Last Day of 2013

We had planned on hitting up our local library for some new books but they were closed, forcing me to come up with an alternative plan on the fly. Luckily the park next to the library is always a big hit with the monster so that's where we ended up spending our morning. It was the perfect Plan B and a great way to tire everyone out for some afternoon naps.

Raindrops & Peanuts

Big Mother is Watching

In my opinion, the coolest gift Nolan received for Christmas was a gift card to Amazon. Because it then purchased what I have been wanting ever since Mallory was an infant: a new baby monitor. With a recommendation from a mommy friend of mine I finally upgraded my awful, audio-monitor to an awesome, video-monitor. It arrived on Saturday and so far I'm not only loving this thing, I'm enamored by it. Being able to see Nolan sleeping is sooooo much better than just hearing him. I now understand why people spend the extra money to get the video monitor; it's worth every penny.

A big THANK YOU to the Griffith clan - couldn't have done it without you! It's one of those gifts that more than one person gets to benefit from, a 'two-for.' If you can't tell from the photo, the camera is fixed on Nolan sleeping in his Rock 'n Sleep. I've been trying to transition him to his crib full-time but don't seem to be having luck with it yet. Takes naps in the crib, but wakes up repeatedly during the nighttime. Kids can be so puzzling sometimes. Oh, and please pretend you don't see the hot pink nail polish stain on the couch. Kids will be kids!

Nolan: Four Months

Technically he's now four months and seven days old since I'm a little late in posting this. Getting ready for the holiday festivities took all my extra time so blogging was put on the back burner this month. Nolan's routine check up was this morning; he's grown 1/4" but is still the same weight since I put together his monthly stats picture. He got to skip his round of shots this time but not for a good reason: he has an ear infection. My poor little man. It started out as a cold last week and I thought for sure by his doctor appointment today he'd be better. Explains his increased neediness and fussiness. Let's hope this first round of antibiotics does the trick cuz this momma wants her boy feeling better ASAP.

So, who said this little man was allowed to grow up so quickly?! He may look like a baby but I swear this kid is on a mission to grow up faster than he's supposed to. I think it's because he has an older sister that he is enamored with and he's just trying to catch up to her level. He may be a 'momma's boy' but he's also a 'sister's boy' too. In fact I think he likes her more than me sometimes. I'm just grateful that Mallory loves her brother just as much - at least for now anyway.

Still no sleeping through the night, but at least he's only doing one feeding now. He's somewhat of a restless sleeper though so he'll wake himself up throughout the night. Sometimes he'll settle himself back to sleep, but more often I have to rock him back to sleep. So I'm still not getting the best night's sleep - one day. He definitely knows what his bottle is and that it means he gets to eat. If he's close enough to hear me making it, he doesn't even need to see it and he'll start getting excited for what's coming. Typical boy when it comes to his food. He almost always helps you guide the bottle to his mouth and will hold on for a minute, but then becomes lazy and lets go.

He's become a chewing monster. His favorite chew toy is dad's fingers - he'll go to town on Jody's hand, growling and drooling all over the place. He also likes the Oball toy because its easy for him to grasp his little fingers around. Overall he attempts to grab anything that's within his reach and then proceeds to taste and slobber all over it. Including his feet which now fit nicely in his mouth; it's quite entertaining to watch. Mal never did the feet in the mouth. Rolling over is second nature now. Time for me to stop walking away after setting him down if it's not on the floor.

Christmas was magical for Nolan in the sense that he loves to stare at all the lights. The tree was a tool we found useful to calm him down if we needed to. I'm going to miss that tree for more than one reason when it gets taken down next weekend. Another calming tactic we learned about this past month: the mirror. Big sister always liked the mirror too, and still does. Mirrors are pretty cool, especially to innocent little babies so I understand the allure. I mean, look at this handsome little fella - I'd want to stare at myself too!

Christmas

Isaiah 9:6

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.  
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Christmas was so much fun this year with Mallory the age that she is. I love to see the Christmas spirit so alive in her; she wasn't afraid of Santa and wanted to gab his ear off, she likes to go on evening walks around our neighborhood to look at the lights she's seen over and over, her favorite song is "Jingle Bells," she was a very good helper when it came to shopping, and was super excited each time she got to open up a box in her advent calendar to reveal another piece of chocolate. And while it's important to remember the real reason behind CHRISTmas (she was sure to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus while blowing out the smelly-good candle), it's still a little hard for her to grasp the concept of the Christmas story. I tried to tell her that the presents we receive on Christmas from Santa are in honor of Jesus' birthday and she looked at me like I was from another planet. She'll understand one day. 

I'll say one thing that was different this year than last - playing Santa is hard work! By the time I had Mallory in bed truly asleep, it was almost 10pm. Then I had a freak out moment when she came and woke me up at 12:30am wanting to go downstairs. I had to break out the Santa-card again and tell her he might skip us if she didn't go back to bed. She put up a fight for a second but eventually caved and laid back down. Phew, that was close. Then she ended up sleeping later than her normal 6am, so Nolan and I went in to tell her that Santa had come. Even in her half-asleep state she was excited and hurried down the stairs. Her usual morning milk was totally forgotten about as soon as she saw the presents. And once she locked eyes on her bike, she was off and riding it through the house. 

She was our official present opener and had a great time tearing open the packages for everyone, and then wanted to open/play with every single gift. It sort of became a sore topic as the day wore on, but I guess that's to be expected with an overwhelmed three year old. She definitely enjoyed her bike the most and we took a ride up to the park to play for a bit; the weather was beautiful and almost too warm for sweatshirts. After afternoon naps we headed over to the Meloni's for a delicious dinner, a fun White Elephant game, gifts for the kids, and family fellowship. It was definitely a Christmas I hope to always remember!

Christmas Eve

Cousins: Nolan, Mallory, & Lucy

Sharing toys and baby talk

Christmas PJ's

Treats for Santa and his crew

Stealing some popcorn

Meeting Santa

Mallory finally got to meet Santa this past Saturday at our community's holiday party. She was oh so excited as soon as we got to the party and kept asking when he'd be there. She wanted to give up towards the end and even asked to go home, but as soon as we were told Santa would be showing up soon her motivation to wait came back. And luck would have it that we were waiting for him in the perfect spot because not only did she have a front row view of his arrival to the party, she was also first in line to sit on his lap. She didn't hesitate at all when he called her up, and wasted no time telling him what she wanted for Christmas. I didn't hear all that she said to him but I did catch that she asked him for a teddy bear - nice and easy with that request! And it may not have been a bear, but she did get a Snoopy stuffed animal which to her is just as good. She's been carrying him around ever since and reminds others (daily if need be) that Snoopy was a present from Santa. Boy is she in for a treat when she wakes up on Christmas Day and sees what Santa has brought her.

Santa Baby*

*Not to be confused with the song, although I do like the song too. I just like this Santa baby much more.