Capturing the Kerrys: 20 Weeks

We're about to enter the brave new world of having a four year old, since Ryan's birthday is just two days away. Meanwhile Elise is hitting her 5 month mark tomorrow. Both shared a well-child appointment this past Tuesday and were declared healthy and happy. It should come as no surprise that both of their heads measured in the 90+%. Ryan's weight and height was also in the 90% percentile and Elise was in the 60%. I like to think their heads are so big due to increased smarts, but only time will tell.

We're prepping for Ryan's party this coming weekend. It's a construction theme and we're celebrating with my family and our pseudo-family (those boys that Ryan has grown up with as cousins). We've recently gone through a rough patch with his behavior...he had his first yellow warning and a red warning all in the same week at school. This is a big deal to a pre-ker...It hasn't happened since, but we're working hard with him to off-set the example being set from a kid in his class who is out of control. The child is very physically violent and it's gotten worse over the last year and a half. It's hit a point that we're considering either leaving our center or at least moving him to a different class. Outside of Ryan knowing how everything on Earth works, he's generally very sweet and helpful. Most mornings he spends playing trucks or trains, but instead of just moving them about, there's complicated stories and missions that his trucks are involved in. He's counting way into his 60's and is writing most letters and starting to spell the basics. His language and storytelling skills keep us rolling most days. And he LOVES his "Little Miss."

Elise has been doing great (though she reacting badly to her shots). She likes to stand on your lap and look around, always with her finger in her mouth and a coy smile. She's not the biggest fan of tummy time, but her neck and arm strength are great. She just prefers to be held so she can see what's happening or to sit in her bumbo. She's a doer. She also has a voice! Sometimes it seems like she's saying "hi" and she loves to shout loudly when she's happy. We've yet to master rolling from front to back, but she is rolling side-to-side, so any day now. Most nights she only wakes once around 4am, buts she's in a co-sleeper in our room, so it's no big deal to nurse her and then put her back down. She's loving her time with my parents three days a week, and I'm loving having two whole days at home during the work wee to spend with the kids (though Ryan sometimes spends one of those days with Levi.)

Max and I are both very busy at work, but are working hard to try and leave it at the workplace so we can better balance family life at home. It's a never ending challenge. We're super excited for Christmas and have some good family time together as well. Oh...and we're VERY excited for the renovations to our house to be done this coming week...it's been a month and we're over it. Happy for the changes we've made. But excited for the dust to leave and for order to return. We'll post images when the projects are done.

Love to everyone from Rockford (city of a million twinkle lights),
Courtney, Max, Ryan + Elise

After a short phase of dis-interest in anything that wasn't outdoors or truck related, Ryan's been back into drawing, play-dough and scissoring.

Thanksgiving we spent the day at my parents, though Ryan was very sick with a fever.

The finger in the mouth. She usually looks like this...

...or this most of the time.

Dinner time in the bumbo. Elise is now our centerpiece while we eat.

Ryan and Max did the tree-sleighing this year since it was too cold for Elise...she snoozed in the car while the boys did the dirty work.

Ryan and Max did a ginger-bread house....Ry was anxious to eat the heads off the gingerbread men.

A nearby mall has an amazing train every year for Christmas, but this year Santa was there while we were visiting. Ryan did great telling him exactly what he wanted (a blue car carrier) as well as how Elf on the Shelf works.