstands why she is there, and I think it has clicked with her as a form of discipline.
Micah isn't a baby anymore. He is definitely a toddler, or whatever you call the next stage. He never crawls anywhere and rarely walks; he just wants to run. He has started to play jokes on people, like taking a toy and pretending to give it to me but then snatching it away. That's one of his favorites. He also will sometimes play peek-a-boo and put his hands over his eyes and gets very excited when he takes them off. AND he'll hide under tables and act like he told a really funny joke. It's your basic non-baby adorableness. He is really expressive, just like Alexis was, but whereas by this time Alexis was starting to identify some objects, he has no interest in that. However, he'll repeat a lot of sounds randomly, so it sounds like he's trying to say things like "ice" and "bread" and other things. He really only says mommy, though, even though he is incredibly vocal, much more than she was. I guess that's prone to happen when you have a big sister jabbering at you all day. He is also incredibly attached to his best friend, his elephant who is now named Guapo. He adores this thing. He especially likes to plunge his face into it. However, he likes to plunge his face into everything and will run to you with an open mouth and plant his face into your chest or face or neck with a big hug. My favorote is when he does this to Alexis and he gets her right in the stomach! She thinks it's really funny. I think that Micah has given up his morning nap, which makes me sad, but that's what kids do, right? He still sleeps really well at night; I don't think I've had to get up in the middle of the night for weeks. (The bigger problem with that was with Alexis for a while. First it was spiders, and then it was whales. She has worked through it mostly, and tells us that when she has a bad dream she prays to God to keep her safe and then goes back to sleep. Oh, and she has also started making up these crazy elaborate, incomprehensible stories that she tells us at night. It's only been a few so far, but I imagine more are coming.) Micah has finally gotten off the bottle totally and now only used sippy cups. It was a process, but he's all good now. He also has started to color a little bit, and by this I mean he'll pick up a crayon and eat some and then color a little on the paper, and then try desperately to color on the floor, and then eat some more crayon. (By eat I mean try to eat... lol)
Overall they are both doing great. I'm trying to integrate their learning together a lot by identifying objects for Micah and then asking Alexis what letter the word starts with. Has anyone else ever noticed that a lot of kid words start with the letter B? Alex is really good with that letter.
In August we went on a wonderful first family vacation. We were lent the use of a house in Wintergreen, and it was amazing! It was this huge house that slept fourteen people (easily), so we closed off the basement and used the top two floors. There was a huge, open kitchen/dining/living area, and there was even a little playroom for the kids to use! Jason and I slept in a loft bedroom, and Alexis slept in a room that had a forest mural painted all over the walls. She loved it and slept in a regular bed for the first time. She did fall out on night, but she was fine the other nights. While we were there we took the kids to the pool, to the lake (they played in the sand and had lots of fun digging), to a small museum where Alexis got to "dig" for fossils, went hiking, watched movies and tv, and generally just had a very relaxing time together, which was the whole point. Alexis keeps talking about going on vacation, so I think it was an exciting time for her. I thikn of all things she was most excited about her bug net! She caught a number of cool bugs in it.
We've been spending quite a bit of time lately fixing some things around the house. We still have a number of things to do outside that aren't completed yet, but Alexis is very willing to "help" with anything and everything! It's hard to believe how big she is getting. We've been going over letters in a workbook that she has, so she's starting to pick up a little bit on what sounds make what noises and what words start with what letters. We've only done a handful, but I think she's doing a reasonable job of learning. She has also recently gotten really good at coloring. It was like something clicked inside of her, and now she can color in the lines and WANTS to color in the lines. She is still taking a nap in the afternoons, but we'll see how much longer that lasts. She also went to camp in the mornings for two weeks this summer, and she LOVED it! The second week was at the park, and they have a water playground there, so she went swimming every day. The first day she came out saying "I went down the slide all by myself and didn't swallow any water!" She is also picking out her own clothes most days and is really helpful when we go out; she is very cooperative, rarely cranky, and can get in and out of the car by herself, which is really nice. She does go back and forth with pouting or being really upset when she doesn't get her way, but we're working on that. She has actually really responded to time outs. She doesn't like to go and udnerstands why she is there, and I think it has clicked with her as a form of discipline.
