10 Months Old

Our little sweetie turned 10 months old at the beginning of January. Unfortunately, Adley had an up and down month with her first extended sickness (runny nose, ear infection, fever). But, we are thankful for her precious, contagious smiles that continue even on days when she feels rotten. This girl is such a treasure to us!

Some 10-month stats about our Adley Grace:

PHYSICAL

• Can confidently stand on her own
• Can quickly cruise along furniture to get across the room
• Has taken a few shaky steps back and forth between adults when we encourage her to try, but she overall still prefers to crawl
• Started to wave backwards (by clenching fingers into a fist towards herself)

EATING HABITS

• Loves to feed herself and no longer enjoys being spoon-fed
• Favorite foods are fruits, cheese, Cheerios, and puffs
• Likes signing "all done" with big arm motions when she is finished with her meal

PLAYTIME/OTHER

• Says "ba, ba, ba" while waving good-bye
• Loves giving open-mouthed kisses and often gives them freely without being asked
• Enjoys playing with lift-the-flap books
• Likes finding and playing with remotes when Mommy and Daddy aren't watching
• We are regularly fishing things out of her mouth (scraps of paper, small toys or Legos, dried food from the floor... YUCK!). Thankfully, Adley rarely tries to swallow these items, but just likes playing with them in her mouth.
• Doesn't like to be held for long periods of time and will stiff-arm Mommy or Daddy (often in the neck!) or will grunt until we put her down
• Loves giggling at her brothers and enjoys when they run around near her or play peek-a-boo with her
• Enjoys splashing and playing with toys in the bath

First pig-tails!

New Year's Eve

The last activity we had at the Walquist Resort was a New Year's Eve party. Because the holiday was on a Sunday this year, we celebrated with an early party (ringing in the new year at 8pm) rather than at noon like we've done in previous years. After another delicious dinner (steak!) made by Grammy and Papa, we kicked off our party by letting the kids (and adults!) experiment with various dress-up items. 

At various times throughout the evening (as indicated on the clocks below), the kids took turns opening a bag. Inside, they would find a note describing our next activity.

The first activity was decorating two craft items-- #1 a confetti popper (made from a TP tube) and #2 a masquerade mask.

We took this picture of the kids and their masks the next morning, after the masks had time to dry. Didn't they come out looking cute?

Next, we played a family guessing game. I gave the kids popsicle sticks with photos of all the adults in our family stuck onto the top. Then I gave the kids a clue about someone in our family, e.g. "This person worked at a construction company during college." or "This person was taken to the hospital in an ambulance after a sledding accident."

The kids would hold up the popsicle stick picture of the person they thought fit with the clue (like Aunt Kim and Uncle Jason, respectively, to fit the clues above). The kids were incorrect on the majority of their guesses! The game was a fun way to teach the kids something new about the adults in their life, and it gave the adults an opportunity to share some unique stories about themselves.

Poor Adley ended up coming down with a fever during the course of the evening, so she spent most of the party relaxing in the loving arms of family members. 

After the guess-who family member game, we had a little family dance party. The kids danced expertly and enthusiastically to the Chicken Dance, the Hokey Pokey, and the Limbo.

We didn't take any photos of the next activity since we were all just sitting around, but it was one of my favorite parts of the evening. Each family unit shared a brief series of photos (which we projected onto the TV) that represented some highlights of their year. I loved hearing each of the kids excitedly explain their family pictures to the rest of the group. It was fun to recap everyone's year and to hear about God's faithfulness in each family's life.

The last "clock bag" activity was making ice cream sundaes. Yum!

Finally, it was time to ring in the new year. We gathered around the TV to watch the countdown video.

When the time was officially 12:00 (at least on the youtube video!), Abby was the chosen cousin this year to pull the balloon drop cord.

We celebrated with noisemakers, lots of jumping and dancing, shouts of "Happy New Year," and trying out our new confetti poppers.

What a treat to ring in the new year with so many people we love! We praise the Lord for His many blessings and for His loving presence over the past year. We look forward to seeing all that is in store for 2018.

Special Outings

During our Christmas holiday time at Grammy and Papa's, we went out on the town for a few special outings:

Obstacle Warrior Kids

This gym was set up to resemble various American Ninja Warrior courses. It was the first time any of us had visited a site like this. Jaden and Cody were a little on the young side to successfully be able to make their way through most of the obstacles, but they still seemed to enjoy trying.

In the back of the gym was a section for much younger kids containing a foam block pit, a few climbing obstacles, and a trampoline. Adley liked exploring this section and especially giggled when she was bounced on the trampoline.

Looking at Christmas Lights in Style!

One evening, Matt borrowed a bus from the school where he works, and the whole family piled in so we could drive around town looking at Christmas lights. All of the kids thought it was so special to be able to ride together in this large bus. What a unique adventure!

Jaden and Ian

Downtown Children's Museum

Our family had only visited this museum once before, so we were excited to try it out again. It ended up being a VERY busy day to visit, but we still thought our time there was worthwhile.

Cody enjoyed pretending to be a weatherman in Kidtropolis, the section of the museum set up to resemble a miniature city where the kids can work at jobs, earn paychecks, a spend money at grocery stores and restaurants.

Cody and Jaden played at this exhibit for quite some time, trying to devise the perfect pathway for a rolling ball.

I loved watching the boys talk to each other on these payphones (after, of course, I had to explain to them what these foreign contraptions even were!). Both phones even had little video cameras so they could see each other while they were talking.

This section for catching rubber fish and crabs in nets was also one of the boys' favorites.

Daddy took the boys climbing on this cool ladder.

Mommy and Daddy took turns spending time with Adley in the upstairs Tot Spot, an area designed for kids under 3 years old. This section was perfect for Adley! She loved crawling around up here, playing with various balls, wheels, and other fun toys.

Midway through our morning, we all gathered in the parking garage to eat a picnic lunch. The Children's Museum doesn't allow you to bring in food, and it was too chilly to eat on the ground, so the kids gathered in the back of Andrew and Sarah's van for lunch. Fun memories. :)

Ice Skating

This event could accurately be described as "the best of times and the worst of times." Going ice skating was one of Jaden and Cody's first picks when we gave them a list of options for what they wanted to do over Christmas break. However, when we actually got to the chilly rink, put on the clunky ice skates, and slid clumsily across the ice (even with a walker) for the very first time, Cody and Jaden weren't quite sure ice skating was something they wanted to do anymore! After quite a few tears, a break on the sidelines, and multiple pep talks from adults, the boys finally decided go around the rink again. And then again. Believe it or not, the skating actually got easier. ;)

 

We never quite graduated away from using the walkers, nor were the boys thrilled about skating without an adult directly behind them. But, in the end, we did get some smiles! And, once we were ready for home, both boys left saying that they loved skating and wanted to return again sometime soon. The whole experience was definitely a lesson in patience (for kids and parents alike!) and perseverance-- two good traits to continue to build up!

Our sweet girl wasn't too thrilled about spending time in the cold ice rink at first either. During one of Adley's fussy moments, however, Papa walked Adley around and expertly rocked her to sleep-- just what she needed!

All of these outings added up to make for a very enjoyable Christmas break!