A few things from this last month:
- My favorite age! He is so much fun and makes us laugh!
- In the last 2 weeks, I have seen a lot of change in his physical appearance. And that says a lot considering I see him every day. He looks more and more like a little boy in the face, he is taller and thinner (looks like a starved orphan when he wakes up in the morning), his hair is getting thicker, etc. (just crossed my mind that I should probably make sure his shoes still fit and that I am not cramming them in to a size too small, eek!)
- Although his language gets better and better every minute, there are a couple words he keeps in his language; "doot" = do it, "op" = open, "bay and Kayee" = Bailee and Kallie, "cap cks" = pancakes, "asslepas" = apple sauce, "bikacycle" = bicycle.
- Said his name for the first time
- Favorite things: Backyardigans, dinosaurs, animals, Diego, the park.
- Favorite word: mine
- Jumped from a standing position for the first time(both feet off the ground at the same time). This is a big physical development.
- He says 'sorry', 'thank you', 'please', and 'bless you'; although not always at the appropriate time and not without a little reminder from me sometimes. But nonetheless is super cute and melts my heart every time.
- Nothing really new with food or sleeping, he goes in phases with both.
- He is 'reading' books much more now. He has a great memory! But still loves to sit and have someone read the same book over and over and over and over....
- Two phrases we are trying to break "go away" and "get out", both of which come from Carl and I talking to the dogs... oops....
Monday, January 25, 2010
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Life is good
Today, my 23 month old angel looked at me and out of the blue said "I happy".
Seriously, what more could a mother ask for!
Seriously, what more could a mother ask for!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Grandparents Names
With "suggestions" from us, John has names for all four grandparents right now:
Grammy - This is still in the works. It started out as "Gem" (pronounced "Jim"), and is now transforming to "Gimmy". We are getting there...
Nana - This is a great name for beginner talkers. Very easy for him to say. She was named first.
Grandadddy - This has always been "Aw Daddy". I think it will eventually become Granddaddy.
Da - We started calling him Grandpa, but Da came about and is a keeper!
Grammy - This is still in the works. It started out as "Gem" (pronounced "Jim"), and is now transforming to "Gimmy". We are getting there...
Nana - This is a great name for beginner talkers. Very easy for him to say. She was named first.
Grandadddy - This has always been "Aw Daddy". I think it will eventually become Granddaddy.
Da - We started calling him Grandpa, but Da came about and is a keeper!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Christmas 2009
Hands down - this is the best Christmas that I can remember! (outside of having to leave Edmond early and in a rush to beat the snow storm)
John had SO much fun with everything about Christmas. He loved his Little People manager set, the Christmas trees and ornaments, the house lights, "rudos fiing Sant Taus say" (Rudolph flying Santa Clauses sleigh), "els make toys", making cookies for Santa with Nana, leaving cookies, milk and carrots on Christmas Eve, giving "pesents" to everyone, opening presents, the white snow, etc,etc. I could go on forever.
Probably my favorite thing was him telling people Merry Christmas. The way he would draw out 'Merry' and skip the 'r' in Christmas; and always with a grin from ear to ear. It was priceless.
We informed him that Santa only came to visit good boys and not bad boys. Well, he picked up on 'bad boy' and would repeat it several times. Probably because we would laugh every time. :) However, he did respond favorably when we would tell him that he had to be good if he wanted Santa to come.
We also continued the tradition that Carl had in his family of the elves coming to visit the few weeks before Christmas and leaving presents for good boys. Every now and again, we would hide a small toy in the stockings, or hang a candy cane in the tree, etc. and let John find it. Next year we are going to get the book and stuffed elf from "Elf on a Shelf". I feel bad about teaching my kid to only be good if there are presents involved. But whatever works at this age, right? right?
He got a ton of great gifts. I don't think he has decided yet which are his favorites. He keeps jumping from thing to thing. Santa brought him an art easel (chalk board and dry erase board), a Mickey Mouse choo-choo train, a basketball goal and a big remote control dinosaur. He loves them all, well, only the dinosaur if it is turned off. He also got a ton of Diego stuff that we have set up as a little village upstairs, a play kitchen, books, a remote control car (loves to get the dogs toes with this one), a tricycle with pedals, a Thomas the Train set, and a ton of other fun things that we have not taken out of the boxes yet. I was trying to spread out the fun while he still does not remember! :)
A few other memories - He loved being around Maggie at Christmas, he could not get enough! Grammy hand made dinosaur suckers for the boys (too cute, and very labor intensive). He made a snowman with Daddy and Nana, out of the thin layer left on Christmas Day. He was SO upset about leaving it outside that Nana brought it in on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer!?!?! I can ONLY imagine what he would have been like in Edmond after the Blizzard of 2009! He loved to go next door to Frank's house and "pet" the wire reindeer EVERYDAY!
