A Lazy Day, Christmas Plans, and Almost "Mama"

Thanksgiving was fairly calm this year but today took that calm to a whole new level. Blame the rain or the turkey coma but today was a perfect lazy day. We chilled around the house with my mom and the kids. I did get several things done (the one I'm most proud of being the kids clothes all sorted and Summer and too small stuff all put away so only the Fall and Winter gear remain) but for the most part we just played with the kids, ate Thanksgiving left overs, and relaxed.

I skipped out on the Black Friday shopping since nothing on our Christmas lists has been on sale this year and I don't feel like I missed out at all. I already have several of the kids Christmas gifts purchased and the rest I will probably order offline since they're not in most local stores I've checked.

Hopefully we can start our Christmas decorating tomorrow or Sunday. In years past we had small artificial trees since we were in a small apartment and it was safer out of the kids reach but this year since we have the space in our rental house we are planning on having a real tree. This means we need ornaments. I am not a fan of the fragile glass ornaments around the kids and have horrible memories of them shattering and being ground into carpet so I'm trying to avoid those this year. I also want C and J involved as much as possible in decorating the tree so the plan is that we will be making most of the ornaments and the purchased ones will be kid safe (plastic, paper mache, and plush). I'm looking at various options to make our own ornaments and I am hoping to make some special ornaments for the year for each child. I'm hoping to make this a tradition so when my children eventually have their own trees they will have their own personalized ornaments made by Mom especially for them. I will take pics when I get these done (hopefully in the next couple days as well). I will also be hanging cranberries on the tree I think, as long as I can get the point across to the kids that those aren't for eating off the tree.

Other than the lazy day and planning for Christmas I have started hearing things. E has been baby talking like crazy and I keep hearing "Mama". Now I know a 2 month old speaking with actual words is most likely impossible. And I'm sure she probably is just happening upon this sound combo since I repeat to her so often and doesn't quite know the meaning, but still I hear it and it catches me off guard and I can't help but get a little excited though I'm not counting this as first word yet.

C and J both said their first actual words at 4 months. C began by saying "Hi" when people entered rooms and then a day or two after getting that had "Dada" down, yep she was a Daddy's girl from the start. J said "Mama" first and wrapped me even more around his little finger. A few weeks later he learned "Dada" and then his mischievous streak really emerged. Every time I would say "Say Mama" he'd say "Dada" then burst into laughter, he thought it was the funniest thing in the world. He still would call for me when he was upset or sleepy but he would never say it when I asked. He kept doing that for several months. It's crazy to think back to when they were both just learning to talk when now there's nothing they can't say.

Anyway back to E and the present. I know I will have to wait a bit longer to be sure when the first words she understands really emerge but I still think she's getting closer with imitating me. I may be crazy (what mom isn't a little though) but I'm going to continue going with that one particular babble of hers that she often says is her "almost 'Mama'" since every time I hear it I my heart warms up, and hearing my babies say "Mama" at any age is definitely one of the sweetest sounds in the world.

I did get some of E's babbling on video tonight. She was a little upset so this wasn't as clear as usual but I figured I'd share anyway so yall can here her "almost Mama" too :) It's cute whether you count it as first word or not after all right lol. Check the following post for the video.