Woznation

Things were cold this month.  Hopkins was closed 3-4 times due to snow. Unfortunately, with my job – I dont get a lot of credit for ‘snow days’  and work is expected as usual.  Having a nanny this year has been a huge perk. Daycare doesnt care what your work schedule is like.  When they are closed, you fend for yourself.  But, on days where it is possible, Liz can still make it to our place for a few hours for me to get some work done in the office or take a conference call upstairs.  It has seriously helped me so much and I’m so appreciative to have an extra person ‘in my corner’ on these crazy, snowy weeks. Thanks Liz!!

On one of the crazy weather weekends – my brother, Andrew, and his wife, Jessie, came to visit!  Instead of snow, they had crazy fog and could barely see 50 feet in front of their faces.  Not the best for site seeing.  But we still had a great time.  I dont have many pictures of their visit – but we had a nice time out of the house on Friday night (again, Liz came a stayed with the kids. Amazing!)  Then we hit-up the aquarium on Saturday.  Andrew was also able to see a few of his friends who lived in Baltimore/DC.  So it was a great visit for all!  Other than that, we have tried to find other indoor places to run the kids around.  And spent lots of time on crafts and music (and movies) inside.

I couldnt decide which picture of Wil in the snow I liked best – so you get a lot.  It was too icy to sled, but Wil liked helping daddy clean off the car.

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Christmas post on January 19th?  Yep.  We’re still catching up from the holidays.  Thank you notes will go by next weekend, promise!

Christmas was lovely, as always.  We drove to Indiana on a Friday night.  We left at 7pm and the kids (mostly) slept the whole way.  We stopped and changed diapers as needed.  But overall, it was pretty painless.  My whole family was together for Saturday and Sunday morning. We all went to church, had an awesome family dinner and our annual catch phrase competition (that is usually reserved for Christmas Eve – but hey, at least we got it in!). Phil, Maggie, Andrew and Jessie took off Sunday – and Woznation still had a few days with the Harrisons.  It was so great watching all the cousins hang out.  Evie and Elise are 8 months apart and will be in the same grade growing up.  Obviously, right now, 8 months in a big difference though!  Elise is walking all around and pushing Evie in the standing toys.  Luke and Wil are starting to play better together (Luke has always played nice, Wil is just starting to get the hang of it).  We were also able to spend a night out with friends in b-town.  Cels was down for a night and we got to see Brian and Kelly at Lennies!

We spent the rest of the week hanging out with Busia and Dzia Dzia.  Wil looooves the fisher price little people that they have at their house and kept calling them his ‘guys’.  Lets play with ‘the guys’!  He also had a blast playing with flash lights in and out of closets at their house.  Jessie and Andrew were back for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  We also got to hang out with Uncle Nick — and Great Uncle John from Hammond! The whole crew went to Christmas Eve mass (All 16 of us from both families!). Then Phil and I went to the Wozniaks for the traditional ‘wigilia’ polish christmas eve dinner.  The next day, we started the morning at the Watkins.  Wil didnt really have anticipation of Christmas morning, but it was so cute watching Luke wake up.  Wil got ‘eyes’ (binoculars)  that he loved! and Evie got 18-24 month clothes – thats shes already fitting in!

After we destroyed the presents at Mimi and Pop Pops – we went for more at the Wozniaks!  We were able to open presents via Skype with Aunt Em and Uncle Sam. Wil got a beautiful letter choo-choo that spelled his name – and a Choo-choo shirt that he promptly thew over his shoulder – just like you see in the movies.   CLOTHES?! Ha!  Where are the presents?  Evie loved the cellophane wrapping most of all! (Phil and I got Wil a few Octonaut figurines.  Its a newer disney show that hes obsessed with.  And Evie a pop-up toy…that we forgot in Bloomington).

During our Indiana trip, Phil and I were insanely fortunate to have the opportunity to spend a few nights away while all the grandparents took turns watching the kids.  Originally when we were planning this mini-vacation, I started my search in Peru, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Miami… — we ended up staying 3 nights in French Lick, Indiana.  1.5 hours away from Bloomington.  When it came down to it, we really just needed a few nights of pure sleep and no one needing us for >48 hours.  So we didnt want to spend our whole time traveling or all our costs going to a location where we would spend half the time indoors. While we were away – Evie didnt sleep through the night and Wil got a horrible upper respiratory virus — But our parents took it in stride.  I cant even describe how thankful I am for those few days away.  Especially under the circumstances.  It had been a very tough few weeks in Baltimore with my work, Phil traveling, and Evie (STILL) not sleeping through the night. As many of you know (I reached out to A LOT of you), I was starting to lose it a little bit.  Wil’s sickness might have been the straw on the camel’s back.  But when we got back – Wil was feeling better and we were refreshed.

It almost makes up for all the money we lost in the french lick casinos. 😉  Thanks Moms and Dads, siblings, and friends for a great christmas break – we REALLY needed it.

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We had a fun time getting in the christmas spirit in Baltimore.  Wil kind of gets the idea of Santa, but was still too terrified to sit on his lap.  We watched a lot of Mickey Christmas specials, so he liked the idea of trees with lights, ornaments, and presents.  He even lucked out and we were able to have our first sledding adventure!

Wil still loves all things underwater – so we decided to renew our aquarium membership.  We’ve been able to spend a few afternoons there – where Wilek likes to follow the sharks and count the fish (He is still learning to count, but his favorite numbers are 2 and 9.  So he ‘counts’ by just saying ‘2, 2, 9, 2, 9 9, etc..’).  There have been a few warmer days where we have gotten out to the park/swings, but I’m afraid those days are probably over for a bit.  We will be staying indoors for a while. Hopefully spring will come soon!

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These bunny pictures are sponsored by Pop-pop, who found this amazing camo diaper cover on zulily. I think he was channeling Phil’s love of camo shorts.  But she can also represents Emmy and Sam’s love of hunting.  Either way, shes amazing.

5 Months:

Not getting any skinnier at 6 months:

The biggest and happiest baby you’ll ever see.  These are 12-18 month clothes from Mimi.  7 months:

My last wilek lion picture, at 7 months.  I guess comparisons have ended…

Here she is in the same outfit, around the same age as the Wil/Lion picture. It fits, but she fills it out a bit more.

Shes come a long way:

3 weeks old!

She is 95th percentile for everything (though a little short on size).  Has 2 teeth.  Loooooves the pacifier.   Sits without assistance, but we still give her a pillow fortress around her, just to be safe.  Everything goes in her mouth.  She laughs constantly – mostly at Wil and Barney.  She loves pushing buttons – especially ones that makes noise or make screens change.  She is even eating small bits of solid food all on her own!  We give her either a puree or small bites on a tray every night.  It took her a few weeks to figure it out, but in true Woznation form, she’s caught on like a champ.

Thanksgiving was definitely an eventful one this year.  Phil’s parents were visiting for the occasion.  Char was able to come the saturday before and Mark drove over on Wednesday night.  Phil and I took advantage of the free babysitting and went to Brewer’s Art for dinner on Saturday and then went to our first Raven’s game on Sunday afternoon!  It was a high of 22 degrees that day, but we bundled up and walked the 3-some miles to the stadium as a ‘warm up’ (we may have stopped at a few bars along the way).  The game was so fun and Baltimore won!!  The seats were great and all the fans kept things lively despite the cold weather.  Unfortunately, as we were away, Evie came down with a stomach bug. And this bug continued to make its way through the entire house.  Char had it next, then Wil, then I had it.  Phil never had a full blown attack, but definitely wasnt feeling himself.  We were a sad bunch Sunday through Wednesday. I even took Evie to the doctor just to make sure she didnt have an extra ear infection or anything.  When I got in, they asked if she could possibly be teething?  I said no way, no teeth at all yet (lots of drool though!).  And as soon as the doctor stuck her finger in to check, sure enough she had one! haha – i hadnt noticed at all!  Mother of the Year over here.  Oh well.  The doctor said she was handling things like a champ and to keep her hydrated.  Luckily, by the time Thanksgiving (and Mark) arrived, we were all mostly back to normal.