I was worried how we were going to turn Christmas off after the holidays. However, it was not a problem, we waited until he was napping, and packed up everything Christmas. When he got up he looked around with super sad face and said "Merry Christmas" in the saddest little voice EVER. It was pitiful! But then he just sort of forgot.
Next year we have both vowed to go all out on decorations and what not because he loves it so much.
John had SO much fun with everything about Christmas. He loved his Little People manager set, the Christmas trees and ornaments, the house lights, "rudos fiing Sant Taus say" (Rudolph flying Santa Clauses sleigh), "els make toys", making cookies for Santa with Nana, leaving cookies, milk and carrots on Christmas Eve, giving "pesents" to everyone, opening presents, the white snow, etc,etc. I could go on forever.
Probably my favorite thing was him telling people Merry Christmas. The way he would draw out 'Merry' and skip the 'r' in Christmas; and always with a grin from ear to ear. It was priceless.
We informed him that Santa only came to visit good boys and not bad boys. Well, he picked up on 'bad boy' and would repeat it several times. Probably because we would laugh every time. :) However, he did respond favorably when we would tell him that he had to be good if he wanted Santa to come.
We also continued the tradition that Carl had in his family of the elves coming to visit the few weeks before Christmas and leaving presents for good boys. Every now and again, we would hide a small toy in the stockings, or hang a candy cane in the tree, etc. and let John find it. Next year we are going to get the book and stuffed elf from "Elf on a Shelf". I feel bad about teaching my kid to only be good if there are presents involved. But whatever works at this age, right? right?
He got a ton of great gifts. I don't think he has decided yet which are his favorites. He keeps jumping from thing to thing. Santa brought him an art easel (chalk board and dry erase board), a Mickey Mouse choo-choo train, a basketball goal and a big remote control dinosaur. He loves them all, well, only the dinosaur if it is turned off. He also got a ton of Diego stuff that we have set up as a little village upstairs, a play kitchen, books, a remote control car (loves to get the dogs toes with this one), a tricycle with pedals, a Thomas the Train set, and a ton of other fun things that we have not taken out of the boxes yet. I was trying to spread out the fun while he still does not remember! :)
A few other memories - He loved being around Maggie at Christmas, he could not get enough! Grammy hand made dinosaur suckers for the boys (too cute, and very labor intensive). He made a snowman with Daddy and Nana, out of the thin layer left on Christmas Day. He was SO upset about leaving it outside that Nana brought it in on a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer!?!?! I can ONLY imagine what he would have been like in Edmond after the Blizzard of 2009! He loved to go next door to Frank's house and "pet" the wire reindeer EVERYDAY!
I was worried how we were going to turn Christmas off after the holidays. However, it was not a problem, we waited until he was napping, and packed up everything Christmas. When he got up he looked around with super sad face and said "Merry Christmas" in the saddest little voice EVER. It was pitiful! But then he just sort of forgot.
Next year we have both vowed to go all out on decorations and what not because he loves it so much.
22 months
A few milestones and memories this month:
- Sentence explosion. We can have a limited conversation now. This provides for comic relief several times a day.
- Favorite things this month are Diego and Dinosaurs.
- His stuffed animals still make an appearance, but are falling on the priority list.
- Think he grew a little bit this month, as the 2T clothes I bought a few months back are starting to fit.
- Bought his first suit, and Nana and Da gave us the lapel pin that Carl got on his first suit.
- I think this is the first month he has played "with" other children. Although, I might call it "against" other children. He had 2 friends over one day and he proceeded to throw crayolas at them, pushed one of them off the trike, and snatched Mr. Potato Head right out of their hands. It was the first time that I had EVER seen this bad behavior. So I started exploring the different discipline options....
- Quite a bit of tooth pain this month, those 2 year molars are about to pop through.
- "No" is his favorite word.
- HATES hair cuts. He is "that kid" that s-c-r-e-a-m-s the whole time. We have tried everything. We finally just held him down, so I am sure that we scared him for life when it comes to his hair. He will let Daddy fiddle with it on the bathroom counter, so we may have a new haircut next month...
- Sentence explosion. We can have a limited conversation now. This provides for comic relief several times a day.
- Favorite things this month are Diego and Dinosaurs.
- His stuffed animals still make an appearance, but are falling on the priority list.
- Think he grew a little bit this month, as the 2T clothes I bought a few months back are starting to fit.
- Bought his first suit, and Nana and Da gave us the lapel pin that Carl got on his first suit.
- I think this is the first month he has played "with" other children. Although, I might call it "against" other children. He had 2 friends over one day and he proceeded to throw crayolas at them, pushed one of them off the trike, and snatched Mr. Potato Head right out of their hands. It was the first time that I had EVER seen this bad behavior. So I started exploring the different discipline options....
