Thursday, December 31, 2009

A Boy and His Bear

Okay, so this might seem to be pretty out-of-the-blue, but I was looking through old photos tonight. I'm putting together a picture wall in our entry hall, and wanted to select some from when Nikos was tiny. Anyhow, I happened across this one:

And that's when I realized: Sugarbear, as we call this sweet bear, is officially two years old! Nikos' godparents gave him to us as a Christmas gift when our little guy was just two months old. By the time he was six months old, Nikos and his bear were officially best buddies:

And today, Sugarbear (now called just "Bear," most of the time) is still the first thing our boy asks for when he's sleepy or upset.

It is so interesting to me, in retrospect, since Maya doesn't seem to have this sort of attachment to any one toy. But for Nikos, it works. He loves Sugarbear, and so do we! Happy belated birthday, little bear! :)

Monday, December 28, 2009

Visiting with Great-Grandma Patty

My grandma is in this half of the state, staying with my parents for a few days, so we drove up to spend the day with her (and my parents, of course!). Nikos, in particular, seemed suddenly enamored with his Great-Grandma, talking about her all morning. He is too funny! At any rate, we ate lunch, went to the park, hung out at the house all afternoon, then had a yummy dinner (my mom's lasagna-- the best!). Here are a few pictures of our day!

The kids with Great-Grandma Patty and my dad ("Grandpa")


Nikos at the park-- he has finally mastered going down the "big" slides!


My excellent little sitter. She has finally become really stable while sitting over the past few weeks!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Just Pictures

Too tired to write... so I'll let the pictures tell the story for now, and come back to supply the details later!









Merry Christmas!

I will be posting soon with many, many pictures, I'm sure, but for now... Have a wonderful Christmas filled with enough love and laughter to last the whole year through!

Fifths Disease?

Lest this post sound somewhat un-Christmas-y, allow me to direct your attention to exhibit A (a decidedly festive photo):

Now, take a closer look at Maya's cheeks, which have a lovely rosy glow to them. They do not normally look this way. We noticed it yesterday, and they were still pink all day today. My parents even commented on it when they were here for our Christmas celebration. And now, with the children nestled all snug in their beds, I decided to do a little internet diagnosing.

Anyway, I would be willing to place a wager that she had Fifths Disease, but is now feeling better. Check out this description:
"The symptoms of fifth disease for any age group are a slight fever, headache, and a sore throat and runny nose. It more often than not is passed off as a common cold or at worst, the flu. Children are more likely to develop the bright red rash symptom on the cheeks and this can move on to the body and arms. When the child has recovered from the disease the rash fades and looks web like across the body. It can return when the child is too warm or agitated but this is not a sign of the disease returning."

Well, she had a fever (101) on Monday. She has slept horribly all week. She hasn't been eating as much as usual. She had a horribly runny nose and now... she has red cheeks. At the same time, she seems to be feeling much better than she was before! So, there's my guess. Poor little kiddo... It's so hard when they can't talk! I am just happy she seems to be feeling better in time for Christmas. Yippee! :)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Thoughts on Santa, etc.

With Christmas only two days away, and our first big family celebration scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, I thought I would take a few minutes to write down Nikos' thoughts on the big man in the red suit.

In general, he is really getting into Christmas this year. He knows a few Christmas songs, and likes to request them. His two favorites are "The Merry Christmas Song" (which is really "We Wish You a Merry Christmas") and "The Reindeer Song" (which refers to either "Up On the Rooftop" or "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer-- they are apparently interchangeable!). He adores the Christmas snow globe I received as a gift from a student this year, and loves to ooh and aah over the "snow" inside. He loved making cookies with me. He loves presents. He loves the lights on the tree, and examining all the ornaments. He loves listening to Christmas music and dancing around. In short, he seems to love Christmas.

Santa, though, is a questionable figure. Sometimes he will demand to be picked up so that he can see the various Santa items we have out as decorations. He likes the fact that my Scottish Santa figurine has a toy train poking out of his bag of gifts. He loves the Santa riding a motorcycle, since he likes motorcycles. However, if a representation of Santa is even remotely lifelike, he is DONE. In the eyes of Nikos, that is NOT OKAY. He freaks out, saying "No Santa! No!" And forget about Santa coming to our house at night and bringing presents. Nikos' response? "No Santa. No presents!"

