Visit to Santa

Yesterday, we made the trek to Fair Oaks Mall to visit Santa. They loved it, and weren't scared at all. I actually wasn't too worried about that because they've never really been scared of Santa, as evidenced here and here.

Piper asked him for "Toy Story movie with Jessie," and Fletch asked him for "Mack and the green truck [from the movie Cars]." I hope Santa can deliver. (Or should I say, dear Lord, I hope that boat from China with Fletch's discontinued green truck can deliver. Yes, that's the only place I could find the right green truck.)

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Deacon: 6 Months Old

Seems like just yesterday that Deacon was an itty bitty, but he's growing up fast. He was 6-months old on Tuesday, and had his routine check-up. The doctor declared him healthy (knock on wood) and perfect. As you can see, he's also a rebel and rule-breaker, sitting in his bumbo seat on the counter.

Here are his latest stats:

Birth: 7lbs 9oz, 20.5 inches
2 weeks: 8lbs 9oz (49%), 20.25 inches (32%)
1 month: 10lbs 8oz (66%), 21 inches (31%)
2 months: 13lbs 1.6oz (70%), 23 inches (47%)
4 months: 15lbs 13oz (61%), 25 inches (46%)
6 months: 18 lbs 9oz (71%), 27 inches (68%)


He's about the same size Fletch was at this age, so it looks like we have another big boy on our hands.

In terms of milestones, there's not much to report. He's working hard at figuring out how to roll, and I think he'll get it in the next two weeks or so--same as Fletch. He also is getting better at grabbing toys and playing with them. His biggest achievement is probably his talking; Deacon is one chatty guy. He loves nothing more than to wake us up around 2am to have a "chat" and babble for quite a while about Lord knows what. He babbles and "talks" way more than Piper and Fletch did at this age, so I think he's going to be quite the loquacious fellow.

As for sleep, he's still not sleeping through the night. He generally goes down around 6:30pm and wakes once around 2:15am for a bottle and then goes back down until at least 5:30am. We're hoping when he moves into his new room next week that we can break him of this habit or at least change things up a bit. During the day, I guess he naps 2-4 times. I know, I know...with Piper and Fletch I was schedule-crazed. With Deacon, I really have no idea what is schedule is during the day. Five days each week he's in daycare or with Eric's mom where he just goes with the flow, and on the weekends, we're always on the run, so he just catnaps in the morning and then takes a 2-3 hour nap when Piper and Fletch go down. Poor third child doesn't even get to sleep in peace....

That's about all that he's up to these days. I hope we can get a good recording of him laughing because he giggles all the time. If you ever need a pick-me-up, you can just hear him laugh and you can't help but smile yourself. He's such a sweetheart.

Random Snow Pictures

We got a little bit of snow yesterday. Piper and Fletch thought it was great.

And, just because I can't leave him out. Here's a recent photo of Deacon.

Big Kid Room

The weekend after Thanksgiving brought lots of changes. For the past 6 months, Deacon has been sleeping in our room. For the past 3 years, Piper and Fletch have been sleeping in cribs. And, for the past 3 years, we've been living with a million toys in our living room. 

All three of those things changed last weekend.We moved all of Piper's stuff into Fletch's room and bought them two new twin beds. We also started to turn Piper's room into a room for Deacon, although that won't be complete until the room is repainted next week. And, we moved all the toys to the basement to create a kids' playroom.

In the few weeks leading up to this transition, we really talked up the idea of P&F getting big kid beds and sharing a room together, so that Piper wouldn't feel like Deacon was stealing her space. We also let them pick out their own sheets. They were so excited with their new room.

Overall, the transition has gone great. They've stayed in bed and been sleeping really well. We did have a rough time this past Saturday when they wouldn't nap, and on Sunday, it took them a long time to fall asleep at naptime, but they they slept HARD. I'm optimistic this good stuff will keep up and their big kid rooms will continue to be a success.

Turkey Day 2013

As usual, life has been hectic lately, so these next few posts are just going to be photo dumps. We'll start with Thanksgiving.

The holiday kicked off with the kids' ShareFeast dinner and show at school a few weeks ago. All the kids got up on stage and sang Thanksgiving songs. Actually, I should say, the older pre-K and kindergarten kids sang, the rest of the kids all sort of looked like deer in headlights.

The program was a little bit chaotic but fun, and so cute to see the kids in their first school show.

A few weeks later was real Thanksgiving. As usual, Eric's parents brought delicious food, and we supplied the kids. It was a terrific time.

No Thanksgiving is complete without a visit from Captain America.

Deacon's shirt look familiar? You may recall Fletch wearing it at their first Thanksgiving. Looking back at these pictures, I think it's safe to say that Deacon is a mix of Piper and Fletch.

During dinner, Deacon even got his first taste of real food. Mmmm, sweet potatoes.

Overall, it was a great holiday. Now, it's on to Christmas.

Only Child for the Weekend

Last weekend, Deacon pretended to be an only child for a few days. I took him up to Boston to see Mom, Auntie Corinne, Danny, Fred, and the girls. Eric stayed home and manned the home front, and Piper and Fletch had a superfun sleepover at his parent's house.

Our adventure started on Friday, when Deacon and I flew on Jet Blue together. (I know I've been loyal to the USAirways Shuttle for years, but Jet Blue was so awesome that I think I'm converted. Nice big seats, Dunkin Donuts coffee on the plane, and free TV--it was great.) Deacon did great on the way there.

