Monthly Update – 11 mos old

Colton is 11 months old!

Well, uh… I haven’t done a monthly update for Colton in 3 months. I’m ashamed. These past few months have been filled with change for him and I haven’t been doing a very good job of keeping up with it. {{2nd child stereotype fulfilled.}}

::sigh:: But here we go!

At 11 months old, Colton:

• Takes 1-2 naps a day, depending on what time he wakes up in the morning. Goes to bed between 7-8pm, depending on his last nap. He still wakes up 1-2 times a night, but as of tonight, we are knocking those out. No more night feedings! We are slowly starting to wean…

• Has his four front teeth. Those top ones are massive! I remember thinking the same thing when Addy got her top front ones… “How can baby teeth look so big?!”. It’s no wonder he was a cranky bear when they were breaking through his gums (and, boy, was he cranky). He had a very tough time sleeping for about a week at the beginning of April as the teeth came through. He “nursed” (I use quotations because he didn’t really eat, he just wanted the comfort) every 1.5-2 hrs at night and ended up sleeping in our bed on a couple of occasions – a first for him.

{{After a rough couple of nights.}}

• Loves eating. Seriously, this kid could eat all day. He’s a slow eater, but has yet to reject anything we’ve put in front of him. He’s an avocado aficionado, enjoys corn on the cob and limes! He nurses 4X a day, but as I mentioned above, we are starting the weaning process. I’m going to miss feeling his foot turning in circles against my arm as he lays there.

{{Corn is a good teething toy.}}

{{So is a carrot.}}

{{Don’t forget about ice cream!}}

Loves to use his pincer fingers to feed himself cheerios, cheese, ham, banana, noodles, anything!

• Has hair that is getting longer and wilder. It is getting so long, it’s even starting to curl. I wonder if I let it grow out if it would be as curly as Addy’s??

{{Hair at the beginning of March.}}

{{Hair at the beginning of May.}}

Colton has even tried his hand at styling his hair a few times.

• Has incredible blue eyes that people can’t help but comment about.

• Went swimming for the first time at the end of February and had a blast kicking in the water. He’s a real little fishy.

• Loves to play with everything from boxes, to trains, to footballs.

{{He’s a natural with that football!}}

He got a bit too excited about his foam football and did this to it with his teeth, though:

• Also a huge fan of the park and slides…

…bathtime…

…sprinkler time…

…playing peek-a-boo…

…and swinging, especially when Addy pushes him.

{{Look at the concentration.}}

• Really, he loves anything to do with his sister. There have been a few incidents of hair pulling (non-intentional on his part) and toy-taking that have resulted in tears and screams, but that’s what having siblings is all about, right??

I think the feeling of love is mutual.

• Is a very happy boy but he can pierce your eardrums when he’s angry or frustrated. Seriously, he screams. Don’t you dare take a toy away from him! He is bossy like his sister (and, let’s face it, they get it from their Momma), and he’s not afraid to let you know what he thinks.

{{Happy…}}

{{Happy…}}

{{Tantrum!}}

• Army crawls, pulls up to his knees, and has figured out how to go from lying down to sitting upright. And he is so proud of his accomplishments! All this mobility has definitely given him an independent streak, and he no longer has time to sit still. Time to change a diaper? I don’t think so.



• Trills his tongue, makes lots of noises and he says “Mamamama”, but no “Dada” yet. He loves his Daddy though! Other forms of communication include shrieks, squeals and screams. Loud ones, so he can get your attention. He’s a noisy boy. 🙂



{{Trilling his tongue.}}



{{My boys, after destroying a box of kleenex.}}

• Nicknames this month include: Bear, Bear Bear, Foosa, Foosa bear

Adelyn is 2 years, 11.75 months old and Colton is 11 months old.

Monthly Update – 2 years, 3 mos

How about some recent updates about Adelyn, hmm?

Adelyn sleeps in her big girl room (which I still haven’t shown you pictures of yet! Must do that soon…).  Goes down around 8pm, wakes up around 8am and still rocks her afternoon naps (at least 1.5 hrs).  She doesn’t come out of her room though… I always have to go get her. It’s kind of nice, really, but at the same time I have no idea when she really wakes up. Sometimes she’s awake when I get her, other times she’s still sleeping.  It’s always a surprise!  Unless I can hear her talking in there, then it’s pretty obvious…

She has really started expanding her vocabulary. I think that since Colton has been born, she has matured a lot in a very short time. She’s such a BIG little girl now.  🙂 Here are some of my favorite sayings:

• I dude it – I do it
• baboooo – bless you
• nounous – noodles
• ya yous – Love you
• peepas – pizza
• wawools – waffles
• tars – stars
• down-up – pumpjack
• memeek – Mickey (Mouse)

Here are some of the names she has for people:

• yiyis – Lindsay
• kim – Kim
• kaya/kiya/kayla – Mikaela
• nouyous – Nova
• mimi – Millie
• brama – Grandma

And my personal favorite?

