Janie is 3 months!

At three months old, our lil' Gem Baby is so much fun! She has changed so much since joining our family and while we are sad to see the newborn phase pass so quickly, she is getting into an amazing stage of development. She loves interaction and is such a smiley kid! She even has started to giggle when tickled under her chin or when Mommy or Daddy make silly little sounds. Right now a breathy"hea" gets her going. She kicks her legs a lot and enjoyed playing with the toys in her baby gym. She will reach out and touch things attempting to bring them to her, which is a big change from just a few days ago. Janie will ride in her swing watching the mobile and lights for short periods but still prefers to be snuggled. She likes a pacifier but also has recently realized just how much fun she can have with her own hands in her mouth. Tummy time (longer than a few minutes) and putting weight on her legs and "standing up" seem to be her least favorite things to do.

Our sweet baby remains to be a good eater and sleeper. Once she shows us her sleepy signs, she goes to sleep easily when swaddled. She will sleep after around 2 hours of wakefulness (some short and some longer naps) and continues to sleep through the night. Mommy and Janie go to sleep around 11:00 and she wakes up around 6:00 to eat and then will typically go back to sleep until 8:00! What a blessing this is since I need all of my energy to keep up with Sister Clara. Without a doctor visit this month, we do not know how exactly much weight Janie Bug has gained, but the rolls and double chin she has attained are fitting of her love of feeding.

The best development of all seems to be her continued interest in her big sister. She eats up all the attention Clara gives her and always is interested in whatever Scout is busy doing. Clara is always so gentle and kind with Janie. At times she ignores her, but at this point all of the attention she does give is positive and very helpful. She will recover her when Janie kicks a blanket off, give her a pacifier when she fusses and go sit and talk to her or show her a toy when she wants to be entertained. Our sweet girls are such blessings in our lives!

Christmas Dresses

Santa & Christmas Party

The Michael Family with Santa at the 2010 Issaquah Mom's Group Christmas Party

Our first opportunity to see Santa this season went better than past years. Check out these links for a good laugh: 2008, when she freaked out, and 2009 when she wouldn't get close to him without clinging to Daddy). At first, Clara was fairly apprehensive about hanging out with the jolly ole' elf...

Luckily he was patient and took his time to make her feel comfortable.

And before long she allowed him to pick her up - Hooray!

Janie was not phased at all by hanging out with Santa, but she was far more interested in watching the children run around and play at the party.

Holiday Pals

Davis came to play today and the kiddos made Christmas cards with their photos on them. Both are such angel faces!

When I asked to take a photo of the two of them together, this is how they posed on their own. At playgroup this morning, when we stood up to sing some of our action songs they started holding hands and dancing in circles together - really wish my camera was ready then!!

Eventually I was able to get this posed shot of them... So precious! They are such great pals!

Decorating Their Tree

One of Clara's new favorite "princess dresses" that she likes to dress up in during the day is this jumper of mine that my Grandma Wanda made for me when I was around Clara's age. Since she was wearing it (proudly) the night we planned to decorating the kiddo tree, we put Janie Bug in her little jumper from Grandma Carol too!

It is SO hard to get a decent posed picture of both girls. If we can have them both awake and happy at the same time to even try, it is a struggle to get Clara to hold still somewhere near her sister, let alone to look at the camera and smile. We have depleted our tricks and bribes and have resigned to the fact that photos like the one above are about as close as we get for a while.

Last year Grandma Wanda gave us some ornaments she no longer uses for Clara to decorate her tree with. There are of fun soft felt and fabric ornaments that Scout loves to pick them out and hang all by herself. We have decided to make this part of our family holiday tradition as an advent surprise.

Even at 11 weeks, little Janie gets to participate in the process as Clara tells her about some of the decorations she has picked out. Janie, fascinated by her big sister already, watched Clara with wide eyes and shared some sweet smiles. It is amazing how fast these sisters have fallen in love with one another how much interaction really is taking place. Clara is so protective and helpful with Janie. Recently a friend of mine was holding Janie at a little party and after a minute of two Clara politely asked, "Can we have my sister back now, please?" So sweet!

~ Christmas Baby ~

What a smile... We are so smitten with our lil' Gem!

Janie in her sweet little snowflake dress from Kevin's cousin Brenda and her husband. I was so tickled to capture this sweet smile from our little girl!

"Can I open a box, Mommy?"

As we celebrate our third holiday season as a family, we have begun to realize that we are creating our own holiday traditions. This year we welcomed "Twinkle" our Elf on the Shelf who watches everyone in our household and reports back to Santa and we found this fun advent calendar for the girls.

It took Clara a while to figure out the concept of only opening one door a day, so several times a day we were hearing the big question, "Can I open a box?" We have tried to change up the surprises from sweet treats to fun activities. Watching Clara enjoy this new tradition feels like just as much of a treat for us as it for her. I imagine Janie will love this just as much in years to come!