10 Months

She's just not a bitty baby anymore.  Of course she is still tiny, she can still fit into some 6 month clothes, but she is getting so...mature!  Not only is she gaining is physical skill and ability, but he little personality is starting to shine through, too.

AnnieBananie is an amazing crawler.  She is fast and adept, and is really enjoying her time experimenting with "off-road" crawling.  Over top of legs, pillow, piles of new presents...all fun challenges.  She can also get up the stairs at Gommy's house with some speed, but that activity most certainly requires supervision.  Some days I'm really glad we live in a one-story house.  She pulls up on everything, mostly my pant leg, and doesn't need much support for standing.  As long as she has one hand for balance purposes she can play standing up.  We've even seen her stand completely independantly for several seconds before sitting down.  She can cruise but doesn't seem to enjoy it.  She needs to be really motivated by something on the table to cruise over to it, otherwise she'd rather get down and crawl to her destination. 

She is also beginning to display he opinions much more frequently.  The other day she started yelling from her high chair when she saw the berry containers come out of the fridge.  She kept yelling until she felt she had been served enough.  Kinda funny!  She yells at Sam when he steals toys.  But she is also laughing more and picking out some favorite toys.

One of the strongest opinions she is showing these days is her preference for Mommy.  This is a relatively new thing, and it is more intense when we are or have house guests.  I think that the constant presence of other adults make her feel all the more need to return to Mommy.  Of course it doesn't help the situation that she still associates me with food, but she prefers me when tired, too.  I'm really hoping that this doesn't turn into a full-blown separation anxiety!

She is a sweet, sweet girl.  She likes to have her back rubbed, especially when she's tired.  Her cheeks are adorable and her smile is precious.  She laughs her tiny little giggle when you nibble her neck or blow on her belly.  Sam is still the light of her life. 

Her list at 10 months...
Likes:
-Having something in her mouth
-Feeding herself
-Mommy

Dislikes:
-Being bundled up for cold weather (oh, my tiny Texans...)

Hair Cut

We just didn't have time to get it done before we left.  Papa just couldn't handle the sloppy length hanging over his ears.  Fortunately, he can fix such things...which Sam found funny and entertaining.  So much better than Sport Clips!

Sleighing

Last year, within two hours of arriving at our Christmas destination, Sam enjoyed some pool time with his Papa.  This year, 1000 miles to the North and 50 degrees to the South, within two hours of arriving at our Christmas destination Sam was playing in the snow with his Papa.

He was very excited about the snow this year.  Of course there is snow in all of the Christmas stories, so I'm pretty sure that in his mind the two are linked.  We had packed the snow suit, which he fell in love with when we tried it on about a week ago.  Fun story: the snow suit is 26 years old and first belonged to Daddy.

Fortunately for Sam, Papa was more than willing to bundle up and head out into the little bit of snow that was left.  They wanted to get in their sleighing, as Sam calls it, before the snow melted.  As I write this now I am watching the last few flakes of a sizable snowfall settle into the back yard, so it looks like they may get another shot!  Good thing they had so much fun!

In addition to teaching him how to sled, they practiced making snow balls (and throwing them at Uncle Matt), and when asked, Papa taught Sam how to make snow angels.

Merry Christmas!

It's been a busy day around here...more to come!

Breakfast With Santa

I left this out of the last post because I was waiting on the pictures to arrive in my inbox...

Once again we ventured to the church that hosts Sam's preschool to meet the Jolly Old Elf.  They served us pancakes (Annabelle's first, and I think she's in love), bacon, oranges, juice and coffee.  Sam made a few little crafts, and then we met the big guy. 

Sam had no hesitation this year, walked right up.  He was shy, but goal oriented.  He very much believed that he needed to meet with this guy in order to turn in his Christmas request.  There is no doubt that he believes Santa to be true.  Last week Chris mentioned that he wanted to ask Santa for something for Christmas.  Sam told him he couldn't have it because he didn't talk to Santa at the breakfast. 

Santa's local elf was listening carefully, and fortunately his request has not changed over the past three months.

Annabelle was fine with the visit.  Once again, completely unphased by all that happens in her crazy life.  She made no requests, but I think Santa will remember her as well.

'Tis the Season

Wow!  Its only the 13th (Happy Birthday, Molly!) but we have already squeezed in a ton of Christmas fun!  We have never had this many parties and activities to attend, and we are not used to being this busy.  But we are having lots of fun!  And since my 3-year-old is totally into all things Christmas this year, we are eating it all up.

