Oopsy--Forgot the Christmas Videos! :)

I almost forgot that we took a few videos, too! Just two. 

The first is Lewis playing with his drum that Mamaw and Papaw Carter got him. The boy loves to bang on things.

And then this little bit of action happened later on Christmas Day at Grandma and Grandpa Thompson's house! We've never let him try the stairs before, but apparently he has figured them out!

THAT is all, I promise.

Christmas Break, The Final Part, Part 6 - Em, Joe, and Juniper Visit Louisville

And finally, the last post from today regarding the past week, I promise! 

Emily, Joe, and Juniper came down and stayed with us from Tuesday until today! We had a nice, relaxing time with Lewis and Juniper getting along pretty splendidly, I believe. I'm so glad that they were able to come down and that we could all, especially Lew and Juni, spend some quality time together. It was fun to see them interact and also to watch Juni play with some of the toys that we've gotten Lewis that he is still a bit too young for. She is such a smart and sweet girl and so patient with Lewis (as he took things from her and pulled her hair a lot). :)

 She loooved the wind from the ball popper blowing on her face.

AND of course the ball hit her face just a split second after this picture was snapped, but she didn't seem to mind. :)

 Lewis checking out his new digs.

 A perfect fit for our adventureland of a basement.

Yesterday it was a bit chilly, but we decided to go ahead and bundle the babes up and take them down to the playground at Waterfront Park before heading to lunch. I'm so glad we went--I had taken Waycross campers there once way back in the day and remembered the playground was a good one, but I'd forgotten that they have separate little kid, medium kid, and big kid play areas. There was a whole Lewis and Juni-sized structure with not-too-high-off-the-ground steps and slides and tunnels. It was great! We will definitely go back.

 Juni seemed a little unsure of the Kentucky swings at first.

 Lewis smiling at his cousin

 Whee!!!

 Some of the pint-sized playground area

 A neat (and very cold metal) tunnel

 Brrrrr.

 Lew and Papa, down by the river

In this next picture, I'm not sure if you'll be able to 'get' what is going on, but Juni's elbow is resting on a larger cutout area similar to the one next to her to the right of the photo. She and Lewis (over just the past few days) both tried to climb through the cutout and into the dining room. It falls RIGHT at their waist height and Lewis is thisclose to hiking his leg up far enough to boost himself through (headfirst, onto hardwood, bad news). I'm pretty sure Juni could have done it if she wanted to, but she listened when we told her 'No' and Lewis doesn't quite get that yet. Sooo, I think we'll be doing some rearranging of the furniture to block him from accessing that area.

And then this morning before they hit the road, we gave Lewis and Juniper their first bath together. They both had fun splashing and playing with the squirt toys.

Lewis looooves his cousin. :)

So that was Lewis' First Christmas/Christmas 2011 for us! Kevin is still off until the 3rd, so I look forward to enjoying some family downtime after our busy (but great) week we've had. I'm not sure what Kevin has planned (we'll definitely be watching some basketball on NYE with IU vs. Ohio State and UL vs. UK playing). Tomorrow his parents are coming over to watch Lew for us while we go to late morning showing of The Descendants and then out to lunch, so I look forward to having a little day date with Kevin!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Christmas Break, Part 5 - Stockings and Visiting with Friends

The day AFTER Christmas, we spent the morning trying to put things away, start laundry, clean up the house a bit. Then Kevin had to leave to go meet his family for lunch, so Lewis took a nap while I got ready to head out with Lew to pick up Kevin en route to meeting up with friends and their kiddos in Corydon. Does that make sense? 

But first, we went ahead and opened our Christmas stockings because we had gotten back to the house right at bedtime the night before and didn't have time. Kevin picked out a Cookie Monster stuffed animal for Lew, and I got him a compact travel bib, some 'fancy' baby food (the organic stuff in the pouch...they had cranberry, which is a food he needs to still try), and some Gerber cookies. And some Reese's Pieces JUST in case Kevin forgot to get some for me...of course, he bought some for me, I bought some for him, and I bought some for Lewis. Sooo, we ended up with 3 candy canes of them. 