Micah isn't a baby anymore. He is definitely a toddler, or whatever you call the next stage. He never crawls anywhere and rarely walks; he just wants to run. He has started to play jokes on people, like taking a toy and pretending to give it to me but then snatching it away. That's one of his favorites. He also will sometimes play peek-a-boo and put his hands over his eyes and gets very excited when he takes them off. AND he'll hide under tables and act like he told a really funny joke. It's your basic non-baby adorableness. He is really expressive, just like Alexis was, but whereas by this time Alexis was starting to identify some objects, he has no interest in that. However, he'll repeat a lot of sounds randomly, so it sounds like he's trying to say things like "ice" and "bread" and other things. He really only says mommy, though, even though he is incredibly vocal, much more than she was. I guess that's prone to happen when you have a big sister jabbering at you all day. He is also incredibly attached to his best friend, his elephant who is now named Guapo. He adores this thing. He especially likes to plunge his face into it. However, he likes to plunge his face into everything and will run to you with an open mouth and plant his face into your chest or face or neck with a big hug. My favorote is when he does this to Alexis and he gets her right in the stomach! She thinks it's really funny. I think that Micah has given up his morning nap, which makes me sad, but that's what kids do, right? He still sleeps really well at night; I don't think I've had to get up in the middle of the night for weeks. (The bigger problem with that was with Alexis for a while. First it was spiders, and then it was whales. She has worked through it mostly, and tells us that when she has a bad dream she prays to God to keep her safe and then goes back to sleep. Oh, and she has also started making up these crazy elaborate, incomprehensible stories that she tells us at night. It's only been a few so far, but I imagine more are coming.) Micah has finally gotten off the bottle totally and now only used sippy cups. It was a process, but he's all good now. He also has started to color a little bit, and by this I mean he'll pick up a crayon and eat some and then color a little on the paper, and then try desperately to color on the floor, and then eat some more crayon. (By eat I mean try to eat... lol)
Overall they are both doing great. I'm trying to integrate their learning together a lot by identifying objects for Micah and then asking Alexis what letter the word starts with. Has anyone else ever noticed that a lot of kid words start with the letter B? Alex is really good with that letter.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
"I like Micah. He's the favorite friend ever!"
(while holding Jason's face in her hands and with a tone of gentle chastisement) "Look, don't chew maardvark;s nose, okay?"
"We eatt the rocks so that America can be free."
These are just a few of the most recetn ridiculously cute things that Alexis has said. She's such a hoot! He favorite thing right now is jumping EVERYWHERE! She can really launch herself off of the couch in the basement; it's pretty impressive. She's been in camp this week, and even though when we ask her if she likes it she says no sometimes, every day when I pick her up she's really excited about what she did that day. She told me it was the best party ever yesterday! She's the youngest kid there, but that's probably good for her. She went swimming the first day, but she swallowed some water and had to sit out for the rest of the time. They haven't gone back since, but I think it was probably good for her to have something a little scary in the water so that she gets a healthy fear of water. We went swimming last Saturday, and she kept wanting to insist that she coudl do it all by herself. It's great to see the independence, but with something like water, it's a little scary, too. We got her a life vest, so hopefully that will help the next time she goes swimming.
