Monday, December 8, 2014

Addison Mae - 3 years, 4 months


















Addie and I are kindred spirits who LOVE Christmas and holidays and special events of all kinds. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are having a wonderful time getting ready for Christmas. She loves her daily Advent calendar ... and will even listen to the Bible verses before getting her candy out. She also loves our weekly Advent wreath lighting. She can pretty impressively tell the entire Christmas story. She helped decorate, and was delighted when Coco her elf came back from the North Pole. She saw Santa this past weekend and just loved him. Win!

She loved Halloween, especially dressing up like a flamingo. We had a fun family trip to Arkansas/Missouri where we stayed in a cabin, went to Silver Dollar City, toured a cave, toured a big cat park, etc. She loves being outdoors, and she loves all things fall.

Warm World is still her favorite. She cried and cried when she was sick one day and couldn't go. I am so impressed with her ability to write her name and many other letters. She sings every song and can tell me each part of her day (when she feels like it). She has had two special roles in Chapel - once saying the prayer in front of everyone, and once shaking a tambourine while "Mr John" played the guitar. She's not afraid of anything.

Addie is thrilled about her new puppy, Lola, though we still talk about missing Izzy nearly every day. Lola is enamored with her big sister.

And of course Hutch is enchanted with her too. Now that he's getting bigger, feistier and more independent, we've had some rough days ... but all in all, she's a great big sister who's always looking out for him and taking care of him.


Weight: 31 pounds
Length: 36.5 inches

 New things:
  • Writing her name. She even wrote a letter to Santa ... that her mother can decipher at least :)
  • "Reading" her books to me, which consists of looking at the pictures and making up the story. Or recalling it exactly from memory.
  • Doing a lot more things "by herself," like washing her hair, going to the potty, getting ice/water out of the fridge dispenser. It's the little things.
  • Helping more with chores around the house. She's very into helping put away laundry. Yippee!
  • Lots more on-her-own gymnastics, including the zip line, somersaults and the rings.
  • Riding her first roller coaster at Silver Dollar City. It was a little one. We both screamed the whole time :)

Likes:
  • Playing with all her nativity sets, while telling the Christmas story.
  • Watching Christmas movies. Or any movie really.
  • Gymnastics, which she's doing so well at. She loves doing (very) assisted back flips on the trampoline there.
  • Cooking and baking, which really just means licking the bowl.
  • Still very into playing pretend.
  • Fancy Nancy books.
  • Christmas books and music.
  • Playing games. As long as she can win.
  • Being a flamingo for Halloween
  • Going to Target
  • Wearing boots
  • Candy
  • Her new dog
  • Being in charge of her own meals, which means she gets to decide when she's done. It's a new tactic we're trying as meals were the source of many a throw down. So far, so good.
  • Finding Coco the elf each morning.
 
Dislikes:
  • Sleeping in her own bed
  • The monsters that apparently take up residence in her room

Hutch Marshall - 12 months

















A whole year old. Unbelievable. It seems like the blink of an eye, but I also wonder how in the world we ever lived without him.

He's so independent, and like someone else, refuses to perform, snuggle or do anything else on command. So we soak up those snuggles and relish in his words/tricks when he decides to dole them out.

He's officially a Daddy's boy, which only breaks my heart a smidge (yeah, right!) He is ecstatic when Jordan comes home, and if Jordan's nearby, this boy only has eyes for Daddy. It's pretty sweet. :)

It's been a bit of a rough month with a stomach bug, flu-like virus, throat infection and bronchitis (ain't nobody got time for that), but I think my little guy is finally feeling better.

He felt yucky for his first Thanksgiving, but ate a little of the food and had a good time anyway. He LOVED watching the parade - all that music.

The best part of the last month has been watching his eyes light up at all the Christmas decorations. He loved seeing the Chesapeake lights up close - he mostly just pointed at everything, but when we got close to some said "ball." Yep. He loves our Christmas tree and does pull ornaments off it. He also honored Izzy by pulling down my OSU Christmas tree, the same day as she did last year, the day before Bedlam. He actually enjoyed seeing Santa for the first time - looked up at him with wonder and enchantment in his eyes. Be still my heart. He loves his little nativity set (particularly chewing on Jesus and saying "ba" to the sheep) and his dancing penguin toy that plays Christmas music. He also likes to chew on Coco our elf.

And he has a new sibling - with four legs. Lola has been here almost a week, and they love to chase each other.

We are looking forward to celebrating this boy with his grandparents tomorrow night and his friends on Sunday.

Weight:  ~20 pounds
Length: 26.5 inches

New things:
  • More talking still. My favorites are his two-word phrases, "Hi Dada" and "Uh-oh Bubba." Yes he calls himself Bubba. I don't think he knows who Hutch is. He also said Mimi, and started calling my mom Mama, a la sister. He calls the cat Ba. (I have no idea) We've been working on baby, and it may be wishful thinking, but I think he pointed at a picture of baby Jesus and said baby. He also repeated me this morning when I said "good boy", though it sounded more like "goo ba."
  • Using all manner of push toys, chairs and step stools to facilitate walking. And standing on his own occasionally.
  • Drinking almond milk. He tried it and never looked back. He's nursing in the morning and at night ... and soon (sigh) we'll be done. I will likely cry. A lot.
  • Repeating animal sounds, with the cow, sheep and donkey from the nativity being his favorite. He points to the sheep and says "ba."
 
 
Likes: 
  • Christmas music. So he can dance. And Christmas lights.
  • His new dog, Lola. Unless she licks him in the mouth. But he does love to chase her.
  • Saying "ball" and playing with all manner of them.
  • Doing a better job of "pat pat pat"ing his fur siblings.
  • Smashing his fingers in the toilets. Well, he doesn't like that part exactly, but he's still obsessed with them. And doors.
  • Getting in the dog's crate.
  • Trying to open all gifts under the tree.
  • Pointing at everything and saying "this"
  • Giving hugs and kisses
  • Hugging sister especially
  • Pulling laundry out of baskets - clean or dirty, doesn't matter. And putting it back in, helpfully.
  • Eating dog food
  • His sister. They are so sweet when they play (nicely) together.
  • Bathtime.
 
    Dislikes:
    • Sleeping. This is still rough on all of us. Now that he's finally feeling better, maybe this will get better too??
    • Being held by momma when daddy is in the room
    • Getting his clock cleaned by Lola
    • Being refused graham crackers after he's had approximately 27