At the same time, he seems to like the idea... So we will see. This evening, after his bath, we asked him who was coming to see him tomorrow. We expected him to name the various relatives we will see, but he shouted out, "SANTA!!!!!!" And, not wanting to correct him, I asked, "And what is Santa bringing?" His response: "PRESENTS!!!" Gotta love that kid. :)

On a side note, we had a fun conversation this morning. Maya was napping, and I had him out in the garage with me while I was doing laundry. He noticed one of his old ride-on toys up in the rafters, and wanted me to get it down...

Nikos: I want yellow car up high!
Me: It's too high! I can't reach. I'm too little!
Nikos: I can't reach, either! (the correct use of "either" really impressed me)
Me: Bummer! I guess we can't get it, then!
Nikos: Go get a ladder, Mommy!

He had a point. And once he said "please," I got the toy down for him. Not 20 minutes later, I walked into his room and saw this:

Yes, he put the car on his bed and then sat on it. And when I asked him what he was doing, he declared that he was sleeping and that he was tired. Toddlers. Gotta love 'em.

Video Proof!

So after I posted earlier that Maya was on the move, I got my act together and filmed the little wiggle-worm in action! There is no need to turn on your volume, since the sound got messed up on the second video and I deleted it completely from the first one (since it was a montage and sounded really dumb). Enjoy!


Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Creeping Along...

It has come to my attention over the past few days that Miss Maya is almost an official army-crawler! She's been pretty mobile for a while now, using a variety of twists and lunges to get wherever she wants to go. But after watching her this afternoon, I think she will be an official member of the "creeper" club within the next week or two. She uses her elbows to dig into the floor, then launches herself forward with her feet. She is getting pretty good at it, too, and can cover several feet in under a minute (depending on the motivation).

What's funny to me is that she seems so driven to move! She sees a toy that she MUST have (usually one of Nikos'), and she makes a beeline for it. For a long time, we thought Nikos would never crawl because he didn't seem to have any desire to do so. He was content to sit in one place and play with his toys. But maybe having an older brother is an excellent motivator-- after all, he plays with the same toys that she covets, so she has to get to them before he does!

At any rate, I will try to get a video of her "creeping" sometime this week. It would help if a) I could find my cheapie point-and-shoot camera (which also records video) or b) the regular video camera was charged up and not sitting there with a dead battery. I'll have to remedy one of these situations so that you can see just how mobile she really is-- it amazes me! Looks like we are going to find out just how dirty our floors are again! :P

Monday, December 21, 2009

Brother and Sister

I knew that it would be fun to see Nikos and Maya interact, but I don't think I realized just how funny it would be! A few stories from today...

First, Maya had a rough night and then a low fever this morning. The fever has since passed, but she is still congested and not as happy as usual. At any rate, she was pretty fussy this morning, and Nikos kept pointing out that she was sad and that she was crying (thanks, kiddo). I told him that she was sick, and he instantly ran over and started talking to her in his sweet, high-pitched "I'm-talking-to-baby" voice. It was the sweetest thing ever! He kept saying "It's okay, My-My! Whatsamatter? You feel better? Don't be sad!" Oh my goodness. Could he BE any sweeter? Maya, who just loves ANY attention from her big brother, reached out to grab his finger, sending them both into fits of giggles. I so wish I had been somehow able to record it on video!!

A little while later, she was feeling better and the two of them were playing on the living room floor. Nikos had all his cars out, as usual, Maya was playing with her various baby toys. Sort of. She was much more interested in Nikos' cars-- mainly because anything that he wants or has is what she absolutely MUST have. Anyway, he knows this, and decided to hand her one of his cars. He placed it in her hand, then said, "Maya, say THANK YOU!" Obviously, she didn't speak, so I spoke for her ("Thank you, Niko!"). His response was, "I say YOU'RE WELCOME!" haha! Teaching her manners at such a young age. I love it!