Micah is doing great. He walks everywhere and has absolutely no desire to be held at all. Sorry to everyone who wants to cuddle with him!He also loves to walk around wih objects in his hands, especially if thery're exceptionally large.I'm not sure why he likes that unless it's just for the challenge of it, but it's his chosen mode oftransportation. It's pretty funny to watch him walk around with a big red ball of penguin that it as big as he is! He's still not really talking, but he jabbers a lot. We've been working on identifying objects a little. Alexis picked up on a numbof things by the time she was about 14 months, so we'll see wherehe is in a few months. He also had his one year checkup today. He has to go back for a few more shots in a week (because he's not officially one yet), but the doctor said he looks great! He seemed pretty please to watch him walking around. Micah now weighs 19 pounds and 6 ounces, and he is 28" long. I think he's as tall as Alex was when we moved into the house, which was when she was 1 1/2. We also switched him to a front-fcing car seat a few days ago, which has been a really good move. He was starting to get pretty unhappy about hte other seat, where he had to recline, so now he has a good view of everything. I can't believe he'll be one on Saturday!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Officially Walking
Micah is officially walking. He took his first step two weeks ago (May 30?), and yesterday he took four steps at a time a number of times. Before bed he had done seven or eight. This morning before church he did 14, and then this afternoon he's just decided that he "gets" it and is walking. He's still pretty wobbly, but he'll do it on his own now without any convincing. I think he thinks it's pretty cool that he can do this. I think Alex did the exact same thing aroung the same time. Anyway, he's officially walking. While I'm sure that I'll continue to count sometimes, I'm not going to keep track of it anymore. He's going to be a little firecracker by the time he's one.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Alexis' Birthday
First, I'm trying out some new features for easy picture and video upload to Blogger, so hopefully I'll have more pics and videos up. I'm also diving into the HUGE task of trying to organize our pictures. There are a lot of them. I think I got through 2010 yesterday, and now it's time to tackle 2009. Yikes.
Alxis is now THREE!!! She had a very nice birthday. On Wednesday she opened up our presents and some other presents from family, and she had a blast. We put a happy birthday sign on the curtain rod and a bunch of balloons on her chair while we opened presents. We had hot dogs for dinner, and after we opened presents we went out to Coldstone Creamery so that she could get her first free birthday ice cream. It was a nice birthday. The other day we finally took the balloons off of her chair, and she discovered a "pocket" next to our black chair that has a floor vent. When she put the balloons there and the air came on, they started bouncing all over while staying in that same little pocket. She calls it a balloon party and keeps inviting us to her balloon party. It's so cute!
She went to the doctor on Thursday and is 34 3/4" tall and weighs 28.5 pounds. What was cool is that her doctor remarked on her vocabulary multiple times and was pretty impressed. He said that she did a great job following directions (he asked her to push his hands and pull him towards her and stuff like that), and he asked if I sent her to preschool and I said no, and he seemed pretty surprised at that and said that I was doing a good job at home. WHen we were leaving he said that she has a pretty amazing vocabulary and called her a smart cookie. Yes, I'm bragging a little bit about my girl. I try really hard not to be too wrapped up in things like that, but when her doctor says that she's smart, that feels pretty good.
She is still doing a good job with potty training. We've had a few accidents here and there, but for the most part she's good with it. She was still sleeping with a gate up because she's a wanderer, but now that she's three I'm starting to leave the gate off and a nightlight on. I don't want her wandering around in the middle of the night, especially with stairs, but I also want her to have ready access to the toilet if she needs it. I'm also trying to teach her not to come out of her room to get me until there's a 7 in the first number slot on the clock. We'll see how it goes. She did a great job this morning and went to the potty before she ever came to get me. Hooray! (The kids also slept a little later because it's raining and darker than normal outside.)
And tragically, she cried when Jason left yesterday. She has an understanding that he's going to be gone for a while and keep saying things like "Don't go to Guatemalee" and curling up in his lap and asking him to stay. When he got out of the car at the airport, she started to cry, and it was so sad and cute at the same time. Jason loved it and hated it all at the same time, which I'm sure you can understand.
Micah is downstairs playing right now, which is wonderful because he got sick on Saturday. It was either some 24 hour thing or teething, but Saturday he was running a pretty high temperature and I slept on the floor next to him that night (meaning I didn't sleep much, but that's what you do, right?). His temperature was down a little bit yesterday morning, which was good because if it had been the same I would have called the doctor. He was still pretty unhappy yesterday, but last night he started to feel better and wasn't nearly as warm, and he slept for over twelve hours last night and wok eup happy and feverless this morning. Hooray! I'll still keep an eye on him for a day or two, but hopefully he's all good now and isn't making Alexis sick.
