2014 was a fantastic year.
I am not saying nothing bad happened, of course bad things happened. Some very sad things happened. The loss of the oldest (a grandparent) and the very youngest (an unborn niece/nephew) were hard.
But, there is so much good. My life is very good and I want to take a moment to be thankful for it.
I live in a city I love. Everyday I get up and drive by Lake Superior to get to my job, where I can look at the lake all day (in between business). The lake speaks to my soul, it is my muse. That is incredibly cheesy, but I am finding out as I get older that many many many cheesy things are true. This city is nestled in a state that I also love, that has a sense of decency and community; a state that does well on healthcare, education, environmental policy, job creation.. the list could go on and on.
Oh, and that job I am driving to? Its a job I find fulfilling. I feel like my job has meaning, that it serves a purpose to help my community (the city and state I love). At that job, besides having a lakeview cubicle, I work with people with whom I enjoy spending time, and I believe they like me. My supervisor has confidence in me and I have upward mobility, and am already taking on more projects and more control over my work life.
After work, I drive to daycare. Its a daycare center that I TRUST and believe takes good care of my kids. It offers classes that at times turn it into a little community of support.
And then, of course, I meet my loving, hardworking husband there, and pick up my two healthy, beautiful children. Its amazing that it is plural now, and I can't express the weight that having a second child has lifted. The fear of never having the family we wanted, and havine to settle and get over it, is gone. And my children are growing and learning and changing. They are happy, they love their parents and we love them.
We pick up our Children and usually take them to our house; a house that is cozy and feels like a home to me. It is in a neighborhood that is safe, across from a golf course, within walking distance of a nice little playground, and a high school. We have all the material possessions we need, and many that we just want.
Sometimes instead of going home I take them to their grandparents. My parents, who support us and help us, who I get to laugh several times a week, who I drink beer with, eat good food with, and generally enjoy being around. Similarly, I get to see all my siblings as often as we make time for it. I can go to lunch with my sisters or dinner with my brother with no problem. They baby sit for use, we house sit for them. I love being near our extended family.
And every once in awhile, my in laws come visit. And they are wonderful people who love us and their grandchildren, who are generous and kind, who understand that we cannot be everywhere at once and do not hold it against us. They are welcome as often as they are willing to tolerate our chaotic house and cold weather.
2014 was a year where I was surrounded by love and satisfaction from every direction.
This is the stuff happily ever after is made of.
Monday, January 12, 2015
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Benjamin at Age 3
Benjamin turns 3 yrs old today. Technically it already happened early this morning.
It used to be so easy to describe Benjamin. I could break it down into nice little categories: Speech, Motor Skills, Diet, Sleep.
Now he is an actual little person with a distinct and complicated personality. How do you sum it up in a post? I can't do it.
Benjamin's favorite thing in the world is to play. "Play with me" is a constant refrain in our household. But, he is still picky about who it is that answers that call. He wants his parents attention the most, especially his dad's. He will be stubborn and not want to play with other family members (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc), especially if Dad or Mom is around. He is similarly protective of his home, he doesn't like new people coming into it too much, and doesn't tend to want to talk to them or let them play. It took two sessions of uncle and aunt M&K babysitting before he started to warm up for example.
He is typical 3 yr old in a of ways. He likes to make excuses not to go to sleep - he needs water, he needs a hug, he is hungry, he has a story he just has to tell us, his stuffed animals are not under his covers (This one is a sign he might finally actually go to sleep). He still likes us to sit with him. Luckily for him, I have started to find sitting up with him quite relaxing. I tell him I will stay as long as he tries to go to sleep, and he lays there and I sit in the rocking chair dozing or day dreaming with out a care in the world. Its a nice break from other demands (baby duties and cleaning etc).
Speaking of stories, Benjamin loves them. He likes to make them up, he likes us to tell them, he likes us to read books. His special interests are pirates and cars of course. He is very obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Luckily, Jake is a pretty good role model. He is nice to people, helpful, inclusive, and eats yogurt with granola. LOL.
