Au Revoir 2012

Fantastic year on many fronts! We've been busy with the holiday excitement but will recap soon. Waverly 365 began today.

Happy New Year!

P.S. we didn't intentionally leave A out of this pic. He was anti-photos today.

F@#* you, teething

Or what ever has been going on with Waverly this week. Screaming, oh the screaming. Little naps, even littler sleep at night make for a very cranky mother. Dr confirmed it's not an ear infection - she grabbed, pulled or scratched it to hard she made it bleed. Yeah it's been that kind of 3 LONG days. Tylenol, gas drops, you name it, I've tried it. For the love of god make.it.end. I want our happy baby back and my sleep.

Holiday Happenings

She really loves him

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

What a great time of year! The holidays are in full swing here in sunny (&sometimes rainy) CA.  The kids are excited, the house has lights and a tree, and we are eagerly awaiting Santa's arrival on Christmas Day. Anderson has picked out a gift for "his" baby - a doll.  It's pretty fugly, but hey it's what he wanted to get her and I'm sure she'll love it.  I'm hoping she does because I don't want a house full of dolls.  Dolls & stuffed animals are annoying.  It's like no matter how hard we try we seem to accumulate more and more of them each year.  Do you know Goodwill doesn't want to accept them?  

As usual, I digress...

The Birkett kids have made their way to Santa, no one cried, but Waverly looked a bit unsure.  Anderson drew Santa a picture and brought it with us.  Too cute.  

Anderson's preschool class put on a little holiday show. They've been working hard since the beginning of November and it was adorable.  There's something about a group of chipmunks, er, I mean 3 year old squeaking singing their way through holiday classics.  Some kids had special parts with speaking roles.  Anderson was "boy with teddy bear" and had a little poem to say about waiting for Santa.  He nailed it. 

 

5 months old

 5 months old!

Wave hit 5 months today! Yay for her.  We switched up the picture location from her room to the living room to capture the Christmas tree.  Pardon her hair-do(n't), its kinda of wild/fugly some days.  

Thankgiving

Big month - she marked her first major holiday when Thanksgiving rolled around, got her first taste of food (avocado - such a CA girl!), and began sleeping 10+ hours again (Thank god!).  Thanksgiving was great, we spent the majority of the day as a family of four.  We hung around that house, went to the park and had a blast.  We had dinner over Aunt Linda & Uncle David's house, with Bri's mom's immediate family. Anderson took over camera duties on Turkey Day - he's got a pretty good shot.

Photo by Anderson

mmm, avocado

Although we don't plan on Wave really eating until sometime in this next month she did take her first bites of Avocado after eyeing me up like crazy licking her lips. We put a bib on her, mashed it up a bit and gave it a whirl.  She loves it and has had a few bites when we've had it in the house in our salads and what not. God knows I'm not wasting a whole avocado on two spoonfuls.

We're still waiting for her to roll from her back to front. I'm pretty sure she can do it, she gets all the way to her side, kicks her leg and just stops, giggles and hangs out like that.  All she has to do is tilt her freaking head and she's flip over.  Oh well. I'm in no rush for her to start moving.  

I can't believe we're embarking into her 1/2 year bday month.  Crazy! She's fits in so well and we can't even imagine life as a family of 3 anymore. I asked A if he remembered what it was like without her and he even said no.  I guess that means we haven't scarred him too much, right?

Have you seen my son?

Missing: 3.5 year old boy, approx 38" tall, 32#. great smile and laugh. Last seen approximately 2 months ago. In his place a boy who whines, cries and does everything opposite his parents ask was left. If you have seen the real Anderson - please return ASAP. Mom and dad miss him.

4 months!

I feel like a broken record -but it is insane how fast the second time around goes.  Waverly is 4 months old today! 11/13 Update:

Waverly continues to grow at a snails pace. Like brother, like sister. At 4 months she is a whopping 11lbs 14oz (8 percentile) and 23.5" long.  She's very proportional and that's all that matters. 

We've had a big month. Waverly attended her first playoff games - including the World Series! What a lucky little baby.  She was rocking her panda costume while Panda (Pablo) hit a historic 3 home runs in one game.  Of course her big brother will be insanely jealous when he gets older and realizes he didn't get to go. Sorry, Anderson, Waverly was free and mom &  dad only have two seats anyway.

Waverly can hold her head up really well, doing her baby pushups.  She's constantly drooling and trying to get things in her mouth. She reaches out to grab anything and everything and her smile and belly laugh keeps us entertained.  Sleep, well, that has been elusive this month.  We've been passing a cold around for what seems like 2-3 weeks so that hasn't helped out.  Now I think she's in a bit of a habit about getting up and having a little snack.  It's been getting better since she's less stuffed up, but I have a cold so it's kinda hurting me!  

Four Months old!

Great Cause

This isn't a fun post by any means - it's meant to inform.  You may have read about a horrible incident in NYC a couple a weeks ago involving a nanny and two children.  As a parent, it just shook me to the core.  Even more so because the father is a friend, former coworker, and a mentor to Brian. Since it happened I've tried to really be present with the kids and just sucking it all in and really trying to be patient at all times.  Life is so precious and you never know what's next. 

At the memorial service it was announced that a memorial fund was set up to honor the children.  If you have some extra cash and are looking for a place to put it to good use, please consider the Lulu & Leo Fund.  The Lulu & Leo Fund’s purpose is to raise money to assist in children’s education and enrichment programs in schools, museums and other community institutions. The focus will be primarily, but not exclusively, on funding participatory art and science education for young children.