Clive

This year we have a special elf staying with us.  Clive is here to keep an eye on us and report back to Santa each night.  When he returns in the morning from his visit to the North Pole, he lands somewhere different each time.  We have had lots of fun looking for Clive in the morning and seeing who can find his silly spot first! 

Chloe's four month b-day

 

Chess

Ryan got a no-stress-learn-to-play chess game for his birthday.  We've been playing multiple times every day since we returned from our roadtrip last week.  It doesn't come as much of a surprise to me that Ryan is really, really good at it.  But so is Abby!  At two years old, she can set up the board correctly.  And she can name all the pieces too.  Or at least I thought she could.  She named the rook, bishop, king, queen, and then cow.  Well there went that thought.  But then I realized that when she said cow she was holding the knight.  Which is a horse.  And while she can set up a chess board, Abby still doesn't correctly differentiate cows and horses.  So in Abby-world, she did correctly identify the knight  :) 

While we [myself against Ryan, with Abby "helping" me] were playing earlier tonight, Ryan captured one of my knights.  Without missing a beat, Abby looked at me and said "you're okay. you have another one."  So cute!!  And so smart too.  She knew without having to look and think about it, that there are two knights and that I still had my other knight out on the board, I was impressed.

We all know Ryan is super smart.  And Abby is a free spirit.  But I'm realizing more and more, that I need to be careful about the so-called boxes that we put them in.  I have a feeling Abby is going to be just as brilliant as her brother.  She may not be as "intellectual" or as detailed-oriented, but it's definitely there. 

the girls

Chloe and Abby have been sharing a room for the last week or so.  They've done wonderfully at night.  Abby hasn't napped much recently, and honestly I rarely even lay her down anymore.  Having her run around her room for an hour or two and then having to clean up her messes just isn't all it's cracked up to be.  But I am happy to report that today she actually asked to go to sleep.  And thus both girls are asleep at the same time in the same room during the day!  I'm very excited this sharing rooms thing seems to be working so well!  For now at least, Abby loves having Chloe in there, hopefully it will last forever [or at least another 18yrs or so!]. 
And I loooove having two sleeping girls  :) 

Sisters

Abby has a new roommate!  Chloe finally moved in on Thursday night.  Tonight was the big test though.  We put them in at the same time, both awake.  And they fell asleep, yay!  We weren't sure what to expect, but they did just fine.  Abby has been very excited about having Chloe share her room and hopefully that will continue.  She's been cute saying things like "I share my old crib with Chloe."  Abby is a great big sister! 

And ps, yes, Chloe does sleep through the night!  She started doing so at maybe two months old, but then she got a little off schedule when she was at Scottish Rite and then again last week on our trip to Massachusetts.  But on average she sleeps about 9pm until maybe 8am.  It's wonderful!! 

Conversations with Abby

Abby continues to amaze me with her speech and conversation skills and development.  I have to remind myself sometimes that's she's just barely two and a half!  I suppose it's that combination of being a girl and a second born.  She speaks full sentences and can hold her own in any conversation.  It's an interesting combination : her speech is so advanced, yet she still doesn't know all her colors and has only recently started counting [she makes it to six in correct order, then messes up seven & eight, before counting nine to twelve].  With Ryan we could see the wheels turning, but he couldn't get the words out; Abby gets carried away and talks up a storm, guess it's a female thing :)  I can't keep up with all the funny things she says, but here are a few recent ones that I scribbled down:

A while back we were driving and she took her socks off.  When we got home, she picked them up, and asked me: "You help me remember we can wash these?"  Yes, Sweet Abs, don't I always wash your dirty clothes?!

A week or two ago we were eating apple slices when Abby excitedly announced "there's apple juice in here!"

And perhaps my favorite Abby moment was last week when I went to free her from yet another failed nap attempt:  She was standing at her door, rocking her baby, and singing "You're going to miss these days"  over and over.  My heart melted.  For those of you that don't know, while not exactly the right words, that's a lyric from the Trace Adkins song that I used to sing to Ryan when he was a baby.  Ryan and Abby love it when I sing it to them now, especially if it involves picking them up and dancing crazily around the room!

Happy Halloween!

60, 30, 2

What a day last Thursday was!  Remind me to not schedule three well check visits in the same day again!  Especially since the pediatrician's policy is only two kids per appointment; that meant we were there in the morning and back again that afternoon.  So happy 5yr checkup to Ryan, 2 1/2yrs to Abby, and 2months to Chloe!  Here's how they compare:

Ryan weighed in at 43 lbs and 42.5 ins tall.  That's right about 50th percentile in both categories.  If you believe the growth charts that'll put him at about 5'10" and 175 lbs.  [of course last year he was going to be 6' when he grew up, he's losing height compared to his peers I guess. whatever.]

Abby weighed in at 28 lbs and 36 ins tall [and that's barefoot so plenty tall enough to have ridden the blankety blank dragons at the fair a couple of weeks ago, not that I'm bitter or anything.].  She's also right about 50th percentile.  Her charts don't predict future growth; I don't think that starts until three.

Chloe weighed in at 11lbs 5ozs and 23ins tall.  Her head circumference is 15.2"  Believe it or not, her head is just below the 50th percentile [how is that possible?!].  Her length is a dot above 50th and her weight is right at 50th percentile [although unfortunately she's lost quite a bit since then thanks to RSV and bronchiolitis, boo].



Ryan at his 5th birthday party!

Abby at the zoo, almost exactly 2.5yrs

Chloe smiling on her 2month birthday!



Creation according to Abby

Ever since Sunday, Abby has been "reading" her books in the car :  "And the next day, it was soo dark."  Over and over again in her super cute Abby voice.  We know they talked about Creation at church and they are working on a memory verse from Genesis.  And we know that Abby is a parrot and if something gets stuck in her head, she'll repeat it endlessly, even if it's not exactly correct.  So I suppose this was Abby's take away from church this week.  "And the next day, it was soooo dark!" 

A new beginning

A new beginning ... to our family at least, no guarantees about my blogging life :) 

Our sweet Chloe Marie was born on August 7th at 1:21 pm!!  She weighed in at an itty-bitty [relatively speaking] 8lbs, 10ozs, and 20ins long.  She's been a great baby!  She eats well, although she much prefers a bottle over nursing, which means lots of pumping for Mommy.  But we're just happy she's gaining weight now!  She sleeps well too and is very rarely fussy. 

Ryan and Abby adore her.  Ryan loves to hold her and kiss her and help give her bottles.  Abby is always trying to pick her up and give her hugs, which is wonderful albeit stressful at times :)  They love having their picture taken with her and shoving her paci in her mouth at the first signs of a whimper.  I enjoy watching them all interact; we are so blessed with our family of five! 

 Abby can tell you that her name is "Chloe Marie Chase" yet she always refers to her as "Baby."

Betsy, the same midwife that delivered Ryan!