Reese is REALLY on the Move

It will be any day now when Reese starts walking up an down our hallway and around the living room.  She has been taking 5 steps in a row now and she gets up with great ease and then stands for 3 seconds before taking a step or falling.  She is really trying to keep up with JJ!!!!She is amazing!

Christmas 2011

Christmas day is a few hours away and the kids are excited. We have had a wonderful holiday season thus far. We started a new tradition as Buddy, our elf, came to visit us from the north pole. We have really enjoyed his stay with us. He has been keeping us on our toes as we try to find his new hiding spot everyday. Every morning JJ wakes up and comes into the living room and says, "where's Buddy?". He gets so excited when he finds him too. Tonight we went to Christmas Eve at Aunt Brth and Uncle Ken's house. The kids did great! Reese fell asleep on the way home, but JJ was too excited to sleep. When we got home we all went down to the tree to open our Christmas pajama's. JJ and Reese then put out Santa's cookies and milk along with a carrot for each of Santa's reindeer. JJ decided that he wanted one of Santa's cookies and snagged it before we could stop him. I hope Santa doesn't put him on the naughty list for that :-). Reese had her bottle and fell right asleep, but JJ was not the same. After he tore off his last chain on his countdown chain he then talked until 10:50. I'm so excited to watch them open their presents and stocking. Tomorrow should be a great day.

Big Boy Bed

Over Christmas break we decided to move JJ into his Big Boy Bed.  Jim and I were a little worried about whether or not JJ would stay in his bed as he has been resisting bed time recently.  However, we decided that JJ was just too big for his crib and we went for it.  The time JJ slept in his bed was for his nap.  We sat in his bed and read a few books together.  I asked him if he liked his new bed and he responded with an enthusiastic "yeah!"  We turned on hop (his frog humidifier), sound machine, and put some new books in bed.  Believe it or not he slept the WHOLE time.  He actually took a good 3 hour nap.  When we checked on him we couldn't believe what a big boy he looked like.  He was sleeping with his head on his pillow and blankets over him.  He looked so small in his Big Boy Bed.  It reminded me of the day we brought him home and placed him in his crib for the first time.  When JJ woke up from his nap he surprised us again.  He got up out of bed, turned on his light, turned off his sound machine (and put it away), then proceeded to knock on the door three times.  When we opened the door for him he said, "I'm Up!"  He was so proud that he slept all by himself in his big boy bed.  Since then he has continued with his same routine.  There are of course a couple of times when he will get out of bed, but we simply ask him to get back in bed and he does.  We could not be any prouder of our little man.

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head Abbott

Apparently these look like Jim and I.  JJ made these today and when I asked who they were he said Daddy and Mommy.  I then asked him, do these look like mommy and daddy?  Without hesitation he said yeah!

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Reese has added "uh oh" to her vocabulary.  Now she can say "dada", "mama", and "uh oh."  What a big girl.

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We had our first Christmas party of the season with the Allen side.  It was a great time.  It wad their first time seeing Reese and they couldn't get over how much they look alike and how JJ has grown.  The kids did good, Reese of course wanted to put all the wrapping paper in her mouth and JJ kept asking for "more?!"  What a great day.  After JJ opened his last present he waved at each person individually and said , "bye bye." Thankfully everyone got a kick out of it.  That night Reese went to bed a bit earlier so Jim and I toolkit JJ downstairs to watch the Polar Express.  I was amazed, the boy was glued to the T.V., at the end we asked him if he liked the movie and he said, "yeah! More," with so much excitement.  I think Jim and I spent most of the movie watching JJ and his reaction, then watching the actual movie.

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It's the Little Things.

I took the kids to Nana's place tonight for their Christmas program. It was a lot of fun (for the short time we stayed). JJ was loving the music that they were singing so much that he was trying to sing as he rocked back and forth clapping his hands. Whenever they finished a Christmas song JJ would turn and face the singer and clap. What a little man. Tonight while putting JJ in bed I asked him for a kiss and he gave me one. Then he reached up his hands and pulled my head down and kissed me on the forehead then smiled. It totally made my day.

Imitation is the greatest form of flattery.

Tonight I was playing on the floor with Reese and JJ.  I laid down and Reese was climbing all over me.  Then JJ ran to his room and came back with his blanket.  He proceeded to lay the blanket over me as if he were tucking me in to bed.  He went over to the book shelf and looked through his books.  He picked out two (that he thought I would like) and laid them by me.  He then put his finger to his mouth and said, "shh."  He ran back to his room.  After a minute had past he came to tell me that he turned on his sound machine and the projector.  He grabbed my hand and pulled me to his room.  The three of us laid on the floor admiring his tree and the vision of animals on his ceiling.  JJ didn't stay down for long.  He kept putting books into different piles and then transporting those piles around the room.  One pile was for me, one was for Reese, and the last was for him.  As I laid there he kept bringing over blankets and laying them on top of me.  After what he thought was enough book and blankets he said, "shh" again and gave me a kiss.  He was so proud of himself.  I guess it is true what they say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery.