Things I Don't Want to Forget

Andrew throws his binkies out of the crib every.single.nap and every.single.bedtime so I've stopped giving them to him.  Here's to hoping we've broken that habit easily.

Ethan had an OT evaluation last week due to his noise sensitivities and aggressive/hyperactive behavior.  I'm waiting for the report but the OT has already recommended therapy every week or two.  At this point, I'm questioning the necessity of it.

Next Friday, Ethan has an appointment with a cardiologist at Childrens due to a heart murmur heard at his 4 year well visit.  Through research, I've found these to be fairly common but the unknown is still a scary possibility.

We just celebrated Christmas with all of our family.  The boys are at a perfect age for the magic of the season.

Ethan's First Day of Preschool

 Ethan started his first day of Preschool this morning.  Although Ethan was super excited, this momma was a bit weary.  The poor kid had a bad case of diarrhea for the two days leading up to school.  He woke up in the middle of the night the night before school started and complained that his "butt hurt."  I'm hoping he's just sore and that the stomach bug doesn't continue.

Ethan got to pick out  a brand new outfit for the first day of school.  He chose a Planes shirt and shorts because he absolutely loves airplanes and can't wait to see the movie.  Ethan woke up happy and cheerful, got dressed willingly, and enjoyed his Fruit Loop breakfast.  I tried to get him to drink a pro biotic drink to help his belly  but no luck there.  After loading up the car, we dropped Andrew off at Holly's, then headed to school.

We arrived early and the kid absolutely did not want to wait in the car for a few minutes.  He HAD to be out walking around.  There was a little girl standing out front who he claimed to be his girlfriend :)  The front doors opened and that's when we headed toward the class.  And that's when my super excited little boy turned into a stubborn donkey!

At this point, Ethan refused to walk, claiming to be "too shy."  I carried him into the classroom where the cheerful teachers immediately greeted him with a great big, "HI ETHAN!"  He ignored them and wanted to show momma this toy and that toy!  I informed the teachers that Ethan has a nervous belly this morning and that they may want to show him the bathroom right away...he ignored them.  His teachers prompted Ethan to find his cubby and place his backpack in the correct spot and he was able to identify it right away!  He was also able to find his name badge for attendance and his name tag all without help!  Momma's proud!

At that point I decided I needed to go...Ethan threw a fit.  He screamed, he cried, he ran to me and started sobbing uncontrollably.  I hugged him, consoled him, and got a little teary eyed myself.  I needed to make a getaway, so I just walked out.  You could hear that kid screaming bloody murder through the open windows!  As I walked to my car, I watched other kids and other parents walk into the classroom, seemingly without issue.  Just as one of the other families walked into the class, my kid makes a run out the front door and had to be picked up and carried back in by a teacher!  I walked a bit quicker to the car!

Ethan's only at preschool for 3 hours so I'm hoping to see a smile when I pick him up!

15 Months

32.5 inches long (97th percentile!)
22 lbs 6 oz (50th percentile)
19 inch head circumference (85th percentile)

Clothing size:  18 months
Shoe size:  5
Diaper:  3
Teeth:  At least 5 (3 on top, 2 on the bottom)

Language:  Mama, Dada, Enan(Ethan), signs "dog" and "bye bye"

Sleep: 7pm-6:30am; 2 naps each day

Food:  Eats like a horse!  Not a huge fan of veggies but will eat them if mixed with other foods.  Possibly has a milk allergy which makes eczema worse.

Development:  Becoming more steady while walking.  Walks are getting faster, approaching a run?!.  Attempts to climb down stairs assisted.

Loves:  attempting to climb UP the slide like big brother, loves sliding, playing in the Little Tikes truck, swimming, tossing ball, carrying around empty Play Doh cups, playing with kitchen utensils, his binky and blankie, screeching at his big brother

Dislikes:  not being allowed outside when he wants to, getting buckled into the car seat

A's 13 Months!

Andrew's 13 months old now!  Yes, I'm late once again!

Little guy's biggest accomplishment is that he started walking!  He started off just taking a few steps between Chris and me and now he's able to walk from one room to the other!  He still prefers to crawl most of the time but he's definitely getting much better.

Right now Andrew says mama and dada.  Just today, I swear he signed "milk" for the first time!

Andrew no longer drinks from a bottle.  He drinks milk from a straw sippy cup at every meal.  His eczema has really flared up lately and I'm starting to suspect he may have a milk allergy/sensitivity.  I've been giving him coconut milk in place of cow's milk.  I saw a short lived improvement but nothing has completely cleared it up.  We may have to get some testing done with the pediatrician to figure things out.

Bedtime is usually around 7:30-8:00 and he sleeps until 6:30-7:00.  He takes naps twice a day that last for about two hours each.

