happy new year to all,
--our trip home from mobile was a good trip, just like the trip down. it took two days this time though, because we took a detour to visit my dad’s sister in athens, alabama. we had fun with aunt carroll and uncle larry. aidan loved trying to find eddie the cat, playing the piano, riding on the golf cart, crawling all over carroll, strolling on the treadmill, and playing with cat toys. sierra had fun just being cute.
--our trip went through blacksburg, and so we stopped for dinner with my sister, and got back to billy after two weeks away. the next day we met my cousin lisa for breakfast since she was in town for a conference.
--sierra turned seven months this month, and her accomplishments for the month include: the high-speed-creep (she’s all over the place), she pulls up on anything that stands still…or anything that she thinks stands still (like the rocking chair or a toy that tips over) until she falls down, she sits really well (though she’ll forget and throw herself backwards), sits on her knees, reaches up when she wants you to pick her up, “walks” in her walker, says “da-da-da,” and gives kisses. also, her first tooth cut through on the 31st!
--aidan turned three this month…hard to believe. he had two birthday parties. we had a small family birthday party for him in mobile. i drew a dinosaur on his cake, he opened presents, and played with my little cousin matthew. at other times during our visit south, he played with some of my other younger cousins. he called matthew “maff-few,” scott was “spot” and then “stott,” and joseph was “dough-sef.” he had to blow out his candles twice. he was so excited about blowing them out that they were doused even before we could sing the first word!!
--grammy and poppy came to visit us, and while they were here we had aidan’s second birthday party. we did a combo party with his friends jarah (3) and isaac (1) at chuck e. cheese. everyone had a good time. we played games, watched the shows, ate pizza and cupcakes, and opened presents. aidan had fun with his friends ella, málie (molly-AY), and kala’i (ka-LA-ee), and jarah and isaac, and some friends of theirs. and we enjoyed the grown up company (nani, sandra, jesse and shannon and their friends.)
--some of aidan’s accomplishments of the month include: dressing himself (granted, everything ended up on backwards), going “stand pee-pee” by himself, lots of pretend-play (usually as some sort of animal), getting two shots in the arm at the doctor’s office like a big boy (and getting a milkshake afterwards for being so good and brave), and falling down the stairs (while was trying to be an monkey on all fours, on the way DOWN the stairs…yeah, that didn’t quite work!)
--his imagination is going wild these days. and he’s pretty creative. he wants to be some kind of animal most of the day. over the last few weeks, some of animals that he’s told us he was include: a buffalo, a wildebeest, a monkey, a lion, an elephant, and a dinosaur. when he’s in character, he gets mad when we call him by name. he’ll correct us, saying, “no, i’m a dinosaur (or whatever).” he also gets pretty involved with it. he makes us talk to the animal, so i ask him questions about how old he is, what color he is, and what his name is. he gives me different information according to what animal he is. he was a wildebeest named “snee,” who was white with orange hair, blue eyes and gray tail, was three years old, and ate dinosaurs. it’s fun to see him play like that, but it also gets kind-of annoying having a four-legged son running around the house. he runs into things because he has his head down, (falls down the stairs,) flips around, and refuses to answer to “aidan’ when he’s an animal. so, we have to limit his time as animals, and tell him we want our boy back.
--also this month, aidan discovered the differences in the anatomy of girls and boys. he told me that my penis was broken. so we had the discussion that you have to be a boy to have a penis. so he says, “mommy has no penis…daddy has a penis…aidan has a penis… sierra has no penis.”
--aidan is speaking really well these days. he can always get his point across, though his pronunciation isn’t perfect. he answers questions, and repeats EVERYTHING. some of the phrases that came out this month are: “mommy, where are you?” “awww, pleeeease,” “it’s my favorite,” “i love it,” “mommy, what you doing?” “let me in,” “put me down,” “i not aidan. i’m a wildebeest,” “lion sleepy,” “stop please,” “sierra has a hiney,” and my all-time favorite: “mommy, i love you. i love you too,” (he answered himself for me!)
--at the doctor, aside from his shots he had to get, he was pronounced a healthy (large) three-year-old. he is 40.5” tall (97th percentile) and 40pounds (95th percentile). when i went to put his info in his babybook, i wrote down his past measurements to compare to sierra. here are the comparisons:
___________height_____________weight
_________aidan__sierra______aidan_____sierra
birth______21”___20.5”_______8# 13oz__8# 15oz
2weeks____22”___21.5”_______9# 2oz___9# 4.5oz
2months___24”___23.5”______12# 8oz___12# 11oz
4months___26”___26.25”_____15# 8oz___15# 2.5oz
6months___28”___27.5”______17# 9oz___16# 14oz
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
december 07
--we’ve had a good month. lots of visiting with friends and family, celebrating. aidan’s most special times involved present-opening.
--we had three different “christmases” (with one more to go). my dad and sister could arrange a visit to va beach for the weekend of the 14th. we had billy’s dad, stepmom, and sister in town for the week of christmas. and the kids and i drove down to alabama to visit with my family a few days after christmas. we’re still down south, and will head north again on the 8th. (billy’s mom and stepdad will be coming to see us all in va beach later in january.) with each family group, and each christmas, aidan got tons of stuff. he loved it all, but has become a bit greedy. he has trouble sharing his new toys with his sister, but has no trouble using her new toys!
--christmas day was great. aidan understood that santa had come to give him “lots o presents.” if the gifts were clothes, he moved on pretty quickly, but really enjoyed the toys. sierra enjoyed all the paper on the floor, and the ornaments on the tree. we had a good time with dinner as well. our friends stu, sandra and ella, and shadra and jody came over to join us and billy’s dad, andrea, and devlin. it was good times with good people!
--our 16hour trip to mobile went very well. apart from taking a long time, we had no issues (other than weather…it was storming in virginia and foggy in alabama…the carolinas were clear (but had the worst roads!)) my plan…that worked out well…was to stop for a potty break, change her diaper and nurse her, every time i stopped for gas. i packed food and drinks in the car, toys and books for aidan, and books on cd for me. in general, it worked well. sierra would play-nap-play before we’d stop. only once did aidan wake her up early…so we had about 40minutes of fussiness, but not crying. aidan had a little more trouble staying content. he’d play and read, but got bored being stuck in the car. he kept asking for “li-li’s house” and “let me out.” i was prepared to have to stop overnight should the trip have gotten too hard. either due to traffic, weather, or crying and having to stop too often that we weren’t making good time. but they were great, i wasn’t tired, and traffic was pretty smooth. so that we could just go straight through. i was very proud of my little travelers.
--aidan has a bunch of new phrases. some of them are: “wait for me,” “not for you,” “stop that,” “christmas presents,” “ho ho ho, merry christmas,” “mommy, where are you?” “mommy, what you doing?” “let me in,” “put me down.”
--another milestones is pretend-play (which has been going on a while) getting more involved and creative. he LOVES to be an animal or fish. i get, “mommy, look at aidan” and then, “i’m a wallrus.” then he crawls and flips around making sounds. when he’s ready for a nap, he tells me “lion sleepy.”
--i would say that aidan is pretty much potty trained now. he still has accidents occasionally, and sometimes doesn’t really want to go #2, but we’re doing much much better! yea!
--sierra’s accomplishments are a bit more physical. she’s totally mobile now. she has progressed from rocking back and forth and launching forward an inch or two, to what i call the ‘sniper creep.’ she pulls with her hands and elbows, and pushes with her knees and feet, and can get ANYWHERE. she tries to climb over my legs when i’m on the floor, or whatever might be in her way. she of course goes straight for toys aidan is playing with…much to his annoyance. she even tries to pull up to higher toys. although she most likely pulls them down onto her instead. :) either way, she's moving along pretty quickly (litteraly and figuratively). aidan never crawled, he just did the sniper creep until he was nine months, then took off running. he's never actually stopped, really.