Micah has been standing on his own sometimes for about five seconds at a time, and he understands putting one foot in front of another for walking, but I think it will still be a little bit of time before he does that. I'll be interested in seeing whether he does it before he's one.
My birthday was also pretty great. I came downstairs early to make a bottle for Micah and was confused because there was stuff out for pancakes... Jason surprised me by taking the day off of work! It was pretty great. He's a keeper.
Alxis is now THREE!!! She had a very nice birthday. On Wednesday she opened up our presents and some other presents from family, and she had a blast. We put a happy birthday sign on the curtain rod and a bunch of balloons on her chair while we opened presents. We had hot dogs for dinner, and after we opened presents we went out to Coldstone Creamery so that she could get her first free birthday ice cream. It was a nice birthday. The other day we finally took the balloons off of her chair, and she discovered a "pocket" next to our black chair that has a floor vent. When she put the balloons there and the air came on, they started bouncing all over while staying in that same little pocket. She calls it a balloon party and keeps inviting us to her balloon party. It's so cute!
She went to the doctor on Thursday and is 34 3/4" tall and weighs 28.5 pounds. What was cool is that her doctor remarked on her vocabulary multiple times and was pretty impressed. He said that she did a great job following directions (he asked her to push his hands and pull him towards her and stuff like that), and he asked if I sent her to preschool and I said no, and he seemed pretty surprised at that and said that I was doing a good job at home. WHen we were leaving he said that she has a pretty amazing vocabulary and called her a smart cookie. Yes, I'm bragging a little bit about my girl. I try really hard not to be too wrapped up in things like that, but when her doctor says that she's smart, that feels pretty good.
She is still doing a good job with potty training. We've had a few accidents here and there, but for the most part she's good with it. She was still sleeping with a gate up because she's a wanderer, but now that she's three I'm starting to leave the gate off and a nightlight on. I don't want her wandering around in the middle of the night, especially with stairs, but I also want her to have ready access to the toilet if she needs it. I'm also trying to teach her not to come out of her room to get me until there's a 7 in the first number slot on the clock. We'll see how it goes. She did a great job this morning and went to the potty before she ever came to get me. Hooray! (The kids also slept a little later because it's raining and darker than normal outside.)
And tragically, she cried when Jason left yesterday. She has an understanding that he's going to be gone for a while and keep saying things like "Don't go to Guatemalee" and curling up in his lap and asking him to stay. When he got out of the car at the airport, she started to cry, and it was so sad and cute at the same time. Jason loved it and hated it all at the same time, which I'm sure you can understand.
Micah is downstairs playing right now, which is wonderful because he got sick on Saturday. It was either some 24 hour thing or teething, but Saturday he was running a pretty high temperature and I slept on the floor next to him that night (meaning I didn't sleep much, but that's what you do, right?). His temperature was down a little bit yesterday morning, which was good because if it had been the same I would have called the doctor. He was still pretty unhappy yesterday, but last night he started to feel better and wasn't nearly as warm, and he slept for over twelve hours last night and wok eup happy and feverless this morning. Hooray! I'll still keep an eye on him for a day or two, but hopefully he's all good now and isn't making Alexis sick.
Micah has been standing on his own sometimes for about five seconds at a time, and he understands putting one foot in front of another for walking, but I think it will still be a little bit of time before he does that. I'll be interested in seeing whether he does it before he's one.
My birthday was also pretty great. I came downstairs early to make a bottle for Micah and was confused because there was stuff out for pancakes... Jason surprised me by taking the day off of work! It was pretty great. He's a keeper.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Almost Three
I can't believe that Alexis is going to be three next week. It's a bit bewildering. She remains, however, the cutest little girl in the universe! (I'm not biased at all. I promise.) Last night when we were getting ready for bed, she decided she wanted to build a nest, so she took all of her friends and piled them around her in a corner of her bed. She did the same when she went to sleep. When Jason asked if she was a bird, she responded by saying, "tweet tweet." It cracked me up so much because I have no clue where it came from!