Benjamin is a very picky eater.. .also typical three year old. Mac&Cheese, pretty much anything made of pork (bacon, sausage, hot dogs, ham). Lots of carbs, apple sauce, berries. cereal. Yeah we are not the healthiest eaters. I guess everyone has their weaknesses. He drinks chocolate milk like its going out of style.
Benjamin like swim lessons, he likes gym time, he likes other kids and will make friends quick with anyone at the playground or mall or anywhere he is playing. He loves going to the mall and playing on the ride-on toys, and at the B&N trains table. He likes Target. Actually he has been known to say "Target, the Mall, Home, those are the places I like" (he might also refer to either or both G&Gs houses. He likes shoveling snow into his dump truck, or sand, he doesn't care which. He pretty much considers snow to just be sand that is everywhere. He has expressed interest in ice skating recently but we have not had a chance to take him. He can sing the entire U & M fight song. He can count to 14, and then gets a bit lost (eleventeen ends up in there somehow). He knows his alphabet and is just starting to associate phoenetics with letters (very very just starting). He likes his friends at daycare and playing with them. He is proud of being a preschooler and doesnt want to be called baby or toddler. He is a great big brother, who is helpful when we ask him to be, and loves to give baby sister hugs and kisses.
He has very little interest in potty training, in general he is afraid or hestitant to try things he think are hard or he will fail at, even if he originally expresses a lot of interest. He likes the idea of new things
more than the actual new things. Therefore he takes a lot of ecnouragement when starting new things.
He is extremely inquisative and firmly in the "why" stage. He wants to know everything about the world around him, frequently more than we can explain in a way he understands. I love seeing when something "clicks" for him and seeing him connect the dots as he learns.
I am sure there are other things I want to say.. but this is what comes to mind right now!
It used to be so easy to describe Benjamin. I could break it down into nice little categories: Speech, Motor Skills, Diet, Sleep.
Now he is an actual little person with a distinct and complicated personality. How do you sum it up in a post? I can't do it.
Benjamin's favorite thing in the world is to play. "Play with me" is a constant refrain in our household. But, he is still picky about who it is that answers that call. He wants his parents attention the most, especially his dad's. He will be stubborn and not want to play with other family members (aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc), especially if Dad or Mom is around. He is similarly protective of his home, he doesn't like new people coming into it too much, and doesn't tend to want to talk to them or let them play. It took two sessions of uncle and aunt M&K babysitting before he started to warm up for example.
He is typical 3 yr old in a of ways. He likes to make excuses not to go to sleep - he needs water, he needs a hug, he is hungry, he has a story he just has to tell us, his stuffed animals are not under his covers (This one is a sign he might finally actually go to sleep). He still likes us to sit with him. Luckily for him, I have started to find sitting up with him quite relaxing. I tell him I will stay as long as he tries to go to sleep, and he lays there and I sit in the rocking chair dozing or day dreaming with out a care in the world. Its a nice break from other demands (baby duties and cleaning etc).
Speaking of stories, Benjamin loves them. He likes to make them up, he likes us to tell them, he likes us to read books. His special interests are pirates and cars of course. He is very obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates. Luckily, Jake is a pretty good role model. He is nice to people, helpful, inclusive, and eats yogurt with granola. LOL.
Benjamin is a very picky eater.. .also typical three year old. Mac&Cheese, pretty much anything made of pork (bacon, sausage, hot dogs, ham). Lots of carbs, apple sauce, berries. cereal. Yeah we are not the healthiest eaters. I guess everyone has their weaknesses. He drinks chocolate milk like its going out of style.
