Thursday, December 26, 2013

Friday, December 13, 2013

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Steps!

D walked up the three steps from the family room to the kitchen this week a few times by just having his hand on the wall - can't believe he's getting so big already!! We were talking tonight too, and his 16 month birthday is right around the corner - time is definitely flying by and he's growing fast. He's definitely a sponge to all that goes on around him.

He's really liking to use his fork and spoon and also is definitely watching the adults around the table and wants to do what they do. He watched Grandpa Garr taking a drink through his straw tonight when we were out for supper and wanted to drink that way too (instead of using his sippy cup), so I humored him and we used that in addition to his sippy cup.

He graduated from the straw sippy to a soft spout sippy a little while ago. I'm glad that he can use both as we forgot his regular sippy when we went out the other day and drank his milk from a straw in the bottle. We're still working on regular cups, but he's getting better at those too!

I put the Christmas tree up tonight after D went to bed. We're just going to go with lights on the tree and no ornaments this year. I know he won't be able to resist exploring and I don't want to get a play yard just for one year to protect the tree.

He also had his first sleigh ride inside and outside this week - pictures to come later. He really enjoyed it and did NOT want to come in.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Captivated

D is captivated while watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer for the first time.

Happy Birthday to me. :)

Happy Birthday to me! :) We went out to the Texas Roadhouse for supper and D joined me on the birthday saddle.


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

15 months doctors visit

D had his 15 month checkup at the doctor yesterday. He did really well, but I'm pretty sure he knew what was coming when the nurse came to give him his shots. He got three yesterday and in a month has to go in for the followup flu shot. The doctor said next year he could do the flu mist so that will be good!

He was crying a bit with the shots, which the nurse said he would do because the ones this time would 'burn' more. The nurse had a sucker for him to have afterwards. He wouldn't take it at first until I was able to get it to touch his lip and he had a small taste. Then the tears were gone and he definitely wanted his first sucker!

He's still in the 100 percentile for height and weight, and 86% for head circumference. He's 34" tall and weights 31 lbs. 12.8 oz. We can definitely tell he's getting taller and now he is seeing things on the counter tops and table without climbing up to see some of the things.

They sent us home with a 'Well-Child Checkup: 15 Months' sheet. I did have to laugh at one of the bullet points as it was a good reminder to try to be patient and not get frustrated. They should have put those sentences in bold type as D is definitely testing the boundary waters!

  • Teach your child what's okay to do and what isn't Your child needs to learn to stop what he or she is doing when you say to. Be firm and as patient as possible. It will take time for your child to learn the rules. Try not to get frustrated.

He's now up to 14 teeth - 8 on top and 6 on the bottom. I think he'll be getting his other two canines in on the bottom soon. D's also started to 'blow' kisses. He gets the kissing his hand part down, but it's blowing the kisses away that he's not doing yet.

We've got a lot of things unpacked and organized at our new house, but not everything. We were hoping that this house wouldn't need some of the weatherstripping that we've had to do in our old house, but no such luck. I caulked around a few windows/doors today and will have some more to do later. We'll probably have to catch a few spots outside this weekend when it's a little warmer.

For the most part we enjoy our new spot - only wish that the previous homeowners had put in a windbreak. We will definitely work on that next spring and in the coming years! Among other things, my parents helped us put up snow fence last weekend, so that was a great help!

We have also been looking for childcare again. I'd found a new lady to watch him, but he didn't get along well there, so we're looking for a new place. Working part-time is definitely a hindrance to finding childcare, but so is the fact that D is still under 2. I took him in with me to work last week during his afternoon nap and was able to get a number of hours of work in. That won't work long term, but hopefully I'll be able to find someone.

 Below are a few pictures.
Waiting for his 1st birthday cupcake.


Studying his birthday cupcake.

YUM!

D spent a week at my parents while I was working
on the new house - he was so proud of himself
getting up onto the cedar chest.

He also surprised Grandma Nea by climbing up on the stool!

Our new backyard looking NE at the house.

First family picture at our new house

Snow fence installation on a windy day.





Saturday, October 26, 2013

Walker

Just because he doesn't need it anymore doesn't mean he doesn't still like his walker ...

Cleaning up the yard in prep for winter today... sorry for all you that like winter, but for me it's definitely a season I could live without!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Growing boy and new house

Written August 17th... I write today's post feeling completely physically (and somewhat mentally) exhausted... I am most definitely NOT a morning person, but I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and was unable to go back to sleep, so I thought well, I'll just get up and get some things done while waiting for Chris and D to wake up.

We have been extremely busy the last month and a half. We closed on our new acreage last night (8/16) and have been frantically trying to get it cleaned up, painted and ready for us to move in. (Thanks to all the family that's come to our aid!!) We've wanted to live on an acreage for a while, so hopefully it lives up to our expectations! ;)

The property has two acres, with .66 acres being a field that had been plowed. The mowing got too much for the previous owners, so they let the neighboring farmer plow it and plant crops. We'll eventually get that flattened and reseeded to grass, but that will probably be next years project.

