Christmas 2012

Christmastime brings so much anticipation, yet so much busyness.  That seemed true for our family this year.  This has been a month filled with a lot of fun including a ride on the Polar Express Train in Connersville which my parents joined us on, several Christmas parties, a trip to the Children's Museum, driving to see Christmas lights, baking cookies, shopping, watching Christmas movies, Christmas on the Farm at Traders Point Creamery to see Santa etc.

Braden definitely knows what Christmas is all about, but we're quick to quiz him on what the real meaning on Christmas is. And he does know the answer is Jesus.  Charlie Brown Christmas has helped to define that for him as he's watched that and the Grinch numerous times.  Braden was super excited for Christmas day this year- the first year we've ever spent Christmas Day in our own house!!! My parents drove down for the Christmas here this year.  The previous weekend we went up north to spend with Curtis' Mom and Dad. One of the first things Braden said on Christmas Day was, Mommy, Santa came, but the Grinch didn't." :) Silly boy.  Eliana also was quick to figure out this whole presents thing. By our last session of opening gifts, she knew how to rip open a package with the best of them.  Such spoiled, blessed kids they are!!

Now that Christmas season is over and it's almost back to life as usual, I'm kind of glad. I love Christmas time, but I'm eager for routine to return again. We have had a ton of snowfall lately. On Christmas Day night, we have about 8 inches- causing my parents to have to leave for home early :(. Then this past Friday night we had about 4 inches more. I can't remember this much snow on the ground for several years! And it's not even January yet! I do love snow, I admit it, but just hate to drive in it. As long as the roads are clear, bring on the snow! :o)

Now for Kid Updates:
Eliana is almost 18 months old. She's such a joy to our home; becoming more so everyday.  She's a busy girl and learning more words everyday.  She can say with ease: Mommy, Daddy, Puppy, Kee Kee (for kitty), Nummies, Papa, Up and Uh Oh.  She can sign More, Please, Thank You and All Done.  And she has several words that aren't really words, but I know what she means.  "Dabee" means hat or story. "B" means movie. "Beep Beep" is for anything with an engine (cars, buses, trains etc.) "Oiee" is her word for drink -usually milk, but sometimes water. She understands a great deal.  When you ask her a question and she answers agreeably, she'll say "Uh huh".  She loves her stuffed animals and just recently will lay them down, saying "Nigh Nigh". Also when she sees Santa or a picture of him, she'll say, "Ne Na". Which also seems to be her reference for Nana. :)

Physically she is an expert walker and beginning to run. She still loves to climb and easily climbs onto the kitchen chairs and beginning to climb onto the table.  She loves to "try" to be a big girl, attempting to put her own pants and shoes on, buckle her own buckles, feed herself etc.  All of this is great, but leads to melt downs when she can't do it herself and needs a little help. It's amazing how different she is from Braden.  He has (and still does-) wanted someone to do everything for him.
Overall she's a pretty good eater, but right now dealing with her wanting to throw everything on the floor (her cups, food etc). Grrr. Makes Mommy crazy sometimes.

Eliana is an awesome sleeper. She will sleep 12-13 hours at night without waking and just recently at 17 1/2 months old is starting to give up her morning nap. Typically in either 1-2 naps she'll sleep a total of 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Braden is still about the same- no longer napping and sleeping about 12 hours/night and wakes about 2-3 times per week with difficulty falling back asleep.

Braden has recently finished a 7 week session of Gymnastics. He was the only boy in his 3/4yo class, but it didn't phase him. And he LOVED it! Unlike soccer, I didn't have to bribe him to go out there and he actually had a good time!!!! It was some basic gross motor skills (running, jumping, bear crawl, crab walk, summersalts, skipping etc.) and also walking on low balance beams, obstacle courses, swinging on bars, jumping in foam pits etc. I think we'll stick with individual sports until he has a maturity to handle a team sport again. We'll probably do another session of gymnastics and then he's expressed an interest in Karate.

Both kids have had a great time playing in all the snow we've had. Braden has surprised me with how long he's happy to play out there even with being cold and snowy. Even Eliana played outside with all of us for more than an hour yesterday.

We realize on a daily basis what a crazy time of life this is. But know we are so blessed to have our family and all that we do. But sometimes finding a rare moment of peace and quiet is, well.....rare.

Mommy and Eliana on the Polar Express

 

Braden telling Santa what he wants for Christmas on the Polar Express

Riding with Papa and Nana on the Pole Ex

Happy to be riding the Polar Express Train!!!

