Christmas with the Kiddos

I think Christmas is one of the most fun times of the year with young kids. There are so many fun and festive activities and events to attend. During the last few weeks up until Christmas, Teagan asked daily, "Is it Christmas time yet?" She had a favorite page of toys in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog, and made a Christmas wish list by cutting pictures out and gluing them to some paper. She was pretty excited on Christmas day to find by the Christmas tree the double stroller from her list. Asher was pretty happy with any toy he could get his hands on, especially if it was something he could chew on!

We were lucky to have nice not too cold, but cold enough to feel like Christmas, weather for our annual outing to Santa's Village in Richardson. We didn't spend much time going into the little houses, but mostly just let Teagan run around with her friends. We spent Christmas eve with Paul's side of the family, Christmas morning at home, and then Christmas afternoon with my side of the family. It was pretty busy and Asher did not appreciate all the drive time back and forth from Duncanville!

Asher is such a smiley baby and Teagan seems to be really enjoying how interactive he is now. She loves to give him a big pile of toys and one of his favorite things is to watch her jump. He really giggles when she is jumping. When he wakes up for a nap, Teagan likes to climb up on the bed next to him and say, "Hi little guy. Did you wake up from your nap?" On New Years Eve I was telling a friend how Asher wasn't that interested in sitting independently, and then on New Years Day he was sitting well by himself. He's just growing and changing so fast!

Teagan's big interest right now is watching baby care videos on YouTube. She watches videos about changing, feeding, burping, and calming babies. Then she re-enacts them practically word for word with her dolls. She is constantly stealing Asher's cloth diapers and spends a lot of time diapering all her dolls and stuffed animals. She's going to be one heck of a babysitter one day!

What a mess!

Teagan seems to have a fascination with dumping things. Usually it's something like a box of crackers, or dumping a snack out when she decides she is done. It's not usually a big deal, but she got a little more creative today. I was changing Asher's diaper in the downstairs bedroom and walked out into the kitchen to discover that she had poured out a container of flour and was scooping up handfuls of flour to pour on her head. I reached for the camera and turned around to find her on the ground "swimming" in the flour. Her clothes, face, and hair were covered in flour! Luckily the flour container wasn't very full and I found her while the mess was contained to a pretty small area.

Halloween

Maybe I should actually get the Halloween pictures up before Thanksgiving! As Halloween was getting closer, I started discussing costume options with Teagan. We looked at pictures of kids in costumes and tried to think about what her favorite things were. Somehow she came to the conclusion that she wanted to be a ballet dancer. We went to the fabric store and she helped pick out the tulle that she wanted for her tutu. I made her a tutu and we bought a leotard, tights, and ballet shoes. She had a lot of fun dancing around the house in her tutu and looked really cute in her costume on Halloween. Since I knew Asher would just be in the sling, we decided to not do a costume for him this year. On Halloween we went to Beth's house for dinner and Teagan went Trick or Treating with her cousins. When I explained to her the concept of knocking on people's doors and getting candy in the bag I made her, her eyes lit right up!

Fall days

I can't believe October is almost over already! This month seemed to go by so fast, but we did get a chance to do some of our traditional October activities with friends. The pumpkin patch at Owens Farm and the Arboretum. Teagan really enjoyed the pumpkin patch. Her favorite part was feeding the goats, and she had no interest at all in doing the hay ride. When it came time to choose a pumpkin to take home, she grabbed the first one she saw and seemed pleased with her selection.

The highlight of the Arboretum trip was all the houses made of pumpkins. Teagan was quite willing to pose for photos, as long as she could do her silly, cheesy grin. Asher of course slept comfortably in a sling for most of our outings.

2 months old!

