December 2012 Happenings

Here is what the boys have been up to this month...

Carter (2 years, 7 months)

Carter is a combination sweet/crazy child these days.  He is amazingly loving... he tells his family "I love you" at random times, he loves to give Parker hugs, his best friends are mommy, daddy and Parker.  But he also has a hyper streak to him, particularly near bed time or when he gets really excited.

On the sweet side, he had mom write Parker the following email a week ago:
Dear Parker - you are the best brother ever, ever, ever.  Share all my toys with me.  I love you so much.  You are my best friend.  Play with me in the playroom.  Carter

Carter has been very attached to mom this month which seemed to start while dad was gone.  He wanted to sleep in the bed with mom.  And since he has been back he has only wanted mom to put him to bed/nap.  He also constantly requests we sleep on his floor.  He will even point out where the spare blanket/pillows are in his room.

A few last notes, Carter seems to have started biting nails which we are guessing is due to the fact that we have no more Paci!  We broke the paci habit right around Thanksgiving and after a few nights of requests.  It has been all quiet since.  Good news is daddy has stopped biting his since Carter said he bit his after watching Dad.  Now both seem to be off the habit.  Peer pressure is best!  Now Carter needs to bring his lovies Lion and Bear everywhere, but we can take that over the paci or nail biting any day.

Here are a few random pictures from the last month.

Playing with dad's ski gear after his return from Colorado

Post-Candy Cane

Playing Potty Golf

The birthday card he made his teacher - Ms. Sonya

Singing along to Julian's tune at the Smith house

Operating the ball crane at the Children's Museum.  Co-pilot Parker was a little unsure ;)   

Parker (1 year, 1 month)

Parker is showing more in an interest in walking.  He will take 7 or 8 steps to mom and dad but he rarely will walk between things on his own.  He loves cruising around (holding onto objects as he walks).  He also loves to ride on anything with wheels.  

He is very happy these days and sleeping well (8pm - 8am).  He still takes a 2-3 hour afternoon nap with an occasional morning nap that we limit to an hour max.  He goes down really easy so hopefully that continues.  His 5th tooth has finally come all the way in (took 2 months!).  And he is starting to drool heavily again so we are sure more are on their way.  

Here are some recent pictures.

Playing in his 2nd favorite cabinet - Tupperware 

Dad joining in the fun

Favorite cabinet - bottles.  He can crawl the whole way in this one! 

Setting up cones to ride the cars around. A favorite indoor, chilly weather activity! 

Start of Georgia Tech's Basketball Season

With football season winding down and the weather turning a bit chilly, we have headed indoors to enjoy some Georgia Tech basketball.  Both boys have been able to see a few games and they love the new arena.

Walking to the game with dad

Cheering outside to the amusement of passer-byes.

Checking out the view from the upper deck

Brotherly Love - Yellow Jacket Style

Yelling "Go Jackets" during warm ups.

Colin and some co-workers during Contractor Appreciation Night

Christmas Evening

Apparently Christmas gave Carter super energy because he was on fire when we got to Mimi's house.  We quickly opened the stockings Santa left there for us.  And then the family arrived.  Carter and Parker were spoiled once again with more gifts.  Thank you everyone!

Carter decided that we needed some Christmas music so he broke out Reid's banjo and played a mini concert.  Later in the night he put on a mini show singing all his Christmas tunes for everyone (side note: Carter insists everyone bow after his performances... everyone!).

Then in keeping with strange Jones family holiday traditions, we all put on mustaches and Santa hats for some fun pictures.

After some food, we settled in to play dirty Santa.

Parker was disappointed when he found out all the gifts weren't for him to open.

But fortunately he found out that Uncle Micheal loves head butt hugs as much as he does.  So that kept him occupied for a long time.

Carter meanwhile was helping dad decide what gift he wanted...

Ultimately the toilet mug spoke to the true plumber in dad and won out.

While most of the family was wearing down after the long day.  Our kids still had energy....  

Carter and the other second cousins

Enjoying a beer with dad

Making Uncle Reid read him a book

Eating sheep from the manger scene

But before everyone left, we squeezed in a few family pictures.

All the cousins

Sisters - Granny and Mimi

Carter, Sarah and Samantha

Jones Family - Melissa, Dee Dee and Travis

Scott Family - Reid, Pat and Jordan

It was a wonderful Christmas season.  Having kids definitely makes the holidays brighter and more joyful around our house.  We hope everyone had a magical holiday!  Merry Christmas from the Holden's!

Christmas Morning

I guess our kids were on the nice list....

And we have lots of family who decided to spoil us as well.

There was even a train table from Aunt Laura and Uncle Rick.

The boys spent a while playing with their big gifts... Carter loved his kitchen from Santa (it was his big wish!).

And pant-less Parker couldn't get enough of the train table.

Eventually the boys were persuaded to see what else they received.  

Carter dove right in but Parker needed a hydration break in the Coupe first.

Parker started opening presents with his stocking.  He seemed to enjoy pulling things out more than ripping the paper.  And the small size of things was perfect for his grip.  He was very excited to get a blue ball like Carter asked Santa to bring him.

He loved his fuzzy baby animal book.

And he was so sweet to share a drink from his new cup with mom!

All that stocking work, took a lot out of the little guy so he retreated back to his Coupe.  For a lollipop snack from his stocking.

Carter meanwhile was in the full swing on Christmas, dancing to the music dad was blasting.  

The boys spend the rest of the morning alternating between the kitchen and train table and opening a few gifts in between.

We are lucky the boys are great chefs because we needed lots of fuel to keep up with all the activity!

Here are some more present opening shots (trust me we have about a 100 more!)...

Enjoying Parker's new Truck noise book

Carter with his microwave from Santa.  He also got the fire truck he asked for. 

Opening puzzles from his future cousin - Baby Burgess!

Comparing his height to his gift from John and Shelby

Parker was trying to call everyone to say "Thank you" on his new phone. 

Dad's replacement hat - his old one went missing (wonder who would have wanted such an atrocity )  

We finished our morning opening the gifts Carter picked out for mom and dad when he went shopping at his Preschool.  We have had them wrapped under the tree for several weeks so we were excited to see what he got us.  Dad got a crystal dish full of candy.  And mom got a yummy vanilla candle.  I think they were both our favorite gifts!

Parker thought his brother did great shopping too!

We took a break from all the activity for lunch and then the boys played with their gifts for a while.  They both loved building and destroying "forts" with their new building blocks. 

And when Uncle Reid came over they had a blast creating their own Christmas day parade around the house.

All the activity definitely wore the kids out so they went down hard for their naps.  When they woke up Pops and Emme had come by to drop off some gifts.  Carter loved his new Piano and we are sure he will be re-enacting moments from 'Big' any day now!

It was a busy morning but thankfully we saved some energy to continue the fun later that evening!