On Dec 27th Rebecca was 7 months old. And on that day, she FINALLY rolled over all by herself!
I wish I had it on video. It was SO exciting! She's done it a couple of times since then, and she'll do it if you gently begin to push her leg across her body, but usually she's quite content to stay on her back if you lay her down that way.
She's also putting weight on her legs a bit more willingly. The physical therapist will be thrilled when we see her next, I'm sure!
With each new skill she accomplishes I become a little less concerned about her development. She seems to be able to do what she should be doing, just a little bit slower at learning to use her muscles for some reason.
So we're home now (Grandma and Grandpa brought us back yesterday afternoon). Rachel and Rebecca are still coughing up a storm, but are acting fairly normal. And they're both sleeping better (which means I'm sleeping better). It's been a rough several days, though, with such little sleep. One night while we were at Grandma's house Rachel woke up every 20-30 minutes until about 2:30 AM (she then slept until about 7:30). And then Rebecca woke up at 2:40....so there was very little sleep for me that night. Thankfully Rachel only woke up once last night and Rebecca slept all night, so I'm feeling a little more rested today. I'm still hoping to take them to the doctor this morning.
EDITED TO ADD: We went to the doctor and they both have an ear infection. Now here's hoping the good ol' pink medicine will wipe it all out quickly and we can all get some SLEEP!!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas photo recap
Merry Christmas
We're still at Grandma's house (and everyone in my immediate family is pretty sick--Rachel's still got a terrible cough, off and on fever, and a headache/ear ache, Rebecca's coughing, my husband's got a bad cold, and somehow I've avoided most of it but have had a horrible headache almost every day).
But we've had a great time. Here's a recap of the last several days in photos...
Last weekend we celebrated Christmas with my husband's side of the family. Rachel was very excited to get these two Rapunzel books. One has the story of Tangled on CD and she listened to it over and over (and over and over) in her room last week at home.
The kids decorated cookies at Granny and Papa's house. This is one that Rachel did. It looks like she emptied the entire sugar container on the cookie....
Rebecca, happily eating puffs on Christmas Eve while Mommy tried to get things done
On Dec 23rd Rachel and I went to see The Nutcracker. Here we are before we left.
This was the scene when we emerged from the parking garage at the theater. Rachel was in awe and SO excited to see all of the lights.
As we walked into the theater there was this Nutcracker outside. Rachel was thrilled to see him and waved and waved to him over and over. She gave him a hug and was so excited to get her picture taken with him.
She loved the "fancy" theater. She just looked and looked all around at everything.
She loved the ceiling in the theater and asked me to take a picture of it. Whenever she got bored during the performance (which didn't happen often) she'd lean back in her seat and look at the ceiling. One of these days I'll write more about our Nutcracker experience (it was great), but I'm not going to write about it right now.
Christmas Eve before bed--matching PJs
Christmas Morning--Rachel and I had to open all of Rebecca's presents. She loved chewing on her new toys, but had no interest in helping to open them.
Rachel had two favorite presents Christmas morning--the Care Bear she'd been wanting (which we have on video, but not on the regular camera) and this Ariel shell necklace. She saw a little girl at church a month or two ago wearing it and has been asking for it since. You press a button and hear Ariel singing. She was SO excited--I wish we would've gotten that reaction on video! Her big present was finding out that we're taking her to Disney World in February, but the reaction to that news was nothing compared to opening this necklace!
Rebecca's new set of wheels
She loves having so many new things to chew on!
At Grandma's house--everyone got Pillow Pets. Rachel's been wanting the Unicorn forever (Oh, and she's holding her new Care Bear, too).
Rebecca was having fun sitting with Grandpa.
Her new favorite toy--Sophie the Giraffe teether. It's a perfect size and texture for chewing on.
It was a Tangled Christmas for Rachel--a Tangled book...
...and her very favorite gift (which she's had on pretty much 24/7: her new Tangled dress!
Another shot of a happy Rebecca with Sophie the Giraffe
It's been a happy holiday....despite all of the sickness. Rachel's really not feeling well, and we're all not sleeping well because of the sickness, but we're all having fun. Daddy goes home today because he has to work tomorrow, but the rest of us are staying a few more days.
