Friday, June 12, 2015
Bellingham, WA Day 3
Friday Kyle and Kari both had the day off of work so we were finally all together for the whole day. I believe this was the day Kieran decided he wanted to sit with the big kids and the three of them broke into spontaneous waving and saying "hi, hi, hi" over and over again to each other. We had grand plans to go to a park, then a marine exploration center, and then out to lunch. The park was so cool with lots of different play toys including a zip line for kids, we ended up spending way too long there. Kieran once again decided he was way older and spent most of the time on the play equipment made for 5-12 year olds. Luckily we packed lunches for the kids because they were begging for food when we got done playing. By the time they finished eating, my two were alternating having meltdowns so we decided heading home for nap time was the best choice. After naps Reed and Annaliese helped me make a Birthday cake for Grandma and we spent more time playing in the backyard, including the kids dumping and pouring sand ingredients to make more cakes. The cutest thing about the Birthday celebration was that after hearing it sung, Kieran made attempts to sing "Happy Birthday" the next two days. It was adorable and I wish I had caught it on video - it was like "Ha-ee, irth-ay, ooo, ooo."
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Bellingham, WA Days 1 and 2
Last week the boys and I headed to Northern Washington to visit Uncle Kyle, Aunt Kari, Annaliese, and Haleigh. It was a great trip and so fun to see how big the girls are getting. Grandma and Grandpa had flown up the week before so we had almost the whole family together, just missing Jon who had to stay home for work. We arrived around 4:00 pm on Wednesday and let the kids play outside to burn off some excess energy while Kyle and Grandma made dinner. Kari was at work so we wouldn't get to see her until the next morning but managed to send her pictures of the four kiddos in the bathtub which was pretty wild! Annaliese also insisted on reading the other kids a bedtime book that night.
Thursday night we had reservations at a nice restaurant to celebrate Grandma's Birthday. We decided to hang out at the house during the day so that the kids could run around and play as much as they wanted and then hopefully get good naps. It was pretty cute to see Kieran decide he was a big kid and tag along with Reed and Annaliese. Uncle Kyle had to work but the rest of us got to catch up a bit and also hear about Grandma and Grandpa's Canadian adventures. The dinner that night was delicious and the kids did pretty good considering it lasted almost two hours. Kieran also tried tree nuts for the first time (hazelnuts) with no problem.
Thursday night we had reservations at a nice restaurant to celebrate Grandma's Birthday. We decided to hang out at the house during the day so that the kids could run around and play as much as they wanted and then hopefully get good naps. It was pretty cute to see Kieran decide he was a big kid and tag along with Reed and Annaliese. Uncle Kyle had to work but the rest of us got to catch up a bit and also hear about Grandma and Grandpa's Canadian adventures. The dinner that night was delicious and the kids did pretty good considering it lasted almost two hours. Kieran also tried tree nuts for the first time (hazelnuts) with no problem.
Friday, June 5, 2015
Lyla turns One
C and Tio had an awesome idea for Lyla's first Birthday party - they hired a photographer. This meant they didn't have to worry about taking pictures themselves and they should get some pretty great photos of all of the friends and family that were there to celebrate Lyla Jane. I'll probably share some pictures when they get them back. Unfortunately with a professional on hand I didn't take too many pictures myself. Tio's family created an awesome taco bar, there were lots of fun toys and games, C decorated their backyard adorably, there was a bounce house with a slide, and because it was so hot the party moved to the pool for awhile. Kieran got to climb, Reed got to swim, they both ate cupcakes, and we had a great time celebrating our "Bean." Lyla is such a special little girl and we feel so lucky that our boys get to grow up so close to her. These are some pretty spunky kids and I think they have many years of adventure ahead of them.
On Sunday Kieran had a relapse of his sickness from earlier in the week and Jon seemed to come down with something too. That meant that Reed and I went solo to Lyla's Sunday Birthday dinner at Pepe and Nonna's. Luckily Reed was on hand to help Lyla open her gift and play with Tio's family. It was a nice evening even if we were missing some of our guys.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
Nineteen Months
Oh my gosh, I am the Mother to a crazy toddler!!! Kieran still remains a pretty sweet kid, but boy does he keep me on my toes. I was looking back over his milestones for the month and realized why I feel completely exhausted lately. First off the kid is non-stop during the day. He is also very curious and pretty resourceful when figuring out how to accomplish something he wants. He's moved the bathroom stool around the house to reach light switches and figured out how to open doors. He'll get big bowls out of the kitchen cupboards, flip them over, and climb on top to reach things on the counter, and uses chairs to climb on higher up spots like tables and counters. He loves climbing on the edge of Reed's bed to reach the CD player and other things on top of his bookshelf and has absolutely no fear of falling as evidenced by himself diving off of beds and chairs purposefully quite often.