- Quite a bit of tooth pain this month, those 2 year molars are about to pop through.
- "No" is his favorite word.
- HATES hair cuts. He is "that kid" that s-c-r-e-a-m-s the whole time. We have tried everything. We finally just held him down, so I am sure that we scared him for life when it comes to his hair. He will let Daddy fiddle with it on the bathroom counter, so we may have a new haircut next month...
Monday, December 21, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Evolution of the car ride
Evolution of the car ride
(note: after reading this, it appears this is more of an evolution of MY car rides with John, not the other way around. :))
- Stage one (newborn) – although we did not really go anywhere more than 10 minutes away, it was really hit or miss at this age. It was either sleeping or screaming, and nothing I could do about it. He was of course facing backward and behind the drivers seat. If Carl was with us, I was always in the back seat with him.
- Stage two (infant – crawler) – still hit or miss, either loving it or hating it. Towards the end of this stage, we were doing all we could to keep him awake in the car. He would decide that a 10 minute snooze in the car was all he really needed and a nap was inappropriate. But still facing backwards presented a challenge for tossing toys to him or checking the alertness status. I would still sit in the backseat if we were going anywhere more than 15 minutes away.
- Stage three (crawler – walker) – HATED the car, from beginning to end! Unless of course I was in the backseat with him, which proved difficult when it was just the 2 of us. I asked around for advice and Lindsay came to my rescue with suggesting the “wee-sing” toddler CD that Amelia loved. I guess it is something about hearing a little kids voice, but this and many other CD’s have kept the peace between John and I during car rides. This stage also marked the beginning of eating and drinking in the car, which helped to fill the time and keep him awake. Still facing backwards, and I would still sit in the back for extended rides.
- Stage four (walker – forward facing) – I was counting down the days until it was time to turn John around . So much so, that we did it a couple of weeks early. I just KNEW a whole new world would open up and car trips would somehow be “fun”; I was mistaken. In the beginning, there was a little improvement, but the CD’s still kept me sane, and I still dreaded long car rides. We moved him to the middle so he could see out and it was very helpful as far as checking on him, giving him toys, food, drinks, etc. I would still sit in the back on extended trips.
- Stage five (forward facing – talker) – This is where we are now. MAMA GETS TO SIT IN FRONT! Which could not have come sooner, those backseats are NOT comfortable for an extended period of time. This is the fun stage! John and I rode up to Oklahoma on our own and he was an angel! We talked about the things we were going to do, we pointed out all the horses and cows and trucks, etc. We sang songs (he knows the hand motions to most all the songs we sing), ate a snack, watched pieces of The Jungle Book and some of Diego, etc. He did not sleep the whole way there, and was happy as a clam. He still gets a little agitated every now and again, but nothing that a little toddler music won’t help!
I can only imagine what is in store in the next stage?
(note: after reading this, it appears this is more of an evolution of MY car rides with John, not the other way around. :))
- Stage one (newborn) – although we did not really go anywhere more than 10 minutes away, it was really hit or miss at this age. It was either sleeping or screaming, and nothing I could do about it. He was of course facing backward and behind the drivers seat. If Carl was with us, I was always in the back seat with him.
- Stage two (infant – crawler) – still hit or miss, either loving it or hating it. Towards the end of this stage, we were doing all we could to keep him awake in the car. He would decide that a 10 minute snooze in the car was all he really needed and a nap was inappropriate. But still facing backwards presented a challenge for tossing toys to him or checking the alertness status. I would still sit in the backseat if we were going anywhere more than 15 minutes away.
- Stage three (crawler – walker) – HATED the car, from beginning to end! Unless of course I was in the backseat with him, which proved difficult when it was just the 2 of us. I asked around for advice and Lindsay came to my rescue with suggesting the “wee-sing” toddler CD that Amelia loved. I guess it is something about hearing a little kids voice, but this and many other CD’s have kept the peace between John and I during car rides. This stage also marked the beginning of eating and drinking in the car, which helped to fill the time and keep him awake. Still facing backwards, and I would still sit in the back for extended rides.
- Stage four (walker – forward facing) – I was counting down the days until it was time to turn John around . So much so, that we did it a couple of weeks early. I just KNEW a whole new world would open up and car trips would somehow be “fun”; I was mistaken. In the beginning, there was a little improvement, but the CD’s still kept me sane, and I still dreaded long car rides. We moved him to the middle so he could see out and it was very helpful as far as checking on him, giving him toys, food, drinks, etc. I would still sit in the back on extended trips.
