What have you read in 2010?

I started my 2010 book list here.

Sadly, I don't have a lot to add since then. Here is the rest of my list with several books still "in progress".

The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steigg Larsson

These are the second and third books in Larsson's trilogy about Lisbeth Salander. I think the second book is probably my favorite of the three, although I am only about halfway through the third book. It has not been the page turner for me as much as the first two were, which is why I haven't finished it yet. Don't get me wrong, it is still very good and I am excited to see how the story ends, but it is not something I am willing to stay up late and read (and lose sleep over).

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell

I think that anybody who has children should read this book. It is a very interesting look at the successful elite and how they became successful (hint ... its a combo of very hard work and discipline mixed with some opportunity and pure luck).

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Stout

Nobody that read this in my book club liked this book. I have read about half of it and plan on finishing it. It is almost like a collection of short stories about people who are all connected to the main character, Olive. We liked the short stories themselves, but didn't really love Olive.

The Russian Concubine by Kate Furnivall

I've read about one-third of this book. I like it. I just didn't have time to finish it for my October book club and started reading our November book (which I did manage to finish).

Radical by Steve Platt

I've only read about 4 chapters of this book, but so far, it is AMAZING! I don't know anybody who has read this book and not been compelled to change their lives.

Luke: 3 months old

This has been a busy month for little Luke. Over the past month ...

-on stomach, lift head 90 degrees

-roll over from stomach to back (consistently) ... working hard to roll over below.

-bring both hands together

-follow an object from one side of face to the other

-hold head steady when upright (on my shoulder below)

-grasp a rattle

-bear weight on legs when held upright

-say "ah-goo"

-blow bubbles with lips

-laugh out loud (I think a little giggle escaped in the picture below)

-reach for an object

-keep head level with body when pulled to sitting

-turn in direction of voices or loud noise

-smile spontaneously (happy about celebrating his first Thanksgiving)

Seeing Santa

We took the kids to see Santa tonight. Somehow, the stars aligned and everybody sat and smiled nicely for a picture. Apparently, my children can be bribed with a coloring book and promises of dinner at Moe's. Nobody cried, hid behind a parent's leg or gripped tightly to a neck. Claire and David even told Santa what they wanted for Christmas.

(Moe's is Claire's current favorite ... and in case you were wondering, she wants a cheese quesadilla, chips and lemonade. She tells me this every single time we go there like I have never ordered her a meal there before and she doesn't get the same thing every time.)

Santa should definitely be making a special visit to our house on Christmas Eve after the performance these kids gave!

Happy Birthday Will!!

Will turned the big 3-4 last weekend. We celebrated with the kids at home on Saturday night. By celebrate, I mean we picked up take-out from Chili's and picked up a cookie cake from Kroger. The kids loved getting to light the candles and sing Happy Birthday to their Daddy.

Laughing because the "3" candle kept falling over.

Lighting the candles.

"Stay back David."

Singing Happy Birthday. I like how Will is singing to himself.

Blowing out the candles.

On Monday, his actual birthday, Will's parents came up and took us to dinner at Fleming's. (We got a sitter for the kids.) It was really nice to have an adult-only dinner with Will's parents.

Christmas greetings

Christmas cards have been mailed ... so now I will post this here.

I tried to kill two birds with one stone with the Christmas card/birth announcement combo.

Luke: 2 months old

I cannot believe this little man is two months old. My how time flies. I went to back to work on November 15 so our lives have been a little more hectic lately (if that was possible).

2 months stats: 12 pounds, 6 oz. (70th percentile), 23-1/4 inches long (50th percentile). He is by far our biggest child at this age.

Luke started sleeping through the night (from 10pm to 5-6am ... that counts in my book) the week before I went back to work. Great timing Luke! He still wakes up during the night (around 3-4am), but instead of feeding him, we put him in the swing and he goes right back to sleep until morning. Hooray! [Can you tell ... I'm very excited about all the sleep. I've even started going back to my 6am spin class before work.]

He is comfortably wearing 0-3 month clothing and size 1 diapers. He is eating 4-5 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours. He is still very gassy when he eats, but it is improving. I can handle all the screaming in my ear while he eats (and tries to burp) if I am running on a full night's sleep!

Some other accomplishments during month 2:

-starting to smile some

-responds to loud noises

-starting to coo

-can hold head steady when upright

-he has rolled over from tummy to back once (we aren't real faithful with the tummy time routine)

-bats and kicks at toys on playmat

-follows an object with his eyes

We are loving this sweet baby boy more a more everyday!