Nathalieland - Year In Review

I'm going to steal Andrea's idea and do a "year in review" post. Here are some highlights of 2011...

In January, my sister got married and we found out that Baby #2 was a girl!

 

In February, our third nephew was born and we announced our baby girl's name: Jessica Maria Paul.

In March, I wrote a nice post about Steve, we celebrated my 28th birthday, and we finished preparing Emily's new room!

In April, we had our first false alarm and we celebrated Easter with our families.

In May, we finished getting ready for Jessica's arrival and I reached my 40th week of pregnancy. After another false alarm, Jessica was born on May 25th and we became a family of four.

In June, we slowly adjusted to life with two kids and tried to enjoy the beautiful weather.

In July, we celebrated Canada Day in Kitchener/Waterloo while Steve was busy being the best man at his friend's wedding. Our strawberry-picking adventure was a huge failure and Jessica turned two months old.

In August, Emily had her first trip to the zoo! Steve and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary and Emily turned two years old!

In September, we made one last trip to the splash park and Emily had her 2-year checkup.

In October, Emily fell and fractured her leg/foot, beginning the month-long struggle with sickness, no walking, and heightened stranger anxiety. On a happier note, Daddy turned 28!

In November, Emily got a soft cast and was able to walk by the end of the month. Jessica turned 6 months old!

In December, we stayed home a lot and celebrated a nice quiet Christmas with our families.

What a year!
Looking forward to more fun and excitement in 2012.

Happy New Year from Nathalieland!

Think Happy Thoughts

Today was a tough day. Emily had a mild fever yesterday and was out of sorts all day. Neither girl would nap, so there were many meltdowns and no breaks. The house was a mess, the groceries needed to be done (which meant we had to go outside in this freezing weather (-20 celsius)), and Steve and I were just exhausted and cranky. Despite no naps, both girls fought bedtime as hard as they could.

Things are finally quiet, and although there's still some tidying to do, for now I'd just like to sit here and look at pictures that make me smile...

"Bubble hair" - getting bubbles in your hair

Concentration

Amazement

Emily watching old home videos of her Mommy 
(Christmas 1985)

Fun at the park (on not-so-cold days)

Sisters

Sharing

Emily helping give baby a bath

 That face

A nice visit over the holidays

Christmas art

Noodles all over the place

Stacking Snowman

The RIGHT way:

The EMILY way:

Here's a fantastic toy that the girls got for Christmas from their Nanny and Papa: a wooden stacking snowman. Emily loves it, but she refuses to stack it any other way but "the Emily way". Ha! She actually had a meltdown as I was building it (the right way) to take its picture. What a funny girl!

Interview with (7-Month-Old) Jessica

Nathalieland: Hi Jessica! Merry Christmas!
Jessica: Thanks, you too.

N: How was your very first Christmas?
J: It was great! I saw so many people and they all told me how beautiful I am. I got LOTS of great presents and didn't mind that my big sister opened them all up for me. I think she really enjoyed that.

N: That's nice. What's your growth like this month?
J: I'm hovering around 15 - 15.5 lbs and I've moved up to a size 3 diaper. My 6-12 month sleepers are getting a little short, so Mommy bought me some 12 month ones that are still a little loose. I wear mostly 6-12 month and 9 month clothing.

N: Have you learned anything new?
J: Earlier this month I started babbling (saying "bababa" and "mamama"); Mommy thinks it's the cutest thing! I can sit on my own for longer periods of time now, but I still topple over after a while. I love to reach/lunge for anything that looks interesting and I'm much more aware of my surroundings. And just recently I've started doing a little wave "hello" with my arm.

N: Wow! That's a lot of new stuff! What's your sleep like? Any improvements?
J: My sleep is ok, but not great. I'm officially out of the swaddle -- that happened soon after I turned 6 months. Now I wear a nice fleece sleep sack that my Grand-Maman made (and that my big sister wore too). The bad news is that I've started a bad habit: I almost exclusively nurse to sleep. With my mom's milk supply worries, she's been taking every opportunity to feed me, including before sleep. I know it's not good, but I have to say that it sure beats crying... and I think that my mom kind of enjoys this relaxing sleep routine too (for now).

N: Are you sleeping through the night?
J: Goodness no! My longest stretch of sleep at night is about 4-6 hours. This past week I've been fighting sleep until after 9:00pm and still waking up for the day around 6:00am... That, including waking up 2-3 times to eat, means that my mom isn't getting much of a break. I think she's pretty tired! Other than that I take two naps a day, ranging anywhere from 30 minutes to 3 hours (1.5 - 2 hours being most common). 

N: I think your sister was a much better sleeper than you at this age. She had already had a couple of 11-hour stretches at night! What are some other differences between you and your sister at 7 months?
J: At 7 months, Emily was a pro at standing with support. I'm showing no interest in standing yet. She was just starting to sprout her first tooth (I already have four!) and she wasn't really into rolling around like I am. I also heard that she wasn't a fan of most solids she tried, but I'll eat almost anything.

N: Interesting! Do you enjoy reading books like Emily did?
J: What's a book?

N: I guess not!
J: I'm definitely lacking an interest in reading right now. I fuss when a book is placed in front of me, except for my night-time book: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch.

N: How are your biting and teeth-grinding habits?
J: No more biting now that my two front teeth have poked through. The grinding is still in full swing... What else am I supposed to do with these teeth anyway?

N: Well I'm glad you had a nice month overall, Jessica. I hope your sleep improves and I'll see you when you're 8 months old!
J: Man I'm getting so close to being 1!