Speaking of teaching... After they both woke up from their afternoon naps, I brought Maya into Nikos' room and the two of them played together on his toddler bed. She thinks that this is the greatest thing in the world, and Nikos thinks it's hilarious, so a good time is usually had by all. After a few minutes of silliness, Nikos flopped onto his tummy and laid next to his baby sister, who was carefully examining the boats on his bed quilt. Nikos started pointing to various parts of the quilt, asking her "What color is this?" and then answering himself. It was so funny to see him in the role of the teacher! I guess he really IS my child! :)

Finally, after they got tired of playing on the bed, the three of us went out and sat at the piano so that brother and sister could perform a duet. The two of them pounded away on the keys, looking at each other and shrieking with delight. It wasn't exactly a beautiful melody, but it was a beautiful moment.

Anyway, I just wanted to share. I love both these kids so much, but these are the sorts of moments I never really expected. The sweetness is almost unbearable! ♥

Party!

We went to a birthday party this afternoon, though I need to explain a little bit, first! :) Ever since I was planning our wedding, I would go onto TheKnot.com and participate in the message boards there. I got lots of great ideas, and enjoyed chatting with all the other ladies who were planning their weddings, too! After the wedding, I went to log in and was automatically redirected to the new spinoff site, TheNest.com. And when I got pregnant, I looked to the message boards there for advice and comraderie with other pregnant women. Soon after Nikos was born, a few of the girls on there got tired of some of the mean spirit that had overtaken the discussion boards, and decided to spin off and form their own, more private, discussion forum, and I went with them. Several generations later, I am still an active participant in the forum (which is basically an online mommy group), and really enjoy talking to the other moms there.

Anyway... The people on the discussion board live all over the world, but a small handful of them live near us. I had never met any of them before, but had "friended" a few on Facebook. As it turned out, I discovered that I shared a mutual friend with one of them (in real life!), and so we got to chatting. And a few weeks ago, she invited us to her daughter's second birthday party today. I was hesitant at first, thinking it was a little weird to meet my "internet friend," but soon decided that it would be okay.

And it was great!! The party was very small, and at a local place that was basically an indoor playground. There were tons of little buildings to go in (the fire station, doctor's office, school, etc.) and lots of toys to play with. I showed Nikos the website this morning, and he talked about it all day long! I was worried that he would get totally shy when we got there, but the opposite happened. He ran around and had a FANTASTIC time! He played with the two little girls (Isabelle and Shay), and was happy as can be. He sang "Happy Birthday" to Isabelle, and devoured most of a chocolate cupcake. It was pretty darn cute! And I think I might have a new mommy-friend, which is really nice. She also has a little baby girl named Maya, so that was fun, too!

Anyhow, here are some pictures... I am stealing these from Facebook, but they were taken by Isabelle's grandma this afternoon:

Nikos and the birthday girl

Another one of Nikos and Isabelle

The two Mayas! hehe!

Nikos and Shay

Just Nikos and his firetruck (his favorite part, of course!)

Friday, December 18, 2009

What little sisters are for...

Apparently, little sisters make excellent tracks for driving your trucks on. And they seem to enjoy it, too! :)

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Sick Day (and other stories)

So, yesterday was a sick day. For once, I was the one to stay home! Gus usually stays home, since it's easier for him. I have to get a sub and write lesson plans for him/her, and it's just a lot of work. But after running through the day in my mind, I knew I could type them up pretty easily and email them to the school secretary. So I stayed home with my cranky little girl and took her to the doctor.

Turns out that she most likely has an ear infection in her right ear, and is now on the lovely pink medicine that brings back childhood memories (blech!!). She hardly slept at all on Monday night, but did much better last night after her first dose. So we are hoping she is on the upswing! In the meantime, I used the day to get a lot of Christmas things done while she was napping. And when she was awake, I used her as my test subject for more messing around with camera settings. Here are a few pictures that I liked:



Switching gears... Last night, at dinner, Gus asked Nikos what he had done at daycare that day. Nikos gave his standard answer, listing the names of various friends he saw and the usual activities (play cars, play trains, color, etc.). We continued on with our conversation. A few minutes later, out of the blue, he said, "I go time out."