- Stage five (forward facing – talker) – This is where we are now. MAMA GETS TO SIT IN FRONT! Which could not have come sooner, those backseats are NOT comfortable for an extended period of time. This is the fun stage! John and I rode up to Oklahoma on our own and he was an angel! We talked about the things we were going to do, we pointed out all the horses and cows and trucks, etc. We sang songs (he knows the hand motions to most all the songs we sing), ate a snack, watched pieces of The Jungle Book and some of Diego, etc. He did not sleep the whole way there, and was happy as a clam. He still gets a little agitated every now and again, but nothing that a little toddler music won’t help!
I can only imagine what is in store in the next stage?
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
6:00pm
I have decided that for the last year or so my world revolves around 6:00pm.
This is John's dinner time.
I look at this as an improvement, as my day used to be regulated by the clock several times a day (nap times, wake up times, eating times, playing times, tummy time, etc.). I have let go of everything but 6:00pm and don't plan on letting that go.
Everything else during the day has a two hour window, all depending on when John wakes up. We start our day anywhere between 7:00am and 9:00am; lunch is anywhere between 11:00am and 1:00pm; nap starts anywhere between 12:00 and 2:00; bedtime is anywhere from 7:30 to 8:30, etc.
6:00pm is a reference point when planning our days - what errands do I need to run and when? what time do I need to start dinner? Is there time for park before or after dinner? etc.
Dinner remains the same every day, and that is the way I like it. I think family dinners are important and want to start the tradition now. I know it will have to change when he gets involved with activities, but as much as I can hold on to it, I will.
Anyone else have a time like this?
This is John's dinner time.
I look at this as an improvement, as my day used to be regulated by the clock several times a day (nap times, wake up times, eating times, playing times, tummy time, etc.). I have let go of everything but 6:00pm and don't plan on letting that go.
Everything else during the day has a two hour window, all depending on when John wakes up. We start our day anywhere between 7:00am and 9:00am; lunch is anywhere between 11:00am and 1:00pm; nap starts anywhere between 12:00 and 2:00; bedtime is anywhere from 7:30 to 8:30, etc.
6:00pm is a reference point when planning our days - what errands do I need to run and when? what time do I need to start dinner? Is there time for park before or after dinner? etc.
Dinner remains the same every day, and that is the way I like it. I think family dinners are important and want to start the tradition now. I know it will have to change when he gets involved with activities, but as much as I can hold on to it, I will.
Anyone else have a time like this?
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
New Family Tradition
We woke up on Sunday morning after Thanksgiving and Carl had the idea to go to the Zoo. John slept in until 9:00am, so we did not get out of the door until 11:00am. But it was a GREAT idea, and one that we want to do every year on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.
The weather was good, we had front row parking, and we saw maybe 30 people. It was like we had the Zoo to ourselves. The biggest dilemma we had was trying to find a stuffed animal that John did not already have. Since the Zoo was having Thanksgiving sales too, he got a turtle (he calls it a “sea turtle” because that is what Diego rescues) and a Kangaroo “Ka-roo”.
So for all you locals, if you have the energy left next year – take your kids to the Zoo the Sunday after Thanksgiving for a good time!
The weather was good, we had front row parking, and we saw maybe 30 people. It was like we had the Zoo to ourselves. The biggest dilemma we had was trying to find a stuffed animal that John did not already have. Since the Zoo was having Thanksgiving sales too, he got a turtle (he calls it a “sea turtle” because that is what Diego rescues) and a Kangaroo “Ka-roo”.
So for all you locals, if you have the energy left next year – take your kids to the Zoo the Sunday after Thanksgiving for a good time!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Thanksgiving
I am thankful for so many things this year, but most of all for my husband and my healthy baby boy, they are my life! I thank the good Lord every night for blessing me with them.
I am thankful for our families and the love and support they give us. It takes a village and we have an incredible one! Thanksgiving is a great excuse to tell you all, but I hope you know how much we love and appreciate you! I am also thankful for the miracles of the new babies in our family.
I am thankful that this year Granddaddy and Great Granddaddy are cancer free!
I am thankful for making new friends this year and spending time (and reconciling) with the old. “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other one is gold. Circle round, has no end, that’s how long I want to be your friend”
I am thankful that we still have our jobs in this time of economic hardship.
Here are some pictures from November:
I am thankful for our families and the love and support they give us. It takes a village and we have an incredible one! Thanksgiving is a great excuse to tell you all, but I hope you know how much we love and appreciate you! I am also thankful for the miracles of the new babies in our family.
I am thankful that this year Granddaddy and Great Granddaddy are cancer free!
I am thankful for making new friends this year and spending time (and reconciling) with the old. “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other one is gold. Circle round, has no end, that’s how long I want to be your friend”
I am thankful that we still have our jobs in this time of economic hardship.
Here are some pictures from November:
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