• toltec – Colton

Addy’s Favorites:

• We recently turned her car seat around so she now faces forward and she l.o.v.e.s it! She takes full advantage of her improved view, commenting on everything she sees. Oh look! Traffic lights, “Red, pots {stop}, green, go” {although “Green, go” sounds more like “gringo”…}! Trucks! Down-ups! ChooChootrain!!!!

• Speaking of which, she loves choochootrains.  She loves choochootracks. Train crossings? Yep. ChooChooPomas (aka Thomas the Train)? You betcha.  She does think they are a bit too loud, but that doesn’t deter her… she likes to watch them in downtown Gladewater, clinging to your neck as they go by.

• Play-Doh and paint.  She goes bonkers over paint!  Watercolor, acrylic, glow-in-the-dark… you name it, she loves it.  Maybe she’ll be an artist?

{Painting Millie’s portrait, perhaps?}

• Swimming.  She calls swimming pools “cools”.  Makes sense to me!

• Going for walks, and bringing different toys with her when we go.

{Clifford and a baby doll}

{Mickey Mouse}

{Her umbrella, which serves two purposes…}

{To provide shade…}

{Or act as a walking stick.}

• She also enjoys wearing her new shoes in the house.

• Mickey Mouse Club House. How do I explain the love she has for Mickey? She stands in front of the TV like this for the entire (20 min) episode, just to make sure she’s right up in the action. She dances and sings along to the songs. It is pure toddler love.

• Bubble baths!

{Look how long her hair is!!}

Fears:

• Thunder. She turns into a clam, grabbing onto Momma or Daddy and burying her head in our shoulder. We think this fear stemmed from her being outside with Daddy when a storm was brewing and lightning struck nearby.  Derek said it was deafening, so I suppose that makes sense…
• Her remote control car. Say wha’?! Brama and Grandpa gave her a cute little remote control car for Christmas and she hates the thing. Even mentioning her remote control car makes her frantic. Something about the noise it makes, maybe? Weirdest fear ever.

Would you care for an anecdote that illustrates how grown up Addy is?

The other day, the house was unusually quiet so I went to look for Addy. I found her in her room, laying on her bed, changing her own diaper. That’s right folks, you read that correctly. Apparently she had a peepee diaper and she didn’t want to wait for Momma to change it, so she took the initiative and removed it herself, got her wipes, wiped, and then laid down on her new diaper.

THEN, after I helped her put her new diaper on, she headed into Colton’s room and grabbed his boppy and a bib. She took them into the kitchen, climbed up onto a kitchen chair and then proceeded to “nurse” her baby doll, just like Momma nurses Colton.

What did I tell ya? Grown up, right?

The last two bits of “babyhood” that are hanging on right now are her pacis and her diapers. She only gets her pacis at naptime and bedtime, but we’ve decided that that’s two times too many. So, we are drawing the line. We are going to prick the tips of her pacis with a pin so that they are “broken”, and then we’ll see how things go. Also, as of yesterday we’re officially trying to potty train, but she just does NOT want to make it easy. You may recall she was super psyched when we first got her potty, but then we slacked off (hmm, having a baby may have something to do with that…) and she just hasn’t gotten back into it. I mean, the whole changing-her-own-diaper thing makes us think that she is definitely ready to be potty trained. We ask her “Where do you put your poopy and peepee?” and she yells “Potty!”, but when we say “Okay, let’s go put our peepee in the potty”, it’s a real battle. Moreso when it comes to #2. Yesterday, she wore her big girl panties all day and went peepee in the potty every single time, but poopy? Flat out refused. Even though she had to go (I know the signs…), no amount of bribery could sway her. We spent about 2 hrs yesterday evening going back and forth to the bathroom just trying to get her to go, but still no poopy by bedtime. Hopefully today, after some serious cajoling and and praising and bribing, she’ll give in and “go with the flow”… in the potty.

Adelyn is 2 years, 3 months old and Colton is 2 months old, 1 week old.

Going Home

Okay, we are going back in time to when Colton was first born. Here are some pics of us finally leaving the hospital, and that first night at home.

So ready to be going home.

Colton says “Let’s do this.”

Addy checking out her new brother.

She was very sweet.

And very gentle.

Fixing his hair before taking him out of the carseat.

Tired parents.

Adelyn made sure everyone used hand sanitizer before holding her little brother.

Auntie Kim holding Colton.

Hehe, Colton was starting to fuss so Auntie Kim was sad.

Colton and Auntie Mikaela.

Colton and Grandpa Joe.

Millie was very curious about this new little person.