As of right now, Andrew has 4 teeth but I'm wondering if he's working on more in front on the bottom.

Meals are a bit of a challenge with Andrew because he always wants what everybody else is eating.  We feed him table food but it's never fast enough or the right thing.  He spends much of a meal hollering for a different item on somebody else's plate!   At this point, I'm beginning to reconsider restaurant meals!

Until next time.

Summer 2013 Bucket List

These are just a few things I'd like to do by summer's end:

1.  Eastfork Lake
2.  Cincinnati Zoo
3.  Woodland Mound Splash Park
4.  Coney Island
5.  Starlight Drive In
6.  Putt Putt Golf
7.  Bumper Bowling
8.  Ride the Duck Tour
9.  Loveland Castle
10.  Reds Game
11.  Stroke of Art class
12.  Balloon Glow (I've heard this is crazy packed so we may wait until Andrew is a bit older)
13.  Backyard camping
14.  Newport Aqurium
15.  Cincinnati Dinner Train (I think we'll hold off on this one until the $ situation is more clear)
16.  Riverview 360?
17.  Blooms and Berries:  Loveland
18.  Blueberry Picking at Rousters
19.  Library Time
20.  Recreation Outlet 
21.  Children's Museum
22.  Airport
23.  Watch Monsters University
24.  Cincinnati Nature Center
25.  Coco Key Water Park

26.  Entertrainment Junction
27.  Schnieder’s Sweet Shop

Happy 1st Birthday, Andrew!!!!

I can't believe my baby is already a year old.  They're not kidding when they say the days move even quicker the older you/they get.  It seems like just yesterday we were bringing Andrew home from the hospital and here we are celebrating his first birthday.

I've truly enjoyed watching  my little guy develop into his own while relishing in the moments where he seems to be his big brother's twin!  The love between those two is incredible and I am amazed at how they interact and watch each others' moves.


Here's the latest on Andrew:

Your doctor's appointment is this upcoming week and we will learn your latest stats then.*****  Andrew weighs 21 lbs. and is 31 inches long******

Andrew typically goes to sleep between 7:30-8:00 and sleeps until about 7 am.  We've been taking advantage of the beautiful weather lately by taking family walks to the bedtime has been pushed back a bit.  Andrew still takes 2 naps per day that are usually about 2 hours long.

Andrew has fully transitioned to drinking cow's milk from sippies.  I still have a few bags of breast milk remaining so I occasionally mix those into his sippy cups with the regular milk.   Until this past week, he was still nursing 1x per day right before bed but he has apparently self weaned and is no longer interested.  That was a bit rough for me since I had all intentions of continuing that nursing session for awhile.  But, if little guy is done, he's done.

Andrew wears mostly 12 month clothes but is beginning to transition into 18 month clothes.  Diapers are still size 3 and shoe size 3.

This month Andrew has been practicing climbing steps and has managed to climb all the way to the top by himself!  He still uses a monkey crawl to get everywhere and has actually learned how to move quite swiftly in this way!  In the past week he's taken a single step on two different occasions!  I have a feeling we'll have another walker on our hands soon.

Andrew loves to yell for his mama and dada!  Every once in awhile, you just might hear him make a noise that sounds like "Ethan."

Andrew had a wonderful first birthday party with friends and family at Veterans Memorial Park.  Although it was a bit chilly, it really was a beautiful day.  Andrew got so many new toys and clothes that we've wondered when our house turned into Toys R Us!

Happy First Birthday, Sweet Baby Boy!

11 Months!

My baby boy is so close to 1...I just want to slow him down!

Based on Andrew's last doctor's appointment, he now weighs 19 lbs.

Andrew sleeps from about 7:30-6:30.  He is still taking (2) 2 hour naps per day.

Andrew nurses 3x per day:  morning, before nap, bedtime.  When at Holly's during the week, he still gets 1 8oz bottle before nap.  The kid can put away some serious food.  Andrew's favorite meal is probably sharing a Chipotle burrito bowl with Ethan and eating MORE than Ethan!

Andrew is now wearing size 9-12 month clothing and size 3 shoes.  He still wears size 3 diapers.

Andrew loves to spend his days standing up using furniture and wrestling with his big brother.  He's just recently started letting go of the wall for a split second but quickly holds on again.

Poor kid ended up getting the flu this past month...along with the rest of our house.  Thank goodness that past! We are also enjoying the warmer weather outdoors recently when the temps started creeping into the 70s. 

Can't wait to celebrate this little guy's first birthday next month.  Boy has the time flown!

9 Month Apt.

Little Man is weighing in at 19 lbs 12 oz, 28 inches long (50th percentile across the board).  Perfectly healthy and on track developmentally!

I don't want to forget...

