Whoa!

I am so far behind that I don't even know where to begin, and I have like 10 posts in 'draft' status! So, I'm going to combine everything, and bring you one updaterrific entry. But I'll try to be as concise as possible, so here goes:

Evan
He successfully finished his first semester of preschool and participated in his first school Christmas program. It was pretty cute hearing him randomly sing the songs at home, but I'm not sure how much he actually sang during the program. I think he was a tad distracted by the close quarters with all of his friends and the surprisingly large crowd. We had no idea that so many people would come out for a 20 minute preschool program. Luckily Evan's Grandparents got there early and saved us seats!

Even though it's been 7 months, I think Evan is still adjusting to not being an only child. Our newest challenge is getting him to leave Aida alone. He is ALL about her. He is constantly clamoring for her attention. Sometimes it's cute, because it's obvious how much he loves her, but it can get old repeatedly telling him to give her space. Evan is such an extrovert, and he's finally found an entirely captive audience!

Evan has the social inclination of a 6 year old with the social skills of a 4 year old, so that often leads to frustration. He loves his friends and is way past the side-by-side stage of play. He wants to be playing with you and he wants you actively engaged! Something his Mommy needs to get better at. I'm trying to develop my niche as the book reader. But luckily his Daddy is a block building, super hero playing, video gaming rock star.


Aida
I'm obviously the most behind on her. She started sitting up without any help right in time for Christmas break and that opened up a whole new world of toys. It's so fun watching her figure things out. She seems to be especially interested in her musical toys, so maybe she's gotten some of her Daddy's talent. She got a little piano for Christmas and she tinkers on the keys like she totally knows what she's doing.

Aida got her first two teeth early in December, and I think she's in the process of getting more. She's a much grouchier teether than Evan was, so we've been loading up on the teethers and orajel. Aida continues to be a great eater, and we've even let her try out the Puffs. She spends more time investigating them than actually eating them, but they keep her busy during meals. Luckily she hasn't forsaken her roots and still loves to nurse, although I have to admit I got a little worried when she took so well to solids. She's 7 months old and never had even an ounce of formula!

In other nursing news, it would seem that Aida is finally sleeping through the night. As of this week, I think she's done with night feedings. She still wakes up occasionally but settles back to sleep without nursing. It all started in December when our doctor suggested we try putting her to bed awake. I didn't think it would work, but within one night Aida was totally down with it. And slowly but surely she stopped the constant waking. I'm glad to get my nights back, and it feels really good to sleep, but I'm also a little sad. She's growing up, and her days of being a baby are numbered. Ack, I can't even think about it!

She's not crawling yet though and I'm not the least bit disappointed. As soon as she does I'll have a whole new set of things to worry about! She hasn't even seemed to realize that crawling is an option, and why would she? Everything and everyone comes to her :-)


Mommy and Daddy
I was in my Best Friend's wedding in December and that was a ton of fun! Jeff's company gave them over a week off for Christmas so we were able to spend a ton of quality family time over the holidays. We used that time to accomplish one of our goals and got this year's vacation planned. We'll be going back to Michigan to stay in a cottage on the beach. The kids will have a ton of fun at the beach and with two little ones you just can't beat the 4 hour drive! We've also decided to make Valentine's Day our return to date nights. Aida will be 8 months by then and now that she's not waking up every five minutes insisting on being nursed back to sleep, our babysitter should be up for the challenge. We're excited, we've missed our monthly date nights!

And then there's my work. We're still processing what that needs to look like. I feel like we change our minds every day, and we're not quite ready to make any big changes. I haven't found an alternative that I like yet, but I'm content in knowing that it's still very much on our radar. We've already been able to put a few things in place, but the rest will require a little more patience. Is that vague enough? I know, right!?

I haven't forgotten Christmas, but I think this post may absolutely burst if I add any more to it, so I'm saving that for tomorrow!