--she’s eating more foods too. in addition to the cereal i started at 4months, she’s eating pureed veggies (has had green beans, peas, and carrots so far), and trying stuff off of my plate. she seems to want my food more than hers, so she’s tried a lot of other things as well. she’s eaten mashed potatoes, sucked the potato out of a french fry, and really likes applesauce and mashed bananas. she even tried a bit of ice cream from my birthday, and a sucked on a little piece of a hershey bar.
--she’s babbling a lot more as well, and i think she’s teething. she chews on (and has been a while) anything she can. however, the best teether that i’ve found is a baby tylenol medicine dropper. she can hold the bottle and chew on the stopper/dropper. works great!
--she turned 6months, and had her checkup. doctor, again, says she’s doing great. she now weighs 16#15oz, and is 27.5” long. that’s 62nd percentile and 92nd percentile, respectively.
--whenever i’m on the computer, aidan asks to “push one time” since i sometimes let him push a button for me. so, this is from aidan:
FHFFX JHFEDWESD K, SAKJ Tvb;89 dffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffnlkjhujynk
wqqrftyjmkl;’;’’,.’\85125241
[pkobhgfxdssw
--we had three different “christmases” (with one more to go). my dad and sister could arrange a visit to va beach for the weekend of the 14th. we had billy’s dad, stepmom, and sister in town for the week of christmas. and the kids and i drove down to alabama to visit with my family a few days after christmas. we’re still down south, and will head north again on the 8th. (billy’s mom and stepdad will be coming to see us all in va beach later in january.) with each family group, and each christmas, aidan got tons of stuff. he loved it all, but has become a bit greedy. he has trouble sharing his new toys with his sister, but has no trouble using her new toys!
--christmas day was great. aidan understood that santa had come to give him “lots o presents.” if the gifts were clothes, he moved on pretty quickly, but really enjoyed the toys. sierra enjoyed all the paper on the floor, and the ornaments on the tree. we had a good time with dinner as well. our friends stu, sandra and ella, and shadra and jody came over to join us and billy’s dad, andrea, and devlin. it was good times with good people!
--our 16hour trip to mobile went very well. apart from taking a long time, we had no issues (other than weather…it was storming in virginia and foggy in alabama…the carolinas were clear (but had the worst roads!)) my plan…that worked out well…was to stop for a potty break, change her diaper and nurse her, every time i stopped for gas. i packed food and drinks in the car, toys and books for aidan, and books on cd for me. in general, it worked well. sierra would play-nap-play before we’d stop. only once did aidan wake her up early…so we had about 40minutes of fussiness, but not crying. aidan had a little more trouble staying content. he’d play and read, but got bored being stuck in the car. he kept asking for “li-li’s house” and “let me out.” i was prepared to have to stop overnight should the trip have gotten too hard. either due to traffic, weather, or crying and having to stop too often that we weren’t making good time. but they were great, i wasn’t tired, and traffic was pretty smooth. so that we could just go straight through. i was very proud of my little travelers.
--aidan has a bunch of new phrases. some of them are: “wait for me,” “not for you,” “stop that,” “christmas presents,” “ho ho ho, merry christmas,” “mommy, where are you?” “mommy, what you doing?” “let me in,” “put me down.”
--another milestones is pretend-play (which has been going on a while) getting more involved and creative. he LOVES to be an animal or fish. i get, “mommy, look at aidan” and then, “i’m a wallrus.” then he crawls and flips around making sounds. when he’s ready for a nap, he tells me “lion sleepy.”
--i would say that aidan is pretty much potty trained now. he still has accidents occasionally, and sometimes doesn’t really want to go #2, but we’re doing much much better! yea!
--sierra’s accomplishments are a bit more physical. she’s totally mobile now. she has progressed from rocking back and forth and launching forward an inch or two, to what i call the ‘sniper creep.’ she pulls with her hands and elbows, and pushes with her knees and feet, and can get ANYWHERE. she tries to climb over my legs when i’m on the floor, or whatever might be in her way. she of course goes straight for toys aidan is playing with…much to his annoyance. she even tries to pull up to higher toys. although she most likely pulls them down onto her instead. :) either way, she's moving along pretty quickly (litteraly and figuratively). aidan never crawled, he just did the sniper creep until he was nine months, then took off running. he's never actually stopped, really.
--she’s eating more foods too. in addition to the cereal i started at 4months, she’s eating pureed veggies (has had green beans, peas, and carrots so far), and trying stuff off of my plate. she seems to want my food more than hers, so she’s tried a lot of other things as well. she’s eaten mashed potatoes, sucked the potato out of a french fry, and really likes applesauce and mashed bananas. she even tried a bit of ice cream from my birthday, and a sucked on a little piece of a hershey bar.
--she’s babbling a lot more as well, and i think she’s teething. she chews on (and has been a while) anything she can. however, the best teether that i’ve found is a baby tylenol medicine dropper. she can hold the bottle and chew on the stopper/dropper. works great!
--she turned 6months, and had her checkup. doctor, again, says she’s doing great. she now weighs 16#15oz, and is 27.5” long. that’s 62nd percentile and 92nd percentile, respectively.
--whenever i’m on the computer, aidan asks to “push one time” since i sometimes let him push a button for me. so, this is from aidan:
FHFFX JHFEDWESD K, SAKJ Tvb;89 dffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffnlkjhujynk
wqqrftyjmkl;’;’’,.’\85125241
[pkobhgfxdssw
november 07
happy holidays to all,
--i’m a bit behind for this update…sorry. we’ve been busy with holidays, travel, company, and recoveries. since october, we’ve had company twice, were out of town for about ten days for thanksgiving, billy had his eye surgery, and we’ve all passed around at least one cold for several weeks. billy’s doing well, and his vision is getting better daily. we’re down to one small cough (aidan), and just lost the last runny nose (sierra).
--billy had to get PRK surgery instead of lasik. his cornea was too thin for lasik. it was still just as quick of an operation, but he had/has more recovery than lasik. his cornea was “shaved” and so the skin has to grow back and heal as his vision improves. he was pretty blind and had some pain for several days, but is doing well and no longer needs the glasses he’s had to wear for years!! :)
--we went up north for thanksgiving. we saw billy’s parents (jersey), my dad (long island), billy’s grandmother (pennsyslvania), and lots of friends (jersey). we had a good time with all, and got to introduce sierra to her other great-grandmother. at first, aidan was a little scared of her (he hasn’t seen her since last christmas). when she saw him, she said she was going to eat him up. he said, “noooo!” and wouldn’t go near her for about an hour. he got over it though, and we all had a good visit.
--aidan’s latest and greatest accomplishments are mostly about vocabulary and the potty. he speaks much more clearly and in longer sentences, and repeats EVERYTHING he hears. there are still times when i don’t know what he’s saying, but they’re fewer these days, and he can usually get his point across eventually…or i eventually guess what he’s trying to say. most of his new words/phrases revolve around him. things like “me next,” “i’m first,” “aidan do it,” “it’s mine,” “i’m tired/hungry/eating/watching.” other things he says are “holy cow,” “yes or no,” and “just like daddy.” i don’t think he knows just what ‘yes or no’ means, because he doesn’t use it correctly. he uses it more like “say yes.”
--with the potty situation, halloween really helped us out. he was very encouraged to get trick-or-treats as rewards! he’s become much more consistent and cooperative since then. and now he likes to “stand pee-pee,” and that helps to get him to go. we used to ask if he needed to go. he’d most likely say he didn’t and we’d have to just take him anyway and make him try. now we ask him if he wants to sit or stand. that way his only options are to go potty…he just gets to pick how. however, he has also started notifying me of when he has to go. he will even hold it if we can’t get there right away…which is great. cause we got him out of pull-ups except for at night…really saves money every month!! :)
--sierra is coming a long way these days. she’s always been strong, but she’s getting her coordination down. her movements aren’t quite so jerky and she has more control. she’s really trying to crawl right now. she’s gone from just being on her belly and pushing up her head and shoulders, to pushing up to her elbows and knees, to hands and knees, to rocking back and forth. she now pushes up and tries to go forward, rocking back and forth, and gets really frustrated when she doesn’t go anywhere. she’ll reach for something and fall down. but she’ll also rock back and forth, and then launch herself onto her belly, moving forward an inch, get back up and do it again. however, it’s painfully slow (and painful??)