After arriving, Mom, Deacon, and I just did errands and then relaxed at home. Auntie Corinne and Fred came to visit that evening.

On Saturday, Mom and I did more shopping and relaxing, and that evening, mom babysat while I went to the movies with Karen and Kerri. It was so great to see them and see a movie. I hadn't been to the movies in years.

The next day, Sunday, was more of the same relaxing, shopping, and seeing Auntie Corinne and Fred for dinner. And, of course, there was some picture taking.

On Monday morning, we flew home. Again, big kudos to Jet Blue for letting me have a Fast Pass or whatever they call it so I could go to the front of the security line. It made traveling with an infant so much easier. Deacon wasn't as calm on this plane ride but knowing it was a short flight made it tolerable for all of us.

Throughout the weekend, Deacon took nice long naps, had tons of fun playing with new toys, and just loved all the individual attention. He really is such a sweet little boy. 

It was so special to have that time with just him, to give him snuggles and take him places without the craziness of having two other siblings along. I can't wait to do it again someday.

New Jersey Bound

Last weekend, we made our first official roadtrip as a family of five. It was quite an adventure. Here is the recap.

Friday:
By 9:30am, we got everything ready to go and were about to leave when we realized that our car DVD player was missing. Now, my old, pre-kid self would have been embarrassed that we even own a car DVD player because of course, at the time, my unborn children would be so precious that they'd be able to entertain themselves without watching TV for four hours. Reality, of course, is quite different. We practically cried when we noticed the missing DVD player. Our best guess is that it was stolen but maybe it will turn up someday.

Anyway, after packing the kids and car up, we made a quick emergency stop at Target for a new DVD player. And, thank goodness we did. What was supposed to be a 4-hour drive turned into a 7+ hour nightmare on the NJ Turnpike. Between Piper screaming and traffic not moving in a 13-mile backup, I didn't think we'd ever get there. But, alas we did get there. After checking into the hotel, Eric and I got all gussied up and dashed off to my cousin Scott's wedding. I would have liked to have more pictures but since we were moving at lightning speed, there wasn't time.

The wedding was beautiful, and it was so nice to see my family. We hadn't seen them in probably five years, and I loved catching up with everyone. It was also great for Eric and me to have an evening out with dinner and dancing.

After the wedding, we got back to the hotel, and the kids were tucked nicely into their bed and Deacon was in his crib, and they slept the night away.

Saturday:
The highlight of Saturday was going to my Aunt Elba and Uncle Michael's house for breakfast to get all the kids together. I loved that Piper, Fletch, and Deacon got to meet and play with their cousins. All of us have certainly been busy the past few years.

Eric, Brian, and Bruce took the kids on a hike and for a rousing game of Red Rover.

 

I love this picture from the hike.

 

Four three year olds on a couch.

We're so lucky to have such a wonderful family with so many young cousins for Piper, Fletch, and Deacon to get to know.

After leaving breakfast, we headed back to the hotel for naps. While Piper and Fletch were okay with sleeping in the regular beds the night before, they didn't want to nap. Sleeping in big kid beds for the first time was just too exciting. It took almost two hours for me to get them to sleep. While I tried to get them to sleep, Eric had a little photo shoot with Deacon.

Once the kids finally fell asleep, Eric and I made a fatal parenting mistake--we let Piper and Fletch nap until 5:30pm. OMG, we paid for that mistake. After dinner, Fletch said he was tired around 8pm. However, the joke was on us, because he wasn't sleepy at all. He didn't fall asleep until 2am. And that was after numerous rounds of timeout, every bed configuration possible, running around the room, keeping everyone awake, and general misery for all of us. And then, of course, 30 minutes after falling asleep, Piper and Fletch woke up feeling under the weather. I think we all got about 2 hours or less of sleep.

Sunday:
With Piper, Fletch, and now me all feeling pretty sick with a cold by Sunday morning, we were anxious to get on the road. We ate breakfast in the room and then packed up. Here's how the room looked during that process.

Finally, around 9am, we started our trip back, with Piper, Fletch, and I making up the sick ward in the back seat, in our PJs and everything.

We made the trip back in about 4.5 hours, which was much more manageable. Overall, we had a great time, and while it was hard, it did prove that we can start traveling again. Of course, it helps that Deacon is world's best baby and just goes with the flow. He's a great little traveler, and I can't wait for our next family adventure.

Halloween 2013

It's hard to believe that Halloween has already come and gone, but alas, it has. The kids had a blast wearing their costumes and trick or treating this year. Piper was Strawberry Shortcake and Fletch was Captain America. And even though the weather was a bit drizzly, we didn't let it stop us.

While my kids' taste in costumes is obviously adorable, I'm a bit worried about their taste in candy. They seemed to only pick things like Sweet Tarts, Dum Dums, pretzels, and fruit snacks. WTH? I was really looking forward to buckets and buckets of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. I mean, isn't one of the joys of parenting young kids that you can steal some of their Halloween candy and they won't notice!?! Thankfully, we still have Deacon to teach about the finer candies in life. 

Of course, Halloween wasn't the only late October excitement around here. There was also this.

No sweeter way to end the month than with cute costumes, candy, and a World Series win!