It's a Cookie Monster!!

 Cool bib, dude. :)

These next few are from Reed and Maria's house in Corydon where we met up with them and the Littles (Joe, Polly, and Joey) and had a great time! Lewis continued to walk further bit by bit, chasing after the 'big kids' (Joey is ~14 months and Clara is ~18 months).

 Enjoying his gifts (puffs and a cool frog toy) from the McKinleys

Hanging with Joey

So that was the day after Christmas! Once Lewis went to bed, I went into housecleaning overdrive mode because Emily, Joe, and Juniper were coming down the next day through today! We had a great visit, and I took a ton of pictures which I will post later today. For now, it is beautiful outside, so we are heading to the park! 

Christmas Break, Part 4 - Afternoon/Evening with The Thompsons

After outfit change four of the day, I believe, we finally arrived at the Thompson house for a great meal and more gifts.

Activity Table from Uncle Scott

Dump Truck from Grandma and Grandpa

A cool tricycle from his Grandma and Grandpa

Lewis, his WILD bangs, and Grandma

Checking out the Christmas tree!

On our way home from a wonderful 1st Christmas!

Psychedelic Ball from his Aunt Kate

It worked very well in trying to keep him happy on the way home after a long day. Thanks, Kate.

And I didn't get a picture of Kevin's gift to Lewis, but it is a sweet little t-ball set for him to practice his batting skills! It will be perfect for the summer when the weather warms up again! 

Christmas Break, Part 3 - Lewis' 1st Christmas Morning!

We have gotten into the routine of going to my parents' for Christmas Eve/Christmas morning, and then driving down to Kevin's parents' house for Christmas afternoon/evening. It has worked well in the past, but now that we have Lewis, it might be a little too much time in the car (for Lewis and us). We might revisit the plan sometime between now and next Christmas and see if there is a better way.

Back to this year, we spent Christmas morning at my parents' house.

 Cousins on Christmas Morning

Lewis' new favorite pastime--pulling Juni's hair (And she is so patient with him!)

 

 Me in Lewis' awesome new teepee made for him by Auntie Schwee (Em)

I think Juniper was in there with me, too. It is big enough for one adult and one child.

 Princess Juniper in the tutu I made for her!

 Lewis checking out one of many great toys from Mamaw and Papaw

He loves the lights and sounds of this one!

 Lewis opening the gift from me (that I picked out without Kevin)

It is a magnetic farm animal matching toy for him to play with while we are in the kitchen (theoretically, instead of the cabinets, dog bowls, trash can, etc.)

 Some rad high or low top Chucks from Mamaw and Papaw

And a cell phone of his very own so that he might not (again, theoretically) try to eat ours as often. :)

Then it was breakfast, followed by our road trip back to KY. We unloaded dogs and presents, and then headed to Kevin's parents' house for a late lunch/early dinner and more gifts!

Christmas Break, Part 2 (of 6ish)

Day 3 at my parents' house was Christmas Eve. We spent the day getting the house and food ready for my mom's side of the family to come over for dinner, poker, and Christmas Eve service at church.

Throughout our stay, we were cordoning off dogs and babies into different rooms to try to keep everyone happy. At night, we put our dogs back in the back of the house so that if (rather, WHEN) they barked, they wouldn't wake up the entire house. Juni and Lewis found the crates to be endlessly entertaining, so we also took turns locking the children in them. :)

Caged Juni

 Wild Animals 

 Auntie Crazy Eyes and Juni

 The Carters/Bergstroms/Thompsons

Christmas Break, Part 1 (of Potentially 6)

We have been enjoying the holidays with family since last week--we made a trip to my parents' house, a trip to Kevin's parents' house, a trip to Kevin's friends' house, and hosted my sister, Joe, and Juniper for the past few days! So much fun, so much activity, and so many pictures. I'm trying to break things down and edit down the amount of pictures, but it still seems like there are a lot!

First, a trip to my parents' house, Day 1:

Big Bad Lewis, stealing Juni's water

Cheerio Time!

