All I Want for Christmas is Two Molar Teeth

Christmas would have been perfect, EXCEPT… the night before Christmas Eve Margo decided to cut her first two molar teeth. At the time I thought she was sick, but a few days later at the MD we learned that she had two little molars peeking through. Being the lunatic I am , I decided it would be easier and better with Margo if we hosted both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at our house with our two families. Although this was a little stressful, it would have been fine had I slept more than 1 or 2 hours the night before Christmas Eve. Margo had fever that was not well controlled with meds and was waking every 30 minutes. I finally let her sleep on my chest on the couch for a few hours. On Christmas Eve she did pretty well with meds, but did have some crying spells like I have never experienced before where she was almost inconsolable. I never even really knew she was teething with her first teeth. Nonetheless, teeth behind us and on to my exhausted, but still wonderful Christmas!

Thank goodness my dad and his sweet wife, Connie, were in town because I could not have made it without their help. We had lunch for 12 at noon on Christmas Eve and despite the crummy way I felt it went off pretty well. It was special treat to have my sister, Shannon, in town with her twins along with my dad and sister, Laura. I made a pork roast in the Crockpot with cranberries and holiday spices that was not fantastic, but was okay and easy. The sides were all yummy and we got some stuff from Whole Foods that was good—I highly recommend the caramelized leek and bacon mashed potatoes! My sister brought fabulous desserts including an amazing red velvet cake from Dessert Gallery. We had lunch, opened tons of gifts (everyone was way too generous and I love my new Kate Spade bag, Laura) and sang Happy Birthday to Jesus before enjoying dessert. Margo’s cousins were so sweet to her and were a great distraction and she only started to get fussy toward the end when she also clearly needed a long nap. The day did feel a bit rushed for everyone to make church, but it seems that is the case every year. The cold nasty rain kept us cozy indoors and we had the afternoon to clean up and recover in preparation for the next day.

The night of Christmas Eve was fun preparing for Margo’s Santa stuff. Dad and Connie bought Margo an awesome wagon complete with cup holders, an umbrella and more! Fortunately, my handy dad was there to put it together or Cary and I might have strangled each other before it was all said and done. I few glasses of wine made me feel better and everything else was easy to set out. Margo received a Pottery Barn chair, an activity cube, books from Santa’s reindeer and other small things including her stocking stuffers. I must say, with the wagon and her other gifts from family, she made quite a haul! She only woke once in the night with a low grade fever and slept until 6:30 am the next morning, thank goodness. She was much improved in the morning and seemed to have fun with all her new toys from Santa although she clearly had no idea what in the world was going on. It was a fun memory and the only thing missing was her Christmas jammies, which I am still sad about. I went to six stores in the Galleria, finally found a pair at Hannah Anderson that was pricey, but I was desperate. Got home only to learn they were the wrong size (because they have this weird European sizing) and when I called they didn’t have any in her size in stock. Cary went to the Gap the next day, got a precious pair, only to discover that the top was the right size and the bottoms were 2T. Christmas jammies were not meant to be this year. Maybe God was trying to tell me not to sweat the small stuff!

Dad and Connie said goodbye at 7:30 am, so they could head to San Antonio to visit my sweet Uncle Wilson who is in a home for brain injured adults. We were sad to see them go so early, but grateful for our precious time together which is all too infrequent. Cary and I actually managed to relax, drink coffee, play with Margo, open our other gifts, etc… until his parent’s arrived around noon. Thank goodness for their help, I was able to shower and reheat leftovers in plenty of time before Cary’s cousin and aunt arrived and we all had a wonderful afternoon together! Margo only needed one dose of Advil and put on a show for all of us, dancing in her chair, kissing her new baby doll and showing off her gymnastic skills doing somersaults! She was happy on Christmas Day and I was so grateful for that! It was a relaxing afternoon with family and Margo brought so much joy to all of us that day!

The day after Christmas Margo was pretty much back to normal and although it was hard surviving Christmas with the sleep deprivation and my heart hurting for my sweet baby who was clearly suffering, we were with family and there is nothing more important! It was a wonderful time to reflect on the gift of our Savior and treasure our time together!

