Christmas 2012 in Pictures

Me and Peter at the symphony 

Nate had to stop looking for Christmas trees to watch the train go by 

I think I'll look over... there!

Hanging an ornament with Dad

He got bored of decorating the tree, so he started playing with the nativity

Our annual "Christmastown USA" picture - would have been perfect except for that light!

Awww

Yep, she was totally that kid!

Christmas Eve Children's Mass - My angel and king

Could she be any cuter? I'm not sure, but she definitely elicited the most "Awwws" at mass!

Totally did not want to pose for pictures this year! But he still got a lot of "Awwws" as well! :)

The kid loves trains

He got his "loopy thing"!!!

Staring contest with Uncle Jay

21st century holiday!

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

Yesterday Nate was in his first Christmas pageant! When I first heard about it I was so excited. What could be cuter than a bunch of preschoolers singing Christmas songs? Then I saw the sheets they sent home with lyrics for the songs his class was supposed to learn: Feliz Navidad - that's not too bad, I mean, besides the fact that half of it is in Spanish it is pretty much just 4 lines repeated over and over again, and Fum, Fum, Fum. Ever heard of it? Yeah, me neither! Apparently it's a traditional Catalan Christmas Carol from the 16th or 17th century. SUUUUUUURE! So I downloaded both of them on iTunes so we could play them over and over and over again to make sure he wasn't the one who stunk it up.

And then strep throat hit me in full force on Tuesday, two days before the pageant. I was really worried I wouldn't be able to go, and I'm still not sure I should have, but I'm glad I did!

Waiting for the show to start - poor Miss Mia was not a happy camper.
She was ready to go home and go to bed before it even got started. But
I ended up having to pick her up from school today because she had
a fever, so something must have been going on.

They brought the kids in from oldest to youngest. Each class sang a couple songs, and as they sang the second the next group came in and both classes sang the next song. And so it went from the school age kids who go there for before/after school care down to the toddlers who go for Mother's Morning Out.

The place was packed so they ended up having to set up chairs in the back, which worked out in our favor because we were able to sit right where they walked in.

That boy right behind him is Logan his BFF. During school pictures they were mistaken for brothers (when asked if they were brothers they both said yes because they are BROTHERS - they each have a little sister.)

Singing with his class, He looks pretty angelic right? Most of the time he was fiddling with his antlers.

With everyone

After the show

The BEST Christmas pageant EVER - or at least until next year. :)

9 months in, 9 months out!

Nine month stats
Height:  28.25” (75^th percentile)
Weight:  17lbs 6oz (25^th percentile)

I was trying to get a shot of her teeth, but the quality isn't good enough, plus they're still pretty small.
Still cute though!

Hair: Still red, in fact it is pretty much the one thing guaranteed to be commented on, except how cute she is, of course! And how much she looks like her brother... Alright, maybe not the only thing then.

Teeth: I started writing this post a couple weeks ago so all I had to do when we went to the doctor was put in the height and weight stats and post, and this is what I had originally written: “Teeth? What teeth? Where are you teeth?!” Well, things change fast in a baby’s first year! She has since gotten her first two teeth, both on the bottom. One day the first one was there, the next the other popped through. I’m not sure why I was so anxious for her to get teeth because they only lead to one thing - biting!

Eating: She’s an eater, that’s for sure! She is still nursing, and I’m still pumping at work. Luckily, other than on a couple of occasions, I’ve been able to keep up with demand for milk. I say luckily because on those couple of occasions, she basically just won’t drink anything. She lifts her nose at formula… She knows good milk when she tastes it! We have also introduced a good variety of fruits and veggies and she eats them all! Her favorite stuff is anything she can feed herself. She didn’t seem to like avocado that much when I gave it to her smashed up on a spoon, but when I cut it up and put it on her tray… down the hatch!

