David, Lisa, Kayla & Isaac

Wow... this last month has brought on some dramatic changes!

He learned how to crawl on all 4s (he's been army crawling since Halloween) and his speed is increasing!! Also, he can put himself in a sitting position on his own (from lying down or from crawling). He has also started pulling up on furniture/toys/us and walking along the couch. WOW does that change things around here! Suddenly, he can get to things on the ground much quicker, and it's no longer safe to leave anything on the couch! This has definitely affected Kayla, as previously she could move to the other side of the room or put stuff on the couch and play and be safe from Isaac. Not so much anymore!

He started sleeping exclusively on his belly and he also started crawling towards the other end of his crib to fall asleep. He was not consistently pulling himself up when one day I was watching him (on tv!) as he was supposed to be napping and saw him pulling himself up! We had not moved his crib down at all, so I was nervous that he'd topple over head first! Of course I brought the camera in to document this all! After about an hour of him standing and then me putting him back lying down he finally fell asleep. Obviously we lowered his crib that evening to the lowest setting! I hate how low he is in there.... it's so far to lay him down! But clearly the safest option! Most days when I get him from his crib he's standing holding onto the corner waiting for me! So crazy! There was no in-between here - I expected that one day I would go in there and he would be sitting (instead of lying down as normal) but instead he went directly to standing! Of course after that day there have been many times when I’ve gotten him and he’s been sitting, but still. Drastic changes!!

Also, he’s found an interest in the stairs. It won’t be long before I have to pull out the baby gates again.

He also started eating more on his own (self-feeding). And he's quite suspicious of foods we spoon-feed him, often pulling it out to examine it! He had been a pretty neat eater, but now he also likes to rub his grubby hands in his hair and all over his face and it's quite messy. We seriously could use a dog to clean up the stuff he "windshield-wipes" off of his tray.

As I mentioned in my Christmas post, he had a sleep regression where he was back to waking up once a night. When we came back in town he started sleeping through the night again, but then he had a bad cold, got another tooth, and got his first ear infection... and through that was up once a night again to nurse for about a week. Once that all settled down he's back to sleeping through the night again (usually about 11 hours). It is SO NICE to be getting good solid chunks of sleep. But it is now EVEN HARDER when we are woken in the middle of the night, since we aren't expecting it! Thankfully most nights are good! Unless he wakes up in the middle of the night, we are down to just 4 feedings a day.

Speaking of teeth, he now has 7.

I can already tell that we are in for some more serious change in the next month as he will be exploring more and more of our world and our house. It’s already so cute to see how he is playing with toys differently!

He's one tough little cookie, as he's always falling (or being knocked over by someone, ahem) and he has all sorts of little bumps and bruises (mostly on his forehead, poor kid!). He seems to be pretty tough about it, though. It's funny, he is definitely my baby boy. I was not one to coddle Kayla.... we let her develop and grow and fall and get hurt as she learned (in a good way, somehow writing that made it sound like we were heartless!). But my baby boy! I want to just run over and protect him from falling or scoop him up and comfort him right away! But I'm stepping back and letting him learn also. It's just funny how it is a little different with a boy than it was for a girl with me.

We took the kids sledding this last month and Isaac got to go down the hill with either me or David and he LOVED it! He was all smiles and cooing! Hopefully he continues to be adventurous!

I took the kids to see a production of Peter and the Wolf. It was a combination of the symphony and the ballet and it was so cute! It was only about 40 minutes, and Isaac was captivated by the music for nearly the entire time!

He had his 10 month check-up this month (thankfully no shots!). He was 18lbs 9oz which puts him in just the 10th percentile. He was 29 inches long, which puts him in the 50%. He seems to be tracking along just like Kayla did - long and lean! His head circumference was 18 inches.

We, regrettably, had to move him into his Britax car seat. He was getting too heavy to carry in the infant one and his legs were hanging over the edge! When we were out and about we usually carrying him on our hip anyway (rather than in the car seat), so the main disadvantage is that we have to buckle him into his seat out in the cold, rather than inside in the warmth. Also, I used to be able to get him all ready, buckle him in and then deal with getting Kayla and I all ready. Now, he can crawl away, so it's more of a struggle to get everyone out of the house! Oh well.

