Monday, April 30, 2012

Growth

Reese is at a point where she is having noticeable growth on a daily basis, regarding her understanding, cognition and communication.

Saturday we were outside playing in the driveway and with every car that drove by Reese would wave to them and say "Hi". Tom had told me that that she was doing it on Thursday but before I saw it with my own eyes, I thought he was exaggerating. But no, clear as day, and time after time, she did it. Saturday night we were standing in the garage, in the dark with my parents, watching people leave in the pouring rain and my dad says. "It almost looks like she is waving when people leave." and I told him that was exactly what she was doing. He was shocked. Then she did it again.

We also have been signing "all done" and "more" to her since she started eating solids. Over the weekend she started doing "all done" with one hand, when she was done eating. It looks a heck of a lot like her wave, so it was a little confusing at first, but she is doing it at the appropriate times. At the end of dinner and when she is done with her bath and starts trying to reach for me and crawl out.

Then tonight we were outside and I asked (but did not sign), if she wanted more squeezy food and she clearly signed more! She does one hand with just a pointer finger, the rest with her fingers all together like she is supposed to but it was very good and clear in her intent. Then when we were reading a book tonight before bed, we turned the page and she saw a picture of milk so I said "Milk", and then she signed "more", stood up, walked away toward the kitchen and signed "more" again.  Then I asked her if she wanted milk and she did her dramatic head nod thing again. She is really starting to communicate (even though she isn't saying much) and it is so fun!

A couple weeks ago she started pointing at things in her books when we would read to her. It is more like a repeated finger stab then a nice gentle point, but she gets her point across. (no pun intended).

And the latest thing she surprised me with tonight, was that we were reading one of her favorite books (a touch and feel board book that my grandparents gave her for Christmas), and we got to the page where it says "mouth" and "nose" and I usually always point to the kid's in the book, and then hers and before I could point to hers when I said "nose" she pointed to her nose! I thought it was just a fluke so we continued on, but then I went back to that page and once again as soon as I said nose, she put her finger right on her nose (and up it once for good measure). I tested her about 5 more times, then called Tom in and sure enough she did it for him right away. Genius baby.

These pictures were from Donovan's birthday when Reese was playing with us by squinting, and shutting her eyes, then opening them up, and then shutting them again (she was peeking at us through the slits in her eyes the whole time though). My sister and I would do it, then she would do it right back to us. The pics don't do it justice but the fact that she is learning how to mimic and interact/play is so fun.
 Not a great view but you can kinda see her squinted eyes almost shut.



I think her baby hair (aka, what hair?) and the fact that she has only 2 bottom teeth make me feel like she is still a tiny baby. I forget that she is almost 1 and will be doing more and more of these things as the days go by. Speaking of which, I would just like to officially invite time to slow down. I love my tykes and I want to remember this time with them forever.

FEATS OF SRENGTH!

 Reese is such a crack up right now. She is doing this new thing that Tom and I call "FEATS OF STRENGTH!" (you have to shout it with authority when you say it). She thinks she is a big, strong girl so she wants to show you, may times a day, by picking up and carrying heavy things. Like her new wagon that she got at her birthday party.
She is not content to pull things around, or lift one corner up. No, no. This girl must dead lift everything. Other things she tries to pick up: her activity table, Donovan's bathroom stool, Donovan's scooter, a lawn chair, a play drum, a play tool set, my mom's tennis shoes, Petey's full food and water bowl and many more. Then she tries to walk around while holding them. So Tom and I have taken to shouting "FEATS OF STRENGTH" everytime we see her pick up something that is way to big for her. It's a fun game because we get to say it a lot and it gets more dramatic everytime.

Birthday par-tay!

We had the kids combined birthday party on Saturday and a fun time was had by all. Dono opened his presents first, then we ate, then Reese got a turn, then cake, then playing. Lots of fun! Reese was sleeping for the first hour of the party, woke up pretty slow but once she finally warmed up, she was such a wonderful girl.




Still waking up. Wondering where all these people came from. "I could have sworn these people were not here when I laid down for my nap."

Aubrey and Reese checking each other out.

You see my pretty swimsuit Ian?

Hmmm, what's in here?

A Bunny!

I love how much joy Donovan gets out of having people sing him happy birthday. He is so genuinely happy when being sung to. He soaks it all up..

Clapping for everyone singing.

Reese thought her cake was good...

until mean ole' daddy tried to get some icing out of her hair. "Come on dad, I'm 1. I am supposed to put icing in my hair. It's what we do"

Reese (and Donovan) loved the trampoline. She can't jump so she does this irish jig/tippy toe running on it and it is one of the cutest things I have ever seen. (I know I say that weekly but you would too if you lived with these kiddos).


Pretty sure she was smashing her nose against the bar, making a pig nose in this one.