"What do you mean? Do you need to go to time out now?" we asked.

"I go time out Bonnie's house."

At this point, we were intrigued. We asked him why he went to time out. His answer? "Brady hit me."

Anyway, we knew that couldn't be the full story, but were trying SO HARD to contain our giggles. He was actually telling us something relevant and interesting that had happened that day. Upon further investigation (chatting with Bonnie today), it turns out that Brady did hit him, and went to time out. But then Nikos was playing with cars, and Kellen tried to take them away. Nikos smacked him (a couple times, apparently), and that's how HE got a time out.

In short, we got some good pieces of the story, even if they didn't quite paint the right picture. His language never ceases to amaze me! :)

Speaking of language, it's fun to ask Nikos what he wants Santa to bring. His usual answer these days goes something like this:
"I want DRUMS! and.... cars. and... basketball. and... SHOES! AND PANTS!!!"

When you ask him what Santa should bring for Maya, he says, "Toys. And SHOES!!"

I don't get the obsession with shoes, but I do find it hilarious! I also find it funny how he is terrified by Santa. He has no problem with the various Santa decorations we have around the house, but if Santa moves and acts like a real human, then he FREAKS out! I showed him this video that we made online (it's free, by the way-- very cool!). He FLIPPED out, demanded that I close the computer, and then told me that Santa was scary. Poor guy. I think once he figures out that Santa brings presents, he might change his tune... :P

Finally, I was crafty tonight! I found this project idea for a Santa plate, and made my own version. I am no great artist, but I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. And for less than $10, it was definitely worth every penny!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Big Girl!

I had a realization tonight. While I was feeding Maya her dinner of sweet potatoes and baby oatmeal, it hit me that maybe-- just maybe-- she might do well with a sippy cup. So I grabbed one and filled it with water. And she promptly picked it up and started drinking!! I guess she WAS ready! Anyway, this little girlie never ceases to amaze me. I can't even believe that she is old enough to drink from a sippy already!

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Just Some Pictures...

I know that my "Mommy Goggles" make me totally biased, but I seriously think that Nikos and Maya are the most beautiful children in the world. And I can't stop taking pictures of them! Anyway, just a few from yesterday and today... Some serious faces from my smiley kiddos!


Oh, I just want to smother them with hugs and kisses!! Too bad they're asleep. I love them so much!

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Waiting for Santa...


Or not, but doesn't it look like it? :) He was tired this afternoon, so he went to grab Blanket, Bear, and Pillow and proceeded to fall asleep on the couch, right next to the Christmas tree. I couldn't resist grabbing my camera to capture the moment. I only wish he had pants on (his jeans had gotten dirty, so we took them off when we got home). Oh well-- it's still pretty sweet!

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Just Checking In...

So, I am realizing that it has been (gasp!) seven days since I last posted anything on this blog! It seems like such a long time, and yet I have total writer's block. There are a ton of things I could write about, and yet nothing truly stands out in my memory. I guess I'm getting old! :)

Oh! Well, there was last night... Maya SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! She went down at around 7:15, as usual, and then woke up at 5:50am (10 minutes before my alarm clock). It was awesome! I'm hoping that this will become a trend, but only time will tell!

The other big news around here has really been the weather, not the kids! We had a huge winter storm yesterday, which dumped buckets on us all day. Nikos was out of sorts, and I honestly think that the rain played a role in that. He loved watching it out the window, and discussing it, but when I picked him up from daycare (amid the worst downpour of the day), he was none too happy about it. He didn't want to walk home, and I didn't blame him. At that point, the rain was blowing sideways! I ended up bringing Maya home first, putting her in the garage (in her carseat), and then running back over to get Nikos. It really is convenient having our daycare right next door, especially on days like those!

