An end of an era

I thought I'd have something deep and summarative to say here, but all I can think of is "It's over!!!! Woohoo!!!!". Passed my cumulative exam and earned my masters in nursing today :)

Proof! I had to print it in case I managed to convince myself I hadn't passed :)

And completely unrelated, but here's Hudson eating one of Henri's rats. I think he'll be getting a larger version for Christmas as he's very in love with it......

 Now it's full steam ahead for holidays with family, and then then we'll reassess "what we want to do when we grow up". For now, that list includes knitting, reading P G Wodehouse, and perhaps a pedicure :)

Christmas Photos

I'll preface this by stating that I'm pretty sure the behavior we've been seeing lately by a certain un-named Miss is a combination of adjustment to the baby and belated Terrible Two's. It's been bad. I'm not sure any of us are going to survive. But in case we do, and in case I'm ever tempted to sugar coat the experience for other moms (as in, tell them to "enjoy this, it goes so fast" (it had better!!!!)), I've captured a typical moment in our life for posterity. I also took pictures of our house one random day but I'm not brave enough to share them here. (And if you're the producer of Hoarders, I might have a new episode for you...)




Quick proof that occasionally she's happy to be around me

Pleased as punch to be sitting up

That strap looks interesting!

OK, I won't touch



Oh, you're behind that lens?!

Hey

What's Henri up to? (whining behind me, if you need to know)

I'm at eye level with her!

Hen, could I please get a decent picture of you?

...without the pillow ("it's backpack!")



Thanks for putting it down

Head shot for a denture ad

Please just look normal

There we go!

Perfect! Now let's move to the bench where the lighting's good and in front of the tree!

We don't do well with change

Wait! Henri's upset? I must have missed my cue to cry!

How about we take one together! Wouldn't that be fun?

Nope, it wouldn't

Did you know Hershey Kisses only have 22 calories a piece???

Aaaaand that sums up our days. Happy Holidays, everyone!

Giving Thanks

We were able to be with Steve's family this year for Thanksgiving. The kids did relatively well on what turned in to two 8+hour drives and Henri had a fantastic time playing with her cousins. We pretty much just hung out, ate waaaay too much food, and enjoyed family. The camera came out once:

Yet another attempt at the elusive family portrait

He loved his Gram, and looking at himself in mirrors

Haha, loved the girls faces in this one

The Schoefflers!

Some Phone Photos

I just synced up my phone and cleaned it all off as I was out of memory space, so here are a few photos from the past week or so. Aaaand they posted backwards.

Gramma gave us window markers a while back and we like to keep our door window current with the holidays

Remember how I said he was sleeping through the night? Jinx!!!! Up 'till midnight then up 3x to fuss and nurse....I'm really sick of it. He's enjoying access to his parents bed as well as lounging around till 9am. Very jealous.

Impossible to get a decent toddler shot Exhibit A: She insisted on me taking one of her but only wanted to fake sleep.

First time participating at the playground. He looks unsure here but seemed to enjoy it, fell asleep on the walk back so I'll say it was a success

Art projects. Finger painting and chalk painting

Sorry, it rotated. But do you see the savings? 100%. Yes folks,. there is a rather amazing deal going on at Shaw's right now where you can make some serious cash. I made $113 and am (impatiently) waiting for my store to restock their gift cards so I can keep going. Major  couponing high going on over here...

New winter hat. My little fuzzy bear :)

It has ears!

Finally starting to be able to capture some of his grins

Well, I thought we were going to have a roller by the end of the week, but he's shown no further interest. Tummy time continues to be a bust, he refuses to use his arms and mostly just screams.

Ugh, rotated again. Anyway, out of the blue he took his paci and now seems to enjoy it

Taking advantage of any moderate temperatures

More jumperoos!

How he sucks his fingers :)

This month has blinked past and I'm already behind on everything for December. Just started my baking for Thursday and there's a cranberry bread cooling on the counter. Now to keep a certain someone who's name rhymes with "Jeeve" out of it for the next few days....

Happy 3 Months!

Hudson is three months today. 3 very short months ago the horrible shaking from the huge dose of drugs I'd been given was finally wearing off and we were settled in our room. I assume I was nursing, because that's about all he did for the first 4 days of his life, and Steve and I were just in awe of how strong and instantaneous our love for a second child could hit. Hudson had a ton of red spikey hair, a very grumpy face, and the cutest pudge rolls. He still has the last 2 but his hair has mostly fallen out and is coming back in darker. I know second kids get less than the first, but I think he's holding his own pretty well. He might not get picked up as fast as Henri did, but he is very vocal and does not suffer a slight lightly. He's also a cuddler and seems more socially aware than Hen did at this age (or we're just better at interpreting "baby"). I can safely say that I'm his favorite person (Steve was always Henri's) but he's pretty delighted to see Steve and Henri whenever they're around. A few other things he's up to:

Sleep: Naps only occur in someone's arms or in the baby carrier. He's been taking a 2 hour afternoon nap lately but only in the context of nursing and me holding him. Generally he nurses to sleep around 9:30 though the past few nights has fallen asleep at 0830. Sleeps through the night until 7ish. I'm assuming he'll be like Henri and move his bedtime by himself to 8. Of course he got some shots today so I'm expecting a disrupted night tonight.

Food: Super, very, immensely thrilled to report he is, and always has been, exclusively breastfed. Nary a nip of formula has passed those precious lips. Not that I'm against formula, mind you. Saved my sanity and health with Henri, I just prefer the convenience and health benefits of breastfeeding. First few weeks were painfully rough of course, but I was expecting the absolute worst after Henri, and this has been a breeze. I even have a little surplus socked away in the freezer. And he does love to eat :)

Size: He's 50% for weight (14# 9oz), 95% for length (26") and waaaaay off the charts for head circumference (44cm). I think he's a chunker but that's because Henri never made it to the charts. I just put away most of his 3mo clothing as it's all too short so he's in 3-6mo stuff. Not a very sentimental moment as he was in them for so short of a time

Likes: Mom, Dad, Henri, looking at himself in the mirror, tv (yikes), sucking his fingers (his newest skill this week. And he's LOUD when he does it), giving wet sloppy kisses, dancing, standing up

Dislikes: Wet or poopy diapers, being put down, sudden loud noises (Henri dumping legos out near his head when he's almost asleep on the rug elicits particularly terrifying screams), not being included at the dinner table, his pacifiers, tummy time.

I'd say the adjustment to 2 kids has been much smoother than the one to 1. That's not to say it hasn't been tough and I've had plenty of thoughts of running away, but Steve and I know it's only a stage and really, we're already out of the newborn phase so it can only get better from here!
I found him a jumperoo on Craigslist the other day as he's not a consistent fan of his swing and so far it's been a big hit (I know, I know, these pictures are all pretty much the same, but he's too stinkin cute to put up just one!):

We have a concordance under him cause he's still a bit stubby

His favorite part is that he's closer to eye level with Henri

Victory! He managed to pull the cloth off so he could chew directly on the seat

aaand then he switched to his fist

Fingers! He just sucks the tips, otherwise he gags himself

slowly sinking

I'm sure this next month will be an exciting time of change for him. He'll continue to cement his place in our hearts, and I'll continue to brag :D