Yes, I know, it's been forever and a day (over a month actually), since I posted, so here is what we've been up to.
Kevin arrived home from Germany safe and sound, we sold the motorcycle, and he's been doing research everyday at the U of A.
I have been nannying, saying goodbye to some well loved friends, and hello to some new ones. Additionally, we are both teaching Sunday school this month.
And then there's our little Kyle. He is something new everyday! Right after Kevin got back home from his trip, Kyle was super clingy with me and wouldn't let Kevin put him to bed or take care of him alone. Thankfully, that has passed! Lately, Kyle has wanted to be held a lot, so I've once again put one sling in the car and kept one up in the house for these "hold me" moods he gets in. Don't get me wrong, I love my cuddly boy and know this won't last forever, but you try holding 30lbs for an extended period of time on one hip! There was one afternoon I watched Rose and it turns out she will only fall asleep in her stroller for me. Regretfully, I didn't have the double stroller with me that day, so Kyle got slung on my back and I pushed Rose. It was hot, but worked like a charm. Kyle was almost asleep on my back by the time we got around the block! He's been falling asleep in weird places, like his jogging stroller, car seat, or my arms; places he hasn't fallen asleep in for months and months! Speaking of sleep, Kyle has had two nights of leaky diapers in the last 3 days. Sadly, last night's leak ended in a pee sopping wet mattress, of which I discovered is hard if not next to impossible to clean/disinfect. So, Kevin and I considered our options and I found a used toddler bed this morning that fits his crib mattress. His crib mattress is water proof, yippee! I had plenty of store credit at the store where I bought it, from selling them clothes/baby gear, etc.. so it didn't cost us a dime out of our bank account! And, he went to sleep just wonderfully in his new bed tonight, no fussing or crying at all. I have pictures of him helping Kevin put it together that I'll get posted ASAP to snapfish and share with all of you.
This overnight diaper issue has me at a dead end. He wears size 5 diapers overnight, and there is no way we can go up to a size 6 (do they even make size 6?!?!) for extra absorbency because they won't fit him. There are some fantastic cloth diaper options for overnight heavy wetters, but they can get pricey. I'm going to make him a pair of short wool soakers tomorrow from an old felted wool sweater I have and I'm hoping to pick up some hemp inserts for use with our current diapering system. Supposedly, they work amazingly well overnight!
In other news, Kyle is talking up a storm! He says new words and phrases everyday. It's so cute to hear him say "Okie dokie" or "Geez", imitating us. He just started saying binky and has grown very attached to one of his stuffed animals, doggy, a Ty non beanie baby golden retriever. Doggy has his own binky that goes to bed with him when Kyle takes a nap or goes to bed; and Kyle knows exactly which binky is doggy's and which are Kyle's binkys. He's not a fan of sharing his binkys if we lose doggy's binky, but will do it if he has to. Kyle will often stay up in his room for an hour or so talking and playing after we put him to bed. It's so funny to turn on the monitor and listen to his conversations.
I'm starting to upgrade our books to the ones I'll want to use with Kyle as a preschool curriculum. I found four of the Winnie the Pooh titles we'll be using at Bookman's the other night and Kyle does great listening to one of the short chapter stories, even without a lot of colorful pictures on every page! Interested in what I'll be doing with Kyle these first couple years? You can check out the curriculum I'm planning on using here.
And, let's see, we've upgraded our sippy cups since Kyle's were a year old or older and not even close to large enough to hold the amount of water he likes to drink when we're out around town running errands. We purchased one Klean Kanteen and a couple Munchkin straw cups. They are all 10-12 oz. bottles, whereas his older sippy cups run in the 7 oz. capacity. I've been very happy with our purchases because they don't leak and Kyle loves to drink out of them. Additionally, the Munchkin cups are insulated and the Klean Kanteen fits perfectly in to one of those soda can sleeves to keep the contents cool. Today I caught our little engineer drinking water out of his straw cup while slowly closing the lid to see how far he could get the straw to bend closed until he couldn't get any more water out. He did it over and over again!
Swim lessons have been going well, albeit much different from last year. Kyle has been very cautious about getting in to the pool, but is doing better every week. He now will walk in to the pool himself and happily splashes and plays. To the instructor's chagrin, he insists on drinking the pool water instead of blowing bubbles in it; one skill he will have to master before moving up in the world of swim lessons!
We have been so blessed lately, with furniture, clothes, food, diapers, etc...I cannot thank our family enough for making sure we are well taken care of! Lately, we've seen the grandparents and many of the aunts/uncles more often than usual. Kyle now looks through photo albums and points out family members or asks who they are, so it's possible he'll recognize you the next time you see him!
It's late and I'm tired, but I promise to update more often this month! Stop on over to the Tatum's blog to see pictures of their new baby boy, Rowan. Happy 4th of July; see some fireworks for us (Kyle is usually in bed by the time they start)!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Hooray for rashes!
Yep, Kyle woke up with the Roseola rash on his body this morning, but he still has the fever. I assumed that once the rash showed up, the fever would break, but after looking up some info, that isn't necessarily the case!
We are in PHX. I broke down and drove us here yesterday, while Kyle slept in the car. After no break and only one real shower (luke warm baths and rinsing off puke don't count in my book) since Sunday, I needed some help! So, grandparents, if you'd like to stop by and watch a movie with Kyle or play trucks with him, we're at my mom's house. It is very unlikely that you would get what he has, since it's typically a virus only seen in kids under five.
The cool part about being here is that I get to pick Kevin up from the airport Friday night! We miss him so much. The bummer part is that Kirsten and Ellie were supposed to stay with us this week and that didn't work out at all!
Alright, Kyle just went back to sleep, which is where I'm going too! Happy weekend everyone!
We are in PHX. I broke down and drove us here yesterday, while Kyle slept in the car. After no break and only one real shower (luke warm baths and rinsing off puke don't count in my book) since Sunday, I needed some help! So, grandparents, if you'd like to stop by and watch a movie with Kyle or play trucks with him, we're at my mom's house. It is very unlikely that you would get what he has, since it's typically a virus only seen in kids under five.
The cool part about being here is that I get to pick Kevin up from the airport Friday night! We miss him so much. The bummer part is that Kirsten and Ellie were supposed to stay with us this week and that didn't work out at all!
Alright, Kyle just went back to sleep, which is where I'm going too! Happy weekend everyone!
Monday, May 21, 2007
Where does a 102 fever come from in the summer?!?!
A lot happened this weekend (flat tire, got to see Kirsten and Ellie), but what I really want to vent about is having a sick child.
Kyle had a fever of 101.5 last night when I put him to bed. He woke up at 4 a.m., after the Motrin had worn off, with a fever of 101.5. After getting him cooled down again, he went back to sleep until 6. I called the doctor at 8 a.m. and we saw his pediatrician at 9:45. She said it's a virus, will probably last 3-4 days, and he's contagious until the fever breaks or he gets a rash all over his body. Neato.
And so, poor little guy, barely eats or drinks and is soo lethargic. I rented the movie Cars for him and baked a pizza (which he did eat 1 piece of, yea!), and I've got the last of Kevin's otter pops in the freezer (sorry honey!).
This evening he desperately wanted to go for a walk, as did I, so we headed to the mall. Well, on our way out of the mall he literally collapsed when I stood him up after a diaper change. It was clear he wouldn't be going back in the stroller for our walk home. Today I had the bright idea of walking around with a purse instead of his backpack, so I only had necessities, which meant I didn't have a sling with me. This was going to be a long walk home, as we hadn't even gotten to the store where I needed to exit and my arm was killing me.
So I thought, just this weekend I had looked up ways to make a sling out of a simple piece of cloth, because I thought I had left our sling at home in Tucson. Turns out I had the sling in PHX, but the info came in handy tonight. I found an oblong tablecloth on clearance for $7. The cashier let me pull it out of the package and "try it on" before buying it to make sure it would be long enough (and it was). I tied a knot using two of the diagonal corners, then moved that knot up by my shoulder so the wide part of my "sling" would be by my hip, where I wanted Kyle to be sitting. I popped him in, then tied one of the remaining corners with the end of the first knot to snug him up. The remaining corner turned out to be incredibly useful as a hood, to shade his face from the sun going down. I felt almost magical walking him home down Oracle Rd, in a tablecloth; like I had accessed some kind of mom genius from the depths. He actually fell asleep before we hit the first intersection we had to cross. And, I was able to carry my sick baby home, sleeping peacefully, while pushing the stroller with my purse in it.
I gave him Motrin again when we got home, as it was well past time and he was heating up. Then we took a lukewarm bath with baking soda mixed in; this really seemed to bring his body temp down. Now, he is sleeping peacefully; which is where I plan to be shortly. Pray for our little guy, that he'll feel better soon and for my strength: it's hard work taking care of a sick child all by yourself!
Kyle had a fever of 101.5 last night when I put him to bed. He woke up at 4 a.m., after the Motrin had worn off, with a fever of 101.5. After getting him cooled down again, he went back to sleep until 6. I called the doctor at 8 a.m. and we saw his pediatrician at 9:45. She said it's a virus, will probably last 3-4 days, and he's contagious until the fever breaks or he gets a rash all over his body. Neato.
And so, poor little guy, barely eats or drinks and is soo lethargic. I rented the movie Cars for him and baked a pizza (which he did eat 1 piece of, yea!), and I've got the last of Kevin's otter pops in the freezer (sorry honey!).
This evening he desperately wanted to go for a walk, as did I, so we headed to the mall. Well, on our way out of the mall he literally collapsed when I stood him up after a diaper change. It was clear he wouldn't be going back in the stroller for our walk home. Today I had the bright idea of walking around with a purse instead of his backpack, so I only had necessities, which meant I didn't have a sling with me. This was going to be a long walk home, as we hadn't even gotten to the store where I needed to exit and my arm was killing me.
So I thought, just this weekend I had looked up ways to make a sling out of a simple piece of cloth, because I thought I had left our sling at home in Tucson. Turns out I had the sling in PHX, but the info came in handy tonight. I found an oblong tablecloth on clearance for $7. The cashier let me pull it out of the package and "try it on" before buying it to make sure it would be long enough (and it was). I tied a knot using two of the diagonal corners, then moved that knot up by my shoulder so the wide part of my "sling" would be by my hip, where I wanted Kyle to be sitting. I popped him in, then tied one of the remaining corners with the end of the first knot to snug him up. The remaining corner turned out to be incredibly useful as a hood, to shade his face from the sun going down. I felt almost magical walking him home down Oracle Rd, in a tablecloth; like I had accessed some kind of mom genius from the depths. He actually fell asleep before we hit the first intersection we had to cross. And, I was able to carry my sick baby home, sleeping peacefully, while pushing the stroller with my purse in it.
I gave him Motrin again when we got home, as it was well past time and he was heating up. Then we took a lukewarm bath with baking soda mixed in; this really seemed to bring his body temp down. Now, he is sleeping peacefully; which is where I plan to be shortly. Pray for our little guy, that he'll feel better soon and for my strength: it's hard work taking care of a sick child all by yourself!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
We're in PHX
Kevin's sitting at the airport, waiting for his first flight to board on the way to Germany. I already miss him; a lot. Kyle's taking his nap and we're going to hang out here in Phoenix for a couple days. It's been a while since we've been in town for more than 48 hours, so I'm hoping we'll get to see some family a little more than usual.
Kyle's been throwing a lot of tantrums, but they all seem for different things. He throws a tantrum for wanting to drink milk before dinner (he gets it after dinner because otherwise it fills him up and he doesn't eat), but since we enforced the milk drinking rule, he hasn't thrown a tantrum about that again. Instead he moves on to other things, like pulling his trucks out to play just as we're tucking him in to bed. I guess he's just trying to figure out what the limits are, but it can be hard for me to see those big tears and hear the wailing cries. Thankfully, it doesn't last long with tantrums.
Kyle is using all cloth diapers now, except overnight. We ran out of disposables, so I decided to spend our money on a couple extra cloth covers instead of more disposables. I prayed for a deal as we walked over to the shop, and the owner gave me 5 covers for $7!!!! Out of the used stash, of course. Totally awesome. Used covers typically run $4-8 apiece. Note to Kirsten: I told her we'd stop by if you came to town; she has so much newborn/small stuff in great condition!
Anyways, I also booked the park I wanted for Kyle's birthday party this year. Can you believe the Sat. of his birthday weekend was already taken? So, keep your calendars cleared for Sunday, August 26th to celebrate Kyle's 2nd birthday (which is his real birthday anyways)! This park is brand new and we got the ramada closest to the splash park; yippee!
Oh right; I had my followup doctor's appt. yesterday. You'll never guess, I'm perfectly healthy all the way around. She had my iron, cholesterol, thyroid and all sorts of other things tested and said I'm AOK. She can't explain the fatigue, but says it's possible it was related to the winter season. I've been riding a lot more the past couple weeks and feeling great since it hit 100 degrees in Tucson and the allergens seem to have tapered off a little bit. Kevin and I both realized that we have officially acclimated to the hot summers again, since we agreed that 100 degrees didn't feel hot at all this year (compared to the previous two summers we've spent in Tucson).
Can you believe we will have been here for 3 years come June? Amazing to me that it has all gone so quickly and our lives are nothing what we thought they'd be at this point in our marriage/family. Kyle is the best thing that could've happened to us, even if it did derail all my first born, perfectionist life plans ;). I'm betting all of you first born, only children know exactly what I mean!
I'm off to read and relax for a few minutes until Kyle wakes up from his nap.
Kyle's been throwing a lot of tantrums, but they all seem for different things. He throws a tantrum for wanting to drink milk before dinner (he gets it after dinner because otherwise it fills him up and he doesn't eat), but since we enforced the milk drinking rule, he hasn't thrown a tantrum about that again. Instead he moves on to other things, like pulling his trucks out to play just as we're tucking him in to bed. I guess he's just trying to figure out what the limits are, but it can be hard for me to see those big tears and hear the wailing cries. Thankfully, it doesn't last long with tantrums.