Ethan moved into his big boy, full sized bed in the last week.  Prior to this, he had waken up 5-10X per night for the past 2 months.  Chris and I had tried EVERYTHING to fix his sleep issues and this full sized bed was one of the final options.  Ethan is obsessed with the Avengers lately so we outfitted his room with Avengers sheets.  I'm happy to say that after moving to the new bed, Ethan has been sleeping so.much.better.  He occasionally wakes 1-2x per night but usually sleeps through the night!

9 Months!

I can't believe my baby is already 9 months old!

 

Most nights you fall asleep between 6:30-7:30 and wake up to be fed around 5:00 in the morning.  Luckily you tend to fall back asleep for a bit longer after that feeding because 5 am is far to early!

 

For the most part Andrew is eating all finger foods.  He still eats a bowl of baby oatmeal in the mornings when he goes to the sitters.  Otherwise, it's health table food.

Andrew is taking 2 decent naps each day that last anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hours each.  

Andrew is still wearing 6-9 month clothes but some of them are getting a little snug.  He is still wearing size 3 diapers although the Huggies ones are getting a bit small. 

Andrew's greatest accomplishment this month is learning how to crawl for real!  The army crawl was short lived and has now been replaced with real crawling!  He certainly loves to chase around his big brother , now that he can!  Andrew has also learned how to sit up from a crawling position.  Holly found him sitting up in his crib after nap one day but he has yet to show me the newly learned skill!  He's starting to crawl over things and pull up so I'm sure it won't be long before Andrew is climbing steps and cruising!



The boys spent the night at Mimi Kathy and Pawpaw Don's house one day this month so Mommy and Daddy could a much needed night of sleep.  Andrew also enjoyed his first snow day home with Mommy!

I'm so looking forward to warmer weather around the corner so we can venture outdoors!

Andrew's 8th Month

I'm so excited for Andrew and all the big changes he's been dishing out!

There's no doctor's appointment this month but as of a few weeks ago, Andrew weighed 18 pounds.



Most nights Andrew goes to bed between 6:30-7:00, wakes up for a feeding around 4:30, then continues sleeping until about 6:30.  Bedtime is very easy, especially with Daddy's new job.  Mommy gets to feed Andrew then attempt to snuggle for a few minutes and lay him in the crib awake.  He always falls asleep on his own within minutes.  Andrew still loves to snuggle up with a blankie and a binkie.


Andrew has become a tad more adventurous with foods this month.  He's tried all types of new foods including green beans, peas, mixed veggies, blueberries, cantaloupe, yogurt, and chicken.  We've even started to give more finger foods in an attempt to get away from those purees!


Andrew usually takes two naps a day totally about 4 hours.  Afternoon naps tend to be the best ones lasting a few hours each day.

Andrew still wears 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. 

This month Andrew sits up all by himself for long periods of time.  When laid on his back, he will roll all around the room and see what kind of mischief he can get into.  The day of Andrew's 8th month, he propped himself up on all fours and started army crawling.  Now, just a few days later, he's actually covering some distance!


Andrew enjoyed shaking his head "no" at people for most of the month and also waved bye bye a few times.  He's since stopped both of those skills but I'm sure they'll make a comeback!

7 Months!

Andrew is growing up so quickly that I completely forgot to write his 7 month post!!!  Here's the jist:

*  Sleeps about 12 hours a night and wakes once to be fed around 5:00
*  Eats 8oz bottles every 3 hours
*  Eats real food 1x per day.  Favorites include carrots, acorn squash, and baby cereal.  
*  Naps like a champ 2x per day
*  Wears 6-9 month clothing, size 3 diapers
*  Sits up perfectly for long periods of time without any support
*  Scootches backwards and in circles but hasn't quite managed to crawl forward
*  Celebrated his first Christmas!!!

Dr Visit

Andrew 17 lbs 1 oz

28 inches long

Ethan 36 lbs

38 inches tall

Both boys are on track and healthy

Stop light system for discipline for Ethan

Had Ethan draw circle, line, triangle, name colors, check blood pressure, eyes, ears (look for Elves)

I took both boys to the pedi for check ups this morning.  We discussed DS1's increasingly defiant/strong willed personality.  The first question he asked was if the behavior happens with other people or just inside the home.  When I told him it was just with us, he said it's completely normal.  If DS starts showing the same traits with the sitter, etc. then it's time to discuss things.

He recommend we use the Stop Light system for discipline, which seems common sense enough but helps evaluate things.  Red behaviors are dangerous/major issues and require immediate attention through TO/time in his room.  Yellow behaviors are "annoying" but not dangerous and should be ignored.  Green behaviors are positive where praise should be laid on thick.  Seems simple enough and helps put things in perspective.  Just thought I'd share.