Christmas

Christmas at the Werths

 

 Knee hockey set (thanks Aunt Kellsie!)

 James... just happy to be here

 Eli looking to see if Santa is coming back...

Santa magnets (thanks Granny Lu!)

 

 Train set (thanks Santa!)

 

 James loves to watch Eli

Random

Christmas ties

 Sliding down the back of the couch

 Showing off his legs

 Learning to brush his teeth just like his Dad

visitors



Gma Bobbie and Gpa Roger are here visiting. This kid was so so excited when we opened the door and there they were. He has had so much fun with them this week. He was highly entertaining and just a good boy despite his non-expression in this photo.

 Cousin Katie is also here. He loves Katie. (Again, bad photo of Eli)

 And our cute James. He is biting his tongue in this picture. Funny kid. Look at that hair.

 Love this picture. He reaches for things a lot right now. Glad I was able to capture it.

Nov 30

The last 10.5 weeks felt like the LONGEST of my life. I knew James would eventually start sleeping longer stretches but not knowing when and still trying to be "fun" for Eli during the day and dealing with Eli's own sleep issues... well, it was rough. Very, very rough. But we've made it. He now only wakes up once at night. I can handle once and function very well during the day. What a relief. And the pregnancy exhaustion is gone (obviously). I have felt like a new person these last few days. I haven't felt this good since the moment I found out I was pregnant. I guess that means its been a long year; but I think its behind me. Now if only these two boys enjoyed shopping a little more... ;)

Eli is 20 months today. He has really chunked up the last few weeks which is so cute; he has always been so small. He has learned to spin in circles and thinks its hysterical that he gets dizzy when he tries to walk. We still give him a bottle of milk at times and just this week has refused to take his bottle. Not sure what that is all about. I hope he will start drinking milk from a sippy cup now! He still loves to sit and read books. Even though he still isn't talking, he has his own talk while he reads. His inflection goes up and down just the same way mine or Eric's does when we read to him. Its so fun to watch him when he doesn't know we are watching. But it really would be helpful if he would start talking. The guessing game is not that fun. I've started to teach him some more sign language but he has yet to do the new signs. I'll keep trying. All in all he is a very good boy. He seems to be past his rough patch. I'm thinking it had to do with the fact that I was out of sorts too. I think he knew it and thus became out of sorts as well.

Here he is eating dinner in the family room while watching TV. Aren't we taught not to do that? :) What can I say, Eric was gone and easy is what I'm after when I'm solo in the evenings.

 Another no, no... he had his first chocolate shake from McDonalds. The look on his face was priceless after he had his first sip. He looked up at me with a look of "are you sure I can have this?" He had about half of it, was done, was wired and I left for book club leaving him with Eric for the evening. he, he.

He needed gloves and the gloves came with the hat. He would not move his hands the entire time they were on. Funny. And he wasn't too sure about the hat covering his ears but he didn't take it off.

I need more pictures of James. Its hard when he doesn't really do anything. Here he is showing off his new outfit I purchased. We absolutely don't need any clothes for him but its hard to not buy something new...

 Both boys asleep on our bed. Priceless.

James

James is a smiley, talky baby. He smiles on demand and is cooing a ton; its very sweet. More and more of his hair is falling out so I'm pretty sure all of it will eventually be gone. As I recall, Eli was completely bald by 4 months. He is starting to dig in his heels and arch his back. And as far as babies go, I think that is all he is doing now. For the most part, he is still waking up twice/night although we've had some recent nights of just once so we hope his body is starting to adjust. And he enjoys staring at Eli.

Its been a lovely holiday weekend here. We were able to go downtown to clean up the loft a bit and it was so nice to stroll around and reminisce and eat at one of our favorite pizza joints.

Nov 18

If Eli could be right next to James all day he would. He cannot get enough of his brother right now. He is very good about just touching him on the head, hands or feet. Although he always has that look in his eye as if he could haul off and punch him any minute so we never leave Eli alone with him.

 Waiting for his Dad to get home from work...

 First injury with blood at our house. He hit his chin on the bathtub. There was definitely some good screaming involved.

 James enjoying bath time much more these days.

Eli has decided that a 6:30p bedtime is better for him than 8p. We did not disagree! A few days ago he was beyond tired and we put him down at 6:30. He has gone to bed that time every day since. And the best part is he still sleeps to 7a. We hope it continues! James goes down not long after that (but of course wakes up about 4 more times until morning). Its been so nice to have quiet evenings. We'll take it for as long as we can especially after the last couple months of bad, bad nights from Eli.

