Christmas in Iowa

We traveled to Iowa for Christmas this year.  We left Monday morning, the day after Christmas, and made it to the farm just before supper on Tuesday.  Both kids travelled well -- Graecyn is a great traveler always and Cody is getting so much better.  We attached a mirror to the back of the seat he faces (his carseat is still rear facing) and I think that was a huge help.  Often when I assumed he was sleeping, he was just sitting there staring at himself in the mirror.  We had to stop a few times to let the kids stretch, but overall, it was one of the best car trips we've had so far with both kids.

Graecyn was fully over her stomach bug and back to normal, which was great.  Unfortunately, a few hours after we got to the farm, I came down with it.  Fortunately, it was short lived and I was feeling normal by the next evening.  Eric and Cody never got it, but Colton and Camden had it by Thursday and my Dad had it by Sunday.  It was a bit of a crazy, germ-filled week because on top of the stomach bug we were spreading around, Eric had a sinus infection, Danielle had strep throat, and Will and Theo had tonsillitis.  We still made the most of our time there and both Graecyn and Cody had a great time playing with their cousins.

While we didn't get to do everything we had hoped to do, we were able to squeeze in a movie (Mom and I took Graecyn to see Sing) and a birthday celebration.

On the way home we made it to the hotel in time to let the kids swim.  The pool water was freezing cold (Graecyn's lips were blue), but they still had fun and were able to burn off some energy.  Both kids favorite part of the hotel was riding on the luggage cart!

Cody 18 Months

1 and 1/2 years old already!  Time sure does fly. You are a happy, silly, stubborn little guy.  You have grown and learned so much over the past 3 months.  You...

• Are talking more and more --- saying ssshh, all done, all gone, hi, thank you (sounds like ti tu or ha hu)
• Bark like a puppy and honk like a goose
• Love to dance, jump, and climb on anything & everything
• Wave hi and bye
• Love to play with your cars and get pushed around outside on your tricycle 
• Give great hugs and wet, sloppy kisses --- you also like to blow us kisses
• Love to wear things on your head (baseball hats, stocking caps, princess crowns, your sister' headbands)
• Brush your teeth (you really just chew on the toothbrush, but also go through all of the actions, including spitting)
• Can blow your nose! (Yay!!!)
• Are a pretty good eater -- you seem to be a carb lover (especially with French fries and muffins).  You are really good at using utensils to eat.
• Are such a happy guy who loves to make us laugh.  You do have a temper though and when you're not getting your way, you tend to hit, scratch, or even spit on us --- we're working hard to break you of this habit.  You also bang your head on the floor when really mad (we're starting to see you do this less and less, so I'm hoping this phase is almost over).
• Everything still goes in your mouth, so we have to be really careful and make sure all of Graecyn's little lego and Barbie pieces are kept out of your reach.
• You LOVE to wear shoes -- you will go to the shoe basket, find a pair of your shoes and bring them to us.  You then immediately sit down and lift your foot in the air waiting for us to put your shoe on.
• You're still on the small side, weighing just under 21 lbs and standing around 30" tall (both around or under the 5th percentile on the growth charts).  You have 10 teeth (6 on top and 4 on bottom)
• For Halloween, you were a firefighter and Daddy had a great time building you a fire truck to go over your favorite ride-on car (you were so happy to go along for the ride during trick-or treating).
• You love to be outside and the fastest and easiest fix when you're mad or upset is to take you outside to play.
• You are a great napper at home (but a horrible napper at daycare).  You regularly take 2 almost 2 hour naps a day when at home (we're lucky if we can get you to take 1, 1-hour nap at daycare).
• You can scoot very fast down the stairs on your tummy and really want to go up and down stairs standing up like a big boy (you're so easily distracted that we make you go up on your hands and knees and down on your belly because every time you attempt to go up or down standing up, you fall).
• You love to go down big slides and the faster the better.  
• You love baths -- floating on your belly and making the biggest splashes are your favorites.

'Tis the Season

December was a busy month for us and we squeezed every possible holiday event in that we could.  Graecyn is old enough to really enjoy the holidays now and it is so much fun to see her excitement for Christmas.

We took Graecyn to her first Christmas musical - a huge, professional production put on by a church about 45 minutes from us.  It is one of the best Christmas shows I've seen.  The pyrotechnics scared her at first and the music was a little loud, but she loved it and can't wait to go back next year.

We picked out our Christmas tree from the same tree lot we have gone to for the past 6 years.  Graecyn and Cody had fun running up and down the rows of trees.  Graecyn wanted to help put the lights on the tree this year, which made me very happy (I hate doing the lights)...it only lasted about 5 minutes though before she was bored and wanted to just sit and watch a Christmas Story while Eric and I strung the lights.

I was worried about how Cody would be around the tree since he tends to get into everything.  But he did really well with it.  He was very interested in the ornaments, especially the ones that play music.  He would always want me to lift him up to see them and get me to push the buttons to start the music (sometimes having me get them all going at the same time).  His favorite ornaments seemed to be his tractor ornament (he would point to it and attempt to say tractor) and Graecyn's Frozen ornament that was Elsa singing 'Let it Go' (he would push the button to play the song over and over and over...).

Graecyn and I baked, decorated, and ate lots of Christmas cookies (and yes, she's not wearing a shirt...she got too hot). ☺

We had our first big snowstorm of the year with over 10" of snow.  Cody and Graecyn had a great time playing in (and eating) the snow.

We went to the Detroit Zoo for their annual Zoo Lights event again this year with Callie and her parents.  Millions of Christmas lights throughout the zoo were so pretty.  We also made a trip to downtown Rochester to see the lights on main street -- every business covered in Christmas lights from sidewalk to roof.  It is so pretty to see and the pictures do not do it justice.  We also had to stop by the bakery to see what cake creation they made this year -- last year it was a scene from Frozen, this year it was the Grinch --- everything in the window was edible!  Amazing.

We had a hard time finding Santa this year...we attempted a few places and there were always too many people also waiting to see him.  So, on Christmas Eve, we finally were able to track him down at Partridge Creek mall and Graecyn and Cody were able to sit on his lap and tell them what they wanted for Christmas.  Graecyn asked for a Shopkins ice cream truck, Barbies, and a bounce house.  Cody just cried --- maybe next year.

While Christmas Eve started off great, it ended horribly with Graecyn getting a stomach bug that afternoon and throwing up for about 5 hours straight.  I felt so bad for her as we had big plans to open all of our presents after naps on Christmas Eve...but that didn't happen.  We did let her open one gift once she started feeling better -- she really wanted to open the gift from her cousins Anna and Abbie, which was a stuffed Princess Celestia My Little Pony, she was so excited and happy to get that gift.  Fortunately, it was a short lived bug and she was feeling much better by Christmas morning in time to see what Santa brought her and Cody.  She was pretty happy to see what he left (a little bummed that she didn't get the Barbie Dream House or the pretend kitchen toaster...we had a little talk about appreciating what you do get) and did comment that even though she was sick, this was the best Christmas ever!  Santa left her a Barbie doll house (but not the dream house according to Graecyn), a pretend kitchen blender and mixer (but not the toaster according to Graecyn), the Shopkins ice cream truck, lots of blind bags (little toys that you don't know what they are until you open the bag), new sleep socks, an electric toothbrush, and more.  Santa left Cody a Little People airport, tool puzzle, Paw Patrol slippers, a new water bottle, his first toothbrush and tooth paste and more.  We opened all of our presents (Cody didn't care anything about opening presents, so Graecyn got to open all of his presents too) and the kids played with their new toys while Eric and I attempted to clean, organize, and purge the old toys.  While we were originally planning to get on the road Christmas day to start our drive to Iowa, we decided it would be best to wait until the next morning to make sure Graecyn was better (and that no one else came down with it).  Despite Graecyn getting sick, it really was a pretty great Christmas!