We have had quite the busy holiday season this year. It started at Thanksgiving, the first one we have been here for since 1998. The weekend after Thanksgiving we had Christmas with my sister and parents, since the latter are in California for the winter. Then we had the Slipka Christmas, a dinner party and the Kelzer Christmas, all before the actual holiday. Yikes. Christmas Eve was fairly quiet; Chad had the day off and we finished some shopping and cleaned up the house. Christmas Day we had Chad's parents, brother and his family and Chad's grandparents over. Opened presents (not many for us, since they gave us our monstorous TV this year) and had a lovely pork loin for dinner.
And the busyness just doesn't seem to stop. A friend of mine is in town from California, so will hopefully be seeing her today and tomorrow. Friday is New Year's Eve, and we are going to a friend's house for a wicked lobster dinner (steak for Chad). Bringing the boys, who will hopefully sleep and allow us some grown-up time.
Now I just need to get a groove on my resolutions! Big Number One is to: LOSE WEIGHT AND GET IN SHAPE. Charlie is almost 6 months old, it is time. I have been setting January as my start time since he was born, and it feels good to be embarking on it. I am actually starting in late January, since we are going to California mid-Jan, and I want to make a habit of this, not start and stop. Joining the Y, my sister is going to as well, and they have licensed daycare there, so it couldn't be better. We took a look around yesterday and I feel really good about this. Chad and I used to belong to Lifetime (before children) and I never felt like I fit in. I felt good at the Y. There weren't too many hotties (enough to make me feel like I could be one, but not enough to make me want to hide), there were LOADS of old people, so no need to impress them! All in all, it was good. Hope it continues that way!
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Monday, December 13, 2004
Bananas for Bananas
Well, in the wide world of solids, Charlie has moved into Canada (what?). I tried bananas on him yesterday, and ooooh boy, did he love them! Sure, he seemed to say with his eyes, that rice cereal stuff was new and interesting, but bananas are tasty! And he sure is easy to please! A little breastmilk and mushy banana, and the kid is in heaven. He ate is up so fast, I had to make 3 bowls of it for him! Well, baby-sized bowls, but still. I really want to give him avocado, but since there is that 3 day rule, I have to wait. I keep forgetting about all of the rules! I want it to be like Jack is now...just throw whatever at him and see how he likes it.
In other news, Jack and Charlie were really cute this afternoon together. Charlie was in his exersaucer, which he is really starting to get the groove of now, and Jack should have been napping, but wasn't quite ready, so he was goofing around. Anyway, Jack went up to Charlie and was kissing him, and laughing and it was SO CUTE. I took several pictures and almost was crying. It is so wonderful to see my two sons so obviously loving towards each other, and equally enamoured. And it is such a blissful age, with no fighting over anything and just a joy to watch them together. This afternoon (can't say "today" because this morning was filled with lots of crying in the car...Oh well, will take what I can get) has been what I envisioned staying home would be. Lots of fun, sweet, loving children who are also goofy and funny. And now they are both napping...Yeah!
And lastly, Charlie seems to have given me a rest from his sleepless nights (or last night was a fluke). After 5 nights in a row of waking billions of times crying, he slept last night from 7 until 4:30 am, took the pacifier and went right back to sleep until 6:23, then back to sleep again until 9 this morning (when I probably woke him because I needed to get dressed!). It was wonderful, and I am guessing that his teething jaunt is over for the moment. Jack used to be horrible for a week, then fine for a week or two, and then a tooth would pop out, so maybe that will be Charlie's gig as well. I am just hoping that it is all over for awhile, since I am horrible to live with, horrible to talk to and horrible to be. Oh yeah, I want one more kid. Bring it on.
And by the way, Charlie is 5 months old today!
In other news, Jack and Charlie were really cute this afternoon together. Charlie was in his exersaucer, which he is really starting to get the groove of now, and Jack should have been napping, but wasn't quite ready, so he was goofing around. Anyway, Jack went up to Charlie and was kissing him, and laughing and it was SO CUTE. I took several pictures and almost was crying. It is so wonderful to see my two sons so obviously loving towards each other, and equally enamoured. And it is such a blissful age, with no fighting over anything and just a joy to watch them together. This afternoon (can't say "today" because this morning was filled with lots of crying in the car...Oh well, will take what I can get) has been what I envisioned staying home would be. Lots of fun, sweet, loving children who are also goofy and funny. And now they are both napping...Yeah!
And lastly, Charlie seems to have given me a rest from his sleepless nights (or last night was a fluke). After 5 nights in a row of waking billions of times crying, he slept last night from 7 until 4:30 am, took the pacifier and went right back to sleep until 6:23, then back to sleep again until 9 this morning (when I probably woke him because I needed to get dressed!). It was wonderful, and I am guessing that his teething jaunt is over for the moment. Jack used to be horrible for a week, then fine for a week or two, and then a tooth would pop out, so maybe that will be Charlie's gig as well. I am just hoping that it is all over for awhile, since I am horrible to live with, horrible to talk to and horrible to be. Oh yeah, I want one more kid. Bring it on.
