Winter Fun

We've had lots of fun this month with holiday festivities. Two Fridays ago we went after dinner to look at the holiday lights at Sharon Woods park. Charlie really enjoyed it. Liam was fussy, so we skipped the hot chocolate and Santa at the end and drove on home. That next Monday, Beth and I took the boys downtown to see the trains at Duke Energy. Charlie had a blast!

After the visit to the trains Beth and I went to see "Every Christmas Story Ever Told." It got us in the holiday mood for sure.

Last week I also took Liam to the baby movies with Lauren and Mallory, for his first "movie date."


Taylor came to visit us this weekend, and we all drove up to Cleveland for the Robenalt Christmas gathering. Charlie was spoiled with all the attention and gifts. He stayed at Great Aunt Margie's house while we stayed at a hotel nearby with Liam and Taylor. It was great to see Taylor and for her to have time visiting with the kids.

Charlie's vocabulary and understanding of the world increases every day. He amuses us with some of the things that he says. Today in the car, while John was listening to NPR, Charlie told him to change it to music. Last Sunday he gave me a hug and said "I love you Mom" for the first time. He had been a bit of a pain the night before, while John was in Indianapolis for a broomball tournament overnight. He also pooped for the first time in the potty seat-- just a little-- while John was away. He made me take a picture to show Daddy. I don't think he's been back on the potty at all since then.

Charlie is very excited about Santa coming to our house. I'm not sure where all he learned about Santa-- we haven't spoken to him explicitly to explain the concept, so he must have learned it from TV and school and books.

I signed Charlie up for some swim lessons starting in February. We hope to get him more acclimated to the water before summer arrives. I'd like to get more value out of our Rec Center membership this year.

A Trip to Santa's Village

Last Friday night we decided at the spur of the moment to make a trip to the Ohio National Victorian Village display near our house, so that Charlie could visit Santa. Looking back, we should have prepared him for the event by explaining what was going on. The topic of Santa had just never really come up in a formal way at home.

When we got to the little house where Santa was, Charlie was anxious to go in. He politely responded to the elf at the door when asked his name, saying "Charlie Robenalt." We even peeked in the window to see that Santa was in there. But once it was his turn, he stopped right inside the doorway and didn't want to get any closer. Since I knew there was a line of people behind us, I urged him quickly to think of something he might want for Christmas. Again, I was ill prepared, as I should have come up with something that I knew he would be getting. But the first thing that came to mind was that he loves to play with his mega blocks. So I asked him if he liked blocks. Santa heard me, and suggested that maybe he would like lego blocks.

Charlie would not get on Santa's lap for a photo, so we stood together and I got him as close as I could. Once we had left the little house, Charlie looked at me and in a very sad voice said "lego blocks?" I am pretty sure that he thought he got to go home that night with whatever he asked for. Luckily, we got past it without a meltdown, but next time I will be better prepared!

We were also not terribly well prepared for the weather on this last minute outing, and I did not bring a hat and mittens for Charlie. But we had Liam all snuggled up in the stroller, and he didn't get too cold. Charlie enjoyed the train ride back to the parking garage, and he's been playing with his balloon animal (he chose an elephant) all week.

The other day it was snowing lightly when Charlie left for school, and there was a dusting of snow on the driveway. Apparently the snow is not so "icky" to him this year, because he sure enjoyed "crunching" it with his feet. I guess we'll have to get him some good snow boots this year.

We've had success with no pacifier for over a week now. He's only asked John for it once at bedtime, and he hasn't said a word to me about it (although a couple of times I could tell he wanted to). I simply suggested to him early last week that maybe by Christmas time when we got presents he could be a big boy and not use a paci anymore. He used it that night, but not again since then.

Liam has moved out of newborn clothes, and into 3 month sizes. He's been eating like crazy, and I can hardly keep up with him. We're looking forward to a visit from Taylor next week, and then soon it will be Christmas-- our first here in Cincinnati. In the meantime, we'll have orientation at Charlie's new daycare center, and a few other holiday events. I hope everyone out there is having a great holiday season!

One Month Old

Liam had his one month checkup on the 1st. He was 9 pounds, 10 ounces (55%) and 21 inches long (45%). His head remains at a normal size (15 inches-- or 50th percentile). Everything checked out fine, and we have no concerns.

Liam is starting to find his "voice." Occasionally I will hear "ooh" and "ahh" instead of just cries, hiccups, and grunts. He's also trying a lot to pick up his head and move it around. He seems to have had an unusually strong neck since his first week after birth. He does not like to be cold-- we've been putting him to bed with a hat and making sure to bundle him up in a swaddler nice and tight. We never had this problem with Charlie-- since he was born in the spring and did not like to have his arms wrapped up tight.

Some nights with Liam are easy (last night he woke up only once to feed), and some nights are frustrating (the night before he woke up every hour and a half). He seems to be eating a lot this week, and we're having to supplement his diet with formula to keep him happy. I guess this explains the large weight gain over the past two weeks (about a pound and a half).

Since I wrote last, we enjoyed a nice Thanksgiving dinner with friends and family. Charlie was excited about turkey, but then would not eat it when it was served. We think he was expecting deli turkey and not the smoked bird we got from Jim Dandy's.

It was beautiful, but John and I agree that we have now decided that we prefer roasted turkey for Thanksgiving. Beth and I added to our Black Friday shopping tradition this year with a trip to the UC football game, where the Bearcats remained undefeated. I had lots of fun shooting some photos of touchdowns with my camera. You can see a selection here: "http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrobenalt/sets/72157622889071286/" Unfortunately for John, Liam decided that was a day he would be Mr. Fussy Pants for 12 hours straight.

We started using Grandma Bovier's advent calendar (a Christmas tree with ornaments for each day of December) with Charlie last night. We hung a rocking horse on the tree in a spot that he chose. This morning when he woke up, he told me he was going to go downstairs and do another "horse rocking chair". I also started last night to encourage him to stop using the pacifier to sleep at night by Christmas time. At bedtime he started to hand it over to me, but then decided he needed it. We'll see how it goes over the coming weeks. We're still not forcing the potty training, either-- but Charlie voluntarily asks to use the potty occasionally, and when he does he is rewarded with Diego pants (Easy-Ups).