We had our standard thanksgiving meal:  Roast Turkey, my mom’s mashed potatoes, dressing recipe adapted from Mark’s stuffing, green bean casserole, jellied cranberry sauce for Mark, Char’s pumpkin squares, and lots of chex mix.  I was mostly happy with how things turned out.  Phil said it lacked cheese.  On Friday, we were finally able to get out of the house!  We went to the Baltimore Children’s museum so Wil could run off some steam.  Then we spent the afternoon baking cookies!  A great way to finish off the week.

Here is a massive Thanksgiving slideshow.  I tried to make notes where applicable:

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Halloween was another tough one this year.  From our experience last year, we knew Wil wasnt a huge fan of pumpkins or halloween costumes.  However, we have finally started allowing occasional candy – so we thought that might entice him this year.  It was only somewhat successful.  We tried to do pumpkins the weekend before with Phil and Maggie, but Wilek had no interest.  He did like them when they were lit up – and liked pointing them out on walks with daddy – but wasnt interested in carving them or getting gooey.

We knew Wil wouldnt be super into costumes.  But we did know that Evie would make an awesome Elvis.  As I was shopping around for Evie Elvis costumes, I saw toddler costumes that I thought Wil might tolerate over his other clothing. Thus, they both went as elvis.  Evie had the hair for it – but we didnt bother with Wil.  But we did buy Wil a new toy microphone that he carried around.  I ordered the costumes a month early and practiced wearing it with Wil a few times before Halloween.  We bought the pumpkin pale a few weeks before, too – and practiced ‘trick-or-treating’ in the kitchen.  Wil would wear his costume and say ‘trick-or-treat’ and I would put an m&m in his bucket.  Again…it was somewhat successful.

So Halloween finally arrived – we had a fun morning planned with some of my friends.  Halloween fell on a Thursday, so I was out of the office, which was nice (unlike last year, when I got home at 5:30pm). Anyway, a few of us with toddlers and new babies decided to head to the zoo!  Wil did pretty well but we ducked out early to get him down for a decent nap before activities started. (Wil had fallen the day before, so he had a gnarly scratch on his nose.)

Then around 4pm – phil got home from work early and we headed to a neighborhood kids halloween party!  We were able to get Wil in his costume for a bit – but I must admit, Evie made a waaaay better Elvis.

We left the neighborhood party early to try our hand at trick or treating for the first time ever.  Wil was NOT interested at first.  We tried to get him to go to 2 houses, but he would just break down – wet noodle style.  We finally forced him to go up to one of our neighbors who was sitting outside handing out candy.  Wil was screaming the entire time – but he gave Wil (me) 2 pieces and I opened one – a twizzler – on the spot and gave it to him so he could reap the reward.

Finally, it wasnt so bad!!!!  Phil and I switched (He had been sitting on the stoop with Evie passing out candy).  Phil and Wil had a much better time. Wilek was happy to go up to doors and knock – and was especially excited about any and all twizzlers.

That night we ordered pizza (a new halloween tradition?!) and rode the sugar-high wave until around 8:30pm. Weeeeeeeeeeeee.

I have high-hopes for next year!!

My brother and sister-in-law came to visit at the end of October!  It was their first trip to Baltimore – and a great excuse for Phil and I to take some time off work and show them around the city.

Side story:  I first met Maggie in the fall of 2005.  I had just started grad school at Purdue, and Phil and I took a trip up to Michigan to see my brother for the weekend.  We all hung out over a halloween weekend – attended a football game – and had a grand old time. So I got back to Purdue and told all my new friends that I met Phil’s girlfriend and she was wonderful and we all had a great time.  However, some of them did not know I had a brother named Phil – and assumed that I had met my boyfriends other girlfriend (?)  and I was just super open and supportive about it! haha!  From then on, I made sure to be upfront about having a brother named Phil, as well. You can usually tell in the context of the story who I’m talking about…

Phil and Mags got in around noon on Friday – so Phil and I both took half days and spent the afternoon in inner harbor.  We went to Pratt Street Ale house for the first time and then went to the National Dentistry Museum.  It was by appointment only – very fancy.  And very cool to see all the old relics of dentistry past. Some hadnt changed much. Either dentistry was way ahead of its time – or its currently way behind.  I havent decided which.