--she’s also gone from rolling over accidentally, to on purpose (belly to back), to both ways (belly to back and back to belly) in both directions. it’s cute, but makes changing diapers and giving baths a bit more difficult. she flips right over on the changing table and in the bath tub. i’m hoping she masters sitting up soon, so i can get her out of the baby tub and into the big tub (without trying to hold a slippery baby upright from over the edge or getting in myself!)
--i pulled the walker out of the attic this month, and now she has another outlet for her kicking and jumping and pushing off. she can go forward a little, but doesn’t ‘walk’ yet. she does push backwards and turn it around a bit…mostly going after the recycle garbage can or her reflection in the glass door or dishwasher door.
--she’s gotten much much better at sitting. she still topples over, but she can sit unaided, and will even brace herself up when she accidentally puts her hand down and it holds her up. she still doesn’t do it on purpose, and still flings herself backwards to get her back straight…she should have great posture one of these days! she does correct when she gets slightly off balance though, so we’re making progress.
--i don’t quite remember when aidan did everything, i’ll have to go back and look. but i think she’s starting verbally sooner than he did. she’s starting babbling a lot more lately, and combining sounds. she knows her name already and she now says “umm-ba” and “uh-ma.” i don’t think they have any meaning to her though, it’s probably just her practicing new sounds. she’s also found her tongue. she sticks it out a lot and likes to razz and blow bubbles, and almost all of her smiles now incorporate her newly discovered tongue.
--i’m a bit behind for this update…sorry. we’ve been busy with holidays, travel, company, and recoveries. since october, we’ve had company twice, were out of town for about ten days for thanksgiving, billy had his eye surgery, and we’ve all passed around at least one cold for several weeks. billy’s doing well, and his vision is getting better daily. we’re down to one small cough (aidan), and just lost the last runny nose (sierra).
--billy had to get PRK surgery instead of lasik. his cornea was too thin for lasik. it was still just as quick of an operation, but he had/has more recovery than lasik. his cornea was “shaved” and so the skin has to grow back and heal as his vision improves. he was pretty blind and had some pain for several days, but is doing well and no longer needs the glasses he’s had to wear for years!! :)
--we went up north for thanksgiving. we saw billy’s parents (jersey), my dad (long island), billy’s grandmother (pennsyslvania), and lots of friends (jersey). we had a good time with all, and got to introduce sierra to her other great-grandmother. at first, aidan was a little scared of her (he hasn’t seen her since last christmas). when she saw him, she said she was going to eat him up. he said, “noooo!” and wouldn’t go near her for about an hour. he got over it though, and we all had a good visit.
--aidan’s latest and greatest accomplishments are mostly about vocabulary and the potty. he speaks much more clearly and in longer sentences, and repeats EVERYTHING he hears. there are still times when i don’t know what he’s saying, but they’re fewer these days, and he can usually get his point across eventually…or i eventually guess what he’s trying to say. most of his new words/phrases revolve around him. things like “me next,” “i’m first,” “aidan do it,” “it’s mine,” “i’m tired/hungry/eating/watching.” other things he says are “holy cow,” “yes or no,” and “just like daddy.” i don’t think he knows just what ‘yes or no’ means, because he doesn’t use it correctly. he uses it more like “say yes.”
--with the potty situation, halloween really helped us out. he was very encouraged to get trick-or-treats as rewards! he’s become much more consistent and cooperative since then. and now he likes to “stand pee-pee,” and that helps to get him to go. we used to ask if he needed to go. he’d most likely say he didn’t and we’d have to just take him anyway and make him try. now we ask him if he wants to sit or stand. that way his only options are to go potty…he just gets to pick how. however, he has also started notifying me of when he has to go. he will even hold it if we can’t get there right away…which is great. cause we got him out of pull-ups except for at night…really saves money every month!! :)
--sierra is coming a long way these days. she’s always been strong, but she’s getting her coordination down. her movements aren’t quite so jerky and she has more control. she’s really trying to crawl right now. she’s gone from just being on her belly and pushing up her head and shoulders, to pushing up to her elbows and knees, to hands and knees, to rocking back and forth. she now pushes up and tries to go forward, rocking back and forth, and gets really frustrated when she doesn’t go anywhere. she’ll reach for something and fall down. but she’ll also rock back and forth, and then launch herself onto her belly, moving forward an inch, get back up and do it again. however, it’s painfully slow (and painful??)
--she’s also gone from rolling over accidentally, to on purpose (belly to back), to both ways (belly to back and back to belly) in both directions. it’s cute, but makes changing diapers and giving baths a bit more difficult. she flips right over on the changing table and in the bath tub. i’m hoping she masters sitting up soon, so i can get her out of the baby tub and into the big tub (without trying to hold a slippery baby upright from over the edge or getting in myself!)
--i pulled the walker out of the attic this month, and now she has another outlet for her kicking and jumping and pushing off. she can go forward a little, but doesn’t ‘walk’ yet. she does push backwards and turn it around a bit…mostly going after the recycle garbage can or her reflection in the glass door or dishwasher door.
--she’s gotten much much better at sitting. she still topples over, but she can sit unaided, and will even brace herself up when she accidentally puts her hand down and it holds her up. she still doesn’t do it on purpose, and still flings herself backwards to get her back straight…she should have great posture one of these days! she does correct when she gets slightly off balance though, so we’re making progress.
--i don’t quite remember when aidan did everything, i’ll have to go back and look. but i think she’s starting verbally sooner than he did. she’s starting babbling a lot more lately, and combining sounds. she knows her name already and she now says “umm-ba” and “uh-ma.” i don’t think they have any meaning to her though, it’s probably just her practicing new sounds. she’s also found her tongue. she sticks it out a lot and likes to razz and blow bubbles, and almost all of her smiles now incorporate her newly discovered tongue.
october 07
here’s the latest news from our little world:
--quick update on billy. he was promoted this month. four years since ocs, and he’s now officially a lieutenant. his ceremony was a small one, but it was nice. i saw him get commissioned (two weeks AFTER me…so i still consider myself as “out-ranking” him, haha), but i missed his first promotion. i think they were in thailand at the time. anyhow, i got to see him reaffirm his original oath to fight and defend…from all enemies foreign and domestic…, and i was able to pin on his new insignia as an O-3. very nice, and we’re very proud!
--aidan’s vocabulary is booming. he comes up with a new phrase daily. some he gets from us, some from his shows, and some we’re not sure where he gets. he told me to “shut-up” the other day…he didn’t like the response he got, and hasn’t said it much since. we can’t figure out where he picked it up, because it’s not something we say, and we’ve been trying to watch out for things he might hear while we’re watching a sitcom or something. guess we have to be even more limiting…and make sure he knows there are some things you just don’t say.
--he’s speaking in several-word sentences now, and is working on conjugation. language is so complex, it’s amazing how we ever learn it at all!
--some other things he’s learning are shapes and letters. he doesn’t draw them himself, but can recognize some. on halloween, one of our pumpkins said “boo.” aidan went up to the pumpkin and read from right to left: “O, O, R.” i was pretty stunned. i haven’t sat down with him yet to teach letters, but he does watch a show on pbs called “super why” that’s all about letters and reading. i had noticed that he’s responding and reacting to his shows more lately. he answers questions (“and what’s your name?”) and dances and claps, etc. he also laughs at the funny parts! so, he's taking in a lot more, and understanding a lot more too.
--potty training is going well. he still doesn’t always tell me when he needs to go, but halloween candy as potty-treats has improved training the last week or so.
