have come and gone. It was a busy, busy month with work, shopping, getting ready for Christmas, trying to stay on top of the house and bills.
My good health has returned and that has been really helpful in feeling productive and cheery overall.
Thanksgiving and Christmas were spent mostly at mom's house which was really nice- we had a good time and it was a relief not to host a big meal/gathering at the house here. We skipped the christmas eve party that is normally a tradition, (mostly since Brett was not able to come for the holiday- the first time in 10 years or something like that!) but I cooked an ambitious 3 courses for the family- shrimp cocktail, linguine with clam sauce, rack of lamb with roasted sweet potatoes and asparagus. It was yummy and Geoff and I actually went out for a Christmas eve cocktail after he got home from work. Rachel was watching the kids so we got to have a little toast to christams and I told him about our upcoming new year's eve celebration Cara and I planned at the standard hotel downtown! should be fun. There were mad amounts of gifts for soph- everything from nail polish and lip balm to puzzles, games and little ponies. She picked out a "Pat Pat Rocket" toy with her dad at target and she and alex both seem to love it as she is a Little Einsteins junkie. (Alex is just addicted to the theme song and seems to love hearing it over and over.) Actually, he has been calling the new toy "rah."
The day after christmas geoff and sophie took a 5 day trip to NYC and are on their flight home now. Unfortunately she got an ear infection and missed Mary Poppins with her grandma, but she had a ball meeting her cousins for the first time yesterday and celebrating Hanukkah with latkes and lots of presents. I have missed them and will be glad to have them home.
There have been so many changes with alex over the last six weeks- it is that crazy 13-15 month envelope when all of a sudden he is really, really a toddler and losing all that babyness.
-got his first haircut on 12/27 - 15 months old and the clippings are blonde as can be
-the first words are starting besides ma and da- we have 'ba ba' for bottle and also ball, he roars to sound like a lion, 'fff' is woof for dog, 'mmm' is moo for the cow and 'mow' is meow for cat. Daddy is "da" but sophie is "dough" and "ma" stands for more. It is very sweet and i think he is pleased to know he is being understood.
-He is super busy- pulling around a kid stepstool to gain some height to look at things, pushing around kid sized chairs. He started taking a real interest in books at 14 months so that has been a real pleasure- reading to him, pointing out colors and animals and numbers.
-he and sophie have become better playmates- though they have their tussle moments he is more fun for sophie now that he is walking and loves to be chased by her.
-He is doing really well with Rachel for the most part which should foster an easier time when preschool rolls around. He has started to warm up to grammy dot too and they have become friends.
-got SIX TEETH in the last month including four 1 year molars and no ear infections since the tubes were put in which has been a huge relief.
-he really enjoys the songs and finger plays from mommy and me class now- the wheels on the bus, the itsy bitsy spider, row row row your boat and others. Loves wandering around with his blue, electric toothbrush in his mouth, and lays down willingly on the floor each night so that I can brush his teeth.
His level of comprehension seems ridiculously high to me for his age, and he is super at following directions. He loves to push around the dry mop, put clean silverware away, and help me put clean, wet clothes into the dryer. When it is tub time he goes and grabs a washcloth from the drawer without being asked.
Just love that boy to death - it must be the Libra thing as they are just so loveable and easygoing. I mean, no one can resist his smile. What a charmer and SO handsome if I do say so myself. He is starting to need some discipline - last night he kept yanking on the blinds in the living room from the couch. I kept putting him on the floor and telling him no. He loves buttons and noisy toys- cause and effect of those types of interactions seem to be just peachy for him. He has been turning on and off the christmas tree lights all week and pushing around the shopping cart he got for his birthday. Loves to climb and explore the toys in the bins in the playroom. He ADORES dogs- in books or in real life and screams with delight wanting to pet them. When we see Shadow at moms he couldn't be happier. He still sleeps at night with geoff and I and seems oh so happy to be there. and frankly I am happy to have him there too- warm little cuddlebug on these chilly nights. He is still nursing a couple of times per day and we get up once or twice in the night so that he can scoff down a 4oz bottle of lactose free milk on the couch. The nursing is mostly just the skin contact/comfort- not the milk at this point.
Bean. She is my active, determined little person. Loves her dad and I am sure they are even more bonded after this trip to the city. I am switching her preschool next month to the Methodist weekday school where her friends Sophia and Kaylin go. She will go back to a Tuesday/Thursday schedule which will give me more time with her and also free up more playdate/extracurricular activities too. and time with her grammy. The kids at weekday go only half day or extended half day- so it is a true preschool not a daycare/school facility. I am hoping Sophie makes a few friends, as it seems in this class at the granada preschool that she hasn't really connected with any little girls like she did as a scamper. Light blue care bear seems to be losing a little of his appeal. Is she growing out of the lovey object era? The bedtime stories that her grammy and dad tell her- she is always requesting something bad to happen- the person gets hurt, or dies or something bad happens. I asked the pediatrician about it and she said it is normal- to dehumanify the bad stuff- so like, the bug dies, the branch of a tree falls off and dies. Not sure what to think but I am not too concerned.
I am determined to lose 10 pounds. I just need to stop putting junk in my mouth!
off to get a car wash before rachel heads out for the day. i so wish i had been able to get in a couple of more entries this month but just couldn't seem to make it happen...