On top of all of these nerve wracking things, he is growing leaps and bounds cognitively. He knows so many different body parts and can point to them and say their names. He is also picking up words left and right and starting to mimic phrases other people say. Kieran is very opinionated and will say "no not dat" over and over and until something is presented he is actually wanting. His big accomplishment this month has been going poop in the potty four different times. He is far from potty trained and a long sickness that caused a lot of stomach upset has meant that we haven't practiced for the last week. All we've done is if we notice he is acting like he needs to go we ask if he needs to go potty, if he says "yeah" then we ask if he wants to go on the toilet/potty, if he says "yeah" we take him to the bathroom sit him down and I would say 50% of the time within a minute or two he is going. If the answer is "no" to either question we don't push it and let him keep doing what he's doing. I think we'll try to keep this up and see where it takes us, maybe adding in putting him on the potty before bath time too. I won't even let myself imagine what a diaper free house would be like, but man would I be happy if it came sooner than later!!!
Monthly Statistics
Weight: 23 lbs
Height: No measurement this month
Clothing Size: Shorts are 12-18 months but his pants that size are too short so he's rocking 18-24 month pants that he's swimming in (thank goodness it is finally warming up and I can put them away for a few months), tops and pajamas are 18-24 months, but fit him well.
Shoe size: Size 6.
Teeth: 12 - 4 top front teeth, 2 top molars, 4 bottom front teeth, and 2 bottom molars.
Kieran likes: Doing anything with Dodger, including walking him, feeding him, petting him, and giving him lots of treats. K also likes snacking, playing with bubbles, bath time, climbing up or on anything, balls, trying to play with Reed, Legos, taking naps, playing in the tent, dance parties, reading books, playing outside, tickles, his play kitchen, opening cupboards, sorting and stacking toys, playing guitar with Dad, the salad spinner, digging and playing in the dirt, Signing Time DVDs, going down slides, his quilt from Auntie Amanda that he sleeps with, his special stuffed animal Gino the Gorilla, and his pacifiers.
Kieran dislikes: Diaper changes, long car rides, having his face wiped, being held when he wants to be doing something else, being told no, watching Mom leave, and getting things taken away from him.
Food: Favorites right now are avocado, cereal, crackers, most fruits, string cheese, quinoa, yogurt, bagels, granola bars, snap pea crisps, raisins, pretzels, fruit/veggie purees, graham crackers, hemp milk, muffins, sausage, rice, fruit bars, pancakes, and smoothies. Kieran loves meat some days and won't touch it the next and the same goes for vegetables in general. Pretty much gust a carb and fruit junkie.
Nicknames: Kier, K, K-Man, K-Bug, Bug, Kier-Bug, Bugger, Kierito, and Goldilocks.
How Kieran is sleeping: Kieran typically goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 pm. He gets up for good right around 6:00 am. He takes one nap, going down around 12:15 and usually sleeping 2.5 - 3 hours. He sleeps in a sleepsack, with two pacifiers (one attached to a blanket and one attached to Perrito), a stuffed Gorilla, and with a quilt.
Communication: This month Kieran has started to sing a few of the songs he hears on Signing Time or the They Might Be Giants' Here Come the ABCs CD. He doesn't sing along when they are on, but out of nowhere will starts singing the chorus. He loves his ABCs and can pick out a few letters. He also mimics Reed counting but usually just likes to say 2 and 6. At the end of this month Kier had a nasty stomach bug that gave him diarrhea and made him vomit a lot. While this was so horrible, before the first time he got sick he lifted up his shirt pointed to his belly and said "tummy ouchie" at the time I didn't know what was going on but in hindsight I was so impressed that he had communicated so well what he was feeling in his body.
Favorite Moment: One day I watched Kieran charge down the hallway and then stop in his tracks when he reached the entry hall. The light was on and was creating a shadow. He squatted down looked at the dark figure on the ground, studied it for a minute, then took off running back toward me watching his shadow "chase" him from behind the whole way. He was genuinely scared but it was just too darn cute not to smile at. I did manage to take him over and show how I could make a shadow with my hand and that it wasn't something to be frightened of.
