making progress

so owen is completely capable of going pee in the potty all by himself but he refuses (to the point of crying and tantrums). And so, this photo illustrates how we are handling it. perhaps not the best way, but it seems to be working -- i haven't helped him yet today!



you'll also note there's the issue of poop in the potty on that sheet of paper too. He's not so eager to do this one, but we're working on it. if anything would motivate him, it's cool characters from the movie Cars, waiting for him. here's hoping.

we had a rough night last night. owen was sick, as in puking sick. poor guy. we all did get sleep eventually, though it was after a bath, pajama changes and bed sheet changes. he woke up saying that he felt better though his appetite today was super small. but, he does seem to be on the mend. other than feeling sick last night, owen has been doing very well. he's putting together sentences beautifully, and he's quite the conversationalist.

due to having a 2 month in the family, we don't get out in the snow much, but it's been quite nice lately so we'll have to bundle up and get out there.

aleida is doing very well. she's almost at 13 lbs now, and 23 inches long. she's a happy baby though she can get rather bothered at times. this usually does not last long, though. she likes being walked around - if you stand still while holding her, she'll start to fuss.

ry caught some of her smiles & facial expressions on camera.

sequence of a smile

getting into the spirit

we had our christmas pageant at church this evening. it was an enjoyable time. we played the holy family. owen was a 'sheep' - he didn't want to dress up, so ry wrapped him in a fuzzy white blanket and held him . . . like a sheep. it was a good time. aleida slept the whole, thus playing a very serene baby jesus. she even slept in the nice manger. what a good little actress. then after the pageant, there was the cookie social. many people brought delicious cookies and we all ate them. hot apple cider was served, too. it was a yummy and christmassy occasion.

aleida just fell asleep on me without me putting effort into getting her to go to sleep. usually when she's really tired (and at this time of night) she gets kind of cranky; having her fall asleep will involve pacing the floor and little patting her back. but not tonight. yay!



we made christmas cookies for church fellowship time. and for our new family tradition. delicious ginger cookies. owen LOVED cutting the cookies. he did a fine job of it, too.




sleeping happens whenever one can get it. (though i have decided that i must refrain from afternoon naps because no matter how tired i may be, sleeping in the afternoon means i will not fall asleep until too late at night.)

there is a hearty, thick layer of snow on the ground. I am glad! i love that snow has arrived, and given the temperatures, it will remain for a while. We're decked our apartment with the warm glow of Christmas decorations. Our tree is up and beautiful. Owen requested purple lights (cousin lillian's fav colour is purple and so he seems to like it a lot right now, too) but we settled with a string of lights that has yellow, green, red and blue. He loves the tree and the ornaments. The first thing he does in the morning is turn the tree lights on. We very well may burn out all the lights on these string of lights cause they are always on!
We had talked that we wanted to go for evening walks to look at the lights but the cold has settled in in true minnesota style and it doesn't seem like a good idea to take Aleida out. And so she stays in while one of us takes Owen out to observe the beauty of winter at night. There are a couple houses a few blocks away from our house that are especially decorated for Christmas. Owen LOVES these houses! The last time he and I walked to look at the lights he sat down on the sidewalk and just wanted to sit there for a while. It was super cute.

I have hopes of baking Christmas cookies soon, and other holiday treats. Baking, to me, is an integral part of the Christmas season. I am excited that Ry and I are forming family traditions and I want to be sure to incorporate certain things within our family tradition. One thing that I want to do is make ginger cookies, shaped and decorated appropriately. Another, which will involve a little digging, is getting a recipe from my Aunt Japke - she always made these fun little mice cookies at Christmas. They were so delicious: the body was a soft chocolate cookies (not baked), the eyes, ears and nose were little candies, and the tail a piece of licorice. I looked forward to eating these cookies. Certainly the kids in my life would like to eat these, too.

We haven't taken any photos lately, but there are some older pics that we haven't posted yet.

Aleida at 5 days old:


a little over 1 week old. Bundled up after a bath:


Aleida at 2 weeks old:

aleida marian

she's here! and by 'here' i mean outside my belly! I am grateful. And she is perfectly amazing. she is super relaxed and calm. She gnaws on her hands when she's hungry rather than immediately crying. So, she hasn't cried since being home. And in the hospital, she cried when a nurse with cold hands picked her up, or she didn't like being poked - all very good reasons to wail. She spends a lot of time sleeping (in her bassinet or in someone's arms). She does open her eyes and look around. She has spent some amounts of time totally content and awake. But usually she's sleeping. Except in the wee hours of the morning. Last night she really was not content being alone in her bassinet, and she really wanted to eat all night! I was glad that she wanted to eat, but certainly I did not love having to be awake for it. I was tired. I am curious about how she'll be tonight. Perhaps 3-6 am is her choice wakeful time right now.

Well that is probably a whole lot of random information. I am pretty tired but I did want to put out a little information about our sweet little girl!

Oh! We can't forget to say that Owen is awesome with her! He is very intrigued by her and he is super gentle and sweet with her. He'll walk over to her little chair, or where ever she is, and talk to her is a soft high voice (the way most people address babies). He likes kissing her on the forehead.

Some details: arrived at 9:53 pm on Fri, November 13. She weighed in at 8 lb 8 oz, and measured 21" long.

And now some more pics.


*a couple days before she was delivered.



This is before she was cleaned up, and right after the drops in her eyes (which explains their glossiness).