Kyle is using all cloth diapers now, except overnight. We ran out of disposables, so I decided to spend our money on a couple extra cloth covers instead of more disposables. I prayed for a deal as we walked over to the shop, and the owner gave me 5 covers for $7!!!! Out of the used stash, of course. Totally awesome. Used covers typically run $4-8 apiece. Note to Kirsten: I told her we'd stop by if you came to town; she has so much newborn/small stuff in great condition!
Anyways, I also booked the park I wanted for Kyle's birthday party this year. Can you believe the Sat. of his birthday weekend was already taken? So, keep your calendars cleared for Sunday, August 26th to celebrate Kyle's 2nd birthday (which is his real birthday anyways)! This park is brand new and we got the ramada closest to the splash park; yippee!
Oh right; I had my followup doctor's appt. yesterday. You'll never guess, I'm perfectly healthy all the way around. She had my iron, cholesterol, thyroid and all sorts of other things tested and said I'm AOK. She can't explain the fatigue, but says it's possible it was related to the winter season. I've been riding a lot more the past couple weeks and feeling great since it hit 100 degrees in Tucson and the allergens seem to have tapered off a little bit. Kevin and I both realized that we have officially acclimated to the hot summers again, since we agreed that 100 degrees didn't feel hot at all this year (compared to the previous two summers we've spent in Tucson).
Can you believe we will have been here for 3 years come June? Amazing to me that it has all gone so quickly and our lives are nothing what we thought they'd be at this point in our marriage/family. Kyle is the best thing that could've happened to us, even if it did derail all my first born, perfectionist life plans ;). I'm betting all of you first born, only children know exactly what I mean!
I'm off to read and relax for a few minutes until Kyle wakes up from his nap.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Kyle the artist
We had a great time finger painting yesterday morning! I got everything ready for a couple of Kyle's friends to come over, but he just couldn't wait for them to arrive. So, we put on one of my old button up shirts, and I started squirting out little puddles of different colored paint. He used his hands and paintbrushes to make some great art work. Eventually, he would point to the color he wanted and then point to the spot on the paper where he wanted me to put it, lol. Everyone else did eventually make it over and we had a great time!
I was thinking the other day how I was so excited to celebrate my first mother's day when we were pregnant with Kyle. Ellie had just been born and they were dedicating her that Sunday at church; it was really cool. This year marks the 3rd mother's day I'm celebrating and I look back realizing how much I've learned and how much more I still get to learn about being a mother! I love to reflect on holidays, birthdays, etc...to see where I/we as family have come since the last couple years.
Happy Mother's Day to all my dear mom friends and relatives; we will miss celebrating with you this weekend!
I was thinking the other day how I was so excited to celebrate my first mother's day when we were pregnant with Kyle. Ellie had just been born and they were dedicating her that Sunday at church; it was really cool. This year marks the 3rd mother's day I'm celebrating and I look back realizing how much I've learned and how much more I still get to learn about being a mother! I love to reflect on holidays, birthdays, etc...to see where I/we as family have come since the last couple years.
Happy Mother's Day to all my dear mom friends and relatives; we will miss celebrating with you this weekend!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Another post *gasp*
Today we went on a bike ride with no particular destination. We ended up at a park, and then on the way back we encountered a rattle snake sunning itself in the middle of the bike trail. The cows were out at the U of A farm, so we stopped by to see them too and Kyle had his own cow audience right up at the fence; we could've petted them! A college aged girl we had passed on the bike (she was jogging), stopped next to us and commented "It's so great you take your kid around to do this kind of stuff on your bike". This struck me as funny, but something I totally could hear myself saying when I was her age, single, and had not a clue about getting out of the house with a toddler in tow. I commented back, "Beats the cost of gas".
Did I tell you we're working on getting Kevin to work earlier? Yep. He has graciously gone to work around 9 ever since Kyle was born and I guess it is about time that welcome mat was rolled up! However, it is taking me about double the time to get Kyle and me up and ready in the mornings without an extra set of adult hands. Also, ever since Kevin went away for the weekend a couple weeks ago, Kyle has been super clingy with me. So, before, where he would happily play in the house while I did other things, he now falls apart if I'm not within touching distance. We're working on it, but I was totally not expecting this "Mom I'm going to die if you're not right here" stage. At the zoo last week, he stayed in the sling for 1 1/2 hours while we walked around and looked at animals; didn't even ask to get down. That has not happened since this time last year I'd say (and my back the next morning agreed).
So, we do everything together lately and it doesn't look like I'll be relieved soon since Kevin is heading to Germany next week. My hope is that Kyle won't redouble his efforts when Kevin leaves again; I wonder if he's worried I'll disappear too.
I should either clean or go to bed. Kyle has been waking up between 11 and 12 having lost his binkies and requesting a drink of water. You try to pretend you're still asleep with a kid screaming over the monitor! It's much easier to grab the sippy cup, find the binkies, kiss that blond head, and tell him it's time for mommy to go back to bed.
Did I tell you we're working on getting Kevin to work earlier? Yep. He has graciously gone to work around 9 ever since Kyle was born and I guess it is about time that welcome mat was rolled up! However, it is taking me about double the time to get Kyle and me up and ready in the mornings without an extra set of adult hands. Also, ever since Kevin went away for the weekend a couple weeks ago, Kyle has been super clingy with me. So, before, where he would happily play in the house while I did other things, he now falls apart if I'm not within touching distance. We're working on it, but I was totally not expecting this "Mom I'm going to die if you're not right here" stage. At the zoo last week, he stayed in the sling for 1 1/2 hours while we walked around and looked at animals; didn't even ask to get down. That has not happened since this time last year I'd say (and my back the next morning agreed).
So, we do everything together lately and it doesn't look like I'll be relieved soon since Kevin is heading to Germany next week. My hope is that Kyle won't redouble his efforts when Kevin leaves again; I wonder if he's worried I'll disappear too.
I should either clean or go to bed. Kyle has been waking up between 11 and 12 having lost his binkies and requesting a drink of water. You try to pretend you're still asleep with a kid screaming over the monitor! It's much easier to grab the sippy cup, find the binkies, kiss that blond head, and tell him it's time for mommy to go back to bed.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Here we go...
Kyle has been all toddler lately! Talking, insisting, throwing tantrums, being super clingy, etc...This morning he started saying "no no" instead of "na na". I always appreciated that Kyle's way of saying no was to shake his head no, not say the word no over and over again. However, I think those days of head shaking are almost behind us! Also, do you remember the Trader Joe's shopping cart incident? Well, we've gone a few times since then and Kyle would whine, but generally get over it quickly when it was time to put the cart away. Today, I am so proud of him, today he put the cart away after we got through the cash register, the first time I asked him, then happily grabbed a balloon and followed me out to the car! No whining, no fussing, no trying to take the cart with us; whew. I feel like a small victory has been made!
I have to tell you about Kyle's new shelves (thanks granny!). Kyle received some new toy shelves a week or two ago and we decided to put them in his room, with all his little toys in the bins. Well, everyday we pick up the house at lunch and before bedtime and Kyle has gotten really good at it! He'll happily put his toys away and lug the bins back to his room to put on the shelf. In addition, he's started putting other things away when he sees they aren't in their place! Take for instance, the baby monitor. It usually lives on my nightstand, but on the weekends Kevin graciously takes it to the family room with him so I can sleep in a little bit. Kyle found the monitor in the family room and returned it to my nightstand before he went to bed last night. He's done this with other items too.
In the past couple weeks we've been to the zoo, a birthday party, and the library numerous times. Kyle learned how to put stickers on a piece of paper and is even scribbling with his crayons now! He is eating more and often likes to feed himself; amazingly he's decided that he now wants to use his booster seat at the table (before he'd just sit in the big chair). We've been going on bike rides about twice a week since his new bike seat came in the mail and he always asks for more when we reach our destination. I took Kyle and Rose over to the U of A farm that is right near our house and showed them the cows and horses last week. They loved it and we all sang Old McDonald had a Farm. I guess Rose constantly talks about Kyle during the week when we're not there. Her mom told me she wakes up saying "juice, milk, Kyle".
I've been working on trying to find a way to reduce our disposable diaper usage. Nap and night times are the big question mark. I did find a used Fuzzi Bunz cover (the Mercedes of cloth diaper covers) at our local cloth diaper supply store, so Kyle is currently taking his nap in that with two prefolds stuffed in it...we'll see how it goes!
Kyle has started playing pretend more; he'll be driving his trucks across the carpet and you'll hear "slurrrp" as he tips the nose of the truck in to the carpet so the truck can get a drink! If you ask him what the truck is drinking he can usually tell you either juice or milk, lol. He's growing up so fast; I really encourage anyone who hasn't seen him in awhile to stop by! We will be in Phoenix May 17-20, dropping Kevin off at the airport for his conference in Germany, so let me know if you have some time to see us (Kyle and me that is).
And lastly, we are too excited about the engagement of Kevin's sister, Kristy, to her long time boyfriend James. Yea for more family (and cousins in the future)!
I have to tell you about Kyle's new shelves (thanks granny!). Kyle received some new toy shelves a week or two ago and we decided to put them in his room, with all his little toys in the bins. Well, everyday we pick up the house at lunch and before bedtime and Kyle has gotten really good at it! He'll happily put his toys away and lug the bins back to his room to put on the shelf. In addition, he's started putting other things away when he sees they aren't in their place! Take for instance, the baby monitor. It usually lives on my nightstand, but on the weekends Kevin graciously takes it to the family room with him so I can sleep in a little bit. Kyle found the monitor in the family room and returned it to my nightstand before he went to bed last night. He's done this with other items too.
In the past couple weeks we've been to the zoo, a birthday party, and the library numerous times. Kyle learned how to put stickers on a piece of paper and is even scribbling with his crayons now! He is eating more and often likes to feed himself; amazingly he's decided that he now wants to use his booster seat at the table (before he'd just sit in the big chair). We've been going on bike rides about twice a week since his new bike seat came in the mail and he always asks for more when we reach our destination. I took Kyle and Rose over to the U of A farm that is right near our house and showed them the cows and horses last week. They loved it and we all sang Old McDonald had a Farm. I guess Rose constantly talks about Kyle during the week when we're not there. Her mom told me she wakes up saying "juice, milk, Kyle".
I've been working on trying to find a way to reduce our disposable diaper usage. Nap and night times are the big question mark. I did find a used Fuzzi Bunz cover (the Mercedes of cloth diaper covers) at our local cloth diaper supply store, so Kyle is currently taking his nap in that with two prefolds stuffed in it...we'll see how it goes!
Kyle has started playing pretend more; he'll be driving his trucks across the carpet and you'll hear "slurrrp" as he tips the nose of the truck in to the carpet so the truck can get a drink! If you ask him what the truck is drinking he can usually tell you either juice or milk, lol. He's growing up so fast; I really encourage anyone who hasn't seen him in awhile to stop by! We will be in Phoenix May 17-20, dropping Kevin off at the airport for his conference in Germany, so let me know if you have some time to see us (Kyle and me that is).
And lastly, we are too excited about the engagement of Kevin's sister, Kristy, to her long time boyfriend James. Yea for more family (and cousins in the future)!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Update
Well, I went to the doctor today. She said I do have allergies, however, after going to fill the prescription and learning it would cost $80, I've decided to simply use the sample she gave me (of something different) until my appt. a month from now. Then I'll let her know we don't have prescription coverage, ugh. She let me know I am having migraines and will probably get them once a month; you do the math! And lastly, she's requested that I have some bloodwork done...booooo. I get faint just thinking about it. So, that's my doctor update for now. I'll keep you posted on any updates after my labs get back and I see her again in May.
Tonight I made my first ever pillowcase dress; and probably the first ever thing someone can actually wear!
Rose is the lucky recipient, as she most likely will be for any sewing projects I take on that are for a little girl!
I should go to bed, but here are a couple more pictures of Kyle:
Kyle and his new shopping cart
Helping daddy install his new bike seat
Tonight I made my first ever pillowcase dress; and probably the first ever thing someone can actually wear!
Rose is the lucky recipient, as she most likely will be for any sewing projects I take on that are for a little girl!I should go to bed, but here are a couple more pictures of Kyle:
Kyle and his new shopping cart
Helping daddy install his new bike seat
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Say ahhhhh...
Something's wrong with me. I am so confused by my symptoms that I actually made a *gasp* doctor's appointment. This required me to call my health insurance and set up a new primary care physician (pcp) because it has been 2 years since I went to see my last pcp and they needed me to confirm whether or not I still wanted him. Anyways, after all that business on Monday, I can't see my doctor until this Monday. So what's wrong with me? I have no idea. At first, I thought it was allergies, but I keep having random changing symptoms. I haven't been well for over a month now. I'll keep you posted. Truly, I feel normal most of the time, just the occasional headache, sore throat (when I eat things like pb & j sandwiches or spaghetti), and lethargy. No one else in the family has gotten sick this past month like me, so it seems as though it's something non contagious, or however you say that.
In other news, I had a screening interview for a high school teaching job this afternoon. Went well I think, but we'll see if I get a call back. I'm really enjoying this nanny gig once a week, watching Rose and Kyle play together. They are so funny, total imitators of each other. If one wants a drink or something to eat, so does the other. If one drinks their milk leaning up against the kitchen cabinets, the other one walks over and leans against the cabinets right next to them. It's too funny. I need to take my camera next week so I can show you these two together.
This was the first week I actually put Rose down for a nap awake. She laid down all cute and hugged her blankie while I sang to her and patted her back. Then as I was leaving she sat up and looked at me, "Rose, night night time, go to sleep", so she lays back down. I hear her screaming protests a few minutes later to being put down for a nap awake! Oh wait, dirty diaper. I change her diaper and lay down with her on the twin bed in her room and she's out in 2 minutes flat. So sweet! Kyle just wants to play lately whenever we lay down with him, so I haven't had a "baby" fall asleep on me in quite awhile. I laid there a few extra minutes listening to her breathe and feeling her little body go limp with sleep, then I slipped out to take advantage of the few minutes I had with both toddlers asleep at the same time!