Love this photo by my dad, captures Christmas in the best possible way!

Our Little Jellybean in Month Fifteen

Margo is growing in so many ways… taller and skinnier, verbally, musically, physically… it is amazing how much they change and how quickly! She continues to be our utter delight and brings so much sunshine to our days! Margo’s vocabulary includes: dog, wa wa for water, dad, ball, bubble, mmmm or num num for yummy, and I am pretty sure she is saying other things but it is unclear. We have heard milk, mama occasionally, light and so much more gibberish. She loves to make sounds and learned “ho ho ho” at Christmas and continues to mimic more and more animal sounds including: cow, cat, owl, sheep, elephant, bee, she growls for lions, tigers and bears, sniffs her nose for a bunny and tries to whistle for a bird. When she drinks, she says “ahhhh” afterwards.

Margo is also able to identify most of the animals for which she makes sounds and she LOVES Sesame Street characters even though she does not watch the show. She has been fascinated with Cookie Monster since she was born. We have Sesame Street books and if I ask her where a certain character is she will point out Elmo, Cookie, Oscar, Ernie and Bert. We are working on the Count, Grover, Rosita and Betty Lou—all of which we have small stuffed characters. One of our new favorite activities is identifying objects on chunky puzzles and she is really working on and trying to put the pieces back in place. She is starting to kick a ball and thanks to The Little Gym, she can almost jump off of the ground. She has also learned to do a forward somersault with my assistance. She will put her head on the ground in position and I help her roll forward. The Little Gym has been amazing for her development and unfortunately we will no longer be able to attend due to our new daycare and work schedules. I am going to see if Gymboree offers any classes that might work better.

Margo knows to go to the fridge or pantry when she wants a drink or snack and can be quite demanding at times, ha ha! She can also be a little stinker, although she is still pretty darn well behaved. We struggled a bit with the Christmas tree ornaments this year and have a continued battle with the blinds. Telling Margo “no” does not work very well, but we don’t know what else to do. I have tapped the back of her hand, but think she is too young for spankings yet. No matter what we do to discipline her, she usually laughs in hysterics and thinks it is a funny game. So… we continue to say no firmly, remove her from the thing she should not be doing and have started to hand her one of her toys for more distraction. Sometimes we have to do this ten or more times in a row, all the while she is laughing her little self crazy! I used to think it was funny, but it is starting to get on my nerves. The book, “1, 2, 3… Magic” is on my reading list for 2012.

One thing that has amazed me about Margo is her love of music, singing and dancing. Our girl has definitely got rhythm and she is excited by any kind of music we put on, whether it is children’s music, 80’s or her favorite, classical. Her musical toys are her favorites and she dances and dances away. She has also started to sing which is so so sweet. I usually have no idea what it is, but she is carrying a tune of some sort well and this past month started trying to sing “Oh Christmas Tree”. She would point to the tree, sing, “ohhhh” and kind of carry on the tune. Then, for Christmas she got this awesome refrigerator alphabet game and it was probably her favorite gift. On the day after Christmas, she was already clearly singing the tune to the ABC’s, which my sister pointed out and really took me by surprise. We are definitely going to have to foster her love of music and I want to make sure she takes piano lessons whether she ends up liking it or not. Cary and I are both mathematically challenged and music is supposed to help develop math skills, among other things.

This past month we also made a decision that I am so happy about. After waiting for an hour and a half at Margo’s 15 month appointment, I walked out. It was the second appointment of the day, no one communicated with us and based on other past experiences, I had it! We selected a new pediatrician who is the only physician practicing in his office with the help of a nurse practitioner and I am so thrilled. The are appropriately called, VIP Pediatrics because they treat all of their patients like VIPs. Their office is happy, clean and their staff is caring, attentive and wonderful. I just wish I had made the switch sooner. Margo’s 15 month stats are:

