Talking up a storm

We took the kids to a Christmas party last weekend, and they got to see Santa. Miracle of all miracles, we actually got a picture without either one of them crying. Jack looks a little freaked out, but at least there are no tears :)

Last week Jack passed his final speech evaluation and is officially no longer delayed! He's made great progress from what was diagnosed as a 52% delay back in June. He's actually progressed the most in just the last couple months, and it's just been wonderful hearing his sweet little voice and seeing how smart he is.

I've been trying to record Jack talking, but he always clams up when I get out the video camera. I managed to coax a few words out of him this morning, but our conversation doesn't do justice in showing his ability. He's regularly speaking in 3-5 word sentences.


Charlotte is taking cues from her big brother on talking (and on being quiet when I get out the camera). I was at least able to capture a few coos and smiles here:

Trip to the Aquarium

On Monday, our new au pair, Ashley, and I took the kids to the aquarium. Charlotte was not impressed and slept most of the time, but Jack really enjoyed it. We looked at fish, whales, dolphins, otters, and penguins; plus we watched a show (see the dolphin jumping above).

I didn't take a picture of Charlotte at the aquarium, so here's a picture of her so she doesn't feel left out of this blog entry. She and Dad were watching TV together the other night.


Jack looking at fish

These are some pictures from the show. Jack got a kick out of the big sea lion.

They also had some holiday additions--a snowman, and Santa flew through the air on a boat into the water.


Despite all the cool animals jumping around doing tricks, this is what Jack found most fascinating about the show--the animated curtains on the screen. He's recently started helping us open and close the hanging blinds over the sliding glass door where we let Louie outside, and he thought these curtains were similar to the blinds. All he kept saying throughout the show was "blinds closed!" and "blinds open!"

A big stingray

A giant sea turtle

Jack loved the penguins. This one little penguin was so cute--he swam up to Jack as soon as we got there and stayed right in front of him the whole time.

Cookies and trains

I finally have a camera again! We went to the lake house this past weekend, and I brought our old camera back with us. Jack decorated Christmas cookies for the first time last night, and we also made a gingerbread train. As you can see, Jack was very proud of his train!

Aunt Lisa came over to help. Here's Lisa and Jack decorating some sugar cookies.


Mommy was able to help a little when she wasn't busy with Charlotte.


Doing some very serious construction on the train.

Almost done!

Silly Daddy, trying to eat the train!

Thanksgiving

Thanks to everyone who took pictures for us! (We lost our camera; we think in the parking garage at the Field Museum.)

We had a great Thanksgiving! Grandma Nold's turkey and main dishes were delicious, as always. Plus everyone else contributed yummy side dishes and desserts. Charlotte was able to meet several relatives for the first time--Uncle Bob and Aunt Carol, and cousins Marty, Lori, and Alexis. We were bummed that our 1-year old cousin Parker was sick, so we missed seeing him and the Frosts.

The first picture is Charlotte with Uncle Bob and Alexis (and Andy and Grandma). Here's Charlotte with her Aunt Lisa. Look at that sweet face!

Jack playing with Grandma (this was actually the day after Thanksgiving).

Grandma and Charlotte, who's wearing the beautiful cap Grandma made for her.

Jack and Uncle Bob. The two of them had a great time playing together!

Aunt Carol and Charlotte


Overall it was a very memorable Thanksgiving. Many people got to meet Charlotte for the first time, and they spent a lot of time with her, since she decided not to sleep all day! She also demonstrated her projectile puking ability all over cousin Marty. This was the first time most of the relatives had seen Jack talking. It's so wonderful to hear his little voice! We also enjoyed seeing and spending time with Alexis, who is such a beautiful and sweet girl. She and Jack boogied together at one point in the evening when Lori got some music going.

We hope everyone else had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well!

2 Months Old

Hey there, it's me Charlotte, a.k.a. Pukey Pukerson or Tomato. I turned 2 months old today. Mom took me to the doctor on Monday, where they said I weighed 11# 6 oz, and my length was 21 3/4 inches. I've been trying hard to catch up to my big brother's weight at this same age (13 pounds). Mom didn't warn me that the doctor was going to give me 3 shots, so I'm still upset with her about that.

As you can see, I'm adorable. No one can resist squeezing and kissing my chubby cheeks. I'm finally starting to get a little hair on the top of my head after being completely bald in that spot for 2 months. You can't really see my new hair in the pictures, though, since it's so fine and blonde.

I still throw up all the time, and for fun sometimes I even make it shoot out my nose. Mom says the doctor seems to have ruled out that I have something called pyloric stenosis, and we think I just have reflux. But things could be worse; some babies with reflux have pain, but I don't. I'm also getting better about not throwing up in my sleep, which I know makes Mom happy.

Here is a picture of me with Shelmadine, the daughter of our former nanny. Shelmadine is visiting Chicago from Belize for the holidays, and she's been helping Mom out with me and Jack a couple days each week. Next week our new nanny, Ashley, will be coming to stay with us. I am super excited to have someone else to play with me!


Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Smiles

Isn't that the sweetest picture? Charlotte's been smiling a lot more lately, though it's still hard to predict when she'll do it. One thing that often makes Charlotte smile is her big brother--check out the picture below. I wish the flash hadn't gone off and totally washed her out.

Here are some other smiles from this morning.

And if you've ever wondered if Jack gets sick of Mommy taking so many pictures, here's an answer for you.

Go Bears

We've made progress in brainwashing, I mean, encouraging Jack to like football. He can't recognize the difference between his teams yet, but he can definitely tell football apart from other sports he sees on TV. If he sees or hears it, he always calls out "Go Bears!" He's also good at giving the signal for touchdown, but I forgot to tell him to do it on this video.

And here's a random picture of Charlotte. I thought she looked cute the other night after her bath (that's why she's wearing the cap; our little baldie's head gets cold after being washed).