All I want for Christmas is....

SLEEP! And, I think Dave will agree with me on this one for sure. We are dragging. The kids have been sick on and off since October and not sleeping well. Claire was sleeping pretty well for a few weeks in a row and now she has started getting a lot of separation anxiety and therefore screams several times per night when she wakes and realizes we aren't there next to her. Jack has also been acting out a lot lately and it is wearing on our patience given how tired we are. And if that wasn't enough it is the holiday season and therefore there are a thousand things to do! Ahhhhh

All in all though we are doing alright. Claire is still doing amazingly well with attachment and bonding to us. She is saying mama, dada, something that sounds like ack for Jack, and baba for her baby doll and picture of babies that are on our fridge. She also is really into dancing to any music she hears. She has taken a couple of steps now, but mostly prefers to crawl. We had her one year doctor's appt. today and our pediatrician thinks she is doing wonderfully. She is impressed with how well she is attaching to us and shocked at how verbal she is already given she has only heard English for three months. One minor thing we knew we would likely have to have taken care of, and the dr. confirmed today, is to have Claire's tongue tie corrected. The little flap of skin under her tongue is too far forward near her teeth and therefore she cannot stick her tongue out of her mouth past her teeth. It isn't uncommon and is a quick outpatient procedure. We will be using the same dr. who did Jack's ear tubs a couple of years ago. Not sure yet when we'll get it done, but probably after New Year. It isn't urgent and isn't causing her any problems, but it needs to be done before she starts speaking much more as it may delay certain sounds she needs to make to say some words.

The pictures attached below are of our trip on the Polar Express train ride in Connersville last weekend. We went with my mom, and Dave, Cynth and Andrew. The boys LOVED it! The rest of us enjoyed watching the boys enjoy it :) The other picture is of Jack started to decorate the tree at home with his ornament for the year.