Coach and waterboy, Holden.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Synchronized Strolling
Gearing up for the 2024 Olympics. I may have discovered our team's talent, synchronized strolling...
Coach and waterboy, Holden.
Coach and waterboy, Holden.
Favorite Foods
Hands down, the kids favorite food is yogurt. It is not uncommon for the four of them to finish off a large container of yogurt for their afternoon snack.
Applesauce and Popsicles are also big hits. Surprisingly they enjoy their veggies quite a bit with broccoli and carrot matchsticks at the top of the list. They also consume mass quantities of fruit. They eat a banana or two a day (which I encourage because besides being healthy they so inexpensive compared to most fruits). They also eat lots of apples, oranges, grapes and berries.
Oddly they refuse to eat pizza and I'm working on casseroles, they would prefer to eat plain chicken breast over anything mixed. A dip like ketchup or ranch usually encourages them to eat more, like most toddlers dipping food is fun.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Beach
We were treated to gorgeous weather for Holden's first birthday celebration and through the week but a new cold front swept in this morning and we are back down to freezing temps and drizzle. Try staying inside all day with four toddlers. Actually we brought two more toddlers over this afternoon for a playdate which somehow made things easier. All six were having a blast without much need for us grownups to entertain them. I'd post my pics but my photo download is not cooperating. I'll try again tomorrow.
I'm off to bed and hope my dreams send me someplace sunny and warm.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
One Year Checkup
Holden's stats
Weight: 23 lbs 8 oz (70%)
Height: 30 inches (50%)
Head: 47 cm (70%)
Holden is a very happy baby and social. His first word was 'hi', followed by 'bye'. Soon after he learned to say 'cat' and 'duck'. The toddler parenting book i'm currently reading says that often the most content and social babies first word is 'hi' which was true in our case.
He took his first steps early, around ten months but started walking about a week before Christmas. He was an adept walker by the new year.
Weight: 23 lbs 8 oz (70%)
Height: 30 inches (50%)
Head: 47 cm (70%)
Holden is a very happy baby and social. His first word was 'hi', followed by 'bye'. Soon after he learned to say 'cat' and 'duck'. The toddler parenting book i'm currently reading says that often the most content and social babies first word is 'hi' which was true in our case.
He took his first steps early, around ten months but started walking about a week before Christmas. He was an adept walker by the new year.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Happy Birthday GG
Happy Birthday to my mom GG! She has been visiting with us since Christmas but took a short vacation with some girlfriends from school days and even from the same brownie troop. We will celebrate when she returns on Friday. But I wanted to write a short note how thankful I am to have a loving mom who is so involved in our children's lives.
Here she is Christmas morning with one of the handmade quilts she made the kids. They are beautiful, the boys quilts are blue and browns and have cars and trucks. Each quilt has different fabrics for the boarders and back. And for Lily she made a colorful butterfly quilt with 'happy colors'. The kids know that their GG made them and like to cuddle up with them at night and trace the cars or butterflies.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Toy Joy
Jessica helped me clean out and reorganize all our toys yesterday. It was a huge success. She had some simple but extremely helpful ideas that allowed me to corral our toys and provide gobs of entertainment.
First we sorted by type and had bags for trash and give away.
Then we created stations on the bookshelves with a few categories of toys, books, colors and shapes, animals, puzzles, legos and cars each labeled clearly. I took photos which I am to print out and add next to the signs to help the kids know where to store the toys at clean up time. We selected only a few items for each category and put the rest away for toy rotation.
For the books section we displayed about a dozen books with the covers out and were sure to only put enough that it wouldn't overwhelm or take too much time to put away should someone decide to knock them all down.
We used the three large drawers under the window seat for additional toy storage. Before this endeavor they were full to the brim, now we have one drawer dedicated for baby dolls with a bin for clothes and a bin for bottles and other accessories. Now Holden has a dedicated drawer with about ten of his toys laid out. The third drawer had our remaining toys in larger freezer bags, people, animals, 'my little ponies'...etc, that we can easily access to create new toy 'scenes'.
Under the bed in Holden's room I have more toys for rotation in bins, the extra puzzles and blocks, play puzzle mat, and extra books. In their closet I put all the dress up clothes in another basket and all the non special lovey stuffed animals in its own basket, along with our tent and sleeping bags.
Then Jessica staged the room with a few other activities. She recommends that every three days I set up a different activity on the train table. Yesterday she stacked large plush cubes and displayed dinosaurs all around. Lily ended up waking up before the boys and spent a good 45 minutes playing with this set up. Her other ideas were to set up a tea set or people and houses made from boxes, etc.
It was a lot of work but with Jessica's help we were finished in under three hours. I had three big bags for giveaway and a load to the trash. The true test was when the kids woke up. They had a blast playing and exploring their 'new' toys. With a bit of coaxing they even helped clean up. We didn't need to turn on the TV yesterday for distraction, they stayed busy with their toys.
In the middle of the night when I checked on them I was able to easily grab the animals and Legos and put them in their room. This morning, they were happily playing with their toys which gave me enough time to get dressed and start the coffee before going to get them. Bliss.
First we sorted by type and had bags for trash and give away.
Then we created stations on the bookshelves with a few categories of toys, books, colors and shapes, animals, puzzles, legos and cars each labeled clearly. I took photos which I am to print out and add next to the signs to help the kids know where to store the toys at clean up time. We selected only a few items for each category and put the rest away for toy rotation.
For the books section we displayed about a dozen books with the covers out and were sure to only put enough that it wouldn't overwhelm or take too much time to put away should someone decide to knock them all down.
