Santa

Santa and Mrs. Claus came to Boone Links golf course this morning so Warner, Maren, and I joined them for breakfast. He makes this stop each year, and last year Warner wasn't a huge fan, so I wasn't sure what to expect today. Here's last year's experience:So really we had no where to go but up this year. As suspected, the "breakfast" part (donuts and juice) was the biggest hit.This was Warner's reaction to Frosty and Rudolf:Once he got on Santa's lap he wouldn't stop itching his eyes. I guess it was a nervous reaction.
He did talk to Santa though, and in the most quiet, timid voice you can imagine he asked him to bring a choo-choo on Christmas morning. It was the sweetest thing. He also asked for a tractor.
Maren was happy to be out and enjoyed watching everything from the comfort of my arms. She was all dolled up in an outfit my mom sent her that is just about too cute to handle:
As we left Warner asked for "more Santa" so we might visit him again at the Mall. What a fun time of year.

Yum

Why Warner loves the fact that I made puppy chow for my MOPS group (and another batch for us, of course):Taste-testing is a very important part of the process, and Warner is always willing to take one for the team to make sure everything is just right. What a selfless guy.

Impossible

Maren has the most beautiful dark hair like her father. However, it can be a bit unruly at times and often works it's way into a fauxhawk:What's a girl to do?

Four Months

At four months Maren weighs 14 pounds (45th percentile) and is 25 1/4 inches long (75th percentile). She is a happy baby and smiles with her entire face. When she isn't happy she is quick to let me know but thankfully for the most part she's content. She can now roll over both ways - from belly to back and back to belly - and squirms all over the place when left on the ground. She's sitting up much better in her red chair and is handling the exer-saucer for longer periods of time (but still doesn't love it).
Her well-baby visit at the doctor went great - she only cried after one of the three vaccines. Warner was a different story. He threw multiple fits and I blew through two suckers, two packages of fruit snacks, and half a box of raisins to pacify him during the visit. At one point the nurse said "is there something wrong?". My response: "yes. He's two".

My Little Snow Bunny

My sister always loved winter and pulled off the "snow bunny chic" look quite well. I think Aunt Meredith would be proud that Maren can work the look as well.

Park

Warner loves parks. In fact, "park" is often the first thing he says in the morning and after he gets up from his afternoon nap. Hopefully the weather will continue to hold up so we can keep going. My little monkey. Warner definitely thrives on positive reinforcement so he gets the biggest kick out of Kevin and I making a big deal about him doing "big boy things" on the playground. He has no fear and will climb just about anything.Another monkey move.This is my favorite. I told Warner to pick up his feet when he goes down the slide to go faster (his shoes always slow him down). However something got lost in translation because he only picks up one foot. It is so hilarious I nearly pee my pants laughing each time he goes down the slide.
Maren enjoys watching her brother show off and I'm sure she'll be joining him soon.

Superkids

I've been MIA primarily due to exhaustion. Warner has been testing us in the sleep area for a few weeks now. Although it's gotten better lately, it's still not what I would classify as acceptable. Last week he got up at 5am a few days in a row, announcing he was "all done". He may be "all done" at 5am, but Mom and Dad are not "all done" at that ungodly hour, especially when I'm still getting up at least once a night with Maren. You know it's bad when makeup still doesn't conceal the dark circles under your eyes. I seriously do not know what I'd do without coffee. I passed a church sign the other day that read "We give thanks for coffee". Amen to that.

Anyway, Warner is still a wonderful kid and keeps us laughing despite our sleep deprivation. Kevin got him a Superman shirt and although he doesn't understand superheros yet, he loves the shirt and "flying" like Superman.
An action shot while he was flying.The term "all boy" describes Warner very well. He loves to run, jump, climb, etc. I'm continually amazed at his gross motor skills. I found him scaling our entertainment center yesterday, using the drawer handles for his feet and hands. He can climb everything at the park, jumps off of anything without fear, and generally seems very coordinated (this coming from a very uncoordinated mother so maybe my expectations are low). His size probably helps as well: he was 31 pounds 8 ounces (85th percentile) and 36 1/4 inches (90th percentile) at his 2 year check-up. Maybe all of this will score him some sort of athletic scholarship someday. In addition to his academic scholarships, of course.Maren is growing and changing so quickly. I put her in her exer-saucer this week and although it wears her out, she seems to like it. I think she might be longer than Warner at this age because her feet touch the bottom in the exer-saucer and I remember putting books under Warner's feet when he first used it. I suppose we'll find out at her four month check-up soon.She is a happy baby and loves personal interaction - which is great except for when I'm trying to fix dinner. Hopefully her superhero ability will be sleeping so I won't go entirely crazy.