And by the way, Charlie is 5 months old today!
Friday, December 10, 2004
Big Week for Charlie!
Wow, this has just been such a big week for the wee one, I can hardly stand it. On most levels, I am proud and excited for him, but there are a few lurking feelings of sadness. And I am still hoping to have another one! I can't imagine if I thought that this would be the last time that I would see one of my children doing things for the last time.
Anyway, first up was that the big guy rolled over! Yup, on Tuesday night. Daddy was out of town for work (as he always tends to be for these big moments...Wonder if they are guilt-tripping him!) and so bathtime was a little crazy for me! Charlie was awake and kinda fussing, so I laid him in his crib, on his tummy, thinking that that might entertain him for a bit. (Jack was in the tub.) Anyway, when I went to check on him, he was half rolled over already, trying to look/grab at his mobile! It was like a slow-motion roll. He finished it soon after, and I got quite misty-eyed, I say. And nope, he hasn't done it since.
Then, yesterday was his first experience with solids! Now this has been a hard one for me. I am so proud that he is nursing well, since it didn't go well with Jack, and I have been reluctant (i.e. scared) to mess with it. Plus, I love looking at his big boy-ness and knowing that it all came from me! But he was waking in the night a LOT, and there is new evidence that starting more like 5 months is ok for allergies, and add to that that I worry if I wait too long, he will not like textures and become picky (yes yes, too much time on my hands), so I bit the bullet. And he liked it! I made him homemade rice cereal, which I like the consistency of better, and then mixed it with the breastmilk, and it went good. It is hard to remember how to do this all, though. But Charlie seemed to like it, and today when he had his dollop, he opened his mouth big and wide! Such a sweetie. It didn't help so much with the sleeping thing (more on that in a sec), but I think it was the right decision. Plus, after his first feeding, he was gagging for some boobie, and as he was eating, I thought "nope, not any different than yesterday".
And last big milestone is teething, me thinks. I think that is why he is getting up SO MUCH in the night. He has been really fussy lately, is not ready for a huge poop, so I doubt it is that, and I put some oragel on his gums and he seemed happier. Then some Tylenol, and he was great. Plus, when he isn't fussy and waking up all night, he sleeps. A lot. So, I think it is teething. My plan is at the first fuss tonight, douse him with Tylenol and see how that goes. Cross your fingers. I am such a wicked woman right now, with 4 nights of about 2 hours of sleep (well, uniterrupted, and then little catnaps after that) and I just feel dead. But this new milestone is pretty sad as well. My little guy with teeth! I definately have to have one more kid. There is no way that I am ready to be done with all of this. No sleep or not.
Anyway, first up was that the big guy rolled over! Yup, on Tuesday night. Daddy was out of town for work (as he always tends to be for these big moments...Wonder if they are guilt-tripping him!) and so bathtime was a little crazy for me! Charlie was awake and kinda fussing, so I laid him in his crib, on his tummy, thinking that that might entertain him for a bit. (Jack was in the tub.) Anyway, when I went to check on him, he was half rolled over already, trying to look/grab at his mobile! It was like a slow-motion roll. He finished it soon after, and I got quite misty-eyed, I say. And nope, he hasn't done it since.
Then, yesterday was his first experience with solids! Now this has been a hard one for me. I am so proud that he is nursing well, since it didn't go well with Jack, and I have been reluctant (i.e. scared) to mess with it. Plus, I love looking at his big boy-ness and knowing that it all came from me! But he was waking in the night a LOT, and there is new evidence that starting more like 5 months is ok for allergies, and add to that that I worry if I wait too long, he will not like textures and become picky (yes yes, too much time on my hands), so I bit the bullet. And he liked it! I made him homemade rice cereal, which I like the consistency of better, and then mixed it with the breastmilk, and it went good. It is hard to remember how to do this all, though. But Charlie seemed to like it, and today when he had his dollop, he opened his mouth big and wide! Such a sweetie. It didn't help so much with the sleeping thing (more on that in a sec), but I think it was the right decision. Plus, after his first feeding, he was gagging for some boobie, and as he was eating, I thought "nope, not any different than yesterday".
And last big milestone is teething, me thinks. I think that is why he is getting up SO MUCH in the night. He has been really fussy lately, is not ready for a huge poop, so I doubt it is that, and I put some oragel on his gums and he seemed happier. Then some Tylenol, and he was great. Plus, when he isn't fussy and waking up all night, he sleeps. A lot. So, I think it is teething. My plan is at the first fuss tonight, douse him with Tylenol and see how that goes. Cross your fingers. I am such a wicked woman right now, with 4 nights of about 2 hours of sleep (well, uniterrupted, and then little catnaps after that) and I just feel dead. But this new milestone is pretty sad as well. My little guy with teeth! I definately have to have one more kid. There is no way that I am ready to be done with all of this. No sleep or not.
