Ethan's Class Christmas Performance

The parents of Ethan's kindergarten class were invited to a Christmas party last week and we got a performance by our kiddos as part of the package. They all did so well and were so excited, it was FUN!

Frosty the Snowman:


Feliz Navidad:

Christmas Card 2010

In His Name Religious Christmas Card

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Poor, Neglected Little Blog

Yeah, it's been nearly 2 months since I posted anything. But you saw what that last post was, right? Lucy walking? Pretty much explains why I haven't had time to post anything. :-) And I still don't have a bunch of time for a great post full of pictures and stuff. So, we'll have to settle for a quick top 10 list.

Top 10 Things Going on in Our House Right Now:

1. Lucy and Ethan bonding. Lucy is so enamored of her big brother. She loves to go in with me in the mornings to wake him up. She sits on his bed and pats him, sometimes laying her head on him and giggling. Sometimes I catch Ethan holding her hand across their car seats on the way to/from school.

2. Being a big kid. Lucy has been in the toddler room at school for a while now. She's getting better at taking one, long nap in the middle of the day and loves all the outside playtime and especially eating. That girl loves to eat.

3. Sight words. Ethan's kindergarten class has learned lots of sight words. Ethan likes to practice them at home and point them out when he sees them other places. Places he's called out "SIGHT WORD!!" include: church, TCU football games, numerous restaurants, and the grocery store.

4. Sleeping. Or not. Lucy still is not a good nighttime sleeper. Everyone just got done with a round of ear infections, so maybe we can work on that some more here soon. For the time being, she's up 3 or more times a night (and the time change just makes it ever so much better--NOT) and, like her brother at that age, much prefers Mommy in the middle of the night.

5. Signing and Such. Lucy has started to sign "more" in the last couple of weeks. She's also started blowing kisses (blew one this morning to Daddy, completely un-prompted), saying "uh oh" when things drop, and reaching for her crib when she's ready to be by herself at night. Not many actual words still, though I've heard things that might have been "more," "up," "ball," "door," and "hey daddy." (seriously, that last one, Rick and I both stopped and said, "it really sounded like she just said, "hey Daddy.")

6. Such opposites. Part of the amazing thing about having more than one kid, is seeing how different they can be. Lucy eats like crazy; Ethan is super picky. Ethan has always been cautious and careful; Lucy is a wild child, diving headfirst into whatever looks like fun. Ethan has always been cuddly; Lucy likes a few cuddles, but not for long, she's anxious to get moving again. Lucy puts dirt and other fun things in her mouth; Ethan would never even touch the sand for the longest time. I'm just loving watching them each develop their own personality.

7. Football, Football, Football. It's not ALL about the kids, right? We've been spending a lot of time at TCU football games together (Lucy loves it, Ethan is still not big on the noise), and if Mommy and Daddy have a few awake minutes to talk, it is probably about TCU football, the BCS, or some other subject related to those two. (I've started reading "Death to the BCS" and am really enjoying it. I looked at Ethan's journal in his kindergarten class and I'd say that 80% of what he draws each day is about a football game or something related to it (lots of "Frog Horns" in there).

8. Ethan and Miss Courtney. I think Ethan might have a little crush on his teacher. At the very least he really likes her as his teacher. He often wants to draw her a picture, or take her something that we've done at home to show her. This from a kid who rarely voluntarily picked up a crayon or marker 6 months ago. The refridgerator in his classroom was covered in pictures he had brought her.

9. I like to "Move It Move It." I think we knew pretty early on that Lucy was going to be a "large motor" kind of girl, but now we have no doubt. Lucy loves to move and play. She chases Ethan around the house, bangs on the glass door to go outside and play, thinks she can slide down our little twisty slide all by herself (she can't, not sitting anyway, on her tummy she's all good), turns herself around on our bed to go over the side "feet first" (we remind her a lot) despite the fact that it is a really long way down and she probably shouldn't do that on her own. Rick and I could barely keep up with her at the park, even with one of us manning each side of the little climber/slide. She and I took a class at The Little Gym one Saturday that included a little tumbling, lots of exploring on mats and tunnels, etc., balls, a parachute, and bubbles, and that is going to be her Christmas present: a whole semester of "Birds" classes. I'm really excited because I know she'll love it.

10. Love, Love, Love. There's a lot of love in this house. Lucy shows her love to all of us with hugs and sometimes big, open mouthed kisses (or blown ones). My heart melts to hear Ethan say, "I love you Lu Lu." each night, and Rick and I certainly love the both of them more and more every day!