I'll write more in a few days after we're home and (hopefully) well again.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
'tis the season
Yes, 'tis the season to be jolly, but 'tis also the season for runny noses, coughs that don't stop, fevers, and sleepless nights. At least in our house right now.
Rachel started coughing Friday night. Saturday we left in the morning to drive two hours north to Granny and Papa's house (my husband's parents') to celebrate an early Christmas with his side of the family. Rachel coughed the entire trip. We stopped when we got there and bought some cough medicine, but it didn't do much. I'm sure she coughed her wonderful germs all over her cousins, aunts, and grandparents. On the way home that night it kept Rebecca from sleeping in the car. She'd wake up screaming every 10 or 15 minutes because Rachel was coughing in the seat next to her. It was not a fun drive. Both girls were exhausted and whiny. Rachel had a fever.
I gave Rachel cough medicine with codeine that night, along with advil, and those helped a lot in helping her sleep. She slept pretty well but woke up with a fever and coughed all day (and night), and she was all congested. Monday was more of the same. Her eyes were so watery and puffy that she didn't even look like herself. She spent much of the day on the couch, which is not her AT ALL! Today she seems to be a little better. She hasn't needed advil today, so that's an improvement, and she's been playing like normal, but she gets coughing jags now and then, and is still pretty stuffed up. But I'm so glad she seems to be on the mend.
However, yesterday Rebecca started a runny nose and sneezing. Today she's been coughing now and then. She's been pretty happy, so I'm thankful it's not affecting her mood too much (yet). I'm afraid it's only a matter of time for her....and for my husband and me as well. I hope I'm wrong.
In other health related news, I made my first trip to a dermatologist yesterday. I've managed to avoid one for 36 years, but I have a monstrous cyst on the side of my face and need to get it removed. I decided I'd rather have a dermatologist tackle it instead of my regular doctor (who I saw about it a week ago), since it's on my face and I didn't want just anyone cutting up my face. So I go back just after new years and will have it removed. He said it would involve a couple of stitches and will take a year for the scar to completely go away. A year????? But like he said, at least it's on a part of my face that is easily hidden (it's on the side of my jaw and my hair often covers it).
And in case you didn't know enough about our family's health, here's an update on Rebecca. She's been going to physical therapy once a month. She's sitting up really well now, but still not rolling or putting much weight on her legs. We're working on it. The pediatrician mentioned the possibility of a connective tissue disorder, which she said isn't anything big or scary, but just means she could be more flexible and "floppy" than the average person. She said a diagnosis involves genetic testing, which we wouldn't do until she is older, and the only thing they do for it anyway is physical therapy, so we're doing the right things, even if we don't know what it is. Despite her being behind with her motor skills, she is a complete delight! She's much more social now, giving lots of drooly smiles, and she's learning to interact with her toys. She shakes them and smiles, very proud of herself. She bends over and grabs what she wants and can sit back up again without losing her balance now. She has started eating Gerber puffs--she LOVES them. She grunts and grunts, reaching for them, until you give her more. She gets frustrated because she wants to grab them and put them in her mouth, but she's just learning to pick up something so small, and when she's successful and picking one up, she's not usually successful at getting it to stay in her mouth. I think she'd eat the entire container in one sitting if we'd let her! She can't get enough of them. But then she's always been a big eater.... I shouldn't be surprised.
At her 6 month appointment she was in the 90th% for weight, 50th% for height, and 75th% for head circumference. So she's a big girl. She's almost outgrown her infant carrier (about 4 pounds to go) and we'll have to give her Rachel's car seat. Consequently, we bought Rachel's booster seat the other day when we saw it on clearance. Rachel had her choice of black/silver or pink/purple with fairies on it. You can take one guess at which one she chose! We figured since we have two girls, pink/purple would be fine. We haven't put Rachel in it yet, but she's very excited to have a "big girl seat."
That's about all of the news from here. We've been busy getting things ready for Christmas. Rachel can't wait and was so excited to find out today that it's only 4 more days!
