My Little Nap Skippers

Jack has been transitioning to napping only a couple times a week now, so that he can fall asleep around 7:30 each night. But, sometimes he crashes a little before bedtime. Here he is this week when he fell asleep on the couch at 6:15 after dinner. (We took him upstairs and he slept all the way until 6:30 the next morning!)

Andy of course thought it was pretty funny :)

And this smiley little girl has been fighting her naps at home too.

Emily falls asleep in the car when we go pick up Andy or run other errands, and then she usually wakes up within 10 minutes of being home. So she's only taking half hour naps here and there...

I've been having her sleep in her crib in the afternoons, but even those naps are only a half hour to 45 minutes. I hope this phase passes soon!

Emily is 6 months old as of yesterday! She has her doctor's appt next week, so I'll get her stats then.

Andy and Jack - Best Brothers

We've had a really fun past couple of days here. Andy and Jack have been having a good time together. They've been playing legos A LOT. The boys and I went to see the movie Tangled yesterday evening, while Chris stayed home with Emily. It was Jack's first theater movie, and he really enjoyed it (actually we all really loved it, especially Andy - he's been quoting lines very accurately from it!) Jack did well, but got pretty chatty during the movie. He didn't get the concept of whispering and sometimes just talked in jibberish because he was just excited to be there. Other times he just asked about what was going on in the movie ("Where'd her friend go?") But the movie wasn't too busy, and everyone there had kids, so hopefully were understanding. The theater we went to had tables in front of the chairs, so we got breadsticks to eat - one of the boys' favorite foods. Here's Jack, watching the big screen.

Today was cold, but sunny and wind-free. The boys enjoyed playing out on the deck. Of course they went straight to the water and sand tables, the exact thing I told them to steer clear of... oh well.

They washed our door with some pieces of ice.

A fun game, but they soon came in with cold hands for hot chocolate :)

Two nights ago, we put both of the boys to bed at the same time around 8:30. Jack had taken a nap that day, so he wasn't quite tired enough. He was trying to talk to Andy, and Andy got annoyed. I let Andy go into our room to fall asleep in peace and quiet. Well, once Jack saw that, he had to go too. So he went in, and they both fell asleep. Instead of moving them back to bed,all the boys had a slumber party and I slept in Jack's bed :) Andy and Jack thought it was pretty cool.

Emily's Almost 6 Month Update

As Emily gets close to turning 6 months old (in about a week) she is seeming so much older to me! She's rolling around on the floor, eating solids two times per day, and really starting to interact with us. She copies Andy when he makes noises at her and she is laughing more. She goes to sleep completely on her own now at night (I used to put her to bed when she was half asleep after eating).
Here are a few shots of her rolling over...

Success!

And a big hug from Andy who was cheering her on the whole time.

Emily loves to eat food now... although she looks messy, she keeps most of it in her mouth, and actually gets excited when it's time for her to eat. She's now eating both rice cereal and oatmeal. She had green beans, applesauce, and carrots today. Here she is at lunchtime..

And here she is at dinner...

We had a nice day today. The boys loved storytime at the library. Chris got home from his work trip in the early afternoon, and the kids had fun playing with daddy. I got to go for my first run outside this year :) It was a little windy but felt great to get off the treadmill.

Batman Bike and Scooter Time

It was in the 40's today so we got outside for awhile to play in the driveway. Andy has been dying to use his scooter for a couple of weeks now, and Jack had wanted to use his new one too. Jack tried the scooter for a little while and liked it, but soon switched to the Batman bike. The kids got some fresh air before dinner, which was so nice. Today, the boys both had really good days at school. Jack made an alligator for art, and Andy brought in his cash box for show & tell which he was excited about. Emily and I really enjoyed going to the mall and doing a little shopping :) Well, she enjoyed a nice, long nap and I had fun shopping. Andy doesn't have school tomorrow, so we'll all be going to the library for story time. Should be fun! It's supposed to hit 50 tomorrow, but we'll see if it's raining or not.
Jack on the Batmobile Bike - he had fun with all of the buttons and noises that it makes (the boys soon put their winter hats on after I took these pics!)