Mono

Maren continues to be my star sleeper. She goes to bed with Warner around 8pm and usually doesn't get me up until around 4am. One night last week she slept until 6:15 which was great except I kept checking on her, afraid something was wrong. When she wakes up I nurse her, change her diaper, and put her back to sleep in about 45 minutes, and then she sleeps until 7 or 8am. She isn't that interested in napping during the day however. She'll take cat naps in her car seat and bouncy seat (or on couch for that matter) during the day but still doesn't nap well in her crib. Maybe this is why she's sleeping so well at night. If so, I'll take it.She is very alert and loves to talk and interact. She already likes watching Warner and he enjoys involving her in his play. She has started playing with the toy on her red seat but I'm not sure if she's aware her own hand is moving it yet.
Warner is talking more each day. However, most of his words don't sound exactly as they should. For example: Maren's name. I will repeat with him over and over again "Mar-en. Say Maren, Warner". He looks back at me and says "Mo-no. Mono." (like the illness). It's only bothersome when we're in public and he keeps saying "Mono" over and over again. Hopefully people don't think our entire family is infected with the mono virus. Or worse yet, I hope the nickname doesn't stick.

Couch Jumping

Warner has been using the furniture as his personal playground for a while now. Allowing him to do this is something to add to my list of "things I swore I'd never do as a parent, but now do".

Other items on this list include: letting Warner eat and drink in all rooms of the house, using candy as a bribe, having the television on entirely too much (including in the car and for short trips at that), and letting my house become overrun with toys. I tell myself I'm choosing my battles instead of losing all control, but I'm not so sure. Parenting is so humbling.

Three months old

Maren is growing like a weed. At three months old she is smiling like crazy, laughing, cooing (Kevin says she's going to be a motor mouth), rolling over from belly to back, standing with assistance, and sleeping up to eight hour stretches at night (thank you, Jesus!). I don't think Maren and Warner look that much alike. However, I do think they resemble one another in these pictures:
I got out Warner's red chair last week and was surprised at how well Maren sat in it.
They're not quite playing together yet, but it's a start ...

Happy Halloween!

Kevin had the idea to make candy corn pancakes for breakfast on Halloween. I was a bit skeptical as to how they'd turn out, but they were delicious. We now have a new Halloween morning tradition.We carved pumpkins a bit later, which Warner wasn't as excited about as I thought he'd be. He did enjoy sitting on the pumpkins.But also helped us do a bit of carving. Here he is with the pumpkin I carved. One of the teeth fell out and he was really concerned about it. He kept telling me we needed "more teeth" for it. Hence him pointing to his teeth in the picture.Maren participated by wearing a Halloween outfit and watched us from the comfort of her bouncy seat. I decided to dress both kids at pumpkins since this will probably be my first and last opportunity for matching costumes. The trick-or-treating was a hit with Warner. He wasn't sure about the whole process at first but once he realized he got candy - and at each house at that - he was all aboard.
Walking up to a neighbor's house with Dad.
After we hit a few houses we came back to pass out candy. Warner enjoyed this as much as he enjoyed the trick-or-treating.
He was so generous - he passed out his favorite candy first (M&M's) to the kids.
Maren was a trooper the whole night. It was so much fun to experience Halloween with the kids this year and share their enthusiasm for the holiday. I can't wait for Christmas!

Muncie

During my mom's visit we made a three day trip to Indiana. Warner, Maren, and I stayed at MaNell's new house which is on the same street as my grandparents and her parents. We had so much fun! We celebrated Warner's birthday again with our Muncie family Monday night. Warner was pretty excited to get birthday cake two days in a row.
Emme made sure Maren was included in the fun - she's reading her version of Finding Nemo.
Grammie and Maren in the sweater Great Grandma Warner made for her.
The kids on MaNell and Steve's golf cart. Warner and Emme would have had me drive them around the golf course all day long if I'd let them.Eating chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. I think Warner will return to Aunt MaNell's house again after the food she had for him.MaNell got Warner this Handy Manny toy and he loves it. It plays the song from the show and I think I heard it 250 times each day we were in Muncie.

I was putting on Warner's shoes one day and told him I had the Handy Manny song stuck in my head since he had played it so frequently. He looked at me, a bit puzzled, then took my head in his hands. He looked all around my head, patting it with his hands, and said "Manny? Manny?". He thought Manny was literally in my head. I guess figurative speech will come in a few years.