Owen Eats! Sort of ...

Owen had his first taste of food. For awhile we thought he would be well into his 6th month before even showing interest until one day, he got angry watching us eat. After a few days I realized he wanted something too. So....on New Year's Eve, we tried some rice cereal. He had fun playing with it, ate a little, got most of it on his face and probably enjoyed playing with the spoon more than actually eating but it was a step. What a cutie!

Christmas

We had a fantastic (though dizzily busy) Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my mom's family at a large family gathering where we all got our pictures taken with Santa (for Maya this was time #7). Maya walked right up all by herself and got onto Santa's lap. I guess that's the key....wear them down. Desensitize? We made cookies to leave for Santa too on Christmas Eve and Maya loved that she got to put the icing on all by herself. She was a bit tired by the time we got home from our family gathering so she wouldn't smile, but was excited to see that Santa had eaten them. Maya was a lucky girl and got an awesome Barbie house from Santa. It is so big that I think we need to build an addition, lol. Owen got several gifts but loved this mirror toy that was actually a last minute purchase when we realized he hadn't received but 2 gifts. Oops! Good purchase though!

Santa Beards

As part of our 24 days of Christmas we made an old school craft: cotton ball Santa beards. Maya loved this one!

New Tradition

We decided to try out a few new things this year in trying to find some fun family traditions. We found one we all loved! We went on a Santa brunch boat cruise on Lake Washington. So fun! Great food, carolers, Santa, a craft room and lots of room to roam. So much fun!

Like the boy mommy!

Over several days Maya kept going in to the bathroom and taking the bath towel off the rack and sitting on it asking to be 'like the boy.' I had no clue what she was talking about. Finally, one afternoon a commercial came on TV and she got excited and said "There is the boy mommy!". Ah ha! It's a commercial where a boy runs in to the bathroom and his dad asks if he needs help only to be told, "no dad, I'm a big boy." The commercial then goes to the boy who isn't using the bathroom but sitting on a towel playing some sort of video game on the floor while leaning against the tub. I have no idea what the commercial is about, but here is Maya playing a Build a Bear game on the DS in the bathroom. This has become her new past time.

Rolling and Sitting

I keep forgetting to post this! We've had so much going on since Maya got sick a few weeks back quickly followed by colds for me, Chris and Owen. Owen rolled over from his back to his front (he had already rolled front to back at about 3 months but not the other way). Anyway, On December 5th he rolled over. Of course, I had him on the floor and was doing something and Maya pointed it out. Funny girl! A few days later I sat Owen down in front of me and noticed he didn't lean back against me and was actively trying to sit up! Surprised me! Anyway, he's very wobbly but trying to sit up and loves when his big sister comes to play with him while he sits.

Sleeping Beauty

Maya has decided it's really funny to pretend she's Sleeping Beauty. This, however, involves her laying on the floor/couch/bed/stairs and pretending she's asleep (usually smiling and squinting through her almost closed eye lids). Of course, then she must be carried around sleeping. So silly!

Advent Calendar

This year I took on a great idea I read about in a magazine. Instead of having a traditional advent calendar with candy treats, we have come up with 24 activities. The first day was a bust because Maya was sick, however, we have had so much fun. So far we watched a Christmas movie, decorated the Christmas tree, made a Gingerbread house, done a Christmas craft, made Snowman pancakes, gone to see Santa, gone to a Christmas party and wrote a letter to Santa. Tonight is day 9 (we try to do our activity together each night) and it looks like we will be making a card for a friend. Maya has loved finding the 'magical' piece of paper that appears in our advent calendar each day to see what we are going to do. I sneak it in during nap time and tell her the elves came by. Love this idea!

Santa Experiment

We have already seen Santa 3 times and it's only December 9th. The first time was successful. We went on the Santa Train in North Bend and met up with the old guy. Maya sat in his lap and told him she was 2 and that she wanted a Tiana doll for Christmas. Though she looks like she's going to bolt, we even got a picture (I will admit this guy looks like a wax figure though, weird!). The second time we saw him was at a Christmas Brunch for Chris' work. We waited in line for about 10 minutes only to have Maya decide it wasn't a great idea when it was our turn. In the picture she is holding on to Chris for dear life while Owen is in Santa's lap. We have a nice picture of her back which is better than last years brunch where she screamed while Chris held her. The third time was a little more successful. This time the kids got dressed up to go see Santa at the mall. When Maya realized it was our turn, however, she took three steps towards him then sat on the ground. I thought we were in for tears, however, Santa, being the kid friendly guy he is, suggested she stand to his side by her baby brother and help hold him. Smart guy! Maya isn't smiling and almost ended up cut off in the picture, but she helped hold Owen and stayed in the picture. In the end she even gave Santa a hug when he gave her a coloring book. Two more encounters; I'll have to update how they end up in my Santa experiment.

My Wish

Right now I am listening to the song ‘My Wish’ by Rascal Flatts. It’s on my playlist on my Blog so turn your sound on and take a listen. It’s one of those songs that really sums up your thoughts…in my case, and maybe yours, it sums up my thoughts about my kiddos. I was reading something online the other day and in the article the woman wrote that she realized, looking at her teenagers, that the day would come when they wouldn’t be an active part of her daily activities. When Maya woke up this morning (she wasn't quite ready to be awake but came downstairs anyway), she cuddled up in my lap. It made me think of all the mornings she used to do that. She'd snuggle her little face in to my sweatshirt and hug me until she was ready to get up and play. This morning I realized what a big girl she already is as all 39 inches of her tried to cuddle in. It's a little sad to realize I don't remember so clearly those things that happened during our first year together. I know, I know, new memories are made and that's why, but I guess I don't want my baby to grow up too fast. Maya's first year I was always so excited for the milestones. With Owen, I think I'd be content if he'd just stay where he is, rolling around on the floor smiling and laughing. Ok, my rant is over. In the end, my babies will grow up and that will be a good thing.

The sickies strike again!

I had just been thinking it had been about 4 months since Maya was last sick, fever sick. We tend to get a fever every 3 or 4 months and it's always ugly...ugh. The poor girl doesn't bat an eye at a cold but a fever is awful with her. We got home from Target and she proceeded to have a melt down. When she calmed down I noticed that blank look in her eyes and though 'oh oh!' Sure enough it was 100.4 and 101.2 an hour later. She changed in to her favorite Tink nightgown, I gave her some Tylenol, and she snuggled on the couch the rest of the day with her Tink blanket and princess pillow watching movies. Poor girl felt awful. No puking though, that's always my fear. She's only thrown up once and it was only formula (she was 7 months old) but I am pretty much terrified of throw up in general. Now I'm crossing my fingers and toes that we all stay well until long after the holidays!