Merry Christmas 2010

A few shots of our Christmas . . .had a good day celebrating at home then going over to Grandma & Grandpa's. Ralph wasn't overly excited about Santa. He can recognize Santa but I don't think he understands the 'magic' of Santa. Both he and Henry enjoyed their new gifts and should have plenty to play with for quite a while.

A rare family photo.

Ralph: Celebrating 33 months!

Photo was taken the morning of 'jammie day' at 'school' as his class was having their Christmas party in their jammies.

Mike and I got to take Ralph to his first Husker basketball game at the end of November. He had a great time clapping (maybe not always for the correct team) and enjoyed everything that came along with the game - the band, the food, the crowd.

Ralph has had some success with going to bed by himself in the last month. The bedtime routine involves brushing choppers, prayers, reading in bed for 20-30 minutes with mommy or daddy, and then lights out - he'll turn his little light off and turn his music on. I will then proceed to pat his back for 30 seconds and then sit by his door for 3-5 minutes, baby steps. I have also resorted to bribery. I have tried it before but never really had much luck. I'm still not sure if I have had any luck but he remembered the next morning that he was promised M&Ms if he stayed in bed all by himself. He continues to ask for M&Ms most mornings.

Ralph discovered some mesh bags in our closest (the kind of bags one would wash dedicates in). One of the books we read has a page that illustrates bees and beekeepers so he determined the mesh bags were our netting hats and we wear them nightly when we read that page - most times we don't even read the whole book, just that page. The bags have transformed from netting hats to hard hards and now, snowy hats - depending on what book we are reading. What an imagination.

For a few weeks now, Ralph has decided to wear his briefs backwards. He thinks its funny and we don't care to correct him since he is dressing himself and its one less thing we have to worry about. He seems to think he has the final decision on what he gets to wear. We used to be able to pick out his outfit and he'd wear it, now he puts up a fight until he gets to choose what he prefers - unfortunately many of the shirts he has picked lately are short sleeve.

A week ago Sunday, Ralph decided to put a pea in each nose hole. He had a cold and someone suggested maybe he was trying to stop his nose from running. I can't say for sure what he was thinking. He's had peas plenty of times before and even had them twice the week before as he enjoys them frozen and its something quick to put on his dinner plate. Luckily they were easily removed with tweezers.

Ralph enjoys going to church. We sit pretty near the front and whenever he has the chance Ralph will stand in the aisle near our row and watch Father. He also likes the part where he gets to give Father money (and a high five). It seems like after most masses we get at least one compliment on how well behaved he was. I think we just happen to be lucky.

Holiday Traditions Continued

When Ralph was 9 months old he 'helped' me with his first candyhouse. Its been fun watching his development grow. He was a lot more cooperative this year. He followed direction and did not even try to eat the candy that was old. Henry did not get to work on his much. We decorated the candyhouses a week after his birthday and the memory of diving into the frosting on his birthday cake was a little too fresh in his mind. Everytime we put him near the candyhouse his hands went for the frosting.

The boys made their handprints ornaments last weekend. As expected, it is not much fun to have one's hand pressed into the clay. We have also done the ornaments since Ralph's first Christmas.

Henry: Celebrating 1 year!

In keeping with Henry tradition, he ends his birthday by waking up a few hours after going to bed. We let him cry for 15 minutes before we set foot in his room . . needless to say its been an hour and half since he started and he is still going strong. Mike and I have each had a shot at calming him. He is fine as long as someone is in the room but does not want to be alone, I guess. It does not get this bad very often but unfortunately its more than I like to remember.

We had a little birthday party for Henry yesterday. He was a perfect ham for the camera - maybe not always smiling but did seem to hit his mark with posing and facial expressions. He enjoyed trying his cake which seemed a little thick of frosting; I don't think he got much cake but did keep dipping his hand in the frosting. He has been enjoying his new gifts.

I noticed yesterday he has been standing on his own for longer periods of time unassisted. He could probably win a crawling race with the best of them -and his knees are probably permanently callused. It's only a matter of time.

He likes crawling up the stairs but is no where close to going downstairs backwards. He likes beating on various things to make noise.

He has added more constants to his babbling repertoire but no purposeful words yet. He says da-da but not always in regards to Mike. He can say ma-ma but not in regards to me.

He is eating regular food more and more. I gave daycare the green light today to mix milk with his formula to help ease him into cow's milk. He had been receiving formula at daycare and mostly breastmilk at home.

My little baby is not so much a baby anymore. Where did the last year go? It has been fun watching his personality develop. He does well playing by himself and stands his ground when someone tries to take something from him. He also adjusts to new environments well. He moved in to the next room at daycare just after turning 11 months and welcomed the new room. There were a few tears the first day but no problems since.

Stats from the 12-month well-child check up:
Height: 29 1/8" (25%)
Weight: 17 lbs 15.5 oz (5%)