New Year's Eve "Day"

I'm a little behind on the posting, it's not so easy to get a free minute these days! Last year we started an annual tradition on New Year's Eve day, going downtown and riding the carousel at Westlake. Addison SCREAMED bloody murder last year, so we were hoping that after a year of maturing, maybe there would be no tears this time. The day started at the South Kirkland Park and Ride, as we boarded the 255 to ride downtown. Addison has been begging to ride the "people bus" for months now, so we figured this would be a perfect way to inaugurate her on the bus, plus a fun carousel ride. When she sat down on the bus, she couldn't stop grinning. Teeth and all. It was so adorable to watch her face. As we were cruising downtown, we suddenly heard her singing, under her breath, "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round!" Priceless.

We made it to the carousel in one piece, and Addison wanted a pink horse. As we started to twirl around and around, I was waiting for a big freak out, but it didn't happen! She was thrilled and kept waving to Daddy, and Nana. Baba came too, but she was getting her eye glasses fixed, so she missed the first ride, but when she returned, both Baba and Nana took Addison for ANOTHER ride. Lucky girl! Now the mystery of the "bus" has been revealed to her, and she's stopped begging to ride the bus each time we see one. Now she's moved onto bigger and better things...planes. She's been on a plane (3 times!) but she was too young to remember. I'm not sure when this wish will be granted...not in the near, near future. Sorry baby. :(

This last picture is from last year when the carousel ride didn't go over very well!

Little Man is 6 months!

Our sweet boy is 6 months old! 6 more months until he turns one! YIKES! Time is flying. Time couldn't go slower with Addison when she was this age. We attribute it to our sleepless nights with her. Now that Will is here, our days fly by. We're so busy with Addison's activities and taking care of an infant at the same time, we hardly have time to blink.

Now onto Will. He is growing and becoming such a sweet, gentle little guy. He goes with the flow, and is such a cuddler! He loooooves his sister, and whenever she leans in for a hug or kiss, he immediately starts smiling and trying to open-mouth kiss her, or grab her hair. She loves it! She calls him "Little Man." In fact, I can't recall her ever calling him Will! If she hears him squawking in his crib, she'll say "Little Man is awake, Mommy!!!"

At his 6 month check up, he weighed in at 17 lbs, 9 oz. Our little porker! He's very mobile right now, slithering across the floor like a centipede. We can't leave anything in his path, unless we want it gnawed and drooled on!

I talked the to Dr. about his frequent eating habits...he eats every 2-3 hours! I was wondering if it has anything to do with the lactose-free formula he's on. Maybe it's not "sticking" to him as well as the other formulas? The Dr. said YES! He wants us to put 1-2 teaspoons of cornstarch in each bottle from now on. He said that the cornstarch is a complex carbohydrate, and the lactose free formula has a form of sugar in it that Will's body is breaking down too quickly. The cornstarch should counteract that. And low and behold, it's worked! Dr. Chattra is a genius! He's super satisfied now, and sleeping a lot better. YEAH!

We've also been trying out different solids with him, testing things to see what his faves are. So far, he's had pears, bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes and winter squash. He loves the fruit, and we knew that would be the case! His favorite veggie is carrots by far. I've seen some interesting poops lately, as a result!

We're so excited to watch our little guy continue to grow and develop. He is such a joy. Life is harder than I ever imagined with 2 kids, but I can't imagine life without sweet Will. He's worth every sleepless night. :) I could do without some of Addison's meltdowns though....

Holidays with Young Babes....

This was the first Christmas that Addison really understood what was happening, with Santa, presents, etc. We actually could tell her that Santa was watching and she would shape up, maybe 5 out of 10 times! ;) Nana, Uncle Sam and Angie came over for Christmas Eve dinner, and Addison had a ball opening presents from them! The annual "knock on the door" came again as we were starting to get ready for bed, and low and behold, there were new jammies waiting for everyone on the doorstep! Those sneaky elves! Addison left cookies and milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeer. She was very excited to get into bed, and demanded only ONE book before bed, (instead of her normal THREE) so she could be asleep before Santa arrived!

The next morning, her face was priceless when she saw her loot from Santa. Her famous quote was "Oh - My - Goodness!" Santa brought her a guitar, a toy box, mega blocks and finger paints. I don't know what Santa was thinking when he decided to give her finger paints, a serious lapse in judgement!

