Merry Christmas!

We must have a couple of very nice children because Santa sure did leave us a lot of fun things to play with this year! We woke up to presents galore beneath the Christmas tree...


...and a special surprise waiting for a sweet little girl in our kitchen too! (Rumor has it that one of Santa's elves spent several hours putting it together at our house on Christmas Eve. Those elves are just so dedicated to making children's faces light up on Christmas morning!)


Evander enjoyed all the commotion, bows, and wrapping paper, and a special Santa hand-me-down from his big sister...




Sofie seemed to be in shock, but had a merry time opening up all her packages and spent lots of time playing with each one's contents before moving along. Here she is in baby doll heaven...


We let her discover her new kitchen on her own and we were nearly an hour into our festivities when she finally exclaimed, "Wook at dis!" and set to work trying it out. I could swear I saw her peering at it several times before she actually acknowledged it. I wonder what she was thinking :) In this picture you can see she's busy cooking with some makeshift pots and pans. Later she got some real ones in another package, but she was too busy playing to open presents at this point!




Here she is showing her babies how the oven works. What a little mommy!


After everything was finally opened Sofie and Daddy had a fun time exploring some books with Sofie's new Tag reading system.


Here are the requisite pictures of the aftermath!



And...somehow I never seem to get a decent picture of the kids in their Christmas outfits. I don't have a single picture of Sofie in her Christmas dress last year, and this is the best picture I managed this year.


Once we were all "dooded up" we rounded out our day with a visit to Nana and Grandma's house for lunch and more presents and then an evening at Grannie (Great Grannie!) Gracie's house. Absolutely exhausting, but in the best sort of way! It was the most wonderful Christmas I can remember since my own childhood. Can't wait for next year!!

Four Months

Moose you are four months old and you've spent this month charming our socks off. Just a few short months ago, when I was having an exceptionally rough time transitioning from a parent of one to a parent of two, a kind midwife told me that things would get easier in stages. "Things get a little easier at six weeks," she said, "and then easier still by twelve weeks. By the time you hit the six month mark things will feel normal again." So far she has been absolutely correct, and your grinning and giggles certainly have a way of making me forget about the hard stuff!

You are getting so strong. You spend your tummy time locking your little arms firm to push your chest right up off the ground. You grab everything in sight and it all goes straight into your mouth for a nice coating of slobber. You are rolling with ease from your back to your stomach and you've accidentally rolled from your stomach to your back a few times too. When I put you down for a little play time I usually return to find you flipped over and half a circle from where I left you. It will only be a matter of time before you'll be my constant underfoot companion.

You're pretty easy going most of the time and you love to watch what's going on around you. You'll sit in the swing or the Bumbo seat intently watching us go about our daily activities and when I glance up to check on you I'm always greeted with an instantaneous grin. You seem to think Sofie is magical and you are pleased as punch when she takes a moment to goof around with you. She is the lucky recipient of most of your laughter.

You've got me pretty convinced that you'll teeth earlier than Sofie did because you've been coated with drool for the past few weeks and you want everything to go straight to your mouth. Your hands are still the easiest target and you're often gnawing on your thumb, but you will attack my hands, shirt, arms, face, and any toys within reach. You sit on my lap during mealtimes and you get so excited each time I take a bite and the food comes towards you, kicking your legs and leaning in for the kill. We gave you your first taste of cereal this weekend and you were so thrilled to see that spoon finally coming to your mouth. You grabbed for it with both hands and guided it right in...and then you were so monumentally disappointed! Thank goodness there are tastier things in the world than rice cereal :)

Van, when we brought you home and set to work learning how to manage a second child a friend commented that having another baby makes things, "exponentially harder." He was right, but what he failed to mention was that your presence here would make our lives exponentially better too. Your little glowing face has helped us muddle through the rough spots and we look forward to spending each and every day, good or bad, with you.

O Christmas Tree

We put up our sad little Christmas tree (which I secretly love) tonight. This was the first year that Sofie was really able to participate in the trimming, hence:

In case you're unsure of what you're seeing here, it is no less than ten tree ornaments all hung on the same two bottom most branches. Now, those of you who know me well will not be surprised when I admit that I am a wee bit anal about some pretty silly things like, oh I don't know, ornament spacing? But every time I look at those poor sagging branches I have to stifle a giggle and so there will be absolutely no rearranging while my sweet unsuspecting little girl sleeps.

I'm not particularly fond of decorating the Christmas tree but one of my favorite things to do every year is pull out all the Christmas ornaments and reminisce. I've been collecting ornaments for awhile now, picking one out each time we visit some place new, and almost every ornament has some sort of story or special significance behind it. I'm really looking forward to the days when I can bore the kids with all my tales :) This year the most poignant ones for me were all Vance family-centric. The small collection we've got going from my niece and nephew, beginning with Lillie's tiny baby hand print from '04. The log cabin ornament Janna gave me on my birthday when we were vacationing in Colorado the year I was pregnant with Sofie, and the one from Mohican Lodge I got last year when we all stayed there for Kyle and DeAnna's wedding. I suppose I'm missing the crew this holiday season more than I had realized. I feel very lucky to be near so much of our extended family and to firmly look forward to the days when we get to reunite with those who are far in miles, but always nearby in our thoughts and memories.

Roly Poly

Evander started rolling over like a week ago (oh my gosh I am that awful mom who didn't manage to record anything regarding her second child!!! No wait, I can figure this out...Evander started rolling over last Thursday when Nana and Grandma came to visit, so that would be November 19th.) I've been trying to get a decent video of him doing it, but so far I've been unsuccessful, so instead you can watch this video and see him roll most of the way over.