She is having her drama queen moments (or days), but I msotly try to be compassionate and ignore her meltdowns, all at the same time. That sounds contradictory, doesn't it? She has amazing days, and then she'll have a day where she wakes up and just can't deal with anything, especially if I have other things I need to accomplish. However, she's learning to handle herself, which is good. She also, for the most part, adores Micah. For some reason she doesn't like to play with him in the basement much, but they've started having their own special time after lunch before they both take a nap. They hang out in his room and have a blast, just the two of them. Micah loves her; she adores him except when he's trying to grab her stuff.
Micah continues to do more tricks. He is so incredibly mobile now and shoots up the stairs, rarely faltering. I definitely still stay behind hi in case he does, but it takes him about a minute to get from the basement to the kitchen. He also started to try and stand a few days ago. He hasn't done it much, but he'll occasionally let go for a few seconds and wobble a bit on his legs until he falls on his butt. He'll even sometimes walk towards me if I'm holding his hand; he understand the whole putting one foot in front of the other thing, which is cool to see. I don't know if he'll walk as early as Alexis did, but he might. (She started walking around 11 months I think.)
She is having her drama queen moments (or days), but I msotly try to be compassionate and ignore her meltdowns, all at the same time. That sounds contradictory, doesn't it? She has amazing days, and then she'll have a day where she wakes up and just can't deal with anything, especially if I have other things I need to accomplish. However, she's learning to handle herself, which is good. She also, for the most part, adores Micah. For some reason she doesn't like to play with him in the basement much, but they've started having their own special time after lunch before they both take a nap. They hang out in his room and have a blast, just the two of them. Micah loves her; she adores him except when he's trying to grab her stuff.
Micah continues to do more tricks. He is so incredibly mobile now and shoots up the stairs, rarely faltering. I definitely still stay behind hi in case he does, but it takes him about a minute to get from the basement to the kitchen. He also started to try and stand a few days ago. He hasn't done it much, but he'll occasionally let go for a few seconds and wobble a bit on his legs until he falls on his butt. He'll even sometimes walk towards me if I'm holding his hand; he understand the whole putting one foot in front of the other thing, which is cool to see. I don't know if he'll walk as early as Alexis did, but he might. (She started walking around 11 months I think.)
Monday, April 19, 2010
9 Months
Micah is doing great. 18 pounds, 9 ounces. 27 3/4" (I think - maybe it was 26 3/4?), and basically a completely average size. He is walking around by holding onto things and generally just enjoying life.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
All Sorts of Milestones
Over the weekend, MIcah decided that he wanted to push forward with his development. He started to crawl with his belly off the floor, he started creeping a little but, which is holding on to something like a couch and moving his feet along while he's standing, and he began to hit toys together to make a noise. It was pretty cool to watch him start to do all of those things, especially the crawling. In the past few days, too, Micah has started to babble SO MUCH! It's hysterical to listen to him trying to communicate. Alexis was always so quiet, so I wonder if he'll talk sooner than she did, especiallly since she's around to talk to him. We'll see. He's been pulling up without any problems whatsoever for a few weeks now; he's getting so big, and he's going to be more like a little kid than a baby very, very soon.
Alexis also had her first Easter egg hunt over the weekend, and she loved it! We hid eggs around Jason's parents' yard, and after we showed her how to do it, she just took off! There were one or two Reeses' Pieces in the eggs, and she wanted to eat them all as we went along. We had to convince her to wait so that she wasn't eating so much candy. She finished the first hunt really quickly, so she went back inside and Jason and I hid the eggs again, this time so that they were a little more difficult to find. She had a blast with it!
Both of the kids are doing well. Micah is finally taking a bottle without any problems, which is wonderful! He continues to be a really happy kid and does a great job of sleeping through the night. Alexis has enjoyed going to storytime at the library, and it's wonderful that the weather is so much nicer now so that she can play outside more.
