Ski Weekend and the Double Tub

This weekend marked the first time Halsey and I have hit the slopes in 3 years, and we brought Pierce out to enjoy the snow, too. We all headed up to Mad River Glen with Marmie, Papa and Darcy to ski and relax. After Pierce's initial hesitation about snow at home ("Mine's no like the snow, Mama"), he ended up loving it by the end of the weekend ("I likes the snow now!"). He was so great about putting on all of the gear, trudging across the parking lot (with help from Mom and Dad), and skiing for about half an hour 3 separate times over the weekend. Here are some pictures and videos of our little shredder. Please excuse the volume of my voice on the video--I was a little bit excited!

Teddy laid low over the weekend and got lots of quality playtime in with everyone. He turned 7 months old on Friday, and we celebrated by doing a double tub with the boys! They loved it! Each takes turns laughing and splashing, and it streamlines the evening process a ton. At home we've been using the little baby tub, which Pierce thinks is a hoot, but we used the big tub while we were away. So fun! Teddy is just such a mellow and content baby, just happy being held and hanging out. He seems mesmerized by the light on the camera, though, so he turns off his smile just as we are snapping the photos!

From the Mouths of Babes

At nearly 2 and a half, Pierce is growing so quickly! It is hard to believe we are in the midst of a preschool hunt for him, and that 2 weeks ago he decided he wanted to wear underwear and is making great strides in potty training. He has also been constantly entertaining us with his daily ramblings, and the complexity of his thoughts and sentences. He is like a sponge, and has the memory of an elephant, not letting us forget anything we said. He has also coined some fun new phrases.

Last week as Halsey was pulling a yogurt out of the fridge, Pierce looks at him and says "Don't be sassy, Daddy!". Halsey and I had to leave the room to avoid laughing out loud at how grown up he sounded and how out of context his exclamation was. He has also started using "actually" in many of his statements. For example, we read a book that has a picture of monkeys strumming on banjos. As we read the story together, Pierce pipes up with "those are guitars, actually, Mama. Guitars." Too funny!

Much more aware of people's feelings, and their feelings toward him, Pierce also does many check-ins throughout the day. "You happy now, Mommy?" he asks, arching up his eyebrows in concern. If he has just been in a time-out, he will often check in on our level of happiness while playing, just to make sure everyone is back on good terms. :)

Pierce loves being a big brother to Teddy, and it is adorable to watch them play together now. Pierce likes to read to Teddy, and is teaching him how to dance, as evidenced in the video below.

We can't wait to see what comes out of Pierce's mouth next....

6 months stats

Teddy and I just got back from his 6 month visit where he charmed Dr. Joyce with his smiles and social skills. She noticed how busy he is and proclaimed he is our "motor boy", and that she predicts he will be crawling any minute and that we are going to have to be BIG babyproofers this time around since he is so curious and driven to move.

He measured in at 27 inches (63%) and 15 lbs. 7 oz. (14%--up from 7% at his 4 month). His eating is going well, and she encouraged us to give him 3 meals a day at 4-6 ounces each. Teddy got the green light for all fruits and veggies and even whole milk yogurt or cream cheese! He, so far, has had carrots, squash, green beans, peas, spinach, broccoli, sweet potatoes, bananas, apples, pears, blueberries, mangos, cherries, prunes and apricots. AND avocado. Yum, he loves avocado! At the end of his appointment, he got 3 vaccines, so is upstairs napping it off right now. He has to go back in 1 month for his second part of his flu shot, so we'll see how much he grows in the next month!

Teddy is now sitting up unassisted (photos are from last week), and can sit for 10 minutes before toppling over (or being toppled--thanks, Pierce!). He has also started babbling lots more, though Pierce still does a lot of the talking for him. Teddy has started to enjoy books, and is noticing the animals more and more. Pierce is, by far, his favorite toy, and gives his best belly laughs for his brother.

Sleep training seems to be paying off, and Teddy goes to sleep around 5:30-5:45 and now wakes only once at 3ish and goes back to sleep until 6:30-7am. I think we'll have to do one last stint with training to get rid of that last feeding. The goal is to have him sleeping all the way through the night by February when Hals and I are supposed to take a trip to Florida without the boys.

Christmas with the boys!

Well, a Christmas post is long overdue. So much for that New Year's resolution to be better about blogging and taking pictures. I will follow this post with a couple of other new ones in the hopes that I can catch up with our lives over the past month.

Christmas celebrations kicked off this year with a children's Christmas party at Myopia where both boys had fun dressing up, watching a magic show, eating treats and running around with lots of other kids. They did NOT have fun visiting Santa, who was a little bit scary for both Pierce and Teddy. Santa did give Pierce a candy cane and a gift, though, so he laid some strong groundwork for next year's visit.

Next up was Morris family Christmas, where Pierce and Teddy were the only boys among 5 other girl cousins. Pierce ate up hanging out with his older cousins, especially Bea, who at 5, was the closest to him in age. He eagerly followed on her heels running around the house, and exploring the "secret pathway" (a hidden staircase) in Marmie and Papa's house. The highlight for Halsey and me was watching Pierce with a proud look on his face singing carols along with all of the big girls. He led the family in a rousing edition of Deck the Halls--his favorite! It was a jam-packed 3 days of fun and family.

We returned home to collect ourselves for a night before heading back to Manchester for Christmas Eve services and Christmas Day. At the children's service, Pierce brought a horse and a cow for the manger and said "Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus" when He was opened like a present.

Reading "The Night Before Christmas" with Dad

On the way home from church, Halsey was talking to Pierce about how we leave treats for Santa when he visits our house. As he was explaining that we leave cookies and milk for Santa, Pierce interrupts with a firm "No, Daddy, Santa is a grown-up. We leave him cookies and coffee." :)

Christmas day brought out lots of fun for both boys. Pierce wanted to put together and play with every toy he opened--which made for a VERY extended morning of opening gifts. It was so cute to see him begin to understand the idea of Christmas. Teddy loved all of the lights, the colors of the gifts and the crinkly paper! It was a tremendous (but exhausting) first Christmas for him!

We got a surprise visit from Nana and Pops for a week following Christmas, and we all had a great time celebrating Christmas again at our house. The boys got dressed in some New Year's gear, and watched a little bit of the Rose Parade. Pierce loved the instruments in the marching bands and wanted to wear his drum and be a bandleader.

2011 was an amazing year, and we are so grateful for all of the experiences we were able to share as a family, especially the arrival of Teddy in June! Here's to a memorable 2012!