Mira visits the Children's Museum

Mira and I had a much-needed "Mommy and Mira Day" recently. We met my friend Marilee and her son John (daughter Audrey is due in 4 weeks!) at the Children's Museum in St. Paul. What a wonderful place! Room after room of new things to discover. Mira couldn't get enough. They had a great Sesame Street exhibit where we spent a bit of our time. It was really fun for her. I'd taken Mira about 1 1/2 years ago, but am not sure if she remembers that. Here are some photos of Mira enjoying our time together:

Just lazin' around

We've been having a nice post-Christmas lull lately. Out and about a little, but lots of quality time at home as well. Amelia recently started using a sippy cup. She's getting used to it but definitely prefers her bottle:


And, Chris and I are terribly sad to say, but Mira seems to be phasing out her naps. Our rule is that if she doesn't nap, she has to have quiet time in her room. In my mind, that means a quiet book on her bed, perhaps coloring or a puzzle. To Mira, it means getting into whatever drawers she has and putting on all her swimsuits or dresses. On this particular day, it meant putting all the barrettes she owns in her hair at once. How pretty! I think this could be a new trend.

And, of course, a photo of the girls together:

Best friends

Mira and Amelia are enjoying each other so much lately! Amelia smiles every time Mira is around, and Mira does her best to make Amelia laugh. Sharing toys is something we are working on, but I can tell they will be best friends. It will be so cute to see how they interact at ages 3 and 6. Here's a cute photo of the girls from today:

Amelia's getting a new . . . hat?

We had Amelia's appointment with Gillette's today. Dr. Wood examined Amelia and, while he doesn't recommend the CranioCap to parents one way or the other, he did tell us that Amelia's head is flatter than most that he sees and that due to her age it was unlikely to resolve itself. Based on that information, and the fact that the doctor said insurance does cover it 95 percent of the time, we decided to go ahead with the cap.

So they took some digital pictures of Amelia's skull and will fit the helmet from that. It was nice that they didn't need to do a plaster mold, which was common up until a year ago. Just a camera that made an outline of her head. The cap will be ready in 2 weeks, so we have an appointment on Feb. 7 to have her fitted for it. She'll wear it 22-23 hours a day for 3-4 months. It seems like a lot, but kids get used to the cap very quickly. They say it just feels like a hockey helmet. Snug, but not tight. It will have a gap in the back for her head to grow into, and there is a hole in the top for ventilation.

We'll decorate it cute with stickers! I saw on a blog a little girl with the same cap and her mom had put stickers on it that said, "What helmet?" I'm looking for a similarly cute saying for Amelia's cap. Any suggestions?

In the end, she should have a nice round head on which to grow her hair! Thanks for all the concern. I think this will go well.

Michelle

Amelia update

Chris and I have been concerned about Amelia's flat head for awhile now, so today we took her to the pediatrician to see if he thought we should see a specialist about it. After examining her, the doctor gave us the number of a specialist with Gillette's Children's hospitals. We're guessing Amelia will be diagnosed with deformational plagiocephaly, which isn't as scary as it sounds. It's basically a flat head from lying in one position. We were hoping her head would round out after she started sitting up, but it hasn't quite as much as it should have. Most likely, Amelia will have to wear a CranioCap for a few months to round out her head. It's a painless helmet that helps the head become a rounder shape. We'll give more updates on Friday after her appointment.

Here's a link for more information (provided by Cousin Angie. Thanks, Angie!)
http://www.gillettechildrens.org/default.cfm?PID=1.3.6.4

Michelle

So pretty

Me: Mira, how did you get so pretty?
Mira: Because I look like you, Mommy.

Awww. What a sweet girl! (Okay, I confess I taught her to say that, but still, awwwww.)

Mira goes to gymnastics

Mira had her first gymnastics class tonight. She really enjoyed it! After 2 bathroom breaks and telling the instructor that she didn't want to do somersaults, she tackled the balance beam and the vault with confidence! She wants to go back tomorrow night, but alas, she'll have to wait until next week.






And here's a cute photo of Mira, Chesney, and Logan when Kelly and the kids came over this past weekend. We had a blast!

Amelia is on the move!

Amelia is on the verge of crawling! I've been looking forward to it for awhile, but now I'm not sure I'm quite ready! At least she waited until the Christmas tree was taken down. I figure we have a couple of weeks left until she gets really moving. Amelia is going to be a curious little one, into everything! Mira is already bemoaning the fact that Amelia can roll her way over to Mira's toys. Not a happy day for Mira when her baby sister gets faster.

Christmas at Grandma Adeline's

We had another Christmas a week ago at my Grandma Adeline's house. What a busy place! We counted and there were more than 60 people there this year! Grandma officially has 26 great-grandchildren now, thanks to the addition of Noah in December. And many, many of them were there. Lots of little kids running around the place, it was filled to bursting!

Santa came to Grandma's house this year, as he does every year. I remember when we were kids and we'd have to start singing right after dinner. It felt like we were singing for an hour or more before he finally arrived (which always coincidentally coincided with when the dinner dishes were finished!). Lately, the kids just need to knock out a couple of tunes before Santa comes (probably because now we use paper plates and there are fewer dishes!).