There are 3 outbuildings, two that we'd probably actually use... the house is a four level split with 3 big bedrooms with large closets, 1 full bath and 1/2 bath with laundry. It's bigger than our current house, and Chris and I will actually be able to have all of our clothes together in our bedroom for the first time in 10 years. :)

We first looked at this house in April and finally at the beginning of July we had ok'd the repairs that needed to be done before we'd take possession. Most of the repairs are done, but the window repairs aren't quite done; at least we don't have to use painters tape around 6 windows, so that makes it easier... Unfortunately, some of the repairs will probably be bandaids for now as we've had a better chance to look at the house without everything in it and get a better feel for what we need to possibly fix in the future.

There was a hair salon in the room we are making our home office, and unfortunately after we tore out the cupboards, there wasn't flooring and the plumbing wasn't cut off where we'd have liked, so we have a little bit of thinking to do to figure out what we'd like to do with that room.

However, to add to the chaos, we were on vacation for the first two weeks of July - first to Dallas for a national volleyball tournament that Chris coached at, and then to Cable, Wisconsin for a family vacation, so we've not really had a chance to slow down yet!

D turned 11 months and 1 year old in the mean time, and has 3 of his 4 first molars come in. We knew he had teeth coming and had assumed that it was the canines... well, it wasn't! So, that definitely better explained him not sleeping very well the two weeks we were gone on vacation!

By the time he turned one, he had 3 out of his 4 molars in for a total of 11 teeth. This past week, the other molar pushed through. He really likes to take bites and eat what we're eating, and lets us know by 'pounding' on the table or screeching at us if we haven't given or shared enough with him. He also has been done with pureed food for a little while, and definitely wants to feed himself, given the option - he really likes the Gerber Graduates Pasta Pickups.

He is turning into such a character, that sometimes we just look at each other and laugh. I'll give a few stats though... When he turned 11 months, he was about 30 lbs. 3 oz. and 31" tall. For his 1 year checkup, he was 30 lbs. 12 oz. and 32" tall.

He made the nurse and I laugh in the doctor's office when he got his 1 year shots. He is strong, so the nurse pulled him down to the end of the table to hold his legs, and I held his arms. I had forgotten to give him some tylenol before he got his shots, so I was hoping he'd do OK. He got the first shot, and just at the end started spitting. He didn't cry out at all, and I started to smile.

We've discovered that when D spits, he's letting us know that he doesn't like something. Well, the second shot was a little more painful and he did let out a little cry with that one (no tears) and there was significantly more spitting, so by then I was laughing at him (yes, I know those shots do hurt). But as soon as the nurse had the needle out, he quit spitting and shortly after that gave her a smile, so all was forgiven. :) So he did really well at this 1 year checkup. The doctor said that he was a little heavy for a one-year-old, but that it was okay cause when they get sick they lose weight, so he didn't mind that D was a little heavy.

Trying to think about packing and getting supplies for the new house have been definitely interesting with D because I'd say that shortly after we got back from vacation he figured out that he can push and/or climb over the boxes we were using as a corral for him. He's not quite ready to walk yet, but he has definitely been doing really well walking along by using only the help of one person's hand, instead of both hands, so I would guess he's not too far off for the walking part. Not much stops him while he's in is walker either.

He just wants to go-go-go and is curious about everything. He is standing on his head with his butt in the air and it's cute watching him lay his head down on the floor to look at something. He is talking more (nothing that we understand yet), although I'd say his first word is probably bye-bye, that he says with a wave.

Last week he was sitting in the dining room and had a toy in his hand and was waving it in the air and chattering. Well, I thought that he was talking to me, so I said something like, "oh yeah, I didn't know that, thanks for sharing." Evidently he wasn't talking to me though, because I'd startled him and then in a completely different tone did respond back to me, so his imagination is definitely working. :)

We had a birthday party for D last Saturday with family and a few close friends. He made it through the meal, two birthday angel food cupcakes and present opening before taking a nap. He dropped his morning naps a while ago, and takes one nap a day, usually around 12:30/1:00 for about 2-2.5 hours.

So, it's definitely been crazy at our house with a busy boy climbing on anything he can and two cats also wanting attention, not to mention all the little things like the lawn mower is leaking gas, the snow blower pull is broken, my car needs something fixed on it, etc... just all the regular stuff a person has to take care of...

We bought D a bike trailer for his birthday... well, we evidently don't have the right parts to mount the trailer to my bike, so not only can we not go for a bike ride cause we can't get the trailer hooked up to either of our bikes, we also can't get my bike back together, so that needs to go to the shop too... so many things to take care of!!

Well, I think this is all for now -- I'll leave you all with some pictures.

11 Months Old

These are as good as it gets for an active boy!


Father's Day

Grandpa George and grandkids

Fathers' Day 2013

Three generations


On Lake Namakagon in Wisconsin.

Digging in Chris' bag on vacation in Dallas.

Dallas vacation


This was D's first park to be able to play in. Downtown Dallas has a park called Klyde Warren Park, and it has areas for different aged kids to play in, is pet friendly and has entertainment, reading materials and games. We went there on the 4th of July to do something special. We all enjoyed it and would go back again.