Weight: 26%
Height: 45%
Head: 23%

Her pediatrician also looked at her stats based on the WHO growth charts and she is more like 50% in weight and height using that measure. Since we have been using the other formula since she was born, I will stick to that. Our girl’s Michelin Man arms are gone and she is getting longer and leaner because she is so active, a force to be reckoned with she is on the move so much! Margo is so active that at 15 months, it was definitely time to move to one nap and it has worked beautifully! She wakes around 6 am, has an early lunch between 11:15 and 11:30 and goes down between 12:00 and 12:30. She was not the best napper before, but now she consistently naps between 2 to 3 hours and is now able to stay up until about 7:30 pm. It works better for all of us across the board. Margo is more well rested, I have a great block of time to accomplish things and we can actually go out to dinner without being so worried about an early bedtime. The only thing I miss is my ability to go out to lunch, but the pros definitely outweigh that one little caveat.
After spending an hour and a half with the pediatrician, Margo is doing great and we got lots of excellent advice. Things we will be working on is stacking blocks, throwing the ball and talking more. I have been a little concerned that Margo does not say “mama”. The pediatrician thinks it is because I am always there to meet her every need so she essentially does not need to ask for me. I have to practice a little tough love and start trying to get her to say it before I just give in to her every want or need. I am also supposed to start getting her to say the things she wants rather than immediately give her what she points to. I will say the name of the object, encourage her to say it and if she tries (whether it is understandable or not), I can then give it to her. I am hoping that since she will be starting daycare two days a week, that some of these things will be remedied and they will know what to teach her and she will learn from her peers.

I could go on and on, so much has happened with Margo in recent months regarding her growth and development. This is a long post and I am probably boring my readers. Pray for us as we transition Margo to daycare in January, work on some major constipation problems and try to transition her to regular whole milk instead of lactose free—I am sure a new post is soon to follow. In the meantime, I am thoroughly loving this age that our girl is in. She is a hoot with a funny and sweet personality and she adds so much to my life!

Applause for a Visit with Santa Claus

My amazing friends, Deidra and Melissa, planned yet another awesome visit with Santa Claus for the kids this year! Last year, we started the tradition of hiring Santa “Jim” to visit the kids at Deidra’s awesome house, perfect for a crowd, and I hope the tradition sticks because it is such a great experience for all of our kids and their families.

The Mannion house was decorated to the nines, as always, and Margo had a great time! She just milled around the house looking at all of the neat things and played with Alexis’s toys, but she was really uninterested the other kids. She also was not a fan of Santa at all, but at least there were no tears and we did manage to get some great photos! She wanted to put the Christmas tree decorations in her mouth and was fascinated by the lights and sparkles! Last year, Margo slept, spit up all over her outfit and didn’t even really notice Santa… funny what a difference a year makes!

The group each brought dips, sides, desserts and other goodies to complete a fajita dinner that was delicious! I managed to get a cup of Brian’s homemade turkey and sausage gumbo which was the bomb and Julie’s cake balls were delicious! They had crafts for the kids, but me being the anal mother I am, left so Margo could have a decent bedtime. Deidra gave out the most incredible favors—a jar of ingredients to make cookies for Santa, with easy instructions. They were so cute and I cannot wait to try one of Santa’s cookies on Christmas Eve!

Christmas is all about establishing traditions and this has become one of my favorites! It provides a great opportunity for us to all get together, which is few and far between now that we are all parents, and it is a great experience for the kids. To have one-on-one time with Santa, hear a story told by him and get up close and personal makes it extra special! If Deidra is brave enough to host another crazy Santa Jim party with 16+ families next year, we will be thrilled to attend! A special thanks to Melissa and Deidra for making it all happen and going to such a great extent to make it all so spectacular!

Margo was such a Peach at the Beach!

I had so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. For invaluable time and memories with my family, for amazing vacation home rentals in Seaside, Florida courtesy of my generous sisters, for the beautiful weather, for Margo travelling like a true dream and so much more!