Sadly, we decided not to venture to AZ for Thanksgiving this year. Sleep deprivation + a 13 hour drive did not equal fun for us. And with Eli seeming to turn a corner now with his sleep, we do not want to ruin it. So we will cook a small turkey and then head to the mountains for the day. We hope to get our house decked out for Christmas over the long weekend and get some much needed projects done around the house.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov 11

Eli (who is proudly wearing his Sabres gear) can clap "Lets Go Buffalo" with his Dad during the football game. I think it makes the Bills losses more bearable for Eric.

 Eli has had a snotty nose the last few days so obviously wasn't feeling great. We took him to run errands yesterday and we turned around and saw this. He fell asleep while eating a dum-dum. We had no idea he was that exhausted. Poor kid.

 Eric propped James up to pose for the camera. He will be two months old on Tuesday and is doing pretty well on his routine now. He really only fusses now when he is hungry or tired. Otherwise he is pretty content. Its definitely still a challenge with two but each week is better. Think he looks like Eli yet? We think the similarity is starting to show itself. His hair is coming in brown and his eyelashes are brown; he may stay dark. It will be fun to have blonde and brown mini-Erics running around here.

 Eli experienced the nursery at church for the first time last week. In fact, I'm pretty sure that is where he caught the runny nose. Ah well, it happens. Eric captured this picture of him playing with one of the other little boys at the pretend kitchen. Perhaps we have a chef on our hands. He initially freaked out when we took him in but Eric stayed with him for a good 20 minutes and when Eric walked out, Eli seemed fine. I hope it continues.

Weekly happenings

My Mother saw this toy in the Toys R Us ad and thought it would be perfect for Eli. He is, afterall, obsessed with balls. Here is Eric putting it together...

Eli helping...

 Eli playing with it. It was a hit... although not as big of a hit as we initially thought. He did get up and go play with it this morning. Good sign.

 Dirty face... thats pretty standard for us.

 James. He sure is changing a lot...

 Our new (well used) big, fat double stroller. We took it to the mall over the weekend. Definitely large. But its perfect for me to get out into the neighborhood and on walks each day. Fresh air makes everything better. And Eli could stay outside all day if he could. He definitely loves it.

Halloween

Here is Eli dressing up like his Daddy; that is his name badge for a trade show. He is ready to be in sales...

 Halloween wasn't the best of days at our house. We were lucky to get this halfway decent shot. I loved Eli's monkey costume; just wish he would have been in a better mood to show it off. He went trick or treating at the neighbor's house across the street and then helped pass out candy. I would give the evening a C+ (and that is pretty generous. :))

Brothers

We can set James next to Eli for about 2 minutes before he decides to push him away. Glad we captured a couple photos. :)

Oct 21

Who says Eli can't sit in James infant seat? :)

 Grandma Bobbie is back in town. Eli sure loves his Grandmas!

 Mr. James...

 Eli enjoying a sucker complete with a sugar high after.

 Grandma insisted on sitting between the boys in the back seat. I warned her there wasn't much room... funny.

My boys

Mouth full of food. This one loves to get his picture taken. Look at those blue eyes. So handsome.

 Friday night, fun night. Okay, every night is pretty much the same in our house right now. This is our life. Eli is reading his books, James is sleeping and Eric is watching TV.

 Mr James hair is getting oh so thin on top. He isn't too sure about his swing yet. I think he fears for his life when he is in it since Eli tends to start poking at his face.

 He does not like bath time which is sad because we loved giving Eli a bath and was hoping James would be the same. Hopefully he grows to love it.

 Again, he looks terrified and Eli couldn't even reach him here. Poor kid. He sure is a sweet little boy though. Loves to cuddle which makes it very hard for me to get anything done.

I had my first real solo day with the two boys this past Friday. All I did was feed two kids, change diapers and try and avoid meltdowns. All of a sudden it was 130p. I couldn't believe how quickly the morning went by. Eli was nice enough to climb in bed with me and watch cartoons while James napped so that I was able to get a 30 min nap in. What a nice boy. But then all hell broke loose and I barely made it to 5p when Eric got home. :) We will get the hang of it soon.