Our Christmas Cookies this year. For being prepackaged they are pretty decent and not any extra junk thrown in them. We made these on the 23rd. I have high hopes for Christmas baking next year.
Here is the one video we got on our camera. We have a second that is 3 seconds long so I don't really think it "counts." I haven't messed with Andrew's iPod to look at the videos on there yet. I have a hard time with videos..I get motion sick real easy and lately it has been worse. Bleh.
We have a few videos. It turns out both batteries to our camera were zapped on Christmas morning even though when one dies we charge it and the extra one is charged. It seems they aren't holding the charge like they "should" so we have a few iPod videos and that is it.
We spent Christmas Eve morning with our traditional celebration of Andrew's birthday with my Parents, Siblings and my Grandparents. You know he's 30 now...crazy.
We decided to forego Christmas Eve Mass this year. Last year we did it with a 10 day old, 20 month old and 3 year old. This year we just did not have the energy for it. I know that sounds horrible. We figured a quiet night at home would be best for all.
The Boys slept in for Christmas morning. We set an alarm so we can start some coffee and I got the oven preheated for coffee cake. We got a little antsy but finally the Boys all woke up.
Daniel was super excited about a train that was in his stocking. He walked around all morning holding it out to show everyone with a huge grin. Aidan was pretty excited about his main/only gift from Santa. Logan was pretty interested when Aidan opened his box and seemed shock to find a second one just for him. Aidan was the only one into tearing presents this year. Logan really had/has no understanding of what is going on just that there are new toys to play with.
We let the Boys get some good rest time and headed to my Grandparents house for dinner. Daniel was having a hard night and ended up with another evening of bad gas pain. We were not able to do anything to console him. It was a bit difficult to have your 12 month old become "colicky" again. This was something that was going on every evening for a couple of days. We racked our brain trying to figure it out. We don't seem to be any closer why he is having discomfort again among other things that are going on.
We were so happy to come home and get everyone in bed.
Holidays are great but also at times a whole lot of no fun.
Over all it was a good time with a few hairy moments..however, with Kids anytime of the day/year can be a potential hairy moment.
Even though he is the youngest he is our "mid-sized" Child. (Minus the head...)
Height: 30 in (55%)
Weight: 22 lb 15 oz (52%)
Head Circum: 19 1/4 in (>95%)
He is 1 oz lighter and 4.25 in shorter than Logey at 2 years.
He is half a pound lighter and 2.5 inches shorter than Aidan at 1 year.
Bitty was too small at 12 months to "compare" but for giggles here:
18 lb 7 oz, 29.25 in
Daniel is passing all of the milestones well. The Dr seems to pay a bit more attention to this part too especially since Autism is more prevalent in Boys and there is appears to be a genetic factor in it. If you have one child with it you are more likely to have another with it. It is only a slight chance but it is now in the Dr's Radar.
However,
Daniel is happy and healthy. Oh yes and a constant motion trouble maker! :)
Here we are a year later and two parties under out belts.
On his actual birthday we had all the Grandparents over. My Grandparents from Ohio had flown in earlier that day. Daniel is a strict to the schedule kind of guy and wasn't having the late dinner and wanted bed. The only thing is he (even though it seems he should be "used" to it) prefers peace and quiet to sleep in. Not a bunch of rowdy Grandparents chatting up a storm with his Brothers enjoying every moment of it. So even though he kept wanting to go to bed only to not fall asleep he came back downstairs to see what was going on.
Friday, Aidan had school and we were prepping for the Big Family Birthday Party that evening.
Daniel did a little better and even got to eat his cake! He was overwhelmed by it all, but who wouldn't be?!
The collage is about all the photos we took from the party since we were busy being a part of it. Daniel really couldn't care less for the unwrapping the gifts but very much likes the toys he got.
We will have 1 year stats later next week. Daniel never wants to miss a beat and just adores other Kids. He has quite the personality too. Our little man started walking just before 10 months. He is now working on his running skills and losing the baby waddle. He has started dancing more the past few days and is the proud owner of 7 chompers.
He's a tad picky with food. He is having a bit of an issue with textures but we are working through it. The spitting up is almost non-existent however, you can hear the reflux splashing in his throat. He is not wanting formula or cow's milk so we are trying Almond milk. He is doing very well with it and we are noticing he doesn't have the big baby beer belly while drinking it. We are thinking he was having some tummy discomfort from the cows milk and dairy formula. Since he is now drinking Almond milk, bottles are non-existent and he seems to not mind at all.
Our Baby D is growing up and not looking back!
One year stats to come...
Oh yes and here is Baby D enjoying his own cake to destroy...
Today at Aidan's Preschool was Christmas Chapel. This years was much different. Last year I was in early labor during chapel and Aidan was very overwhelmed by the audience. This year Aidan did a wonderful job! He was still a little nervous. He was very brave. At the end he did some of the hand motions and sang too! This year he also participated in wearing the costume (a halo). I'm a little biased but think he was absolutely adorable! After all the Parents left, school continued. Aidan's class decorated gingerbread houses! They then had lunch and soon after carpool.
Today was a classmate's birthday party too. After a couple quiet hours at home we headed over to crazy kid filled party at a local bounce house. Aidan ran himself ragged and ate pizza and cupcakes. What a day. He fell asleep on the way home.
What a wonderful day and tomorrow begins the Birthday Festivities for Baby D! Oh My!
Last year we did not get a Santa picture. This year we were went to an even through our local Family Support Network. The event caters to families with Special Needs Children. It was a stressful event for sure. We came out of it with goody bags, lots of games played, ate some snacks, sat with Santa and got a present from Santa! How neat!! We were suprised how well the boys did for a photo! yaay! No waiting in a super long mall line and no paying a ridiculous amount to get one mediocore Santa photo.
This year we were able to have Aidan's Big Family Party on his Birthday. The day before Logan and Aidan helped me whip up the icing for the cake. Logan was VERY helpful.
The Birthday morning began like all others(Birthday Mornings). Waking up and coming downstairs to your presents and a few "unexpected" decorations (that is if I have my act together).
Here is the cake. Nothing super fancy. We are realizing there are great challenges with decorating cakes with minimal to no food dyes. I did a little reading about natural food dyes. The colors are not as vibrant and not always consistent. Another thing kind of creeped me out was what they use to extract the colors from the plants. Now for the life of me I can't find the information I read but I am hesitant to use "all natural" dyes too.
Here a few photos of the party. I am not the best photo taker as I am doing things in the kitchen and mingling instead of snapping photos.
I may have mentioned before but starting last December Logan began to totally lose it when we sing songs. Now Aidan can sing. But if it is anyone else Logan is not a fan. He totally flips his lid. The song that agitates him the most is "Happy Birthday". (even when Aidan sings it.) What do you think?
A few days later Aidan went in for his physical. He has great vision, hearing and did fantastic talking to the Doctor. Aidan is tall and skinny.
