Busy Christmas season

It's been a busy couple of weeks.  The whole family got sick after Thanksgiving and it took a few weeks for everyone to get better.  Luckily everyone got better for Christmas.   This year Kate had a Christmas concert at preschool.  Unfortunately, Kate was out sick and missed all but one rehearsal.  She did a good job pretending like she knew the songs.  It was very cute.

Christmas Eve was really good.  The kids of course got lots of great presents.  I'll post more about that later.

Some pics:

Claire laughing

Everyone has been sick!

I haven't posted in a while because everyone in our house has been sick.  The day after Thanksgiving started with Claire, then Kate, me, and Jamisen.  It's been a rough time getting everyone better.  Just when we thought we were all on the mend Kate started to get sick again. We took her into the doctor and she has pneumonia.  She's been on antibiotics a few days so I'm really hoping this week she'll be better.

Kate is usually so excited about Christmas but since she's been sick she wanted nothing to do with decorating the tree.  We missed a gingerbread house class I had signed her up for.  I bought stuff to make one at home but she still isn't that interested.  She did ask today if she could open her Christmas gifts so maybe she's feeling a little better.

Claire was sick for about a week then she was back to herself.  She's been obsessed with climbing the stairs lately.  She loves to eat but is not a fan of baby food anymore.  She follows her big sister everywhere.

We're looking forward to the holidays, I'm just hoping everyone gets healthy and stays healthy!

Claire is happy as usual

Claire is pretty much always happy. She loves playing, eating, and chasing her big sister.  She has a little bit of a runny nose but I don't think she's sick, maybe she's finally getting some more teeth. Claire has shunned baby food and wants to eat more real food.  As you can see, she loves raspberries and broccoli.  We have not yet found a food that she doesn't like.

We went to visit my grandma and Kate loves going to great grandma's house to check out all her "junk" in the "junk drawer".  She also really liked the chocolate sucker that she brought home.

My best friend Ann brought over her daughter Sophia today.  She's almost 2 and Kate loved playing with her/bossing her around.  I think this picture may be blackmail in later years.  We just couldn't get all 3 kids to smile and look at the camera.  They did have a good time playing today and it was so nice out we went to the park.

Also in the news, Kate is officially potty trained.  She's probably been trained for about 3 weeks with no accidents but I was afraid to announce it in case she regressed.  She finally initiates going without being reminded.  I hope we are finally done until Claire need to be trained.

Everyone is looking forward to the holidays!

Happy Halloween!

Kate was very excited about Halloween this year.  She got to wear her costume to preschool and they had a little party.  The weather wasn't so great but she was able to go trick or treating for a little while before it really got rainy and too windy.  Claire wasn't as excited but she did wear her mouse ears for a little while.  She stayed inside for the trick or treating since it was pretty cold.

Claire is now pulling herself up on everything but she's not that good at getting back down.  She usually whines a little then just lets go.  She's getting to be a pretty fast crawler , especially if she's going after something Kate has.  Kate has a new excitement for all the baby toys I've gotten out for Claire.  I made Claire green beans and Kate wanted to eat them because, "She's my girl, we stick together forever."  It was pretty cute.

It's fall...

Claire is getting so big and even though she is still my baby she is getting more independent.  She will finally hold her own bottle.  I know she could before but she just didn't want to.  She's starting to really show her personality.  She thinks it is absolutely hilarious to take one sock off.  She is already trying to do everything that Kate does.  Kate mostly likes her and especially likes to tell her what to do.

Kate loves Halloween and couldn't wait to wear her costume.  My mom and I took her trick or treating in downtown Rochester.   She was really excited to get lots of candy.  Claire wasn't that excited but she was a good sport sitting in her stroller.  Kate had a great time and grandma took her in and out of every store for candy.

Fall is here!

Claire is of course just like any girl attracted to jewelry and crowns so she wanted to wear her sister's crown.  She also likes sparkly rings and shoes.  She doesn't have much hair yet so we don't really have many accessories for her.

