9 month check up and other news

Alexandra had her nine month check up today. She weighed in at 18 lbs 4.5 oz and is 28.5 inches long.

And although we think she's tiny (compared to Austin at the same age as well as compared to two other babies her age we know), she actually sits in the 50th percentile for weight and the 75th percentile for height.

But she is half an inch short of being too big for the infant carrier car seat. So, I guess that means that we'll very soon (maybe this weekend?) have to switch her to a rear-facing installed car seat (because she's still two pounds shy of being able to sit forward-facing).

In other news, Alex is crawling all over the house now, pulling herself up on anything she can and getting into everything she can -- especially if it's something that Austin has. Austin is the centre of her universe right now and she absolutely loves being around him and playing with whatever he's playing with. Most of the time, this works out fine as Austin loves playing with her and wants her to be involved in almost everything he's doing. Almost everything. One minute he's telling me he wants to play with Alex and the next minute he's yelling at her to stop grabbing his train set or his car.

This video of Austin pulling Alex on the sled was his idea, not mine. Sorry the quality's not great, I didn't know there were two types of video settings on our camera. But I thought it was cute, so I've posted it anyway.

Austin is now home with me full time until the end of my maternity leave (on April 27) and so far we are having a lot of fun. I've once again signed him up for swimming lessons -- which he loves. We spend the rest of the days of the week going to play groups, meeting friends, running errands or staying in and having dance-a-thons in his bedrooom. In all, it's going well and I'm enjoying my time with the two kids. And, touch wood, I've even managed to get them to both nap at the same time, for at least part of the nap, every afternoon.

The above picture was taken on my birthday. Since it was on a weekday, we just did a nice dinner at home as a family -- which was really nice. Funny how, as you get older, you just want to spend your birthday with the people closest to you. All day, Austin was super excited that it was my birthday, because, as he kept reminding me, he would get to eat cake! (As for having a non-kid evening, Ryan did take me out on the Saturday night to the Keg and a movie, so in all it was a very nice birthday.)

We're still working on the potty training with Austin and he's doing very well. Since the holidays ended, he now only wears a diaper to sleep and if we're going out.

Finally, here's a fun video of Austin taken in October that I found on our old camera. It was taken right before the camera died and was forgotten about until recently. Over the summer, my sister-in-laws taught him how to do the Chicken Dance.

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Christmas in three and a half parts

Christmas and New Year's (and the days in between) were a very busy time for us this year. So grab a coffee and get comfy, because this is a long one.

First, on Christmas Eve, we packed up the car and drove to London where we spent the night with Ryan's mom and Graham. That night, we hung the stockings by the fireplace and left milk and cookies out for Santa because he knew we were sleeping there instead of at home. I'm not sure Austin really understood why he was doing all of this, but he seemed to think it was fun.

Although Austin knew that Santa was coming to bring him presents, he (thankfully) didn't realize that this meant he should wake up at the crack of dawn. In fact, we were all standing around in the kitchen waiting for Austin to wake up on Christmas morning -- and he finally did at 8:45 a.m.!

Christmas morning was exciting for everyone and Santa spoiled us all. In fact, with so many people (we were 8), it took all morning and some of the afternoon to open all the presents. By the time we were done, Austin needed somewhere to run and burn some energy so Ryan, Jamie and I took the kids tobagganing. Austin had a blast and even Alex was laughing as she went down the hill with Ryan.

That night, after dinner, we packed up and went to Ryan's dad's house to spend the night with him and do Christmas morning Part II. Once again, everyone was spoiled with gifts. Both days, Alex was more interested in eating wrapping paper than opening her gifts but Austin had no problem fulfilling his big brother duties by helping her open them!

After another yummy dinner, we packed up again and drove back to Ryan's mom's house to spend the night because early the next morning, before the kids woke up, Ryan and I left the kids with nana and gramps, drove to Buffalo and caught a flight to Raleigh, North Carolina for my cousin's wedding.

We had a bit of an ordeal getting to Raleigh. First we drove three hours through the worst fog I've ever seen; then we were only issued one boarding pass because the plane was overbooked. We waited a nerve-wracking one hour to find out if we'd be able to get another one -- which we did and it was the very last seat on the plane. We made it there by about 2:30 -- giving us plenty of time to check into our hotel, have a bite to eat and get ready for the 6 p.m. wedding.

It was a nice wedding at a nearby country club and everyone danced the night away -- including my 94 year old grandmother who barely wanted to get off the dance floor!

The next day, there was a lunch at my aunt and uncle's house, and we spent the day hanging out there. It was nice to be able to visit with my family because I don't see them very often these days. We used to spend a lot of time with my cousins growing up, including every Christmas but then we moved to Toronto and they moved to North Carolina. And now, my one cousin lives in Chicago and my other cousin (and his new wife) live in California. So, for the first time in five years, we were all together to open Christmas gifts from each other that Sunday -- and we did so on the back deck because it was 74F that day! Talk about a nice break from the winter!

Ryan and I flew home on Monday morning; flying from Raleigh to Buffalo, then driving back to London, packing up all the stuff and the kids and then driving back to Toronto -- arriving home some 12 hours after we left Raleigh.

Christmas Part III was on Jan. 2 at my parents house, where we once again were spoiled with gifts. We spent the day relaxing at my parents house and feasting on a turkey dinner.

In the days between arriving home from Raleigh and Christmas Part III, we went to an appetizer dinner party for New Year's Eve at a friends' house. Everyone had to make and serve one appetizer to the group. It was a lot of fun, and we ate some very yummy foods. We were 10 adults and 5 kids and although none of the kids made it until midnight, Austin was the last to pass out around 10:30.

Now that all the festivities are over, it's time to get back into a regular routine, relax a little bit and maybe buy some new shelving units just to find homes for all the new toys the kids got this year!

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