Major Milestones Revisited

Now that Miss. Bree has turned 5 months old, we’ve hit some new baby milestones. Bree can now give us a real laugh, constant smiles, and can support her head when we hold her on our hip. I absolutely think that Bree’s laugh is adorable and brightens my day every time I hear it. There was one day in Lowe’s where Bree was just laughing none-stop at the funny faces we were making at her. It was the most adorable thing I have ever seen. It’s funny to see her react to funny faces and noises that adults make. Apparently, one of her daycare workers informed us that she gave them a huge belly laugh at the exact moment when another worker tripped on a toy and fell. So I’m now saying that my child lacks empathy….greats news for a social worker…ha! Bree has also recently been upgraded to the “big girl tub” for bath time, which basically is the same bathtub we’ve been using since her first bath but without the newborn/infant insert. She still doesn’t really seem to like bath time. She either screams through the whole thing or sits there tolerating it. Jason and I have tried showing her that she can splash in the water with her hands and feet, but she just hasn’t gotten the hang of it. I’m thinking once she’s a bit older she’ll have more fun in the water. Bree is also working really hard on learning how to sit up on her own. She’s not quite there yet as her balance hasn’t been perfected, but she can sit beautifully when propped on the couch or with a bit of her mommy and daddy’s support.

 Look at that beautiful smile!!!

 Excuse me?! Big girl tub!!

 All snug in my ducky towel

 Mommy cuddles!

 Awwww.....

 Tickles!

 Silly daddy put this rag on my head!

The other new thing for Miss Bree is the introduction to solids (rice cereal). I have been resistant and hesitant to introducing solids for many reasons....mainly being that I didn’t want to introduce anything that would mess with Bree’s schedule since she sleeps beautifully through the night. I think the other aspect was that I didn’t want to let go of that “baby/newborn” feelings. Starting solids is a step into the “big girl” phase and I didn’t know if I was ready for that. Then Bree got sick with that stomach bug which gave me a good excuse to wait. And then we had our first mini-vacation with Bree, so I didn’t want to introduce solids when we were travelling. Thankfully, Jason stepped in and talked some sense into me. The daycare we take Bree to requires that a child be on solids for a week before they will introduce it (safety check to ensure that the child is not allergic to the food). And since we were both taking off for 1 ½ weeks for this mini-vacation, what better time than that to start the foods. I still wasn’t pleased, but I agreed that we probably did need to start it sooner rather than later. The first two days were unsuccessful. Bree screamed, cried, and turned her head away from the cereal. We couldn’t get her to open her mouth at all. After talking to a few friends who have young children, we decided to pick her second feeding of the day and gave her 4 of her 6 oz. then try the cereal, and then end with any leftover formula. The third time we tried went much better. Bree opened her mouth and allowed us to place the cereal in her mouth. Of course it all came right back up as it dripped out of her mouth. The next few times got better as she has begun to open her mouth wide and has even moved her mouth around in a chewing fashion after we place the cereal in her mouth. She’s had a solid week of the liquidly rice cereal and hopefully real soon, we’ll be able to thicken the cereal. From there I guess we begin to introduce her to veggies, fruit, and other cereal types. I guess we can now inform childcare that Bree can be placed on the solid food list. My baby girl is growing up!   

 Tag teaming it!

 Yummm....what a mess!

Here comes Santa Claus....

Amidst the chaos of moving into a new home and having Bree and Jason get sick (Bree for a total of 2 1/2 weeks of vomiting and illness), we got to celebrate Bree's first Christmas!!! We knew this year would be chaotic for us, so we tried to prioritize what would make us feel like we were celebrating Christmas the most. For me, it was seeing the Christmas lights and having Bree meet Santa for the first time. For Jason, it was getting and decorating a Christmas tree and making Christmas cookies. So that's what we set on a mission to do. Right after Thanksgiving and right before Bree got sick, we found a Christmas lights showcase in MA. The nicest part was that it was driving tour, so we didn't have to get out and brave the cold and if Brianna screamed through it, the only people she would annoy would be us. The park put on a good showcase and even had a radio station playing Christmas music that corresponded with the lights. I'm not sure if we'd go back...the price was a bit steep and I thought the showcase could be a bit longer, but it definitely gave us a nice start to the holiday season!