Rachel started coughing Friday night. Saturday we left in the morning to drive two hours north to Granny and Papa's house (my husband's parents') to celebrate an early Christmas with his side of the family. Rachel coughed the entire trip. We stopped when we got there and bought some cough medicine, but it didn't do much. I'm sure she coughed her wonderful germs all over her cousins, aunts, and grandparents. On the way home that night it kept Rebecca from sleeping in the car. She'd wake up screaming every 10 or 15 minutes because Rachel was coughing in the seat next to her. It was not a fun drive. Both girls were exhausted and whiny. Rachel had a fever.
I gave Rachel cough medicine with codeine that night, along with advil, and those helped a lot in helping her sleep. She slept pretty well but woke up with a fever and coughed all day (and night), and she was all congested. Monday was more of the same. Her eyes were so watery and puffy that she didn't even look like herself. She spent much of the day on the couch, which is not her AT ALL! Today she seems to be a little better. She hasn't needed advil today, so that's an improvement, and she's been playing like normal, but she gets coughing jags now and then, and is still pretty stuffed up. But I'm so glad she seems to be on the mend.
However, yesterday Rebecca started a runny nose and sneezing. Today she's been coughing now and then. She's been pretty happy, so I'm thankful it's not affecting her mood too much (yet). I'm afraid it's only a matter of time for her....and for my husband and me as well. I hope I'm wrong.
In other health related news, I made my first trip to a dermatologist yesterday. I've managed to avoid one for 36 years, but I have a monstrous cyst on the side of my face and need to get it removed. I decided I'd rather have a dermatologist tackle it instead of my regular doctor (who I saw about it a week ago), since it's on my face and I didn't want just anyone cutting up my face. So I go back just after new years and will have it removed. He said it would involve a couple of stitches and will take a year for the scar to completely go away. A year????? But like he said, at least it's on a part of my face that is easily hidden (it's on the side of my jaw and my hair often covers it).
And in case you didn't know enough about our family's health, here's an update on Rebecca. She's been going to physical therapy once a month. She's sitting up really well now, but still not rolling or putting much weight on her legs. We're working on it. The pediatrician mentioned the possibility of a connective tissue disorder, which she said isn't anything big or scary, but just means she could be more flexible and "floppy" than the average person. She said a diagnosis involves genetic testing, which we wouldn't do until she is older, and the only thing they do for it anyway is physical therapy, so we're doing the right things, even if we don't know what it is. Despite her being behind with her motor skills, she is a complete delight! She's much more social now, giving lots of drooly smiles, and she's learning to interact with her toys. She shakes them and smiles, very proud of herself. She bends over and grabs what she wants and can sit back up again without losing her balance now. She has started eating Gerber puffs--she LOVES them. She grunts and grunts, reaching for them, until you give her more. She gets frustrated because she wants to grab them and put them in her mouth, but she's just learning to pick up something so small, and when she's successful and picking one up, she's not usually successful at getting it to stay in her mouth. I think she'd eat the entire container in one sitting if we'd let her! She can't get enough of them. But then she's always been a big eater.... I shouldn't be surprised.
At her 6 month appointment she was in the 90th% for weight, 50th% for height, and 75th% for head circumference. So she's a big girl. She's almost outgrown her infant carrier (about 4 pounds to go) and we'll have to give her Rachel's car seat. Consequently, we bought Rachel's booster seat the other day when we saw it on clearance. Rachel had her choice of black/silver or pink/purple with fairies on it. You can take one guess at which one she chose! We figured since we have two girls, pink/purple would be fine. We haven't put Rachel in it yet, but she's very excited to have a "big girl seat."
That's about all of the news from here. We've been busy getting things ready for Christmas. Rachel can't wait and was so excited to find out today that it's only 4 more days!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
the 25 days of Christmas
There aren't 12 days of Christmas in our house. There are 25. Starting December 1st I began the advent calendar with Rachel again this year. And a new tradition this year is the Elf on the Shelf.
Rachel named our elf Rudy. According to the book, Rudy goes to see Santa each night to report on whether Rachel and Rebecca have been naughty or nice. Then when he returns, he hides in a new place in the house to watch them for another day. So far Rudy has hidden on the mantle, on the kitchen windowsill, in the chandelier, in the Christmas tree, and even in the bathroom, among other places. Rachel's pretty good at spotting him and laughs at every new hiding place. She even talks to him and tells him what she wants for Christmas so he'll tell Santa.