Sleeping: She goes through spurts with sleeping. She’ll do ok for awhile, only waking up once at about 4:30, then let me put her down right away, then she goes crazy for a few days and wakes up every 45 minutes, or just won’t let me put her down. But the doctor suggested that we cut out the night feeding entirely and let her learn to go to sleep on her own. We tried this last night, and were up and down for about an hour, but… Hopefully she will learn quickly, Nate did!

Moving: She LOVES to move! She is crawling like crazy, pulling up and cruising and even climbing the stairs! She is so fast we really have to keep an eye on her. A couple times I’ve been doing something with Nate and I have to quickly get up to go grab her before she tumbles down the stairs. With her newfound movement she seems to be getting into everything. Her favorite thing is toilet paper! She’s also started shaking her little butt when music is on. Maybe that’s the problem we are having with her sleeping – who wants to sleep when you can MOVE?!

Standing: On top of pulling up and cruising, she has stood up on her own by letting go of things for a few seconds a few times, and has gotten herself into a standing position from leaning over. The first time she did it she was leaning against my legs then just stood up straight without holding onto, or leaning against anything (including me). She started to fall, but caught herself and straightened herself back up. That lasted a few seconds and she plopped down. She’s tried to take steps away from things a couple times without success.

Go Packers!

Babbling: She says "Mama" and "Dada" now. Sometimes she just babbles them, but she does seem to know what they mean. One time it even sounded like she tried to say "brother"! We might have another Bubba on our hands. She has also found her voice in other ways and likes to babble and sing along and screech! 

Signing: She definitely has “more” down, although she is just starting to make it look more like “more” than a clap. She has maybe started signing “all done” as well. Now we need to start on some non-food related signs. And though it’s not an official sign, she has started to wave hi and bye. She also claps sometimes, but we aren’t sure if she’s trying to say she’s hungry (more!) when she does that, or if she’s just clapping or wanting to play patty-cake. Also, the other day at dinner we were asking her where everyone was, and when we got to Grandpa she looked straight at her Grandpa and kind of swung her arm out toward him with a flourish like, “Ta-da! Here he is!”

Nate: Now that she’s moving so much we have some good and some bad in the sibling relationship. He really doesn’t like it when she pulls his puzzles off of the top of their bookcase or chews on his cars, but he’s very good about letting us know when she’s about to start climbing the stairs or turn the volume on the radio WAY up! Sometimes he grabs her legs and tries to pull her away from whatever he doesn’t want her to be doing. But the other night he asked to hold her for the first time in awhile. It’s kind of funny because when you see them together like that they look a lot closer in size than they seem when I’m trying to hold them! And he still wants to give her a hug and a kiss before bed, so I can’t ask for more than that!

I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always

Three and a half!

3&1/2 year stats

Height: 40" (60th percentile)
Weight: 35lbs (50th percentile)

We haven’t noticed too many drastic changes since his birthday, just gradual development. He definitely recognizes numbers now and most of the letters when he’s focusing. “The ABC Song” is the song we sing every time we wash our hands. (Can you imagine how tired I am of that song?!) He was talking to my mom the other night and Peter and I both noticed how in such a short amount of time (it seemed) he went from just chatting at Nonna without her really understanding, to having a full conversation. And she said she could understand all but one thing he was trying to say!

He doesn’t watch Dinosaur Train as much anymore, he kind of jumps around a lot for his before bed "episode." But he’s recently gotten into Richard Scarry and a lot of the LeapFrog shows. He recently brought over both Where the Wild Things Are and Love You Forever  to read for the first time since I forced them on him as a baby. So those are the two new book obsessions. I’m thinking of having him dress up like Max (or a Wild Thing) for Halloween. He still loves his trips to the library with Peter and comes home with a huge pile of books each time! I need to check how old he has to be to get his own card! We’ve also recently started checking out CDs from the library, and right now he’s listening to a Halloween CD. His favorite song is their version of “Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead” from The Wizard of Oz. He’s also just recently become more interested in music in general, which is very fun.

