Life With a Baby on Board: January 2018

December was busy, crazy and fun. The girls were so excited to see Santa....up until we got within 10 minutes of seeing Santa....maybe next year. We're still settling into our new house. I can't wait until the time change when we can get back in the routine of nightly walks and having puppy/kid playdates.

Lily's December update:
Lily continues to be sassy and sweet and very dramatic. Last night she demanded that I take her to the doctor (at 10:30pm on a Friday) because she had a stuffy nose. This year she got to be in the church nativity pageant as an angel. Halfway through the performance Andy's mom leaned over to me an said that Lily was Andy made over. She didn't do anything too crazy during the pageant but there was a lot of posing, showing off her wings and clapping. She now is known at church as the clapping angel. She was in was very excited for Christmas. She asked Santa for dance lessons, a princess Barbie and princess lip stick. She really enjoyed playing with all her cousins who came to visit over Christmas break.

Loves:
-interpretive dance
-"Go Tell it on the Mountain"

-her cousins

-the Jim Carrey version of The Grinch

-Santa

-mommy's sugar cookies

Hates:
-candy canes and peppermint (she says they're too spicy)

What Lily's been saying:
-"If you see Santa tell him that I don't want any candy canes."

-"OH MY GOONNESS!"

-whining "Mommy when I sniff my nose sounds like a thing from a birthday party"

Favorite books:

-"My Father's Dragon" (her 1st chapter book)

-the Angelina Ballerina books

-Stone soup

Clara's December update:

The last blog post I said that Clara was right at the edge of the terrible twos. This month I can say that she has pole vaulted over it. Since she's turned two she has had several epic meltdowns.....I just take cover and wait for them to be over. Clara still loves tagging along after Lily and doing exactly what Lily does. She still loves gymnastics and is very physically daring (jumping into the foam pits and hanging on the bars) but otherwise she's very cautious and does not like loud noises.... or soft noises.....poop in the bathtub, the dark, fake mice from Halloween, the heat turning on in our new house, flickering lights...etc. She has started requesting "hug and kiss" throughout the day and always wants "cudduls" when she's scared or tired.

Loves:
-Talking on the phone (lets just be glad that all her phone calls are on pretend phones)

-gummies

-doll houses

-squealing

-potty training
-coloring

Hates:
-getting her diaper changed

What Clara's been saying
-"Cininininininiamon" (Cinnamon)

-"scare me" (when something scares her)
-" Lily....are you?" (Lily where are you)

At the beginning of the month we traveled to the mountains for our annual cabin weekend with Andy's family. The girls always have a great time with their cousins but this year the fun was amplified because the cabin we got had a pool. When we first arrived and we were doing a tour and picking out a bedroom. I showed Clara the pool and she immediately started saying "simmin' suit!" (swimming suit) and tried to take her shirt off. When we finally got in the pool Lily was tall enough to touch in the shallow end and Clara kept trying to prefect her "Wile E. Coyote stepping off a cliff" moves into the pool while I wasn't looking.

sneaking candy

cuddles with Mamaw

a toe makes a good cup prop

opening presents Clara LOVED her baby doll

A few days after we got home my parents took Lily to her first Tennessee basketball game. She has so much fun and got to meet a Tennessee Santa.

The next day we went to a birthday party at the Oak Ridge Children's Museum. The last time we went to the museum Clara was in a stroller and slept through the whole thing. This time they both had a blast. Their favorite rooms were the doll house room, the mars room and the farm to table room.

the cupcakes were blue.....

or they mauled a smurf

Last year Clara had tubes put in her ears to help with ear infections. In August she started getting ear infections again so we headed back to the Children's surgery center for tubes in and adenoids out. They gave her some "happy" medicine to help with anxiety about leaving mom. The nurses said it would take 10 minutes to kick in and just like clockwork at the 10 minute mark Clara became a tiny drunk college student. She stared at the lights, told me she was sleepy, couldn't hold up her head, giggled then fell over. She handled the surgery really well and was acting 100% normal by the time we got home and she ate lunch.

Clara decides to fill out some charts in her free time

putting her baby to bed

We went to see Santa. The girls love Santa. All they talked about for weeks was how much they loved Santa and they were going to sit on his lap......

The thing is....Santa is a lot more awesome when he's theoretical. We'll try again next year.

Lily decided she wanted to be in the Christmas pageant at church. Last year she had a meltdown when she didn't get to be an angel. After the first practice she said she was worried because the angels had to say something and she doesn't know how to read yet. A quick email to the pageant director revealed that the only person who had to read anything was the narrator. Lily jumped on the chance to perform in front of a crowd and posed, clapped along with the music and showed off her wings.

this picture was posted on the church facebook page

Lily and Clara got to spend some time with Lily's godfather, John. It got a little crazy when the girls started standing on the coffee table and jumping onto the couch.

That weekend we went out to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with my parent's, my sister's family from Brooklyn and my brother's family. Lily and her twin cousins are only 3 months apart in age so it's like having triplets+ Clara + my bother's 9 month old son....needless to say it was a crazy Christmas.