We started things off the first weekend of December with Chris's office party.  I met a lot of new people, his office has really grown in the past year, and we enjoyed some nice steaks.  The next day I saw a performance of The Nutcracker with one of my girl friends.  Can you believe that it had been 7 years since I have seen a live performance?  Back then Chris actually went with me...ahh the joys of dating.

Last weekend was more kid-friendly.  Sam had a blast at the kids Christmas Party at church.  Bouncy house, petting zoo, cookie decorating, crafts and playground.  That evening we ventured to the other side of our neighborhood for Lights In The Heights.  This annual block party involves decorated homes, bands on front porches, cookies and parties.  Some friends live on the route so we had a welcoming home base as we walked around and found friends.  Sunday afternoon we attended a much more low-key, but no less enjoyable, block party just around the corner.  Gotta love a mom who puts a tray of chicken nuggets mixed amongst the spread of baked brie and shrimp cocktail.  "This way you don't have to feed your kids dinner when you get home!"  I love you.

We all helped to decorate the tree this year.  Sam took great pride in placing the non-glassy ornaments around the bottom.  Annabelle enjoys removing them and tasting them.  Sam has taken his job of replacing them on the tree very seriously.

Sam and I have done a good deal of baking, as well.  He is very interested in helping, but thankfully only for short periods of time.  He wants to try every shape and color of cookie, and is learning that they are privileges and not rights.  Hard lessons.

We have also been reading a daily advent devotional with Sam each night.  The children's ministry at church sent it home, and its great.  A short paragraph, a bible verse and a sticker.  He looks forward to it each night.

So yes, we've been busy.  But December isn't over yet...I have at least 4 more parties on the calendar before we head out of town.  One of those is Sam's preschool class party - should be fun!

9 Months

*Yesterday was crazy.  Sorry to be a day late!"

We met some friends at the park today, her daughter turns 1 in just 5 weeks.  I asked her if it felt like it had been a year, and admitted that it feels like Annabelle has been around more like 6 months than 9.  But alas, here we are...

And she is behaving like a 9 month old.  Crawling ALL over the place.  At the park this morning she crawled all the way down a sizable hill in just a few seconds without once stumbling on the uneven ground or sloped terrain.  She is also now pulling up on anything and everything she can reach - couches, coffee tables, dishwashers, jeans, cupboards, etc.  It is a constant struggle for us to keep things out of reach, and it is possible that she had stolen a few of Sam's Lucky Charms (can you tell Grammy was in town?  Mommy is "not allowed" to buy that cereal, but Grammy and Gommy are!).  She is yet to start cruising, but her balance is improving daily.  We're almost hoping that she walks early just because she's so small - how awesome will it look if such a tiny person is toddling around!?

Her fine motor skills are still at a slower pace.  No clapping or waving yet.  She is an enthusiastic self-feeder, and getting more coordinated, but still doesn't have the perfect pincer grasp.

She is still a happy little girl and is starting to show a bit more of her personality.  She still goes with the flow beautifully, but she will grunt at you if you take away something she was playing with (here's looking at you, Sam!).  She has a goofy little scowl face that doesn't seem to have anything to do with a sour mood.  Pretty sure she just likes the reactions she gets when she makes it.

Annie-Bananie loves her "real" food.  She eats an average amount at lunch (3-4oz baby food plus finger foods) but chows down at dinner.  This week she has been digging the leftover turkey mixed with her pears.  She eats all food groups with enthusiasm, but prefers her green veggies mixed with something else.  She is getting better at the sippy cup, but still isn't a pro.  She still likes the act of nursing, but is starting to care more about the comfort aspect of it than the food aspect of it.  The plan is still to keep it up until 12 months.

She is still small, but growing!  Per the pediatrician yesterday she now weighs 15 lbs 10 oz, which is WAY up to the 11th percentile.  Woot woot!  She is 26 3/4 inches long, which is the 19th percentile.  She wears mostly 9 month clothes, but her 6 month dresses now work nicely as tunic tops with leggings.  She can wear some 12 month stuff, but it tends to be pretty wide on her.  She is still in size 2 shoes.  Most of her socks refuse to stay on.