He started “school” (half day preschool three times a week) a few weeks ago and seems to really like it! He doesn't usually tell me much about it, but today he told me all about their Camping themed day including how they got to go in the tent and play with flashlights. That was the most I’ve ever gotten out of him beyond, “we went outside” when I’ve asked him what they did at school. They told us the first week how polite he is because he said "Please" and "Thank you" when asking for more water, but today he had his handkerchief taken away for throwing…. Highs and lows!

Here’s where we stand on things we needed to work on at three:

Potty training: Mostly done! We were all done, but then he started having night time accidents for some reason, sleeping too hard I think. So, now we have him in Easy-Ups only at night. He has had a couple of daytime accidents here and there, but that’s to be expected.

Dressing himself: He has definitely gotten better! He can put his clothes ON no problem, well sometimes he does put them on backwards, but whatever. And he can get off most of his clothes, but still has some trouble with his shirt. He has recently seemed to grasp this a little better. But he does pretty well brushing his teeth, and loves brushing his hair! He always asks, "how do I look?" But the way he says look sounds like nook, so it's kind of cute.

Somehow the sleeves always end up front and back instead of side to side...

Putting toys away: Well, he’s gotten better, but not by choice. I’ve enforced a new rule that he has to put away one thing before he can start playing with another instead of letting him just trash it to clean up on Sunday. This makes ME a little less crazy, at least. We’ve started giving him an allowance for helping clean up his play area and put his laundry away, and he has bought a couple of toys for himself, so that is some incentive!

Fine motor skills: He can put beads on pipe cleaners, but he’s not really super great at coloring. He doesn't seem to care whether or not he actually makes something with the crayons, paint, markers, etc. He has recently started trying to write the letter “N” and he does it, but backwards, and definitely kind of scraggly and all over the place. But, I guess that’s better than nothing. I got him a workbook to practice. We need to get him to hold the writing utensil the right way. BUT, in typical boy fashion he does very well in gross motor skills and has recently learned how to pump on a swing!

Things to continue working on: Fine motor skills, tantrums, recognizing letters and remembering their sounds, using utensils instead of hands

Next stop: 4!!!

I love you a bushel and a peck!

Last year when Nate was on vacation up north with his grandparents, Peter and I celebrated our anniversary by going to brunch then apple picking. This year we went to see Jason Mraz for our anniversary, and made the apple picking a family affair.

We decided to go the same place as last year, Sky Top Orchard, because it is beautiful, has lots of different varieties, a playground and petting zoo for the kids… and was actually letting people pick. I think there was a lot of damage done to the apple crops this year, so a lot of the orchards aren’t even doing self-pick.

Awesome vistas

We packed up the car just in time for Mia’s morning nap and headed to Hendersonville, NC, about an hour and half drive west into the NC mountains. We were getting nervous as we drove because there were some ominous looking clouds in that direction, but we figured we would give it a try because we probably wouldn’t have another opportunity to go this fall. It was still dry when we got there, so we spread out our blanket next to the trees for a picnic lunch.

YUMMY! We had pasta salad, while Mia had carrots.

Daddy-daughter cuddling! (So mommy could finish her lunch!)

After we ate, we headed out into the orchard to pick some apples. Our first stop was Gala apples. Either because of the storm damage, or because the trees were already picked over, Peter had to climb high up into the trees to get the good ones and throw them down to us. I caught most of them! Peter’s aim wasn’t always right on, but I decided not to lunge into the trees with Mia strapped in. She only got hit in the face once – and by my arm, not an apple. Luckily when we got to the Cortlands, they were low enough that he only had to climb a little and could easily hand them down.

Can you see him in there?!

Designated apple catchers!

The Cortlands, from the Galas

We were hoping to pick some Macintosh apples as well, but they were so picked over there were, like, two left in the trees. I think this is because they are the trees closest to the stand, and of course, Mac is a very popular variety of apple. So, we just bought those in the stand.

Thank goodness some nice lady took mercy on us and handed us her cart before someone else could grab it!