--we went to lots of fun places this month. we went to an animal farm, on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, to the zoo with our neighbors, to busch gardens, and trick-or-treating. we had a blast!
--aidan loves animals and had fun petting the goats, ponies, pigs, etc. he liked picking out a little pumpkin for himself. at the zoo, he liked seeing the more exotic animals and also being with his friend ella.
--busch gardens was great. billy’s friend alaina came down from connecticut and we met our friends jesse and shannon, with their little ones jarah and isaac. while we were there, we found some friends of theirs, mike and maria, from church. it worked out great. we had enough parents to take turns keeping the kids so everybody could ride. the adults went on a few rides, and the kids got to do their thing too! we switched up strollers and and kids were all over. it was fun.
--halloween was great. when i pulled down the decorations, and the empty candy holder, aidan remembered what it was for and asked me, “where candy???” pretty cool. he also helped me clean out the pumpkins and carve them. that night, he said he was a dinosaur and sierra was a uconn cheerleader. (aunt devlin goes there.) he got lots of comments on his costume (though different people thought he was a dinosaur, an alligator, or a dragon…either way, he had fun.) he had been practicing “frick-or-freat” for about a month, getting ready for the big day. that night we were out at least two hours going around the neighborhood. a couple kids we saw a few times freaked him out every time. one was a skeleton jester and the other was a warewolf. aidan cried and hid from them every time we saw them. he’s still asking where the scary boys are. the worst/best (depending on how your sense of humor) was when a guy answered the door dressed up. billy was taking him to the doors and i was on the sidewalk. when the guy answered, aidan dropped his bag and just turned and ran to the street screaming. i don’t know what he was dressed as, but the “scary man” really got to him. i got the last part of his reaction on video…but the initial part was priceless.
--sierra adores her big brother. she watches him whenever she can, and does everything in her power to keep him in view. she also looks like she’s ready to get moving and is trying so hard to follow him around. and aidan loves to make sierra laugh. most of the time to make her laugh, we have to nearly tickle her or get in her face and be goofy. he, though, can make her laugh just by talking to her and laughing with her. it’s awesome to watch.
--sierra turned 4months on the 22nd and we went to the pediatrician for her checkup. she weighs 15pounds 2.5ounces, and is 26.5inches long. she’s in the 80th percentile in weight and 97th percentile in height. so she’s long and lean…just like her brother! the doctor said she’s doing great, developing and learning on time or ahead of schedule. she had to get four shots, which was NOT fun! she was overtired already before we got there…very ready for a nap. she was pretty good for her appointment, but cried whenever i wasn’t holding her. but when it was time for her shots, i had to hold her hands and watch her scream and cry…so awful!
--she has now figured out how to roll over. she can go from her tummy to her back. since she sleeps on her belly, most mornings she’s on her back “singing” (one of her FAVORITE things to do) when i go get her! she can almost turn over from her back to her belly. her arm gets in the way, but she’s almost there.
--sierra has started reaching out to anything in view. if she can reach it, it goes straight to the mouth. now she passes things from one hand to the other, and still puts them to her mouth! she also likes to touch your face when you look at or talk to her. and she thinks it’s funny when hair tickles her face.
--she tires to pull herself up now. whenever she’s lying down on the changing table, she grabs the side and tries to sit up. if she’s lying down without something to grab, she does a crunch and tries to sit up. however, when she’s sitting up, she tries to stand up. she prefers to be upright, with her back straight, whether she’s in your lap or in a chair. since she can’t sit unsupported her highchair is reclined, and she grabs the tray and pulls herself so she’s sitting up straight. when she sits on my lap, she arches her back until she’s standing.
--i started helping her practice sitting. she of course, falls right over. mostly, though, it’s because she pushes back to try to stand. oh well.
--so, one of her new favorite places to play is in her jumper. she’s big enough that she can reach the ground, and that she isn’t so far down that her arms get stuck and she can’t use. once she figured out that it bounces, she went nuts. she jumps up and down and laughs. it’s really funny. and now that she’s reaching for things, she can investigate and play with all the toys on the jumper.
--we started sierra on cereal this month…we tried right at 4months. she wasn’t quite ready, and her tongue reflex pushed everything out. she also made one crazy face…like “what in the world is this in my mouth!” i’m not sure if it was a texture thing or a taste thing. either way, she wasn’t sure she liked it. we tried every couple days, knowing the reflex disappears around 4months old, and she’d be “ready” to try solids. about a week later, it all clicked. we still get the face as she gets used to the texture and taste, but she opens her mouth for the spoon, and swallows (most of) the cereal now. it’s really cute!
--quick update on billy. he was promoted this month. four years since ocs, and he’s now officially a lieutenant. his ceremony was a small one, but it was nice. i saw him get commissioned (two weeks AFTER me…so i still consider myself as “out-ranking” him, haha), but i missed his first promotion. i think they were in thailand at the time. anyhow, i got to see him reaffirm his original oath to fight and defend…from all enemies foreign and domestic…, and i was able to pin on his new insignia as an O-3. very nice, and we’re very proud!
--aidan’s vocabulary is booming. he comes up with a new phrase daily. some he gets from us, some from his shows, and some we’re not sure where he gets. he told me to “shut-up” the other day…he didn’t like the response he got, and hasn’t said it much since. we can’t figure out where he picked it up, because it’s not something we say, and we’ve been trying to watch out for things he might hear while we’re watching a sitcom or something. guess we have to be even more limiting…and make sure he knows there are some things you just don’t say.
--he’s speaking in several-word sentences now, and is working on conjugation. language is so complex, it’s amazing how we ever learn it at all!
--some other things he’s learning are shapes and letters. he doesn’t draw them himself, but can recognize some. on halloween, one of our pumpkins said “boo.” aidan went up to the pumpkin and read from right to left: “O, O, R.” i was pretty stunned. i haven’t sat down with him yet to teach letters, but he does watch a show on pbs called “super why” that’s all about letters and reading. i had noticed that he’s responding and reacting to his shows more lately. he answers questions (“and what’s your name?”) and dances and claps, etc. he also laughs at the funny parts! so, he's taking in a lot more, and understanding a lot more too.
--potty training is going well. he still doesn’t always tell me when he needs to go, but halloween candy as potty-treats has improved training the last week or so.
--we went to lots of fun places this month. we went to an animal farm, on a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, to the zoo with our neighbors, to busch gardens, and trick-or-treating. we had a blast!
--aidan loves animals and had fun petting the goats, ponies, pigs, etc. he liked picking out a little pumpkin for himself. at the zoo, he liked seeing the more exotic animals and also being with his friend ella.
--busch gardens was great. billy’s friend alaina came down from connecticut and we met our friends jesse and shannon, with their little ones jarah and isaac. while we were there, we found some friends of theirs, mike and maria, from church. it worked out great. we had enough parents to take turns keeping the kids so everybody could ride. the adults went on a few rides, and the kids got to do their thing too! we switched up strollers and and kids were all over. it was fun.
--halloween was great. when i pulled down the decorations, and the empty candy holder, aidan remembered what it was for and asked me, “where candy???” pretty cool. he also helped me clean out the pumpkins and carve them. that night, he said he was a dinosaur and sierra was a uconn cheerleader. (aunt devlin goes there.) he got lots of comments on his costume (though different people thought he was a dinosaur, an alligator, or a dragon…either way, he had fun.) he had been practicing “frick-or-freat” for about a month, getting ready for the big day. that night we were out at least two hours going around the neighborhood. a couple kids we saw a few times freaked him out every time. one was a skeleton jester and the other was a warewolf. aidan cried and hid from them every time we saw them. he’s still asking where the scary boys are. the worst/best (depending on how your sense of humor) was when a guy answered the door dressed up. billy was taking him to the doors and i was on the sidewalk. when the guy answered, aidan dropped his bag and just turned and ran to the street screaming. i don’t know what he was dressed as, but the “scary man” really got to him. i got the last part of his reaction on video…but the initial part was priceless.