Donovan and his best friend Ian. (although tonight Donovan (unprompted) said, "You're my best friend mommy!" Be still my heart.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

3 yrs old info



Mama and her fake smiling boy. "Cheeeeeese".

So far Donovan's transition to 3 has been a good one. We told him that when he turned 3 he would be big and would not need to use sippy cups anymore, and that he would give them all to his sister. I came up with this brilliant plan to cut back drastically on his juice intake. It has become a comfort measure for him, to drink his juice right when he gets up, before nap, after nap and before bed. It was severely watered down but still, he was probably getting between 9-12oz a day, way more than he needs. So we built up the fact that he would be big when he was 3 (thus not needing baby items like sippys). He took that an ran. A couple days before his birthday he told my parents that when he turned 3, he would be so big they wouldn't be able to carry him anymore. The night before his birthday he told Tom that "Tomorrow, I'll be three, I'll be a big boy and I can pick up my small friends" and also "I'll have big hands." I feared we may have oversold the whole turning three thing. But as it turns out he is doing really well and isn't acting disappointed with his same size-as-when-I-was-two self.

So far the sippy thing is working like a charm! He isn't missing them and he asks for juice, we give it to him in a cup and he takes two sips and is done. I knew that once we took the comfort of sucking it down while snuggled on the couch away that he would knock his consumption down significantly. In fact, we have offered him the same glass of juice that I poured him Sunday morning, every time he asks and it is still more than half full.  Success!! Also, we have transitioned to wearing underwear overnight. That one was his idea. I told him that if he kept his diaper dry for 14 days in a row, he wouldn't have to wear his underwear anymore and he made it to 13 on his birthday but then asked if he didn't have to wear them anymore since he was big so I obliged and so far so good.

In other 3 year old news Donovan is doing really well at school! As of 2 weeks ago, he really turned a corner and loves it now. No tears or sad face ever, and now when I pick him up, sometimes he comes right over, sometimes he sees me and continues doing what he is doing or he runs to do something he wants to show me. His teachers say that at first, he was very adult oriented and would prefer their company to the kids. Now he is interacting with the other kids like everyone else does. I am proud of him for how well he transitioned.

Other things about Donovan at three:
~With the help of school, he can go to the bathroom all by himself. Get his pants up and down, and can wash his own hands (at school where he can reach the sink). Now whether or not he does it on his own at home, that is a different story.
~He can put his own shorts, underwear and shoes on (not always correctly) but still needs help with shirts in general and socks always. He can take off all his own clothes.
~He is starting to come around on Reese. He tells her things, "Hey Reese, look at my cool guy shoes!" and he is starting to try to wrestle with her, which she loves and giggles at, and that doesn't help him believe us when we tell him to not be so rough with her. He gets upset and panicky (tears in his eyes) when she gets really upset or if he thinks we are hurting her (when she throws a bloody fit during some diaper changes). It is so sweet to see him defending her.
~He speaks in full sentences with all the connecting words almost all of the time. Some kids his age still say things like "I want ball" or "My cold" or something like that. He speaks in full paragraphs usually. "Remember, the other day, Trevor and I saw the rabbit?" and "Actually, I need some socks". He is a mini person. On a funny note one of the times he didn't use all the correct tenses and connecting words was a time that he was at the table and said, "What happen, petey poop on my head?" and then when I was like "What?!?!" he followed with, "What happen, petey poop on my foot?" It took me a minute to figure out he meant to say, "What would happen if  Petey pooped on my head?" It made me laugh to think that he was getting the idea that he could think up potential weird situations and I would tell him what we would do if that happened. (And for the record, Petey would be in big trouble)
~His memory is impeccable. He will reference things (like the above rabbit sighting) that happened 8 months ago, that we haven't spoke of since. It is crazy.
~He says the word "miz" instead of was or is sometimes. As in, "I miz crying, and screaming". I think it is a combo of was and I'm but I think it is so adorable I cannot bring myself to correct him. Tom and I talk like him now, we will say "I miz tired" to each other like that is normal language. Ok-Tom just read this and his take is that "miz" is "I'm just" just super jumbled together. I have to agree but just in case, I leave the previously stated idea.
~He is still a huge sports fan, as in playing them himself. He is getting in to soccer more but still loves hockey and baseball, although he alternates which one he prefers at time to time.
~He learned to peddle on his tricycle about 3 or 4 weeks ago now and he is really good at it! He loves driving the tricycle my parents got him for his birthday last year and Tom's parents have another trike that he peddles all around the pond path near their house.
~Up until this last month, he had almost no patience for coloring. Some of his friends (Ian man) would color up the whole page and Donovan would make a couple lines and peace out. Now he is doing a lot more. He can draw a circle, lines, drew a very rough face (with 2 eyes, a nose and a mouth) for his teacher at school when asked, and he can trace his own hand (the result is the puffiest, fattest, cutest hand you have ever seen, but it is obvious what it is!). I am really enjoying this but we are running out of space to put his artwork.
~Donovan drinks no milk at home, but will at school. He would prefer to eat a hot dog at every meal. His other staples are, chicken nuggies (nuggets), eggs and ham, and Macaroni. He is getting better about fruit again. He loves grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries and especially the cuties (little fresh mandarin oranges). Once he ate 5.5 cuties for breakfast. He only stopped because after he asked for another one, I, like any good mom would, offered him a pop tart instead as I was tired of  peeling the oranges. Mother of the year folks.
~Donovan still takes a nap, THANK GOD! He usually takes an hour and a half nap but sometimes he goes as long as 2.5. On rare, and I mean rare, occasions it is around 3 hours but those are very few and far between. He usually is asleep by 8:30 and is up by 7, whether it is a school day or not (boo).