Nate definitely got in on the action

Can't wait to get it home!

When we were done picking, we paid for our apples (a bushel and a peck) and took Nate over to play in the playground. It’s pretty cute with a little apple and pumpkin house and some other stuff. Unfortunately, about five minutes after we got there, the downpour came. He tried to convince us to let him play a little longer (he wanted to stay in his house), but we were standing under a tree and didn’t really want to get wet ourselves. So, we grabbed half a dozen of their famous apple cider donuts, a gallon of apple cider and headed home. Just in time for Mia’s afternoon nap!

But I want to play!

No, I do not bribe my children with warm, fresh, apple cider donuts! It just helped.

During other parts of the year you can get things other than apples: grapes, pears, peaches and pumpkins, so we’re debating going back next month for the pumpkins. Either way, we will definitely be making apple picking a fun fall family tradition!

Video!

I wanted to post some video because I've figured out how to use it on my phone and have gotten some good stuff in the last couple days!

This one is of Nate enjoying the new hoodie his Aunt Katie got for him so he can feel brave at Pre-school (starting Monday)! Of course, I feel the downfall is going to be that he will just roar at people all day, but... I'm sure he'll be fine! My favorite part is when he wiggles his little bottom and says "I have a spiky tail. It scares off the meat eaters." Or something like that.

This one is what I think is Mia signing "more"! Now, it's not exactly right because it's supposed to be the tips of the fingers coming together, not what looks like clapping, but still! Given that it just so happens to take place when she's lunging for MORE... She's brilliant, just like her brother! ;)

And this is just one I took because I think she's so cute when she's eating. Like a little bird. She really has started eating like crazy the past week or so! For example today she had: 

Breakfast: two ice cubes each of green beans and plums.

Lunch: a full container of sweet potatoes and half a banana

Dinner: a full container of apple pear oatmeal, a full container of carrots and some banana flavored puffs

That is a lot of food!

We do a mix of stuff we've blended and frozen ourselves, and pre-packaged baby food. We try, but we only have so much frozen stuff, don't want her eating the same things for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and sometimes it's just easier!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the videos!

Little travelers

Our recent trip to Chicago made me realize how lucky my kids are! They have each traveled more in their first year (or three) of life than I had done in my first 18. Unlike Peter, who got to travel a lot as a kid, I pretty much stayed in California for family vacations. The only time I traveled outside of California was to go to Texas to visit my dad's family. So, I flew to Texas when I was about one, then drove there when I was about eight and again at 16.  So we drove through California, Arizona, New Mexico and A LOT of Texas. Twice. Good times! Since then (really, since meeting Peter) I have been able to check a lot more states off of my list. And luckily my kids have too! 

Part of it is that my family, and most of Peter's family live in other states, and have friends in other state. We also live in a state that is within close driving distance of others where we might want to go. This is very different  from California, where it's a full day from top to bottom or you can travel 5 hours to get to... the desert! Again... good times! We have had weddings, visited friends and family and just gone to baseball games, all in different states. Nate even got to go on a week long vacation to the north (or is it the Mid-West? That's always confused me) - to three states I had never been to (including two I still haven't visited), with his Nana and Grandpa. 

I don't know how other families are, but maybe some of it is just how things have changed in the last 30 years. The world is a smaller place, so why can't the country be? Some of my European friends travel between countries on long weekends. Some of my Southern friends have never been outside of NC, let alone the south! I do not want my kids to think Gastonia, NC is the world. Really.

So, we will all continue to increase our state count - and hopefully, eventually, our country count! Here is where we all stand right now:

Peter's state count: Obviously he has us all beat!
Best: Colorado
Worst: Kansas?

My count - Fairly respectable I think.
Best: California (duh),
Worst: Alabama?

Nate's count - Pretty good for a 3 year old!

Mia's count - She'll get there, but still pretty good for 7 months old!
Hopefully we can increase it with a holiday drive to NJ this fall/winter!

Chicago!

