Wednesday, December 23, 2009

4 month check up

Evelyn had her 4 month checkup yesterday. She is still off the charts at 16 lbs 6 oz and 26.25" tall. She received several shots and we may be giving her the flu shot when she turns 6 months. She rolled over from her front to her back last we so we had that to share and she loves to talk, laugh and get your attention. She plays with toys and puts everything in her mouth. She also pushes up very high when she is laying on her belly.

Joshua has started reading. He is recognizing words, spelling out things he sees and asking lots of questions about words. We are so excited for this next step he is taking and loving his enthusiasm.

Mira is a singing and dancing fool. She likes saying 'ho, ho, ho' and tries to say, 'Merry Christmas', too. It is a bit harder to recognize.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Om me I!

I hear these words a lot. In Mira-ese it means, 'Help me write!' Mira loves to draw and write and she is very precise. Today she can make circles with eyes and a mouth. Jill saw her add hands to another drawing that Jill had started.

Symptoms

How did I know Joshua was sick today? He ate 1/2 of 1/2 a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When we made cookies he took his one and didn't ask for another. The girls were screaming and he sat quietly waiting on the couch. Evelyn, who also has a cold has been sleeping through it. And Mira, also stuffy and sick, is weepy and irritable. But Joshua is taking a nap and saying please and thank you, waiting his turn and is generally agreeable. He must be sick.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Time Flies

I thought the time before Christmas would pass slowly but it is flying along. Everyday we open our elf box, check off a day on our calendar and hang an ornament on our advent calendar. We have been reading Christmas books, doing Christmas crafts, shopping and listening to Christmas music. Mira wants us to cart her around the room kissing all the Santas in the house and last week Aunt Jill played a bear hunt game with Josh. Now he wants to ride piggy back through the house looking for the bear (Jack) while listening to spooky music. Mira is afraid of the spooky music so it makes for an interesting time.

Last Saturday, amidst snow globe like swirls of snow, we ventured out to Macy's to pick our annual Christmas ornaments. It was beautiful and the children had fun choosing their ornaments. Mira picked a little white deer with a Christmas tree perched on its back. Joshua found a robot.

Next we went to Barnes and Noble to find a Christmas book to add to our collection. We chose the Nutcracker but before we found it we found an author signing beautiful books about dragons. We bought two and had them signed to Josh and Mira. We enjoyed a lunch out at Baja Fresh and then headed home.

Sunday, Jason and Josh took in the Nutcracker at our local community college. Joshua did well up through the first half and then got antsy sitting. The girls, Jill and I were meanwhile at Tia Amy's helping her to move between houses.

It has been a busy time but the kids are handling all the excitement well. We've cut out tv for the past week, we'd had tv overload, and are noticing much better behavior. I did let them watch and play games online this morning for a little while but then the whining ensued and it was time to turn it off again.

Jason's final is on Wednesday and we are looking forward to him being around more. He has off until early mid January.

Thursday, December 03, 2009

The Christmas Season

My friend, Christine, gave us a great idea this year. Every night we leave an empty box under the Christmas tree. It is a green box decorated with snowflakes. Every morning when we get up there is something in it for us to do. On the first day, we had a paper inside directing us to go to the bouncy place, day 2 was writing letters to Santa and watching a Muppet Christmas Carol, day 3 was making oatmeal cookies. We are having a lot of Christmas fun and looking forward to what tomorrow will bring. A little elf tipped me off that we would be going to the Christmas parade downtown and seeing Santa. Good thing we have our letters ready!

The tree is up. We decorated the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Most of the house is decorated. Joshua has been helping me with that this year. We are marking off days on a calendar and doing our advent tree. Lots of anticipation for the 'big day'!

Evelyn is so bright eyed now. She likes to talk to us kicking and flailing her legs and arms wildly. She sits well in the exersaucer and can entertain herself while the other two are playing. It is so helpful to not have to hold her all the time. She is waking up more in the night and I wonder if it is another growth spurt or something else since she was sleeping through the night a week ago.

Mira is MUCH better. She ended up on antibiotics for the enlarged lymph nodes and within 36 hours the fever was gone and about 48 the glads where going down in size. She will see the dr again on Monday but she is much improved. Given how much the dr's office has had us keep in touch about this one, I gather they found it to be quite serious. I am glad all turned out well.

Joshua LOVED the bounce place the other day and is enjoying all the Christmas books, movies and festivities. He is writing his name all by himself now and doing a great job. We are so proud of him! More discussions with his teachers and other people in the community are pushing us to wait until 2011 to start him in kindergarten. So I guess next year we will have another year of preschool. Then, it will be Mira's turn.