22 Months and Counting

Waverly is 22 months old, as of December 27th! 

She is no longer a little bitty baby, crawling, walking, babbling.  Instead, she has grown up to be a toddler, a big girl who runs, jumps, skips and hops everywhere.  She speaks in complete sentences, saying the cutest things all day long.  She loves her an-i-mals, sounding out each syllable.  She loves to play in her room.  She adores her baby brother and she is a great helper for Mommy.  Most of all, she is a joy to watch and love. 

Waverly likes to help Mommy do all the chores.  She likes to do dishes, sweep the floor, and help give brother a bath.  She is becoming so independent, preferring to do everything on her own. 

I'm hoping she continues to enjoy doing the laundry...  but I fear this is just a fun game for now and the novelty will wear off when she has to actually fold clothes and put them away!

Waverly's favorite game is hide-and-seek, or at least a more grown-up version of peek-a-boo!  She will take Daddy by the hand and lead him to her room, then run into her princess tent and say "Where did Wavey go?" before popping her head out and saying, "You find me!"  We play this game every night before bed time and it surprisingly, never gets old!

Waverly's favorite thing to do is any kind of arts and crafts.  She loves her "projects", anything from coloring and stickers to drawing and painting.  She likes painting most of all.  She is very good with applying glue to projects and then glueing on little jewels.  She can draw circles and she recognizes all of the shapes, including the hard ones like trapazoid and pentagon (thank you, Melissa & Doug puzzles!).  We are learning the A, B, C's and 1, 2, 3's.  She knows all of the colors and is quick to tell you that something is blue or yellow. 

She impresses me, daily!

Doctors, Doctors and More Doctors!

Christmas morning, Waverly woke up with a cold!

I guess she was due, since she hasn't had anything more than seasonal allergies since March.  Unfortunately, poor Wavy girl had a runny nose, headache and sore throat all through Christmas!  Not that she let that bother her festivities.  Still, Mommy thought it best to go to the pediatrician's office and have her checked out. 

The doctor agreed that Waverly had a head cold, and nothing by rest, saline solution and tissues would help her out.  Of course, Mommy gave her a little tylenol because her little head hurt.  We were glad our Wavey girl would be feeling better soon!

While we were at the doctor's, we thought it best to have Harlan looked over as well!  No cold for the little baby, but we went ahead with his two week old check.  Harlan weighed in at 9 pounds 15 ounces!  He's a growing boy!  He received a clean bill of health!

On Wednesday, Mommy took Harlan back to the pediatrician for a check on his circumcision.  Harlan had already gained a few ounces!  He weighed in at 10 pounds 2 ounces!  All is well and we will return to the doctor's office, yet again, in 2 weeks!

Ready to Ride!

Handsome Harlan

Harlan Dean Lickliter

Harlan's hospital pictures, taken when he was 2 days old!  Don't I look just like Daddy?

Kids will be kids...

All these new toys from Christmas, and what does she choose to play with?

Silly girl!



Christmas Cuties

Christmas Day, we visited Papy Allen and Nana Betty. 

Aunt Amy, Stephen, Dale and Tanner were there too! And Uncle Matt too!

Waverly was tickled to see that she had a pile of presents!

Where to begin?

Oh wow!  More Dora coloring pages!  Waverly has lots of coloring to do!

Uncle Matt helped Waverly unwrap some of her gifts! 

A laptop of her very own!  I see her as a future blogger!

Baby Harlan was pleased to be held and snuggled!  Santa brought him some Christmas goodies too!  It was such a nice family visit! 

Christmas Morning

Christmas Evening, with our little ones all sleepy in new jammies and tucked tightly into bed, Santa came!  He delivered all the special gifts for our babies. 

Waverly was really excited when we woke up!  We let Daddy get settled in the living room with the camera to catch her first reaction! 

 She was so tickled to see all her Dora toys, a new coloring book and crayons, Dora house shoes and a giant coloring house! 

Waverly immediately set to work on her new coloring book! 

 This is my favorite picture.  It seems to sum up Christmas morning for us; a happy toddler, content with her Christmas goodies. 

 And of course, Baby Harlan enjoyed his first Christmas.  He snoozed right on, but I'm sure when he wakes up he will love his new Tonka truck, toys and a blanket that Mommy made just for him! 

Mommy's favorite gift this year was very special! 

Nana Pam helped Waverly make this beautiful Christmas tree for Mommy and Daddy. 

It was the perfect Christmas morning with our little family.  We wish you all a Merry Christmas! 

Dear Santa...

Waverly wrote her own letter to Santa this year! 

She worked really hard on her letter, even decorating it with stickers for Santa!  We left her letter under the tree this year for Santa to keep. 

I hope Santa likes her letter as much as I do!

Mommy also 'helped' Waverly write another letter to Santa.  Just like last year, Waverly's Santa letter was published with the other good boys and girls in our local newspaper.  How sweet of Waverly to include her little brother in her Christmas wishes!

Here Comes Santa Clause!