Alexis also had her first Easter egg hunt over the weekend, and she loved it! We hid eggs around Jason's parents' yard, and after we showed her how to do it, she just took off! There were one or two Reeses' Pieces in the eggs, and she wanted to eat them all as we went along. We had to convince her to wait so that she wasn't eating so much candy. She finished the first hunt really quickly, so she went back inside and Jason and I hid the eggs again, this time so that they were a little more difficult to find. She had a blast with it!
Both of the kids are doing well. Micah is finally taking a bottle without any problems, which is wonderful! He continues to be a really happy kid and does a great job of sleeping through the night. Alexis has enjoyed going to storytime at the library, and it's wonderful that the weather is so much nicer now so that she can play outside more.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Pulling Up
Micah is now pulling up on things. A few weeks he started to truly crawl. One day he was pushing with his legs, and then a few days later he was off and going. He's gotten really fast, although he still crawls with his stomach on the floor. Last week he started to pull up on some things. I caught him standing next to the toy box downstairs, and after I caught him with his two front arms on the bottom step, I knew I had to start putting the gate up downstairs. Last night I got really excited because I actually found him standing in his crib! It's very cool, but I also knew it meant that it would be a while before he could figure out how to get down again. Just as I thought, he woke up really early this morning and was crying because he was standing up and couldn't figure out how to get down again! It was cute but sad, and he definitely slept a lot less this morning because of it. However, overall he has been sleeping wonderfully, even when we spent two nights away this past weekend. He woke up once during the night at mom and Earl's, and he woke up a number of times at Nanny and Papaw's house, but a lot of that was because of heavy thunderstorms I think. I never actually got up to get him, though, so it's great that he'll sleep through the night when away from home.
He has been on a pretty regular schedule for a few weeks ago, which is nice. He usually gets up around 7:00 and eats some. He was nursing, but we're now weaning him from the morning feeding and putting him on a bottle. He's actually doing a much better job with the bottle now, which makes me really happy. I'm hoping that in a few days he won't even hesitate to use the bottle; we've been doing the morning bottle for about a week now, and he's had a few bad days and a few perfect days. This morning was a great day, hooray! Okay, so after he drinks, he'll usually eat some cereal around 8:00 or so and then go down for a nap around 8:30 or so. Then he'll get up, play some, and have some fruits or veggies around 11:00, play some more, and then maybe have some more solid food and nurse some. He then usually goes down for a big nap in the early afternoon, and it's especially nice when I can get both of them napping at the same time. He'll wake up, play for a while, eat some more fruits or veggies around 4:00, play some more, have a short nap around 5:30, eat some cereal around 6:00, and then go to bed about 7:30. I'll usually then wake him up about 8:30 to nurse again, but I'm hoping to be able to start giving him his last nursing time a little earlier so that I can just put him to bed after that. he's also started to eat little puffs, which he loves! It's really entertaining for him, and Alex loves to give them to him.
He is very mobile, and Alexis loves it. Most of the time... :)
He has been on a pretty regular schedule for a few weeks ago, which is nice. He usually gets up around 7:00 and eats some. He was nursing, but we're now weaning him from the morning feeding and putting him on a bottle. He's actually doing a much better job with the bottle now, which makes me really happy. I'm hoping that in a few days he won't even hesitate to use the bottle; we've been doing the morning bottle for about a week now, and he's had a few bad days and a few perfect days. This morning was a great day, hooray! Okay, so after he drinks, he'll usually eat some cereal around 8:00 or so and then go down for a nap around 8:30 or so. Then he'll get up, play some, and have some fruits or veggies around 11:00, play some more, and then maybe have some more solid food and nurse some. He then usually goes down for a big nap in the early afternoon, and it's especially nice when I can get both of them napping at the same time. He'll wake up, play for a while, eat some more fruits or veggies around 4:00, play some more, have a short nap around 5:30, eat some cereal around 6:00, and then go to bed about 7:30. I'll usually then wake him up about 8:30 to nurse again, but I'm hoping to be able to start giving him his last nursing time a little earlier so that I can just put him to bed after that. he's also started to eat little puffs, which he loves! It's really entertaining for him, and Alex loves to give them to him.