On the bicycling front, I'm excited that Kyle's new bike seat should be here tomorrow! I'm committed to riding him anywhere we go that we would normally walk and that's within 5 miles of the house. In addition to riding for fun, of course.
Kyle became the proud owner of a Little Tikes shopping cart this morning. Savers special: $5. He took it with us into the bank to make our deposits, across the street to show his baby all the cool things in the Target garden center, and that little guy pushed his cart with baby in it all the way to the mall from our house after dinner this evening. He let me know he wanted to go to the mall by signing dog, then baby, and then loading up his cart with baby and standing by the door. The cart is missing one thing: those plastic tires that all Little Tikes movable toys come with, but the wheel assemblies roll just fine for now. I'll look in to replacement tires next week.
And lastly, did you know I own a sewing machine? Yep, it's really neat; especially for someone who had never really seen one up close until she hit college. I begged Kevin for it earlier this year, skeptical as he was, and he has dutifully looked at my creations with a beaming smile and told me how wonderful they are (whether or not it's true!). Anyways, I've done a few little projects, but my favorite thing is making diapers so far. I will, hopefully soon, have some new patterns to try. In addition to sewing, I'm rediscovering crochet, which my mother taught me as a child. I never new how handy needle, thread, and yarn could be!
I took some great pictures this week and will plan on posting a couple by the end of the weekend!
In other news, I had a screening interview for a high school teaching job this afternoon. Went well I think, but we'll see if I get a call back. I'm really enjoying this nanny gig once a week, watching Rose and Kyle play together. They are so funny, total imitators of each other. If one wants a drink or something to eat, so does the other. If one drinks their milk leaning up against the kitchen cabinets, the other one walks over and leans against the cabinets right next to them. It's too funny. I need to take my camera next week so I can show you these two together.
This was the first week I actually put Rose down for a nap awake. She laid down all cute and hugged her blankie while I sang to her and patted her back. Then as I was leaving she sat up and looked at me, "Rose, night night time, go to sleep", so she lays back down. I hear her screaming protests a few minutes later to being put down for a nap awake! Oh wait, dirty diaper. I change her diaper and lay down with her on the twin bed in her room and she's out in 2 minutes flat. So sweet! Kyle just wants to play lately whenever we lay down with him, so I haven't had a "baby" fall asleep on me in quite awhile. I laid there a few extra minutes listening to her breathe and feeling her little body go limp with sleep, then I slipped out to take advantage of the few minutes I had with both toddlers asleep at the same time!
On the bicycling front, I'm excited that Kyle's new bike seat should be here tomorrow! I'm committed to riding him anywhere we go that we would normally walk and that's within 5 miles of the house. In addition to riding for fun, of course.
Kyle became the proud owner of a Little Tikes shopping cart this morning. Savers special: $5. He took it with us into the bank to make our deposits, across the street to show his baby all the cool things in the Target garden center, and that little guy pushed his cart with baby in it all the way to the mall from our house after dinner this evening. He let me know he wanted to go to the mall by signing dog, then baby, and then loading up his cart with baby and standing by the door. The cart is missing one thing: those plastic tires that all Little Tikes movable toys come with, but the wheel assemblies roll just fine for now. I'll look in to replacement tires next week.
And lastly, did you know I own a sewing machine? Yep, it's really neat; especially for someone who had never really seen one up close until she hit college. I begged Kevin for it earlier this year, skeptical as he was, and he has dutifully looked at my creations with a beaming smile and told me how wonderful they are (whether or not it's true!). Anyways, I've done a few little projects, but my favorite thing is making diapers so far. I will, hopefully soon, have some new patterns to try. In addition to sewing, I'm rediscovering crochet, which my mother taught me as a child. I never new how handy needle, thread, and yarn could be!
I took some great pictures this week and will plan on posting a couple by the end of the weekend!
Friday, April 06, 2007
Pictures!
Driving Grandad's truck
Playing peek a boo with the camera while mommy tries to get a picture of him reading to his baby!
Cloth diapers
Playing at the park after a morning at the zoo
Toddler hockey, courtesy of Kyle's movers and shakers class
I forgot...
...to tell you about a video Kyle and I watched the other day. It's the Baby Einstein's Numbers Nursery DVD. I actually haven't seen the whole thing with him, so we both sat down to watch it together before his nap. A few minutes in there is a horse puppet that eats (tears apart) a flower. As this is happening I'm thinking, "Wow, that is pretty violent for a Baby Einstein video", and so I look back at Kyle and his little face is all contorted, practically in tears! He was so upset about the horse eating the flower that way. He immediately did the "all done" sign, so I turned off the DVD and pulled him in to my lap to comfort him. He kept signing "flower" and I told him how some animals do eat flowers for their food, but that he was right, that was a pretty scary scene watching the horse eat the flower. He recovered just fine, but it was the first time he's ever had a reaction like that to anything! I think he either was sympathizing with the flower or it scared him to watch the horse tear the flower up like that. I guess we'll never know!
Thursday, April 05, 2007
"dank ou, dank ou, dank ou"
Translation: thank you, is what I heard over the monitor this morning while listening to Kyle wake up! He's been picking up words faster since we spend one afternoon a week at the Trouards (playing with up to 6 other kids). My new job, as once a week nanny, to kids ranging in age from 19 months to 14 years has Kyle hearing all sorts of words and trying them out. Kevin and I talk to him a lot, but it's not nearly as all encompassing as sibling chatter! The 19 month old (Rose) talks a lot more than Kyle, and the big things they have her saying right now are thank you, welcome, and please. So Kyle picked up thank you this week and he said welcome a couple times on Tues. afternoon while we were at the house, but not since we got home.
Kyle is also using his hands for things besides sign language! He waves all the time now, especially when he's ready to leave the house! Kyle will wave bye bye then run to the front door when he's ready to go. The other day I took him for a walk (which really means he's walking with me or pushing his umbrella stroller). I followed his lead, so we stopped at each place where he would have to decide a direction and he would point which way he wanted to go. Well, we ended up on our usual walking path, but it was cool to see that he knows the route! He also really enjoys using Kevin and me as jungle gyms; climbing, falling, sitting, bouncing, etc... on us.
We did go to the zoo for the first time ever this week with one of Kyle's friends and he loved it! The elephants, giraffes, and large tortoises were his favorite animals by far. I doubt we'll go again until the fall, as it is warming up around here.
Last week I got to go out to dinner and bowling with some other moms; the first time I've been out with people other than Kevin and Kyle in a long, long time! It was wonderful! On the job front, I'm still torn with whether or not to really go to work full time. I haven't had any job offers, which I'm secretly relieved about, because that would mean I'd have to commit to a decision already!
We found out this week that Kevin will be going to Germany for a week or so in May. I'm excited for him, but disappointed because I was supposed to go with him! It had looked like the funding wouldn't be available for him to go, so we didn't make any arrangements for me to go. Ah well.
Last weekend we had lunch with one of Kevin's old neighbors from college; turns out her husband is the new staff leader for Intervarsity here at the U of A! Very exciting. It seems all sorts of people from our past lives in Flagstaff have ended up here in the southern part of the state.
Oh yes, one last Kyle story before I go to bed. Junior has been all sorts of tantrums lately, mostly at home, but boy did we have a doozy of a tantrum outside of Trader Joe's this week! This was pretty much the first real temper tantrum I've had to deal with in public. So, Trader Joe's has these great kid shopping carts that Kyle loves to push around and have me fill with all the food on our list. Regretfully, this week's list was fairly short and so, thus, was the shopping trip. After we got done at the cash register, I explained to Kyle that we were done and it was time to return the shopping cart because we needed to go home. He allowed me to steer him over to the line of kid's carts, but started screaming as we pushed his cart in to the line. I removed him from the store, just outside the exit doors and explained to him one more time that it was time to leave. He decided to lay on the sidewalk, kicking his legs, screaming, and crying. I calmly told him I'd be waiting for him at the car and walked away. We were parked right up front, so I just walked down the sidewalk and proceeded to put our groceries in the car. I could see him the whole time, but pretended not to notice what he was doing. After about two minutes of on and off crying (he would stop to sit up and look around to see if anyone was watching), he pretty much stopped, I walked back over and asked him if he was ready to go home. He picked himself up, wiped his hands on his shirt, then asked me to pick him up. I carried him to the car where he let me put him in his seat, no problem. A retiree, sitting at a picnic table right next to our car said, "Good job with that little guy, you did exactly what I tell my daughters to do with all my grandsons when they throw tantrums". Let's hope it actually works and results in less tantrums in the future!
Happy Easter!
Kyle is also using his hands for things besides sign language! He waves all the time now, especially when he's ready to leave the house! Kyle will wave bye bye then run to the front door when he's ready to go. The other day I took him for a walk (which really means he's walking with me or pushing his umbrella stroller). I followed his lead, so we stopped at each place where he would have to decide a direction and he would point which way he wanted to go. Well, we ended up on our usual walking path, but it was cool to see that he knows the route! He also really enjoys using Kevin and me as jungle gyms; climbing, falling, sitting, bouncing, etc... on us.
We did go to the zoo for the first time ever this week with one of Kyle's friends and he loved it! The elephants, giraffes, and large tortoises were his favorite animals by far. I doubt we'll go again until the fall, as it is warming up around here.
Last week I got to go out to dinner and bowling with some other moms; the first time I've been out with people other than Kevin and Kyle in a long, long time! It was wonderful! On the job front, I'm still torn with whether or not to really go to work full time. I haven't had any job offers, which I'm secretly relieved about, because that would mean I'd have to commit to a decision already!
We found out this week that Kevin will be going to Germany for a week or so in May. I'm excited for him, but disappointed because I was supposed to go with him! It had looked like the funding wouldn't be available for him to go, so we didn't make any arrangements for me to go. Ah well.
Last weekend we had lunch with one of Kevin's old neighbors from college; turns out her husband is the new staff leader for Intervarsity here at the U of A! Very exciting. It seems all sorts of people from our past lives in Flagstaff have ended up here in the southern part of the state.
Oh yes, one last Kyle story before I go to bed. Junior has been all sorts of tantrums lately, mostly at home, but boy did we have a doozy of a tantrum outside of Trader Joe's this week! This was pretty much the first real temper tantrum I've had to deal with in public. So, Trader Joe's has these great kid shopping carts that Kyle loves to push around and have me fill with all the food on our list. Regretfully, this week's list was fairly short and so, thus, was the shopping trip. After we got done at the cash register, I explained to Kyle that we were done and it was time to return the shopping cart because we needed to go home. He allowed me to steer him over to the line of kid's carts, but started screaming as we pushed his cart in to the line. I removed him from the store, just outside the exit doors and explained to him one more time that it was time to leave. He decided to lay on the sidewalk, kicking his legs, screaming, and crying. I calmly told him I'd be waiting for him at the car and walked away. We were parked right up front, so I just walked down the sidewalk and proceeded to put our groceries in the car. I could see him the whole time, but pretended not to notice what he was doing. After about two minutes of on and off crying (he would stop to sit up and look around to see if anyone was watching), he pretty much stopped, I walked back over and asked him if he was ready to go home. He picked himself up, wiped his hands on his shirt, then asked me to pick him up. I carried him to the car where he let me put him in his seat, no problem. A retiree, sitting at a picnic table right next to our car said, "Good job with that little guy, you did exactly what I tell my daughters to do with all my grandsons when they throw tantrums". Let's hope it actually works and results in less tantrums in the future!
Happy Easter!
Friday, March 23, 2007
So big!
Has it really been almost 3 weeks since I posted? *sigh* How does life get so busy?!?! I have finished up tutoring and the reading class I was teaching this month, so things should have slowed down a little, but with all these applications I'm filling out for teaching jobs next year, I'm still super busy. In fact, just yesterday I had my first interview since I was pregnant with Kyle! It went well, but competition is fierce for this particular school district, so I'm not holding my breath.
Kyle has been growing up in leaps and bounds this month; can you believe he'll be 19 months old in just a couple days? He sleeps in his twin bed all the time now, and we're debating what to do with the crib. Additionally, we've been working on using the potty and we now catch 99% of his number 1's & 2's in his potty when we're at home. I've tried taking him to the bathroom when we're out and about, but he is way too interested in the public bathroom stall: the toilet paper, the different toilet seat, the trash can, etc..., so we're still wearing pull ups when we leave the house.
The first week we worked on potty training we'd take him to sit on the toilet every 15-20 minutes, but that wasn't working very well. I read a book affiliated with this organization, and decided to pick up two pounds of retired cloth diapers from our local diaper service, in addition to a package of snappies. Well, the second week of potty training we started putting Kyle in cloth diapers at home and he immediately noticed the wet feeling when he would start to pee. It didn't take long before he would sit on the potty with the cloth diaper on when he had to pee or nod yes if we asked him if he needed to go, or even go just a little in the diaper and wait for us to notice it was a little wet and put him on the potty to go. I'm telling ya, the cloth diapers really helped him realize that sensation of having to go. And the past two days, we've caught both of his number 2's in the potty (or very near it). I'm just ecstatic. We are using significantly less diapers, he only goes through 2 or 3 cloth diapers a day, so I'm not doing diaper laundry all the time. I know it'll still be awhile before he's "potty trained", but it is so encouraging to see a light at the end of the diaper tunnel!
In other news, Kyle is chatting up a storm. He loves to babble and talk; we can tell he has a lot of new words on the tip of his tongue. We brought home one of my old newborn cabbage patch dolls (the bald ones) and put one of Kyle's old sleeper jammies on him. Kyle will sometimes have the doll sit on the potty with him, put him in the stroller to push around the house, or even take him with us when we go out. Kyle likes to have me or Kevin hold the doll too. He seems to know that the doll is a "baby", whereas he is not.
Not only did we bring home a baby doll from Phoenix this past weekend (we were visiting to celebrate Kevin's 25th birthday and see some of my family), but I also pulled out Kyle's infant car seat, newborn clothes, and a few other items for the the Tatum family to borrow while they're in Arizona this summer. They are having a little boy in June! It was so memorable to look at all of Kyle's old baby gear and clothes. Kyle immediately sat in the infant car seat after I pulled it from my closet and took a close look at all the other stuff we brought back. We talked about how he used to use the infant car seat, but now he was too big and used a big boy car seat. I can't believe he'll be turning two this summer!
