3 months old

Victoria is 3 months old! Milestones include:

She laughs and giggles

She "coos" a lot, almost like she is telling a story

She enjoys tummy time

She has started daycare

She got her first cold

And I think she recognizes her Baba, Mommy and big sister Katerina. In fact she will follow Katerina with her eyes and will smile when she sees her. It is so adorable.

Back to work--starting school

And so it began...I went back to work on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Mike watched Victoria for those two days and then she started "school" the Monday after Thanksgiving.

It was difficult going back, but I am slowly getting back into "work mode" and bottle washing mode. The mornings in the Christakis household are a bit crazy trying to get us all up and ready to go. And dropping off and picking up two kids from school is a bit of a challenge, especially on Monday mornings when you need to bring in washed sheets and blankets and Friday afternoons when you take sheets and blankets home...it's a lot to carry!

Victoria seems to be adjusting well, albeit the cold she got on day 3 of school. She is also very fortunate because she often gets visits from her big sister Katerina during the day. Here is a picture of Victoria on her first day of school:

hand, hand, fingers, thumb...binky or none?

Katerina was a binky girl as a baby...still is, although binkies are only for bedtime. It was great when she was teething, or tired or cranky. Granted we still need to take it away (a project for after the holidays), but I'm glad she has had it.

Victoria on the other hand doesn't seem to be very interested in the binky. She loves to suck on her nuckles, or her thumb. Every once in awhile she will take the binky, but not like Katerina did.

So what is better? I know there are some kids that manage without either, but both girls as babies have had a strong sucking reflex, so I think Victoria needs something. Ultimately I guess it is not up to me what Victoria chooses...even at 9 weeks she has a mind of her own.

Parent/Teacher Conference

We had our annual parent/teacher conference with Katerina's teacher today. Here are the highlights:

She is outgoing

She is empathetic toward other kids

She loves doing art projects (hint hint...for those looking for x-mass gift ideas)

She loves reading stories and will often recite stories to her friends

She is considered the other "teacher" in the class, helping her friends

She understands the concept of taking turns

She knows her colors, counting, shapes etc.

Way to go Katerina! We are so proud of you.

Leaves

We spent Sunday morning raking/mowing the leaves in our yard. Katerina loved jumping in the leaves and having me "hide" her legs as I raked piles. Victoria enjoyed the fresh air as well and took a nice little nap.

Vacation in Western New York

The Christakis family took a mini-vacation in Western New York this past week. It began with me going to Alfred for a board meeting, Mike going to a Bill's game and Aunt Aileen and Uncle Bill watching the girls.

Then the next day, Katerina, Mike and I went to the Strong Museum of Play...she loved it. It is such a great place, with so much to do for kids of all ages. The only things she didn't like were the train ride and the ride on the carousel. She cried half way through both rides...oh well...roller coasters may not be in her future any time soon.

Then on Wednesday, Yiayia and Papou came back from Greece and we spent the net few days visiting with them. It was a fun relaxing week.

Victoria is 2 Months Old!

Victoria is two months old now. Here are some of her recent accomplishments:

She smiles often and almost giggles.

She can grab or swat at some toys.

She has been practically sleeping through the night for about a week.

She has decided that she doesn't like her binky (we think) and instead loves her thumb.

She does great tummy time...can stay there with her head up for 5 or more minutes.

She has a doctor's appointment in a couple of days where we will find out how much she has grown!

Sleeping Through the Night!

On Victoria's 2 month birthday she decided that she was all grown up and could sleep through the night! She went to bed at about 8:30pm and woke up at 5:15am! What a big girl. After she ate, she gave me a bunch of smiles, as if to show how proud of herself she was. Mommy's proud of her too!

The Real Halloween Story

What an adventure Halloween was this year. If you were to read Katerina's blog you would think it was all "treat" but believe me there was some "trick" as well, which makes for a more memorable experience!

At the school parade and party on Friday, Katerina was very shy--and if you know my daughter that is not typical for her. She spent the parade looking down at her feet as if by doing so no one would see her. Then it took her a good 10 minutes to warm up at the party in her classroom. I think she is just the kind of kid that is cautious in new situations and it is not until the experience is familiar that she becomes herself. After she was more comfortable, however, she wouldn't stop talking and eating the yummy treats they made (fingers, eye balls, and witches brooms).

Then the official Halloween day arrived! I picked her up from school and asked if she was excited to go trick or treating. She said she was. I told her that we were going to have an early dinner before going out. We got home, I took her out of the van, got Victoria out and then when it was time to go inside she gave me a hard time...wanting to go back into the van. I wouldn't let her. She spent a good 5 minutes on the kitchen floor crying. Then I made dinner, and by this time Mike was home. Katerina wanted no part of dinner, crying or sobbing about one thing or another. Her dinner ended up consisting of about 4 bites of peas and a half of string cheese. Oh well...

She got dressed in her costume without tears and was so adorable. She enjoyed trick or treating after she got the hang of it ...usually never saying a word just holding out her bowl and then saying "I want to go to another house." It was pretty cute.

When she got home, she delved right into the candy (apparently having already snacked on some along the way). We let her...she had a Reeses peanut butter cup, another candy bar, a tootsie roll, and a lolly-pop. She tried the sour patch kids but said they were "spicy." After all of that, Mike and I figured she had had enough candy, so he had her pick her "last" piece and then took the candy away. Well the tears came rolling down. I just had to laugh. She eventually calmed down because I let her look in the her candy bowl to see that her candy was still there and I gave in to letting her have a bag of halloween pretzels (what a great idea--just regular pretzels shaped like bats).