After that, we walked around downtown a bit more – showing them Camden Yards and Pickles:

We took it easy Friday night – and then hung around with the kiddos on Saturday.  We walked around patterson park, fed the ducks, and carved pumpkins.

Then we even got a babysitter for a few hours so we could go out to the bars like hip youngsters do on saturday nights.  It was the weekend before halloween, but we were too cool for costume.  Yet we saw a bunch of fun ones.  It was just exciting to be out of the house, hanging out with friends!

Drs. P & M Watkins left on Sunday afternoon to get back to their 9-5 jobs in battle creek, MI.  We’re so thankful they came all this way so we could all visit for the weekend.  Thanks guys!  We hope to make it to the mitten soon!

We’ve had an amazing fall here in Baltimore.  Last year, I was in the first trimester with Evie and didnt feel like doing much; and the year before I was still getting the hang of having a baby – and much to scared to leave the house that often.  This is the first year we have taken full advantage of my favorite season.  We love heading to the park any chance we get.

This is one of my favorite pictures:

Evie is usually calm and quiet as she takes it all in.  Shes looks like a different baby without the hair – haha!

Feeding the ducks is Wil’s favorite thing to do these days:

We’ve taken a few outings down to the water and out to Webers Cider Mill:

They had so many activities for toddlers.  Wil especially loved the hay maze.  Phil has a great video of them running through it (Phil is working on organizing all our videos – I dont think we’ve posted any since last christmas!)  We had Evie with us at the Cider Mill – but she was tucked away sleeping in the car-seat, so no pictures.

I swear Wil was having a great time.  He just decided to frown in the following 2 pictures.

This picture was actually from Liz, when she went to the cider farm on a different day with the kiddos and another family.  Again, Wil decides hes unhappy right as the picture is being taken.

It has also been fun to have slow saturday mornings snuggling at home. Wil is enjoying interacting with Evie more and more.

Haha – He did this to himself.  We got these new boots at goodwill and didnt think hed like them – but we tried them on once and he refused to take them off!  And then he decided he needed a backwards hat.  He walked around like this all night.

The hair…

Selfies are all the rage right now, right? Next up, a visit from Phil and Maggie! Yay!

Evie is nearly 20 weeks.  Which is too old to be tracking time in weeks.  She is over 4 months now and 17 lbs!!  She’s about 90th percentile for everything, meaning shes proportional, just BIG.  I cant find Wil’s exact stats, but I remember him always being about 50th percentile, which is around 14 lbs (?).

We had her 4-month appointment last week, and my normally very-independent baby was all snuggles:

Seriously – she has never cared for a wrap, carrier, or nap on my chest.  She much prefers to watch things from her back or bouncer.  It was quite a change last Thursday when she insisted on being held and slept on my chest for over 2 hours.  It was bitter sweet. She must have really felt awful, but it was nice to have a snuggly baby again.  Wilek was the biggest snuggler, which never allowed me to get any work done.  But now i look back and think how great it was.

On Friday, she was back to her old, happy self.  Even waking up at 4:00am ready to play!!  With Wil – he would wake up in the middle of the night crying, and I would rush right in to get him – his cries were so sad – he’d always be so upset until you got to him.  But once you fixed the problem, he’d promptly go back to sleep and all was quiet again.  With Evie though, she doesnt really fuss about anything  – she just wakes up talking your ear off, ready to play and hang out with you.  No cuddling, singing, nursing, or bottle really mitigates the problem. Its almost worse than a crying baby.  Because you cant make it stop!!  its 4am child – go back to sleep!  She doesnt seem to get it.

Nonetheless – shes doing great.  The main thing I was worried about was her flat head – I couldnt tell if it was really that flat – or just looked flat due to her mullet. Like I mentioned, she spends a lot of time on her back – since thats how shes happiest! Phil had to talk me down from taking her in for a same day appointment a few times.  But when I brought it up to the doctor, she wasnt concerned at all!  She passed with flying colors.

Here are her most recent bunny pictures:

8 weeks old!

13 weeks old!

16 weeks or 3.5 months

4 months old!

Same outfit – a 6-month sleeper – already getting snug!  Time to break out the 9-month clothes!

4.5 months old!

19 weeks earlier:

1 week old!