Kyle has really gotten the hang of waving "bye bye". It took him until this month to really do it on a consistent basis. Now, if he wants to leave the house he'll start waving bye bye, and this morning he made a point to turn around after we left the nursery at church and wave goodbye to April, the college student who watches him during Bible study. It's so neat to see things click for him. We walked over to the Tucson spring street fair after Bible study and Kyle loved seeing all the different people, shops, and hearing the music. There was a group of young people playing steel drums and he just tapped his feet on the stroller the whole time we listened.
And lastly, we've been dropping Kyle's bath from his bedtime routine on an occasional basis. He will often ask to go straight to bed instead of taking a bath first, which, is all the same to us since he usually likes to hop in the shower when we are getting ready in the morning. That's about it! I'll make a point to update a little sooner next time...
Kyle has been growing up in leaps and bounds this month; can you believe he'll be 19 months old in just a couple days? He sleeps in his twin bed all the time now, and we're debating what to do with the crib. Additionally, we've been working on using the potty and we now catch 99% of his number 1's & 2's in his potty when we're at home. I've tried taking him to the bathroom when we're out and about, but he is way too interested in the public bathroom stall: the toilet paper, the different toilet seat, the trash can, etc..., so we're still wearing pull ups when we leave the house.
The first week we worked on potty training we'd take him to sit on the toilet every 15-20 minutes, but that wasn't working very well. I read a book affiliated with this organization, and decided to pick up two pounds of retired cloth diapers from our local diaper service, in addition to a package of snappies. Well, the second week of potty training we started putting Kyle in cloth diapers at home and he immediately noticed the wet feeling when he would start to pee. It didn't take long before he would sit on the potty with the cloth diaper on when he had to pee or nod yes if we asked him if he needed to go, or even go just a little in the diaper and wait for us to notice it was a little wet and put him on the potty to go. I'm telling ya, the cloth diapers really helped him realize that sensation of having to go. And the past two days, we've caught both of his number 2's in the potty (or very near it). I'm just ecstatic. We are using significantly less diapers, he only goes through 2 or 3 cloth diapers a day, so I'm not doing diaper laundry all the time. I know it'll still be awhile before he's "potty trained", but it is so encouraging to see a light at the end of the diaper tunnel!
In other news, Kyle is chatting up a storm. He loves to babble and talk; we can tell he has a lot of new words on the tip of his tongue. We brought home one of my old newborn cabbage patch dolls (the bald ones) and put one of Kyle's old sleeper jammies on him. Kyle will sometimes have the doll sit on the potty with him, put him in the stroller to push around the house, or even take him with us when we go out. Kyle likes to have me or Kevin hold the doll too. He seems to know that the doll is a "baby", whereas he is not.
Not only did we bring home a baby doll from Phoenix this past weekend (we were visiting to celebrate Kevin's 25th birthday and see some of my family), but I also pulled out Kyle's infant car seat, newborn clothes, and a few other items for the the Tatum family to borrow while they're in Arizona this summer. They are having a little boy in June! It was so memorable to look at all of Kyle's old baby gear and clothes. Kyle immediately sat in the infant car seat after I pulled it from my closet and took a close look at all the other stuff we brought back. We talked about how he used to use the infant car seat, but now he was too big and used a big boy car seat. I can't believe he'll be turning two this summer!
Kyle has really gotten the hang of waving "bye bye". It took him until this month to really do it on a consistent basis. Now, if he wants to leave the house he'll start waving bye bye, and this morning he made a point to turn around after we left the nursery at church and wave goodbye to April, the college student who watches him during Bible study. It's so neat to see things click for him. We walked over to the Tucson spring street fair after Bible study and Kyle loved seeing all the different people, shops, and hearing the music. There was a group of young people playing steel drums and he just tapped his feet on the stroller the whole time we listened.
And lastly, we've been dropping Kyle's bath from his bedtime routine on an occasional basis. He will often ask to go straight to bed instead of taking a bath first, which, is all the same to us since he usually likes to hop in the shower when we are getting ready in the morning. That's about it! I'll make a point to update a little sooner next time...
Saturday, March 03, 2007
A weekly update
Kyle and I had a lot of fun this week; I can't believe he's 1 1/2 years old! On Tuesday, he had his 18 month check up: 24 lbs and 33 1/2 inches long. Still tall and skinny! The pediatrician said that Kyle has all of his teeth except for the 2-3 year molars. I'm not looking forward to when those come in...
We ran errands, went to tumble class, and storytime this week. This evening we all (including Kevin) went over to The Baughmans' house to play with Emily (3 years) and Eric (18 months) while their parents went out to dinner! We're starting to try exchanging babysitting with other families that have children around Kyle's age. Kyle loves Deborah (mom), Emily, and Eric; we usually see them a couple times a week at various activities and it helps that they live just a mile or two away!
Also, we had a much anticipated visit from Kyle's great grandparents! They stopped over in Tucson, on their way home from Tombstone and spent the afternoon/evening with us on Friday. Kyle really warmed up to both of them by the time they left and was truly impressed by their truck.
Lately, Kyle's had a thing for trucks; he points out every one he sees and even the occasional large SUV is considered a truck in his book! He likes to pretend to drive them, hang out in the truck bed, or even just be driven around in them. I always ask him "Do you think daddy should drive a truck?" and he vigorously shakes his head yes. Although, he would be sad to see daddy get rid of his motorcycle. Every morning when Kevin leaves for school, Kyle makes his motorcycle noise and pats his head to indicate that daddy needs to remember his helmet!
Kyle is adding more to words to his vocabulary, but still loves to sign. We'll ask him if he can say certain words and he'll shake his head "no" if it's a word he can sign. We' d like to teach him please and thank you, but have decided not to show him the signs for those words. Also, he's started to make these sounds that remind me of humming or singing; they're higher pitched and almost sing songy in rhythm. One thing he does sing is "EIEIO" from Old MacDonald's Farm.
And lastly, Kyle has started running! He likes us to say "On your mark, get set, go!" and he'll take off around the house, or run around pushing his Tonka truck from room to room. It's so cute, although I wouldn't want to live underneath us with him at this age!
A small personal note, would you pray for the perfect job for me? Kevin and I would like to save some money up so we can have another baby at the birth center here in Tucson before we move after he graduates, so I'm looking for a job! We'd like to find something where Kyle would only be in preschool part time and home with one of us the rest of the time. Thank you!
We ran errands, went to tumble class, and storytime this week. This evening we all (including Kevin) went over to The Baughmans' house to play with Emily (3 years) and Eric (18 months) while their parents went out to dinner! We're starting to try exchanging babysitting with other families that have children around Kyle's age. Kyle loves Deborah (mom), Emily, and Eric; we usually see them a couple times a week at various activities and it helps that they live just a mile or two away!
Also, we had a much anticipated visit from Kyle's great grandparents! They stopped over in Tucson, on their way home from Tombstone and spent the afternoon/evening with us on Friday. Kyle really warmed up to both of them by the time they left and was truly impressed by their truck.
Lately, Kyle's had a thing for trucks; he points out every one he sees and even the occasional large SUV is considered a truck in his book! He likes to pretend to drive them, hang out in the truck bed, or even just be driven around in them. I always ask him "Do you think daddy should drive a truck?" and he vigorously shakes his head yes. Although, he would be sad to see daddy get rid of his motorcycle. Every morning when Kevin leaves for school, Kyle makes his motorcycle noise and pats his head to indicate that daddy needs to remember his helmet!
Kyle is adding more to words to his vocabulary, but still loves to sign. We'll ask him if he can say certain words and he'll shake his head "no" if it's a word he can sign. We' d like to teach him please and thank you, but have decided not to show him the signs for those words. Also, he's started to make these sounds that remind me of humming or singing; they're higher pitched and almost sing songy in rhythm. One thing he does sing is "EIEIO" from Old MacDonald's Farm.
And lastly, Kyle has started running! He likes us to say "On your mark, get set, go!" and he'll take off around the house, or run around pushing his Tonka truck from room to room. It's so cute, although I wouldn't want to live underneath us with him at this age!
A small personal note, would you pray for the perfect job for me? Kevin and I would like to save some money up so we can have another baby at the birth center here in Tucson before we move after he graduates, so I'm looking for a job! We'd like to find something where Kyle would only be in preschool part time and home with one of us the rest of the time. Thank you!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Kyle's first parade
Kyle and I took the bus over to the rodeo parade on Friday morning. He loved it, seeing as one of his favorite words is "dus". He sat on my shoulders for a good 20 minutes watching the parade; his favorite part was the marching band, with the horses coming in a close second! We had a lot of fun and I think we'll definitely have to go again next year!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
My favorite pictures from the last month...
Snow day: Close up
Snow day: Far away
Kyle is quite the helper on cleaning days!
Before binky intervention...
Yes, we're all still alive...
I don't know why, but updating just seems completely overwhelming lately! Kyle is getting taller everyday and we got his hair cut yesterday morning. He looks so old to me with his hair cut short! We've had a really good week so far! The last two weeks were a pain because Kyle and Kevin were both sick off and on, in addition to Kyle starting to test his limits with us.
We figured out that junior responds really well to positive reinforcement (no surprise there if you've done any reading on effective discipline techniques or behavior modification). You'd think that a mom with one degree in psychology and the other in education would have quite the handle on raising little ones, but it's still surprising when Kyle "defies" us or throws a tantrum if he doesn't get his way; so surprising that sometimes I forget to react appropriately! Kevin and I talk a couple times a week on how to handle this or that, change our approach here, or continue encouraging certain behaviors there. I think it helps all of us to keep current with Kyle's budding personality and desirable/undesirable aspects of it.
Can you believe it? Kyle is up from his nap, so I guess I'll continue later!
That was a whopping one hour nap. Kyle has had a low grade fever for the past two days and I could almost guarantee you his teeth are the cause of it! Nonetheless, we haven't done any of our normal activities this week due to practically all of Kyle's friends getting sick last week. And so, we'll skip storytime tomorrow morning, even though it's pretty much his favorite thing to do.
Kyle is saying more single words, but has yet to string any of them together into a phrase, he has mastered climbing and going down just about any slide by himself, he's playing independently for 5-10 minutes at a time, he's starting to play pretend, he will call out "mama" or "dada" in the middle of the night instead of crying if he needs something, and oh yes, he is quite the little imitator! I was sitting on the steps at church, with Kyle beside me eating cereal, and I put one hand down behind me to lean back on; well, guess who immediately did the same thing! It was too cute and I've noticed he often tries to copy the way Kevin and I are sitting or doing something nowadays.
We've got pacifiers down to only when Kyle goes to bed and diaper changes no longer require the TV to distract him, just his favorite Winnie the Pooh books (which we reserve for diaper changes only). My new struggle is trying to keep him happy/occupied in the car. He loves it if I sing toddler songs the entire time we're driving, but I'm really not up for it every time we get in the car. Occasionally, he'll play with the toys I pack for him or read one of the books, but that barely lasts 2 minutes. This week I've been trying to let him pick out a book to take in the car whenever we leave the house, but I haven't really noticed a change yet. Any hints, tips, or tricks would be much appreciated!
This morning Kyle just couldn't get enough snuggle time with Kevin after we all woke up! Even after we all got out of bed, he wanted Kevin to carry him around while doing the morning routine. I made a comment about what a daddy's boy he was and Kevin responded with how he's a momma's boy the other six days of the week!
And lastly, I'm the proud owner of a new sewing machine, with two projects under my belt, I'm off to make a purse out of an old pair of jeans...my hope is that with four pockets on the outside it'll be perfect for hauling around Kyle gear in something other than a diaper bag!
We figured out that junior responds really well to positive reinforcement (no surprise there if you've done any reading on effective discipline techniques or behavior modification). You'd think that a mom with one degree in psychology and the other in education would have quite the handle on raising little ones, but it's still surprising when Kyle "defies" us or throws a tantrum if he doesn't get his way; so surprising that sometimes I forget to react appropriately! Kevin and I talk a couple times a week on how to handle this or that, change our approach here, or continue encouraging certain behaviors there. I think it helps all of us to keep current with Kyle's budding personality and desirable/undesirable aspects of it.
Can you believe it? Kyle is up from his nap, so I guess I'll continue later!
That was a whopping one hour nap. Kyle has had a low grade fever for the past two days and I could almost guarantee you his teeth are the cause of it! Nonetheless, we haven't done any of our normal activities this week due to practically all of Kyle's friends getting sick last week. And so, we'll skip storytime tomorrow morning, even though it's pretty much his favorite thing to do.
Kyle is saying more single words, but has yet to string any of them together into a phrase, he has mastered climbing and going down just about any slide by himself, he's playing independently for 5-10 minutes at a time, he's starting to play pretend, he will call out "mama" or "dada" in the middle of the night instead of crying if he needs something, and oh yes, he is quite the little imitator! I was sitting on the steps at church, with Kyle beside me eating cereal, and I put one hand down behind me to lean back on; well, guess who immediately did the same thing! It was too cute and I've noticed he often tries to copy the way Kevin and I are sitting or doing something nowadays.
We've got pacifiers down to only when Kyle goes to bed and diaper changes no longer require the TV to distract him, just his favorite Winnie the Pooh books (which we reserve for diaper changes only). My new struggle is trying to keep him happy/occupied in the car. He loves it if I sing toddler songs the entire time we're driving, but I'm really not up for it every time we get in the car. Occasionally, he'll play with the toys I pack for him or read one of the books, but that barely lasts 2 minutes. This week I've been trying to let him pick out a book to take in the car whenever we leave the house, but I haven't really noticed a change yet. Any hints, tips, or tricks would be much appreciated!
This morning Kyle just couldn't get enough snuggle time with Kevin after we all woke up! Even after we all got out of bed, he wanted Kevin to carry him around while doing the morning routine. I made a comment about what a daddy's boy he was and Kevin responded with how he's a momma's boy the other six days of the week!