We used the three large drawers under the window seat for additional toy storage. Before this endeavor they were full to the brim, now we have one drawer dedicated for baby dolls with a bin for clothes and a bin for bottles and other accessories. Now Holden has a dedicated drawer with about ten of his toys laid out. The third drawer had our remaining toys in larger freezer bags, people, animals, 'my little ponies'...etc, that we can easily access to create new toy 'scenes'.
Under the bed in Holden's room I have more toys for rotation in bins, the extra puzzles and blocks, play puzzle mat, and extra books. In their closet I put all the dress up clothes in another basket and all the non special lovey stuffed animals in its own basket, along with our tent and sleeping bags.
Then Jessica staged the room with a few other activities. She recommends that every three days I set up a different activity on the train table. Yesterday she stacked large plush cubes and displayed dinosaurs all around. Lily ended up waking up before the boys and spent a good 45 minutes playing with this set up. Her other ideas were to set up a tea set or people and houses made from boxes, etc.
It was a lot of work but with Jessica's help we were finished in under three hours. I had three big bags for giveaway and a load to the trash. The true test was when the kids woke up. They had a blast playing and exploring their 'new' toys. With a bit of coaxing they even helped clean up. We didn't need to turn on the TV yesterday for distraction, they stayed busy with their toys.
In the middle of the night when I checked on them I was able to easily grab the animals and Legos and put them in their room. This morning, they were happily playing with their toys which gave me enough time to get dressed and start the coffee before going to get them. Bliss.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Baptism Day
Cousins Holden and Jack were baptised last Sunday at St Austin by Father Steve who made the ceremony festive with his good humor.
Holden was happy as ever, dancing to the organ music and singing out during mass. He managed to stay in good spirits even though he had a stomach bug and subsequent poo-tastraphe in the middle of the mass. I cleaned him up the best I could and wrapped a blanket around his soaked overalls. He stunk to high heavan but luckily his godmother Michelle was gracious enough to hold him anyway and he slept peacefully through the entire baptism ceremony like a cherub, only stirring a bit at the second dousing of holy water.
We were happy to get him home and in the bath, a quick change and then a fun celebration for the newly baptised boys at our home.
We are delighted to have the honor to be baby Jack's godparents and glad that our boys were able to share this special day.
Baby Holden waving 'Hi' - one of his newer talents.
Holden with his godmother Michelle and GG with Lily. 
Our big boys with Grammy and Papa. 
Lily
Our boys.
Holden was happy as ever, dancing to the organ music and singing out during mass. He managed to stay in good spirits even though he had a stomach bug and subsequent poo-tastraphe in the middle of the mass. I cleaned him up the best I could and wrapped a blanket around his soaked overalls. He stunk to high heavan but luckily his godmother Michelle was gracious enough to hold him anyway and he slept peacefully through the entire baptism ceremony like a cherub, only stirring a bit at the second dousing of holy water.
We were happy to get him home and in the bath, a quick change and then a fun celebration for the newly baptised boys at our home.
We are delighted to have the honor to be baby Jack's godparents and glad that our boys were able to share this special day.
Baby Holden and GG at the begining of mass.
Baby Holden waving 'Hi' - one of his newer talents.
Holden with his godmother Michelle and GG with Lily.
Our big boys with Grammy and Papa.
Will absorbed with his trains on the church steps.
Lily
Baby Jack with parents Tia Christy and Chris and paternal grandparents Mary and John.
Holden's godparents Stuart and Michelle.
Our boys.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Monday, December 08, 2008
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Last Day
Yesterday was my last day at Dell. They offered voluntary separation packages so that they can hopefully avoid layoffs. It ended up being the nudge I needed to leave work and stay at home with the kids.
Before it was just too difficult for me to give up a part time position with a good salary and benefits. I was only in the office three days so I could still be home with the kids most of the week. It felt like a good compromise. But with the offer of almost a half a year pay it tipped the scales to staying home full time. It feels like good timing now that the 'big kids' are two. They are needing more individual attention and new activities.
Being home will allow me to get them out of the house more for trips to the zoo or nature center. We will be able to do some more activities like swimming classes. And I'll be able to get a better handle on our home routines, like meal planning or seemingly simple stuff like getting the day started. I'm keeping Carmen. I need her right now so that we can get out of the house and so I can spend the individual time with my kids that I have been craving.
It is a big transition. It feels good to close that chapter of my life and look to what is next. This past week I was able to reflect on my six years of work then let go of all those old work files and emails. I feel lighter. Someday I do want to work again but taking some time away will help me figure out what I really want to do and in the meantime spend some meaningful time with my children.
Before it was just too difficult for me to give up a part time position with a good salary and benefits. I was only in the office three days so I could still be home with the kids most of the week. It felt like a good compromise. But with the offer of almost a half a year pay it tipped the scales to staying home full time. It feels like good timing now that the 'big kids' are two. They are needing more individual attention and new activities.
Being home will allow me to get them out of the house more for trips to the zoo or nature center. We will be able to do some more activities like swimming classes. And I'll be able to get a better handle on our home routines, like meal planning or seemingly simple stuff like getting the day started. I'm keeping Carmen. I need her right now so that we can get out of the house and so I can spend the individual time with my kids that I have been craving.
It is a big transition. It feels good to close that chapter of my life and look to what is next. This past week I was able to reflect on my six years of work then let go of all those old work files and emails. I feel lighter. Someday I do want to work again but taking some time away will help me figure out what I really want to do and in the meantime spend some meaningful time with my children.
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