--sierra adores her big brother. she watches him whenever she can, and does everything in her power to keep him in view. she also looks like she’s ready to get moving and is trying so hard to follow him around. and aidan loves to make sierra laugh. most of the time to make her laugh, we have to nearly tickle her or get in her face and be goofy. he, though, can make her laugh just by talking to her and laughing with her. it’s awesome to watch.
--sierra turned 4months on the 22nd and we went to the pediatrician for her checkup. she weighs 15pounds 2.5ounces, and is 26.5inches long. she’s in the 80th percentile in weight and 97th percentile in height. so she’s long and lean…just like her brother! the doctor said she’s doing great, developing and learning on time or ahead of schedule. she had to get four shots, which was NOT fun! she was overtired already before we got there…very ready for a nap. she was pretty good for her appointment, but cried whenever i wasn’t holding her. but when it was time for her shots, i had to hold her hands and watch her scream and cry…so awful!
--she has now figured out how to roll over. she can go from her tummy to her back. since she sleeps on her belly, most mornings she’s on her back “singing” (one of her FAVORITE things to do) when i go get her! she can almost turn over from her back to her belly. her arm gets in the way, but she’s almost there.
--sierra has started reaching out to anything in view. if she can reach it, it goes straight to the mouth. now she passes things from one hand to the other, and still puts them to her mouth! she also likes to touch your face when you look at or talk to her. and she thinks it’s funny when hair tickles her face.
--she tires to pull herself up now. whenever she’s lying down on the changing table, she grabs the side and tries to sit up. if she’s lying down without something to grab, she does a crunch and tries to sit up. however, when she’s sitting up, she tries to stand up. she prefers to be upright, with her back straight, whether she’s in your lap or in a chair. since she can’t sit unsupported her highchair is reclined, and she grabs the tray and pulls herself so she’s sitting up straight. when she sits on my lap, she arches her back until she’s standing.
--i started helping her practice sitting. she of course, falls right over. mostly, though, it’s because she pushes back to try to stand. oh well.
--so, one of her new favorite places to play is in her jumper. she’s big enough that she can reach the ground, and that she isn’t so far down that her arms get stuck and she can’t use. once she figured out that it bounces, she went nuts. she jumps up and down and laughs. it’s really funny. and now that she’s reaching for things, she can investigate and play with all the toys on the jumper.
--we started sierra on cereal this month…we tried right at 4months. she wasn’t quite ready, and her tongue reflex pushed everything out. she also made one crazy face…like “what in the world is this in my mouth!” i’m not sure if it was a texture thing or a taste thing. either way, she wasn’t sure she liked it. we tried every couple days, knowing the reflex disappears around 4months old, and she’d be “ready” to try solids. about a week later, it all clicked. we still get the face as she gets used to the texture and taste, but she opens her mouth for the spoon, and swallows (most of) the cereal now. it’s really cute!
september 07
--sierra has accomplished a lot this month it seems. first of all, she was baptized. that was a special weekend and we had lots of family and friends in town for it. we enjoyed the wine fest on the beach, a bbq at our house, and cake after the ceremony. she was adorable in her elegant dress and bonnet that her god mother devlin gave her. and she was wearing two crosses and a bracelet. the bracelet was from devlin, and grandma and grandpa hunt got her one necklace and her god father, mike, got her the other one. she was so good during the whole thing too. she didn’t cry at all, and just sat still and smiled. even when she had the water poured on her.
--other things that she does now include: laugh out loud, squeal with delight, chew her fingers, and roll from her tummy to her back. she’ll also pull her own hair, pull up her dress to suck on it, “sing,” and whine until somebody talks to her if she doesn’t want to be alone. she will also try to sit up when she’s propped up on a pillow or something. and she’s pretty strong, so she just might do it one day! she’s been “standing” almost since she was born, so that’s not new.
--she turned 3months old on the 22nd, and already she’s filling out some of her 3-6month clothes. she also went to the pool and the zoo for the first time. she didn’t much care about the zoo…she either slept and/or was in the stroller the whole time. the pool, though, she loved. she smiled and kicked like crazy!
--big-boy aidan is doing well too. he is almost potty trained now, and we’re hoping we’ll be done with that sometime soon! his vocabulary has improved a lot too. he speaks in sentences, and he has a lot of new words. sometimes it takes a couple tries or guessing on my part, but he gets his point across. he sometimes switches from“no thank you” to “no thanks,” and from “thank you” to “thanks”; so he’s definitely listening to things we say! he actually told me to “calm down” the other day…
--he’s a real book lover, and will sit for a long time in a pile of books reading quietly. however, if you’re reading to him and pause too long, he says “talking” or “reeeeeead” to make you start reading again. he has fixed his counting problem, at least when it comes to the number 2. he doesn’t skip over it anymore, but he’ll still skip 5 occasionally.
--as for the zoo, aidan loved it. he had a great time there looking at all the animals and walking with grammy and poppy. he also loves the pool, though he doesn’t want to let go if he’s in the big pool. we’re working on it, getting him warmed up to it, and we’re making progress…we just have to take it slow for the most part. he loves the baby pool, and walks around, even walks on his hands like he’s “swimming.” and sometimes he puts his face in the water…on purpose! J
--he’s started this thing where he likes to push out his belly and say “aidan’s bigger.” it’s funny. he knows about size differences. he calls any toy that’s smaller than another toy the “baby” and the bigger one the “mommy.” if there are two bigger ones, then it’s a “mommy and daddy” toy. it can be dinosaurs or even blocks…(big) mommy and daddy cardboard blocks and (small) baby wooden bocks. billy sometimes tries to make him say it’s a daddy toy when there’s only one big one. but aidan, says “noooooooo, it’s the mama.” he doesn’t get mad, he just refuses to be talked out of it. pretty funny.
--he’s started pretending a lot more too. he likes to be different animals. his favorites to imitate are lions and mammoths. then he tells me that the lion is playing the drums or the mammoth is marching in circles or something like that. it’s pretty random, but creative! J
--another thing he does now, is to name different animals, then imitate their sounds and movements, and will even tell you what color they are…totally unsolicited. he also says “excuse me,” “sorry,” “you’re welcome,” and “love you” without prompting. he’s turning into such a little man! except that he’s not little at all. he won’t be three until january, and he’s already wearing 4T clothes. the shirts and shorts fit him perfectly, but the pants still have length for him to grow a bit. in the past year, he’s gone from clothes size 18months/2T to 4T everything. and seems he needs new shoes all the time. we just bought him size 8’s in april. he’s now in a 9.5!!! crazy! i looked up growth charts online the other day. for a 33month old male, at 40pounds and 40inches, he’s in the 97th percentile in weight and 96th percentile in height. he’s huge!
--other things that she does now include: laugh out loud, squeal with delight, chew her fingers, and roll from her tummy to her back. she’ll also pull her own hair, pull up her dress to suck on it, “sing,” and whine until somebody talks to her if she doesn’t want to be alone. she will also try to sit up when she’s propped up on a pillow or something. and she’s pretty strong, so she just might do it one day! she’s been “standing” almost since she was born, so that’s not new.
--she turned 3months old on the 22nd, and already she’s filling out some of her 3-6month clothes. she also went to the pool and the zoo for the first time. she didn’t much care about the zoo…she either slept and/or was in the stroller the whole time. the pool, though, she loved. she smiled and kicked like crazy!
--big-boy aidan is doing well too. he is almost potty trained now, and we’re hoping we’ll be done with that sometime soon! his vocabulary has improved a lot too. he speaks in sentences, and he has a lot of new words. sometimes it takes a couple tries or guessing on my part, but he gets his point across. he sometimes switches from“no thank you” to “no thanks,” and from “thank you” to “thanks”; so he’s definitely listening to things we say! he actually told me to “calm down” the other day…
--he’s a real book lover, and will sit for a long time in a pile of books reading quietly. however, if you’re reading to him and pause too long, he says “talking” or “reeeeeead” to make you start reading again. he has fixed his counting problem, at least when it comes to the number 2. he doesn’t skip over it anymore, but he’ll still skip 5 occasionally.
