Santa

I took the kids to see Santa a couple days ago. Last year Claire adored Santa, and when we saw him at a Christmas party, she ran right into his arms.

2009

2009

The year before that, my mom went with her to see Santa. She was sitting on my mom's lap, so I don't think she even noticed him.

2008

This year, she refused to go near him. Jack however loved him. He wouldn't stop turning around to stare at Santa and smile. The girls had to ring bells to get him to look at the camera. I love how authentic this Santa looks.

2010

Since I had Claire all dressed up, I took some pictures of her at the mall with a pretty Christmas tree.

I also made them each a little video from Santa. It's was so cute to watch Claire's face light up when she heard Santa say her name, and show her picture.

You can watch Claire's video here

And Jack's video here

A Hard Age

Looking at Claire, it's hard to believe she could be anything but sweet. And she is sweet. She's loving, and sweet, and adorable. But man, is she ever giving me a run for my money. Everyone warned me that three is a harder age than two. They were right...and she's not even quite three yet. But, we're going through a little rough patch with her right now.

If anyone has any suggestions on dealing with tantrums, and difficult behaviors I would love to hear them.

I'm an ECE. I should know this stuff. But it's so different when it's your own kid. I'm trying my darndest to stay calm when she gets upset, but it's very hard not to lose it sometimes. I have to keep reminding myself, she's just a little girl. I think there might be some jealousy issues with Jack. She has been taking away his toys, and showing some jealousy when someone pays attention to him. My mom suggested making sure she gets some one on one, quality time with each of us, so I am going to make that a priority.

Today was a hard day. Hoping for a better one tomorrow. I don't mean to be a downer, but I want this blog to be an accurate representation of our lives when I look back on it one day. This too shall pass...

Seven Months

Jack turned seven months today. I'm pretty sure that this past month was the quickest month ever! Today Jack started crawling. It's more of an army crawl, but he can cover a lot of ground, and he's quick. I will try to get a video clip of it tomorrow. His favourite thing to do is stand holding onto furniture and he's even starting to cruise holding onto the couch or ottoman. He's happy as ever, and getting to be more and more fun. He's starting to play shy with certain people. He will burst into tears of he sees a face he doesn't recognize, but other times smiles happily at strangers. He's trying so hard to pull up on furniture. If I sit beside him, he will instantly grab onto me and push himself to a standing position. He's growing so fast! It's hard to believe this time last year, we didn't even know if we were having a boy or a girl.  am so thankful for this sweet little boy.

Family Photos

As I mentioned in a previous post, we had our family pictures taken last month by Nikki at Bittersweet Photography. I now have the finished photos, and I absolutely love them. I think they capture our family perfectly. I love how there are so many shots of us just having fun, and enjoying each other.


I think everyone should get family pictures taken every year at least. Especially if you're like me, and are usually the one taking the pictures, it's really nice to have photos with every family member. You will never regret getting pictures done, but might just regret not having those memories captured one day.


Nikki also made a beautiful slide show. Feel free to check it out. Just make sure you have your speakers on.


Here are just a few of my favourites...

I take it back...

Jack, oh my sweet Jack just wants to see mommy at night again and again and again. 

Remember this post? I take it back. I am tired. Really, really tired. I want to sleep longer than two hours at a time. I NEED to sleep longer than two hours at a time.


I still think too much focus is placed on baby's sleep in those early months. And I still think the competition aspect of sleep ie. My baby sleeps 12 hours at night, therefor they are a good baby is wrong. But I've been waiting ever so patiently for Jack's sleep to improve, and I've tried to have a good attitude about it. I know this won't last forever, and eventually I will miss having a baby. But everybody needs to get a good, solid chunk of sleep in order to function. I'm tired, and not really all that happy about it.


Before you ask if I've tried white noise, or an earlier bedtime, a later bedtime, a bedtime routine, or any of the other various recommendations...YES, I have tried them all. After two babies that seem to have an aversion to sleep, I have tried everything. Both my kids seem to meet milestones pretty early. Except for sleeping through the night. My theory is that they need to spend more hours awake so they can practice all their skills. You know, rolling over, sitting up, crawling etc. Who has time for sleep, when there's so much fun stuff to accomplish. At least, that's what I tell myself to make me feel better.


I am trying to gently encourage Jack to sleep longer, and stretch out those night feedings. We will get there eventually. I love my kids more than anything, but there are just some stages that require use of the phrase, "This too shall pass".

