Merry, Merry

Like most things this year, we were behind on our Christmas card photo/sending out the cards but it got done.  We had my mom snap these photos in front of us for the card to combine all our firsts for the year - first year in the new house, first real Christmas tree and Tatum's first Christmas.

We didn't intend to use this for the card too, I was just trying to get a Christmas photo of Tatum to have and Stella jumped in so we went with it.

... and some (of the many!) the outtakes

The other night we walked over to a local bank from the office that sets up a little Santa's Village each year - we felt bad that we hadn't taken Stella this year so we "did it for her" plus Tatum was finally awake for a visit this year... 

Merriest Christmas! xx 

This & That: Christmas Prep

Our first taste of Christmas Cheer for the season... 

One of my favorite things each December is our annual Christmas dinner at Maggiano's - Tatum's first time and he behaved great which doesn't always happen at dinner.  A quick stop into the mall first - no shoes! 

Happy Hour by the Christmas tree... 

Dreaming of Santa and toys... 

Yesterday we celebrated my 29th birthday - it had its ups and downs but I did a little shopping in the morning, lunch with friends, a lazy afternoon and then dinner out with my family at night.

Tatum Beau: Two Months

Height/Weight: 
He had is two month appointment on Monday the 18th and weighed in at 12.5 pounds and 23 inches long.  50% percentile for each - I always laugh when people say "he's getting big" and tell Derek I want to say back he's perfectly average! 

At his two month appointment he also got a handful of shots and other than a few whimpering cries and being pretty tired he handled them well.

Clothes: 
Right at about a month old he started getting into his 0-3 month clothes which is good because mommy bought a few Christmas sale items over the summer and wasn't sure if they'd fit but they do! He's spent much of the month in Christmas-y outfits.  He's continued in that size for the whole second month and will continue to do so for a bit.  He's still in size 1 diapers but I think we're going to be going up to size 2 pretty soon.

Feedings:
Our little guy loves eating! He started the month at four ounces every three hours and now we offer him five - sometimes he takes it all, sometimes he doesn't. If he's getting a good nap in during the day, especially if we're out, he can make it four or so in between.  At night we've started around dinner time feeding every two hours and noticed that it helps him sleep longer.

Sleep:
Just after a month really started hitting at least a four hour stretch over night.  At about 5 weeks we switched his schedule a little and started doing his final feeding at 11 and putting him to bed then, up around 3-4 for an overnight feed and then up between 6-7 for the day.  Most recently he just started hitting six hour stretches overnight so with the holidays its tough but ideally we try for around 10pm to bed, up around 4ish, up for the day around 7 (many days he's still on the going to bed late, up about 8 or so schedule because of the holiday craziness).

He sleeps so well while we are out - loves his car seat, riding in the car and being pushed in his stroller.

Crying:
He's not a huge cryer - he'll get fussy if he's been in his swing too long, on his playmate too long, kicking in his crib too long, etc.  Cries if he's hungry, wet or dirty always.  We had a fairly fussy day after his two month shots but other than that and the usual witching hour some nights - I can't complain! 

Likes:
Looking at christmas lights, laying and kicking, pulling hair, seeing things - he's seeming to be much more alert and picking up on things, cuddling and watching Christmas movies, watching rattles be shaken.

Since I don't have time to share his two month favorites this month - a few favorites are his playmat, his crib (he doesn't sleep in it yet but loves when I lay him in to kick in the morning), his sound app, rattles, his car seat, his car mirror - he loves looking around.

Disklikes:
Not much - being hungry, dirty diaper, having his nails filed, getting nose drops.

Milestones:
My favorite milestone is that he's started to laugh and smile! It's the sweetest thing to see.  My mom was asking him items that he might like for Christmas one day and he'd smile back at a few - safe to say he's definitely getting those, ha! 

Started making some noises other than crying, much more alert, loves looking at lights and other things, we play with some rattles, tummy time and he kicks on his playmat.

He survived his first shots at the doctor, him and I get out much more on our own and feel somewhat like "real" people. 

He's getting a little better at holding his head up and bopping it around.  He loves when we're walking around the house or out if I hold him facing out so he can look around. 

He doesn't usually go right back to sleep after his first morning feeding as he used to so now I love any time he falls asleep in my arms after a feeding with his little milk drunk smile. 

Adventures:
We had our first weekend away - to Penn State for the final home game of the season.  For his first road trip he was an angel - slept the whole way up and just a couple tears on the way home (we got stuck in traffic and he was hungry!)

He's had more playdates - some neighbors made us a delicious dinner and had us over to meet him, he's been to friends houses to play (he sleeps in his car seat - but he's there!)

He celebrated Thanksgiving with a low-key dinner at home.  He's done a ton of christmas activities - gone to the mall for shopping and santa, tree lighting, dinners out, went on a Santa train ride, etc. 

Other:
His eyes continue to confuse us - usually we see blue and on occasion brown.  His hair is brown but out in the sunlight sometimes gets a strawberry blonde looking tint.

He had thrush at his one month appointment so for about ten days we did medicine 3/4 times a day to clear it up - he had a real fussy few days before being diagnosed.  It came back a little bit recently but is quickly was fixed up with some medicine.  He doesn't mind the medicine - I think he thinks it's a little snack. 

He uses nose drops just about once a day now, we're always using the nose sucker and he has a dose of vitamin D in his morning bottle each day.

Christmas Party & Other Weekend Scenes

Another December weekend in the books!  It's hard to believe that Christmas is just one week away. We had a festive filled weekend with snow, Christmas parties, etc.

Saturday night we hosted our neighborhood Christmas party.  It was a great time with friends to celebrate the season complete with many spirits, appetizers, dessert and photo booth props. 

Derek and one of our friends surprised me with a birthday cake and everyone sang happy birthday - it was such fun!  Let birthday week begin... 

Other Weekend Scenes... 
Friday I got home from errands just before the roads got bad - we had a spur of the moment snow and Friday night evernote was snowed in.  Even though our plans with friends were cancelled Derek and I still had a good time and had cheese plates for dinner, worked on our college football bowl game pools, prepped for the party, did some baking and played with Tatum.  

Yesterday was our lazy day - naps for all, starting to get ready for Christmas week, the boys watching football, etc. 

Have a good Christmas week! xx