Merry Christmas!

It's officially Christmas Eve here at the Rooney house and I'm constantly being struck by how different this year is than last. For example, last year, I was insanely miserable with morning sickness and this year, I've got two healthy, beautiful kids (both of whom are napping right now, which makes things even better!). Jack had his RSV shots this morning and we had a wonderful visit from our neighbor, Sandy, who brought presents over for the kids. Meredith fell asleep with one of Jack's presents, but she told me "he happy to share with me, Mommy!" I love watching them together. Jack's eyes light up when Meredith comes near and Mere always has to know where her "baby brother" is. When I picked them both up from daycare the other day, I heard her tell him in the backseat, "Baby Jack, I so happy to see you. I miss you so much today!" Not to be outdone, Jack has been babbling up a storm lately. I was talking to Meredith this morning and he kept talking louder and louder to get my attention. Once I turned and looked at him, he stopped and smiled as if to say, "Now that I have your attention..."

Between our two jobs, we've heard more than our fair share of sad stories this Christmas. This season definitely makes me thankful for all of the blessings in my life and thankful for the baby born so long ago on that very first Christmas. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday!

Six Month Checkup

Jack had his six month checkup today and did great! He weighed in at 22 lbs, 6 oz (99th percentile) and was 28.5 inches long (97th percentile). His head circumference was 88th percentile, which was a jump. Since his head grew so fast, our doctor sent us downstairs for a quick ultrasound. Thankfully, everything was fine. He had shots today and will get two more on Friday for RSV. That works out to five shots in three days :( I just keep telling myself it's better than leaving him vulnerable to all of those nasty illnesses, but I still hate making his thighs into pin cushions.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

Can you believe Christmas is less than two weeks away? We were supposed to head to Grammy's today to bake cookies, but we've been officially snowed in. Meredith told me this morning that she wanted to "stay home in her warm cozy house" instead of going outside to play. We had a pretty good scare with Jack last week. He came down with a bad case of the stomach flu and had to spend a few hours in the ER at Children's to get IV fluids and medication so he could stop throwing up. After almost a week of puke, diarrhea and poor feedings, he's back to feeling great. Yesterday was the first day back at daycare for both kids in over a week--they've been home with Mommy and Papa. My dad was here for five straight days. He's such a life saver!

We had breakfast with Santa on Saturday morning. Jack people watched for a while and then fell asleep. Meredith was thrilled to make ornaments for our Christmas tree, but wasn't too happy to talk to Santa. He came by our table and she told me that she wanted him to go sit on his seat so she could watch him, but didn't want to talk to him. Sadly, this is an improvement! Maybe by the time she's 5, we'll convince her to actually sit on Santa's lap.

We're off to the pediatrician a week from today for shots--wish Jack luck!

Let it Snow!

It amazes me every time I log on to this blog how long it's been since I've updated it! Life really does get in the way sometimes :) I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is right around the corner. We have a new resident at our house. His name is Christopher Popinkins and he's an elf straight from the North Pole. We've decided we need a Christmas elf for every season because knowing that someone is reporting back to Santa has kept a certain little girl on her best behavior! It's amazing the places where he can hide. Chris is having way more fun with him than Meredith is!

Jack has been on solid food for about a month now and loves everything but peaches! So far, he's had bananas, apples, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, carrots and green beans. He loves solids so much that we try not to put our hands near his mouth during mealtime for fear of losing a finger! His weight at last check was 22 lbs, 4 oz. He and Mere are officially now wearing the same size diapers.

Here are a couple of pics from the last month:

Picture from our greyhound tea party. According to our hostess, Mia likes lemon in her tea, while Philly prefers honey. They drew the line when Meredith got out her dress up clothes.

Before bed a few nights ago--the second one is my favorite. Meredith climbed up next to Jack and said, "Mommy, you take my picture with Baby Jack. We say 'Cheeeeese!'" In reality, Mere said "Cheeeese!". Jack is saying, "Oh crap. Don't let her sit on me again!"