Thanksgiving at the beach has been a slowly evolving tradition in my family. We all love the beach and I must say that the white sandy beaches of the emerald coast are hard to match. Cary and I last spent Thanksgiving in Carillion Beach in 2007, so it had been four years and we were so thrilled to be able to go this year! Seaside was the neat little destination this year with amazing homes, a precious town center complete with great food, homemade gelato, art galleries and neat shops. All were within one short block of our house, along with the private beach, just steps away, and it made for a most magical time!

I was so nervous about Margo traveling because she has not been the most adaptable baby, but I also have not given her many opportunities to adapt. Our flight to Florida was a few hours delayed and she waited so patiently at the airport. She conked out the minute the plane took off and there was not one tear! I think mommy and daddy were more exhausted and hungry than she was. This was only her 3rd or 4th time to sleep in the pack-n-play and the first day she cried, but went right down for naps and bedtime the rest of the trip—a dream I tell you! She played beautifully with her cousins and was a bit attached to mommy, but was perfectly comfortable on her own the last few days. She tried new foods, ate well, laughed, smiled and hugged everyone. I am so impressed with my sweet girl and I must say, I think she benefited enormously from this adventure!

Margo did, however, HATE the sand… I mean HATE it! My girl is not a crier, but boy she cried on that sand. She did not want one single toe in it, which was disappointing but also not surprising. She was mesmerized by the water and I think will be a much happier baby on the beach next time. I might add, she did have a few meltdowns when she was over tired and she could not handle our special dinner out on the last night, but all-in-all she did awesome and I am happily surprised at it!

Our week consisted of lots of wonderful food and our Thanksgiving dinner was to die for! Alan made his famous beef tenderloin that is better than any high end steak house, we had smoked turkey, tons of delicious homemade sides and yummy desserts. Wine was aplenty and Thanksgiving day felt wonderful and safe and comfortable… it felt like family… at its best! We played Balderdash—a definite new favorite of mine, watched The Grinch in the town center, shopped, saw a Christmas parade with Santa and my favorite…lots of chatting with my beautiful family! The days were beautiful sunny and warm enough for a swimsuit. Margo loved walking the trail between our two beach houses and found many treasures along the way—flowers, sticks, rocks and seashells. Her favorite thing was all of the ceiling fans going around on the porches—pure fascination! On the last night of our trip, we also went on a fiercely competitive crab hunt. We divided into three teams in the freezing wind with GIANT waves (there was a rough waters advisory) and had a blast. I was terrified of the crab and refused to do anything other than carry the flashlight, they were huge, Cary got pinched but was a trooper, Morgan (my niece) was a pro at trapping them and Shannon (my sister) was brave enough to pick them up in the net. The stars were the best I have seen in years and I must say I am pretty sure our team won fair and square. Seeing my niece, Caroline’s, excitement over the whole thing was priceless. I splashed wine all over myself, ruined a jacket, stained my face—all too funny!

Margo also got to meet her cousin, Lucas, for the first time. They were born only a month apart and I have been so anxious to get them together. Funny thing is, they could really care less about each other. They played on their own and shared a babble from time-to-time, but for the most part it was as if they didn’t really know the other was there. Nonetheless, I loved seeing them together and on the last day they finally connected. I missed seeing it, but am sure as the years go by they will become wonderful buddies and I am so glad Margo has a cousin near her age since my sisters are so much older, as are their kids.

There is nothing greater on this earth next to God than family and I must say, I have an incredible family! Each member of our clan brings something special and unique to the mix. This week I tried to sit back and soak in the family experience when I could because moments like these are too few and far between. There is also an empty space in our family that I really yearned for Thanksgiving week. Last time we were in Florida, my brother-in-law, Randy, was there. His birthday was on Tuesday before Thanksgiving and his lack of presence was definitely felt. He had a true vigor and zest for life, yet while his physical person is no longer here, I see his beautiful spirit in each of his amazing children. Losing someone you love so much makes you want to hold on a little tighter, remember to stop and smell the roses, appreciate and love everyone even in all their flaws and quirks. Family makes the world go round, not work, not possessions, not money or other vices because family is love in the purest and truest form. Our little Margo added a whole new dimension to our family at Thanksgiving this year and I am most thankful for her and the many new adventures we have to look forward to in the future!