Anyway, Nikos ended up taking a late afternoon snooze on the couch at the same time that Maya took a nap. It was incredible! The house was quiet, except for the sound of rain hitting the windows and the patio awning, and I had time to make a big pot of chili and bake some cornbread from scratch. I'm not a huge fan of rain during school hours, but this part of the day was really nice. It's supposed to start raining again on Thursday. This is the closest we'll get to a "white Christmas," so I am really enjoying it! :)

Speaking of white Christmases... Gus and I have been talking about taking the kids to see the snow this year. There's a place only an hour away from us where it snows sometimes, and we were thinking of renting a cabin up there for a night or two. We'll see. Nikos is a toughie-- he could love it, or he could HATE it. We won't know until we try, right? But I think we will probably do it. It would be nice to get away from it all and experience some real winter weather!

Anyhow, I guess I DID have enough to write about! In conclusion, here are a few pictures I took today (I was experimenting with camera settings):

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

7 Month Letter

Dear Miss Maya,

Seven months!?! I know I say this every single month, but it is shocking just how quickly the time has flown by. I really feel like you were just born yesterday-- I can remember every moment in the hospital, from actually seeing the doctors pull you out of my belly to falling asleep with you cradled in my arms. You still like to fall asleep in my arms, though, so I guess some things never change.

This past month has been one of tremendous growth and some regression. The regression, sadly, has been in the sleep department. We should have known that this would happen! Your sleep development has been so different from your brother's... While he started out refusing to sleep, you were a champ from day one. And though your brother started sleeping through the night at around six months, you, well... Let's just say you haven't been sleeping through the night lately. We know that this is mostly our fault, as we have been much more lax in the sleep training department with our second baby. And things seem to be improving, so that's good! But I continue to be impressed by my ability to function on such little sleep. The human body is an incredible thing!

In terms of milestones... You really seem to be on the verge of doing all sorts of things. You have started pulling yourself up onto all fours for a few seconds at a time, and have figured out how to push yourself backward while lying on your tummy. We think that crawling is probably in the not-so-distant future. Your grasp is superhuman, and you will frequently fling your entire body toward whatever object catches your attention-- because you simply MUST grab it and try to put it in your mouth! This obsession with gnawing on pretty much everything leads us to believe that you will probably be getting your first tooth in the not-too-distant future. It also means that we have to watch you and Nikos carefully, because he loves to share toys with you, and you love to chew on them. The gesture is a sweet one, but chewing on small matchbox cars or Christmas ornaments probably isn't the best idea. Your favorite toy at the moment is actually a cheapie set of plastic keys, which you love to chew on and/or bang them on whatever hard surface is nearby. They are endlessly amusing to you.


In other news, you are now a member of the Breakfast Club! No, not the movie... But you eat breakfast now! You are officially eating two meals of solid food a day, and are doing pretty well! It takes you a while to warm up at each meal, as if you need a moment or two to figure out what you are eating and if you like it. But once you have analyzed the food to your satisfaction, you chow down. You haven't tried every food yet, but your current favorites are sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, and bananas. There are times when you would much rather eat big person food (as evidenced by your constant lunging for whatever we are eating), but you seem to enjoy the world of pureed vegetables just fine for now. Though I'm pretty sure you'd give your right arm for one of Nikos' Goldfish crackers (see picture for photographic evidence, hehe!)

This month also marked your first big holiday. Well, I guess that the Fourth of July was technically the first holiday you celebrated, but I don't really consider that to be in the same league as Thanksgiving. You celebrated with Mommy's side of the family this year, and you had a great time! Everyone was enamored with your sweet disposition, and you spent hours being passed from one set of arms to the next. There are many ways in which you are like your big brother, but that is definitely not one of them! :)

Maya, you are such an incredible little girl. We ALL think the world of you, and are so, so happy that you came along to complete our little family. We are so excited to celebrate this holiday season as a family of four, and can't wait to see you and your brother's reactions to all the presents on Christmas morning. We love you forever, and don't you ever forget it!