Braden on Christmas morning

Eliana opening her stocking

Can't forget Chloe!

So much snow!

Eliana loves the sled!

Chloe has a great time!

Braden enjoying the snow!

Where does time go?

This past year I have been so bad at blogging, writing in a baby book etc for Eliana. It seems this last year has gone by in a flash. I've had such good intentions to blog about her, Braden and our family, but with each passing month I felt more and more overwhelmed with  trying to "catch up" that I would put it off even more. Well, better late than never I guess. Oh where to begin......

The last time I blogged on my previous site www.pincushionfiles.blogspot.com was when Eliana was 4 months old. Wow, how she had all of us have changed since then.  Her first year, once we got past the first 3-4 difficult months, has been wonderful.  She was and is generally a very happy baby and quick to smile and wave at anyone. She is now 14 months and began to sleep well and consistently though the night (meaning from 8pm-7am) at about 8 months. And she rarely wakes during the night which is HUGE for me. Braden was and is my middle of the night waking child and has such a hard time putting himself back to sleep. Now that he's going on 4, he does SO much better than he did a year ago, but still wakes probably 3-4 times per week in the night.

Eliana is also a great eater! She hardly has a gage reflex and often will try to stuff her mouth too full. She will eat nearly anything- or at least try it! And is doing so well at eating table foods.  We joke that she could eat 24/7 and that's about the truth. Even after a meal she's walking around asking for more "nummies". :)
I was able to breastfeed her to 12 months with some supplementation and then started to wean down to just morning and before bed which we did until about 13 months and then just morning for about 2-3 more weeks. At about 13 1/2 months, while she still would have continued, my supply had nearly run out. I feel it was a great accomplishment to have been able to nurse my baby, my last baby, for that long considering all the difficulties we had at first!

As far as speech, right now she can say, Mommy, Daddy, Puppy, Nummy, and Baby. And she can sign Please, More, and All done. We just started working on Thank You and Help.

She, like Braden, seemed to have a slow start on her gross motor skills, but caught up quickly. She didn't roll over until just shy of 8 months. She could sit independently about 7 months. She crawled at 9 months and pulled up to stand about 9 1/2 months. And walking didn't happen until August 20th when she was 13 1/2 months old. But I was in no hurry. I knew she was developing on track and once they start walking, it's a whole new ballgame! And now she's walking everywhere, although not running yet. But she loves to climb. She climbs up on the kid chairs and onto the table and will climb the stairs in what seems 2 seconds flat. She certainly keeps me on my toes. And then there is the matter of sharing issues between Eliana and Braden. It certainly gets crazy at times. Eliana is much more content to play quietly than Braden was at this age. Such a difference between boys and girls! She loves to sit at the kids table and look at books or play with puzzles or sit in the little rocking chair. Braden at this age, we joked that he wasn't still unless he was sleeping or strapped in somewhere!

Braden is still a very busy almost 4 year old. He's in Preschool at Discovery Days 2 days a week now- Mon/Weds from 9am-1pm. While we're not as fond of his teachers this year, he still seems to have a great time. The first few weeks he was getting in trouble at school for hitting other kids over sharing issues or having a bad attitude. Many talks and a spanking later, he seems to be doing better.

He has a huge imagination and loves to play pretend and talk about things we read in his books. He loves to pretend he is a pirate or Batman and fight "bad guys". Of course cars and trucks are still a huge love of his driving them around constantly. He's still not one to enjoy quiet play like coloring/puzzles etc. but will tolerate it for a time. Recently after Grandma and Grandpa bought him a bat and ball, he's found a love for baseball. He has pretty amazing hand-eye coordination and can hit the whiffle ball over the fence easily. This past spring we signed him up for soccer as part of the YMCA. We thought he would have a great time as he mostly enjoyed Little Kickers in years previous. The practices he did enjoy, but HATED the games. He'd never played an actual game before. The whole idea of "sharing" 1 soccer ball and someone else kicked my ball etc....did not go over well. We had to bribe him to go out on the field and he would always come off crying for one reason or another. I just think he lacked the social/emotional maturity to handle the situation. We'll try again next year (maybe). Or maybe baseball will be his thing. We just want him to enjoy it, whatever IT is.

Well, I think those are the main updates to share at this point. I will try to do better and blog again in the next month or 2.