Adelyn held Colton and gave him big kisses.

Showing Colton a coaster with her picture in it.

First sponge bath at home. He slept through most of it.

Addy helped burp Colton. She wanted to get all up in the action… notice she’s sitting on the boppy?

Daddy and his lil’ man, ready for the first night at home.

Adelyn is 2 years, 2 mos old and Colton is 7 weeks, 2 days old.

Big boy bath

Bathtime. It’s a fun thing in our house.

Adelyn (almost always) enjoys bathtime, and has right from the beginning. She likes her bath toys, she likes the bubbles, she likes to play mermaid, she likes to soap her own body and shampoo her own hair… so we’re hoping that Colton will enjoy bathtime just as much.

{Awwww, little Adelyn, 7 mos old}

Sooo, this past Saturday, we put Colton in his big boy bathtub! At first, he wasn’t too sure about being partially submerged in the water and immediately yelped and threw his hands out…

But then…

Ya, you know what he did.

Look at that devilish grin. He can’t hide it.

I kid you not, he peed so far that it made it INTO the sink. From there. To the sink. We guess it was about 2 feet.

Amid the shrieks of laughter from Momma, Daddy and Adelyn, Colton was probably thinking “Just you wait, family. This won’t be the last time this happens.”

I have no doubt that he’s right. 🙂

Adelyn is 2 years, 2 mos old and Colton is 6 weeks, 5 days old.

5 things…

I have a bunch of little anecdotes floating around in my brain, so I thought I’d combine them into one semi-large post!

1.  We had a lovely Father’s Day!  However, what I said about Daddy waking up at 5:30am on Father’s Day was true…  We couldn’t get Addy to go back to bed, so Derek took her for a walk at 6:30am.  So much for sleeping in!  The rest of the day was nice and low-key.  Church, lunch, family nap (Cranky Addy really fought her nap but finally fell asleep on my lap after lunch, so we decided to all have a rest).  Derek’s Grandparents invited us to a fish fry at their church for dinner, and we all had a great time.  An a cappella group performed during dinner and Addy loved listening to them.  She clapped and bounced in her high chair along with the beat.  She sure likes music!

She found her baby tub and decided to play in it. With socks. Thankfully, the socks are clean.

2.  For the past couple nights, Addy has been bathing herself.  That’s right!  After watching us for months, she knows that her body wash goes on her arms, legs and tummy and not in her mouth (for the most part).  Of course we make sure she actually gets clean, but her imitation skills astound me.  She’s so smart.

Getting some soap!

3.  Over the past 3 weeks, I’ve been weaning Addy. We’ve gone from 3-4 feedings down to a single feeding before bedtime.  And last night, we dropped that bedtime feeding!  So I am officially done breastfeeding Adelyn.  I’m sad.  I’m happy.  It’s a mixed bag… Overall, my nursing experience was a very good one and I’ve loved that bonding time with Addy, so I’m bummed that it’s over.  But it sure will be freeing, not having to nurse anymore! We’ve been giving Addy whole milk and, man, she sucks that stuff down.  She loves it, but we think it may be making her tummy cramp.  I’m hoping she’s not sensitive to lactose so we’ll keep an eye on that.

4.  I spotted Addy’s 5th tooth a few days ago and get this:  it’s a molar!  She’s got her 4 front teeth, and now her first molar.  And then this morning, I felt the 2nd first molar coming up on the other side.  She’s got a mouth full of chompers.  I guess it’s a good thing I’ve stopped nursing…  yeeeeouch.  She definitely has her cranky moments too, so I know those big suckers must hurt. I mean, look at the size of the molars compared to the incisors!:

Addy has her 1st first molar (bottom left)!

5.  My iBook is 6 years old. During my laptop’s existence, we’ve had to replace 1 hard drive (yikes… thanks for doing that, Dad!), 1 power adapter, and 2 batteries. The “a”, “s”, “c” and “e” keys are almost completely worn off. And now, the computer is shocking me. As in, electrical current runs through my body when I put it on my lap. When I touch Derek’s arm, he can feel the buzz… although maybe that’s the electricity between the two of us… ::wink wink:: Haha, just kidding. Derek is worried that I’m cooking my eggs, though.  My eggs.  And because we plan to have more children, it may be time to update my laptop soon.  Although as my uncle, the M.D., suggested, maybe we would end up having children with superpowers.  😉

Adelyn is 12 months and 4 weeks old.

Bathtime in the big bathtub!

Little Addy enjoys bathtime. Well, that may be the understatement of the year. She loves bathtime. Daddy is usually the one who bathes her, and she adores having that bonding time with him. We normally bathe her in the blue bathtub that Auntie Lindsay gave her, but she’s just too active for it now. It’s not even that she’s too big, she just moves way too much.