So far he can only go one way, from his back to his stomach over his right side. He spends a lot of time working on getting himself over his left side but he just can't seem to manage that last little bit, that pulling his arm out from under himself bit, and I can't even express to you how intensely frustrated he is that he can't do it yet. Once he's on his stomach he's not particularly happy about the arrangement since he's not a huge fan of tummy time, but he hasn't even really attempted to roll from his stomach to his back yet. I suppose that's next!

Don't Worry

I happen to believe that there is nothing sweeter than the sound of a child singing. And of course my child singing is the sweetest sound of them all. I managed to start recording this video tonight without Sofie noticing (because if she had noticed there would be absolutely no singing and a whole lot of close-up shots of Sofie's nose pores!) Consequently there is absolutely nothing to watch, but just listen to my sweet girl singing.



As a side note, this song has never really been one of my favorites but we recently checked out a children's CD from our library by Elizabeth Mitchell called You Are My Little Bird and this is one of its tracks. I absolutely love the CD. This song, especially when a child's carefree voice sings it, has been such a message to me this week. Here we are entering another crazy holiday season and I know so many people who are deeply worried about so many things. I hope you'll all find a moment to join me as I work towards casting off my worries and embracing life's simple pleasures in their face.

Thomas the Train

Or, "the tain Thomas" as Sofie fondly refers to him, is a huge hit at our house. This little battery powered engine has provided Sofie with hours and hours of fun. Daddy bought Thomas for Sofie's birthday, and while the $20 price tag seemed a bit lofty at the time, Thomas has definitely earned his keep here. Thomas doesn't need a track, and loves to take excursions down the long hall outside our apartment. He is quite strong and is often successful at climbing over small obstacles or, as you'll see in the video, shoving them out of the way. He can also be pushed without stripping his mechanics. So, all in all an awesome toy for any well-loved kiddo on your Christmas list. Last night Daddy was feeling compelled to get in on the fun and set up some obstacle courses for Thomas to conquer as the kids looked on...



And here you can see that Evander is already well on his way to becoming a Thomas enthusiast as well...



Rah!

Three Months

Young man, you are three months old. I had completely forgotten how much three month olds totally ROCK until we somehow blinked a few too many times and found ourselves here at the three month mark. You are happy happy happy and oh so very happy to smile and coo at us whenever we've got a moment to devote to you and actually look you in the eye. Poor second child! As a condolence, though, you think Sofie is absolutely fascinating and you're only too pleased to grin away at her crazy antics. She's equally enthralled with you and reminds us often that you're her brother.

You are starting to enjoy the typical baby games, like So Big and Pat-a-Cake, and the not so typical ones, like practicing your jab on your sister, clapping and dancing around the living room with mom. You're still a huge fan of your toys, especially the bears above your changing table and Mr. Monkey. In fact, I think you talk to them almost as much as you talk to us. You've figured out that you have control over your hands, albeit very jerky control, and sometimes I find you practicing intently, holding your little fist steadily right in front of a bear's face. You are showing preference for your left hand (cool!) and have figured out how to bring both hands together, mainly for the purpose of slobbering all over them. You are still pretty interested in your thumb when you can manage to pop it into your mouth.

You are getting stronger every day and starting to enjoy tummy time for longer periods of time, especially if there's something interesting to look at. When you're on your back you crane your neck around and pull your body up onto your side. I imagine it won't be much longer before you accidentally flop yourself over.

This month I buzzed off your fuzzy little grandpa hairs, and while it was technically your first haircut there are no pictures because Daddy was oddly attached to them and refused to participate! I did, of course, pack away your peach fuzz for memory's sake. I think you look quite handsome without them, and while we're on the topic of looks, don't tell your sister, but I think you're much cuter than she was at your age!

Van Van, lately I've been working on finding a job, and since I'm hoping to be hired somewhere relatively soon we've been trying to get you familiar with a bottle. Despite our early successes you are now absolutely REFUSING that stinkin' thing. If you're in a good mood you'll patiently use your tongue to shove it out of your mouth over and over again until we grow tired of trying and leave you alone. If you're anxious to eat you just scream bloody murder. It's causing me a fair amount of anxiety, imagining how awful it might be to leave you for so long without your comfort, but it's also helping me take the rejection inherent in trying to find work in stride. How can I let anything upset me when someone like you, with your big smiley eyes, wants nothing more than to spend all your moments with me :)

For Grandma Debbie

Translation:

Mama: Ok, where is Grandma Debbie?

Sofie: Where is Grandma Debbie?

M: Yeah, where is she?

S: Uhhhhh, Ca, ca ca, ca ca, Colorado?

M: Yeah. How did she get there?

S: ...

M: How did she get to Colorado?

S: Up the airplane!

M: That's right! Did we take her to the airport?

S: Grandma, Grammie, Grandma Debbie's all gone up the airplane.

M: Yeah. She flew to Colorado. Did she fly to Colorado to see Lillian and Clayton?

S: Yeah.

M: Do you miss her?

S: Yeah.

M: Wish she would come visit soon?

S: Yeah.

M: Say, "I love you Grandma Debbie."

S: I love you!

M: Bye bye.

S: Bye bye.

How Sofie Learns

Here's Sofie's version of, "Why?"

What a crack-up!

Trick or Treat

Just wait 'til you see what we're cooking up for next year :)