And lastly, I'm the proud owner of a new sewing machine, with two projects under my belt, I'm off to make a purse out of an old pair of jeans...my hope is that with four pockets on the outside it'll be perfect for hauling around Kyle gear in something other than a diaper bag!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Sleep your baby in a hammock?
After having Kyle sleep upright in a swing until he was almost 6 months old, I'm truly intrigued by these two products:
Happy Hangup
Amby
Sounds like they help babies who spit up a lot (possibly due to acid reflux which makes it impossible for these babies to sleep flat in a crib); however, I wonder why the few companies that produce these kinds of baby hammocks are all out of Australia or New Zealand...hmmm.
Happy Hangup
Amby
Sounds like they help babies who spit up a lot (possibly due to acid reflux which makes it impossible for these babies to sleep flat in a crib); however, I wonder why the few companies that produce these kinds of baby hammocks are all out of Australia or New Zealand...hmmm.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Before I forget...
Kyle took a 3 1/2 hour nap today...maybe. I went in to get him because he'd been down so long and he was sitting up in his crib, pretending to give one of his binkies to his beanie baby raccoon, which he's been dragging around since yesterday (Thanks Beran family!).
Kyle's a big fan of puddles; especially with all this rain lately! He finds every puddle between our apartment and the car to splash around in. I've been packing an extra pair of shoes/socks in the diaper bag.
And lastly, Kyle and I were on our own this evening because Kevin had a MRI facility tour. I took us out to dinner and there was an older mom and her son eating dinner at the restaurant too. This woman could've been my grandmother, to give you an idea of her age. Turned out that we left at the same time and were parked beside each other. She, of course, said that Kyle was the sweetest little boy, but then she also chimed in to me that "You are a very good mother". Now, I've gotta tell you, taking Kyle out to eat is a feat with two parents present, much less just one. It was such a blessing to have this older, experienced mom compliment me on being a good mother. I know she doesn't see me with Kyle day in and day out, but it was nice that she said something.
It's different to have someone other than family say something about your parenting skills (they don't have visiting grandchildren rights on the line ;)), so if you see a mom with young kids doing a great job, will you let her know? I promise, it'll make her day!
P.S.-We went to "Open House" at this school last night and I was truly impressed!
Kyle's a big fan of puddles; especially with all this rain lately! He finds every puddle between our apartment and the car to splash around in. I've been packing an extra pair of shoes/socks in the diaper bag.
And lastly, Kyle and I were on our own this evening because Kevin had a MRI facility tour. I took us out to dinner and there was an older mom and her son eating dinner at the restaurant too. This woman could've been my grandmother, to give you an idea of her age. Turned out that we left at the same time and were parked beside each other. She, of course, said that Kyle was the sweetest little boy, but then she also chimed in to me that "You are a very good mother". Now, I've gotta tell you, taking Kyle out to eat is a feat with two parents present, much less just one. It was such a blessing to have this older, experienced mom compliment me on being a good mother. I know she doesn't see me with Kyle day in and day out, but it was nice that she said something.
It's different to have someone other than family say something about your parenting skills (they don't have visiting grandchildren rights on the line ;)), so if you see a mom with young kids doing a great job, will you let her know? I promise, it'll make her day!
P.S.-We went to "Open House" at this school last night and I was truly impressed!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Growing up before my eyes...
It's really hard to remember what Kyle does that's new nowadays...I need to set up a whiteboard and jot down things as they happen! Kyle is definitely getting taller; even since Christmas and I can tell he's gained weight when I pick him up. His size 2T pajamas, which were big in Nov/Dec now fit about perfect! I was hoping he'd hang out in size 18 month clothes through the summer, but we'll see. I hear that clothes fit longer after potty training because you lose the diaper bulk, not that we're starting that yet!
In the past 2 weeks or so Kyle has started talking more. He says a lot of words, and will make sounds when we prompt him, as in "Kyle, can you say t-t-t-tree?" and Kyle will reply "t-t-t-t". He has a puzzle with animals on it and he often makes attempts at the words "goat" and "duck". Another new and exciting communication leap for him is shaking his head yes and no to answer questions. It's been wonderful to ask "Do you want milk (head shake no) or juice (head shake yes)?" when he asks for a drink using sign language. Now, I am a little interested to see all those studies that say babies who learn sign language speak sooner and don't rely on their signs to communicate. It seems that Kyle continues to add new signs to his repertoire and relies on them, instead of speaking. The way the baby sign videos and books make it out, Kyle wouldn't have been speaking until he was 2 1/2 or older at this rate! Ah well, I'm still so incredibly thankful for the baby sign and know we will do it with the rest of our kids too.
Another really cool skill Kyle has started doing is blowing bubbles in his bath water! This is one of the first skills they try to teach the babies and toddlers in swim class and it's something they have to master before moving up to the next level. Additionally, Kyle has been practicing drinking from a real cup in the bathtub. We have a rinse cup that he plays with and fills with water, then drinks from it. He still spills quite a bit, but I came across these neat sippy cups today that supposedly help toddlers learn to drink from a cup. They should also help keep his drinks cool in the summer, in addition to being a whopping 10 oz; practically unheard of volume in the world of sippy cups! Kyle drinks a lot of milk, water, and juice (more than the average toddler according to the pediatrician and the number of wet diapers we change), so I've been seeking out sippy cups that hold more than 6 or 7 ounces.
Did you know it snowed here in Tucson today? Yep, we got some great pictures that I'm sure Kevin will be posting soon; he loves weather. I actually had to dig the ice scraper (which I have kept since our days of living in Flagstaff) out of the trunk from behind the spare tire to scrape the car this morning. Thank goodness I kept it, you should have seen the desert natives scraping their cars with their bare hands and credit cards; amateurs ;)!
Ok, I'm going to make it my personal goal to figure out our new video camera and post a video or two this week! I'm really busy through mid-March, so forgive my infrequent posts!
In the past 2 weeks or so Kyle has started talking more. He says a lot of words, and will make sounds when we prompt him, as in "Kyle, can you say t-t-t-tree?" and Kyle will reply "t-t-t-t". He has a puzzle with animals on it and he often makes attempts at the words "goat" and "duck". Another new and exciting communication leap for him is shaking his head yes and no to answer questions. It's been wonderful to ask "Do you want milk (head shake no) or juice (head shake yes)?" when he asks for a drink using sign language. Now, I am a little interested to see all those studies that say babies who learn sign language speak sooner and don't rely on their signs to communicate. It seems that Kyle continues to add new signs to his repertoire and relies on them, instead of speaking. The way the baby sign videos and books make it out, Kyle wouldn't have been speaking until he was 2 1/2 or older at this rate! Ah well, I'm still so incredibly thankful for the baby sign and know we will do it with the rest of our kids too.
Another really cool skill Kyle has started doing is blowing bubbles in his bath water! This is one of the first skills they try to teach the babies and toddlers in swim class and it's something they have to master before moving up to the next level. Additionally, Kyle has been practicing drinking from a real cup in the bathtub. We have a rinse cup that he plays with and fills with water, then drinks from it. He still spills quite a bit, but I came across these neat sippy cups today that supposedly help toddlers learn to drink from a cup. They should also help keep his drinks cool in the summer, in addition to being a whopping 10 oz; practically unheard of volume in the world of sippy cups! Kyle drinks a lot of milk, water, and juice (more than the average toddler according to the pediatrician and the number of wet diapers we change), so I've been seeking out sippy cups that hold more than 6 or 7 ounces.
Did you know it snowed here in Tucson today? Yep, we got some great pictures that I'm sure Kevin will be posting soon; he loves weather. I actually had to dig the ice scraper (which I have kept since our days of living in Flagstaff) out of the trunk from behind the spare tire to scrape the car this morning. Thank goodness I kept it, you should have seen the desert natives scraping their cars with their bare hands and credit cards; amateurs ;)!
Ok, I'm going to make it my personal goal to figure out our new video camera and post a video or two this week! I'm really busy through mid-March, so forgive my infrequent posts!
Sunday, January 07, 2007
I need eyes in the back of my head...
There is a lot I could share on this post, how Kyle refused to sleep the entire flight home from VA, how all we did this week was play and I just unpacked from the holidays this evening, how I've got the worst mom of the weekend award all sealed up!
So, Kyle and I are packed up and at the airport to come home from VA. I tell him "Kyle, we're going home to see daddy today!" and he is really excited. Turns out he was so excited that he decided not to sleep until he saw daddy when we got off the plane in AZ; yep, hopped in Kevin's arms and was fast asleep before we stepped off the escalator on our way down to baggage claim. Let me tell you, that was one very long trip home!
Then there was the rearranging of Kyle's room so we could fit all of his new toys and clothes in there. We both agreed that playing in his bedroom was much more fun than unpacking the suitcase and car seat bag from our trip, so that's what we did all week, played! We slam dunked every single ball he owns in his new basketball hoop, laid on the pillows by his bed (in case he falls off while sleeping) and read lots of books over and over again, filled his dump truck with blocks/stuffed animals/balls/books/DVDs then dumped them out and refilled it again, pushed pacifiers through the hand holds on his seasaw/rocker then flipped it over to find them, we pushed his new toy bins around the house making motor sounds like they were cars, and of course had to take the tricycle out to the parking lot just about everyday to push it around while Kyle wore his helmet. I truly believe I have the best job in the world!
Of course, sometimes I could be a little more vigilant in my line of work. Take for instance Friday morning; I was packing up the diaper bag and letting Kyle play with his infant medication bottles: he likes to take them all out of the ziploc bag and then put them back in. Completely harmless...usually. So I finish packing the bag, look up, and the infant ibuprofen bottle is just coming down from junior's lips, with the lid off! Thank goodness, the night before I'd hardly been able to get a full dose out when he was teething, but still, not a good sign that he can get the lid off and drink it! I replaced all the meds, tasted a drip coming down from his chin, and sure enough it was ibuprofen.
Then there was the little foray in to mommy and daddy's bedroom while I tried to find something, Kyle took a dime and two pennys off of my nightstand. Usually, these find there way to the piggy bank. However, by the time I turned around Kyle was moving his mouth funny and there was only a dime in his hand. I did the finger sweep, but nothing. After calling the doctor and learning those pennies should come out the other end in a couple weeks (assuming he actually ate them), I called Kevin for the second time that day to let him know our son had once again briefly been in harm's way, but should survive just fine, again.
Saturday found me at home with Kyle once again, since Kevin had a road ride in Casa Grande. While talking on the phone with Granny, I notice Kyle chewing on huge sewing needles/pins. I quickly hang up and upon further examination discover that the homemade ornaments we received in the mail just two days before were not as baby safe as I first determined. They were made with huge pins and small beads that very easily pull apart. Thankfully, no harm done there.
And today, Sunday, I pinched the little sweethearts chin while trying to do the clip on his helmet so we could go push the tricycle around the parking lot. So I'm nominating myself this weekend, for worst mom in the last 72 hours. Here's to lessons learned and a new appreciation for toddler vigilance.
So, Kyle and I are packed up and at the airport to come home from VA. I tell him "Kyle, we're going home to see daddy today!" and he is really excited. Turns out he was so excited that he decided not to sleep until he saw daddy when we got off the plane in AZ; yep, hopped in Kevin's arms and was fast asleep before we stepped off the escalator on our way down to baggage claim. Let me tell you, that was one very long trip home!
Then there was the rearranging of Kyle's room so we could fit all of his new toys and clothes in there. We both agreed that playing in his bedroom was much more fun than unpacking the suitcase and car seat bag from our trip, so that's what we did all week, played! We slam dunked every single ball he owns in his new basketball hoop, laid on the pillows by his bed (in case he falls off while sleeping) and read lots of books over and over again, filled his dump truck with blocks/stuffed animals/balls/books/DVDs then dumped them out and refilled it again, pushed pacifiers through the hand holds on his seasaw/rocker then flipped it over to find them, we pushed his new toy bins around the house making motor sounds like they were cars, and of course had to take the tricycle out to the parking lot just about everyday to push it around while Kyle wore his helmet. I truly believe I have the best job in the world!
Of course, sometimes I could be a little more vigilant in my line of work. Take for instance Friday morning; I was packing up the diaper bag and letting Kyle play with his infant medication bottles: he likes to take them all out of the ziploc bag and then put them back in. Completely harmless...usually. So I finish packing the bag, look up, and the infant ibuprofen bottle is just coming down from junior's lips, with the lid off! Thank goodness, the night before I'd hardly been able to get a full dose out when he was teething, but still, not a good sign that he can get the lid off and drink it! I replaced all the meds, tasted a drip coming down from his chin, and sure enough it was ibuprofen.
Then there was the little foray in to mommy and daddy's bedroom while I tried to find something, Kyle took a dime and two pennys off of my nightstand. Usually, these find there way to the piggy bank. However, by the time I turned around Kyle was moving his mouth funny and there was only a dime in his hand. I did the finger sweep, but nothing. After calling the doctor and learning those pennies should come out the other end in a couple weeks (assuming he actually ate them), I called Kevin for the second time that day to let him know our son had once again briefly been in harm's way, but should survive just fine, again.
Saturday found me at home with Kyle once again, since Kevin had a road ride in Casa Grande. While talking on the phone with Granny, I notice Kyle chewing on huge sewing needles/pins. I quickly hang up and upon further examination discover that the homemade ornaments we received in the mail just two days before were not as baby safe as I first determined. They were made with huge pins and small beads that very easily pull apart. Thankfully, no harm done there.
And today, Sunday, I pinched the little sweethearts chin while trying to do the clip on his helmet so we could go push the tricycle around the parking lot. So I'm nominating myself this weekend, for worst mom in the last 72 hours. Here's to lessons learned and a new appreciation for toddler vigilance.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
We made it!
