Higgins Christmas

So the Higgins clan has been here since Friday and we've been having fun! Last night we exchanged gifts and Naylor is loving to play with his new toys. Brian and I are a little afraid of what will become of our house since he still has two more sets of grandparents to see and of course Santa hasn't even visited yet - oh boy!

Lalon was jealous that Naylor got to get his picture made with Santa, so we took hers too.

Santa baby...

This afternoon we headed to the mall to meet Santa! Naylor has absolutely no concept of Christmas or Santa, but seemed like the thing to do... so we packed up and Brian met us there. Naylor did great - sat with the jolly old man and got his picture made. We then ran a few errands and back home. Tomorrow the cartoons begin and we still have a lot to do to get ready!

Field Trip!

Wednesday morning we had our first 'field trip' with our play group... most amazingly to me, I had everyone up, fed, dressed and out the door by 9am! We joined Luke, Noah (and moms) for a trip to Marbles in downtown Raleigh. Lalon just hung out with me, but the boys certainly had fun walking, climbing and crawling all over the place. I definitely think it will be a place to revisit! Afterwards we headed home as quickly as we could since we were creeping up on nap time.

Last night we met the Swaringens for dinner at IHOP. Carson and Naylor both had pancakes, eggs and bacon and I was amazed by just how much a little 15 month old can consume! It sure was fun to sit down and catch up with Blaine and Liz too - seems like we haven't seen them forever.

Then the kids and I headed home and I tried to finish wrapping up gifts to make sure we have everyone covered... family starts arriving tomorrow so we're running out of time!

Some more firsts...

What a busy weekend we had! Brian's company party was Saturday (and they had a meeting that morning and go carting that afternoon) and I had a wedding to attend so we were shuttling kids here and there - teamwork at it's finest! Naylor got to go play at Carson's for the afternoon, which I don't know how long it's been since he's done that - my report says they had a good time. Then Brian picked him up, I got home from the wedding with Lalon and we shuttled them both across the street to Luke's for a mini slumber party while we went to dinner with his work folks. What a fun night out and a great bunch of folks! Then Sunday was the big Naylor family reunion and boy has the family grown since last Christmas... 4 new babies and of course being Naylor blood, they are all GIRLS!

When we got home that night, I set up Naylor's play table with some paper and pulled out the crayons I bought for him. Brian and I sat with him and did some drawing and he quickly got the hang of it and seemed to have fun. I think it was more exciting for me though...

Yesterday morning when Naylor, Lalon and I were coming downstairs for breakfast, Naylor wanted to stay upstairs and play with Rudy so I started saying 'bye-bye' to him. He quickly waved and said it back - well he said something more like 'nye-nye', but it was definitely the same tone and was consistent.

When he was playing last night he did something and I said 'yay, you did it!' and I'm 99% positive he said 'I did it!'. I asked Brian if he heard it and he said no and two seconds later he said it 2 more times... I think that was official.

He's also said Mama a couple of times, but generally when I've left and am coming back in the door is when I hear it.

Lalon is still just hanging out and doing well. She's definitely woken up, but overall still a really great baby.

The Higgins clan arrives this Friday and the festivities begin with all of our families... we're non-stop until the 27th and then I'll probably go on vacation!

Oh Christmas tree!

Naylor and I went to pick out our tree last week and over this past week, Brian and I have taken turns putting it together when Naylor was napping or in bed. We figured if we kept adding to it when he wasn't around maybe it would help not bring so much attention to it and he'd leave it alone.

That plan worked really well for about 5 days and over the past two days, he's become very interested! We did think ahead and so about 3.5' down there are no ornaments, just lights - no need to invite him to pull on it and break stuff. I've found that his reach is further than I expected though, as I've found 3 different ornaments either in his mouth or on the floor nearby - luckily nothing has broken so I've just placed them back on higher.

He and Rudy (our dog-like cat) seem to now be in a competition to see which can tear it down first... so far Rudy seems to be ahead, but there's still plenty of time. Our first bet has been placed, let me know if you want to get in on some of the action! :)

the over/under is Christmas day and the first bet is under and Naylor

Lalon 1 month check-up

We went to the pediatrician this morning for Lalon's 1 month well-check and she continues to do great! She weighed in at 6 lbs, 15 oz (3rd percentile) and is 20.25" (10th percentile). We also got her first RSV vaccination today; it will just help fight off any bad respiratory stuff as she's more susceptible due to her prematurity. We'll get these each month until March or April.

She is still eating great and for the past week she's been doing a 6.5hr sleep at night - that's great news for everyone!

Naylor is continuing to walk and getting more confident each day - he's really going at it now! My goal today is to get a video of him so I can post for everyone to see.