On to finding Santa. I knew Santa would be visiting the malls, but I wanted Bree to have a special place to meet Santa for the first time. A co-worker of mine recommended the Yankee Candle Factory/Village in MA as a possibility. So Jason and I picked a weekend and dressed Bree up in her Christmas outfit. We followed the signs to meet Santa, until we ran into the one sign and elf that told us it would be an approximate 2 1/2 hour wait to see Santa!! I honestly thought about waiting in the line (you can tell how much I wanted Bree to visit with Santa), but thankfully, Jason's logic stepped in and convinced me that Santa will be visiting other locations across the state that may not require such a long wait time....considering that Bree eats every 3-4 hours and probably wouldn't last in a line for 2 1/2 hours. So instead, we toured the Yankee Candle Village, had a great time, and even got to make our own candles. That night, Jason went online to see if Santa was going to be making any stops in the area. Sure enough, we found out that Santa would be stopping in a little cabin in Wickham Park, one of our favorite parks near our first CT apartment in Manchester. So the next morning, we again dressed Bree up in her Christmas dress and stood in line to see Santa. Thankfully, this line was much shorter and we were able to make it through. At the door an elf asked us if Bree had been naughty or nice this year. I answered with "mostly nice, some naughty moments." The elf laughed and asked what Bree was going to be asking Santa for. Jason and I both replied "to be in her new home before Christmas!" The elf thought this was a wonderful gift to ask Santa. Bree had been doing really well up to this point, of course two children away from meeting Santa, Bree decides that she is tired and becomes extra fussy. A nice father offered to let Bree go first, but we politely declined. When it was Bree's turn, I walked her up to Santa while Jason took photos. Santa gently took Bree in his arms and quietly talked to her. We told Santa of the gifts that Bree wanted for Christmas (to be in her new home and to be able to have a nap). Santa said he would look into it. Ironically, Bree stopped crying the entire time that Santa was holding her. I think she was fascinated by him. We thanked Santa and told him "Merry Christmas!!"

Next step was to get a Christmas Tree. Thankfully, Santa brought Bree a Christmas present early and made it possible for us to move into our new home the weekend before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, we knew that we needed to make a decision on the Christmas tree. Bree was still sick and vomiting, so I was worried about taking her outside in the cold to pick out a tree. But getting a Christmas tree for Christmas was really important to Jason, so I wanted to come up with something. We finally decided that Jason would go and pick out the tree himself (not our first choice, but the best option we had at the time). An hour later, Jason came back home with a Christmas tree in tow. Once Jason and I untied the tree, it turned out to be a nice, full one....with one problem, the top was too tall. No big deal, we figured we'd chop off the top of the tree, no  problem. Of course when we did that it left our tree with no top....or place to put our snowman star tree topper. To celebrate the moment, Jason helped Bree put the first Christmas ornament on the tree....a yarn ball (we figured that if she dropped it, it wouldn't break....thinking ahead here!). After that, we gave Bree her final feeding of the night, read her a Christmas story, and put her down for night time. We knew that if Santa was going to come, we needed to get the tree ready. So we unpacked as many Christmas ornaments as we could find (mind you that our house was still covered in boxes by this point) and decorated while listening to Christmas music. We finished decorating around 1am and by 2am Jason and I were in our beds waiting for Santa! I knew Christmases with kids often caused parents to stay up late, but I didn't think it would start this early!

The next morning, we woke Bree up to celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately, Bree decided to give me a Christmas present that I couldn't return (a nice vomit while I was carrying her downstairs). Poor thing was still sick. So Bree and Daddy took a Christmas morning nap together, while I worked on the laundry and watched the Disney Christmas parade on TV. Once Bree woke up and kept down her lunch time feeding, we moved over to the Christmas tree and worked on unwrapping her Christmas presents. We realized that if we started to rip the paper and then placed the paper in Bree's head, that she would grab a hold and continue to hold on to the paper while we pulled the present away.....her own version of unwrapping Christmas presents. It turns out that Santa, mommy and daddy, gigi and pappy, grandmom and grandpop, and other friends and family were very nice to Bree for Christmas. She got a jumperoo, which she looks adorable in, but hasn't quite figured out how to jump in it yet. She also received some clothes, books, stuffed animals, and toys. Minus the vomit, it was a wonderful first Christmas!!

The last and final thing on our to-do-list was to make Christmas cookies, which we did by the masses. Thanks to our new double oven, we cranked out the cookies! I absolutely love the smell of cookies baking in the oven. There's something so warm and comfy about that smell. In addition to these Christmas activities, Jason and I also read Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol to Bree over the course of several weeks (we're planning on making this a tradition). Bree also created her first Christmas ornaments for our family and for her grandparents and Auntie Kirsten.....first hand-print clay ornaments. We helped Bree make and paint the ornaments. Gold for her family members and pink for us. Super cute!! We even got to include her in our Christmas charity. We put several organizations in a bowl and had her pick out the one we would ultimately decide to donate to this year. We can't wait to keep the Christmas memories and traditions coming year after year! I love this time of the year.