Kate is really excited for fall and especially Halloween.  Last weekend, I took her to the Halloween store to pick out her costume.  I thought she'd have fun looking at all the costumes but I forgot how scary some of the displays are.  She was terrified so we paid for her costume and ran out of the store.  I also took her to the Clawson Fall festival which was pretty small but nice and almost everything was free.  We went on a hayride, she got her face painted, she bounced in the bounce, we bought some doughnuts and apples then went home

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Claire is on lots of adventures!

Claire is getting more mobile every day and Kate doesn't really like her touching all her stuff.  In morning when Claire is up and Kate is still sleeping I let Claire play with some of Kate's stuff, shhhhhhh...don't tell her.  Kate is pretty nice to Claire most of the time.  She even helps her break of out her "baby jail" , a baby gate we have in the basement to keep Claire out of Kate's small toys.  

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Lots of videos

Since it's been a while since I posted here are some videos. As you can see, Claire wants to do everything her big sister does. Kate has no problems letting her know that she is the boss. She's really bossy, I don't know where she gets it....




 

Fall is coming soon

Kate has been enjoying preschool and she has moved into the older class. She is making progress on potty training although she still has some accidents. Claire is getting really mobile and crawling everywhere. Kate has embraced her role as big sister and tells Claire exactly what to do. Claire wants everything Kate has, she snuck over and tried to drink out of her cup this week. Kate loves tents and forts so we make a lot with sheets and pillows. Claire has been invited into the hideout. They play pretty well together so far.

Videos

Claire has been changing so much lately. She is learning to make new noises, splashing in her bath, and starting to eat different foods.

Summer fun

We've been so busy so I really need to catch up on posting pictures. We've been spending lots of time at the park. Kate can ride her bike pretty good, she's getting better at steering. Claire is starting to crawl but she still mostly rolls around. Kate is still struggling with potty training but has started her new preschool class and can no longer wear diapers to school. She still has a few accidents a day so I wouldn't call her potty trained. Claire really loves her baths and she especially loves splashing so I usually have to change my pants after.

Claire is on the move

Claire has been rolling over for a while now but she has now figured out how to roll in combination with scooting and rocking. She's starting to get pretty quick at moving around so we now have to really watch what toys Kate has around. Claire is also really enjoying eating her baby food and her puffs. We have had a busy couple of weeks. Kate was a flower girl in my cousin Angela's wedding. She had the best time dressing up in her fancy dress and shoes. She danced and loved the candy table. After that we left for vacation with Jamisen's side of the family. She really had a good time seeing all family and playing with Hailey and Cameron. I'll post pictures soon.

Lots of videos

Claire is getting big!

Claire is growing and changing so much. At first she didn't like her baby food too much but now she is really starting to like it. She is really trying to crawl but hasn't really figured it out yet . She rolls around, goes backwards a little, and turns herself. She is generally pretty happy and loves to watch her big sister Kate. She can sit up in the baby swing in the park. I will also post some videos when I upload them.

Been awhile since I've posted

We have been really busy lately and I have not been very good about posting. We spent a long weekend up north with our friends that have a 3 and 5 year old. Kate thought it was the best vacation ever since she had friends to play with, water to play in, and we went to get ice cream. She cried when it was time to go home so I know she had a good time. I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures to post but I'll have to get some from my friend. The next weekend Jamisen and I were up at my family's cottage for our annual cousin's weekend. Kate and Claire spent the weekend at grandma and Bucka's. It was the first time they had them both overnight, for 2 nights. My mom and aunt Gail took them both to the beach. Kate said she swam like a fish. We are still having a lot of difficulty with Kate and potty training. I'm not sure why she is so resistant. We've never really had an issue with her on other transitions. She is almost 3 and a half so if she can't get potty trained we're going to have to pull her out of school. They don't accept kids at that age that are not potty trained. Kate really plays well with Claire. She tries to make her laugh and brings her toys. Of course she tells her what to do as every big sister should. Claire can't crawl yet but she can't wait to follow her big sister around.

A few videos

Claire has been enjoying the jumperoo although of course as soon as the camera comes out she just stares at me. Kate loves the camera and wants to make sure she is in every shot possible.