Yep, that's right, Kyle and I both survived the plane trip to VA with one layover/connection in between. We left around his nap time from Phoenix and he did have a few tantrums, but after a couple books, a half hour of Lady and the Tramp on the DVD player, and the seatbelt light being turned off so I could walk him around, Kyle fell asleep for the last half of our long flight! Our connecting flight was only an hour long and Kyle got his own seat, by the window no less; he did great being seat belted in and loved putting the window shade up and down.
After getting picked up, we stopped for dinner at a place with an indoor playground. Kyle hung out in there by himself because it wasn't very busy and would you believe it?! He climbed up the playground and went down this huge slide all by himself! It was so cute to see how proud he was when he reached the bottom of that slide.
Kyle has adjusted well to all the family and is learning how to dodge the resident dog, Goldie, a much larger than Kyle Labrador/retriever mix. Kyle played with all of his cousins at some point today, racing his hot wheels, trying his hand at air hockey, and playing with some way cool old school toys his great aunt Mary saved!
I know that Kevin and I were a little nervous about Kyle and me traveling alone, but I'm glad we came. It seems that this trip was a lot easier than the last one we took in July. Kyle didn't sleep much last night, but took an almost 3 hour nap and went to bed at 7:30 tonight.
I'm taking pictures, but they won't be posted until after we come home.
After getting picked up, we stopped for dinner at a place with an indoor playground. Kyle hung out in there by himself because it wasn't very busy and would you believe it?! He climbed up the playground and went down this huge slide all by himself! It was so cute to see how proud he was when he reached the bottom of that slide.
Kyle has adjusted well to all the family and is learning how to dodge the resident dog, Goldie, a much larger than Kyle Labrador/retriever mix. Kyle played with all of his cousins at some point today, racing his hot wheels, trying his hand at air hockey, and playing with some way cool old school toys his great aunt Mary saved!
I know that Kevin and I were a little nervous about Kyle and me traveling alone, but I'm glad we came. It seems that this trip was a lot easier than the last one we took in July. Kyle didn't sleep much last night, but took an almost 3 hour nap and went to bed at 7:30 tonight.
I'm taking pictures, but they won't be posted until after we come home.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Toddler n the hood
Isn't it funny that Kyle won't keep a hat on, but loves to have the hood from his sweatshirt up the entire time he's wearing it?!
So, I brought in the slide yesterday and we had quite a bit of fun with it, as usual. Kyle got quite a kick out of throwing toys, pacifiers, and the occasional sippy cup down from the top. The highlight though, came after dinner, when he unloaded a grocery bag I had put together with food to donate and started rolling cans of tuna down the slide!
Today, around naptime, Kyle asked me to pull his crib out from the wall (so he could climb in on the toddler bed side). Once he was in his bed, he asked for a binky, so I found one. Then I asked him if it was naptime; Kyle laid down, I pushed his crib back up against the wall, turned off the light, covered him with his blanket and sang a little song as I shut the door. I didn't hear from him for 3 hours! I guess he knows when he's tired!
Kyle has started saying the word "bus" over the past week or so whenever we see a city or school bus while driving around. I'll hear "dus, dus, dus..." from the back seat and sure enough, there is a bus pulled up beside us or in front of us. Additionally, he is making full use of the word "mama" whenever he *thinks* he needs my assistance. Also, I noticed that when he brings me his Old MacDonald book, that he makes the intonations for the E-I-E-I-O part of the song. It's amazing how fast infants and toddlers can make sense of language!
Kyle and I will be traveling to Virginia Dec 26th through Dec 31st. Turns out all my aunts and uncles will be in the same place at one time, which only seems to happen every 15 years or so! So thank you to everyone who made this trip possible; we are so excited to see the extended family! Send your prayers my way, as I'll be traveling alone with Kyle across the United States...should be fun!
Lastly, we have been "hanging" our Christmas cards on the tree as decoration. Kyle especially likes the picture ones, but his favorite are from The Tatums and Baby Ava. He loves to point to the kids, then have me say their names:
Points to Ellie, Looks at mom
"Ellie"
Points to Ava, Looks at mom
"Baby Ava"
Does the sign for baby
Points to Ellie, Looks at mom
"Ellie"
etc... You get the picture. He can do this for quite awhile! Alright, we're heading to the Valley as of Saturday to get an early start on our Christmas celebrations...Happy Holidays if I don't post until after our vacation!
So, I brought in the slide yesterday and we had quite a bit of fun with it, as usual. Kyle got quite a kick out of throwing toys, pacifiers, and the occasional sippy cup down from the top. The highlight though, came after dinner, when he unloaded a grocery bag I had put together with food to donate and started rolling cans of tuna down the slide!
Today, around naptime, Kyle asked me to pull his crib out from the wall (so he could climb in on the toddler bed side). Once he was in his bed, he asked for a binky, so I found one. Then I asked him if it was naptime; Kyle laid down, I pushed his crib back up against the wall, turned off the light, covered him with his blanket and sang a little song as I shut the door. I didn't hear from him for 3 hours! I guess he knows when he's tired!
Kyle has started saying the word "bus" over the past week or so whenever we see a city or school bus while driving around. I'll hear "dus, dus, dus..." from the back seat and sure enough, there is a bus pulled up beside us or in front of us. Additionally, he is making full use of the word "mama" whenever he *thinks* he needs my assistance. Also, I noticed that when he brings me his Old MacDonald book, that he makes the intonations for the E-I-E-I-O part of the song. It's amazing how fast infants and toddlers can make sense of language!
Kyle and I will be traveling to Virginia Dec 26th through Dec 31st. Turns out all my aunts and uncles will be in the same place at one time, which only seems to happen every 15 years or so! So thank you to everyone who made this trip possible; we are so excited to see the extended family! Send your prayers my way, as I'll be traveling alone with Kyle across the United States...should be fun!
Lastly, we have been "hanging" our Christmas cards on the tree as decoration. Kyle especially likes the picture ones, but his favorite are from The Tatums and Baby Ava. He loves to point to the kids, then have me say their names:
Points to Ellie, Looks at mom
"Ellie"
Points to Ava, Looks at mom
"Baby Ava"
Does the sign for baby
Points to Ellie, Looks at mom
"Ellie"
etc... You get the picture. He can do this for quite awhile! Alright, we're heading to the Valley as of Saturday to get an early start on our Christmas celebrations...Happy Holidays if I don't post until after our vacation!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Little Kyle
Kyle and I just got back from a great mom/toddler get together. The kids played and played, painted some ornaments and ate lunch. Kyle was exhausted on the way home; he just kind of whimpered.
Did I tell you we put our tree up? And a wreath on the door, a few lights around the window. For all of our concerns about Kyle messing with the tree, he is truly unimpressed. Once or twice now he's asked for us to turn the lights on, but then he only looks at them 30 seconds or so. Another thing that happened when we put the tree up is all of Kyle's toys moved to his bedroom, talk about a dream come true! The main room doesn't get near as messy with Kyle stuff because we pick out a toy or two each day that stays with us in the main part of the house; everything else he plays with in his room. I'm tempted to keep things this way after the tree goes back in to storage!
Lately, Kyle has been leaking out of his diapers at night, which is terribly frustrating! We've tried quite a few things, but what seems to be working is not letting him have any fluids after 7 p.m.. Also, he's been sleeping in until 8 a.m.! A couple mornings Kevin or I have gone in and laid down with him at 7 a.m., but he goes right back to sleep until a little after 8 then. It's been so nice to "sleep in" after over a year of wake up calls anywhere from 4 a.m. - 7 a.m.. Another thing we do is bring Kyle in to our bed when he wakes up! I know a lot of parents wouldn't do this, but it is the best way to wake up! He snuggles and plays with us, drinks his milk lying down on a pillow and we all get a couple extra minutes to wake up slowly.
We've started affectionately calling him "little" Kyle instead of "baby" Kyle. I do this thing with him where I use my fingers to beckon him and say "Come here little Kyle, come here" and he'll do it back to me then run full throttle in to my arms for a hug, laughing all the way. It's sooo cute!
And I have to admit, lately I've been taking a leisurely outlook on most chores that aren't Kyle related...I take naps when he naps and generally relax while I can. I figure I need to rest up for when we try for baby #2 in a couple years (good excuse, right?)!
Did I tell you we put our tree up? And a wreath on the door, a few lights around the window. For all of our concerns about Kyle messing with the tree, he is truly unimpressed. Once or twice now he's asked for us to turn the lights on, but then he only looks at them 30 seconds or so. Another thing that happened when we put the tree up is all of Kyle's toys moved to his bedroom, talk about a dream come true! The main room doesn't get near as messy with Kyle stuff because we pick out a toy or two each day that stays with us in the main part of the house; everything else he plays with in his room. I'm tempted to keep things this way after the tree goes back in to storage!
Lately, Kyle has been leaking out of his diapers at night, which is terribly frustrating! We've tried quite a few things, but what seems to be working is not letting him have any fluids after 7 p.m.. Also, he's been sleeping in until 8 a.m.! A couple mornings Kevin or I have gone in and laid down with him at 7 a.m., but he goes right back to sleep until a little after 8 then. It's been so nice to "sleep in" after over a year of wake up calls anywhere from 4 a.m. - 7 a.m.. Another thing we do is bring Kyle in to our bed when he wakes up! I know a lot of parents wouldn't do this, but it is the best way to wake up! He snuggles and plays with us, drinks his milk lying down on a pillow and we all get a couple extra minutes to wake up slowly.
We've started affectionately calling him "little" Kyle instead of "baby" Kyle. I do this thing with him where I use my fingers to beckon him and say "Come here little Kyle, come here" and he'll do it back to me then run full throttle in to my arms for a hug, laughing all the way. It's sooo cute!
And I have to admit, lately I've been taking a leisurely outlook on most chores that aren't Kyle related...I take naps when he naps and generally relax while I can. I figure I need to rest up for when we try for baby #2 in a couple years (good excuse, right?)!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Last one...
From left to right...Kyle, Kaylie, Hunter, and Bethany with Kellie and Celeste in the back holding their babies.
Pictures
The grass is always greener...
...on the other side!
Sliding fun!
Ride em cowboy!
Rocking Taylor...
High five!
Update
So, Kyle is not sleeping on his mattress on the floor right now; turned out that runny nose right before Thanksgiving was a little cold and we never knew if he was waking up in the middle of the night because he rolled off the bed or needed medicine. We've decided to try the mattress on the floor again while Kevin's on Christmas break.
Our Thanksgiving was just wonderful! We enjoyed celebrating at home with just us and then having some of the grandparents visit over the weekend. Kyle is really starting to warm up to his extended family!
The Monday after Thanksgiving I picked up one of our friends Kellie and her 5 1/2 month old kids Kaylie (sp?) and Hunter and we all traveled to Gilbert to see our friend Celeste and her new baby girl, Bethany. Whew! You should've seen the car! We had Kyle in the middle seat and the babies strapped in on each side; it was tight, but we made it work! It was so nice to get to meet Bethany as a new baby and totally amazing to think that this time next year she'll be doing a lot of the same things that Kyle does!
This week we also headed out to Tubac with my old college roommate, Tammy, to see the site where she's getting married and help confirm some details. It is just a beautiful area and Kyle had a great time exploring!
Also, Kyle had his 15 month old doctor's appointment this week. We found out that he is 23 lbs and 32 inches; on the light side, but tall for his age! The doctor said Kyle is doing great developmentally (which we, of course, know how "advanced" he is for his age!) and that he wouldn't need any more shots until he turns two years old. Kyle giggled when Dr. Lloyd used her stethoscope to listen to his chest and both the Dr. and myself started singing the "Teddy bear, teddy bear turn around" rhyme when Kyle started spinning around in the middle of the exam room. It's really nice to see that she's in touch with his age group! We'll go back in February when Kyle turns 18 months old.
In other news, we have taken quite a few pictures lately, one with Santa and family pictures at the JcPenney studio. I've slowed down quite a bit on the professional pictures now that Kyle is older. He still changes a lot, but not near as quickly as the first year.
Let's see, what are some new things that Kyle is doing nowadays: pretends to be a dog by crawling around and panting, turns the stereo on so he can dance, "requests" certain DVDs/videos by pulling out the one he wants from the entertainment center and bringing it to us or turning on the TV, turns off Kevin's football game and does the "all done" sign when he's finished watching TV, snuggles up to us when we ask him to "snuggle up to daddy/mommy while I get your diaper, milk, etc...", walks around the house with a cell phone babbling away like he's talking to someone on the other end, knocks on doors, locks doors using the bottom lock, pulls out the plug to our tub when he's done with his bath, swims in the bathtub while the water is draining, pulls tissues out of the box and "wipes" his nose before throwing the tissue in the trashcan, and lastly, we have a neighborhood kitten who likes to sleep on our porch in our blue chair. Kyle loves to see this kitten and will lay down on the porch with her when she jumps out of the chair to roll around and stretch. It's too cute, but I have yet to capture a picture!
And I am very tickled that I got to talk to Kirsten last night on the "phone".
Our Thanksgiving was just wonderful! We enjoyed celebrating at home with just us and then having some of the grandparents visit over the weekend. Kyle is really starting to warm up to his extended family!
The Monday after Thanksgiving I picked up one of our friends Kellie and her 5 1/2 month old kids Kaylie (sp?) and Hunter and we all traveled to Gilbert to see our friend Celeste and her new baby girl, Bethany. Whew! You should've seen the car! We had Kyle in the middle seat and the babies strapped in on each side; it was tight, but we made it work! It was so nice to get to meet Bethany as a new baby and totally amazing to think that this time next year she'll be doing a lot of the same things that Kyle does!
This week we also headed out to Tubac with my old college roommate, Tammy, to see the site where she's getting married and help confirm some details. It is just a beautiful area and Kyle had a great time exploring!
Also, Kyle had his 15 month old doctor's appointment this week. We found out that he is 23 lbs and 32 inches; on the light side, but tall for his age! The doctor said Kyle is doing great developmentally (which we, of course, know how "advanced" he is for his age!) and that he wouldn't need any more shots until he turns two years old. Kyle giggled when Dr. Lloyd used her stethoscope to listen to his chest and both the Dr. and myself started singing the "Teddy bear, teddy bear turn around" rhyme when Kyle started spinning around in the middle of the exam room. It's really nice to see that she's in touch with his age group! We'll go back in February when Kyle turns 18 months old.