We love this little man! What a privilege and a blessing to have him as our son.

Posted by Lisa at 11:50 PM | Permalink

I made a few resolutions this year. I thought I'd post them so that I could be held accountable to them, and also so I would remember them! It will be interesting to reflect back on this in December and see how I have done.

1. Drink less soda and more water.
2. Eat more fish.
3. Try a new food each month. (January = quinoa, February = tofu… if anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear what foods I might not be eating but should be!)
4. Try to use recyclable bags more often at the grocery store.
5. Give good good-night kisses every night.

Posted by Lisa at 11:57 PM | Permalink

Part 2, finally :)

We headed down to DE a day late, while it was still snowing considerably. But as I mentioned, the trip went pretty well. The roads were mostly cleared, and apart from a 30 min stretch at the MA/CT border, and another stretch by the Newark airport (which was a white-out), we did great. We saw a lot of cars on the side of the road, but thankfully it wasn't us on the side of the road!

We made it in town for Linda's big dinner (which we had originally thought we wouldn’t make when we had to leave a day late). In fact, we drove directly to her house from MA! It was a massive group of people and it was a great time with delicious food! David's family also drove straight to Linda's house and got there shortly after we did. We got to see all of David's Aunts and Uncles and Cousins that were in town. Isaac tried a bunch of new foods at dinner (oh the pork, it was so delicious and Isaac thought so too!), and Kayla enjoyed seeing everyone (and running around since she's been cooped up in a car seat all day!). That dinner was such a fun time!

While in DE we had the chance to visit lots of relatives. We stayed at Grandma's house, and enjoyed spending time with her and the other families that stayed there.




We did 1/2 of our Christmas there, and were showered with gifts.



We also spent quite a bit of time at Pop-pop and Lilly's house. We did the other 1/2 of Christmas there, and again were showered with presents.

I was able to get a "4-generation of Kenneth men", which was really important to me to have. We gave Isaac the middle name Kenneth, as an honor to our family, as it is also David's middle name and his dad and grandfather's first names. We forgot to take this picture at Steph's wedding and I was so glad to have the chance to take it at Christmas this year!

We also got to spend some time with Aunt Hennie and as always, enjoy our cheese-steak sandwiches! Also, she has this stuffed little boy, and previously Kayla has enjoyed playing with him. Well, this year Isaac was dressed up very similar to the doll and it was pretty hilarious to see Isaac with it!




We spent an evening with Grandpa and Cathy too. Kayla enjoyed singing Christmas Carols for Grandpa and throwing packing peanuts everywhere!




Both Kayla and Isaac really enjoyed spending time with Aunt Stephie and Uncle Brian. They are both so good with our kids, and our kids just love them too (note: Kayla is much harder to photograph these days!)!



Steph and Brian left on Thursday, but we stayed in town with just mom and dad for several more days. We spent that time at either Pop-pop's or Grandma's house, enjoying yummy dinners everywhere we went!

We also got a chance to go to a local house where they decorate for Christmas with about 1 million (or more) lights! It was just amazing all that they have there. Kayla absolutely LOVED it; she kept running from area to area, saying how much she loved this and that. It was truly a kid’s wonderland!

Since there is so much family in town when we travel there, it's always a bit of a whirlwind visit for us. We try to have visits with everyone, and it seems that we are eating each meal at a different house! This time we tried to see everyone when Steph and Brian were in town, so after they left we had some down time. It was nice and relaxing those last few days, and we really enjoyed spending some time with just mom and dad.

It's really fun to be able to spend that much time on vacation. I love spending the extra time with David and having us all together for those 2.5 weeks. And we love visiting our family. Thankfully, both of our kids are really flexible and do well traveling in the car and sleeping in different beds and rooms, and eating different food and at different times. It does take a toll on us all, and on the drive back both kids had bad colds and we were all a little worn out. But it is such a fun annual vacation for us, we really love being able to do that!!

