HO, HO, HO

Lauren had a great weekend. She had her first sleep over at our house. We went to the Festival of Trees with Jill, Jon and Linnea, which was lots of fun. Linnea, Lauren and Addison had their photo taken on Santa's lap. Addison was fine, she was very curious and grabbed Santa's shirt and stared into his face. Then Linnea came back to our house, they played, we had dinner and then got dressed up for the Sugar Plum Ball, a dress up party for kids and their parents. They had a blast. Danced the night away (for an hour and a half), had cookies and punch and even participated in a contest. Lauren was so confident, she volunteered for everything, even a High School Musical Trivia contest during which I'm sure she wouldn't know a single answer (we discouraged her from doing that one). But they did a Santa impersonation contest, basically lining up all the kids (35 or so?) in a line and having them say "ho, ho, ho" into the microphone. Lauren was second to last in line, and after a lot of nearly identical answers Lauren came out with this incredibly deep voiced Santa impersonation that got a lot of laughs. She made in into the next round, and the next, and she won! It was funny to hear such a deep voice coming out of such a little girl. She is so confident, I love that about her. She tries my patience, but I think her confidence and persistence is going to pay off for her as an adult. I think her teenage years will be rough, though...

Then the next morning they went to Grandma June's house for a cookie decorating photo op for the Post Star. A reporter for the Food page heard about June's cookie talents and asked to take pictures of her making cookies with her grandchildren. They should be in Wednesday's Post Star. I'll be sure to buy extra copies for family.

Addison had a 3 night sleep through the night stretch, but the last week or so she hasn't been sleeping well. I have to get her back into the habit of falling asleep on her own. It's hard...

Back to work and school tomorrow...

Sleep!

Last night was one of the best nights ever! Lately Addison has not been sleeping well, I think because of the tooth coming in. She hasn't been able to sleep unless someone was holding her, which makes it very hard to get anything done or to get any sleep myself. She was the same way at school and at June's on Saturday. Then last night I put her to bed in her crib (rare) and she fell asleep around 9 and I went to bed at 10. I was amazed to wake up at 4 o'clock when she started making noises. Then I brought her into my bed and she slept until 5:30. Had a great day at school and slept in her crib there, too! Small pleasures...

Also, I don't like it when Mom's brag endlessly about their kids, but permit me to brag about Lauren a little. Last year's teacher commented that Lauren was very good at thinking of words that began with a certain letter. This year a paper came home with a note from her current teacher saying " As usual, Lauren was able to come up with MANY T words, some abstract ideas, too, like together - she drew kids playing together. " The pictures she drew are of: a table, a triangle, a tic-tac-toe board, a tomato, kids playing together and Daddy (Tyler) thinking about chocolate chips and watching TV. :) Strangers are always commenting on how smart she is and how she sounds older than she is. She's not shy at all, either. Tyler had his end of the year banquet for volleyball at Uno's and we went. Tyler was playing guitar and singing a parody song he wrote, and Lauren insisted on performing, too. She didn't have a musical instrument she could play, so she stood next to him and did a little interpretive dance. It was so cute. And during the slide show she danced and sang "I like to move it, move it" and "Baby where you get your body from..." She loves the "bollyball girls" and wants to be one someday. I've never seen Tyler smile wider than he did when she said that. She also asks when Mommy and Daddy will go somewhere so one of the girls can babysit her. She has her own Jr. Spartan Volleyball shirt that the JV coach had made for her - she's very proud. (I am, too, can you tell?)

Boy, being a parent is HARD! It's just so much work and you never get a break or any time to yourself. Just going to the bathroom by myself with the door closed is a privilege. (I sometimes stay in there much longer than necessary just for a little peace and quiet!) It's still very rewarding, though, and the little things make it all worth it.

Day off

Lazy day... Addison loves to bang on the keyboard. Here is her latest masterpiece:

BG`BN MMMMMMMMMankl00000000000000000000000000000000iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiluNM NNHGN8 GH GGHGH GHNM GN MGNMJ JNM MJNM \ BVCV SBV D KLJK 67 GHGGH KHJ\,./..

Neither of my girls sleeps very much lately. Lauren can't stand it when other people are sleeping, either, and is constantly waking people up... They play nicely together in the playpen, though, it's cute.

