The Lucky Ducks: Christmas, 6 months old, & The Latest "Buzz"

Hi All!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a (long) while but we've been busy and sick and now we're well (but still busy). Christmas was great - Owen and Anna Claire received such wonderful gifts (and now we're going to have to move so that the stuff can have the house - ha ha!

We received some wonderful news at Thanksgiving that O & A will have a new cousin! Aunt Dee and Pan Pan will make wonderful parents and we can't wait to meet Baby S in July.

Anna Claire and Owen are both growing and learning lots of new stuff. They are both sniffle free at the moment but I'm sure that will change soon. I got sick after Christmas and it was determined that my gallbladder was on the fritz and needed to be removed so that was done two weeks ago. The surgery went well and I'm feeling back to normal so luckily it was uneventful and is over.

At Anna Claire's six month doctor's visit, she weighed 19 lbs, 3 oz and measured 27". She's a big talker and loves to chat with us and laugh. She recently began reaching for us and will grab my face and snuggle in! She still has only two teeth - at the bottom in front - and she's eating more variety of foods. She really loves oatmeal cereal with milk and I add new flavors to it every few days.

She enjoys playing with new toys; she seems to be bored with her rattles and stuff so I've been giving her blocks and little people and she just loves these. She's also really interested in books (although I think she really likes the chewing more than the looking). She pulls herself to sit up in the highchair and will sit with slight support on the floor. She pushes up with her hands and pivots around to get to new toys and last night she rolled over and over and was trying to move around the floor to chase Owen.

Owen's latest obsession is Toy Story and Buzz Lightyear. He LOVES Buzz! He is constantly telling me "I'm Buzz Lightyear, you're Woody. Press my button." He has learned lots of new things and many of them include how to get to lots of stuff that should be out of his reach! He is a monkey and will climb onto anything (or anyone) to get to something he wants. He also has learned to take the key out of one door, put it in the other, unlock the door and... So now the key is always OUT of the door and OUT of his reach (hopefully). We will be getting a latch for the door to avoid any unnecessary running away.

Owen is very much into "I do it myself!" and this works both for and against us when we're trying to get him to cooperate - it's really a luck of the draw. He still loves to color and paint and read and has begun "reading" by himself which I think is so cute. He has been mimicking me with Anna Claire by changing a baby doll, rocking & singing Rock a Bye Baby, and strolling it but he also loves to shoot the alligators (thank you Swamp People) with his double barrel shotgun!

He can put his shirt on by himself if you hand it to him the "right" way and he'll pull the front of his pants up. He matches shapes, colors, and at least three different sizes of a shape with no help. He still loves to count and knows how to say and sing the alphabet. He is really into singing songs and along with Curious George & Toy Story, he likes Caillou (I think I prefer George). Owen is really good at imaginative and pretend play and will make up a bit of a storyline and tell me to participate. It's so neat to see him doing these things "all by himself"...

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.

all four grandkids on Christmas eve

(boy is it hard to get 4 little kids to look at the camera at the same time!)