holiday season recap

We are only halfway through December but we've been busy! A couple of weekends ago we got our Christmas tree. Katie was sick that day and so was I, and as you can see she was pretty grouchy. (I was too, so thankfully I am not in the picture).


Last weekend Katie, Meg and I made Christmas cookies. They had so much fun! They were totally silent and engrossed in this for a long time.




It's been a long time since I've cut out cookies with cutters so I forgot the important step of making sure the dough is cold so it will keep its shape! These looked bad -verging on gross- but thankfully these weren't really meant for giving away.


Yesterday Meg and Katie's preschool had their Christmas program. I spent most of my time getting it on video so I just have a few lousy pictures. I thought it was funny how everyone in this picture is doing a different hand motion. The girls were precious and we loved watching them.


Yesterday Mark's office had a children's Christmas party and Santa came to visit! Meg told Santa she wanted princess shoes, a princess dress and a princess crown.


Katie told Santa she wanted a lollipop.

first steps

Claire took her first steps last night! Mark and I were tag-teaming the girls' bath/bedtime and I was helping Meg in the bath when I heard Mark in the next room sounding excited and saying, "One step! Two steps!" - and finally it dawned on me what was happening and I ran in to see her take her third step.


She walked back and forth between us 3 or 4 times, taking about 5 tiny, tentative steps each time.


We were all so excited for Claire and I think she was pretty proud of herself!

happy halloween!

visitors

We got to spend the past few days with Mark's mom Nancy and our 8-year-old niece Leah. We were especially excited that Leah was coming since we have very few chances to hang out with her by herself. This is what I learned about Leah this weekend: she loves purple, soccer, Michael Jackson (especially "I Want You Back" and can sing it spot-on), Uno, Gymboree, pretty much any food out there (I was seriously impressed with this), and kills any opponent in balloon volleyball. She is fearless, sweet, funny, and mature. I love that my girls have her as a cousin to look up to. (Christie, can we keep her next time?)

fall festivals

We got to got to two fall festivals this past week and they were both really fun!
The first was on Saturday and it was just a few minutes from our house. Meg surprised us by not only willingly bouncing in the bounce houses but also actually having a lot of fun. There was even an obstacle course bounce house with much bigger kids in it and she loved it (she would never have done this in the past so we loved watching her being "brave").


Katie was a little skittish about the bounce house but had no problem with the pony ride.


Last night was our church's fall festival, and the girls were very excited to get to dress up! (side note: this is the bumblebee costume's FOURTH straight year being worn by a Webb girl - phew! Is that a record?? If Claire will fit into it again next year, I'll be so happy).

Meg and Katie watching the pony ride (I think these were the same ponies from Saturday!):

Katie was so funny and excited to be wearing her costume. She was running up to anyone she knew and yelling, "I'm a butterfly (buddo-fwi)"!! And then she would do a little dance with her tongue sticking out.

tuesday/thursday mornings

I love my Tuesday and Thursday mornings with Claire. The big girls are in preschool then and Claire and the house just seems really peaceful and quiet.


Claire is a good mixture of energetic and relaxed - she is a little of both. I am so grateful for the times we get to hang out, just the two of us!

claire's first year

These pictures not only remind me of how much she's grown in one year, but it also reflects the adventures in breastfeeding we went through this year...the jaundice at one month (she is so yellow!), the happy and healthy 2 and 3 months (breastfeeding was pretty good for a little while), the skinny and sickly 4 and 5 months (I wasn't making enough milk and at 5 months she weighed less than her weight at 2 months), and the gradual addition of formula and real food at 6 months (then looking more well-fed and happier with each passing month).

It never fails to amaze me how fast a baby can grow and develop in just one year!

one

Our beautiful Claire turned one today. She is a delight and we couldn't imagine our lives without her. I can't wait to watch her grow up.

Claire took her first bite of birthday cake tonight and loved it so much, she laughed out loud! Pure joy.

exactly a year ago

We looked like this...the day before Claire was born.

Katie was still a baby too! Crazy. (I think my lower back is still angry with me for carrying Katie while pregnant with Claire.) We were SO excited to meet baby Claire!

yard work

Katie and Meg were "helping" Mark as he cut down a big dead bush in the yard.


Claire watched from her stroller. And she has a bunch of new teeth to show off! She is so cute - she bites her cheerios in half now, I think just because she can.

all-natural hair product

Almost every morning, Claire eats banana for breakfast. When she eats, she likes to squish it in her fists to make a nice banana paste.

Then she runs her fingers through her hair.