I am so excited for this year of Donovan's life. I was absolutely obsessed with his past year of life because he morphed from a toddler, to a little person before my eyes. I started a 3yr old "bucket" list for Donovan: all things I want to do with him this year while he is 3 as most of them I feel he is finally old enough for or will be soon. This is what we have on the list:
-Go bowling
-Go fishing with a grandpa
-Go to a movie
-Ride a bicycle (with training wheels)
-Go miniature golfing
-Go to the butterfly house
-Ride on  a real train
-Go to an amusement park
-Take swimming lessons
-Go ice skating (maybe...and if so, in late winter)

I am sure that list will grow as the time goes on, but just looking over it makes me so excited. I love life with him. Two/three year olds are cures for depression in my opinion. He makes life so exciting. Things I would normally not care about is suddenly exciting, like seeing a groundhog on our way home. Or hearing a siren or a train. He makes life so much richer. I love him.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Donovan is 3!

Happy birthday Donovan! Today was a fun day. Donovan got to wake up to a balloon filled room, with streamers on his door. Something I hop to make a tradition for the kids (next year for Reesie poo). He loved it and was hyper from the time he opened his eyes this morning.


"I have three balloons, mommy!"

I told Donovan last night he could have a special breakfast, anything he wanted, and he told me he wanted, "A poptart and macaroni." Nut. So I told him I was thinking more along the lines of pancakes or muffins and that he could think about it until today. So this morning I asked again and again got. "Poptarts and macaroni." He got the poptart, he didn't really want the macaroni so I have no idea where that came from.

The day was kinda yucky weather wise, cold and rainy, so we spent it inside playing. Donovan did go to the grocery store with daddy to pick up treats for school tomorrow but that was our big trip out.
Tonight, both sides of our immediate families came over and we gave Donovan presents, ate some burgers and then finally singing happy birthday and cake. Donovan was so fun and pumped about all of his presents. Then after dinner he wanted cake as soon as he was done, but no one else was done eating so he spent the next 15 minutes harassing everyone until we were ready for cake.

Then when we lit the candles, he sang himself happy birthday solo! It was pretty cute. After he finished, we sang happy birthday and he was just as happy and excited as he was last year. This kid loves the birthday song and the attention it brings.

These are the pictures from tonight. They are all backwards from last to first as the blogspot updated how you blog and it  messed my system up but the changes are good and will make life easier on me (after tonight). So without further ado...




His new luggage he got from Tom and I. Now that he is having sleepovers we thought something better than Tom's old soccer bag would be nice. It says his name in the center in orange there, but it is hard to see in the picture. He really love it! That and all of his other presents really.

His new talking Percy. "I have a Percy like Ian!" he said.

It was so cute, he would show everyone every present he opened. He had to walk around and present it to everyone. He was deemed "Vanna White" by his grandparents.

Demonstrating his cool, talking transformers card that my parents gave him. The card that he picked out for himself I might add.


Grammie helping him read his card.

Next Saturday we are having the bigger birthday party for both Donovan's 3rd birthday and Reese's 1st. Should be loud and fun!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Extreme Sleeping

This is how we found Donovan last night when we went to check on him before we went to sleep.



He cray.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Sweet

Soakin' Eye


(what Donovan calls it when he shuts one eye. We don't have any idea what it means or where he came up with it.)

Friday, April 13, 2012

11 months old

Reese turned 11 months old on this Friday the 13th. She was born on a Friday the 13th so these rare days will hold a special place in my heart from here on out. Here are some pics from tonight.


She was doing "So big!" in this picture, per my request.

