James is 5 months old today!
…and he is officially getting his first tooth!
He is also rolling around and scooting backward — which basically means that he can get around our entire living room (the only room with carpeting on our main floor).
He’s bouncing and jumping like a crazy boy in his jumperoo, and he smiles ALL the time!
It’s exciting for me to see him reaching these new milestones — because even though everyone tells me not to wish away the tiny baby stage, I do! It’s not that I don’t enjoy it at all, but I know I enjoy the older baby and toddler stage of life much more, so I’m excited to get there with James.
James has started to give up his short evening nap and has been going to bed 2-3 hours earlier at night — hallelujah!
It has been a rough few months for me in the sleep department — with James staying up until 11:00 pm (and waking up multiple times every night) and then Nora waking up around 6:00 every morning, I’ve been running on only a few hours of broken sleep every night since September and it’s starting to wear on me.
Hopefully James will continue to go to bed earlier and I’ll be able to get a couple more hours of sleep myself!
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Simon is just as cute as ever these days.
He’s trying to say so many new words — and actually doing pretty well. He still needs to be prompted to say almost everything — but it’s progress.
His favorite things to say right now are “uh-oh” and “got it!” So he’ll drop something on purpose, say “uh-oh”, then pick it up and say “got it!” Play this on repeat 258 times a day, and that pretty much sums up life with Simon. Oh, and jumping on the bed — he will do that for 15 minutes straight, until he’s all sweaty and out of breath!
Simon is officially out of his high chair, he’s walking up the stairs on his own (not crawling anymore), and he can put on his own boots and shoes — which means I need to plan on leaving at least 5 minutes early since it takes him FOREVER and he won’t accept any help).
He is learning to be gentle with James and often mimics the things I do… so he will go up to James and pretend to tickle his feet, make a little “tica-tica” noise, and then look at me for approval or a laugh. Then he’ll do it again. It’s really cute!
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Nora has been in full “Christmas mode” lately.
Nora attended a Gingerbread House Decorating Party with a few other little girls last weekend, she has been obsessed with our Little People’s Nativity, she is so excited about Christmas parties, opening her presents, and giving others their presents, and she is gearing up for her preschool Christmas party later this week (complete with Christmas caroling!)
Nora has also been doing lots and lots of writing letters. It’s currently one of her favorite things to do… and in the process, she’s actually learning how to spell several words!
It’s so fun to see her write her big fat “R’s” and hear her rattle off how to spell “all”, “ball”, “call”, “mall”, “wall”, etc. with the look of fascination that she is learning something new!
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The weather here in West Michigan has been unseasonably mild — no snow, low 50’s, and even quite a bit of sunshine. We have taken advantage of the nice weather and did a bunch more yard work (seriously, the leaves never stop!), went for several walks, put a few more finishing touches on our shed, and finally tossed the lone rotting pumpkin that has been sitting on our front porch for almost 2 months now 🙂
I also finished and ordered Nora’s yearly photo album with a rare 40% off any purchase coupon from Blurb! It feels good to get that project off my plate so I can quickly finish our family’s 2015 album in January.
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Besides a few outside projects, routine housework, and my blogging and VA work, my main focus these past 2 weeks has been getting ready for Christmas — buying gifts, making gifts, ordering gifts, making food, sending out our Christmas cards, and planning for all our upcoming parties.
While I’m not stressing about it at all, I do think I’m the most behind I’ve ever been on Christmas gifts. I usually try to be finished shopping by Thanksgiving — but this year, I hadn’t even started my shopping by Thanksgiving!
I have done most of my shopping online, but I’ve also ventured out to the mall a few times the past couple of weeks — each time, I’m reminded why I hate going to the mall!
Thankfully, we don’t have many gifts to buy as most of our holiday parties are not “gift parties” but rather just “food, games, and fellowship” parties. Also, Dave’s family doesn’t really do gifts anymore (just for the grandkids) because his parents take us to a Cottage every summer — yay for clutter-free gifts!
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Our Weekly Menu:
SUNDAY:
- Dave’s parents, his brother, and his brother’s wife came over for dinner. His mom made lasagna.
- We also had caesar salad, garlic bread, applesauce, and Dutch Apple Pie.
