Happy Holidays & All That Jazz

Thanksgiving 2010

We were super excited to head to Chicago again for Thanksgiving this year.  The drive there was pretty smooth, I drove and Tristan intermittently did school stuff.  The drive seems easier the second time around when you know where you are going and it's a bit more familiar.  We entertained ourselves with the NPR program of the Elegant Table (or whatever it's called) where people call in their Thanksgiving stories and cooking questions.  Roast 350 for 15 min per pound, people!  And never have your oven cooer than that!  Anyhow.  We only hit a minor slowdown as we approached our destination and arrived  in good time.  We enjoyed dinner with Mark and Nancy and Nancy's sister's family.  It was terrific.  Kalia especially enjoyed the baked roots.  We went downtown to see Santa friday afternoon after a pretty lazy morning.  It was wonderful to relax.  Here are some pictures with Santa.

From Macy's we joined the masses to walk over to the Kringle Town festival to buy a Christmas Gerkin.  We didn't stay long as Kalia was out of patience and we were all numb from the cold.  We headed back to Mark and Nancy's neighborhood to the Cheesecake Factory where we discovered this little beauty:

The Luau Salad.  Excellent and full of flavor.  There are 13 ingredients in this salad.  Definately a new favorite.  I gotta learn how to make their house vinaigrette.  We learned from our mistakes and left Saturday night to come home.  We would have loved to stay longer, but doubling the driving time isn't worth it.  We made it home in one piece, though it was questionable at times.  Both Kalia and Amalyn got spoiled with fun new toys and clothes and I got a few (two bags!) stylish cast offs left over from yard sale season.  All in all a great trip.  Happy Turkey Day!

Friends

My friend was due a few weeks after me but had her little girl a week before Amalyn was born.  We took these comparison shots when they were 6 and 7 weeks old.  I love the  looks on their faces.  

Amalyn's a good listener already.

It took a few tries to get a picture of both of them calm.  But they are pretty cute! 

Kalia and Daddy

These two have a special relationship and I can't wait to see it develop further.  He's an excellent daddy and I'm sure Kalia could never get enough of his attention.

Tristan loves to teach Kalia new things.  This is the "cute" face.

Kalia's version...

This is now a high hitter in her arsenal of faces and expressions. 

When Kalia wants daddy to play with her, she starts making faces at him.  

Kalia instigates...

...Daddy returns...

 ...and on it goes...

...back and forth.

I'm pretty sure this...

...is her favorite game.

 She loves roughing around with Dad.

Amalyn at almost 6 weeks.

So I kinda got behind on the whole monthly post idea.  But looking back, I did the same thing with Kalia, so I guess if anything, I've been consistently inconsistent.  Amalyn will be six weeks old tomorrow.  Some of the highlights of the last month...
*sleeps 6-8 hours a night (occasionally 9-10 hours) with 3 naps in the day
*wearing 0-3 month clothing
*smiles, but still pretty randomly
*has a pretty cute frown and a cry that would melt the hardest heart
*shares a room with big sister and doesn't seem to mind much
*likes binkies (new to us)
*spitty, but it's not always spit-up
*She can tract objects
*increasingly fussy, I blame gas
*LOVES tummy time (more evidence of the gas theory)
*loves to be held
*endures loves from a very giving big sister without complaint
*dislikes getting her hair washed
*prefers to be held on outings, thank you to my slings (I love choices!)
We visited the dr and her latest measurements were in the 50%ile.  She is 21.5 inches long and 9 pounds, 13 ounces.  The doctor says she's doing great and growing well.

 Bundled up for a walk.

This shot touches a special spot in my heart.  How I love my family!

These smiles are becoming more evident and more controlled.  Sometimes a dimple shows up.

Playing together makes mom happy.  

Zoo days

Tristan didn't have school for Veteran's Day so we headed to the zoo.  It was the perfect weather to be outside.  We didn't see many animals as we spent a good chunk of our time eating lunch.  We did snap a couple pictures that I wanted to share.  I found the cutest prairie dogs.  

Too bad Tristan couldn't hold both girls for one picture.

  

We took Kalia's first zoo picture in the same place at 6 weeks old.  She's grown so much!

Amalyn's first zoo picture at 5 weeks.  

