Little Lion Cubs: December 2010

Christmas happenings

It's been a busy but fun December around here. This is the first year Jack has understood enough to be really excited about Christmas, and boy is he ever excited! He's not sure when Santa is coming, or why he hasn't already come, and a few times he's woken up in the morning or after nap and asked if Santa came while he was sleeping! He is sure he has to be good and we've talked a lot about giving things to other people, and those less fortunate. Just today he chose a few toys to give to Goodwill since not everyone gets new toys, and certainly not as many new toys, at Christmas as he does. I want him to revel in being spoiled rotten, but I also want him to understand how fortunate we really are.

We didn't put out all of the decorations this year since the weekend we like to decorate happened to be the weekend after I went back to work and we were all feeling a little overwhelmed I think. We did get the tree up though, and Jack and Max have both seemed to love it!

Jack picked out this train as his favorite ornament...

I picked out this lion as Max's favorite since it's the first one that was sent just to him from his friends the Weavers...

And Kenny and I picked the same one as our favorite, my engagement ring box, which is always hung in the same spot on the tree where I first found it on December 21st 2005!

We did get the stockings up too...and they look just as good as we thought they would when we were mulling over names for Max. We knew using an M name would make a nice little run of the alphabet when we hung the stockings up each year! That's surely not why we chose Max, but we did think about it!

We've been to see the lights and train at the James Center...

and Jack went with Grams and Gramps on a train ride (a REAL train!) to see Santa a few weeks ago! The rest of us didn't get to go since I wasn't feeling too good, and we're so sad we missed it, but they had a great time and hopefully we'll get to do it again another year. Jack told Santa he wanted a T-Rex! We'll see if Santa can fill that order!

Jack also had a little program at school where they dressed up like reindeer and sang some Christmas carols! It was super cute and I was very proud of Jack for sitting so nicely and following Miss Elva's directions...

We also welcomed Buddy the Elf into our house this year. He's part of the Elf on the Shelf gang and has been a lot of fun! We all get excited to see where Buddy has landed each morning! This morning he was in the tree!

And speaking of elves, seems Jack has been doing a little moonlighting himself...here he is on his classroom door...

and doing a little dancing with Grams and Gramps and Max.

Last night we celebrated Christmas with Grandma since she's leaving in a few days for Florida! We always miss being with her on Christmas day but love having her all to ourselves for a night to kick off the festivities. Jack was super excited about her coming over and about presents! He patiently ate his dinner though and once he opened the first one, really just wanted to play with it and was done for a while. It helped that the first one was a really cool dinosaur and jeep set, of course! :)! Max took it all in, but was mostly happy to snuggle with Grandma!

This week Uncle Aaron and Granny arrive and we'll get to spend some time with Uncle Harold and Judy too! We're excited about a short work week, lots of family time, and lots of excitement. The week after that, we're super excited to see the Weavers and celebrate NYE with them! Seeing Christmas through a child's eye really does make it all magical again! Stay tuned for more pics...and enjoy this week!

3 months old!

Max turned 3 months old on the 9th of December and gets cuter and sweeter by the minute.

Look at those cheeks! I really don't know that a better baby exists! He's always happy, never fusses, eats great, sleeps great, and just seems to love life! He still gets up once every night, but to be honest, I kind of like getting up with him for a few minutes when the rest of the world is sleeping. It's dark and quiet and we snuggle and nurse for a few minutes, Max falls right back to sleep and I head right back to bed. I'm only up maybe 20-30 minutes and it's a very sweet, peaceful time. I'm ready for a full night's sleep, don't get me wrong, but I will miss our middle of the night snuggles too.

He's done great with the transition to daycare, though he's still no fan of the bottle. He's usually really hungry at night when he gets to nurse, but seems to be happy at school too, so that's fine. Sometimes Jack and his Orange bird friends come to visit Max in the Baby bird room, and I know that's helped Max feel safe, having his big brother there too! I can tell he's getting lots of snuggles too, and am happy that it has all gone so smoothly. Going back to work wasn't too hard on me either...my wonderful co-workers really helped to welcome me back and I didn't forget how to do everything like I thought I had. It's a bit hectic getting out of the house in the morning and we're all pretty tired in the evening, but it's gone pretty well.

He's outgrowing 3-6 month clothes already. He's definitely much bigger than his brother was at this age. He doesn't spit up often, unlike Jack, so he's keeping a lot more down. Not to mention, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that breastmilk probably tastes a lot better than the special formula Jack had to have, so he's more interested in eating as well. Nursing is still going well and I've so far been able to manage to find time to pump at work. Max hasn't gotten sick in his first 2 weeks at daycare, for which I am really thankful!

He still likes his pacifier and loves getting a hold of it or its strap these days as he's working on his fine motor skills, but sometimes can find his thumb too, just like his big brother. It's hard for me to tell if they still look alike or not. Now that Max has his own personality and I know him so well, I see them as two very different kids. I know they still look similar, but I "see" so many differences now, I just don't know...

Life with two is surely busier and requires a lot more planning but we are just so in love with Max and he's doing his part to help by being the easiest baby ever! Thanks Max - you are truly perfect and we fall more and more in love with you each day! We can't wait to see what your 4th month holds!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving...in fact, it was one of the nicest I can recall! We missed seeing the Lion family in Northern VA, but we got to see everyone else and really enjoyed our time together. Max was an angel throughout all of it, and while he didn't get any turkey this year, I am sure he was happy to be with everyone too.

It was really more like Thanksgiving week for us. The O'Donnell clan arrived from FL on Saturday. We'd planned to spend the day with them, but Emory had strep throat, so we let him rest and moved our plans to Sunday. We had a great time playing with Emory and Ellie at Grandma's house!

Emory introduced us to the ripstik. For those as clueless as me, it's like a skateboard that twists in the middle, adding another huge layer of difficulty.

and Jack thought he should give it a try...

Ellie helped Jack with his back hoe

while her American Girl doll watched on...

Kenny helped Emory dunk a few balls...

Then we moved inside and the boys worked on a great puzzle that Emory brought to Jack...

and then Ellie and Jack built a great train...

Max slept a lot...

Tuesday night we got to spend some more time with the O'Donnells.

It was a lot of fun watching these cousins play together as this was really the first time Jack had been old enough to really be interested in playing with them much. He was smitten and would have stayed and played with them all week if we'd have let him. I was so impressed with how sweet and patient Emory and Ellie were with him. Thanks guys - you are great big cousins!

Wednesday night Uncle Aaron and Granny arrived and we got to hang out with them a bit before the big turkey day!

Thanksgiving day was wonderful! Grams and Gramps always cook up quite the feast...Uncle Aaron is a big help too.

I'm so fortunate to be able to share the holiday with my immediate family and my mother-in-law. She fits right in with us and I love that Jack and Max get to see us all together.

This year was extra special because Grams and Gramps got a gorgeous new dining room table. It was really pretty all set and waiting for us to eat...

but even prettier once the chairs were filled.

We had some special guests this year, Peter and Margaret, Grams and Gramps' next door neighbors. They are British and don't celebrate our Thanksgiving of course, but were lovely guests and enjoyed sharing the meal with us. I really enjoyed talking with them and hope they will join us next year as well.