I know, I said before no pictures. But I've gotten inspired, so here's a few recent ones. :-)

One Step at a Time

So, here's how our week had been going:

Monday: Lucy is beginning the transition to the toddler room at school, first step, taking one nap a day, on a cot rather than a crib. This day, she slept only 30 minutes in the middle of the day, fell asleep on the way home, slept through dinner, woke up when getting moved to her crib, so she nursed and went right to bed, no bath, no dinner, no pjs. She was up a couple times in the night.

Tuesday: Again only 30 minutes of nap. Fell asleep on the way home, woke up a little while after getting home, but was SUPER fussy, so I wrestled her into pjs and again, straight to bed (she did manage to get some dinner in her at school at least. She was up several (like 4 or 5) times in the night.

Wednesday: Another 30 minute nap. Fell asleep on the way to Purple Cow for dinner, was woken up by wild children everywhere and wouldn't calm down. Rick took her home, bathed her (while screaming) and dealt with her fussiness until I could get home to nurse her and put her to bed. She slept until 4 am before waking to nurse at all.

Thursday: We think we might be really smart and leave her blanket with her at school (now she's allowed to have one, the infants are not) to help with nap. Her teachers must have been tired of this no sleeping too, because today she took 2 naps, about 45 minutes each. Not great, but much better. She ate like a crazy person both at school and again at home. And then, then, she showed us what (maybe) she's been working up to all week:



I also think I see a new tooth just breaking through up top, so that may have something to do with some of the sleeplessness too.

Somehow we knew that once she decided to do it she'd really be moving; she was just so steady cruising around. And sure enough, within an hour of taking her first 5 solo steps in a row, she was able to walk (though still arms out, legs wide, and a bit like a mummy) from one end of her room to the hallway. As if it wasn't hard enough to contain her already, I'm sure we're in for a whole new level of exercise around here.

Lucy is ONE!

Well, it hardly seems like it's been a month, much less a year, but here we are, at Lucy's first birthday.

Her 12 month stats:
Height: 30 1/4 inches (84th percentile)--I am doubting the nurse's measuring and think she's only 28 1/2 or so
Weight: 18 lbs. 4 ounces (9th percentile)
Head: 45 cm (47th percentile)

So, she's all over the map, but perfect just as she is! She's not quite walking yet, but is very, very close. We're sure that one moment we'll turn our back only to find that she's walked to the other end of the house when we turn around.

Lucy had a great first birthday party. We had lots of friends and family and it was Ladybug themed for our little ladybug. I made and decorated the cake (making Rick a very special ladybug cake for his birthday a week earlier as practice) and we got some cute cookies from J.Rae's bakery. We had a fun BBQ and the kids loved the ladybug pinata. Lucy was a real party animal and had a great time with all the people and fun, and she really loved her cake (see video below). She was in a great mood, even for a Friday evening party, so we're really thankful she was able to enjoy it.

Silly Songs

I have a lot of bloggin to catch up on, but for now I will leave you with just these two videos of some very silly songs that Ethan has brought home from Kindergarten. Enjoy!

Sunday Chicken



Months of the Year, Macarena Style

Pulling Up

Lucy has been starting to try and pull up for a while now and tonight she really got it down. Once she started she didn't want to stop. Can't believe she's doing this already!!! (She also just started "real" crawling in the last couple of days too--my video of that is too dark, so you'll have to wait.)

YMCA Basketball

Last night, Ethan had his first YMCA Basketball practice. Very important since Rick is now "Coach Waters" and will be coaching the 3 and 4 year olds this summer. We've got two practices and then they play 8 games. They will use a "mini-ball" and shoot on 6 foot rims. All 10 kids showed up for our first practice where the biggest thrill was probably getting to pick out a jersey. Ethan immediately noticed that there colors were quite like the BRONCOS! That's my boy! As you would imagine, they all have widely varying skills, but it looked like everyone was having fun and the parents all seem like a nice bunch (a couple of the dads helped out as assistant coaches). Rick did a great job encouraging the kids to have a good time and learn a little about how to play the game. We're looking forward to this season.

College World Series!!!

So, TCU did, in fact, make it to the CWS as we had hoped, and Rick even made the trip up to Omaha to see a few games. Braving a couple of all-night drives up and back with a buddy, they enjoyed seeing the Frogs play and took in some of the sights in Omaha. We're really proud of the Frogs and their great season. Next year we plan on making it a family trip! :-)

Check out Rick's story about the TCU-themed ice cream flavor in Omaha: http://www.magazine.tcu.edu/OnCampus/Article.aspx?articleId=143

9 Months Old!

Lucy is 9 months old and going strong.

