I'll do a post about our lovely Christmas weekend soon, but I have so many photos from this last week that I wanted to get all the pre-Christmas stuff posted first.
Now for probably a dozen too many pictures from last week:
^^I'm proud of myself for finishing most Christmas-related tasks early so I could spend the last half of the week having Christmas book readathons where Jack brough allllll of his Christmas books into my bed and we read every last one for over an hour. Hope this becomes a yearly tradition.
^^Just look at dem delicious leggies!
^^We got a few days of snow. Our neighborhood feels like the cutest little snowglobe with those huge trees surrounding us. Love waking up to this view.
^^Snowball fights! These are the moments when I wish we lived near his cousins, so we could round them all up and throw them outside to giggle and play in the snow for hours.
^^Jared and Fighter Pilot Alice chasing Jack around.
^^Asking to hold Alice while he watched "The Star" for probably the fifth time of the week (a cute animated movie about the nativity story from the perspective of the donkey).
^^Making gingerbread houses, front camera view and rear camera view. Alice was having a rough night so I spent the evening bouncing her around.
^^Nursing view from the rocking chair in Alice's room. How cute is that butterfly snowflake I made last year??
^^And to all a goodnight! The view from the hall right outside our bedroom. I always end up peeking out this window after I put Alice back down after her night feedings.
(^^Ward Christmas Party. Yes we had socks on Baby Alice, but they kept falling off and getting lost. No worries, it was very warm in there.)
This week I took myself to the dentist THREE TIMES within a seven day period. Zero stars, would not recommend. One cleaning, one left-side-mouth cavity filling appointment, one right-side-mouth cavity filling. On my way out today they said, "Bye, we'll see you in six months!" And I said, "I hope I never see any of you jerks again." (jk, Home Alone reference. I didn't actually say that.) I never had one single cavity before I had kids. But pregnancy wrecks havoc on my oral hygiene and at my pregnancy cleaning I was feeling too terrible to schedule cavity fillings so they saved them all for postpartum. Five little cavities filled this week, whoops. Very glad to have that behind me, and to not have months of pregnancy barfing decay all my teeth in 2023. It feels strange to reflect on my life and realize that prior to this week I'd only ever experienced routine cleanings, and one cavity filling appointment after Jack was born. This one week has included more cavity appointments than my previous entire life put together. That's a fun fact that I hate about this week.
We have snow sticking to the streets and trees today. It is absolutely beautiful. Like living in a snowglobe since our street is surrounded by enormous evergreens. Here are a few more pictures from our week:
"Dad, do you know what I'm grateful for today? [pensive pause] Pooping on your face." (followed by fits of laughter. I think one of his preschool friends must be a potty mouth because the potty jokes did not exist until a month or two ago and now they are absolutely out of control.)
It's Christmas time!!!! I know it has been for a while, but I tend to be a stress case until all the Christmas shopping is 100% done, which is what we accomplished over the weekend. I feel so much lighter and I'm excited to chill and make paper snowflakes while watching Christmas movies. Which we'll probably do a lot of this week, since Jack has the flu. Hooray. Who needs one last week of preschool before holiday break to chill and catch their breath? Not me. I'm just hoping Alice doesn't catch it! There was one day last week where she was screaming and inconsolable and she wouldn't breastfeed at all. I'm suspicious that it might've been due to something I ate (dairy, likely). She's back to normal now and I'm staying away from dairy and also keeping a food diary for the future. Here's a cute Baby Alice picture from yesterday when we got her all dressed up for church and then decided to stay home because Jack spiked a fever of 102:
^^^Jack getting in his morning snuggles with Baby Alice
I'm gonna be honest, I had no idea yesterday was Monday. Jared got off from work early like he always does on Monday so that probably should have tipped me off, but nope. I'm still living in a newborn daze I suppose. That said, I am loving the current baby stage! Alice has a bit of a lingering cough from being sick last week, but otherwise she is back to her normal self. On average she's waking up twice a night. Sometimes more, but frequently only once, so absolutely no complaints. When I can I try to remember to wait 2 or 3 minutes before going to get her during the night. Often she's not hungry or even awake and she stops crying and goes back to sleep quickly. I wish I had known that tip with baby Jack. I honestly think we made his sleep worse by attending to every cry immediately. Most of the time he was genuinely still asleep and I was disrupting a perfectly good sleep cycle. So if you're about to have your first baby, stick that tip in your back pocket. (I do this if a nap seems extra short too. She usually goes back to sleep by the 2 minute mark if she's only been napping less than an hour.) I think I first read this concept a year or so ago in the book "Bringing up Bebe." In France everyone does this and the author calls it "Le Pause." I've also heard this tip recommended by sleep consultants.
I'm also happy to report that we haven't needed to use the front pack or exercise ball for probably over a week now. Little miss is perfectly content in a bouncer or swing until she starts getting tired for her next nap. It's amazing. It's life changing. Pediatricians can tell you that fussiness tends to peak around 6-8 weeks and then improves by around 12 weeks. I wasn't sure I believed this because with baby #1 fussiness peaked from around 6 days until around 2 years, but every baby really is different. Here we are at week 11 and I'll be darned--Baby Alice chilled in her carseat without fussing through the ENTIRE 2-hour block of church on Sunday. I was and still am shocked to my core. I fed her at the beginning, then she chilled and napped and occasionally needed a pacifier replaced, but wow. Jared and I kept staring at each other with huge eyes like, "Is this a normal baby? Do we have ourselves a normal baby??" We've seen so many other babies just chilling in their carseats over the years but figured it wasn't in the cards for us. She still has her moments (and still hates car rides), but as long as we catch her hungry and tired waves before they crash she's generally very calm these days.
^^I thought this graph was a scam when I found it two months ago. So happy it's not.
https://diethood.com/red-beans-and-rice/
^^ Alice graduated from her swaddle and now sleeps in a Magic Merlin sleep sack. I'm enjoying her Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man era that will be gone all too soon. I see so much of me AND Jared in her depending on the picture. Makes me so happy.
Jack "rejoying" a Christmas package from Grandma Haines. Don't know if I've mentioned this but he'll often add an "r" to verbs beginning with an "e." I never correct him because I know it will end all too soon. Enjoy = Rejoy. Explode = Resplode. Escape = Rescape. Explain = Resplain. He also says "ka-do list" instead of "to do" list. It's my favorite.
Some other good quotes from Jack this week:
"I'm just snuggling wif my 3 little angels--Bunny, Foxy, and Alice."
"Jupiter is my favorite. It's a gassy planet."
And when his teacher asked if his new car smelled good inside: "Ya, it smells like cookies!"
Speaking of new car, we got our Palisade on Monday! Feels like an eternity ago, and yet here are the only two anticlimactic pictures I have for you. Rejoy:
And this interior picture that I almost didn't share but then was like, I have to share, because #relatable and it makes me lol. You're welcome:
^^This must have been taken without my knowledge at the end of a long day when Jared requested an evening drive that I knew would be filled with baby screams. And then I'm sure he sent this pic to his parents, as a husband does, as the chosen "new car" picture. Thx babe. We love the car though! The only downside is that now that our car is open to our trunk the grocery pickup guy makes smalltalk while he's loading our groceries. Otherwise I love it. The heated seats and steering wheel are life. Android Auto is a big upgrade. The space is amazing. It drives so smoothly and I feel so much safer on the road, which was our top priority. It's been a good week! Lots to be thankful for!
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