Benjamin like swim lessons, he likes gym time, he likes other kids and will make friends quick with anyone at the playground or mall or anywhere he is playing. He loves going to the mall and playing on the ride-on toys, and at the B&N trains table. He likes Target. Actually he has been known to say "Target, the Mall, Home, those are the places I like" (he might also refer to either or both G&Gs houses. He likes shoveling snow into his dump truck, or sand, he doesn't care which. He pretty much considers snow to just be sand that is everywhere. He has expressed interest in ice skating recently but we have not had a chance to take him. He can sing the entire U & M fight song. He can count to 14, and then gets a bit lost (eleventeen ends up in there somehow). He knows his alphabet and is just starting to associate phoenetics with letters (very very just starting). He likes his friends at daycare and playing with them. He is proud of being a preschooler and doesnt want to be called baby or toddler. He is a great big brother, who is helpful when we ask him to be, and loves to give baby sister hugs and kisses.
He has very little interest in potty training, in general he is afraid or hestitant to try things he think are hard or he will fail at, even if he originally expresses a lot of interest. He likes the idea of new things
more than the actual new things. Therefore he takes a lot of ecnouragement when starting new things.
He is extremely inquisative and firmly in the "why" stage. He wants to know everything about the world around him, frequently more than we can explain in a way he understands. I love seeing when something "clicks" for him and seeing him connect the dots as he learns.
I am sure there are other things I want to say.. but this is what comes to mind right now!
Monday, January 5, 2015
Felicity's First Christmas
We had a fantastic Christmas.
Christmas eve Aaron took the kids to my parent's house to make cookies (Benjamin REALLY likes cutting cookies out, which we had learned when we made Salt Dough ornaments... another hilarious story that didn't quite make it into the blog...). I was at work.
In the evening we went to my parents house and had the traditional "Eat whatever you want" meal. My dad and I had reubens, my mom and DH had shrimp, Benjamin had hotdog, mac&cheese, and olive, and Felicity has mama's milk!. We let Benjamin (and technically Felicity) unwrap one gift- their ornaments. Benjamin got Jake the Pirate and Felicity got a Precious Moments baby's first Christmas. Then we read Twas' the Night Before Christmas. Benjamin liked it so much we read it twice.
On Christmas morning, Ben SLEPT IN!! It is an extremely rare event. He slept in until about 8am. I was able to get up before him, get breakfast started, have my coffee, it was so lovely. Then he got up and we did Christmas gifts under the tree. His big gift from Santa was a pirate ship. Felicity got magnetic stacking "rings". DH got me a Chromecase for the bedroom (YAY!!) and I got him an Everton shirt.
We hung around at home for another hour and then headed to my parent's house, where we ate and ate and ate, and opened presents and more presents and more presents. It was a really fun day. My family this year decided to only spend $7.13 per person (and exchange stockings through a name draw). It worked out really well, lots of very creative gifts. I got a quidditch set, for example, that I can set up in my yard and play (the tallest hoop is 6 ft tall). We also did something a bit different for food - we used crockpots for everything except the Ham and pies. It made life so much easier that we probably will try it again despite the kinks that need to be worked out.
It was such a wonderful day. I hope that every Christmas can be as nice as it was!
Christmas eve Aaron took the kids to my parent's house to make cookies (Benjamin REALLY likes cutting cookies out, which we had learned when we made Salt Dough ornaments... another hilarious story that didn't quite make it into the blog...). I was at work.
In the evening we went to my parents house and had the traditional "Eat whatever you want" meal. My dad and I had reubens, my mom and DH had shrimp, Benjamin had hotdog, mac&cheese, and olive, and Felicity has mama's milk!. We let Benjamin (and technically Felicity) unwrap one gift- their ornaments. Benjamin got Jake the Pirate and Felicity got a Precious Moments baby's first Christmas. Then we read Twas' the Night Before Christmas. Benjamin liked it so much we read it twice.
On Christmas morning, Ben SLEPT IN!! It is an extremely rare event. He slept in until about 8am. I was able to get up before him, get breakfast started, have my coffee, it was so lovely. Then he got up and we did Christmas gifts under the tree. His big gift from Santa was a pirate ship. Felicity got magnetic stacking "rings". DH got me a Chromecase for the bedroom (YAY!!) and I got him an Everton shirt.