Sweet Little Stinker

Love those little legs :)

On Day 2, Dietgard and Mathilda came to town to play with Lewis and Juniper, and we had a nice afternoon with them! They all played well together, I thought. The girls seemed to teach Lewis a thing or two about walking--he made it quite a bit further with trying to chase them around.

Do I have something on my face?

(1st time eating spinach)

Lewis, Kristen, Dietgard + Mathilda, Emily, and Juni

Well, Look What We Have Here!

Looks like someone is on his way to the world of walking!! Yesterday he took a few steps instead of just one. Today he has pieced together 3 or 4 and seems to really be working on balancing himself and taking very deliberate steps. Look at our big boy go!

And I'm throwing this last one in, not because Lewis is walking, but because Peter wanted to join in on the fun!

I'll Take a Redo on Christmas Cards, Please

I had to make an executive decision today on the Christmas cards. It had been one week since I placed our order, and the tracking information still said "Printing in Progress" as of today, December 18th. Sooo, I decided this evening to cancel that order and place an order at Walgreen's instead, and I just got an email that my Walgreen's batch is already ready to be picked up! I should have gone with them in the first place.


I was originally deciding between Walgreen's (where I had a 33% off coupon), Shutterfly, and Vistaprint (where our birth announcements were done). I had a lot of trouble with photo resolution on Walgreen's site (getting our photos to fit one of their pre-made collages without stretching it too much and making it look fuzzy). I eventually went with Vistaprint because I wanted cards on (beautiful, recycled, matte) cardstock instead of picture paper (and I found the cutest card on their site). HOWEVER, now that it is one week until the big day, I must compromise.


And it is a bit of a bummer because they will only give me a merchandise credit at Vistaprint and not a refund, BUT I was pleased with our birth announcement cards, so I will plan to order from them again when we have another baby (assuming my credit doesn't expire anytime sooner than the next few years).


Soooo, if you are on my Christmas card list, hold tight! You MIGHT just get your card before Christmas Day. :)

Ten Months Old

Double digits, buddy!

Ten Months Old

His stats (from BabyCenter):
Height: 31 inches (above 95th percentile)
Weight: 25 pounds (between 75th and 90th percentile)
Head Size: 19.5 inches (above 95th percentile)


What he is doing this month:

• Yelling, A LOT! I was eversoslightly concerned last month that he wasn't vocalizing much, but I think he's doing just fine now. He lets out these long and loud yells--kind of like a roaaarrrr. He has been throwing in gagas and even some dadas, but not necessarily a Dada directed right at Kevin quite yet. Or maybe he has. It's hard to tell (real vs. made-up on our part). :)
• Kevin has been working with him on waving and high-fiveing, and Lewis seems to be catching on. He definitely knows the high five, and his wave is coming along.
• That head of hair! It is awesome. I might give him a slight trim soon--when I rinse his hair, the back is pretty long. I love brushing it/parting it to the side after his bath--he looks so handsome and grown up. But then he sleeps on it and wakes up to it being WILD. I love it.
• He has taken an occasional step, but nothing more. He is, however, walking very well with his walker (and he looks like the cutest little old man in doing so, too). He seems to be cruising with less and less support from the furniture, also.
• He has been interested in doors this month. He likes to sit and swing a door back and forth from one hand to another. Or open the kitchen cabinet doors. Or try to climb into the fridge when we open its door. Or the dishwasher. He is a wild man.
• He is learning to pull the chain on the ceiling fan/light to turn the light off and on. Kevin used to help him pull, but now Lew is doing it on his own. He will probably break it if we continue allowing him to do so every time we walk by it. :)
• He has been afraid of the vacuum the past few months. It used to not bother him, but now he tries to crawl into the far corners of the room and gets pretty freaked out by it. I tried 'desensitizing' (not sure that is the right term) him by holding him and reassuring him while I vacuumed to show him that it is okay, but as soon as I returned him to the ground, he became upset again.
• He is self-feeding pretty well now. Still trying to introduce a new food every 3 days (kind of slacking on that the past few weeks). We dropped one nursing, so now he nurses five times a day and has solids three times a day. We have had a pretty steady feeding routine the last few weeks of nursing at 7am (plus solids for breakfast), 9:30am (then nap), 12:30pm (plus solids for lunch), 3:30pm (then nap), solids for dinner at 5:30/6ish pm, and nurse at 7:30pm (bedtime). 
• Along with his improved self-feeding and hand-to-mouth coordination has come an increase in sticking leaves, bits of magazine pages, dog hair, and other random things in his mouth. We do a lot of finger sweeps.
• He is still sleeping well at night and at his first nap, but that second nap is a pest. I've tried tweaking it every way I know how, and he still only sleeps for 30 minutes. There were two glorious days in a row where he slept for OVER an hour, and I thought I'd found the magical formula, but then he reverted back to the 30 minute crap. He wakes up cranky (and no wonder!), so I guess we'll just deal with it.
• I think his favorite part of the day is when Kevin comes home and takes him to the basement to play. I usually stay upstairs (and overhear Lewis' laughs), but the other day I went down and watched them. They were playing 'chase' around the couch, and Lewis was sneaking around the corners, looking for Kevin. He was so interactive! After they were through, he went off crawling through his toys, weaving in and out of them with such a purpose. He is getting to be so big and strong, and he loves (and I love) that he has a Dada/Papa who will play with him.
• Current Tooth Count: still 6.