This past weekend we went to Chicago for the wedding of our nephew, John, the son of Peter's oldest sister, Beth. We booked our tickets and hotel back in May and were all set to go on this short Morris Family Vacation. Well, in July, right before we went to the beach, we found out that Peter was going to be heading to Virginia for his Store Manager Evaluation. He would be there from the Sunday to Friday - the day after we had originally planned on leaving. Unfortunately this was the only time in the next few months that this opportunity was going to be open for Peter, so he had to take it! We contemplated not going to the wedding, but really wanted to go, and didn't want to give up all that sunk cost. That means... I got to fly there with Nate and Mia (her first time on a plane!) by myself! Doesn't that sound fun?

First airplane ride! I tried to get Nate in the shot, but he didn't want to.

Checking out the amber waves of grain

 Well, it actually wasn't that bad. I think the stress of thinking about it was worse than anything else.  Mia did have a huge blowout from the newly introduced apples in her diet, but fortunately it happened before we left the house! I did everything I could to be prepared and everything went smoothly. Our shuttle dropped us right at our airline, so I was able to do curbside check-in. And I cannot sing the praises of the family security line more! I was able to wear Mia through in her Moby and get through in less than 5 minutes. If anything, I was probably a little too prepared because I got to the gate about an hour before boarding. I tried to plan on feeding her during take off, but she was a little too eager. Luckily I had a large stash of binkies on stand by! Our plane was full of business travelers, and one guy in front of me commented on how good they were, and how he didn't hear Mia cry at all, which surprised him a lot. She did cry out a couple times, but as soon as she got her binky back she was fine. She also really enjoyed flirting with the new military recruits sitting in the row behind us.

On Friday we headed to the beautiful Chicago Botanic Gardens. We went on a tram ride around the gardens while we were waiting for everyone else to show up, then went to the butterfly exhibit. That was amazing! It was a normal sized green house filled with hundreds of different species of butterflies. It is pretty amazing to be able to see them so closely for such long periods. They didn't seem to like me enough to land on me, which surprised me given how much mosquitoes seem to like me! After the butterfly exhibit we headed to see the model trains, which Nate just loved! Then we went back to the hotel for a nap before going to Beth's house for the rehearsal dinner.

This isn't California!

Pooped

Peter got into Chicago (after passing his evaluation! Yay!!!) late Friday night, so when we woke up on Saturday, he was there! He jumped right into the fun with a trip to the Shedd Aquarium. I think the best part of going to the aquarium was getting to drive through downtown Chicago, and then along Lake Michigan on the way home. Chicago is really a beautiful city! The downtown seemed so vibrant - nothing like Charlotte's "Uptown" that all but closes in the evenings and weekends, and the suburbs were beautifully green. I'm sure I'd have a very different opinion of it during the winter, but during the summer it is very charming.

After the aquarium we had a short time to get ready back at the hotel to get ready for the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony even though it had to be moved inside because of rain. Good luck for them! They had a bag full of fun stuff for each of the kids - puzzles, crayons and a car for Nate, rattles and books for Mia.. This was great for the time between the ceremony, dinner and dancing when Nate got a little antsy. But once the dancing started there was no stopping him! He was one of the first out on the dance floor, and didn't want to get off. He danced with all of his cousins, then even got a group of the bride and grooms' female friends wrapped around his little finger with his debonair dancing and charm. Mia did not have as much fun, and was a little overstimulated once the music got started. I kept having to take her outside, and a lot of people offered (wanted) to hold her so I could dance, but she's in her Mama phase, so it wasn't even worth it. Unfortunately we don't have any pics from the wedding, unless we get some from the photographer they had.

Mia and Nate with Aunt Cathy and cousins Aaric and Lainey

After going back to the hotel and crashing, we basically had enough time to pack and eat breakfast before heading back to the airport. It was a whirlwind vacation, but definitely a lot of fun. Nate loves getting to see all of his cousins! Can't wait for the next family vacation!

Yes, this is what a family vacation looks like!