In other news, we have taken quite a few pictures lately, one with Santa and family pictures at the JcPenney studio. I've slowed down quite a bit on the professional pictures now that Kyle is older. He still changes a lot, but not near as quickly as the first year.
Let's see, what are some new things that Kyle is doing nowadays: pretends to be a dog by crawling around and panting, turns the stereo on so he can dance, "requests" certain DVDs/videos by pulling out the one he wants from the entertainment center and bringing it to us or turning on the TV, turns off Kevin's football game and does the "all done" sign when he's finished watching TV, snuggles up to us when we ask him to "snuggle up to daddy/mommy while I get your diaper, milk, etc...", walks around the house with a cell phone babbling away like he's talking to someone on the other end, knocks on doors, locks doors using the bottom lock, pulls out the plug to our tub when he's done with his bath, swims in the bathtub while the water is draining, pulls tissues out of the box and "wipes" his nose before throwing the tissue in the trashcan, and lastly, we have a neighborhood kitten who likes to sleep on our porch in our blue chair. Kyle loves to see this kitten and will lay down on the porch with her when she jumps out of the chair to roll around and stretch. It's too cute, but I have yet to capture a picture!
And I am very tickled that I got to talk to Kirsten last night on the "phone".
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Bye bye crib...
I moved Kyle's crib mattress to the floor this morning, in the exact spot where his crib usually sits. He got all excited and laid down on it while I moved some things around in his room. Kevin and I have been talking about starting to transition Kyle out of his crib. Well, I just put him down for his nap and he fussed for about 4 minutes, but now it's silent...I'll go check on him in 20 minutes or so and see where he finally fell asleep (or if he's playing!).
Kyle woke up with a runny nose this morning; I'm totally bummed about the possibility of him having a cold over the long weekend. Colds are rough on infants/toddlers and their parents because there aren't that many medications you can give to help relieve symptoms, the children don't blow their noses yet, and this all results in a week's worth of sleepless nights!
Yesterday I made an appt. for us to get pictures taken and took Kyle for a well overdue haircut. He had to sit in my lap this time (his first haircut was at 9 months and he sat in the seat by himself). The guy did a great job and now I can spike up the top with a little product if I want; it's too cute! I'll try to post a picture of his new 'do tonight.
Kyle has become more and more affectionate in his old age! He snuggles up to and lays on us all the time, especially when he's tired. Every morning we do a family hug when Kevin leaves for school and Kyle has started giving us kisses (He gives Kev a kiss goodbye, then Kevin kisses me, then Kyle looks at me, does the kissing noise and I give him a kiss too, even though I'm not leaving, lol).
Oh, how I hate the trash trucks! Aaarrrggghhh! They either come at 5 a.m. or between 11 and 1...right when Kyle is sleeping! There are like 5 big trash cans behind our complex and by the fifth dumpster, Kyle is usually awake...I'm crossing my fingers he stays asleep this time.
Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Enjoy your long weekend!
Kyle woke up with a runny nose this morning; I'm totally bummed about the possibility of him having a cold over the long weekend. Colds are rough on infants/toddlers and their parents because there aren't that many medications you can give to help relieve symptoms, the children don't blow their noses yet, and this all results in a week's worth of sleepless nights!
Yesterday I made an appt. for us to get pictures taken and took Kyle for a well overdue haircut. He had to sit in my lap this time (his first haircut was at 9 months and he sat in the seat by himself). The guy did a great job and now I can spike up the top with a little product if I want; it's too cute! I'll try to post a picture of his new 'do tonight.
Kyle has become more and more affectionate in his old age! He snuggles up to and lays on us all the time, especially when he's tired. Every morning we do a family hug when Kevin leaves for school and Kyle has started giving us kisses (He gives Kev a kiss goodbye, then Kevin kisses me, then Kyle looks at me, does the kissing noise and I give him a kiss too, even though I'm not leaving, lol).
Oh, how I hate the trash trucks! Aaarrrggghhh! They either come at 5 a.m. or between 11 and 1...right when Kyle is sleeping! There are like 5 big trash cans behind our complex and by the fifth dumpster, Kyle is usually awake...I'm crossing my fingers he stays asleep this time.
Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Enjoy your long weekend!
Friday, November 17, 2006
A busy week
We just got back from Phoenix today, helping Anastasia out this week while her mom and husband were working! It was a lot of fun to see how Kyle interacted with Cameron and Taylor, in addition to what he learned from Cameron (who's 2 1/2 years old). I got a couple of cute pictures that I'll work on posting next week. Kyle finally slept through the night last night. It takes him awhile to get his sleeping groove down when we aren't at home.
Tonight Kyle let the water out of his bath, then laid down on his belly in the bathtub and started "swimming". It was too funny, but he didn't do it long enough for me to get a good picture, so hopefully he'll try it again another night this weekend!
I'm relieved to be home, at least for a couple of days! I need to get in touch with our old college friend Celeste, since she'll be in Phoenix with her new baby girl, Bethany, this week. I'd like to make a day trip to see her.
In other news, my AIMS tutoring wrapped up on Monday and I won't be teaching a reading class until next semester, so I'm once again "not working", but only briefly. That's about all I can muster for news tonight!
Tonight Kyle let the water out of his bath, then laid down on his belly in the bathtub and started "swimming". It was too funny, but he didn't do it long enough for me to get a good picture, so hopefully he'll try it again another night this weekend!
I'm relieved to be home, at least for a couple of days! I need to get in touch with our old college friend Celeste, since she'll be in Phoenix with her new baby girl, Bethany, this week. I'd like to make a day trip to see her.
In other news, my AIMS tutoring wrapped up on Monday and I won't be teaching a reading class until next semester, so I'm once again "not working", but only briefly. That's about all I can muster for news tonight!
Monday, November 13, 2006
Toddler
This morning I went in to get Kyle up and he was laying on his pillow with George clutched in his hand, lying right there on the pillow with him. Kyle received a small Curious George stuffed animal, kind of like a beanie baby version, and he has become more and more attached to it over the weekend! I am sooo pleased that he may have found a lovey to comfort himself. He's been running to his crib in the middle of the day to grab George and last night that curious monkey accidentally took a swim in the bathtub, but he's all dried out now.
Kyle is everywhere and in everything lately; I'm almost certain he hit his head at least 4 times this weekend, in addition to running in to a young lady's handlebar at the bike swap on Saturday. Thankfully, he has slept through the night since Thursday, so I'm feeling just about human lately. Yesterday evening, while I was making dinner and Kevin was still out on a bike ride, Kyle started emptying out his cabinet; a very common thing for him to do. Although, lately he's been taking each item and placing it on our kitchen table, instead of the floor. Well, last night he ran out of room on the kitchen table, so he crawled in to the cabinet and emptied the rest of it out on our kitchen floor. It was too funny to see him sitting in that empty cabinet!
As Kyle continues in his toddlerhood, our house is increasingly messy, so we're implementing a "put away the toy you're playing with before you get another one out" policy. It's worked pretty well so far.
And, if you haven't heard, we are staying in Tucson for the holidays! After shuttling Kyle around last year and getting even less sleep than usual, we've decided to forego the holiday traveling and start some traditions of our own.
Kyle is everywhere and in everything lately; I'm almost certain he hit his head at least 4 times this weekend, in addition to running in to a young lady's handlebar at the bike swap on Saturday. Thankfully, he has slept through the night since Thursday, so I'm feeling just about human lately. Yesterday evening, while I was making dinner and Kevin was still out on a bike ride, Kyle started emptying out his cabinet; a very common thing for him to do. Although, lately he's been taking each item and placing it on our kitchen table, instead of the floor. Well, last night he ran out of room on the kitchen table, so he crawled in to the cabinet and emptied the rest of it out on our kitchen floor. It was too funny to see him sitting in that empty cabinet!
As Kyle continues in his toddlerhood, our house is increasingly messy, so we're implementing a "put away the toy you're playing with before you get another one out" policy. It's worked pretty well so far.
And, if you haven't heard, we are staying in Tucson for the holidays! After shuttling Kyle around last year and getting even less sleep than usual, we've decided to forego the holiday traveling and start some traditions of our own.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
A trip to Phoenix
So, we're in Phoenix right now helping out Anastasia. It's been fun and makes me remember the days when we all lived nearby and played as kids. Kyle and Cameron are really starting to enjoy one another's company.
Today, Kyle did something new! Well, he does something new everyday, I just don't always remember to write about it. We've been going to a different storytime during the week and they do a rhyme that starts "Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around...". I always turn Kyle around, and I thought "We should practice turning around", but we never did. Well, tonight, while we were waiting to be seated for dinner, Kyle starts turning around in circles, stops, looks at me and laughs, and then I clapped for him. I said "Kyle, do you know how to turn around?", and he turned around again. He was so pleased with himself.
All these women around me with kids that are Kyle's age are getting pregnant again! In one sense, I'm jealous because I'd like to get my pregnancies over with (read the archives if that doesn't make sense)! However, there is a part of me that is so thankful we aren't pregnant again yet. I feel like my body is just starting to recover from the last two years. Anyways, I get the benefit of holding all these sweet new babies after they're born later this year! Just this morning I popped Taylor, all of 8 weeks old, in Kyle's sling and enjoyed those moments of cuddling a tiny baby.
I'm tired, and Kyle will be up at 7 a.m.. Until another time...
P.S.-Yes, I copied The Tatums baby ticker idea...isn't it the cutest?
Today, Kyle did something new! Well, he does something new everyday, I just don't always remember to write about it. We've been going to a different storytime during the week and they do a rhyme that starts "Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around...". I always turn Kyle around, and I thought "We should practice turning around", but we never did. Well, tonight, while we were waiting to be seated for dinner, Kyle starts turning around in circles, stops, looks at me and laughs, and then I clapped for him. I said "Kyle, do you know how to turn around?", and he turned around again. He was so pleased with himself.
All these women around me with kids that are Kyle's age are getting pregnant again! In one sense, I'm jealous because I'd like to get my pregnancies over with (read the archives if that doesn't make sense)! However, there is a part of me that is so thankful we aren't pregnant again yet. I feel like my body is just starting to recover from the last two years. Anyways, I get the benefit of holding all these sweet new babies after they're born later this year! Just this morning I popped Taylor, all of 8 weeks old, in Kyle's sling and enjoyed those moments of cuddling a tiny baby.
I'm tired, and Kyle will be up at 7 a.m.. Until another time...
P.S.-Yes, I copied The Tatums baby ticker idea...isn't it the cutest?
Monday, October 30, 2006
Goodnight
Tonight we got Kyle ready for bed a little early, then he stayed up reading books with me while Kevin went to band practice. About 7:40, Kyle hops off the couch, looks at me, and puts his hand to his ear (the go to bed sign). We don't use this often, so I ask him while signing "bed", "Time for bed?". He immediately switches to the "eat" sign, so I ask him "What do you want to eat?" and he signs "milk". So, we go and get him a cup of milk, he drinks half of it, pops his binky back in his mouth, hands me the milk cup, signs "bed" again, grabs my finger and pulls me down the hall to his bedroom. He knew exactly what he wanted.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
A few notes
Wow, it has been way too long. Can I tell you how busy we all have been? And then Kyle and I got sick over the weekend, ugh. I'll try to give you a report on our October...
So Kyle is, of course, acting more grown up everyday. He uses more and more signs, although he still isn't terribly verbal. He's been waking up for an hour or two every night, we think it's to play. I've asked him a couple times when he wakes up if he needs a diaper change and he sometimes says "yesh". So I change his diaper and he usually goes right back to sleep. We're considering converting his crib to the toddler bed so he can hop out and do what he feels he needs to do, then go back to bed; his room door would stay closed or we would put up a gate across it. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Last night, I went in after he'd been fussing for about 20 minutes, gave him some teething tablets (he's got a full mouth of teeth now) and a little bit of milk, but left him in his crib while I did this. Boy, was he furious! I left him in there for another 40 minutes and he calmed down once, but then started up fussing again. By the time I went in to check on him, his pajamas were sopping wet from tears and snot, so I stripped him of his clothes, asked if he needed a diaper change (yesh), then I swaddled him in a blanket and laid him down to bed. He went right to sleep.
Lastly, our lease is coming up for renewal in December and we always consider various options when this happens. We could move to a larger unit in our complex (there weren't any available when we initially moved in), look for a different place to rent, or stay right where we are! I'm going to look at a townhouse today.
Here's to October ending and our lives going back to a little more normal!
So Kyle is, of course, acting more grown up everyday. He uses more and more signs, although he still isn't terribly verbal. He's been waking up for an hour or two every night, we think it's to play. I've asked him a couple times when he wakes up if he needs a diaper change and he sometimes says "yesh". So I change his diaper and he usually goes right back to sleep. We're considering converting his crib to the toddler bed so he can hop out and do what he feels he needs to do, then go back to bed; his room door would stay closed or we would put up a gate across it. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!
Last night, I went in after he'd been fussing for about 20 minutes, gave him some teething tablets (he's got a full mouth of teeth now) and a little bit of milk, but left him in his crib while I did this. Boy, was he furious! I left him in there for another 40 minutes and he calmed down once, but then started up fussing again. By the time I went in to check on him, his pajamas were sopping wet from tears and snot, so I stripped him of his clothes, asked if he needed a diaper change (yesh), then I swaddled him in a blanket and laid him down to bed. He went right to sleep.
Lastly, our lease is coming up for renewal in December and we always consider various options when this happens. We could move to a larger unit in our complex (there weren't any available when we initially moved in), look for a different place to rent, or stay right where we are! I'm going to look at a townhouse today.
Here's to October ending and our lives going back to a little more normal!
Monday, September 25, 2006
Before I forget....
Kyle started combining signs the other night. At the end of his bath, Kyle signed more, then milk. Well, today Kyle and I had a little "sign conversation" after his nap. I signed baby and change while saying "Come here, baby Kyle needs a diaper change" and Kyle signed back baby and airplane. And so we went back and forth, until I think Kyle understood because he started laughing and turned it in to a game:
Me: "No baby Kyle, not an airplane, a diaper change!"
