ready for a new year

Well, our Christmas and New Year's didn't quite go as planned. Really, did anyone's this year?

A few days after our family gathering, Christopher started showing COVID symptoms. He and Emily got tested and they came back positive. Christopher was pretty sick for a few days, but it hit Emily harder and she's just starting to feel better. Since we were in close contact with him just before he started showing symptoms, we canceled our plans to drive out to visit Dan's family for New Year's and a belated Christmas. We were so sad to miss out on family Christmas (though less sad to miss out on 20 hours of driving with a 6-month-old). Fortunately, the rest of us stayed healthy and all tested negative! It was a very stressful few days while we waited test results.

GranE and Batman saved Christmas by packing up two huge boxes with all our gifts and mailing them! They arrived on Monday, and Mae was sooo excited when she came down from quiet time to find all the presents under the tree. We had a virtual family gathering to unwrap everything.

Monday was supposed to be our last day of quarantine from work, but we found out late that night that our return-to-work date was actually Wednesday. Mae hadn't fallen asleep yet when I got the text, because she was too excited about going back to day care the next day. When I broke the news to her that she had one more day at home, she sobbed. She cheered up the next day since there were lots of new toys to play with! She spent all day changing the outfits on her magnetic dolls and setting up the magnetic pet center. Thank goodness for the Mae Zone we've set up in the playroom where she can keep all her little toys away from Colin!

The first day back at day care went pretty smoothly. Mae was really excited to play with the friends she hasn't seen since March! She brought home lots of coloring pages and worksheets this week and is eager to get back to practicing her letters. Colin is adapting well to day care. The woman who welcomed him in the morning remembered taking care of Mae as a baby and said, "I remember Mae! I hope Colin is better with his bottles!" (He is.) Colin spent the day following one of the other babies around the mat. He's gotten pretty fast with his army crawling!

I worked Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday to make up for missing the beginning of the week. We were all pretty exhausted by the weekend. Unfortunately, Colin has already picked up a cold (not COVID, I got him tested today), so none of us are sleeping currently... except Mae who sleeps like a rock. I'm hoping we recover as we get back on our normal schedule this week, and I'm REALLY hoping none of us pick up this cold.

six months of colin

Happy half birthday, Colin!

This month was all about moving! Colin is really picking up speed with his army crawling. He loves crawling to toys, but he loves crawling to anything that's NOT a toy even more. He wriggles across the floor and sinks his little gums into everything, including the kitchen drawer handles, the legs of our chairs, and my fingers. No teeth yet, though!

Despite the lack of teeth, Colin is loving the introduction to baby foods! He's tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, carrots, pears, apples, and peanut butter... and he devours it all! He roars at us from the high chair if we don't fill the spoon quickly enough.

He gets a little better at sitting up every day. At first, he had absolutely zero interest in sitting. He would make his body stiff as a board and growl if we tried to get him to bend at the waist. All he wanted to do was tummy time! He's finally letting us set him upright now, and can balance himself for a few minutes at a time.

I love these photos of Colin with his hands tucked behind his head. This is how he sleeps every night. He lays on his back, tucks his hands behind his ears, and wiggles his hips side-to-side until he settles himself to sleep. We call it "the butt dance." If he's really fighting sleep, he will lift his legs straight into the air and SLAM them down onto the mattress repeatedly.

Mae was dressed to the nines for our six month photo shoot today. One of the fun parts of spending so much time at home has been allowing Mae to pick out her outfit every day. I love this ensemble she put together today: Dorothy dress and shoes, llama pants, polka dot long sleeved shirt, and sparkly headband. She is still the sweetest big sister. Sometimes when Colin starts fussing, Mae will already have him calmed down by the time I can get to him. He especially loves when she plays peek-a-boo!

Colin was introduced to Bitty Baby this month. He was OBSESSED. He cooed and screeched and wanted to claw at her eyes. Watch out next month, day care babies. Colin is coming for your face!

Congrats on turning a half year old, Colin!

a merry little christmas

Merry Christmas!

On Thanksgiving, I was busy writing about Colin turning five months old, and I didn't get a chance to reflect on all the things I'm thankful for this year. So, Christmas seems like the perfect time to catch up.

This year, we are especially thankful for Christmas traditions: the ones we were able to keep and the ones we were able to adapt to life in 2020. On Christmas Eve, we were able to attend the annual Christmas Eve Mass (on Zoom this year!) hosted by close family and friends of GranE and Batman. Even a virtual mass felt intimate with a small group of attendees. We also watched Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, one of Dan's childhood traditions that now lives on with our kids. Mae's favorite part (and mine too) is when Cookie Monster eats the typewriter and telephone. And we ordered Chinese food for dinner. (Of all the traditions Dan brings to the holiday, that one might be my favorite.)

We are thankful that we are able to see family over the holidays. I could write a dissertation on how we made the decision to travel, but I'll leave it at this: I'm thankful that our extended family members are pretty much on the same page around health precautions and that we are able to see each other for Christmas in the safest way we know how. With Mae and Colin starting back to day care in January, we are planning to hunker down as a family unit a bit more, so we are especially glad to have this opportunity to spend time together with everyone. (Even though we're trying to visit as safely as possible, I don't think I'll truly breathe easy until two weeks after our travels are finished.)

We are thankful that Mae was able to play with her cousins. She has hardly spent any time around kids since March. We spent an afternoon at Oliver and Archie's house, and Mae had so much fun (even though their floor was made of lava). She also got lots of quality time playing with Aunt Kelsey, which might be even better than kid playtime. (Sooo many hours of dressing up the Polly Pockets.)

Mae is thankful for her new American Girl doll and her new pack of googly eyes... her most highly anticipated gifts from Santa. She's also had lots of fun playing with her new Playmobil Mars Space Station from Grandma and Grandpa, and I think I will forever hear her little voice and raised eyebrows asking me, "Hey mommmm, want to play with my spaaace stationnnn?"

Colin is thankful for wrapping paper. Forget toys. Just millions of tiny scraps of wrapping paper that I have to snatch away at the last second or else he will stuff them into his mouth and mash them into little chokable wads of wrapping paper pulp. He couldn't care less about the noisy, blinky toy in this package. All he wants is the wrapping paper. He was literally chasing me around the floor while I tried to wrap Dan's gifts.

So, even though it's been a tough and unusual year, we have a lot to be thankful for. We hope you were able to spend time with your loved ones in a way that makes you comfortable and keeps you safe. I dare to hope that next year we can revive the traditions that involve big gatherings and being out in public again. Until then, we wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.