I can't believe our Little Guy is already 2 months old! He is growing so fast and learning so many new things. He is very socially interactive and loves to smile and coo with us. Last week he started rolling over from his belly and he is bearing weight on his legs when you hold him in standing. He likes to play on his tummy and holds his head up really well when he is propped up on his arms. He is also starting to purposefully bat at toys that are hanging in front of him. Teagan likes to lay on the floor with him when he is on his tummy. She told me today, "I want Asher to play with me!" Asher is still really flexible with is schedule and will pretty much sleep anywhere when I am holding him in a sling. It makes it really easy to take him along with us while playing at the park with Teagan, running errands, or going out to eat.

Asher had his 2 month check up today and the doctor commented on how strong he was and what great motor skills he already has. He weighed 12 lbs (70th percentile) and is 25 inches long (96th percentile).

Tech toy!

Forget Leapster toddler electronic games, Teagan likes the iPad! We recently got an iPad and when she saw the same game that she likes to play on Pauls iPhone she said, "I really am excited this game is on the new 'puter!" It's amazing what she has already figured out how to do. She surprised me by opening up Pandora and playing some music all on her own.

Settling In

It seems like we are settling into our new routine as a family of four. Teagan is enjoying her new brother, but misses all the one on one time with her parents. She will tell me she doesn't want Asher to go down for a nap, but once has has napped and we have had time to play together, she doesn't want him to get up.

I guess Teagan thinks she has turned into a teenager since becoming a big sister because she recently told us, "I know everything!" She keeps us laughing with the things she says to us. One day she told me not to worry about the mess on her face because she is "clean-able."

Big Sister!

Teagan is so excited to be a big sister! Her brother, Asher Paul, was born on Thursday night, 8/5. He weighed 8lb 4 ozs, 1 oz less than Teagan, but at 22 in., he's a full inch longer than she was. Teagan had a lot of fun playing with her Aunt Beth, Aunt April, and younger cousins while I labored at home all day. Asher was born at home in a birth pool and Teagan got to see him take his first breath. We hadn't totally decided on a name yet, so right after Asher was born we asked T what we should name him. She said, "I will name him Asher." She's been a great big sister and loves to help change his diaper. Teagan loves her "Big Sister" shirt, and said she would get Asher a shirt that says, "Big sister loves you!"

Summer Fun!

It feels like we are having such a busy summer! We have been working on finishing everything on our house, getting ready for the new baby, and lots of swimming and playdates with Teagan's friends.

Teagan and I are really enjoying our pool. We swim almost every day. As hot as it has been, we'd probably never get to spend any time outside if it wasn't for swimming. It has made this summer pregnancy so much easier and I'm really glad that I've been able to get some exercise. Teagan loves to play on the steps of the pool and to float around in a little inflatable swim ring. She also likes to jump to our arms in the water and knows how to move around on her own holding onto the edge of the pool and climb out by herself.

We got lucky for the 4th of July parade this year with really nice weather. It had been raining and the overcast skies made it quite comfortable to sit outside watching the parade. Teagan had fun watching the parade with her cousins.

Sea World

We had been planning to take Teagan on a trip to Sea World before her new little brother arrives this summer, and we finally got chance to actually do it! It is a 5 hour drive each way, and amazingly, she did great. She only had one meltdown in the car and that was because she had purposely ripped a cardboard box and then was devastated that the box was ripped! 10 minutes of crying in 10 hours of driving seemed pretty good to me.

We spent two days at Sea World seeing the dolphins, sharks, penquins, sea lions, and whales. We saw a baby sea lion on the same day it was born and a baby "Shamu" whale that was only a few months old. When we asked Teagan what kind of stuffed animal she wanted at the gift shop, she quickly answered "penguin!" She has always been a fan of penguins. Of course her daddy didn't want her going home without a stuffed dolphin, so we got one of those also. Teagan insisted that her baby doll also needed something, so we go a little mini squeaky Shamu whale.

Teagan's doll Molly has been her constant companion lately, and she went everywhere with us on the trip. She needed her own high chair at breakfast, and sat in Teagan's carseat while we were at Sea World.

It was pretty hot the first day, and pretty exhausting to walk around in the heat, but I'm glad we were able to do it with Teagan.