Kyle: Signs baby and airplane again while laughing.
Then he toddled over and sat down on the changing pad, a definite first!
Me: "No baby Kyle, not an airplane, a diaper change!"
Kyle: Signs baby and airplane again while laughing.
Then he toddled over and sat down on the changing pad, a definite first!
Held accountable...
Kevin and I make a point to "say grace" before we eat. Well, Kyle now folds his hands and "prays" with us. If we for some reason start eating without praying, Kyle stops, folds his hands and looks at us like "Didn't you forget something?".
When I picked Kyle up from the nursery at church yesterday morning, one of the workers said Kyle was "sharing" his goldfish crackers with the other kids. I sent him in to the nursery with his snack cup and I guess he was pulling crackers out of his cup and putting them in the other kids mouths. They might have thought he was sharing, but really it's a game we play here at home "Can you feed mommy/daddy?". Cute nonetheless.
And for all my concerns about various ways Kevin and I should be teaching Kyle to be independent, I realized we're doing quite well with the little guy when I saw one of his 1 yr old plus friends still eating stage 2 baby food and an almost 2 year old friend who's mom isn't sure when she'll be weaned because nursing is how she goes to sleep....hmmm. I just keep my mouth shut unless asked for some advice; they aren't my kids!
Lastly, I'll leave you with the mother who's 14 month old daughter still uses her (now much too small) infant car seat and was just introduced to "other people" last week. The mom confessed to all of us at movers and shakers that her daughter had been premature and the doctor said to keep her isolated for the first 3 months...however, the mom just got used to it and never took her daughter out until now.
I'm pretty sure I would've gone insane if it had just been Kevin, Kyle, and me for the past 13 months...Here's to an interesting week and keeping my opinions to myself!
When I picked Kyle up from the nursery at church yesterday morning, one of the workers said Kyle was "sharing" his goldfish crackers with the other kids. I sent him in to the nursery with his snack cup and I guess he was pulling crackers out of his cup and putting them in the other kids mouths. They might have thought he was sharing, but really it's a game we play here at home "Can you feed mommy/daddy?". Cute nonetheless.
And for all my concerns about various ways Kevin and I should be teaching Kyle to be independent, I realized we're doing quite well with the little guy when I saw one of his 1 yr old plus friends still eating stage 2 baby food and an almost 2 year old friend who's mom isn't sure when she'll be weaned because nursing is how she goes to sleep....hmmm. I just keep my mouth shut unless asked for some advice; they aren't my kids!
Lastly, I'll leave you with the mother who's 14 month old daughter still uses her (now much too small) infant car seat and was just introduced to "other people" last week. The mom confessed to all of us at movers and shakers that her daughter had been premature and the doctor said to keep her isolated for the first 3 months...however, the mom just got used to it and never took her daughter out until now.
I'm pretty sure I would've gone insane if it had just been Kevin, Kyle, and me for the past 13 months...Here's to an interesting week and keeping my opinions to myself!
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Lights out
Kyle's been sleeping on the little travel size pillow I put in his bed a couple weeks back. I checked on him last night and there he was, all curled up on his side, head on the pillow just like a big boy. It's amazing how much more grown up he looks sleeping with his head on a pillow.
Friday, September 22, 2006
P.S.-
If anyone talks to Becca in the near future, let her know that the blanket she and Jesse gave Kyle is his favorite...he takes all his naps and sleeps all night with it. I didn't put the blanket in his crib with him one time and he pulled it down during the night. I found him with his arm around it all snuggled when I got him up the next morning.
New teeth
Kyle has three new teeth, and they're all molars! No wonder the little guy has been waking up at night in misery...I expect the fourth matching molar to come within the month.
I finally found something to feed Kyle for lunch! He would eat leftovers from dinner for lunch (if we had any), but beyond that turned his nose up at any other usual lunch foods like sandwiches. So, we were at Costco the other day and I had him try a sample of those dinosaur chicken nuggets. Man did he like them; kept asking for more after the one was gone, so I went and got a box crossing my fingers that he would eat them for lunch on a pretty regular basis. Miracle of miracles, he eats 2 or 3 chicken nuggets for lunch everyday we've tried so far.
This past weekend Kyle and I stopped at the Stride Rite outlet on our way back to Tucson. I picked up the cutest little sneakers for this fall in a size 6. He does so well in the sandals by this same company!
And I'm officially a working woman: private tutoring on evenings and weekends and an independent contractor to teach speed reading one month out of every semester. I'm very excited to be working in the field of education again.
Here's to a relaxing weekend!
I finally found something to feed Kyle for lunch! He would eat leftovers from dinner for lunch (if we had any), but beyond that turned his nose up at any other usual lunch foods like sandwiches. So, we were at Costco the other day and I had him try a sample of those dinosaur chicken nuggets. Man did he like them; kept asking for more after the one was gone, so I went and got a box crossing my fingers that he would eat them for lunch on a pretty regular basis. Miracle of miracles, he eats 2 or 3 chicken nuggets for lunch everyday we've tried so far.
This past weekend Kyle and I stopped at the Stride Rite outlet on our way back to Tucson. I picked up the cutest little sneakers for this fall in a size 6. He does so well in the sandals by this same company!
And I'm officially a working woman: private tutoring on evenings and weekends and an independent contractor to teach speed reading one month out of every semester. I'm very excited to be working in the field of education again.
Here's to a relaxing weekend!
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
Fun
So, I went to Phoenix to help out Anastasia this weekend, and Taylor looked good, but they were still waiting on the results from some tests the last I heard. Thank you for all your prayers!
In Kyle news....
Kevin asked Kyle if he wanted to do a somersault this evening. Kyle proceeded to bend his knees, put his hands on the floor, and lay his head down (trying to tuck it under). Kevin helped him tuck his head and flipped Kyle over, to which Kyle laughed and did the "more" sign. Kyle does somersaults at his tumble class occasionally, but we've never really done them at home much, so it was a surprise to see him respond to the question so appropriately!
Earlier today, Kyle was reaching for something dangerous while I was holding him on my hip and I said "No" in a stern tone. He looked at me quizzically, then retracted his hand and honked my nose. Hmmm...guess we don't use the word "no" very often!
And this morning, Kyle and I read three books over and over and over again...if you've been by The Tatums blog lately, you'll know Ellie has been doing this with her parents for awhile!
In Kyle news....
Kevin asked Kyle if he wanted to do a somersault this evening. Kyle proceeded to bend his knees, put his hands on the floor, and lay his head down (trying to tuck it under). Kevin helped him tuck his head and flipped Kyle over, to which Kyle laughed and did the "more" sign. Kyle does somersaults at his tumble class occasionally, but we've never really done them at home much, so it was a surprise to see him respond to the question so appropriately!
Earlier today, Kyle was reaching for something dangerous while I was holding him on my hip and I said "No" in a stern tone. He looked at me quizzically, then retracted his hand and honked my nose. Hmmm...guess we don't use the word "no" very often!
And this morning, Kyle and I read three books over and over and over again...if you've been by The Tatums blog lately, you'll know Ellie has been doing this with her parents for awhile!
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Taylor
Please pray for Taylor; he's in the hospital for what the doctors thought were seizures, but now aren't sure what's going on.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Sick
I know, it's been a good week since I posted, but we had a rough last week and sometimes I just don't want to write it down! So, Kyle was really cranky last week, but we figured it was just some side effects from his 1 year shots. On Wednesday night, about 3 a.m., Kyle woke up with a raging fever. We called our on call pediatrician and he said not to worry about it, that it was a common side effect for a shot Kyle had received (MMR). We gave Kyle some Motrin and put him to bed with us.
On Thursday, we kept Kyle medicated as he was still having quite a high fever. After our evening walk, as we were getting him ready for bed, I noticed that his skin was mottled and blotchy and his lips and hands were blue. We got Kyle out of the bath and he started making a weird grunting noise. I called the doctor again and she said to go to the ER immediately. We got there and waited close to two hours to see a doctor. Kyle played and stayed awake the entire time. He had a fever of 103.6, even with the Motrin when we got checked in and the resident who checked Kyle out was pretty much stumped as to why he was sick. Talk about disconcerting. They wanted a urine sample; we tried to get Kyle to pee in the sink, since he goes at home in his potty, but they ended up having to run a catheter to get the sample.
I stayed out of the room while they did this, because I tend to faint around medical procedures, but I fainted anyways after returning to the room and ended up on the gurney with oxygen over my face. We took Kyle to see his pediatrician on Friday evening and she said that it was probably a virus, but wasn't for sure; also, the urine culture came back negative. And so, finally, Kyle seems to be feeling better, but I'm going to be a raging mother if he gets sick like this again and everyone is still "stumped"; $135 later and no answers *sigh*.
Around this same time, Kyle has started taking 2-3 hour naps. Kevin and I are crossing our fingers that this will last for a little while!
Lately, if I don't have one of Kyle's sippy cups out for him, he goes to "his" cabinet with all his eating stuff in it, pulls out an empty sippy cup and starts sucking on it while looking at me intently "Hey mom! I'm thirsty!". I much prefer it to whining when he wants a drink. One fun mystery is that he uses the milk/nursing sign when he wants anything to drink, whether it be nursing, soy milk, water, or juice. Sometimes it takes a few guesses before we get it right and then he wants to switch what he's drinking with his water cup (if he doesn't have it already).
We picked up one of these last night and it's a wonderful little invention!
Every night, as part of Kyle's bedtime routine, we strip him of his clothes to get him ready for his bath. Well, lately, he likes to pick up his clothes and carry them around! We've started making a habit of him carrying his clothes to his closet, where the hamper lives, and throwing them in...it's so cool because it's a game for him and one less thing for us to pick up once he's in bed!
And lastly, Kyle has been making all sorts of noises and chatter as he tests out new sounds and tries to say words. It's just amazing!
On Thursday, we kept Kyle medicated as he was still having quite a high fever. After our evening walk, as we were getting him ready for bed, I noticed that his skin was mottled and blotchy and his lips and hands were blue. We got Kyle out of the bath and he started making a weird grunting noise. I called the doctor again and she said to go to the ER immediately. We got there and waited close to two hours to see a doctor. Kyle played and stayed awake the entire time. He had a fever of 103.6, even with the Motrin when we got checked in and the resident who checked Kyle out was pretty much stumped as to why he was sick. Talk about disconcerting. They wanted a urine sample; we tried to get Kyle to pee in the sink, since he goes at home in his potty, but they ended up having to run a catheter to get the sample.
I stayed out of the room while they did this, because I tend to faint around medical procedures, but I fainted anyways after returning to the room and ended up on the gurney with oxygen over my face. We took Kyle to see his pediatrician on Friday evening and she said that it was probably a virus, but wasn't for sure; also, the urine culture came back negative. And so, finally, Kyle seems to be feeling better, but I'm going to be a raging mother if he gets sick like this again and everyone is still "stumped"; $135 later and no answers *sigh*.
Around this same time, Kyle has started taking 2-3 hour naps. Kevin and I are crossing our fingers that this will last for a little while!
Lately, if I don't have one of Kyle's sippy cups out for him, he goes to "his" cabinet with all his eating stuff in it, pulls out an empty sippy cup and starts sucking on it while looking at me intently "Hey mom! I'm thirsty!". I much prefer it to whining when he wants a drink. One fun mystery is that he uses the milk/nursing sign when he wants anything to drink, whether it be nursing, soy milk, water, or juice. Sometimes it takes a few guesses before we get it right and then he wants to switch what he's drinking with his water cup (if he doesn't have it already).
We picked up one of these last night and it's a wonderful little invention!
Every night, as part of Kyle's bedtime routine, we strip him of his clothes to get him ready for his bath. Well, lately, he likes to pick up his clothes and carry them around! We've started making a habit of him carrying his clothes to his closet, where the hamper lives, and throwing them in...it's so cool because it's a game for him and one less thing for us to pick up once he's in bed!
And lastly, Kyle has been making all sorts of noises and chatter as he tests out new sounds and tries to say words. It's just amazing!
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Our little toddler...
This morning I brought Kyle in to our bed after he woke up and he started pulling on my nose. So we did the "Mommy's nose", "Daddy's nose", "Kyle's nose" game. And I added the eyes and mouth too. Well, Kyle's been at it all day; pinching my nose, then Kevin's when he got home from work and he gets all tickled when we ask "Where's (mommy's/daddy's/Kyle's) nose?". It's great fun...
Also, Kyle likes to initiate games of peek-a-boo, patty cake, and if you're happy and you know it (the hooray part is his favorite). It's just amazing how after his first birthday he magically turned in to a toddler and does all these new, wonderful things everyday! And he totally understands simple commands now. I love it! Kyle still uses sign language, but we haven't been introducing new signs to him lately. He babbles a lot, but definitely uses mama and dada to refer to me and Kevin. It also sounds like he uses the word "yes" a lot of the time.
Today we are officially weaned to nursing twice a day: morning and night. Hopefully by the time Kyle hits 13 months old, he'll be exclusively on soy milk and table food!
That's about it! All of our baby classes/groups started up again this week after a break during the month of August. We've been busy, but it's good to be out and about with the other moms and babies.
Also, Kyle likes to initiate games of peek-a-boo, patty cake, and if you're happy and you know it (the hooray part is his favorite). It's just amazing how after his first birthday he magically turned in to a toddler and does all these new, wonderful things everyday! And he totally understands simple commands now. I love it! Kyle still uses sign language, but we haven't been introducing new signs to him lately. He babbles a lot, but definitely uses mama and dada to refer to me and Kevin. It also sounds like he uses the word "yes" a lot of the time.
Today we are officially weaned to nursing twice a day: morning and night. Hopefully by the time Kyle hits 13 months old, he'll be exclusively on soy milk and table food!
That's about it! All of our baby classes/groups started up again this week after a break during the month of August. We've been busy, but it's good to be out and about with the other moms and babies.
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