He is very mobile, and Alexis loves it. Most of the time... :)
Friday, February 5, 2010
Update on the Kids
Wow. I'm sorry it's been so long!
First, Micah. He is doing great! Over the holidays we weren't able to do the whole "crying it out" thing for a number of reasons like sickness or travel. However, in January when we were going to be home for a while and everyone was feeling good, we took a few nights to let him cry when he woke up at night. He was pretty textbook about it; he cried for about forty-five minutes the first night, then about thirty, then about fifteen, and now he almost never wakes up. (He's been having some cold/allergy problems, and things are always different then...) Typically, though, we put him down around 7:30 at night, and then I wake him up at 9:00 and fee him again before I go to bed. Then he sleeps through the night! I can usually hear him stirring a little before 7:00, but he entertains himself for a while. Alexis will also usually wake up around the same time and entertain herself for a little while, so most days I don't have to get up until sometime between 7:00 and 7:30. It's been a HUGE difference in my life to get a full night of sleep!
Micah continues to be a really relaxed kid. He almost never cries without a very specific reason, and of course, like most babies, he's all smiles these days! He started to sit up right at six months, and after two weeks he likes to spend a huge part of his day sitting up and playing with his toys. The other day he started to do a "mini-crawl" with his little legs pushing his body along. It wasn't quite a real crawl, but I think he's going to start doing that soon. He's getting so big! It's funny to watch him do the swimming motion on his stomach, with his arms and legs flailing like he can get somewhere. Yesterday he got up on his hands and knees for the first time, which was really cool to see. Because of all of this, the bald patch on the back of his head is starting to go away, but he still has a glorious mohawk.
He's been battling a cold and allergies on and off since Christmas, but he's been pratty happy almost the entire time and doesn't get too upset unless his nose is being sunctioned a lot or he has some sort of bad coughing fit. He loves to look around at everything and gets really determined to get one of his toys; this is what made him do the mini-crawl before. It's so cool to watch him want something and then go get it! Even though he can't quite crawl, he's amazing at turning his body and rolling and getting to where he wants to be using that method. He likes to grab at the loops on the rug and just began to to enjoy playing peek-a-boo.
He loves eating solid foods and usually has two servings of cereal and 2-3 jars of fruits or veggies each day. He's still nursing exclusively, but I'm trying to give him a sippy cup a lot so that he can get used to drinking from that. He hasn't really gotten it yet, but that's okay. He'll figure it out at some point. No teeth yet, either. His doctor thought he's get some by the time he's about seven months, but he thought that he would have teeth around four months, too. Alexis didn't get teeth until pretty far after her first birthday, and he might be the same.
Alexis is a little ball of fury. I can't believe how grown-up she's getting. The other day in the car on the way home from the train, she just started talking about her day and it was like a monologue! Her language skills are getting really great. She's also around kids more than she used to be. I started going to a MOPS group, and she plays with other kids in a class. Micah is also watched, which is nice for me because I get a two hour break from my kids every other week. :) She ALWAYS wants to play, which is a bit exhausting at times, but we have lots of fun. She's also trying to push boundaries and see how far she can go with things, but I think she's learning that we don't listen to whining and don't allow tantrums. Hopefully she still feels free to express her feelings while at the same time learning how to express them appropriately, but that's a difficult thing for kids. She has a little bedtime routine now and always wants to do three different things before going to bed: I Got You (the game where Jason sits in the middle and she runs in a circle around him saying, "I got you" over and over), rolling, and somersaults. Then she gets into bed and we read a book to her, and then she reads a few pages to us. About a week ago I think she started to make the connection that each individual word on the page meant something and was read separately, and that was really neat to see.
Alexis is very into stickers and making little crafts. I put a bunch of rice into a plastic bin for her, and she loves to play in it and pour and scoop and generally make a mess out of it. She's also wonderful with Micah and understands that there are certain things he can and can't have and is getting better about sharing with him as well. Having an almost three-year-old is a handful, but she is so much fun and so interactive and just an enjoyable kid.