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Christmas Traditions
I kind of wanted to get down our traditions, and what I want to start, while I was thinking of it, and I saw a poll post on my "Born In" Message Board, so wanted to use it! I also want to record some of Charlie's firsts!
Are you doing anything extra special for baby's first Christmas? Not really. I did buy him a Santa hat and bib that both say "My First Christmas".
Are you having a big family Christmas get together? Traveling? Or just a quiet Christmas at home? My parents are off to California for the winter, so we had our Christmas last night. It was fun. We opened the boys' presents first (most of them, they were kind of out of sorts), then had dinner (steak, baked potatoes, an awesome salad and bread), finished up the boys' presents, then got them ready for bed and opened our presents. We also played Pictionary from some Christmas Crackers we brought back from England.....Oh, 3 years ago! It was fun. Then, we have the Slipka Christmas on Dec 17, but the boys won't be going to that, as it starts at 7 pm. Sun, Dec 19th is the Kelzer Christmas. Then Christmas Eve is just us; Lin and Matt might come over for a bit in the evening, just so I can see one of my blood relatives on one of the days! And Christmas Day we are hosting Chad's immediate family (and probably Grandma and Grandpa Kelzer, too).
What kind of presents do you plan on (asking Santa to bring) for your kids? Let's see, I got Charlie this cute ring stacker, and plan on getting him this crib toy that is a pelican and you can feed him (is pretty cute), some textured blocks and maybe some wooden puzzles. We do this thing where they kids get 3 toys from us for Christmas (not including Santa), to mimic the three gifts brought to baby Jesus when he was born. Chad's cousin does that, and I looked it, since it keeps the presents down from us, especially when there are so many presents from the families. Then for Jack, I got him Superman pj's, a couple personalized books, and I want to get him some bath toys, maybe an easel and maybe a pretend kitchen (or something where he can do pretend play).
Do you have any family traditions that you plan on passing on to your kids? I think we will open all of the presents from us on Christmas Eve, then do Santa and stockings on Christmas Day; that is what my family did. We also drive around one night around Christmas and look at the lights. That is nice. Drink cocoa (boys haven't been into it yet!). We had an advent calendar as kids, maybe since Mom isn't here for Christmas, she would pass that on to me (I made one for Lin last year, so hopefully she won't fight me for it!). No traditions other than that, but my neighbor told me one they did, that I might like to start. They used to put all of their outside decorations up on Thanksgiving, and then let the grandkids turn them on. Maybe we could do a variation of that sometime.
Are you doing anything extra special for baby's first Christmas? Not really. I did buy him a Santa hat and bib that both say "My First Christmas".
Are you having a big family Christmas get together? Traveling? Or just a quiet Christmas at home? My parents are off to California for the winter, so we had our Christmas last night. It was fun. We opened the boys' presents first (most of them, they were kind of out of sorts), then had dinner (steak, baked potatoes, an awesome salad and bread), finished up the boys' presents, then got them ready for bed and opened our presents. We also played Pictionary from some Christmas Crackers we brought back from England.....Oh, 3 years ago! It was fun. Then, we have the Slipka Christmas on Dec 17, but the boys won't be going to that, as it starts at 7 pm. Sun, Dec 19th is the Kelzer Christmas. Then Christmas Eve is just us; Lin and Matt might come over for a bit in the evening, just so I can see one of my blood relatives on one of the days! And Christmas Day we are hosting Chad's immediate family (and probably Grandma and Grandpa Kelzer, too).
What kind of presents do you plan on (asking Santa to bring) for your kids? Let's see, I got Charlie this cute ring stacker, and plan on getting him this crib toy that is a pelican and you can feed him (is pretty cute), some textured blocks and maybe some wooden puzzles. We do this thing where they kids get 3 toys from us for Christmas (not including Santa), to mimic the three gifts brought to baby Jesus when he was born. Chad's cousin does that, and I looked it, since it keeps the presents down from us, especially when there are so many presents from the families. Then for Jack, I got him Superman pj's, a couple personalized books, and I want to get him some bath toys, maybe an easel and maybe a pretend kitchen (or something where he can do pretend play).
Do you have any family traditions that you plan on passing on to your kids? I think we will open all of the presents from us on Christmas Eve, then do Santa and stockings on Christmas Day; that is what my family did. We also drive around one night around Christmas and look at the lights. That is nice. Drink cocoa (boys haven't been into it yet!). We had an advent calendar as kids, maybe since Mom isn't here for Christmas, she would pass that on to me (I made one for Lin last year, so hopefully she won't fight me for it!). No traditions other than that, but my neighbor told me one they did, that I might like to start. They used to put all of their outside decorations up on Thanksgiving, and then let the grandkids turn them on. Maybe we could do a variation of that sometime.
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