Amelia didn't cry on Santa's lap a mere week after she was terrified on his lap at my parent's house. I guess she considered them old friends at that point.

It was a great Christmas this year. Just one more on the 19th and our holidays will be complete. Then it's my birthday and Valentine's Day right after that. Love the holidays in the thick of winter to keep us out and about. Hope you are all well!

Michelle

A family photo:



Amelia and my aunt/Godmother Bonnie Kaye (Amelia gets her middle name from Aunt Bonnie as well as from her Grandma Diane):



Mira on Santa's lap. She has never cried on his lap!



Amelia remembering an old friend. No crying this week!

Christmas Party in Lanesboro

This weekend was our family Christmas party in Lanesboro. It was great fun! We don't all get to be together as often as we'd like, so it was special to have all my siblings, their kids, and my parents together for a couple of days. As usual the food was plenty! The kids had a wonderful time . . . enhanced to the limit when Santa Claus made an appearance! Amelia was the only one who wasn't too happy about sitting on his lap:





Amelia was afraid of Santa, but found the courage to try on his hat after he had left:



On Sunday, the kids went outside to go sledding and play in the snow. Kelly, Chris, Justin, Jeff, and Duey all "supervised." Actually, I think they enjoyed the sledding more than the kids did!






And finally just a few more nice photos from Christmas. Happy holidays, everyone!






Oh, and a note to my siblings: Whoever took a picture of one of my brother's butts, very funny! That's an image I really don't need to see. And, yes, I've erased it.

Merry Christmas!

We hope you are all having a lovely day with your loved ones! We traveled to Chris's dad's house last night to spend the afternoon with him and Chris's brother and family. When we got home, Mira got a mug of milk and a plate of cookies for Santa and put them by the fireplace.



Then we woke this morning to find the stockings stuffed! Mira was especially excited about that. Santa brought her lots of items for her craft box (stickers, pom-poms, glitter, pipe cleaners). She went right to work making a new creation for us. Mom and Dad drove up last night and spent the night at our house, so it was very special to have them spending Christmas Day with us. They left just after the snow started falling, but not until Chris broke out his "Christmas Sweater!"



Here is Mira enjoying a craft table she received. She LOVES to create things. If she's not artistic when she gets older, it certainly won't be for our lack of trying!



Chris and I gave Mira a kids digital camera for Christmas. We figure she'll stop asking to take pictures with ours now. It doesn't take great photos, but it does give her the opportunity to take as many photos as she wants. And it has this great feature where you can put elements on the photos. Check these out!





And Amelia is LOVING her stage and sing toy. She bops around with the music and likes to watch herself in the mirror. Does she know it's her?



In the afternoon, Mira and I went outside to play. It was too bad the snow was too dry for a snowman, but Mira did make her first snow angel:





So far, it's been a great Christmas! We have another celebration at my parent's house this weekend, followed by another at my grandma's the following weekend, followed by one at Chris's mom's house two weekends after that! They are spread out, but it sure does prolong the Christmas season. And the kids love it!

I guess the only bad thing that's happened so far is that Mira got a candy cane stuck in her hair:



Fortunately, no hairs were lost in the removal of the candy cane. And don't feel too sorry for Mira . . . she was told just minutes prior that she couldn't have a candy cane in the first place. Karma!

Finally, a couple more of Amelia to give her equal face time. She's clapping when asked now and is so smiley and happy! We feel the hardest part is over and it's such a wonderful feeling. Now we'll just relax and really enjoy our two girls! The fact that Amelia no longer needs a middle-of-the-night feeding is awesome! We are suddenly well rested.





Merry Christmas to everyone!

Amelia learned to clap!

Among other things, like sitting up by herself and eating cereal like a champ (she's up to carrots, squash, and applesauce), Amelia learned to clap this week. Below is a video of her latest "trick':



Other than this, Mira and I have been very busy making batch after batch of Christmas cookies. They are the roll-out kind that I've never attempted before, but now she and I are old pros at it. Mira mostly gets the frosting on the cookie and not into her mouth. It's been a nice task we can do together during the cold winter days.



Mira also got a letter from Santa Claus! It was an exciting day for her! She is trying to be good so that Santa fills her stocking on Christmas morning. It's a struggle some days, but she is trying. And Mira also is going all night without a pull up. So far, pretty good. She was about 1/2 wet nights and 1/2 dry at first, but the last SIX nights have been all dry! Great job, Mira! We bought her a room for her doll house for trying so hard. No more pull-ups! That's an extra $10 in our pocket each month.



We hope you all have a wonderful last week before Christmas. It can be hectic, so take some time for yourselves. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Elf Yourself!

My coworker showed me this wonderful site called Elf Yourself where you can upload a photo of yourself and turn into a dancing elf. It's hysterical.

Here's the link to one with Mira and Amelia:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1161422405
(Loading time is a little slow.)

And here's one with me, Chris, Mira, and Amelia:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1161191265



Happy holidays, everyone!