To say Rachel is excited about these traditions is a huge understatement. Every morning is like Christmas morning at our house. She wakes up well before her clock turns green, anticipating going downstairs to find where the elf is hiding and then opening the door of the advent calendar. For the first several days she kept coming in to ask if she could get up yet. After several days of this, she got in trouble, so now she stays in bed until 7:00, and then RUNS into my room yelling, "Mommy! Mommy! My clock is green! Let's go downstairs and find Rudy and open the door!"
Her favorite advent calendar activities are crafts, so I've tried to include as many of those as I can (I think I've purchased just about every $1-2 Christmas craft kit I've found at Joanns, Michaels, and Target!). Some of the other things we've done, besides crafts, are decorating the Christmas tree, going to see Santa, going to watch the movie, Tangled, at the theater, making gingerbread cookies with Grandma, and reading new Christmas books. She loves it all and it's made the month of December FLY by even faster than usual.
Another fun thing coming up is that my husband surprised Rachel and me with tickets to see The Nutcracker ballet next week. I've never been, and have always wanted to go, and a couple of years ago I mentioned to him that I wanted to take Rachel when she was older and could enjoy it. So he remembered that and completely surprised me! Rachel's reaction to the surprise was quite comical. I told her we were going to get dressed up, just Mommy and Rachel, and go to The Nutcracker ballet on the stage. She evidently misunderstood what I said, and thought that we were going to don her dress up clothes and go DANCE the ballet on the stage. She started crying when she realized that we weren't going to be doing the dancing. In trying to explain it I said, "But Mommy doesn't know how to do ballet. These ladies have been taking ballet lessons for many, many years, so they're going to do the dancing." Her reply (in tears): "But I took ballet lessons and know how to do ballet! I can do it. I know how!" At any rate, later that day she saw a commercial on TV while my husband was watching football, which advertised the show. They showed some clips of the dancers on the stage, and she got really excited and finally seemed to understand that we would be in the audience watching those dancers. She's seen the commercial a couple of times since then and each time she gets more excited. Now let's hope she can stay quiet (and stay awake--it'll be past her bedtime!) during the show!
Rachel named our elf Rudy. According to the book, Rudy goes to see Santa each night to report on whether Rachel and Rebecca have been naughty or nice. Then when he returns, he hides in a new place in the house to watch them for another day. So far Rudy has hidden on the mantle, on the kitchen windowsill, in the chandelier, in the Christmas tree, and even in the bathroom, among other places. Rachel's pretty good at spotting him and laughs at every new hiding place. She even talks to him and tells him what she wants for Christmas so he'll tell Santa.
To say Rachel is excited about these traditions is a huge understatement. Every morning is like Christmas morning at our house. She wakes up well before her clock turns green, anticipating going downstairs to find where the elf is hiding and then opening the door of the advent calendar. For the first several days she kept coming in to ask if she could get up yet. After several days of this, she got in trouble, so now she stays in bed until 7:00, and then RUNS into my room yelling, "Mommy! Mommy! My clock is green! Let's go downstairs and find Rudy and open the door!"
Her favorite advent calendar activities are crafts, so I've tried to include as many of those as I can (I think I've purchased just about every $1-2 Christmas craft kit I've found at Joanns, Michaels, and Target!). Some of the other things we've done, besides crafts, are decorating the Christmas tree, going to see Santa, going to watch the movie, Tangled, at the theater, making gingerbread cookies with Grandma, and reading new Christmas books. She loves it all and it's made the month of December FLY by even faster than usual.