My baby is six months old!

I can't believe that Claire is already six months old. She is getting so big. She can roll over and almost sit up all by herself. She's really trying to crawl and can kind of scoot around a little bit. She can't wait to chase her big sister all around. We've starting feeding her a little baby food but she doesn't really like it that much. No teeth yet but everything goes straight to her mouth like a little puppy with a chew toy. She is a very happy baby.

Claire likes a fake cough

For some reason, Claire thinks fake coughing is hilarious. She also likes to do it herself. She's getting so big and can almost sit up by herself. Kate is doing much better on the potty so we're hoping to get her fully potty trained soon. She hasn't peed her pants in about 2 weeks but has had some poop accidents. She had a really good time on the 4th July . At my mom and Ed's party she got to play with Lily which is Ed's great niece. Lily is 4 and Kate loved her. She tried to go home with her. They hugged goodbye like long lost friends, it was adorable. Then we went to a bbq at my friend's house where there were also a lot of kids. Kate was getting pretty tired by this time and tried to take one of the kids toys home....it was time to leave.

Kate likes a party!

This past weekend was my cousin Angela's wedding shower. It was a great cocktail party at a fun bar/restaurant. As we all know Kate loves a party. She had a great time seeing everyone and she especially appreciated the dessert table. She had so much fun and we got home pretty late. Tonight we decided to go out to dinner at a Japanese steakhouse that has sushi. Amazingly Kate wanted to try the sushi which I didn't think would go very well. I thought she would just spit it out but she liked it and ate 2 pieces of salmon roll. She also ate edamame, chicken, and rice. I think we may have added another restaurant to our list other than Buffalo Wild Wings. I guess Kate has sophisticated taste. We stopped at one of the many fireworks stands to get a few little fireworks. I thought Kate would enjoy some of the fireworks I liked as a kid. We bought some snakes that foam, sparklers, and the little pop things you throw on the ground. I'm not a big fan of amateurs blowing off big, dangerous fireworks especially around kids so we'll just have a few little ones.

My two little fashionistas

Kate doesn't pay much attention to Claire usually. Today she picked out a headband for her and wanted to wear a matching one. I think I'm going to end up with 2 girls that love clothes, shoes, and accessories. Claire already wants to see everything Kate does and I'm sure as soon as she can move she'll want to do everything Kate does too.

Claire thinks her daddy is hilarious

Happy Father's Day!

We had a busy weekend with the girls. Saturday we had Jamisen's dad, brother, girlfriend, their little baby, my dad, and my brother over for a bbq. Kate had a great time running around playing in the pool and getting everyone to squirt her with the hose. Sunday we went to visit Grandma and Bucka for a little while. We were going to walk to the park but it was raining pretty hard. Then we came home and at dinner. Claire tried rice cereal for the first time. Kate wanted to feed her and she usually doesn't have much interest in Claire. I don't think she ate much but she kind of liked it.

Claire rolled over!

This weekend Claire rolled over for the first time. She rolled from her back onto her stomach which is just how Kate did it. Of course I was at the grocery store so I didn't get to see the actual first time. She's been doing it pretty consistently all weekend. She doesn't know how to roll from her stomach to her back. She hasn't rolled over in her crib to sleep on her stomach yet either. I have a video of her rolling over but just a warning that Claire pukes at the end. Jamisen had to work all weekend and it was really hot. We set up the pool for Kate, I put Claire's feet in but she didn't really like it. My friend Ann brought her daughter Sophia over and Kate had fun playing with her. Sophia is really cute, she loves to dance to music and she never stopped moving the whole time. I forgot this stage, but Claire will be the same age next summer as Sophia is now. She's really fast and you have to watch her every second. Uncle Ben also came over to visit so the girls had a very exciting day. Kate of course bossed him around and got him to play with her. She did fairly well this week with the potty training but not so good this weekend. I'm not sure if it's the excitement of doing special things vs the routine of the week but she had a lot of accidents this weekend. Even though we make her sit on the potty she will say she doesn't have to go and then have an accident. I hope someday she will be potty trained!