Likes:
-Dancing and music
-Exploring
-Putting things in her mouth
-Pulling on her ear when tired

Dislikes:
-Being left in the high chair or exersaucer
-Having toys stolen from her

Thanksgiving

Finally!  After 5 years of marriage and 7 years as "adults," Chris and I finally had our turn to host a major holiday.  Thanksgiving 2012 at the Texas Hunnifords!  It was the first time since I went to college that I have not traveled for Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure which part I was more excited about - the chance to plan the holiday menu with all of the foods that I wanted to eat (and none of the ones I didn't!), or the opportunity to avoid the hassle and expense flying with two small children on the busiest travel weekend of the year.  Its still a toss-up.

We were joined here in Houston by Chris's parents, sister and brother-in-law.  How did you sleep all of those people in your 2/2 bungalow, you ask?  Ah well, we didn't.  We house/dog sat for some friends down the street, where Chris's parents slept.  It was a win/win for all parties concerned.

So on Thanksgiving day I cooked and cooked and cooked some more.  It was very tiring, but I enjoyed it.  Wasn't my turkey pretty?

It turns out that I made way too much food.  People seemed surprised that I made so many dishes - I didn't think it was that many.  Maybe my family eats more?  Either way, it made for excellent leftovers for several days.  Actually, we still have some turkey in the fridge...mmm sandwiches.

Not pictured are the two pies.  I had lovely visions of a beautiful meal in my head.  Some of them turned out, some didn't.  Sam managed to stay in his chair for more than half of the meal, but didn't eat much.  He enjoyed a pumpkin cookie while the rest of us finished at the table.  Annabelle actually ate a greater variety of Thanksgiving foods - homemade apple sauce (Aunt Becky's), homemade cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and sweet potato fries.

More important than what she ate, of course, is what she wore.  I made her an adorable tutu.  And then I found the awesome feather hair clip.  My little turkey was tutu cute :-)

I would like to tell you that I also planned a slew of entertaining activities for our out of towners, but that would be a lie.  We did a good deal of playing at home with the kids, with the borrowed dog and trips to the grocery store.  But on Saturday (morning of course, it was also rivalry day in the world of college sports and we had 3 rivalry games that people cared about.  2 turned out well, 1 not so much.  O-H...) we did make it out of the house.  We enjoyed a cool morning walk at the Houston Arboretum.

Oh, and I made the boys hang Christmas lights on the roof and wall shelves on a new wall.  We also started the Christmas decorating, because its the first time I could do it so early!

It was a nice visit.  Sam bonded with Becky and Benton a bit, mostly over early morning games of slide-y soccer.  Its good to have people with energy around to play with him.  Chris and I got to go on a date on Friday night - our first time in a movie theater in almost 3 years!  We were all tired on Monday morning, and it appears that Annabelle is a bit more attached to me.

Headcase

**WARNING: This post contains graphic pictures of actual medical events.  Reader discretion is advised.**

We were at a fancy dinner for church.  Lots of our friends were there - Chris wore a suit and I actually curled my hair.  We looked good.  We were just finishing up the soup and salad when Chris showed me his vibrating phone.  "Do you know this number?"

"That's the sitter.  I'll answer it."

"Lindsay?  pant.  Yeah hi, this is Judy.  deep breath.  I need you to come home.  Now.  I was changing the baby, Sam was playing on your bed and he fell.  He hit something that was out on the bed.  I think he needs stitches."

About 90 seconds later we were asking the valet to retrieve our car.  Yeah, the dinner was fancy.  On the way home we called the pediatrician's after hours page operator.  "Ok, I have your information.  Dr. Brack is on call, she will call you back shortly."  I hung up and told Chris, "Amanda's on call tonight."  (Although not our "assigned" pediatrician, Amanda is a friend from church in the same practice.  She had told me at a playdate in the past that I was welcome to call her with this kind of stuff anytime.  But I grew up in a doctor's family and am more likely to err on the side of leaving doctors alone when they're at home.  And on that note, it did cross my mind that if we lived in Ohio this would be no big deal as Papa would just stitch him up.  I know this, because he stitched me up a couple of times as a child.  But I digress.)

So I did call Amanda at home because I got impatient waiting.  "Oh Lindsay, I so wish that I could meet you at the clinic and do this myself, but I'm home alone with my 4 kids.  My husband is at the CTK dinner!"  "Yeah, that's where we were, too."