MONDAY:
- We enjoyed Culver’s burgers, fries, and custard for Dave’s 34th birthday!
TUESDAY:
- Tatertot Casserole
- Green Beans
- Applesauce
- Fresh Bread
- Monster Cookies
WEDNESDAY:
- Baked Puff Pancakes
- Bacon
- Fresh Fruit
- Yogurt
THURSDAY:
- Sausage and Cheese Tortellini soup (we had my parents over for dinner)
- Fresh Bread
- Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies
FRIDAY:
- Brats on the grill (yes, in December!)
- Oven Fries
- Baked beans
- Salad
- Fruit
- Brownie Sundaes
SATURDAY:
- Christmas party with my mom’s side of the family.
- I brought a double batch of my Turkey Tortilla Bake
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Oh, and we’ve officially been eating all our meals at our new-to-us table!
Dave’s parents got a new table, and gave us their old table (it used to be Dave’s grandparent’s table). The table is very similar to our old table, just bigger. We had it sprayed white and the chairs sprayed black — I REALLY like how it looks! I’m still using our green chairs on the sides, but the black chairs are at the ends of the table, and available if we have guests and need more seating.
It’s so nice to have a bigger table (with a few extra leafs so it can get REALLY big if we need it to).
This is Dave’s last full week of school before Christmas break — I am counting down the days.
I’m also looking forward to a little blogging break over Christmas vacation. Maybe I’ll finally catch up on some sleep!
JJ says
Your kiddos are so cute! Nora is doing a fantastic job with her letters! Simon sounds all boy! And James is doing well with his gross motor skills–wow! Praying for you about sleep! I’m right there. My oldest(3) is up daily anywhere between 5:30-6:30, and my baby has been up multiple times every night. He has horrible acid reflux, but it helps that my daughter had it, too, (although no projectile vomiting). We ended up finding out after a simple blood test that she has a dairy allergy. With her, I simply cut out all dairy, and she was a new baby. With my baby boy now, I did that and it made a big difference but didn’t eliminate it. From reading online I figured out that orange juice and chocolate will give them reflux, too. So I kissed orange juice good-bye (ha!), and wow! So much better! But….he has to sleep in his car seat, and once he’s up once, it’s too dark, and I’m too tired to fumble and get him back in. So, in the Rock ‘N Play he goes! And the swing for naps (he’s a crazy cat napper, so I wear him a lot to be productive–haha!). Hoping you have a Merry Christmas, and maybe he will gift you with sleep!
Andrea says
Thanks!! And sorry to hear about your baby!
James is awake a lot — but he is miraculously almost alway happy! I think he just likes seeing me during the night 🙂
So far, I’m not worried about any allergies or sensitivities. He is teething right now, so that is probably causing some of the extra wakeups, but for the most part, he just eats and goes right back to bed. Hopefully both our little guys start sleeping longer periods in the next few months!
JJ says
Teething can be rough. Have you tried a teething anklet or necklace. I was skeptical, but it really worked with my daughter. Then during a growth spurt, it didn’t fit. So I took it off–wow! I realized how much it did work. Then I tried to get her to wear it after her ankle thinned out, and she freaked out. As she is getting her 2 year molars now, it’s been rough for her. All that to say, I’m getting one for my little guy. I used hazelaid.com as a friend had used and recommended them. You can even use a promo code for a discount(normally by searching Google). Hope your little man is sleeping well soon! =)
Barb says
Andrea,
Nora is looking like quite the fashionista, Simon is cute as ever, and James is sooo adorable!!! Love the peek into our week posts!
Andrea says
Thanks barb!
Jenny C. says
Andrea, your 3 little cutie pies make me smile! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Chris K in Wisconsin says
Oh, my! That sweet Nora is surely “stylin” in the pic w/ her skirt and scarf going on!! The sunglasses are the exclamation point on the outfit!! The boys are precious, as well.
Here’s to more sleep in the new year, and over vacation, too….
Anne says
Such a fun time of the year. Love the last photo with all three kiddos.
Susan says
I have signed up for Ebates thanks to your suggestion, and am loving all the online shopping rebates! Thank you, and Merry Christmas!
Paulette says
I’m tired just reading this post. And you’re doing all this sleep deprived!!! ARGGHH…. The children are completely adorable as always. 🙂