We hung around at home for another hour and then headed to my parent's house, where we ate and ate and ate, and opened presents and more presents and more presents. It was a really fun day. My family this year decided to only spend $7.13 per person (and exchange stockings through a name draw). It worked out really well, lots of very creative gifts. I got a quidditch set, for example, that I can set up in my yard and play (the tallest hoop is 6 ft tall). We also did something a bit different for food - we used crockpots for everything except the Ham and pies. It made life so much easier that we probably will try it again despite the kinks that need to be worked out.
It was such a wonderful day. I hope that every Christmas can be as nice as it was!
Friday, January 2, 2015
New Years Excercises
Here are some MEMEs I do every year.
1. What did you do in 2014 that you'd never done before? I got pregnant, all on my own! (OK, with some help from DH, but no doctors! LOL.. and technically this happened in December 2013 but I did not find out until 2014...). Other new things - I lead a meeting at work and took on more of a leadership role then I have ever had at work. I was induced. I held my CHILDREN (plural).
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I will write another post about this.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Does myself count? :) Also, my good friend Kim. There are many many more 2015 babies on the way.
4. Did anyone close to you die? My Grandpa In Law
5. What countries did you spend time in this year? Just America.
6. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014? More time to write and reflect.
7. What dates from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Jan 6th, the day I found out I was pregnant. Sept 22nd, the day Felicity was born.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Giving birth to a healthy daughter. (Sensing a theme?)
9. What was your biggest failure? Letting the year get away from me. I think this tends to happen when I am pregnant....
10. Did you suffer any serious injury or illness? Nope!
11. What was the best thing you bought? I am not sure.. nothing sticks out, but maybe I will think of something later.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Benjamin for being such a loving big brother. My parents, for being so helpful to us. DH for being such a great dad.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and/or depressed? per usual.. politicians
14. Where did most of your money go? Daycare, mortgage, eating
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The release of "Mockingjay" movie, Felicity's birth, our Thanksgiving trip to St Louis.
16. What song will always remind you of 2014? All about the Base
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? fatter
c) richer or poorer? about the same?
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? reflecting
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? eating
20. How did you spend Christmas? In Duluth - Santa came to our house, then we went to my parents for the day.
21. Did you fall in love in 2014? With Felicity :)
22. What are the main websites you used? Zetaboards, Facebook, What To Expect
23. Did you write anything worth reading this year? No, I hardly wrote anything.
24. What was your favorite TV program? Doctor Who (mostly on Netflix), Sherlock, Project Runway
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I try not to hate people in general.
26. What was the best book you read? I was very bad at recording my reading. I only read book club books pretty much.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Sleeping At Last
28. What did you want and get? A baby, more responsability at work.
29. What did you want and not get? lottery win
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Mockingjay
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 30. DS was sick. I got some Arby's and had a pregnancy hormone breakdown. Not my best moment...
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Winning the lottery.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2014? Whatever fits.
34. What kept you sane? The help and support of my family and friends.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Cumberbatch is really on the rise...
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Honestly, I feel like I mostly ignored politics. The election was a pretty big deal though. I was glad to see gay marriage continue to expand.
37. Who did you miss? The Bens, My Graduate School Friends, my ILs
38. Who was the best new person you met? Virtual friends for my Sept mom's group
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014? Its love that makes the world go round.
40. What word or phrase sums up this year? Contentment
1 hour ago... I was frantically working on a difficulty MFIP case.
1 day ago... I was watching football with my kids and ILs
1 month ago... I was recovering from our whirlwind trip to St Louis
1 year ago... I was home alone. DH and DS were still in St Louis from Christmas. I was pregnant, but I didn't know it yet.
1 decade ago... I was a Junior in college getting ready to do my study abroad in Salzburg Austria
1 lifetime ago... I think I was in revolutionary in Russia
5 minutes ago... I was eating pork&sauerkraut leftovers
5 hours ago... getting ready for work, rather more leisurely than normal since the kids stayed home.
5 days ago... Preparing for a big work meeting I was in charge of.