Buddies

Just some cute pics of my sweeties playing together.

On this day, they spent an hour playing in these laundry baskets. There were lots of giggles involved. You can see on their faces how much fun they're having.

Random Updates

This boy loves to eat, like really really loves to eat! I can't believe how at six months old, with only two teeth he manages to mash food up with his gums and swallow it. He gets a crazy look of excitement on his face when he sees food coming towards his high chair. He immediately grabs it, and starts shovelling it in his mouth. If I take the food away, he will cry as if I have pinched him. I have a feeling our grocery bills are going to cost us a fortune when he's a teenager. 

Now if only he would sleep longer than two hours at a time. The lack of sleep is really starting to catch up to me, so I'm hoping he does some longer stretches soon. Just putting that out there Jack. 

And this little girl...oh how she makes me laugh. Her favourite thing right now is talking on the phone. If she hears the phone ring, she yells out, "I"LL GET IT!!!" And then she gets on the phone, and says, "hi, I'm good" before the person even asks how she's doing. She will tell them all about her day, and will pretty much keep talking without letting them get a word in, before we finally tell her it's time to say goodbye. I need to get a video of it, because it is just so funny.


I'm happy to report that the last two drop offs at pre school have been completley tear free. This is such a big deal for her, and I am so happy. Makes it much less stressful for mommy.


I'm trying to record some of the funny things she is saying, because otherwise I forget.

The other day she was trying to take a toy from Jack (a frequent occurrence these days). I kept telling her to stop, but she was not listening, so I used my hand to move her away to prevent her from taking the toy. She sat back, looked up at me with the biggest pout on her face, and said in the saddest voice, "Don't push me mommy, I'm just a little girl." Oh, so dramatic that one. 


Another day, I sat down to watch my soap (my guilty pleasure). Claire came up to me, and asked what I was watching. I told her I was watching the Y&R. "Oh, I don't like this one mommy, I think we should put on treehouse, Y&R is not good for my body." 


And yesterday Jack was playing with a toy and laughing at it. I could see Claire watching him laughing, and the wheels turning in her head. She could not quite understand what was so funny about this toy, so she walked up to him, put her hands on her hips, and said, "What are you laughing about Jack? What's so funny?"


I really love this age.



 

Six Months

My little man is half a year old already. I took him for his check up and needles today. He really does not like the doctor. He screams as soon as he starts measuring his head, and checking him out. By the time Jack gets his needles, he's so upset you don't really even notice more crying from the needle prick.He is 21lbs, 2oz and 28" long. That puts him in the 95th percentile for weight, and 87th percentile for length. I'm not suprised since he's wearing 12 or 18 month clothing depending on the brand. 

Jack is slowly starting to take in more solids. He loves playing with food though, and exploring it. No crawling yet, although he gets up on his hands and knees and pushes himself backwards. Still just the two teeth, and I don't think anymore are coming. He hasn't acted like it anyway. 


Jack loves to babble and make sounds. People always comment on how talkative he is. He still loves his sister, and wants to do everything she is doing. She sometimes takes his toys away, and when she does he now screams in protest. 


Can't wait to see what the next six months bring!

 Claire and Jack at six months old

Trick or Treat

Tonight was an awesome night! We took Claire 'trick or treating' for the first time. I wasn't sure if she would be too young at not quite three, but thought we would give it a go and try going to a couple houses. 


The first two or three houses, she was kind of shy, and hadn't quite figured out that you needed to wait until the person opened the door before saying 'trick or treat'. She didn't know that you had to hold out your bucket so the person could put some candy in it. But after a few tries she had it down pat. 


It was pretty much the most adorable thing I've ever seen. Hearing her say in her sweet little voice, 'trick or treat'. And then, 'thank you' after she was given some candy. She would excitedly run to the next house, not sure if this was too good to be true. 


Denis dressed as a zombie, so Claire referred to him as 'zombie' the whole night instead of daddy. "Come on zombie. Thank you Zombie." Jack rode along in the stroller. Every once in a while we had to empty Claire's bucket of treats into the stroller basket because it was too heavy for her to carry. 

Jack checking out Claire's candy

Jack helping himself to Claire's candy

Claire not really wanting to share her candy

 And just because I love comparison pictures...

Claire on her first, second, and third Halloween

And both Claire and Jack on their first Halloween. Claire at nine months, Jack at six.