What she is up to lately:

Sleeping: No more swaddling! Yeay! We just put her down, awake with the swaddle blanket as her lovie and she gets herself to sleep. It is wonderful finally being done with the wrapping. The swaddle blankets are her security blankets still so she likes them when she is sleepy or snuggling and getting ready for bed. She is still taking 2 naps. Usually one long (1.5 maybe) and one short (1/2 hour). Bed time is 8:15 pm (at the latest, usually in bed at 8) and up for a feeding between 5-6, then back down until we wake her to leave during the week, or until 8 or 8:30 on the weekends. She still sleeps in. Her brother on the other hand...

Eating: 4 bottles a day, averaging around 26-28 oz milk per day. She still eats the squeezy food, just not with the same enthusiasm she did when she first discovered them. I can get her to eat baby food spoon fed from me at least once daily, but no telling how much she will let me get in. She just wants to feed herself. Her latest favorite food are the little Cuties, the tiny, kid size oranges. We break each sliver in half and she eats an entire Cutie in less than 3 minutes. Loves it. She is also a massive fan of cheese. See the video. She is also a pretty good carnivore, still loving her meat.


Teeth: Last night Reese did a face bump into her tricycle handle bars while standing next to the bike and she cried a lot harder than I thought was necessary. On a whim, I stuck my finger in her mouth and next to her one gigantic lonely bottom tooth was a second tooth! I like to think she just popped it free at that moment on her handlebar but it could have cropped up the previous day, although I doubt it because I have been on close tooth watch. So 1 month and 3 days from the date of the first tooth eruption, we have tooth number 2. Guess he missed his friend and finally decided to join the party.

Development: Reese is walking 99.99% of the time. She taught herself how to stand from a sitting position so if she falls she does not need to crawl over to anything anymore. I saw her crawl about 3 feet tonight and that is more than I have seen her crawl for the past week. She is very steady and is able to hold pick large things up off the ground and carry them around while walking. She can hurry too so that she is almost running. She has been doing the head nodding/banging thing again (she had stopped for a little while). Except now when she does it, 75% of me thinks she knows what she is doing and is saying "yes". Hence why I think it is a nod now. (As she did in the video). She has also said "kitty", which her babysitter got on film and sent me in a grainy video on my I phone but it was awesome but since that day, when she apparently said it multiple times, she has been hard to get to say it again. She says "dada" and "dah-deee" (doggy), all the time. Doggy is her official first word because she uses it correctly, like when she sees a dog or something that looks like a dog (she saw a bear on TV the other day and said it). Other than that she we have not had any other major developments this month.

Personality: Reese is becoming more and more independent and it is nice, and it is not. It is nice that she is able to play by herself and entertain herself more now. It is not when she decides that she is going to shimmy up Donovan's stairs to his bed and get into his bed, only to stand up and try to walk straight off his bed like she is walking the plank. She LOVES his bed. More than he does I think. We have to put his stairs up on his bed when we are not in his room because if we don't and we are playing somewhere else and we loose sight of her for 15 seconds, chances are she is sitting in the middle of his bed (Grammie Q found this out the hard way, Reese was not hurt but Grammie Q's blood pressure was). She also loves a soft armchair of Donovan's in his room. So basically everything that's Donovan's, she loves. She also loves being up on the couches and flopping around. Scares the be-jesus out of us but she just throws her self back and smiles and rolls around on the pillows and generally entertains herself while we are on injury watch. Overall she is a very happy baby and is so good spirited even when her brother is being too rough with her. She does have a very short fuse when she is tired, as most kids do. That is when she saves all her best screams, back arches and body rolls for. It's very dramatic.
Playing by myself. Some one needs to get this girl some more toys, STAT!

Playing on the couch, as happy as can be.

Reese makes me laugh on a daily basis. The other day I was sick as a dog with horrible body aches and I was supervising her from a horizontal position and she came over to me and blew adult sized zerberts on my leg. I laughed so hard even though I felt awful. Then another day Donovan started giving me zerberts on my tummy which also made me laugh for multiple reasons. I was laying on the ground again, and Reese wanted to get in on the action so she walked over to me, straddled my neck and sat on my chest, right below my neck. Her face looking down on me was so funny. Yesterday I was laying down again (hey, I'm noticing a pattern), and she decided to back herself up, and sit on my face, right on my glasses and forehead. I do not know what possesses her to do that, but I love it and it makes me laugh. I wonder what is going through her head. Also, yesterday we met another little girl in the subdivision that had just turned 1 and who was being pushed in a cozy coupe by her dad. They had stopped and were talking to us and Reese just walked over, pulled the door of the cozy coupe open, she put one hand on the steering wheel and one hand on the open door for balance and she put her foot in the car and tried to squeeze in next to the other little girl and pull the door shut. They did not both fit, but it was funny to watch Reese try. "Ok, scoot over. Ok, try sucking in. I need to ride in here too ok?" The other girl isn't walking yet and had no idea what to think about this litte girl trying to shove herself in to her car with her.