Between Christmas and New Year's 2008

Check out Ethan - dressed just like Daddy right down to the toque and mitts, but not diapers... They are just the cutest!
We had so many visitors, and house guests even - that I can't believe that these (and Beckett's 17 week photos) were the only pictures I took between the holidays.

Christmas Morning

So this year I decided to try to cook my turkey (and as much other stuff as I could) on the 24th. Christmas Eve after we came home from my mom and Chris' house we pulled the cooked turkey out of the oven and carved it up. I put it in a dish with some chicken broth on the bottom and put it in the fridge with my 2 potato creations to be warmed about 45 minutes before dinner was to be served. Then we tidied the kitchen up. We were woken up pretty early by Beckett and Ethan so we put some coffee on and got ready to do the stockings and some Santa presents.
A couple of pictures of our beautiful tree with and without flash and various children and pets laying amongst the presents.
Ethan got kind of hung up on some chocolate he found at the top of his stocking and decided he didn't need any more presents for a little while. It was cute.
Daddy making our traditional waffle breakfast. It was nice not to have to compete for space and dishes trying to get turkey ready. Note the carcass in the background...
Ethan and his wonderful waffle breakfast.

Troy looked outside onto our porch after breakfast and he noticed that Oscar had ripped through the garbage bag and had his torso half way in the hole enjoying some turkey carcass. Merry Christmas, kitty!

During naptime, Troy cleaned up the bathroom and I got the rest of dinner prepped and set the table. I had to take pictures because - WHOSE HOUSE IS THIS? Where are all of the bath toys, toothbrushes, washcloths etc...I also wanted to document the state of my kitchen a couple of hours before a Christmas dinner when you have done everything the day before. This is to motivate myself for next year. Here are the pans waiting for pre-prepped veggies to go in, and the equipment needed for gravy. The 2 potato dishes, the stuffing and the carved turkey are all in oven friendly containers waiting to be thrown in the oven. Seriously! SO! Clean! With pomegranate martini station set up... This is the first Christmas that I actually got to see most of the presents opened and visit with people and be able to chat and re-fill drinks.
And our festive table. Maybe next year I can up the organization even more to be able to take some pictures once our guests arrive. It seems that once the martinis were served up I didn't have a hand free to take any more pictures...

Beckett, Sixteen Weeks Old!

Merry Christmas! Here you are buried in my stocking stuffers. Today was the first time you rolled over from belly to back - BOTH DIRECTIONS! Probably trying to get out of the pile of Christmas presents...

Ready for Christmas

I guess that I was so busy getting ready for Christmas that I let almost a whole week go by without taking any pictures! That is a first.

Beckett, Fifteen Weeks Old!

Not much has changed in the past week for you - but look how cute you are:You really are a very happy and easy baby. Here's what a typical day is like for you right now:


6am: Wake up to eat and go back to sleep.

7am: Wake up for the day and eat a bit more and get dressed for the day. Play on the floor or under your toy mat while mom and Ethan eat breakfast and get dressed. Go out on a dog walk - or a trip to the grocery store.

9am: Back to bed for your first nap.

11ish: Wake up and eat. Go to Kindergym, playgroup or the park so your brother does not destroy the house. Come home and play with mom after Ethan has lunch and goes into his room for "quiet time". Sleep, please SLEEP!

1pm: Time for another nap! Sometimes this nap is short - but more regularly now you take a long nap.

2:30/3ish: Wake up and eat. Wait for Daddy to come home to play or go out to the park or for a walk.

4:30/5 ish: Catnap (earlier and longer if your second nap was short)

5:30ish: Wake up and eat. Hang around in Ethan's room - take a bath with him if he has had a nap today and is awake. Get on your Pj's and play with dad.

7ish: Time for bed

1am: Wake up to eat and back to sleep.

4am: Sometimes you like to wake up and have a little party and go back to sleep after about 20 minutes.

A-HAH!

Here is Ethan cozy-ing up to Daddy on a "no nap day". This is the only benefit to the no napping. Do you see his finger in his mouth? He has been chewing on it a lot lately.

When I asked him to open up so I could have a look I saw that his upper two year molars are half way through. He has ratty, swollen gums. This also may have something to do with the nap problems.

Cutest!

I walked into the bedroom and Ethan asked,
"Read a book to Oscar?"

Then he said, "Oscar - look at dis!"

Seriously...

Since the time change we have had what I like to refer to as some "Challenging Moments" with Ethan's routine. Ethan was needing to go to bed at 6, which is crazy early and he was getting up just after 6am - which is fine, but I really like the 7 am start to the day better. Many would say - why not just put him to bed at 7 and he will sleep longer - WRONG! We tried that and the later we put him to bed - the earlier he got up. And when he has less sleep he is a handful, mentally unstable, and gets really whiny and cranky.