5 months ago... Waiting anxiously for Felicity to arrive.
5 years ago... I was working at Social Security. Has it REALLY been five years since I started work there?
The rule is simply: Post the first line of each month of
my blog from the last year.
JANUARY: I have a lot of catch up to do, and some fun stuff moving forward. The main reason I have not been posting is because I got a Kindle
FEBRUARY: Benjamin's quote of the week - "Cows don't drink water. Cows drink milk, people drink water".
MARCH: So, its been over a month since I got on here. I haven't been doing much besides wasting time!! Life is like that sometimes.
APRIL: I didn't do much to prepare for Easter this year. Heck, we didn't tell Benjamin what the Easter bunny is until last night. Yet it still turned out to be a great holiday.
MAY: I got a bad report from daycare today. Benjamin got in trouble.
JUNE: I just celebrated my Golden Birthday this past weekend.
JULY: Long time, no type. I thik I need to do a Benjamin update.
Exercise #1
1. What did you do in 2014 that you'd never done before? I got pregnant, all on my own! (OK, with some help from DH, but no doctors! LOL.. and technically this happened in December 2013 but I did not find out until 2014...). Other new things - I lead a meeting at work and took on more of a leadership role then I have ever had at work. I was induced. I held my CHILDREN (plural).
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I will write another post about this.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Does myself count? :) Also, my good friend Kim. There are many many more 2015 babies on the way.
4. Did anyone close to you die? My Grandpa In Law
5. What countries did you spend time in this year? Just America.
6. What would you like to have in 2015 that you lacked in 2014? More time to write and reflect.
7. What dates from 2014 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? Jan 6th, the day I found out I was pregnant. Sept 22nd, the day Felicity was born.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Giving birth to a healthy daughter. (Sensing a theme?)
9. What was your biggest failure? Letting the year get away from me. I think this tends to happen when I am pregnant....
10. Did you suffer any serious injury or illness? Nope!
11. What was the best thing you bought? I am not sure.. nothing sticks out, but maybe I will think of something later.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? Benjamin for being such a loving big brother. My parents, for being so helpful to us. DH for being such a great dad.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and/or depressed? per usual.. politicians
14. Where did most of your money go? Daycare, mortgage, eating
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? The release of "Mockingjay" movie, Felicity's birth, our Thanksgiving trip to St Louis.
16. What song will always remind you of 2014? All about the Base
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? fatter
c) richer or poorer? about the same?
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? reflecting
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? eating
20. How did you spend Christmas? In Duluth - Santa came to our house, then we went to my parents for the day.
21. Did you fall in love in 2014? With Felicity :)
22. What are the main websites you used? Zetaboards, Facebook, What To Expect
23. Did you write anything worth reading this year? No, I hardly wrote anything.
24. What was your favorite TV program? Doctor Who (mostly on Netflix), Sherlock, Project Runway
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I try not to hate people in general.
26. What was the best book you read? I was very bad at recording my reading. I only read book club books pretty much.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery? Sleeping At Last
28. What did you want and get? A baby, more responsability at work.
29. What did you want and not get? lottery win
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Mockingjay
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 30. DS was sick. I got some Arby's and had a pregnancy hormone breakdown. Not my best moment...
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Winning the lottery.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2014? Whatever fits.
34. What kept you sane? The help and support of my family and friends.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Cumberbatch is really on the rise...
36. What political issue stirred you the most? Honestly, I feel like I mostly ignored politics. The election was a pretty big deal though. I was glad to see gay marriage continue to expand.
37. Who did you miss? The Bens, My Graduate School Friends, my ILs
38. Who was the best new person you met? Virtual friends for my Sept mom's group
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2014? Its love that makes the world go round.
40. What word or phrase sums up this year? Contentment
Exercise #2
1 minute ago... I was watching Charmed on my Kindle during my lunchbreak at work.1 hour ago... I was frantically working on a difficulty MFIP case.
