Eighteen Months

Eighteen Months! It is so crazy that we are now closer to two years than one with our sweet baby. I'm looking at Kieran and seeing more and more of a little boy lately, but he still seems so small. K's tantrums are on the rise (as evidenced by the lack of happy pictures in this post). But at other points during a day he can be so much fun. He constantly makes Jon and me laugh out loud by making a silly face, sound, or saying something funny. Kieran loves the small things in life and could care less about most toys, being happy to play anywhere with anything.

We are still battling Kieran's car sickness issues - this month he got sick after 20 minutes on the freeway and another time on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's house. Most kids don't get motion illness at this young of an age and it can be really rough because he can't communicate well enough to let us know something is about to happen or hold a bag or bucket to get sick into. This means that I have to be really on top of sounds he's making and his mood in the car otherwise we have a big mess and a very scared/unhappy kiddo. So far we've tried flipping his car seat around to forward facing, experimented with eating vs. not eating before car rides, and no longer let him play with toys in the car. Obviously we haven't found the cure because he's still getting sick so if you have any ideas send them my way please!!!

On a happier note Kieran is picking up more people's names including his own and will point people out in pictures and in person and can come up with their name or at least mimic us if we say it to him. He loves his Nonna and Grandma and gets so excited to see them on the days the babysit. He also knows a lot of his body parts and loves pointing them out on other people and announcing what he's touching.

Monthly Statistics

Weight: 23 lbs

Height: 33 in

Clothing Size:  Shorts are 12-18 months but his pants that size are too short, tops and pajamas are 18-24 months.

Shoe size: Size 6.

Teeth: 12 - 4 top front teeth, 2 top molars, 4 bottom front teeth, and 2 bottom molars. He seems to be working on a few more right now too.

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, 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, 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, most fruits, string cheese, yogurt, bagels, granola bars, snap pea crisps, dried fruit, mashed potatoes, pretzels, fruit/veggie purees, graham crackers, hemp milk, muffins, sausage, rice, fruit bars, and smoothies. Kieran loves meat some days and won't touch it the next and the same goes for vegetables in general.

 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 between 6:00 and 6:30am. He has been doing great sleeping through the night and soothing himself back to sleep if he does wake. He takes one nap, going down around noon and usually sleeping 2 - 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: Kieran still loves watching Signing Time and has picked up a few more signs. He also is continuing to pick up more and more words. There is definitely a lisp with his "s" sound examples are "thmootie" (smoothie), sthop (stop), but I still feel his words are continuing to be easier to figure out as time is going on. K is also starting to string words together like "not that" "bye bye dada" and "graham cracker please."

Favorite Moment: If I leave the room and he wants to come along he usually gets pretty upset, but he'll start saying "hand, hand, hand" running after me with his arm reaching out. As soon as our hands connect he calms down and happily walks alongside me.

Milestones:
04/05/15 First time Easter Egg hunting
04/09/15 We switch Kieran's car seat to forward facing
04/11/15 Plays a board game ("First Orchard")
04/17/15 K gets to try out a popsicle for the first time (coconut water and strawberries)
04/21/15 The Bug figures out how to open the low dutch door knob in his room

Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake:

A Day in the Life of a 3.5 year old and a 17 month old

I'm starting this Day in the Life post after bedtime the night before my originally planned date because Reed woke up pretty upset with an allergy issue. This has been a regular thing, happening at least once or twice a week, for the last few months and even though it doesn't happen everyday I wanted to document what it is like for him and for us.

10:00pm I have just laid down to go to bed and Reed starts screaming. I wait a few minutes to see if he calms down on his own. He doesn't, so I go into his room and find him scratching himself all over, crying, and screaming. He won't talk to me when I ask him what's wrong, so I get him tucked back in and give him a kiss, he is calming but a few minutes later he is screaming again. Jon now goes in and Reed refuses to talk to him as well, I head back in and he finally tells me he is itchy and wants milk. I get him a glass of hemp milk and put lotion all over his arms, legs, and abdomen (sometimes we will give him more allergy medicine at this point but we've recently doubled his dosage and I don't want to play with it unless necessary). He's in a short sleeve pajama top and pajama bottoms and when he is itchy he hates being able to see his eczema sores and he asks if he can have long sleeve pajamas. I tell him yes, even though I worry he's going to be warm.