Andy on the scooter - he loves going down the slight hill on our driveway now :)

Despite the really bleak scenery, it was nice to get some outside time

Andy chatting with Emily

A little Jack monkey on my back :)

Emily working on those leg muscles.... she also rolls over all the time now from back to tummy.

Happy Valentines

Our three cute little valentines had a wonderfully fun day today. It was complete with a great playdate in the morning, good naps for the younger 2, Applebee's for dinner, Culver's for dessert, a new Backyardigans tv show for Jack, a new show called Jake and the Neverland Pirates for Andy, and baths for all 3. Our day was filled with lots of "I love you's" and hugs and kisses, especially for Emily from the boys :) Tomorrow is Andy's Valentine's Day party at school. He wrote his name on all 15 of his valentines and attached a treat with a sticker. It was a fun little project. We hope everyone had a very happy Valentine's Day!
Here's the best picture I could get of all 3 of them this morning :)

Emily and Andy are happy, but Jack was ready to be done I guess...Hmmmm.. Does Andy love his baby sister?

Definitely!

Emily in her new Valentine's Day outfit from Grandma Graham... (she's getting so big! It was a 6-12 month outfit and fit her perfectly)

Andy trying to get Emmie to smile...

what a little lovebug, she's such a sweetheart...

Daddy and his little Valentine

Jack sometimes likes taking pictures, here's a smiley Jack with his baby sister (he's trying to put my headband in his hair).

Emily's First Crib Nap

Emily just successfully had her first nap in her crib upstairs today! She's been sleeping in there at night from Day 1 home from the hospital, so I don't know why I held off so long in having her nap up there. She's been napping in her carseat (which I'll have her continue to do if she falls asleep in the car) and in her swing mostly. But, little noises are starting to wake her up more, so it was time for a change. She fussed for about 5 minutes today and then fell asleep for about an hour and a half upstairs in her nice, dark, quiet room. Yay! If only she'd really start liking the solid foods, then we'd be making some big progress. So far she tolerates them once a day, but doesn't really gobble it up. On other nap news, Jack is pretty much done with his mid-day nap. He does great during the day now without a nap and then falls nicely to sleep around 7:30. Much better than having him nap during the day and then staying up until 9 or later! Happy Friday!!!

Staying Home

We're staying at home today - we've had enough of going out in the cold this week. Andy had a great week at school - it was "P" week, so he got to wear pajamas one day and made a pizza for lunch another day. Jack had a great day at school and had fun at library story time yesterday. We've got a playdate today and another on Monday. After a day of not wanting to nap yesterday, Emily slept from 7:15pm to 6am straight last night! Then went back to sleep until 8. So she is well rested for today. Chris has some travel coming up for work (just 1 night a couple of times) but I'm sure we'll be able to stay busy. This cold weather can't last forever!

Playing at Home

Nothing too exciting happened this week for us. We had a snow day on Wednesday, which I think both the boys and I were disappointed about! That's Jack's one school day for the week and he loves school. Andy missed show and tell day. And I missed my 2 hours of just Emily time :) But we kept busy enough at home and the kids liked staying in their jammies all day. The boys have been playing lots of legos and knights this week. Emily is rolling over more frequently and grabbing at things more with her hands (toys, blankets, my hair!). We did all go to the library for story time on Tuesday and signed up for a program where we read 100 books in February. It'll be a challenge for me to keep up with recording them in their logs!
Sitting on the bench playing legos with each other...

Emily ready to go out for the day

Here's a big smile

Jack wearing a Packers shirt that he picked out on Sunday. He keeps saying that he's rooting for 2 teams on Sunday. Andy is rooting for the Packers with me though for sure :) Jack is wearing a bucket on his head - his "football helmet" - maybe we need to get him a real one for his b-day!

A napping baby

Stretching out on her quilt before bed.

A cute picture from today that Andy took of Emily

This weekend we're looking forward to Great Grandpa Dickson's 80th B-Day party, playing outside in the snow, and watching the Superbowl! Pictures to come next week I'm sure...