A quick glimpse into the evolution of Addy’s bathtub experience:

Baby Addy (awww, she's so little) in the newborn sling, 2.5 weeks old.

Lounging in the tub, no newborn sling needed. 3 months old.

Sitting in the tub, playing with her toys. 7 months old.

Big girls stand up. 10 months old.

Today, we bought a fishy faucet cover at Toys ‘R Us and a bathtub plug at Lowes (sad, isn’t it? We didn’t even have a plug for our bathtub!). We filled the tub, tossed in her toys and cut her loose. She had a great time, probably because she had acres of room to crawl around and wiggle in, in comparison to her baby tub. Now the blue tub will go in storage until the next Baby Zivney needs it!

In the big-girl tub!!

Big smiles!

Lots o' toys makes a bath lots o' fun.

Checking out her fishy faucet cover.

Mobile Addy!

Addy sharing her dinner with Daddy. (10.5 months old)
April 5, 2010

Bath time with “Spike”! Addy turned the faucet on and was “drinking” the water using her hand. Silly girl. (10.5 months old)
April 5, 2010.

Addy loves the baby in the mirror. (10.5 months old)
April 6, 2010

Following Addy as she crawls down the hall. (10.5 months old)
April 13, 2010

Using a box of diapers as a standing aide as well as an instrument. (10.5 months old)
April 15, 2010.

Grandma Lo and Grandpa Joe’s visit

Here are [a ton of] photos from this past weekend when my parents came to visit us for Easter.  They brought Addy a Little People dollhouse and she has been having a great time playing with it… well, except for yesterday.

We did all sorts of things – checked out Derek’s newest oil lease, went for walks, did some gardening in our backyard (Little green shoots are already popping up!  So exciting 🙂 But some darn animal has been digging in my herb garden, stealing my parsley….grrr), had a delicious Easter dinner.  Oh! And Derek and I even got to go on a date!  We went to see Clash of the Titans, just the two of us.  Just the two of us.  It was weird.  But it was wonderful.  The last time we went on a date was on our trip to Tucson – my parents and Grandma watched Addy while Derek and I went out to dinner and to see Avatar. Anyway, it was really great having my parents come up for the weekend, and luckily no one was sick like when Derek’s parents were here. ::shudder:: We don’t want to relive that experience.

Playing with the pinwheel and Easter Eggs that Grandma Lo and Grandpa Joe brought. Oh, and check out her new sandals!

Addy and Grandma Lo checking out the Little People playhouse.

Over at Derek's new oil lease

The little family

Addy and her Grandpa Joe at the oil lease

Piggy back with Grandma Lo!

Derek working hard

Now, piggy back with Grandpa Joe!

Playing with Grandpa's sunglasses. A favorite pastime, no matter whose sunglasses they are.

"You lookin' at me?"

Reeeeach for the washcloth

Good form, Addy.

Good morning sunshine!

Just doing a little bit of gardening.

Daddy and baby, playing in the grass and enjoying being outside.

Just playin'

Trying to stand

"Hey there, just havin' some grub, proppin' my leg up on Daddy. You know how it is."

"Ahhhhhh"

"How do I look? This is called a yogurt mustache"

Water baby loves the water!

Ready for a walk

Down at the city park just a few minutes from our house.

The park has a splash pad! Yes, Addy is in her jammies. We went on the walk in the morning. Please don't judge.

Auntie Lindsay is in town

Hooray, another Auntie is visiting!!

Auntie Lindsay is here in White Oak until Wednesday, so Addy has been getting lots of love. She’s totally soaking it in too!

Auntie and Addy!

Yay!

Hi Daddy!

Checking out Great-Grandmother's shoes

Practicing her little pincer fingers. Getting some cheerios!

Now I'm worn out, Mom. Too many cheerios.

Daddy and baby, out in the oil field!

Checking out the control panel on one of the pump jacks.

I am so helpful!

She loves being with her Daddy

Zivneys with one of Derek's wells

Inspecting the stuffing box

"The fence lock is my favorite."

"Ooooh, birthday cake! For me, Momma??"

"I love birthday cake!"

"What do you mean it's not my birthday cake???" It was for Derek's birthday on Sunday!

Blow out the candles!

Bathtime with Auntie!

Big girl in the tub!

I love bathtime!

When was the last time I posted a video?

Or six?

2/2/10 – Bath time in Tucson! Addy loves playing in the bathtub, especially when she has fun toys like her turtles. (8 mos old)

2/3/10- Ringing a wind chime, aka. the breakfast bell (8 mos old)

2/3/10 – Playing in her drinking water (8 mos old)

2/12/10 – Snow in White Oak! (8.5 mos old)

2/12/10 – Having a delicious, nutritious snack. (8.5 mos old)

2/12/10 – Addy’s snowman. (8.5 mos old)