10:30 Reed is finally back in bed and feeling much more comfortable, I tuck him in and he tells me he loves me.
 

11:00 Reed is back to sleep so I finally go to bed.

5:15am My alarm goes off so I get up and workout.
 

6:15 Both boys wake-up, almost simultaneously - Reed comes charging down the hallway as I hear Kieran cry out. Reed and I go to Kieran's room and the boys curl up on his rug.

 

6:30 I make breakfast for the boys (cinnamon/raisin bagels with allergen free butter, blueberries, hemp milk, and vitamins).  I clean out the dishwasher and make my breakfast as soon as I sit down strawberries are requested. I wash some strawberries and put them on Reed and Kieran's plates. We discuss plans for the day I want to do laundry, Kieran wants to walk Dodger, and Reed wants to do a craft project. While the boys finish up breakfast I put away my exercise stuff and feed Dodger.

7:00 I wipe the boys up and Jon walks in to the kitchen to say goodbye. While the kids play with toys on the kitchen floor I do dishes.  I start a load of laundry, change K's diaper (which he so nicely takes to the trash himself), get both boys dressed, brush their teeth, and do Reed's inhaler.

7:30 The boys are playing nicely together in Reed's room so I check my email and pick up toys that didn't get put away last night.

7:50 We start the process of leaving to walk Dodger by getting hats and sweatshirts on. Then Reed insists he needs to find a toy horse that is lost, then Kieran needs a toy to take along too. Finally we make it to the garage where Kieran is devastated when Reed wants to wear shoes instead of boots. Finally we leave to walk Dodger, Reed gets out and runs for the last half mile and Kieran follows suit for the last 200 yards or so. We stay outside and stop to play in the vegetable garden before going in the backyard. I have hopes of getting some irrigation fixed but the boys are into everything and there are trucks and tractors in the fields today so I don't feel comfortable letting them wander too far from me.

 

9:00 We are back in the house, wash our hands, and "Second Breakfast" is requested  - Reed has Sunbutter and honey on toast with banana slices with hemp milk, K has leftover bagel from breakfast, water, a box of raisins, 1/2 banana, and then steals the apple I'm trying to eat. I take care of a work problem on my laptop.
 

9:20 The three of us head to my bathroom, I start the requested Super Why show on my iPad, and put clothes in the dryer. I'm about to get in the shower when my Mom calls to talk about family visiting in August. I finally get in the shower when I notice there is about five minutes left on the show and finish just as the credits roll.

 

9:45 I'm out of the shower, Super Why is over, K has pooped, and I realize Reed hasn't gone to the bathroom in a long time. I take Reed to the bathroom and get him on the toilet, I change K's diaper, hollering at Reed to pull up his pants and wash his hands when he's done. He runs half naked out of the bathroom and I have to track him down and get him dressed. I put another load of laundry in the washing machine.

 

10:10 We head outside and race bikes/cars, Kieran gets into Dodger's treats, and then we play with bubbles including one of their favorite games "bubble baseball" which means they pop bubbles by swinging bubble wands at them.

 

10:50 K walks into the street after I've told him "no" repeatedly, so we immediately cleanup and head inside. As we are walking into the house Kieran falls and bumps his head, hugging and kissing do nothing but a pretzel seems to fix everything. The boys both get water and then we play a game with a bunch of balls.

11:20 They are both very cranky and sleepy. I quickly make our lunches (quinoa, BBQ chicken, avocado, and hemp milk).

 

11:50 I take Kieran to his room, put him in a fresh diaper, read two books, get Reed to take a picture of the cuddling, am requested to take a picture of Reed with Kieran, and then lay K down right at noon.