Sam was upset but holding himself together when we got home.  He held pretty tightly to us, I think as much scared as he was hurt at that point.  Chris got him cleaned off a little bit and into a clean/dry shirt.  The sitter offered to stay with Annabelle, but Sam really wanted her to come.  So we set off for the recommended after-hours pediatric urgent care.

By the time we got there Sam was in good spirits.  We were the only ones in the clean, quiet waiting room when we arrived.  Sam enjoyed watching the movie on the TV, but got a little bored of waiting. 

The doctor said staples.  First came the numbing cream and a bandage to cover it while we waited for it to take affect.  We watched some Cars on Daddy's tablet, read some books, and tried to get Annabelle back to sleep.

The nurse cleaned the would with an irrigation syringe that we now have as an extra special bath toy.  The doctor came back and asked me to help hold him, because there might be some squirming now.  But it quickly became clear that Sam's body takes well to numbing cream because he didn't feel a single one of the many shots of local anesthetic that went into his scalp.  Nor did he feel the four staples that went in next.  He sat very still and messed with the blue matchbox car he held in his little hands while I crouched in front of him and held his shoulders.  Not once did I feel his little muscles tighten up, but he was dead silent throughout the entire procedure.  All questions went unanswered, all comments unaddressed. 

My Frankenson, a day late for Halloween

Chris got a picture of the staples before the dressing went on and we showed him.  Sam started to get a little weepy at this point, not outright crying, but I could tell he was working really hard to hold it together.  Once again he clung tight when I wrapped him in my arms.  The doctor was sure that the picture scared him, but Mama knows better.  Mama knows it was just a release - he held it together for so long and now it was over, he could let it out. 




A few minutes later, with stickers and lollipop in hand, we were out the door.  We were all tired.  A quick stop at McDonald's (we still hadn't eaten dinner) and we were headed home.  From our door, there and back to our door again was about 2 hours and 40 minutes. 

We thought he would fall right to sleep but it turns out the little guy was afraid to lie down.  We left him sitting on his bed, convinced that in a few minutes he'd give up and fall asleep.  20 minutes later we checked and found him still sitting up.  "I'm just going to sleep sitting up."  Poor guy.  No pillow forts, special blankets or towels, parents lying with him could convince the boy it was safe to lie down.  Finally I brought him to the couch to rest in my lap.  I had just about given in to the fact that I would be spending the night there, holding my boy so he could sleep, when he asked to go to his bed so he could "sleep on his mouth."  A couple of minutes later, 12:45 am, he was finally asleep.

Today his head was sore, and he is behind on sleep, but he is doing well.  He's very sensitive about his head but playing just fine.  We have an appointment to get his staples out in a week.  I've told him over and over again how proud of him I am, he handled everything so well.  Quite the trooper.

It was truly a freak accident, and no one did anything wrong.  He was up on the bed watching Judy change the baby and fell backwards onto our bed.  He never fell off the bed, but landed on a pile of pillows and...my iPad cover.  He must have hit the magnetic hinge just right, its no even sharp.  The doctor couldn't believe it, and I pretty much still can't myself.

Honestly, I'm impressed.  That boy is a wild and crazy kid and lives his life that way.  The fact that we made it 3.5 years (almost exactly!) before seeking emergency medical care for him is a success.  Hopefully this event doesn't open up the flood gates!

Happy Halloween!

 We had a good day!  It was a school day, but we carved pumpkins as soon as Sam got home.  2 pumpkins in 30 minutes, I was pleased!  Sam wasn't a huge help in the carving, but he is good at washing pumpkin seeds.  Daddy came home early from work and we were all able to head out together.  Next year I think I might have to stay behind to hand out candy, as we did miss a bunch while we were out.

Sam was able to really anticipate it this year, which was fun, and was not shy about saying trick or treat at each door (just about knocking!).  It was both shocking and disturbing the number of people who offered candy to my baby tonight. 

8 Months

So, what's Annabelle like at 8 months?

She has turned into a rock star crawler.  If we leave her alone in a room (oops, it happens) she just comes along to catch up.  But sometimes she gets lost and ends up in the bathroom.  Doesn't bother her, she has a great time exploring all of the places that we have never taken her in this house (like the tile entryway).  She is also a much stronger stander now and loves to spend time at the activity table.  She has not figured out how to move her feet while standing, so cruising is still a ways off.  She is trying to pull up, but just can't get it.