Brother was oblivious to it all, sitting in his saucer and looking cute like usual. After the present opening at our house, we headed over to Baba and Papa's for more festivities, which included Addison getting a "Biolin" (violin) from Santa. She has enough instruments now to start a band!

She also received some of her first Disney DVD's...I gave in. It was bound to happen, so why not, huh? Nana gave her a dress up trunk filled with Princess dresses, watch out!

Will pulled in the most loot of anyone, tons and tons of clothes and teething toys! He sure needed the teething toys because he's been miserable lately with a big one coming in on the bottom.

The next event will be taking down the Christmas tree. We've been prepping Addison so she won't have a complete meltdown when we take it down, as she's known to turn into Beezlebub when she's not sufficiently warned. Ahhhhh, the things we do to tame 2 year olds!

Nummy Nummy

Will is LOVING his first experiences so far with solids! I started him out with some rice cereal right when he turned 5 months, and he wasn't ready. Each time I put a scoop in his mouth, he would immediately push it back out with his tongue. It was like he was saying "What are you putting in my mouth Mommy? I don't like this!" So I held off for a week, and tried again, and he was getting a bit better, but still not gobbling it up. Finally about 2 weeks ago, he got the hang of it, and he's been a little porker ever since. LOVES it. He tried bananas last week, and now he bangs his hands on his high chair, and gets so excited when he sees the bowl! We gave him pears this week, and he liked that too...nice and sweet! Who wouldn't? :) Next on Will's menu is: SWEET POTATOES! Yum! My first bite of rice cereal...not so sure about this!

After I'm finished, I love EATING my bowl!

Baby Who?

Addison is still learning about the "meaning of Christmas." What 2 year old really gets it at this point, right? It's all about Santa, Rudolph and presents to a 2 year old! Apparently I haven't done a superb job explaining the meaning...on multiple occasions, Addison has referred to Baby Jesus as BABY JASON! For example, when she sees a Nativity scene, she says "Look Mommy! It's Baby Jason!" I guess I have some work to do. :)

Bye-Bye Binky

We did it. A successful eradication of Addison's binkies. It wasn't pretty, and it still remains a sore point, but not a single binky left in the house. The Binky Fairy took them all to a better place. The Houghton Transfer Station. :)

Here are a few pictures to mark the momentous occasion.

One last "suck" before the binkies were rounded up and left for the Binky Fairy.

The Binkies were placed in a bag (all 6 of them) and a note was written by Mommy (dictated by Addison) to the BF, complete with a few illustrations (scribbles) here and there. Addison insisted that we leave everything at the front door, not outside her bedroom door. I guess her reasoning was the BF would come through the front door, right?

After 2 hours of screaming for her Binkies, and a gazillion trips by Mommy into her room to soothe her and remind her that the Binkies were going to a good place, and "You're not a baby anymore, Addison," she finally fell asleep. The BF left her a Tinkerbell costume, and as you can see, she was only a tiny bit thrilled. She would much rather have a binky.

We're going on 4 nights without the binky, and she's doing great! The second night, there was absolutely no mention of the B-word. Biggest "heart-tugging quote" of the whole ordeal: "But Mommy, I'm still little. I'm tiny." :(

Stop the Sickness!

Enough already! Our household has had enough of these icky viruses that are going around! Poor Will has been struck again, this time with croup and an ear infection. Poor little Bubby Boy! Last Wednesday night, he woke up hacking, which sounded like a barking seal, and when I went to him, he was wheezing. I freaked out, called Chris (he was working night shift), called my mom, called the Nurse at our Dr. office...and after a few deep breaths and "It's going to be ok Bubby!" I filled the bathroom with steam and hung out in there with him for about 15 minutes. This helped him a ton. His breathing got back to normal and his coughing subsided a bit. Chris came home from work (whew!) and Will went back down to sleep without too much fretting. We took him to the Dr. the next day and found out that he not only has croup, but a left ear infection. The Dr. said that the 2nd night would be the worse for croup, and as it turned out, it was the 4th night that was the worst. We were up ALL NIGHT with hm last night. It was awful. Poor guy couldn't stop coughing and sneezing and whining. Plus he was running a little fever. So scary when your tiny little ones are sick like this! Addison was hardly sick her first year of life. I've attributed Will's sicknesses to the germs and bugs that Addison must be bringing home from all of her activities. Who knows. Maybe Will doesn't have the same immune system Addison does. Whatever the case is, Will is one sick little guy, and we need him to heal up soon!