Saturday, December 31, 2011

Twenty Twelve

Here's to a most fantastic new year, from our family to yours. Happy 2012.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Christmas pt. III

I guess you can say that Christmas is a bit of a process in our house. It took us a day just to have the kids open 2 gifts each (actually, 4 gifts if you include their grandparent selections). Then we unveiled the sandbox and that pretty much did it for the day. Rain and suddenly dropping temperatures (what happen to last week's bike riding weather?) made us postpone the grand finale for another 4 days... but yesterday we finally assembled and rolled out the trampoline. And suddenly naptime is no longer an issue (let 'em bounce til they drop!). You know, between the sandbox, the trampoline, and the basketball hoop that they'll open from Lela tomorrow; you'd think we don't want our kids in the house anymore. Outdoor gifts in the dead of winter. What kind of parents are you, anyway?!











Christmas pt. II

The highlights: Jesus got some cupcakes, Lela came to visit, Daddy got a waffle maker, mommy got some boots, Naomi got a rattle, the whole family got a sand box, Justin got a robot that (despite being the only thing he asked for) I'm pretty certain he's a little scared of, and Jasmine got a medical kit that she has used on everyone in the house at least once. Evidently everyone is in good health... and we owe her a $25 co-pay each.













Christmas pt. I

You know you own a big dog when, instead of chew toys and bones, you buy your dog... another dog for Christmas. Yep. Tasha got a mini me for Christmas. Here you go, girl. Have fun. Walk him twice a day, and try not to eat him by mistake.









Okay, so we didn't really lose our minds and get a second dog. But Tasha did have a time trying to keep up with this crazy pup that wandered into our yard. I'm pretty sure she belongs to the neighbor's daughter who was in town for the holidays. And I'm also pretty sure that, two days later, Tasha hasn't caught her breath yet from her impromptu wrestling match. Somebody fetch that dog a bowl of water and an oxygen tank. Evidently, Tasha still has a few moves left in her tank.

Do It Yourself Sandbox

A few pictures from Christmas Eve. You know that times are hard when daddy makes you build your own Christmas presents.




Thursday, December 29, 2011

Naomi VI



Naomi Janelle turned 4 months old over a week ago... but funny enough, delaying her "birthday blog entry" turned out to be a good thing. Had I written this on time, I would not have had a whole lot to write about since she wasn't doing a whole lot of particularly noteworthy things. Her day was pretty much eat, sleep, smile, cry, repeat cycle. And then... Bam. In ten days, she found her toes, started laughing, became ticklish, tripled her hand-eye coordination (whatever that means) and started rolling over consistently from tummy to back. It's like she got a tutor or something.

Just like her two siblings had at this age, given a couple of fingers to grab a hold of, Naomi has the same propensity to pull up and stand on
her feet every chance she gets. It's as if sitting or laying down is suddenly taboo. I'm guessing that she'll be on their same advanced crawl and walk schedule, too (which means it's time to install the baby gates). She is also continuing to transition from being driven by needs (eat, sleep, eat again) to being driven by will and desire. Now that she can independently touch, grab, play, etc.; it's clear that she knows what she does and doesn't want to do at times... and the frustration couldn't be more obvious when she can't reach something in her line of sight. Her sounds also changed. Seemingly overnight, her cooing turned into yelps and yells as she tries to make words and express her excitement. For some reason, that transition was really weird; maybe because it was so sudden. You'd think that I'd have this baby development thing down by now, but I swear it seems totally different every time. It's also obvious from the intent her eyes that she gets the whole communication thing now and, in her mind, the "words" that come out of her mouth are something that we should certainly understand. She'll coo and yelp at you for about 20 seconds, and then give you this look like, "you know what I mean?"

As for stats, she stacks up at 24 inches and 13 pounds (22nd, 31st, and 64th percentiles in length/weight/head; for those keeping score at home). She's still sleeping well. And she's abundantly responsive to stimuli (sounds, lights, etc.). With the way she spins around to meet your voice, you'd think that her head is on a swivel. One thing about being child #3 is that she gets wayyy more stimulus than either of them did. But she seems to be handling it all pretty well (i.e., it's not affecting her sleep or willingness to go to sleep). In all, if I had to summarize her world in just a few words, I'd simply say that she continues to be one super happy baby.



Monday, December 26, 2011

He Said She Said III

Jasmine
Come here oh-bee-oh. I have to find my oh-bee-oh.
Translation: we have no clue.

When I grow up, I want to be a baseball game.
Translation: baseball game = basketball player
This was after watching daddy huff and puff for 30 minutes in the student-faculty basketball game. Her Lela bought her a basketball hoop for Christmas... so we'll see if that helps her become a better (ahem) baseball game.

Justin
... can be so (a) noncomittal and (b) arbitrary with his thoughts. Here's an example of both in the same conversation:
What's your favorite color? All of them.
What's your favorite letter? D and Y.

Huh?

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Sam I Am

While I wait for the kids to wake up to Christmas morning (can you say twilight zone? Every other day of the year we're begging 'em to sleep until 7) I got to browsing through photos that I never got to post due to a hectic December. One highlight that I came across was our Green Eggs and Ham breakfast 3 weeks ago. This was one of those things that we'd been meaning to do for ages (and actually got beat to the punch by Justin's preschool class) but just never got around to doing. Long story short, I guess you can say it was a success. Justin Alexander, who does not (will not with a mouse, not in a box, not with a fox) eat eggs actually cleaned his plate with a smile. Go figure. And Jasmine Olivia (who has no problem cleaning her plate of any content whatsoever) chose to eat her whole meal with her famous Mr. Potato Head "angry eyes" on display. In all, it was fun. Not sure if there will be an encore appearance for the green eggs and ham; but we can officially put this one in the been there done that category.



Unseasonal

Wacky weather patterns brought us two 70-degree days this past week; which was more than enough reason to skip nap time and hit the great outdoors. Pump up the bike tires, blow the dust of the handle bars and buckle up the baby. We're going for a spin.


Saturday, December 24, 2011

Thursday, December 8, 2011

NAOMI V









Pierced. Both mom and baby survived. Naomi forgot about the whole ordeal in about 4 seconds or so. Mom, on the other hand, is still in counseling.