--as for the zoo, aidan loved it. he had a great time there looking at all the animals and walking with grammy and poppy. he also loves the pool, though he doesn’t want to let go if he’s in the big pool. we’re working on it, getting him warmed up to it, and we’re making progress…we just have to take it slow for the most part. he loves the baby pool, and walks around, even walks on his hands like he’s “swimming.” and sometimes he puts his face in the water…on purpose! J
--he’s started this thing where he likes to push out his belly and say “aidan’s bigger.” it’s funny. he knows about size differences. he calls any toy that’s smaller than another toy the “baby” and the bigger one the “mommy.” if there are two bigger ones, then it’s a “mommy and daddy” toy. it can be dinosaurs or even blocks…(big) mommy and daddy cardboard blocks and (small) baby wooden bocks. billy sometimes tries to make him say it’s a daddy toy when there’s only one big one. but aidan, says “noooooooo, it’s the mama.” he doesn’t get mad, he just refuses to be talked out of it. pretty funny.
--he’s started pretending a lot more too. he likes to be different animals. his favorites to imitate are lions and mammoths. then he tells me that the lion is playing the drums or the mammoth is marching in circles or something like that. it’s pretty random, but creative! J
--another thing he does now, is to name different animals, then imitate their sounds and movements, and will even tell you what color they are…totally unsolicited. he also says “excuse me,” “sorry,” “you’re welcome,” and “love you” without prompting. he’s turning into such a little man! except that he’s not little at all. he won’t be three until january, and he’s already wearing 4T clothes. the shirts and shorts fit him perfectly, but the pants still have length for him to grow a bit. in the past year, he’s gone from clothes size 18months/2T to 4T everything. and seems he needs new shoes all the time. we just bought him size 8’s in april. he’s now in a 9.5!!! crazy! i looked up growth charts online the other day. for a 33month old male, at 40pounds and 40inches, he’s in the 97th percentile in weight and 96th percentile in height. he’s huge!
august 07
--we're still not sure what color sierra's eyes are. sometimes they look green, sometimes light brown. others, a mix...hazel, i guess. not sure if they'll stay this in-between color or go one way or the other sometime. i heard they're usually stable after four months? we'll see.
--she's super strong. can sit up straight (being held of course), can lift her head and chest up when on her belly. she even tries to pull her head up when she's on her back, like she's doing an abdominal crunch. she laughs and smiles a lot. she really likes it when somebody talks to her. she even "talks" back. her little coos are too cute. she has started "talking" to her toys too. i had her on the mat/gym the other day with the toys that dangle down over her while i was fixing my breakfast. i heard her start cooing and laughing, and so i started watching her. she was talking to the bumble bee and even trying to bat at it and make it swing. you can just see the little wheels in her head spinning trying to move her hands the way she wants them to go. at first it was just her understanding that she had control over that hand she was looking at, could ball it up, and put it in her mouth. now she likes to reach for things. she tries to hit her toys, she holds my finger while she nurses, she holds my shirt when i hold her up on my chest. it's sweet.
--she's a scooter just like aidan was. she scoots across the crib or bassinet. usually it's when she's slightly awake...either in between sleep cycles, when she's waking up, or when she's putting herself to sleep, but fighting it. (she's pretty good about that too. she'll definitely fall asleep nursing, but she'll also lie down and go to sleep by herself. granted, it doesn't always work out that way and we have a screaming fit, but most of the time it's fine.) anyway, she'll scoot across to the other side and get stuck in the corner, sometimes she'll even turn herself all the way around until she's facing the other end of the crib. i'm just picturing her ending up head down in the bed years later, like we used to find my little sister sometimes. ;)
--we took both kids to the beach for a few hours one weekend. it was a lot of work, seems there was tons of stuff we had to have. might have to think about simplifying that somewhat...especially if i ever want to take them during a weekday alone. she seemed to like it. i think she liked the breeze and the sounds. the tent we had for her was a little hot, she didn't get any airflow, but guarding her from flying sand (via the hand of aidan) was the hardest part if she was out of the tent! aidan's favorite part is the sand, of course. he asks every other day to go to the "sand with the toys." this time, billy buried aidan up to his chin. he didn't seem to mind. we got some good pictures of it too. he's still a bit scared of the water. he did much better. he went all the way down to the edge...even asked to go. he stood in it and washed his hands off. billy took him in, but he didn't like it. last year it took him all summer to get used to it and enjoy it. this year, we haven't been nearly as often with having a new little one, so he's still adjusting. but since the weather's nice for a while longer and we're more settled, we should really try getting there more often.
--we went with our playgroup to the creek leading to the inlet for a little cruise. we were hoping to see some frogs, fish, (snakes), etc, but all we saw were birds. still aidan had a good time on the boat and looking at the water. he was looking for dolphins though, apparently. he kept asking where they were.
--billy had his command picnic this month too. it was pretty fun. aidan played on the playground most of the time, and sierra slept in the stroller. (she wore her sailor outfit...it was too cute. i wanted to save it for billy's promotion in october, but she'll be too big, so this was perfect.) at one time, her friend isaac (jarah's little bro) was in there with her. billy had to be in the dunking booth...and he got dunked a bunch of times. it was pretty funny! :)
--in the course of a month, sierra’s gone from sleeping four and a half hours max to over eight hours at a time. and i’m so glad those hours are at night...from 9 to 5!! good sleeper. aidan was like that too, though i’m not sure just when he went through the night. she's also gone from staying awake a max of two hours to nearly four. mostly, she gets up at five, nurses, then naps while i run before billy leaves in the morning. then she gets up and we have some time together before aidan gets up. then we all walk with our neighbor sandra and ella, her daughter, and magic, their dog. (starting this month, we'll be heading to the gym after our walk and another snack for sierra...yea! can't wait to be back in shape!!) the rest of the day is playtime, lunch, nap for aidan...and sierra's nap usually corresponds with his, which is great, cause then i can get things done, or sometimes even take a nap myself! :) when aidan gets up, and before time to cook dinner, it's aidan's whiney cuddle time, where he just HAS to be in my lap. sierra's usually still asleep, so it all works out! can't ask for better than that! good sleepers at night, coordinated nap times, and individual time with mommy for both child, and a way for me to work out...and even a nap for me occasionally!
--sierra celebrated her two month birthday on the 22nd. we went to the doctor for her check up the next day. she was 12pounds 11ounces, and 23.5inches long, the 90th percentile in height and weight. but only 60th in head circumference. doctor was impressed with her milestones, she’s strong, holds up her head and pushes up, and even tries to stand. he (and my book) said that that’s usually a 4month achievement. she likes to do it all the time though. so did aidan and he walked early…maybe that’s related???
--aidan has been my big helper lately. he helps change diapers, brings blankets, bounces sierra in her bouncy chair, holds her, and plays with her. she watches him in the car. she's facing backwards and they have a perfect view of each other. he tries to make her laugh. it's pretty funny. when he talks to her, his voice goes up an octave or so, and he switches to sounds instead of words. i guess he's seen us talk to her, and he imitates us. but she loves the attention. we've even had to break out the highchair early for that reason. she doesn't like to be ignored when she's in a mood to be social. (she'll sit an look out the window or play by herself, but also likes attention.) so, we put her at the table with us so she doesn't feel ignored (and cry) while we're eating without her. sometimes she's not crying, just making noise, like "look at me, come get me." all you have to do is walk over to her, and she stops. nothing's wrong with her except that she doesn't want to be alone!