Love Always,
Mommy and Daddy

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Taking a Stand

Well, I haven't posted about this lately, mostly because I have simply been too exhausted, but Maya's sleep habits have deteriorated as of late. And really, it's all our fault. I swore up and down that we would Ferberize at the four-month mark like we did with Nikos, and get Maya on a good sleep schedule. But we ended up only doing the sleep training at bedtime. When she would wake up during the night, we would either give her the pacifier, feed her, or (when all else failed) bring her into bed with us. And so a bad habit was formed... The more we did this, the more frequent her nighttime wakings became. I know she can't talk yet, but I swear that she wakes up on purpose because she hopes she'll end up in our bed. She is such a little snuggler! But it's still not a good habit, and I never wake up feeling refreshed when she sleeps with us.

Anyhow... It got worse and worse this week, to the point where she was waking up every hour or two all night long-- and she has NEVER done that, not even as a newborn! Gus and I finally decided that it was high time to Ferberize again, only this time we would follow through on it. It's hard to do this when both of us have to get up early for work and we don't want to wake Nikos up with her crying... But it definitely needs to be done. It may seem easy to stick a pacifier in her mouth or feed her, but to do that over and over and over again all night long is not fun.

So... We did it! Last night, Maya actually slept for a longer chunk than she has lately, waking at 2:15am. I nursed her (since I'm pretty sure she does still need one nighttime feeding-- I won't stop that just yet!). I laid her back in her crib, and she drifted right off... Only to wake up crying about half an hour later. So, we followed the Ferber method. She probably cried off and on for a total of 20 minutes, but she did put herself back to sleep. And she didn't wake up again until 6:15am! Add to that the fact that today was Sunday (my day to sleep in), and I actually felt rested and refreshed for the first time in WEEKS!

So yes. We are sleep training again. We'll do it right this time!

Holiday Spirit

Well, it's official: the countdown to Christmas has begun! The house is decorated inside and out, the stockings are hung, and there are even a few presents wrapped and under the tree already. So I figured I'd "dress up" the blog, too! I will change it back to the old look once the holidays are over. But for now, I am liking the Christmas theme! :)

Since I'm on a roll, I wanted to share these pictures of the kids I took last night. It was totally unplanned, or I would have had them wearing different clothes... But they were playing on the living room floor with the tree in the background, and I couldn't resist. I may have to do this again, only in their Christmas outfits!



And one more picture of the outside of the house. Gus wants to do some kind of lawn decoration (perhaps a reindeer or two?) but hasn't decided yet. And he needs to fix all the dead sections of the lights. Still, I think it looks pretty good! I am loving the new front door!

Friday, November 27, 2009

Post-Turkey Day Wrap-up

Well, we are home! We spent Thanksgiving at my parents' house, along with my brother and his wife and my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Both kids seemed to enjoy themselves tremendously, and we all stuffed ourselves silly with my mom's excellent cooking (YUM!!). The only downside was that Maya slept horribly last night, and I ended up bringing her into bed with me so that she would sleep. As expected, though, I ended up being the one without sleep. sigh. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the kiddos on Maya's first Thanksgiving!

Maya in her Thanksgiving onesie (with dried sweet potatoes on her face... guess I miss a spot or two!)

Nikos visiting with his Aunt Melissa

Nikos pushing Uncle Grant around on my mom's desk chair

Maya in her jammies this morning (at least SHE looks rested!)

Nikos in his jammies... someone needs a haircut!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

What I'm Thankful For...

There are so many things that I have to be thankful for this year. At the top of the list, though, are these two little sweethearts:


Really, I feel like I am just the luckiest person in the world. Not only am I married to an amazing guy (who also happens to be a great dad), but I have two of the sweetest little children in the universe. They bring so much happiness into my life every single day, and I am so thankful that they are here and that they are thriving.

I am also thankful for close friends, and for all our extended family who are all such wonderful and loving people. I am thankful for the roof over my head and the paycheck in the bank, especially after receiving a pink slip back in March. All in all, it has been a great year, and I feel lucky and loved. You can't beat that, can you?

(total side note-- I got the replacement 50mm lens for my camera! Compare the picture of Maya to the picture of Nikos. Guess which one was taken with my awesome new lens! Another thing to be thankful for!)