1 day ago... I was watching football with my kids and ILs
1 month ago... I was recovering from our whirlwind trip to St Louis
1 year ago... I was home alone. DH and DS were still in St Louis from Christmas. I was pregnant, but I didn't know it yet.
1 decade ago... I was a Junior in college getting ready to do my study abroad in Salzburg Austria
1 lifetime ago... I think I was in revolutionary in Russia
5 minutes ago... I was eating pork&sauerkraut leftovers
5 hours ago... getting ready for work, rather more leisurely than normal since the kids stayed home.
5 days ago... Preparing for a big work meeting I was in charge of.
5 months ago... Waiting anxiously for Felicity to arrive.
5 years ago... I was working at Social Security. Has it REALLY been five years since I started work there?
Exercise #3
The rule is simply: Post the first line of each month of
my blog from the last year.JANUARY: I have a lot of catch up to do, and some fun stuff moving forward. The main reason I have not been posting is because I got a Kindle
FEBRUARY: Benjamin's quote of the week - "Cows don't drink water. Cows drink milk, people drink water".
MARCH: So, its been over a month since I got on here. I haven't been doing much besides wasting time!! Life is like that sometimes.
APRIL: I didn't do much to prepare for Easter this year. Heck, we didn't tell Benjamin what the Easter bunny is until last night. Yet it still turned out to be a great holiday.
MAY: I got a bad report from daycare today. Benjamin got in trouble.
JUNE: I just celebrated my Golden Birthday this past weekend.
JULY: Long time, no type. I thik I need to do a Benjamin update.
AUGUST: Today I am 35 Weeks pregnant, 35 Days to go. I had a doctors appt and everything
was pretty much perfect.
SEPTEMBER: 39 Weeks pregnant... one to go
OCTOBER: Felicity obviously did not want to come on her own
NOVEMBER: Felicity is 6 weeks old (As of Monday), and also as of Monday, I am back to work.
DECEMBER: Nearly a month ago I posted "A Kid Post", with the full intentions of posting, within 24-48 hrs, a companion post called "A Me Post". Ironically, the post (which I wrote only an intro paragraph for), was about how FULL my life is now - both busy and full of love.
SEPTEMBER: 39 Weeks pregnant... one to go
OCTOBER: Felicity obviously did not want to come on her own
NOVEMBER: Felicity is 6 weeks old (As of Monday), and also as of Monday, I am back to work.
DECEMBER: Nearly a month ago I posted "A Kid Post", with the full intentions of posting, within 24-48 hrs, a companion post called "A Me Post". Ironically, the post (which I wrote only an intro paragraph for), was about how FULL my life is now - both busy and full of love.
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Christmas Season
The Christmas Season this year has been a total blur. I wonder if it will always feel like this or if some year I will get my feet under me a bit and get a grasp on all of the things I would LIKE to do for Christmas. Only time will tell.
Benjamin is old enough this year to start to really understand Christmas. Last year, he understood it enough to anticipate the presents, but thats about it. So now the question turns to how to teach him what Christmas is really about (which brings up the question for me of what Christmas really is to me and to us as a family, not an easy question to answer).
There was a few times verbally throughout the system where I talked about what Christmas is with Benjamin. I said something to the effect of "its about family, and giving to others. You get gifts, and you try to be kind to people and spread joy". Words do not get very far though with a 2 yr old (even a very verbal 2 yr old). I have not had time (or taken the time) to put those words into actions that show him what the season is about, until last night.
Last night we got home from running errands around 6:45 PM. After getting the baby fed, and dog walked, we wrapped presents with Ben. We asked him what he wanted to give Felicity. He said he thought Felicity would like baby things, so I asked him if he thought he had any toys or baby things he no longer uses that he could give her. I recommended his singing sea horse. It put him to bed for many months, and then one day the battery ran out, and we took it out of his crib for a week or two, and when I tried to put it back he didn't need it. He agreed right away. He said it was a baby thing and would be good for Felicity. I had him go get it, and we put it in a box and wrapped it up (with Felicity looking on of course! LOL). Then we had him wrap up some salt ornaments we made earlier this week - 2 for me and 1 for dad. It was pretty funny for us to be wrapping our own gifts, but I am really glad we did. I hope he enjoys giving us these packages tomorrow morning.