Milestones:
05/08/15 Kieran figures out how to scoot the bathroom stool around to turn on lights
05/11/15 He manages to open a regular height door knob
05/16/15 The Bug participates in his first race out of the womb - the Dala Horse Trot
05/16/15 First attempt at singing a song "go, go, go, for G"
05/16/15 Kier develops a fake laugh
05/17/15 The Bugger successfully poops on the potty
06/03/15 First airplane ride
Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake:
On top of all of these nerve wracking things, he is growing leaps and bounds cognitively. He knows so many different body parts and can point to them and say their names. He is also picking up words left and right and starting to mimic phrases other people say. Kieran is very opinionated and will say "no not dat" over and over and until something is presented he is actually wanting. His big accomplishment this month has been going poop in the potty four different times. He is far from potty trained and a long sickness that caused a lot of stomach upset has meant that we haven't practiced for the last week. All we've done is if we notice he is acting like he needs to go we ask if he needs to go potty, if he says "yeah" then we ask if he wants to go on the toilet/potty, if he says "yeah" we take him to the bathroom sit him down and I would say 50% of the time within a minute or two he is going. If the answer is "no" to either question we don't push it and let him keep doing what he's doing. I think we'll try to keep this up and see where it takes us, maybe adding in putting him on the potty before bath time too. I won't even let myself imagine what a diaper free house would be like, but man would I be happy if it came sooner than later!!!
Monthly Statistics
Weight: 23 lbs
Height: No measurement this month
Clothing Size: Shorts are 12-18 months but his pants that size are too short so he's rocking 18-24 month pants that he's swimming in (thank goodness it is finally warming up and I can put them away for a few months), tops and pajamas are 18-24 months, but fit him well.
Shoe size: Size 6.
Teeth: 12 - 4 top front teeth, 2 top molars, 4 bottom front teeth, and 2 bottom molars.
Kieran likes: Doing anything with Dodger, including walking him, feeding him, petting him, and giving him lots of treats. K also likes snacking, playing with bubbles, bath time, climbing up or on anything, balls, trying to play with Reed, Legos, taking naps, playing in the tent, dance parties, reading books, playing outside, tickles, his play kitchen, opening cupboards, sorting and stacking toys, playing guitar with Dad, the salad spinner, digging and playing in the dirt, Signing Time DVDs, going down slides, his quilt from Auntie Amanda that he sleeps with, his special stuffed animal Gino the Gorilla, and his pacifiers.
Kieran dislikes: Diaper changes, long car rides, having his face wiped, being held when he wants to be doing something else, being told no, watching Mom leave, and getting things taken away from him.
Food: Favorites right now are avocado, cereal, crackers, most fruits, string cheese, quinoa, yogurt, bagels, granola bars, snap pea crisps, raisins, pretzels, fruit/veggie purees, graham crackers, hemp milk, muffins, sausage, rice, fruit bars, pancakes, and smoothies. Kieran loves meat some days and won't touch it the next and the same goes for vegetables in general. Pretty much gust a carb and fruit junkie.
Nicknames: Kier, K, K-Man, K-Bug, Bug, Kier-Bug, Bugger, Kierito, and Goldilocks.
How Kieran is sleeping: Kieran typically goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 pm. He gets up for good right around 6:00 am. He takes one nap, going down around 12:15 and usually sleeping 2.5 - 3 hours. He sleeps in a sleepsack, with two pacifiers (one attached to a blanket and one attached to Perrito), a stuffed Gorilla, and with a quilt.
Communication: This month Kieran has started to sing a few of the songs he hears on Signing Time or the They Might Be Giants' Here Come the ABCs CD. He doesn't sing along when they are on, but out of nowhere will starts singing the chorus. He loves his ABCs and can pick out a few letters. He also mimics Reed counting but usually just likes to say 2 and 6. At the end of this month Kier had a nasty stomach bug that gave him diarrhea and made him vomit a lot. While this was so horrible, before the first time he got sick he lifted up his shirt pointed to his belly and said "tummy ouchie" at the time I didn't know what was going on but in hindsight I was so impressed that he had communicated so well what he was feeling in his body.
Favorite Moment: One day I watched Kieran charge down the hallway and then stop in his tracks when he reached the entry hall. The light was on and was creating a shadow. He squatted down looked at the dark figure on the ground, studied it for a minute, then took off running back toward me watching his shadow "chase" him from behind the whole way. He was genuinely scared but it was just too darn cute not to smile at. I did manage to take him over and show how I could make a shadow with my hand and that it wasn't something to be frightened of.
Milestones:
05/08/15 Kieran figures out how to scoot the bathroom stool around to turn on lights
05/11/15 He manages to open a regular height door knob
05/16/15 The Bug participates in his first race out of the womb - the Dala Horse Trot
05/16/15 First attempt at singing a song "go, go, go, for G"
05/16/15 Kier develops a fake laugh
05/17/15 The Bugger successfully poops on the potty
06/03/15 First airplane ride
Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake:
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