Christmas Eve we gathered at Pepaw and Memaw's house. 

The family was so excited for Santa to visit!

Mommy & Harlan

Harlan's first Christmas at just nine days old!  My little fella wasn't much impressed with the idea of a holiday, but did seem to like looking at the Christmas lights on the tree.  He was just happy to be held by his Mommy, and the rest of the family too!

Leading up to tonight, we had talked to Waverly often about Santa Clause.  Still, I wasn't surprised when she wanted a tight cuddle when the man with the big white beard and the naughty-nice list knocked on the door!

Harlan was nearly as concerned when Santa appeared...

Waverly still wasn't sure of Santa... but a little sneak peak behind that white beard and she found her "Pe-Paw"!

Even then, she didn't want to sit with Santa just yet.  She brightened as the rest of us had a nice laugh, though!

Then it was Daddy's turn to  hug Santa... the Lickliter tradition of having your picture made with Santa Clause still held true this year!

But...some of us might have deviated a bit from the usual pose...

Get him, Me-Maw!

Santa handed out the presents under the tree.  Waverly was happy to unwrap more gifts, beginnig with gentle tears of the paper and then becoming more enthusiastic about finding out what was inside! 

She was tickled to have a Blue's Clues dog, a tractor that makes noise, a new country doll and some Dora toys! 

Harlan took this Christmas in stride too, happily snoozing as he was passed from relative to relative.  Waverly helped Mommy open his presents.  We both loved the soft blue blanket that was made just for him!

Mommy's sweet girl!

Pe-Paw wanted to take Waverly to show her the last present, a present so big it was kept hidden in another room!  Waverly didn't know what to think when she saw the big truck!

I can see her driving her little brother around the farm this summer...

It was a great Christmas Eve.  We wrapped up the evening with hugs and kisses and "we wish you a merry Christmas's" before going home to snuggle in our nice warm beds and wait for Santa to visit (again).  Oh, what joys! 

Santa's Little Helper

Our Chirstmas celebration kicked off on Friday night, the eve before Christmas Eve.

Waverly and Harlan were all dressed in Christmas attire, with Waverly's pink Christmas tree shirt and Harlan's onesie declaring himself as "Mommy's little elf".  Waverly loves her little brother and always asks to hold him!

That evening, our little family gathered at our home so that the little ones could be didn't have to travel.  Mamaw Gail, Go-Go, Uncle Matt and Great-Aunt Phyllis came out for our country Christmas. 

We tucked many gifts under the tree, waiting in anticipation of festive fun for dinner to be finished and Christmas candy to be devoured.  Finally, it was time!  Waverly helped hand out some of the gifts, stopping to fix each bow.  She did a great job as Santa's little helper!

Harlan wasn't much phased by the festivities.  He chose to snooze through his first Christmas in comfort and let his sister open his gifts!

Waverly opened up her first gifts and then only wanted to play with her new toys!  She was delighted with her new dishes and her very own cleaning set.  She loves to sweep the floor and was tickled to have a broom her own size!

 After exhausting herself with the first couple of gifts, Waverly had some help from Mamaw Gail opening her many presents.  She is a little spoiled, as we all know and admit!

Everyone had a blast opening gifts from each other and just a nice family visit.  We can't wait to see all the aunts, uncles and cousins sometime soon!

Santa's traveling by ark this year!

Mamaw Gail found the Noah's Ark set that I played with when I was a little girl.,  I remember playing with my Mamaw Dorothy and loving all the animals, loading them two by two on the ark. Mamaw Gail brought the set to me this week.

During our special Mommy and Me time while Harlan was napping, Waverly and I played with the miniature animals.  She loved them!  She had so much fun naming all the animals, finding the matching pairs and filling up the "boat". 

Waverly's favorite were the giraffes and the tiny piggies!  She would hold the little animals in her hands and hug then to her, then reach out to show Mommy and Daddy. 

By far the best was when Waverly found the little figurine of Noah.  Holding up the tiny man dressed in green with his white beard, she exclaimed, "Santa Clause!". 

Its this time of year that brings the most memories.  I'm a lucky Mommy to have such wonderful children to make new memories with!

Christmas Don't Be Late!

Christmas is on the way!

I am so proud of our Christmas tree this year!

I can't ever remember having a nicer tree. 

Waverly has been such a good girl around the tree, occasionally moving the ornaments around and asking each and every morning to have the lights turned on.  After picking up one present, Mommy told her we'd have to wait for Christmas and she hasn't bothered the gifts again!  this is very impressive, considering her gifts are wrapped in her favorite Dora wrapping paper. 

As Christmas is fast approaching, we have been receiving many Christmas cards!  Everyone has been so sweet to send us holiday greetings.  Mommy had cards made with Waverly's picture and mailed them all just the day before Harlan was born.  We have since received so many cards!

 Waverly even received two cards just for her! 

 She liked opening the cards and seeing the pretty pictures.  Mommy read the happy greetings to her and let her put the cards up in her room!

Happy Holidays!