--speaking of imitating us, it's too funny listening to aidan learn to talk! some of the things he now says to me are "come back here," "hold still," and "ah-ah-ah-aaah!" isn't that hilarious!? he hears things and applies them to his own situations. not that this is much of a problem, but we really need to be careful now of what he hears... he's creative too. even though his vocabulary has improved and increased greatly, sometimes we still have problems understanding him. many of his words sound similar and i get them wrong occasionally. if i don't understand him, he adds sound effects or hand movements until i get what he's saying. we didn't teach him that, but somehow he knows that that might help me understand. his "elephant" and "wonder pets" (a dvd) sound similar. to make sure i know he's talking about elephants, he'll the make his elephant sound. of course i can't think of any examples, but he'll act like he's putting food in his mouth and say, "num, num, num" if he's talking about food and i don't know what he wants. normally i try to expound on what he's saying or asking for, or vocalize his feelings for him. it usually helps. one time after his nap, when he was particularly whiney, i was really having a hard time understanding what he was saying. it just made him even more whiney and upset that i didn't get him so i said, "it's hard to talk, isn't it?" he gave me a very tearful "ye-esssssss." it can be irreverently funny listening to him too. last night, he wanted to "piss daddy" instead of kiss him good night. in another unfortunate instance of use of "k," it was replaced with a "d" when he wanted to "kick da ball."
--and, he's such a boy! he's covered with scratches, bumps, bruises, bug bites, stitches, blisters, you name it! in addition to his rambunctious, ball throwing, tearing through the house at full speed, zooming trucks into doors sweet self, we've had two "issues" this month. he sliced his toe on some tile in the garage and needed stitches. he only had a couple, but it was a nightmare getting them done. the anesthetic was the worst part...screamed and kicked...took me and the nurse to hold him down. the stitches were on a numb toe, but still he screamed and cried and thrashed around. after 9days of showers, he was finally able to take his beloved bath on thursday. friday i went to the gym to sign up. they let him go in the playroom while i did everything. when i went to get him, he was playing and laughing. when he saw me, he smiled and started my way, sticking his bottom lip out and trying to cry. his face was covered in scratches. some little girl had evidently scratched him and two other little kids that day. (and i was only gone 20 minutes!) of course they say it never happens, and it probably doesn't...but the mom had to come get her, and the kid was kicked out of the playroom for two weeks. anyway, they have a slide set-up like mcdonald's. those tubes-and-slides-configuration. they were in there when it happened. later when i asked aidan about it, this is what i got from him: "aidan mad. aidan's turn. green slide. girl hurt aidan. other boys. aidan hurt. aidan cry. aidan mad." apparently, and according to aidan: she was cutting in line for the green slide...she hurt aidan and the other boys...aidan cried and is mad. first reaction is obviously hurt for your child's hurt, then anger for someone allowing your child to get hurt, then guilt for bringing him there so someone could allow him to get hurt, then realization that you can't guard him forever, that he has to interact (and you have to work out), and at his age, he'll probably come home with bite-marks on his arms or ear infections soon enough...or he'll be the one biting or hitting next time and we'll be sent home for two weeks. but, such is life.
--she's super strong. can sit up straight (being held of course), can lift her head and chest up when on her belly. she even tries to pull her head up when she's on her back, like she's doing an abdominal crunch. she laughs and smiles a lot. she really likes it when somebody talks to her. she even "talks" back. her little coos are too cute. she has started "talking" to her toys too. i had her on the mat/gym the other day with the toys that dangle down over her while i was fixing my breakfast. i heard her start cooing and laughing, and so i started watching her. she was talking to the bumble bee and even trying to bat at it and make it swing. you can just see the little wheels in her head spinning trying to move her hands the way she wants them to go. at first it was just her understanding that she had control over that hand she was looking at, could ball it up, and put it in her mouth. now she likes to reach for things. she tries to hit her toys, she holds my finger while she nurses, she holds my shirt when i hold her up on my chest. it's sweet.
--she's a scooter just like aidan was. she scoots across the crib or bassinet. usually it's when she's slightly awake...either in between sleep cycles, when she's waking up, or when she's putting herself to sleep, but fighting it. (she's pretty good about that too. she'll definitely fall asleep nursing, but she'll also lie down and go to sleep by herself. granted, it doesn't always work out that way and we have a screaming fit, but most of the time it's fine.) anyway, she'll scoot across to the other side and get stuck in the corner, sometimes she'll even turn herself all the way around until she's facing the other end of the crib. i'm just picturing her ending up head down in the bed years later, like we used to find my little sister sometimes. ;)
--we took both kids to the beach for a few hours one weekend. it was a lot of work, seems there was tons of stuff we had to have. might have to think about simplifying that somewhat...especially if i ever want to take them during a weekday alone. she seemed to like it. i think she liked the breeze and the sounds. the tent we had for her was a little hot, she didn't get any airflow, but guarding her from flying sand (via the hand of aidan) was the hardest part if she was out of the tent! aidan's favorite part is the sand, of course. he asks every other day to go to the "sand with the toys." this time, billy buried aidan up to his chin. he didn't seem to mind. we got some good pictures of it too. he's still a bit scared of the water. he did much better. he went all the way down to the edge...even asked to go. he stood in it and washed his hands off. billy took him in, but he didn't like it. last year it took him all summer to get used to it and enjoy it. this year, we haven't been nearly as often with having a new little one, so he's still adjusting. but since the weather's nice for a while longer and we're more settled, we should really try getting there more often.
--we went with our playgroup to the creek leading to the inlet for a little cruise. we were hoping to see some frogs, fish, (snakes), etc, but all we saw were birds. still aidan had a good time on the boat and looking at the water. he was looking for dolphins though, apparently. he kept asking where they were.
--billy had his command picnic this month too. it was pretty fun. aidan played on the playground most of the time, and sierra slept in the stroller. (she wore her sailor outfit...it was too cute. i wanted to save it for billy's promotion in october, but she'll be too big, so this was perfect.) at one time, her friend isaac (jarah's little bro) was in there with her. billy had to be in the dunking booth...and he got dunked a bunch of times. it was pretty funny! :)
--in the course of a month, sierra’s gone from sleeping four and a half hours max to over eight hours at a time. and i’m so glad those hours are at night...from 9 to 5!! good sleeper. aidan was like that too, though i’m not sure just when he went through the night. she's also gone from staying awake a max of two hours to nearly four. mostly, she gets up at five, nurses, then naps while i run before billy leaves in the morning. then she gets up and we have some time together before aidan gets up. then we all walk with our neighbor sandra and ella, her daughter, and magic, their dog. (starting this month, we'll be heading to the gym after our walk and another snack for sierra...yea! can't wait to be back in shape!!) the rest of the day is playtime, lunch, nap for aidan...and sierra's nap usually corresponds with his, which is great, cause then i can get things done, or sometimes even take a nap myself! :) when aidan gets up, and before time to cook dinner, it's aidan's whiney cuddle time, where he just HAS to be in my lap. sierra's usually still asleep, so it all works out! can't ask for better than that! good sleepers at night, coordinated nap times, and individual time with mommy for both child, and a way for me to work out...and even a nap for me occasionally!
--sierra celebrated her two month birthday on the 22nd. we went to the doctor for her check up the next day. she was 12pounds 11ounces, and 23.5inches long, the 90th percentile in height and weight. but only 60th in head circumference. doctor was impressed with her milestones, she’s strong, holds up her head and pushes up, and even tries to stand. he (and my book) said that that’s usually a 4month achievement. she likes to do it all the time though. so did aidan and he walked early…maybe that’s related???
--aidan has been my big helper lately. he helps change diapers, brings blankets, bounces sierra in her bouncy chair, holds her, and plays with her. she watches him in the car. she's facing backwards and they have a perfect view of each other. he tries to make her laugh. it's pretty funny. when he talks to her, his voice goes up an octave or so, and he switches to sounds instead of words. i guess he's seen us talk to her, and he imitates us. but she loves the attention. we've even had to break out the highchair early for that reason. she doesn't like to be ignored when she's in a mood to be social. (she'll sit an look out the window or play by herself, but also likes attention.) so, we put her at the table with us so she doesn't feel ignored (and cry) while we're eating without her. sometimes she's not crying, just making noise, like "look at me, come get me." all you have to do is walk over to her, and she stops. nothing's wrong with her except that she doesn't want to be alone!