So that is Lewis at 10 months! He had some really great smiles this morning, but he kept closing his eyes because of the flash. For example:

 :)

Stockings are Done! (almost, pretty much, close enough)

Somehow (naptime+Kevin was off and took Lewis Christmas shopping+naptime+playtime with Papa), the stockings are finished!

 

Are they perfect? No.
Did I almost throw them away yesterday and go out and buy stockings? Yes.
Am I glad I kept going on them? Yes. I am glad that I waited until after the loop and cuff were sewn on. The top area where the stocking and cuff and loop all meet is a hot mess, but you can't tell unless you look closely.
Did I accidentally sew the loop of Peter's on the wrong side? Most definitely.


This was my first time sewing with an actual paper pattern, and there were some parts where I had no idea what they were talking about, so I might have missed some helpful tips. I also don't think the authors of this particular pattern had felt in mind when they designed it--at one point, I had to sew through 7 layers of felt (just over a small section where the loop attached), but that's a lot to ask out of my little sewing machine. And their loop pattern was way too small to have any hope of being turned right side out, so I  had to tweak that a little bit. Otherwise, it wasn't as scary as I thought it would be; however, I prefer online tutorials.


The designs for mine and Kevin's were inspired by the colors and patterns on The Land of Nod (thanks, Emily). I sewed Kevin's stripes on, but my dots and the dogs' dots are just glued. I just modified the paper pattern to make the shape for the dog's paws. I used a paint marker for our names--they are pretty subtle in the daylight, but I think that's okay. I could go along and sequin them if I want to add some bling, or I might just leave them. I'm not sure yet.


They aren't quite finished because I still have to add a trinket to Lewis' (his is the plain one in the middle). Martha Stewart had this idea on her website of starting with a blank stocking and adding a trinket each year to signify something that Lew was into, somewhere we traveled, a sport/hobby he had, etc. I already know what I'm going to make for this year--a small timer with a little heart button attached to show that he was well past his due date and was almost a Valentine's Day baby. It shouldn't take me too long to do, and I already have the supplies, so hopefully I can finish it one night this week.

The Tree Is Up!

Thanks to a day 'off' from Lewis (thank you, Kevin!!!), clutter is put away and organized and the Christmas tree is in its place. I was starting to feel that holiday stress that makes me not want to put decorations out, knowing that I just have to take them down again a few weeks later. I am glad that I had the time today to watch (well, listen to) White Christmas and get the house ready. I went through our ornaments and selected some small and lightweight ones, and I love how our little tree turned out. 


Now to find/make time to finish our stockings and Juniper's Christmas gift...
Christmas is two weeks from today, but I will be away from my sewing machine after the 22nd, so I only have a week and a half-ish.