Her hair parts naturally in the middle, and she reminded me of some animal with horns...then finally I think I got it! I believe her hairstyle is "the water buffalo".

katie's first day

Katie's first day of preschool was today! Having a big-girl backpack was very very exciting.



She took the entire experience in stride and had no problem being dropped off at school. She was really cool and nonchalant about the whole thing...traits she obviously does not get from her mother.


She was so engrossed with looking at all the things in the classroom that I think she hardly noticed when I kissed her goodbye. Every day last year when we dropped Meg off at preschool Katie cried because she wanted to stay too, so I'm so happy to see her finally get to be in preschool like her big sister.

11 months

When Claire turned 11 months (almost 2 weeks ago...I'm a little late), she was a mess. She was teething and I think had a cold, too. She was miserable but still managed to be her smiley self most of the time. This gummy smile won't last much longer!



Poor thing. When Claire is tired or needs to self-soothe, she immediately puts her thumb in her mouth and twirls her hair with her other hand. It's easy to tell when she's ready for bed:

meg's first day

Meg's first day of pre-k 4 was last week and she loved it, just as we knew she would.


Less than a minute after walking into her new classroom and before I could even say goodbye, she made herself at home with the train tracks, lost in her own world and totally happy:

four

Our sweet Meg turned four yesterday. She only had a few requests: Chik-fil-a for dinner, time to play on the playground there, and party hats. Done, done, and done.

unexplained behavior (park edition)

Ever since Katie was a baby, she has closed her eyes when she is on the swings and sometimes sucks her thumb. I don't know if it is a deep relaxation thing or a feel-the-movement sensory thing. Maybe someday she can explain it to me.

the learning curve

All the girls in our house are learning something and are on that spot on the learning curve where all they seem to do is repeat, repeat, and repeat. And then repeat.

Meg is learning how to whistle. So far she can whistle just one low note, but it is loud and clear (as in, I can hear it across the house). This is what she looks like almost all day:


Katie is learning to use the toilet. This is not my favorite area of toddler parenting, but we are in the thick of it and she is getting the hang of half of it. I won't go into those details. This is what she looks like almost all day (pantless):

(She was helping me husk corn! Meg and Katie are turning into awesome helpers. I love it!)

Claire is learning what is food and what isn't. I spend a lot of time fishing things out of her mouth. This is what she looks like almost all day (she especially loves this fake carrot):

the great pear experiment

I knew almost nothing about pears until about a month ago, when I picked a bagful of hard little pears from a tree in my parents' yard in South Carolina. They didn't even feel ripe, so I googled about what to do with them on the ride home.

Did you know you are supposed to pick pears when they don't feel ripe yet? I didn't. After you pick them, you store them in the refrigerator for 1-4 months (!) and then let them ripen on the counter.

I've had these pears taking up an entire drawer in my fridge since July 4, so I was really excited to try making pear butter. I did it yesterday in the crockpot and I think it went pretty well! I don't have a food mill so I had to peel about 25 of those little suckers, but that was the hardest part. It sat in the crockpot all day and then I just blended it up and then boiled it down until it was thick. Pretty easy and I'm excited to try this again next year.

hannah

We have been a little heartsick around here...our babysitter-turned-almost-family-member Hannah has left us to teach at a Christian school in Lebanon. She has been watching the girls since Claire was 2 weeks old and Katie could barely walk and has an amazing rapport with little girls. She was just excellent and we will miss her!

For some reason I never took a picture of them all together, but thankfully Hannah attempted to take one with her phone...not an easy job:

10 months

See the scrape on her forehead? I predict a few more of those in her future because this girl is on the move and into everything!


See the green and white potty chair in the background? We are potty training Katie and Claire terrorizes poor Katie when she's sitting on it by gleefully pushing the lid back and forth up against Katie's back. I think Claire knows what she's doing.


She can pull herself up to standing now!


She likes to try to play the piano. When I hear a gentle little "tink, tink, tink" instead of banging (Meg and Katie), I know who's playing. So sweet.


Her favorite new game is playing "sooo big!" but she also is into pointing, so it often comes out looking like some sort of victory stance.

gymnastics night

Every Thursday night this summer Meg and Katie have gymnastics. It's really exciting for them because Mark meets us there after work and goes into the class with them. Leotards are optional but these girls never miss a chance to dress up.

swim lessons

Meg had swim lessons a few weeks ago. She started out not wanting to even put her face in the water and it was great to watch her confidence around the water grow.


Meg and her sweet friend Adriana were so cute together. Adriana gave Meg her extra goggles and Meg "needs" them every time she is in the water now.