Stats:

Height: 27 1/2 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 16 lbs. 5 oz. (11th percentile!!!!)
Head: 44 cm (52nd percentile)

The Road to Omaha (We Hope)

We bought Standing Room Only tickets to one of the games last weekend in the TCU Regional Baseball Tournament. We sat on the hill in right field with the kids and had a good time. Rick will attend one of the Super Regional games down in Austin tomorrow, and if the Frogs win (since they won already today), it will be on to the College World Series in Omaha. GO FROGS!

Clapping

Lucy seems to be going gangbusters with some of these milestone developments lately. Just as I was wondering when she might start clapping, she did! I was so glad to capture this at the park one day after school.

8 Months Old

As you can tell by the collage of pictures below, we might not be able to keep taking these size-comparison photos every month. Lucy just won't sit still! I was afraid she was going to leap off the chair. :-)

Let's Celebrate!

At the end of May we headed down to San Antonio to celebrate a couple of different events. First, Rick's cousin, Jill, was graduating from Medical School. We're so proud of this major accomplishment and we were excited to share in her celebration. Also, Buff and Joan celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary, so we teamed up with Brad and Nicole to throw them a luncheon party in their honor. It was great to see everyone. For most if was the first time to meet Lucy, so that was special too. Buff and Joan treated us to some really nice accommodations at the Hyatt Hill Country and the cousins had a BLAST playing in the pool and multiple hotel rooms. Enjoy the slideshow below!

On the Move

Lucy, in an effort to keep up with big brother, I'm certain, is now on the move. She has created her own special sort of creep/crawl that looks a lot like the centipede or worm from 80s dance moves. She uses her toes to push her forward. She gets on her hands and knees, but so far hasn't done too much crawling that way. In honor of this major milestone, a video montage:

Tubes

So, Lucy has inherited the bad ear anatomy from my side of the family, just like Ethan. After her first ear infection took 3 antibiotics and a month to get rid of and her second one still wasn't gone after shots of a high-powered antibiotic, it was time to see the ENT. Since Lucy slept so great early on and hadn't seen a full night's sleep since her first ear infection, I was pretty much ready to get the surgery scheduled ASAP!!!

The ENT agreed that she needed the tubes, so away we went. I accompanied Lucy to the hospital on my own since we had to be there so early and they frown on siblings tagging along. Lucy did great. She came out of the anesthesia quickly and was ready to go home. Her ears drained for several days (she had a new infection by the time of the surgery) and she had a hard time getting used to not having that pressure when she laid down, but has not adjusted.

Here's a picture of her in her hospital gown in the playroom at the Children's Hospital, waiting for her turn.

7 Months Old

I'm a little late posting, but sure enough, Lucy is 7 months old (and will be 8 in a blink of an eye since mom is so tardy).

She's approximately 15 and a half pounds or so. And about 25 inches long I think. Totally unofficial stats since we don't have a checkup this month. Of course, that's not for lack of doctor's visits. We've been there A LOT. Lucy had another round of ear infections, this time not resolving until she had 2 shots of antibiotics. Poor thing was completely miserable and so were we all. So, we've been to the ENT doctor and Lucy's scheduled for tubes on May 13th. I'm praying that she doesn't get another infection before then (still has some fluid in there this week the dr. said), because I'm not likely to live through it.

She just started to wave today (at Daddy), and is still busy rolling around and scooting her little butt here and there trying to crawl. I've seen her very nearly on her hands and knees, so you know it's coming. Know what else is coming? TEETH. Or at least we think so. Lots of waking up with her fist in her mouth and all that jazz. So yay, more reasons to be up at night. WooHoo.

In fact, all this exhaustion probably contributed to the week plus that Rick and I just spent miserably sick. And I mean SICK. 6 days with fever is crazy for grownups. Apparently it was allergies turned into upper respiratory infections, but we had red, goupy eyes, coughs, aches, chills. It was LOUSY. But we made it through and are feeling better, finally.

Ethan's favorite phrase is "No, No, No. Not for babies." Which he says he learned from me even though I can't think of when I've ever said it. He's still a great big brother and guaranteed to brighten Lucy's mood no matter what. I've started making Lucy's baby food at home and am really having fun with it. I had to take a bunch more milk to the Mothers' Milk Bank of North Texas to make room in the freezer, so I'm hoping to put a bunch more in there this weekend. So far we've done avocado and banana (a big hit), butternut squash, carrots, and blueberry quinoa (a strike out--couldn't get it smooth enough for her). She had some organic baby food last week and I'm going to recreate their recipes, because she completely loved it. So, coming soon: sweet potato and white bean with cinnamon, and roasted pears. I tasted those and would've eaten them myself. They were outstanding.

I'll be back soon with 8 month pictures in just a couple of weeks!