 

12:00pm  Reed and I do a color based science project together.

 

12:40 I take Reed to go potty, we read two books, and then I tuck him in for quiet time.

 

1:00 I fold laundry and quickly do my hair and makeup, normally I don't do this on days I stay home, but we are going out to dinner so I make an attempt at looking presentable.

1:30 I join a conference call for work.
 

2:15 The conference call is over, I put the laundry away, get mail, do a blog post on the previous weekend's  McClarty Party, make a few doctors appointments, and call a handy man about a project we need done.
 

3:00 K wakes up and is uncharacteristically grumpy - he is working on a few new teeth but he is beyond cranky and the only two things that seem to make him happy are holding the teething tabs container (not actually taking them) and gnawing on pretzels. We settle on playing with some plastic eggs and cuddling.

 

3:30 Kieran and I wake Reed, I read The Pout Pout Fish book to them, then change Kieran's diaper, Reed goes potty, once again I move laundry around, and then we make a smoothie (veggie/berry juice, spinach, kale, hemp seeds, banana).

4:15 Uncle Kyle calls to say hi, I get the boys their tent out to play with while I talk to him. Kieran gets bored and plays with blocks in Reed's room, I pack up the diaper bag while chatting. Reed discovers K in his room playing with blocks and completely loses it screaming and kicking. I tell Kyle I need to go and Reed calms down to say goodbye to Annaliese. Reed and I then have a talk about proper behavior and using words to resolve problems.  I clean up our smoothie mess, put on some non-workout clothes, and change Reed's shirt because it is covered in stains.

5:10 Jon gets home. He was able to hit the gym so he showers quickly. I take Reed to the restroom and put the boys in the car. We leave for dinner at a local restaurant in honor of our friend Yayo's Birthday.
 

5:30 We have fun seeing a lot of our friends and their kids (at one point there was basically a baby corral where five Dads were rocking their babies - beyond adorable) but the boys get antsy and are stir crazy and ravenous by 6:00, the meager applesauce and hemp milk I packed does not hold them over long. They are also tortured by watching some of the other kids playing on iPads - note to self never forget the iPad again if we are going somewhere where others may have one!
 

 

 

 

7:45 We arrive home and I discover Reed has peed his pants in the car. This is beyond frustrating as the drive was all of 7 minutes and we asked him before we left the restaurant if he needed to go. Jon and I tag team putting the boys in their pajamas, brush their teeth, and give Reed his medicines and inhaler. I read a book to Kieran, it's one that has a puppet built in and he insists on kissing the horse on every page. We say goodnight and lay him down at 8:00pm he is asleep almost immediately. We then take Reed to his room and Jon reads him a book. I tuck him in and say goodnight at 8:10. I go to feed Dodger and hear Reed come out of his room. Jon takes him back to bed and gives him a few books to look through.

 

 

8:30 Reed is asleep

 

9:45 Kieran cries out, but puts himself back to sleep without me having to go into his room.

A McClarty Party

A few years ago we had a Summer get together with all of Pepe's immediate family so since we didn't do anything for Easter this year C and Tio volunteered (or were volunteered by me) to host a similar party in their recently finished back yard. Because McClartys are known to be competitive and also love to cook C added an extra twist by making it a "Taco Throwdown."

The Throwdown competitors consisted of Pepe, Jon, C, and Bryan. While Pepe definitely won the award for most trash talking, the four nominated judges declared C's chicken tacos victorious in the actual competition.

Kieran and Lyla napped during the first part of the party but joined in the fun later. For his part Reed warmed up to the big kids pretty quickly and had a ton of fun following them from the Bounce House, to the pool, to the basketball game, and back. I learned an important lesson - no matter how cold the water is, if there is a pool bring a swimsuit. Reed didn't seem to mind having to swim in his undies and I have no idea how the kids stayed in the pool as long as they did, it was freezing!

Before anyone left we were able to line up all the kiddos and get a second cousin picture by the pool!