Victoria also was a bit fussy in the evening before bed, not wanting to be put down. But both girls ended up sleeping soundly (in fact Victoria went to bed at 8:30pm, woke up at 2:30am for a half hour, and slept again until 6:20am--that a girl!).

It was certainly a Halloween to remember!

Playdough Monster

Katerina made a playdough monster yesterday. I had given her the toddler knife we have and at first she just spent a lot of time cutting the playdough. Then when using the green playdough and her knife, she decided to make a “mouth” and “eyes.” I didn't know she knew how to do that! You'll also notice the monster has feet! :)

Victoria's 40 Day Blessing

Last Sunday was Victoria's 40 day blessing. She was a very good girl--she slept right through it! Strat and Meghan joined us and we all rode to church together in our new mini-van. Katerina seemed to know that it was Victoria's special day because she was "bouncing off the walls"...lots of energy! Here are a few pictures from the event.

Working for Smiles

It is amazing the effort you put in as a parent to get a certain response from your child, such as a smile... it is soo worth it!

First Big Smile!

Victoria gave me a huge smile today! Actually she gave me several and I was lucky to catch one on camera.

Climbing!

Katerina loves to CLIMB! When we were in Oswego this weekend visiting my parents, and Aunt Aileen, we went to the park. Katerina loved climbing up a metal ladder and then slide down a big slide. It made me nervous, but she had no fear!

Sleeping!!

You forget how wonderful sleep is until you get a taste of it...and then sometimes it makes you feel worse--like when you take a nap that is too long and afterwards you feel more tired than when you started.

Last night, Victoria went to bed at 9pm and woke up again at 3am, then again at 6:30am. That is the first time she has only woken up once during the night. Just a few days ago she was going to bed at 10-11pm then, up at 1am then again at 4am! Good job Victoria--but why do I still feel so tired?

Victoria is One Month Old

Victoria Ann is one month old, weighing in at 10lbs, 3 oz and 22.5 inches long. She is doing great!

Some milestones:

She is starting to be distracted by a toy, or a person talking to her.

She MAY have given us a REAL smile or two...it occurred at 3am when she wouldn't go back to sleep as if to say "haha...you need to stay up and rock me."

She is starting to coo too, which is the most wonderful sound to hear.

Here's our standard- Mickey Mouse picture.

Getting ready for baby Christakis

I have not been on this blog for months and months...but wanted to share a few anecdotes about how the Christakis family got ready for baby Christakis.

First, we refinished the basement into a play room/guest bedroom. We can't remember our lives without it!

Next, Katerina needed to move to her new room and her big girl bed. We did that over July 4th weekend...it was 5 days of torture. She didn't want to sleep in her new big bed (full size). Mike would lay with her until she fell asleep. Then in the middle of the night she would walk into our room crying.

In order to go "cold turkey', we had to dismantle the baby room, took the mattress out of the crib, took the pictures down from the wall and told her the bed was broken! Then, we decided to put pillows under the sheets to make the bed "smaller", and we put the gate up at her bedroom door.

That worked. The first night, she got out of her bed, cried for about 1 minute at the door/gate, and then there was silence. Mike and I were shocked and actually we got a little nervous. Why didn't she cry longer? Mike had to go peek to make us feel better that she was alright--and she was--laying down in her bed. Phew!

We then bought little items needed here and there. My last day of work was September 2, right before labor day. I had one day off on the 6th--went out to buy another monitor for the baby's room, a lamp for Katerina's room and buy some more diapers. And I did it just in time, because I went into labor around 3am the next morning.

We went to the hospital on the 7th at 11am (we waited a little too long in my opinion), but then a few hours later at 2:24pm Victoria Ann Christakis was born!

Expecting!!

We are expecting a new arrival on September 8. We are looking forward to growing our family and watching Katerina interact with a new brother or sister.

Katerina doesn't really understand much yet, but if you ask her where Mommy's baby is, she will point to my belly. Sometimes she will give the baby a kiss too. It's really sweet.

More to come soon!

Katerina's First Story

Katerina told her first story last night. She thought it was so interesting that she repeated it again tonight, several times. After the 3rd or 4th time she told me the story, I decided to record it. But before you watch the video, let me put this in context so that you can understand her story.

On Saturday, Katerina was outside playing in the driveway with Mike as he cooked our steaks for dinner. They were playing with a bouncy ball. Apparently Katerina threw the ball and it landed in the snow. Katerina was a bit distraught that she couldn't reach her ball. Since neither one of them was equipped with boots on, Mike went and got a broom to pull the ball towards them. He picked up the ball and gave it back to Katerina, who was extremely pleased! Here is Katerina's version of that story.

Holiday Fun!

Katerina has enjoyed the holidays this year. She loves being the center of attention so any time with extended family is a welcomed treat. We were in Rochester, then Oswego, then CT. She was a great traveler, hardly ever complaining.

Christmas was especially fun because she loved opening presents. It was fun watching her get excited about a toy she just unwrapped and then get frustrated that she couldn't get it out of the plastic wrapping quickly enough.

I think her favorite x-mas holiday character is frosty the snowman. He hangs on her door and we have been singing the song to her. Every time she sees a snowman she starts to break out in song. Santa isn't as exciting...in fact she cried hysterically when we tried to get her to sit on his lap at church as she held on to me with her death grip. But from a distance he's okay. She likes saying "Ho Ho Ho."

Finally, our New Years was very enjoyable. Our friends from College made the trip with their kids (Wilson 2, Kaya 1 mth). Katerina and Wilson played nicely together and Kaya was a perfect baby--even staying up to watch the ball drop with the adults.

Well I need to end this post since Katerina keeps trying to type her own post on the computer... I keep trying to tell her that she has her own blog, but she doesn't seem to understand the concept.