Her brother finds her far more interesting now that she is mobile.  He is engaging her more in playtime, and has even insisted that I couldn't take her to do something yet because he was going to play with her for a minute.  He also finds her to be more annoying.  "Annabelle, no!  That's MY toy!"  Sometimes they laugh together in the back seat of the car, and that is pretty awesome.

She is developing a few of her consonant sounds: baba, aaba, mmmm and today when Chris walked in from work, "Dada."  Its seemed intentional, but we'll see if it sticks.  She gets loud whenever there is a loud appliance on like the vacuum or blow dryer.

She gets very very clingy when she is tired.  On school and church days she was to wait until after drop-off or until we get to church for her morning nap and sometimes that is just too long!  She wants nothing more to be held, which is hard when I'm trying to get us all out the door.  Enter the Ergo Carrier.  She hated it before, but we are becoming fast friends.

She is loving her solid foods.  Miss independent will only eat off of the spoon if she is really hungry or looooves what is being served (pears and peaches, anyone?).  She eats about 3 ounces of puree and some finger foods at lunch and more at dinner.  Tonight he ate an entire scrambled egg, 3 ounces of pureed fruit, a graham cracker, half a slice of cheese and some puffs.  She loves scrambled eggs, cottage cheese with fruit, any pureed fruit, acorn squash and feeding herself.  She really needs to develop a better pincer grasp to make self-feeding more efficient!  But she loves cut up strawberries, cantaloupe, steamed green beans, crackers.  I'm trying to figure out the right approach with the veggies for finger foods - it would help if she had some teeth!

Nursing is her happy place.  She has taken so well to the solids that she isn't super hungry for her milk in the afternoon/evening, but she still likes to hang out with Mommy.  She gets most of our milk at the first two feedings of the day (we're still doing 5, the last three very short), and for this reason I'm not giving her breakfast in the high chair yet.  Sometimes she like to just hang out in my arms for several minutes after we're done.  Could it be - do I have a child who will cuddle?

Her warm little room is her other happy place.  We broke out the space heater last week when the temps dipped here for the first time and her room is cozy and toasty.  She is napping longer and sleeping later in the morning.  So for now she is napping 1.5 hours in the morning (she'd go longer, but that just doesn't fit into our family schedule) and 2-3 hours in the afternoon (again, depending on the day's schedule).  She sleeps about 11-11.5 hours at night, and never wakes up - or at least never wakes us up.  She only takes a paci in the crib now, but thankfully that's the only place she seems to need it.

When I took her in for her flu shot booster she weighed 14 lbs 7 oz.  She wears size 2 diapers, but she isn't swimming in size threes.  She can wear 6, 9 or 12 month clothes depending on brand and style.  She wore shoes for the first time the other day, and they are a size 2 but have plenty of room. 

She is becoming more and more her own person and it is fun to watch.

And finally, here's her list!
Likes:
-Fruit
-Sam
-Getting around on her own
-Being warm and cozy
-Self-Feeding

Dislikes:
-Not having something to chew on
-Having toys stolen from her

Zoo Boo!

Sam and I had such fun last year (and I guess Annabelle was there, too, but I cannot account for the level of fun she achieved that day) that we just had to go back to Zoo Boo again this year.  And once again, his little buddy Leo came with us!

Sam is executing a bit of a "Tour de Costume" this year.  Last weekend, for a Halloween-themed birthday party, he was a Steelers Football Player, but today he chose to go as Bob the Builder.  Its nice to have a well-stocked dress-up collection this time of year.  Bob was a good choice because we could use the tool box as his treat bag.  Fun!

Annabelle is a bumble bee this year.  So stinkin cute.

We hit up all the special Zoo Boo activities: tattoos, games, trick-or-treat stations, pumpkin painting, and a monkey coloring station.  Sam chose to hang his monkey on the paper tree with the others, Leo chose to bring his home. 

Of course we also rode the carousel and ate lunch on the giraffe viewing platform.

I made a very real attempt at getting a cute fall picture of my two squirmers together, but this is the best I could do.  Annabelle was pulling at the dirt and trying to crawl away while Sam was trying to select the perfect pumpkin to paint.  Why can't these children focus!
 

Once the kids had shed their costumes (I can't blame them, it got up to 85 degrees while we were there), Annabelle had her turn enjoying the elephant.

Leo's grandma and I realized on the way out that we really only saw 3 animals today - the elephants, bears and giraffes.  Oops!  There's always next time!