Another fun thing coming up is that my husband surprised Rachel and me with tickets to see The Nutcracker ballet next week. I've never been, and have always wanted to go, and a couple of years ago I mentioned to him that I wanted to take Rachel when she was older and could enjoy it. So he remembered that and completely surprised me! Rachel's reaction to the surprise was quite comical. I told her we were going to get dressed up, just Mommy and Rachel, and go to The Nutcracker ballet on the stage. She evidently misunderstood what I said, and thought that we were going to don her dress up clothes and go DANCE the ballet on the stage. She started crying when she realized that we weren't going to be doing the dancing. In trying to explain it I said, "But Mommy doesn't know how to do ballet. These ladies have been taking ballet lessons for many, many years, so they're going to do the dancing." Her reply (in tears): "But I took ballet lessons and know how to do ballet! I can do it. I know how!" At any rate, later that day she saw a commercial on TV while my husband was watching football, which advertised the show. They showed some clips of the dancers on the stage, and she got really excited and finally seemed to understand that we would be in the audience watching those dancers. She's seen the commercial a couple of times since then and each time she gets more excited. Now let's hope she can stay quiet (and stay awake--it'll be past her bedtime!) during the show!
Monday, December 13, 2010
ho ho ho
We went to see Santa over the weekend.
Rachel was SO excited. She could've talked Santa's ear off if we'd let her, but there was a gigantic line behind us. Rebecca didn't seem to mind the whole ordeal, thankfully.
At the shopping center where we went to see Santa, there's a very, VERY big Christmas tree.
At the shopping center where we went to see Santa, there's a very, VERY big Christmas tree.
It was a fun, family holiday morning, and the weather cooperated beautifully. It wasn't too cold (now it's in the teens, with lots of snow, so I'm glad we did it before the weather changed!) which helped a lot.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
stage presence
Rachel's Christmas program at school was last night. She was so excited to get to wear her pretty dress and sing on the stage. I was terrified that she would act up on stage or just stand there, not wanting to perform. But she made us proud! She paid attention, did just what she was supposed to do and sang, did the motions, and was undoubtably the cutest one up there (I'm a little biased, I know).
We had problems getting good pictures last year, too, but here's the best of the lot. (She's in the front row on the left in the picture of the whole group....and that's her friend, Jada, next to her.)
Afterward we tried to take some pictures, but she has this crazy inability to smile naturally and look at the camera, so there's not really a good one in the bunch. Ugh.
That's my crazy, happy girl. She was so excited and wired when she got home, even though it was way past her bedtime. We let her stay up and watch the video of herself singing on the stage. She thought it was hilarious.
We had problems getting good pictures last year, too, but here's the best of the lot. (She's in the front row on the left in the picture of the whole group....and that's her friend, Jada, next to her.)
That's my crazy, happy girl. She was so excited and wired when she got home, even though it was way past her bedtime. We let her stay up and watch the video of herself singing on the stage. She thought it was hilarious.
Saturday, December 04, 2010
6 months!
Rebecca's 6 month birthday occurred while we were gone for Thanksgiving. Today we had her 6 month pictures taken (along with family Christmas pictures--what a fiasco THAT was!). When Rachel was 6 months old her picture was taken in the pinafore that I wore when I was 6 months old and my mom wore when she was 6 months old. So it was only fitting to have Rebecca's picture taken in the same pinafore.
In the last few days she has "discovered" her voice, it seems. She's "talking" much more than normal and practicing all kinds of new sounds. It's so fun to listen to! She is sitting up like a pro now, eating various pureed fruits and vegetables, and is just generally growing up way too fast!!
She sleeps from 5:30 or 6 pm until 6:30 am, still with a brief feeding at 9:30. She's a pretty happy girl most of the time. She lets me know when she's hungry or sleepy, and sometimes she just wants to be held (she's always been much more cuddly than Rachel ever was), but most of the time she's fairly content and smiley.
She is such a joy!
She sleeps from 5:30 or 6 pm until 6:30 am, still with a brief feeding at 9:30. She's a pretty happy girl most of the time. She lets me know when she's hungry or sleepy, and sometimes she just wants to be held (she's always been much more cuddly than Rachel ever was), but most of the time she's fairly content and smiley.
She is such a joy!
Thursday, December 02, 2010
birthday card
Happy Birthday Damask Birthday 5x7 folded card
Birthday party invitations and cards by Shutterfly.
View the entire collection of cards.
Remember I wrote about how I love Shutterfly here? Well, they've just given me another reason to love them. By posting this sample of a card I've made (this one was for my husband's birthday this past spring), I have earned a $25 gift certificate. Try it sometime....it's so easy to make and they look so nice.
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