First, Micah. He is doing great! Over the holidays we weren't able to do the whole "crying it out" thing for a number of reasons like sickness or travel. However, in January when we were going to be home for a while and everyone was feeling good, we took a few nights to let him cry when he woke up at night. He was pretty textbook about it; he cried for about forty-five minutes the first night, then about thirty, then about fifteen, and now he almost never wakes up. (He's been having some cold/allergy problems, and things are always different then...) Typically, though, we put him down around 7:30 at night, and then I wake him up at 9:00 and fee him again before I go to bed. Then he sleeps through the night! I can usually hear him stirring a little before 7:00, but he entertains himself for a while. Alexis will also usually wake up around the same time and entertain herself for a little while, so most days I don't have to get up until sometime between 7:00 and 7:30. It's been a HUGE difference in my life to get a full night of sleep!
Micah continues to be a really relaxed kid. He almost never cries without a very specific reason, and of course, like most babies, he's all smiles these days! He started to sit up right at six months, and after two weeks he likes to spend a huge part of his day sitting up and playing with his toys. The other day he started to do a "mini-crawl" with his little legs pushing his body along. It wasn't quite a real crawl, but I think he's going to start doing that soon. He's getting so big! It's funny to watch him do the swimming motion on his stomach, with his arms and legs flailing like he can get somewhere. Yesterday he got up on his hands and knees for the first time, which was really cool to see. Because of all of this, the bald patch on the back of his head is starting to go away, but he still has a glorious mohawk.
He's been battling a cold and allergies on and off since Christmas, but he's been pratty happy almost the entire time and doesn't get too upset unless his nose is being sunctioned a lot or he has some sort of bad coughing fit. He loves to look around at everything and gets really determined to get one of his toys; this is what made him do the mini-crawl before. It's so cool to watch him want something and then go get it! Even though he can't quite crawl, he's amazing at turning his body and rolling and getting to where he wants to be using that method. He likes to grab at the loops on the rug and just began to to enjoy playing peek-a-boo.
He loves eating solid foods and usually has two servings of cereal and 2-3 jars of fruits or veggies each day. He's still nursing exclusively, but I'm trying to give him a sippy cup a lot so that he can get used to drinking from that. He hasn't really gotten it yet, but that's okay. He'll figure it out at some point. No teeth yet, either. His doctor thought he's get some by the time he's about seven months, but he thought that he would have teeth around four months, too. Alexis didn't get teeth until pretty far after her first birthday, and he might be the same.
Alexis is a little ball of fury. I can't believe how grown-up she's getting. The other day in the car on the way home from the train, she just started talking about her day and it was like a monologue! Her language skills are getting really great. She's also around kids more than she used to be. I started going to a MOPS group, and she plays with other kids in a class. Micah is also watched, which is nice for me because I get a two hour break from my kids every other week. :) She ALWAYS wants to play, which is a bit exhausting at times, but we have lots of fun. She's also trying to push boundaries and see how far she can go with things, but I think she's learning that we don't listen to whining and don't allow tantrums. Hopefully she still feels free to express her feelings while at the same time learning how to express them appropriately, but that's a difficult thing for kids. She has a little bedtime routine now and always wants to do three different things before going to bed: I Got You (the game where Jason sits in the middle and she runs in a circle around him saying, "I got you" over and over), rolling, and somersaults. Then she gets into bed and we read a book to her, and then she reads a few pages to us. About a week ago I think she started to make the connection that each individual word on the page meant something and was read separately, and that was really neat to see.
Alexis is very into stickers and making little crafts. I put a bunch of rice into a plastic bin for her, and she loves to play in it and pour and scoop and generally make a mess out of it. She's also wonderful with Micah and understands that there are certain things he can and can't have and is getting better about sharing with him as well. Having an almost three-year-old is a handful, but she is so much fun and so interactive and just an enjoyable kid.
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