Mini emergency

Don't be alarmed.  The situation is now under control.  I'm not sure if the baby doll was trying to enter or to exit the crib, but the kids (Ryan and Kalia) were certainly intent on getting her out, notice the pajamas in the second picture.   When the tugging wasn't working the kids came for reinforcements.  It took some strong tugs to free the head, but she's doing fine now and I'm glad Amalyn is not that small.

Sweet sisters

 There are numerous times each day that I wish my camera was handy and instant.  There are moments I wish I could capture but they are so fleeting that even if my camera was powered on and trained on my subjects I don't think I would be able to catch it.  Kalia has been so sweet and careful with her sis.  She's careful not to hurt her and will give her head a sweet touch or a soft kiss.  It makes me happy to see.  Both of these pictures are staged from impromptu acts that I want to remember.

During Amalyn's tummy time, Kalia will lay down next to her and stroke her fingers.

Kalia likes to wipe Amalyn's cheek of spit using the burp cloth.  She's also very helpful with the pacifier.  Though Amalyn's not really sure she wants it, Kalia tries hard to help.

This story needs some background.  When Kalia started nursery they introduced this fun little song called "sleeping bunnies." I started doing it at home with her in hopes of making the nursery transition easier for her.  The song is to "are you sleeping."
(All the kids lay on the floor and the lights are turned off, sing...)
Sleeping bunnies,
sleeping bunnies,
go to sleep,
go to sleep.
(pause dramatically before turning on the lights and continuing...)
wake up sleeping bunnies,
wake up sleeping bunnies,
hop, hop, hop
hop, hop, hop
(the kids all hop with the words of the last two lines)
Kalia loved playing the game at home, though we didn't turn lights on/off and I wasn't going to hop up and down while 9 months pregnant so we hopped with our hands instead.  Now fast forward to last week.  We were sitting on the couch together enjoying the bunny book "HOP"(a favorite of Kalia's) and I asked her what rabbits do.  Kalia responded with "hop, hop, hop" while doing the action with her hand.  She then grabbed Amalyn's hand to hop as well.  I thought it was sweet that she's excited to teach her little sister already.

We love our sweet sis.

Kalia butterfly

I got really excited to make my toddler's Halloween costume.  She was not so interested and wouldn't let me put anything on her.  Luckily daddy is really persuasive and got the reluctant butterfly to don her wings.  She picked the other costume when we asked her what she wanted to wear.  After all the hard work I had to at least get pictures.  I think she'll like it for dress up when she's older.

She's a pretty cute butterfly if I do say so myself.

Treat activities

This week we participated in fun Halloween activities.  We visited Kroger, our ward's Trunk or Treat, as well as Begger's Night (trick or treating in neighborhoods).  After a bit of prep Kalia really got into the spirit of things.  I tried all afternoon to get Kalia to put on the butterfly costume.  Tristan was successful in getting these two shots the day before the ward activity.

For the Trunk or Treat Kalia went as a butterfly, I'm a flower, Amalyn is a caterpillar, and Tristan is a cocoon.  Insects and super heros seemed to be the most common themes this year.  Tristan is a good coach and Kalia had the trick or treat thing down by the end of the night.  I was pretty surprised when they arrived at my trunk and she starts digging in the bucket for candy (I'd been holding it low for some other kids).  I made her say trick or treat for me and thank you after getting candy.  

 Daddy's and Kalia's sweet nectar collected from the many flowers :).

Tristan unfortunately had to study on Beggar's Night (he was so disappointed, though he took her for trunk or treat.  It's only fair I get a turn) so I got to take the little butterfly pollenating.  She was quite excited to go and didn't want to quit though it was pretty chilly.  We treated in the neighborhood nearby.  As soon as her costume was on she toddled off to the door.  I thought she would have been a lot more hesitant but candy is a pretty strong motivator.  After getting candy at the first house she was very excited to head to the next house.  She was quite a trooper to walk and was doing great until we hit some high traffic and my shy little girl emerged.  I thought we were headed home (I was pretty cold) but as soon as we got out of the thick of it she was back on her feet and eager to get more.  We were back to the car but she protested being put in, so we trekked onward to another 15 or so houses before she was willing to stop.  We met some doggies and got a little scared by a motion sensor rock that cackled at us.  It was a fun night.  I can't wait to do Christmas with her! 

Little does she know that mommy will probably be eating most of that, candy taxes are high at our house.

Fun at home

Cheeser!  Thanks Aunt Marilyn for the outfit

Showing mom the 'punkin'

Thanks for the fun holiday stuff Em!