3rd day of school

Me: Henry, How was schooltoday?
Henry: I don't like it and I want to cancel it. I am all schooled out!"

Holiday run down

Well, It's the 2nd day after the holiday season and it actually was a pretty quiet few weeks. I started shopping early so when the big snow storm hit the week before Christmas I was already done with all the food and gift shopping. The snow started on a Saturday and we got out and walked around the following day. David spent nearly 5 hours digging out the cars but worked from home on Monday. Henry, Addie and I stayed home all week except for the quick outing to the grocery store on Christmas Eve morning. We picked up some last minute goodies and then came home and I waited patiently (and not so patiently) for David to get home. Addie was fussy that day and my plan of getting the house super clean and making fabulous snacks for Christmas Eve didn't happen. When David got home I had to rush and get things together as fast as possible. Luckily, I had gone to Trader Joe's and stocked up on some frozen party foods (mini crab cakes, mini mushroom turnovers,etc). I pulled together a cheese platter and we called it dinner and it was just lovely. Addie slept while we three sat at the table and enjoyed the food and peace and quiet. When Addie woke up we opened a few presents from family members and put cookies and soy milk out for Santa. We got Henry to bed around 9pm. I was so glad I had wrapped all the gifts during our snowed in week b/c I was exhausted on Christmas Eve. Luckily, Henry is still too young to be super excited about the whole Christmas morning and he slept in till normal time--7am. I also should mention that Henry plays the whole Santa game but a week before Christmas he informed me Santa wasn't real but just a story. He went into detail about how Santa doesn;t really live at the north Pole and reindeers do not fly. I just nodded and said okay and am happy that he still plays the game since I like the game but don;t like to push it too much. Opening presents in our house was a long process. It's not that we buy alot but Henry spends a good deal of time looking at each gift. I really thought we picked out some great gifts this year and Henry was really exited. It took about 6 hours to get through Christmas morning. We stopped for some food and drink breaks but for the most part those hours were spent next to the tree. I had the stockings downstairs in our family room and Henry didn't even notice those until late afternoon. Those gifts he tore open quickly and it may have been late afternoon giddiness but I swear the biggest squeal of the day came when he saw the mini-M&M's in his stocking.
We had a very quiet week between x-mas and new years but then new years day my brother Matt drove down from NJ with his daughter Melanie. Henry was so excited to see his cousin Melanie. Melanie and Henry are cut from the same cloth. They see a piece of paper, pick it up and say it's a clue and start reading it. Usually about a ghost or some crazy mystery to be solved. Even though Melanie is 6, Henry has no problem keeping up with her. Actually, It was so wonderful seeing Henry with someone that can keep up with him and entertain him and challenge him. We plan on getting them together more often. I wish I could find a buddy like that around here. Plan on updating this blog soon with some Addie stuff. She's just so different than Henry at this age. I am really having a blast with her.

Pictures

Fall

Things are going good in the Dixon household. This week I feel like I am seeing some semblance of a routine both during the day and night. Addie still is not sleeping for very long stretches at night but at least she is pretty consistent as to when she is waking (1am and 5am and sometimes 3am). I could be better about keeping her in her crib or side sleeper but i tend to bring her into the bed when I am really tired.
Henry just finished an 8 week class at the local community center. It was called "Introduction to Musical Theatre" and he loved it. They did a lot of pretend playing and also had song time, story time, craft time and snack time (Henry's favorite). It was a two-hour class once a week. I will miss the two hour break. I got to go to the store or come home and clean. The next semester of classes don't start until January. A couple of the kids in class live in our neighborhood so we will be setting up some playdates with them. They are kids Henry's age that are also not in preschool. Even before the H1N1 scare I decided not to enroll Henry in preschool this fall b/c I didn't want the germs in the house with Addie being so young. Henry has been asking to go to school and it has been hard entertaining him and taking care of a baby but I am glad I made that decision. Luckily, the time change means Henry is usually asleep by 7 or 7:30 and Addie usually goes down around 6 or 7pm which means I get a break at night. Some nights Addie wakes up around 8 or 9pm and is wide awake and ready to play which I don't mind b/c I like the one-on-one play time with her. That's about the time David gets home too so he gets to play with her too.

henryism

Henry: Mommy, Did you know I am smart.
Me: Yes Henry. I know you are smart.
Henry: And smart people can build robots. I'm going to build a cleaning robot. He will go upstairs and clean my room at night and brush my teeth for me.

Addie is Four Months old!

Addie is now four months old. I thought it was a good time to update this blog! Henry is totally in love with her. He begins each morning running to my room to see "baby Addie". Yesterday when David and Henry went out for breakfast David told me Henry wanted to get home to see baby Addie. It's been a busy few weeks. I have managed to post a lot of videos to my You Tube account--some new, some old.

Here's one of Addie.

One Month Old!!!

Addie is now one month old! I can't believe how fast this month has gone by. My Mom was with us the first week and a half that we got home with Addie. David returned to work on July 6th and then a week later David's mom Pat arrived. So, we have had a busy month.

Addie is growing quickly. Her birth weight was 8 lbs. 15oz and at her two week check-up she weighed a little over 10 lbs. I think she is certainly at 11 lbs. now. She is now moving into the 3 month and 3-6 month clothes we have for her.

Addie is a good sleeper although like most babies this age she isn't sleeping for long periods of time. That she is sleeping without being held in my arms is a huge improvement over Henry. We are getting 3 and even 3 1/2 hour stretches at night and then I nurse her, change diaper and rock her back to sleep. She still likes to be swaddled which is also very different than Henry. He liked it for about 3 days and then wanted to stretch out. Henry was pretty content just being held and nursed whereas Addie has 2 and even 3 times a day where she is fussy. It can take a lot to figure out what she needs but eventually one of the soothing techniques usually calms her down (nursing, rocking, bouncing, walking).

Introducing Adelaide Elizabeth Dixon

Our baby girl, Addie, arrived at 2:31pm on Thursday, June 18th. She weighed in at 8lbs. 15 oz and measured 21 1/4 inches. I was so happy on how things went with the labor which wasn't how I felt with Henry. I am also very happy that David seems to be psychic and decided to work from home on Thursday and Friday because he believed I would go into labor one of those days. On Thursday morning around 10am I felt a pain in my back when I got up from sitting down. I told my Mom that I thought it could be something and immediately got dressed and told David to do the same. David took a 1 minute shower and got shaved and dressed as I waited for another one of the pains. Sure enough, 15 minutes later another back pain. This would not have been something to be anxious about but at my Dr. appt two days previously, I was told I was 4cm and 90% effaced and labor could come on quickly. At that appt my Dr. asked if I wanted to schedule an induction and after much thought I decided against induction and to wait it out. Ironically, the induction date and time was 7am on Thursday! Well, after the 2nd back pain I called the Dr. and they told me to some in and get checked out. After the exam the Dr. told me I should head to the hospital. After a quick stop by the house to hug Henry one more time we headed to the hospital. After about a 5 minute wait in the labor and delivery waiting room, my water broke! I was a bit embarrassed but mostly relived b/c I really wanted everything to happen on its own. We were settled in a labor room around noon and Addie arrived at 2:31pm.

Click here for pictures