Did you even know we were gone?!?! Yep, we left for Phoenix last Wed. night after Kevin and I got off work, then headed to Lake Havasu to see The Tatums for a couple days and meet their newest arrival, Rowan. Kyle did great traveling, the portable DVD player may have had something to do with that (thanks Kristy!). We got to do some sightseeing and just hang out; it was a lot of fun. Kyle did somersaults at the house where we were staying: right in to a couch, poor thing, and ended up with quite the bruise. Additionally, he got bit by the tiniest little dog while trying to retrieve one of his pacifiers from the dog's mouth without assistance from mommy and daddy! We even got to spend a day or so in Phoenix and see some family. It's been awhile since all 3 of us have been in town for an extended period of time. Kyle's favorite part of our trip had to be running through the birds underneath the London Bridge.
Kyle is talking more and more and more lately; as I'm sure anyone who saw him this weekend will attest to! I can't believe he'll be 2 years old in a month! Not only that, Kevin and I will be celebrating our 4th anniversary in a little over a week and I'll be turning 28 in the next couple weeks. August is a really busy "family holiday" month.
Today Kevin and I had physicals in order to up our life insurance. There is something about having kids that makes you think "what if". For those of you who know me well, I survived the blood draw with flying colors and no fainting!
I guess that's about it!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
So a couple things I thought I'd share with you...
The other day I walk in to the bathroom and find Kyle has completely unrolled the brand new roll of toilet paper on to the floor. He looks at me and makes the sound for a monkey. After a brief moment of puzzlement, *smack*, Curious George, that's right. Now my son is imitating behavior from his favorite movies. I ask "Curious George?" and he emphatically nods his head and exclaims "Ah hu"!
When I talk to people using the speakerphone, Kyle will say "bye bye *insert name here*" when he's ready for me to hang up.
There was something that happened this morning too, but I'm blanking on it. In other news, Kyle is loving swim lessons now that we switched to an evening session and Kevin can come with us. He is totally comfortable, even going under water!
Kyle is waking up twice a night and I'm not really sure why. Okay, so he had yet another leaky diaper the other night, so that's expected, but that doesn't explain his continued waking up. I thought maybe he wanted to wear pajamas, because we run a fan on him when he sleeps. Usually, all he wears is a diaper because his room gets hotter than the rest of the apartment. However, I guess his 18 mos pajamas don't really fit anymore. The arms are tight. I didn't realize this and put him to bed last night. Forty minutes later he's still up and asking for "momma", so Kevin goes in and Kyle asks to have his jammies taken off. Kev said the arms were really tight, which I guess I never noticed putting them on (bad mommy!). Oh well, stuff like that happens by the end of the day! I'm convinced that I should go to bed when Kyle does and I'd be much more productive.
Oh right, Kyle falls asleep in the bike seat. So cute, on a less than one mile ride home from the mall, he was out!
Tonight Kyle started jumping off of our ottoman on to the floor! He's always done this kind of one footed hop/jump before, but tonight he was jumping with both feet! The only thing we are trying to teach him is to say "Mama/Dada jump" if he wants one of us to catch him; it's a little alarming to have a child fly in to you when you're not expecting it!
Lastly, Kyle does this "happy dance" whenever he's really excited about something. He does his one footed hop and goes around in circles shouting whatever he's excited about, e.g. milk! milk! milk! or truck! truck! truck!; I hope you'll get to see it before he grows out of this stage.
When I talk to people using the speakerphone, Kyle will say "bye bye *insert name here*" when he's ready for me to hang up.
There was something that happened this morning too, but I'm blanking on it. In other news, Kyle is loving swim lessons now that we switched to an evening session and Kevin can come with us. He is totally comfortable, even going under water!
Kyle is waking up twice a night and I'm not really sure why. Okay, so he had yet another leaky diaper the other night, so that's expected, but that doesn't explain his continued waking up. I thought maybe he wanted to wear pajamas, because we run a fan on him when he sleeps. Usually, all he wears is a diaper because his room gets hotter than the rest of the apartment. However, I guess his 18 mos pajamas don't really fit anymore. The arms are tight. I didn't realize this and put him to bed last night. Forty minutes later he's still up and asking for "momma", so Kevin goes in and Kyle asks to have his jammies taken off. Kev said the arms were really tight, which I guess I never noticed putting them on (bad mommy!). Oh well, stuff like that happens by the end of the day! I'm convinced that I should go to bed when Kyle does and I'd be much more productive.
Oh right, Kyle falls asleep in the bike seat. So cute, on a less than one mile ride home from the mall, he was out!
Tonight Kyle started jumping off of our ottoman on to the floor! He's always done this kind of one footed hop/jump before, but tonight he was jumping with both feet! The only thing we are trying to teach him is to say "Mama/Dada jump" if he wants one of us to catch him; it's a little alarming to have a child fly in to you when you're not expecting it!
Lastly, Kyle does this "happy dance" whenever he's really excited about something. He does his one footed hop and goes around in circles shouting whatever he's excited about, e.g. milk! milk! milk! or truck! truck! truck!; I hope you'll get to see it before he grows out of this stage.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Kyle's 1st Fireworks
Fireworks were a hit last night! We put Kyle down for a later nap than usual, and headed over to the park where we wanted to watch fireworks around 8 p.m.. Kyle played and played with some other children sitting near us, but as soon as the show started he was mesmerized and sat with us to watch. He did the sign for "flowers" to describe the fireworks.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
A long awaited post...
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)!
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)!
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!
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