Life has been a lot more sleepless since November when I last posted an update. Greta suffered her third and worst cold which made her really congested, meaning she nursed all night to clear her nose. This unfortunately became a bad habit after a week or so of congestion and we have still not really recovered the 'good' nights of her first 3 months. These bad sleep habits ran into her turning 4 months, and gaining many new skills which always seems to disrupt sleep as well. Happily, things are looking up and most nights these days aren't quiet the non-stop feeding frenzy of the past 2 months. I no longer get to sleep in as GG has become an early riser but we are getting close to having her on a schedule so at least I know what to expect most days. I'm sure she will change everything as soon as we have that sorted out! :)
Some of GG's (Gretsy and Greta bobo are also often used nicknames for our little gal) new skills include rolling from her back to front (just after Christmas), rolling repeatedly to get to a toy/object or just because she can (when she turned 5 months), sitting up - we aren't there yet but she has been pretty steady for about a month and is getting those core muscles organized more each day-, eating solids (we started cereal at 4 months and recently added squash, carrots and bananas) and of course just getting better at reaching, putting things in her mouth and becoming more interactive and aware of her surroundings.
Greta's favourite things are food (seriously, we feel terrible eating in front of her because she looks so interested in EVERYTHING we eat. we started giving her baby mum mums so she would have something to chew on while we eat :), the jolly jumper, playing with her family and of course VIOLET. Yesterday Greta made us all laugh when she started shrieking when Violet left the room and smiled happily as soon as she returned, we repeated this about 5 times until Greta started to figure out we were messing with her.
January pics...
Dec pics...
November pics...
Greta can laugh but she is very stingy with laughter. She only laughs at things one time, then she needs whatever it was she laughed at the be kicked up a notch in order to find it funny. Violet, of course, has the most success in getting a laugh from our baby. We usually have to be satisfied with her huge smile which will soon sport some teeth as her first one broke through yesterday, Jan 29th.
We have had a couple of great visits. Grandma and Grandpa were here in late November and Aunt Rachel visited in January for Violet's birthday. The girls loved having their family here and of course they were totally spoiled on both visits.
The holidays, which now seem incredibly long past, were wonderful. We made no major plans, other than to feast, open presents and relax (as much as possible). Christmas morning involved a marathon of present opening which Violet loved so much. This was the first christmas that she was actually vibrating with excitement.
Violet's birthday also seemed to be a massive undertaking but anything other than every day life is these days. We celebrated with a few friends and neighbours as well as Aunt Rachel with cupcakes on the actual day which was a tuesday. It is a wonderful thing to have a life to celebrate on the same date that you lost someone special. Two years has passed so quickly. On the weekend, we hosted a humdinger of a soiree at a local rec centre - enormous pirate ship bouncy castle, amazing face painting, balloon animals and kindergym toys for about 20 of Violet's pals. What wonderful chaos! Not sure we will have quite as large a party next year. It was great to have Rachel's help and to have her here to take on the decorating of the annual homemade birthday cake. I think she and Jon had fun making it a rainbow of colours. Every year we ask why are we doing this but homemade cake is so appreciated (by the parents anyway...) that it makes it seem worth it in the end.
Instead of a regular party we did our first twoonie party, asking people to bring 2 $2 coins instead of a present. Half the coins are for Violet to buy herself and gift and the other half goes to charity. As Violet still dosn't really get charity, we are trying to make it as real as possible so she understands the importance. We haven't got the details sorted out yet but we are hoping she can make a donation in person, perhaps to the spca or the children's hospital. We loved opening all the mostly homemade cards and she never got tired of the twoonies as the gift - we will definitely do that again :)
Part of the reason for the large party is that Violet invited all of her preschool class. She loves preschool and is really excited about learning to read and write. Over the next 2 weeks, we have to make valentines for each of 14 kids in her class so it will be a challenge to write all those names an her own. I hope she doesn't get frustrated with the whole thing. She is also really enjoying her ballet classes, each week between the sessions seems to pass too slowly for her.
And now its almost february. Spring is almost here in Victoria, the buds are on the trees and the first flowers are popping up through the soil. Time to spend a little more time outside again and we can't wait!
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