Goodbye 2011: Milestones & Celebrations!

Happy 9 Months Mick!

Happy 2 and a Half Killian!

Happy New Year Everybody!

Mick has now spent as much time outside of my body as he did in!  It's hard to believe how fast they grow and how we went from this a year ago today:


to this:


I remember how when I used to write Killian's monthly "birthday" posts I would tally up all the new words he started to say this month. At 2.5 now, we are beyond counting words, as I now try to remember all the funny things he has said over the past few months.

"Red means stop. Green means go. Purple means... zig zag zig zag! ...  Did you know that, Mommy?" he asks me inquisitively, with his head tilted to the side nodding.

Also, at this time last year, I was reflecting on how active Mick was in utero (he got into breech position twice later in the pregnancy) and "what does it mean?!" Well, I suppose it did mean that I'd have a very active baby too. Mick tears around the house, pushing large objects, crawling over or on top of anything he can. His favorite game is "ball," in which he delicately unfolds his fingers, and lets  little balls (or another round objects) roll off of his hands and across the floor.

The exersaucer, the last symbol of a stationary baby, has left the house. We used to keep it in the bathroom for when I showered and was home alone with Mick. But after a series of bad colds and sinus infections, Mick got used to us bringing him into the shower with us for the steamy air. The last time I tried to put him in the exersaucer so I could shower he flipped out. He was like "What the hell? You know I want to go splash in the shower!"

As I've mentioned recently, Mick likes to do everything everyone else is doing.  He is even more super jazzed and energetic when Mike and Killian are both home too, and likes to push legos around next to Mike and Killian as they build tall towers and offshore drilling platforms.



2011 was a busy year. Mick was born! We had a newborn! For a few months we had "2 under 2." I started a new job. Then another. I worked hard to get back into shape post-second baby. Mike formed a company, was very busy with freelancing for most of the year, and then much to both of our delight, just recently took a fulltime salaried position that fits him just perfectly. Mick's 1st birthday is just around the corner. My plan for 2012 is to take a long, deep breath... and relax... and enjoy, especially all my wonderful blessings from 2011.

Happy 2012!

Me too, part two.

Hmmmmm. Mick needs to work on his organizational skills, I'd say.

Goodnight Moon. And Venus. And Duke Building. And Football Game.

Wednesday Morning

I drew a 9!

Christmas Spirit in Uptown

Have I mentioned I love this time of year? Especially when it's 60 degrees in the evening.

We've been walking all around Uptown every evening this week. These are pictures from last night's walk.

The Duke building has been in the Christmas spirit this week for sure!





We walked to the ice skating rink in front of the NASCAR museum. Killian was just content to watch people skate. Earlier this week Killian tried roller skating in our carpeted hallway.



Stopped by the Bears on the way home.



Killian and I hung out on the pool deck for a bit.



Then after we  had walked a mile or two over Uptown, Killian visited his friend Talia on the 8th floor, and he and Mike decided to climb 20 flights of stairs to the top of the building.



I don't think people truly realize the kind of energy we are dealing with.

An Evening... In the Building

Second annual TradeMark Progressive Party was a success.

Me too!

Mick's got a serious case of the "Me too's!"

Even with similar toys, Mick still wants what Killian has. Killian is getting better and better about sharing (the toys he doesn't want) with Mick now.

Merry Christmas Papou & YiaYia

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

(Shutterfly is paying me to post this again,) but I thought I would share the Christmas card I made for Papou & YiaYia this year, since we aren't mailing Christmas cards this year. Sorry everyone else, but my Greek grandparents are just special (and resources are in short supply this year)! I also don't like that there's so much ME in this card, but we didn't get any good standalone pictures of the kids. But because there is so much Mary Claire, their first grand baby, I think it's the perfect card for Papou & YiaYia :)

I don't know if it's the most wonderful, but it's definitely up there, time of the year.

I love this time of the year.

I love the lights, the spirit in the air, the extra parties, celebration, and rituals.













I took Killian to a "Spread the Cheer" festival in Uptown and he enjoyed standing in the fake falling snow.  I thought it was funny when we saw Santa and I said, "Is that Santa?" He said, "No. That's a daddy."

We treat Santa Claus like the Care Bears in this house. We love the Care Bears in this house. But I somehow doubt Killian will grow up thinking the Care Bears are real (as much as we all would like them to be). We don't plan to persuade him Santa is real and if asked direct questions, we will answer directly. So I thought it was funny that since we haven't talked to him about Santa yet other than reading stories about him, he already thought it was obvious that it was just some dad dressed up in a costume.

Cormac at 8 Months

Mr. Broccoli had to be in this month's picture because he is by far, Mick's favorite stuffed creature. We have an abundance of stuffed creatures in our house, but Mick got excited like never before when he saw this guy at Ikea. Every time he sees him, he buries his face in Mr. Broccoli's fluffy greens.

Mick's 8 month picture was taken at 8.5 months and at night (as opposed to taken with natural daylight), but hey, at least it still got taken! November flew by. Everyone has been busy, especially this guy. Mick's been busy exploring the house. This large metal mixing bowl is Mick's favorite toy at the moment. He spends a lot of time pushing this large object around our house.



These days when the whole family is home and an adult wants to briefly leave the room, one of us has to announce, "I'm leaving the room!" to alert the other person to be extra vigilant. The boys really cannot be left alone together for a second now. It's baby brother who likes to mess with big brother and get all up in his business. Killian is still working on calling for help instead of just pushing Mick away.

He looks innocent, but he can strike at any moment.



We've started to do a few standard signs with Mick and I was excited to hear Mike report the other day Mick made his first sign! (I missed it!) I always sign for milk when I ask him if he wants to drink milk and he always replies with his "milk cry" (very eager whimpering). The other morning after he just woke up, Mike was laying in bed with him shirtless. Mick started to play with Mike's nipples (that doesn't sound weird at all) then looked at his own hands, and started signing for milk! Good thing he didn't try to get some milk from daddy. Lovely family moment.

Mick loves to give kisses, and loves visitors.



His favorite game to play is FLOP! When he's sitting on a mattress, he likes to smirk and fall backwards on the bed. I say, "Are you floppin'?" and he laughs. Luckily he knows to only play that game on the bed. He loves wrestling and rolling around the bed.

I love watching this guy explore and play all day.