I have a whole list of things going for things I want to do differently for next Christmas season. Who knows what will happen. I think though that this is one thing I got right.
Benjamin is old enough this year to start to really understand Christmas. Last year, he understood it enough to anticipate the presents, but thats about it. So now the question turns to how to teach him what Christmas is really about (which brings up the question for me of what Christmas really is to me and to us as a family, not an easy question to answer).
There was a few times verbally throughout the system where I talked about what Christmas is with Benjamin. I said something to the effect of "its about family, and giving to others. You get gifts, and you try to be kind to people and spread joy". Words do not get very far though with a 2 yr old (even a very verbal 2 yr old). I have not had time (or taken the time) to put those words into actions that show him what the season is about, until last night.
Last night we got home from running errands around 6:45 PM. After getting the baby fed, and dog walked, we wrapped presents with Ben. We asked him what he wanted to give Felicity. He said he thought Felicity would like baby things, so I asked him if he thought he had any toys or baby things he no longer uses that he could give her. I recommended his singing sea horse. It put him to bed for many months, and then one day the battery ran out, and we took it out of his crib for a week or two, and when I tried to put it back he didn't need it. He agreed right away. He said it was a baby thing and would be good for Felicity. I had him go get it, and we put it in a box and wrapped it up (with Felicity looking on of course! LOL). Then we had him wrap up some salt ornaments we made earlier this week - 2 for me and 1 for dad. It was pretty funny for us to be wrapping our own gifts, but I am really glad we did. I hope he enjoys giving us these packages tomorrow morning.
I have a whole list of things going for things I want to do differently for next Christmas season. Who knows what will happen. I think though that this is one thing I got right.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Felicity @ 2 Months (ok.. more like 2.5 months)
When I was little, my mom sang song to me "Don't you remember Amanda Christine, she was a lover Amanda Christine". Now, I am a mom, and I sing to my daughter - "Felicity Jane, that is your name, and I love you, because your my baby". Pass it down through the generations, unintentionally I guess.
During my pregnancy lots of people asked what her nickname would be. We said we were going to call her Felicity, and for the most part we have. I toyed with the nickname Lissy, bit it didn't stick. Frankly I cannot imagine her as Lissy now. The nicknames that we do use sometime are Miss Fliss (to match Mr. Benjamin), Fliss, Little Girl, and Baby Girl.
She is growing so fast. She drools a lot, we should use bibs but I am not in the habit because Ben never drooled much. She likes to kick her feet. She likes to grab things, fabric especially, and pull it up to her face. She is starting to grab/hold her pacifier though she can't really get it in her mouth right. We have started to put a taggie blanket (one with a rabbit head attached) on her lap for her to grab at. She likes TV. Typical second child, with Ben I religiously kept him away from the TV. It was relatively easy though, as long as he wasn't pointed right at it, he didn't watch it. Her, she will strain her neck any which way to watch some TV. We joke that she is especially fond of soccer.
She continues to grow. She does not fit into 0-3 month sleepers anymore, and a lot of the pants and onsies are starting to get short too. Its time to pull out the next size up, but I have not had time.
Her sleep is patchy. We have had a couple nights where she sleeps through the night (10pm-5:30am or so), but generally getting up once is the norm, and sometimes she still gets up 2 times. It just depends on the night.
Generally, she is content to be held by anyone, or sit in her chair on her own for a bit, but if she gets tired, she really wants mom. I can't say I object. When she snuggles into me and falls asleep its pretty
adorable.
My prior concerns about pumping/supply have not been an issue. I seem to be gaining on her (building a stash) rather than falling behind.
She likes singing and music. She is liable to smile if you sing a new song to her, particularly one with a funny sound or rhythm in it. She also likes it when you change her clothes, she laughs when you take off her shirt. I think she is probably pretty ticklish. She likes baths. She likes being held facing
out towards the world so she can see things.