Posted by Lisa at 02:18 PM | Permalink

Goodness it's taken me to long to get something up here from Christmas that I'm going to make it into 2 parts! So, here is the first installment!

We did another tour of the East Coast this year for Christmas and New Year's! This is our 4th year to do so and it's quite a fun tradition for us! This is the 2nd year we've driven it, and it's actually not bad at all. Our kids are both pretty good travelers, and we made it from GR all the way to my parents’ house in one (long) day. But overall, we were able to make just a few stops and spend that time nursing/eating/bathrooming/running off some energy. It was as efficient as possible with 2 small children!

In Massachusetts we had a wonderful and relaxing time. David planned a special date for us to see Cirque du Soleil, the Dralion show. He surprised me and didn't tell me what we were doing/seeing until we were at the arena! It was such an amazing show, and going to Cirque was something we had always talked about doing. So, it was a really fun surprise for me and a fun evening to enjoy without the kids!

We also got many chances to do our Christmas shopping, mostly without the kids. Before heading to MA we do some shopping, ordering things online or buying specific things here or there. But for the most part we always leave our shopping to do in tax-free NH and without kids. It is such a treat to be able to get in the car without having to buckle anyone else in, browse stores at our own pace without having to entertain/ hand snacks & drinks/ field questions/etc. Shopping with 2 kids is a task and something I can do, but prefer not to. So it's really a treat to be able to do this several times while in MA. We don't even mind that it's the "Christmas Rush" because we are always able to chill and shop without feeling the strain of the hustle and bustle.

We were able to get together with some of our really good friends, Pat & Katie (and meet their dog) and Matt & Christen (and meet their son). It was so much fun to catch up with them, even though we were only able to spend a short amount of time with them. For both families, we feel when we get together we pick up where we've left off, even though we go long period of time without seeing each other or even talking to each other.

Kayla enjoyed working on many crafts that my parents had planned for her. They made and decorated cookies, decorated a gingerbread house, and made Christmas ornaments for everyone, among other things!

Isaac was still getting over being sick when we first got there, but he was quite snuggly and quite sweet and my parents really enjoyed bonding with him.

For David's birthday he wanted to go Duck-Pin bowling. There happens to be one in Chelmsford, which is amazing because there are only 3 left in MA! It was a hole-in-the-wall bowling alley, but it was perfect! We were the only people there and we had a blast! Kayla played the first game with us and really enjoyed herself (it was her first time bowling). Overall we had a lot of laughs and a really good time!

On Christmas Eve we went to my parents’ church service. I (eventually) got a picture of the two kids in front of the fireplace and we got family pictures as well. Some of the "outtakes" of the kids together are just hilarious! Kayla likes to hug Isaac and rock him from side to side, and sometimes he likes it and sometimes he doesn't. But eventually we ended up with 2 happy and smiling kids!!

Before going to bed we read the Christmas story from Luke by the tree. Kayla used her Little People Nativity Scene to help act out the story. And we set out cookies and milk for Santa and nuts for his reindeer.

Christmas morning was filled with lots of presents and lots of fun! We started by opening the stockings.
Then we had a yummy breakfast of a strata casserole and caramel rolls!

Then we opened some of the presents.



Then we took a break from opening and played with some of our toys.



Then we opened some more.



Then we made and decorated a birthday cake for Jesus. Later we had a delicious Christmas dinner.



We ended the evening relaxing in the hot tub!

We packed all of our stuff up with plans to leave the day after Christmas. But instead a blizzard warning kept us in MA for another day. While we were sad we weren't able to be in DE with the Taylor's, actually the Taylor's were snowed in down in NC, so we ended up not missing out on anything! As it turned out, we definitely made the right decision to stay an extra day. When we drove down the roads were pretty good and the traffic was minimal. We did see a lot of cars on the side of the road, but otherwise the trip was what we would expect until normal road conditions. The bummer of the blizzard was that we didn’t get to see Nick or Laura because his job and her boyfriend kept them from being able to come up since they lost a day.

Part 2 to come (shortly, I hope).

Posted by Lisa at 06:14 PM | Permalink