So we were resigned to the 6pm to 6am sleep and an hour earlier naptime - so 11 or 11:30ish.

Then one day last week - I put him in his crib for naptime and he decided he did.not.need.to.go.to.sleep.

I left him in there for an hour - sometimes he takes a while to settle - but instead of the usual talking or singing to himself I heard bed jumping and crashing around. He has taken to ripping the bedding off of his bed and throwing it on the floor.

Then a couple of days later he destroyed his crib mattress:

So now my once great napper has been very hit and miss and I NEEEED him to take that nap because it is a great break in my day. Yesterday I went in his room after an hour of jumping on the bed and saw this:Yes - an exhausted Ethan has ripped the bedding off of his new mattress and thrown it on the floor. He has removed most of his clothes and his diaper - thank GOD it was only damp. A number two might have been a breaking point for me.

So he obviously needs to nap still because when he does not nap we put him to bed right after dinner - 5 or 5:30 and he sleeps until 7 the next morning. AND the afternoons where there has been no nap are a rollercoaster of hyperactivity and crashing with serious whining and dark circles under the eyes.

Stupid time change. I guess the excitement of Christmas isn't helping either. Daddy thinks you may have turned into the devil:

Beckett, Fourteen Weeks Old!

This week you started creeping when I put you down on your belly. You get up on your knees and wiggle, and actually move forward. From what I remember this is the first step to crawling.

You also started "biting" your Dad which is just about the funniest thing we have ever seen. He holds you up so you are face to face and he leans towards you and makes a chomp noise. Then you do the same back to him - only you are a little more intense and you get all scream-y and wild. Maybe you are a little vampire baby - or part zombie?

MMMM....humenz fer snak... still cute - even if you are a creature of the night!

Christmas-ey Weekend

Friday: Christmas Tree Everything in our house requires power tools or a chainsaw - OF COURSE!
Admiring the tree (or trying to get closer to the scissors...)
So!excited!So!excited!So!excited!

Saturday: Christmas Decorations and Christmas Party

Playing with ornaments and modelling Christmas stockings.After a haircut! And a before actually getting dressed up to go out and not looking homeless as usual...After. Isn't hair and make-up amazing? I always think "I should do this more often because it makes you feel so good..." but then again it takes ALL DAY!Out for the night!

Sunday: Christmas hangover (too tired to find camera)

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town!

After getting to the mall first thing in the morning (to beat the crowds) this past weekend only to see that Santa does not make an appearance until noon (slacker) we were feeling discouraged. It is an event for our family to get somewhere and not have someone be asleep or have food/milk/spitup on them.

We got lucky on our trip to the mall today. We sashayed up to Santa's place, and I'm not sure if he had just opened up after his dinner break - but there was NO LINE! Santa and the staff walked over to us and greeted us while we were taking jackets off. They were genuinely excited to see us like they had been sitting around bored waiting for kids to come along.

Santa grabbed Ethan from Troy, and he looked a little concerned, but warmed up right away. Santa won him over pretty quickly with his "Ho-ho-ho's" and a candy cane. As we were getting ready to depart a long line was forming - what good timing/fortune we had today.

It was a great visit, and on the car ride home Ethan asked, "Go see Santa 'gain?". Seems like Santa is a big hit this year and Christmas is already awesome for me because of his enthusiasm and wonder.

Santa: "What would you like for Christmas, Ethan?"

Ethan: (timidly) "Toys." pauses and thinks for a moment looking around

Ethan: (emphatically) "TWO toys!"

Beckett, Thirteen Weeks Old!

Three whole months old today already!This week you experienced your first snow!Your hands are batting at things all the time now and you love to kick your legs furiously. You are like a plank - so rigid! You can scoot your feet under your knees and lift up your bottom... I think you will be rolling any time now!This last week was also the first time all of your arm batting gained any results. You can now grab and get a hold of the toys on your playmat.

Saturday Plans

Well, just after we woke up this morning (early, as usual) snow started falling. There were big plans made for sledding later in the day - but we kept busy while we waited for the snow to pile up.

Ethan at his art easel - then it was daddy's turn. They are both apparently right AND left handed... See the snow out the window?
Playing with Beckett after he woke up from his morning nap in his new crib. Beckett is always so amazed at what his brother can do...
By mid-morning the snow started melting - and FAST - so there was never any sledding. I'm sure it will snow again soon. After nap time, Uncle Grant came over to take Ethan to see the Fred Penner Christmas concert - what a fun Saturday...thanks Uncle Grant!