Yep. Thats my Felicity update. At her 2m appointment she was 43rd percentile weight, 91st percentile height. That was back in mid November. We have not gotten a new weight or height since. Her next appointment is in January.
During my pregnancy lots of people asked what her nickname would be. We said we were going to call her Felicity, and for the most part we have. I toyed with the nickname Lissy, bit it didn't stick. Frankly I cannot imagine her as Lissy now. The nicknames that we do use sometime are Miss Fliss (to match Mr. Benjamin), Fliss, Little Girl, and Baby Girl.
She is growing so fast. She drools a lot, we should use bibs but I am not in the habit because Ben never drooled much. She likes to kick her feet. She likes to grab things, fabric especially, and pull it up to her face. She is starting to grab/hold her pacifier though she can't really get it in her mouth right. We have started to put a taggie blanket (one with a rabbit head attached) on her lap for her to grab at. She likes TV. Typical second child, with Ben I religiously kept him away from the TV. It was relatively easy though, as long as he wasn't pointed right at it, he didn't watch it. Her, she will strain her neck any which way to watch some TV. We joke that she is especially fond of soccer.
She continues to grow. She does not fit into 0-3 month sleepers anymore, and a lot of the pants and onsies are starting to get short too. Its time to pull out the next size up, but I have not had time.
Her sleep is patchy. We have had a couple nights where she sleeps through the night (10pm-5:30am or so), but generally getting up once is the norm, and sometimes she still gets up 2 times. It just depends on the night.
Generally, she is content to be held by anyone, or sit in her chair on her own for a bit, but if she gets tired, she really wants mom. I can't say I object. When she snuggles into me and falls asleep its pretty
adorable.
My prior concerns about pumping/supply have not been an issue. I seem to be gaining on her (building a stash) rather than falling behind.
She likes singing and music. She is liable to smile if you sing a new song to her, particularly one with a funny sound or rhythm in it. She also likes it when you change her clothes, she laughs when you take off her shirt. I think she is probably pretty ticklish. She likes baths. She likes being held facing
out towards the world so she can see things.
Yep. Thats my Felicity update. At her 2m appointment she was 43rd percentile weight, 91st percentile height. That was back in mid November. We have not gotten a new weight or height since. Her next appointment is in January.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
No Time
Nearly a month ago I posted "A Kid Post", with the full intentions of posting, within 24-48 hrs, a companion post called "A Me Post". Ironically, the post (which I wrote only an intro paragraph for), was about how FULL my life is now - both busy and full of love.
But I did not ever finish it.
Now, Felicity is 2 months old (actually 2.5 months) and I have not posted a 2 month update for her, and I have not posted about my life being full. I have not posted about the wonderful Thanksgiving trip we took to St Louis. I have not posted about our parenting challenges with Benjamin's pirate obsession. I have not posted the cute and heart breaking stories of Benjamin's existential crises.
And ... I don't really have time to do any of those things tonight. But I am trying, I am trying really hard to get my feet under me. I know some people would say just don't feel bad about not blogging, just let that thing slide. The thing is, blogging is something I do mostly for ME, so I need to start it up again.
But right now I am going to go do the dishes, hold my daughter, and get to bed early enough to not be a zombie tomorrow.
But I did not ever finish it.
Now, Felicity is 2 months old (actually 2.5 months) and I have not posted a 2 month update for her, and I have not posted about my life being full. I have not posted about the wonderful Thanksgiving trip we took to St Louis. I have not posted about our parenting challenges with Benjamin's pirate obsession. I have not posted the cute and heart breaking stories of Benjamin's existential crises.
And ... I don't really have time to do any of those things tonight. But I am trying, I am trying really hard to get my feet under me. I know some people would say just don't feel bad about not blogging, just let that thing slide. The thing is, blogging is something I do mostly for ME, so I need to start it up again.
But right now I am going to go do the dishes, hold my daughter, and get to bed early enough to not be a zombie tomorrow.
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