12.31.11

Happy New Year!

12.30.11

Paige got this doll for Christmas, and she just loves it. In a really intense (violent?) sort of way, as you can see. The doll giggles when you push on it's stomach, and Paige has figured out if she headbutts her, she can make the doll giggle. It's really quite amusing, and hopefully I can grab a video of it to share too. :)

12.28.11

Well, after several weeks of MANY night time wake-ups and repeated failed attempts to transfer a sleeping baby to her crib, I caved. I'd been trying to put her down drowsy, rub her back, sing to her, etc to no avail. She still screamed - or would try to get up to play. So tonight, I decided I'd try the Ferber method of "crying it out". We tried it with Wyatt and got nowhere (one terrible, terrible night we kept at it for FOUR hours at the urging of my doctor and friends and family to "really try". After four miserable hours, I went in there and he grabbed my hand and fell asleep in less than 3 minutes - so you can understand my resistance to CIO.). I put Paige down, and right away she wanted to play. Gave her a kiss goodnight, turned on her Sleep Sheep, gave her a small blanket and left the room. She cried. I waited. Went back in and repeated that whole she-bang 4 times, and she fell asleep after 45 minutes on her own. Initially I didn't think it was going to work, because after a brief period of silence, she started babbling and giggling...but I guess she babbled and giggled herself to sleep. :)
The real test comes tomorrow when Josh has to do it (I have plans in the evening and won't be home for bedtime). He's a serious softie for his baby girl, but he also was getting frustrated with the 3+ hour long bedtime struggle, so hopefully he remembers that. :)

12.26.11

I hope everyone has recovered from the Christmas madness! We still have one gathering to tackle, but thankfully Josh has the week off, so we can all relax a little longer.

Does anyone else find that Christmas with toddlers/babies is very overwhelming for them? Everyone was so generous to my children, and it really is so appreciated that so many people wanted to give them gifts (even great-great aunts and uncles!!), but I don't think Wyatt even knows where to start. He opened a few small trucks and cars and has been sticking to those for the last few days. Paige, of course, does not discriminate, and has chewed on almost everything we opened for her. :P We put the majority of the toys in the basement and will haul them out later on in the year.

It was lovely to see my brother and sister in law (and niece) again, but I find that once you have toddlers, visiting during family gatherings does not happen! I noticed this at our extended family gathering - after we went home, I realized I had hardly talked to anyone at all. Oh well, in a few years it will be different and the kids will be off in a corner playing while the adults secretly drink Bailey's out of a coffee cup.

12.22.11

Wyatt has really mastered the 2 toddler games that we downloaded for him - a memory card game and a puzzle game. The only thing is, when something does go wrong (he taps something he doesn't want to, for example), he loses his mind. So unfortunately, the last 2 times that he's used the tablet have ended in time outs - even with time limits and warnings before hand. :S
Not sure why the back of his head looks like it's glowing - maybe that's what technology does to 3 year olds.

12.21.11

If there was audio to go with this, it would be: "pbfftttttttthhhhhhhhhhh."

12.19.11

Ooooohhhhh....she's trying SO hard. All the time. ALL THE TIME. She wakes up more now than when she was a few months old. It's awesome.

12.18.11

Paige finally decided to give the sitting thing a try - it seemed as though she had to patience for it before, she'd just turn right onto her belly so she could do something else. Yesterday she sat for a good 10-15 minutes before toppling over. Which she only did so she could grab Wyatt. :P

12.17.11

We went to the Children's Museum today to celebrate Connor's birthday. They did a big reno on it over the past few months, and it really is so much better now! We went last year, and Wyatt was begging to leave after about half an hour. We only gave ourselves about an hour, and it wasn't nearly enough time this time around. He had a blast! We'll take him back another time this winter, seems like a good way to pass a cold afternoon. They also had a neat little play area for 0-2 year olds, lots of room to crawl and soft things to play with, but it was over-run with kids that looked closer to 7 or 8 years old. :( Paige and I did not venture in, especially after seeing one kid roll another up in a mat and then sit on him until the other kid screamed. I'm going to assume they are siblings, because that just seems like such a brotherly thing to do. Maybe just my brother. ;)

12.15.11

PEEK!

12.14.11

I had Paige sitting on my lap, but Wyatt wanted to horn in on the fun. Little did he know that he was placing himself in immediate danger. Paige repeatedly attempted to eat the top of his head...which Josh and I thought was hilarious and took many pictures...and then eventually made her stop. Wyatt was suitably impressed.

12.13.11

We took Wyatt to see Santa last weekend (okay, and Paige too, but she was just there for the photo op). Although he looks rather trepidacious, he was pretty excited to tell Santa what he wanted (a black Jeep) and was freaking thrilled about the candy cane he got afterwards. For those of you who forget how last year went, here's a reminder:

Happy Holidays indeed.

12.11.11

We finally got our tree set up! Only a week of sitting in our house with no decorations. However, I did crop the top off because we have no tree topper! :S I have no idea where it went, but furthermore, I have no idea what we have used in the past. Looking back, last year we just had a little 3 foot tree, and the year before it doesn't look like we had one then either. Wyatt wants a red star....that sounds easy to find.
All I see when I look at this though is our ugly curtains. We have a set of patio doors there, and I don't know what kind of window treatments to use. I think blinds would open the room up, but I don't want mini blinds. I think I found some bamboo roman blinds that will work, but Josh isn't sold. :P

12.10.11

Nom nom nom...this kid'll eat anything within her reach. Including my face (she got a good bite out of my nose!).

12.9.11

Watching a hockey game together (hopefully her interest doesn't last long! :P).

12.8.11

Paige LOVES this activity table (we took the legs off, obviously). Wyatt loves it too, and sings his ABCs along with it. :)

12.7.11

This one's for you, mom. :) We're using it as our Christmas card photo, I think it turned out pretty well, especially considering Wyatt usually resists being that close to Paige most of the time.

12.6.11

Mr. Serious

12.4.11

I made an attempt to get a couple of nice pictures of the kids (okay, just ONE nice one of each of them) today so I could put a Christmas card together. I got this one of Paige, who refused to look at me and kept trying to put the hem of her dress in her mouth. :D Later on, Josh gave me a hand and I think I got a good one of the two of them together.

12.3.11

I was allowed to take a picture of "Soft Bear" tonight, but not Wyatt. Don't tell him, but I think he made it into the picture too. :)

12.2.11

:)

12.1.11

Blogger was being stupid the other night and wouldn't let me upload my photos, so today is another double photo post.

I ended up trimming Paige's hair this morning, it was hanging right in her eyes and it bothered me (and therefore, I'm sure it bothered her). Note: it is damn near impossible to trim the hair of a squirmy 6 month old.

Things have been so busy with this jewellery stuff, as much as I really do appreciate the business and the income it is generating (hello, winter tires!), I cannot wait until I have nothing to do during the day and evenings. I'll be shutting down on the 15th, probably for a month or so. I have a small list of to-do items around the house, unfortunately two of them are my least favorite - painting. Blah. But I am tired of being in Wyatt's old room and it looking like his old room. We still have Seuss-like curtains on the window. I'd like it to feel like MY room. I mean, our room. :P