Also, Addison thinks Lauren is hysterical. Lauren can uaually get a laugh by jumping up and down and making silly faces/noises, but Addy thinks the funniest thing in the world is to watch Lauren brush her teeth. She cracks up every time! It's a great sound...

Firsts...

I had my first night away from Addison this Friday when I went to the New York State School Counselor's Associaton Conference in Syracuse, NY. It was so great to sleep by myself in a big, soft, comfy bed and not be woken up by anyone. I had a great time with my co-counselor, Colleen. It was a great time. Addison spent her first overnight at Grandma's. (Tyler was on a field trip to NYC with the art club and didn't return until midnight, so they all stayed over at Grandma and Pop-Pop's.) It went great, Addison was fine drinking formula from bottles. She also has her first tooth! It just cut through. She's had a cold and the sniffles for two weeks, I guess sinus trouble can be a sign of teething. She's also rolling like crazy. If you lay her on her back she immediately draws her knees up and thrusts them over and flips, then pushes up on her hands and smiles. You can tell she's so proud of herself. Then she'll go back the other way. She's very strong. She's also got the hang of the Johnny Jumper and loves it. She's getting better at sitting but still flops over occasionally. Disappointing news... not enough families were interested in helping with the parade so we're not going to be in it. :( I'm sad. Fortunately I didn't tell Lauren. We'll still go watch the parade, though. Sounds like we'll have Thanksgiving at the Carey's, Christmas morning at our house and go to Portland after Christmas. Can't believe it's November already! Thanks for all of my birthday gifts... I'm enjoying them all!

Fall

We went apple picking at Hick's Orchard. It was fun, but pricey. Also, the other day I went on a short hike and leaf hunt with Lauren, Kobie, and Addison in the hiking backpack. Actually, to clarify, just Addison was in the backpack. It was a lot of fun, the weather has been great. I'll include a mysterious quote from Lauren:

Lauren: (Wearing my hat backwards.) "I look just like Dan Stewart!"
Me: "Who's Dan Stewart?"
Lauren: "Just... a nickname for myself."

... Weird. Does anyone know who Dan Stewart is?

Food, glorious food...

It's not that they're not doing cute things. It's just that I don't have time to sit down and write about them. I don't think I've ever been busier or more tired in my life than the last few months. I think it's starting to get a little better, though. I hope.

Addison is SO interested in food. I started cereal at 4 months because she's been lunging at any sort of food or drink that I'm holding and sucking on my cheek. She loves it. One day I didn't get a chance to give her cereal in the evening but at night she was sucking on my cheek so hard she gave me a hickey. I mixed up a bowl of rice cereal and formula (yuck) and she wolfed it down, banging on her tray if I paused while spooning it into her mouth. She's tried rice cereal, baby oatmeal, applesauce and peas. I think she likes the rice cereal with formula the best. She's grabbed for brownies and graham crackers that were in our hands while holding her, though. Smart girl. I wonder if she's old enough for teething crackers?

Lauren is the proud owner of a blue and gold shirt that says Jr. Spartan Volleyball. She is so excited to match the "bollyball girls" and wants to be "on the team". She's asked for a number on the back of her shirt. (4 if you're curious.) She has been having very good days at daycare. Her teacher, Mr. Hoffman, is just great. Addison's very happy at daycare, too.

Last weekend we visited "Uncle Great Great Fran" and Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Wiley. It was fun, I'm glad we did it. We met Alonna and her husband and two children at Fran's house. It seems like we'd have a lot in common. Too bad we don't know them better.

Hoping to go Apple Picking this weekend, and buy a pumpkin, and maybe back to Fright Fest again. We're going to participate in the TD Banknorth Parade (Formerly Joy Store parade) on Nov. 18th, World Class Kids is doing a Candy Land float. Fun!

Can't remember anything else right now...

Visitorphobia??

Is there a word for the fear of having people come over to your house? I was not the best housekeeper before by any means, but add a 4 year old, a baby, a dog to the mix and our house is a disaster zone. If I ever turn up missing, it's likely that I'm buried under a pile of dirty laundry or dishes.

Addison is 15 lbs., 25 inches, that's 90th percentile for each, if you're keeping track. Still happy as can be...