--speaking of imitating us, it's too funny listening to aidan learn to talk! some of the things he now says to me are "come back here," "hold still," and "ah-ah-ah-aaah!" isn't that hilarious!? he hears things and applies them to his own situations. not that this is much of a problem, but we really need to be careful now of what he hears... he's creative too. even though his vocabulary has improved and increased greatly, sometimes we still have problems understanding him. many of his words sound similar and i get them wrong occasionally. if i don't understand him, he adds sound effects or hand movements until i get what he's saying. we didn't teach him that, but somehow he knows that that might help me understand. his "elephant" and "wonder pets" (a dvd) sound similar. to make sure i know he's talking about elephants, he'll the make his elephant sound. of course i can't think of any examples, but he'll act like he's putting food in his mouth and say, "num, num, num" if he's talking about food and i don't know what he wants. normally i try to expound on what he's saying or asking for, or vocalize his feelings for him. it usually helps. one time after his nap, when he was particularly whiney, i was really having a hard time understanding what he was saying. it just made him even more whiney and upset that i didn't get him so i said, "it's hard to talk, isn't it?" he gave me a very tearful "ye-esssssss." it can be irreverently funny listening to him too. last night, he wanted to "piss daddy" instead of kiss him good night. in another unfortunate instance of use of "k," it was replaced with a "d" when he wanted to "kick da ball."
--and, he's such a boy! he's covered with scratches, bumps, bruises, bug bites, stitches, blisters, you name it! in addition to his rambunctious, ball throwing, tearing through the house at full speed, zooming trucks into doors sweet self, we've had two "issues" this month. he sliced his toe on some tile in the garage and needed stitches. he only had a couple, but it was a nightmare getting them done. the anesthetic was the worst part...screamed and kicked...took me and the nurse to hold him down. the stitches were on a numb toe, but still he screamed and cried and thrashed around. after 9days of showers, he was finally able to take his beloved bath on thursday. friday i went to the gym to sign up. they let him go in the playroom while i did everything. when i went to get him, he was playing and laughing. when he saw me, he smiled and started my way, sticking his bottom lip out and trying to cry. his face was covered in scratches. some little girl had evidently scratched him and two other little kids that day. (and i was only gone 20 minutes!) of course they say it never happens, and it probably doesn't...but the mom had to come get her, and the kid was kicked out of the playroom for two weeks. anyway, they have a slide set-up like mcdonald's. those tubes-and-slides-configuration. they were in there when it happened. later when i asked aidan about it, this is what i got from him: "aidan mad. aidan's turn. green slide. girl hurt aidan. other boys. aidan hurt. aidan cry. aidan mad." apparently, and according to aidan: she was cutting in line for the green slide...she hurt aidan and the other boys...aidan cried and is mad. first reaction is obviously hurt for your child's hurt, then anger for someone allowing your child to get hurt, then guilt for bringing him there so someone could allow him to get hurt, then realization that you can't guard him forever, that he has to interact (and you have to work out), and at his age, he'll probably come home with bite-marks on his arms or ear infections soon enough...or he'll be the one biting or hitting next time and we'll be sent home for two weeks. but, such is life.
july 07
**update on us:
--apart from sleep deprivation, the "recovery" associated with childbirth was pretty much accomplished in about 8 days. (if you don't know that that recovery entails, you probably don't want to...) had my six week checkup yesterday, and all is fine. feeling good and i've started working out again. i have been walking since about the first week, but have now begun running and a little bit of body-weight strength training. and since that body weight is much higher than i really want it to be, i'm getting even more of a workout...so it's somewhat of a good thing, if i choose to look at it that way.
--billy's doing great with a newborn. it's fun to watch him learn. he missed most of it with aidan. he was there for aidan's first three weeks, came back after three months, and then was in and out until we left a year and a half later. this time, he's knee deep, so to speak. he still kinda gets stressed when he can't make her stop crying immediately. i keep trying to tell him that he has to do more than just keep doing whatever he's doing...sometimes you gotta get creative and dance with her or something. but still, he's doing great. he's not so grossed out with the possibility of spit-ups, so that's progress too! :)
**update on aidan:
--aidan is doing great. he loves his sister, and constantly wants to hold her. i have to guard her from him most of the time though, cause he doesn't think about how his jumping around and flailing limbs could easily hit her. he also doesn't understand that she doesn't need a blanket over her face and/or can't catch a ball...but we're working on that. he likes to watch her "drinking" (nursing), he likes to play with her, and show her toys. he also likes to get in her face to make her smile, saying "hey, you!"
--he was almost potty trained the week before she was born. we've backtracked a bit in that department, but i was expecting it. then we either had company or were company out of town for nearly five weeks, breaking our routine, so we've just had to deal with it for a while, and can now jump back on it. hopefully we'll get all the kinks worked out soon and we can have only one baby in diapers.
--as for jealousy or aggression, we haven't had too many instances. he's hit her occasionally, but he hits us, so i don't know if it's related, or if it's just that she's there, or if he wants to see what we'll do. she's only cared/cried once. of course i wasn't there to guard her then...that's how it works, i guess. when i asked him why she was crying, he said "hit baby." i put him in time-out and asked why he hit her. he said, "shoes." (he hit her with his shoe. good answer, huh?) then he said, "crying." we had to have an explanation on why we don't hit people, especially babies.
--he has tons of new phrases...too many to list, but we hear a new all the time, and they get longer and more recognizable every day. He now knows his colors and can count from 3 to 9. he can count from 1 to 3 too, but he always forgets 2. since this is a july update, i can't tell you that he added 2 to his sequence on august 1st... ;) he still doesn't string those two sequences together unless he's prompted with a 4, but still it's pretty cool. on our trip to jersey he just started counting and billy and i smiled and laughed at the first couple numbers, then looked at each other as he just kept going. he amazes us all the time. --he's also grasped the concept of plural and possessive. and he calls himself by name and says "aidan's."
**update on sierra:
--sierra's doing great, aside from being hit with shoes. ;) she's super strong. she's been holding her head up since she was born. she's been able to hold it up longer and longer and now she can keep it up. her legs are really strong too. if she doesn't want her diaper changed, good luck!
--but she's really sweet. she smiles when she's contnet. and she laughs in her sleep. it's pretty funny. she eats really well, and sleeps really well. during the day she's awake about an hour at a time, has to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. at night she sleeps 3 to 4.5 hours at a time, and only wakes up to eat. really easy, i can't complain. so basically i'm up at 3am to nurse, and that's it.
**comparisons:
--they're very much alike in personality...both really content and easy going. both eat well and sleep well. they have some cute differences though...aside from the obvious (gender and) color differences, she being darker all around, hair and skin. aidan had the hiccups nearly every day while i was pregnant, and has had them maybe twice since he was born. sierra had hiccups once while i was pregnant, and has them every other day now. aidan never spit up, and she does a little. guess she has issues with gas/air bubbles or something.
--she's also pretty vocal, already. she sighs as she nurses, she hums when she's content, she grunts as she wakes up; never has to cry though unless she's left too long. mostly she will just let out a little squeal every so often when she feels she's being ignored. but when she does cry, sometimes she has to cry a bit longer than aidan had to because i have more to deal with than i did with him (meaning him), and i can't just drop it all the time to get to her.
--we think her eyes are changing colors...and they don't look blue so much anymore. personally, i was hoping for another blue-eyed baby, but oh well. today i noticed they were not the slate blue/gray she was born with. they look closer to hazel or green...but then she is wearing a tourquoise dress today. maybe that has something to do with it? they still have time to change some more, so we'll see.
--all in all, everything is wonderful...wonderful baby, wonderful big brother, wonderful having daddy around, and having a wonderful time.
--apart from sleep deprivation, the "recovery" associated with childbirth was pretty much accomplished in about 8 days. (if you don't know that that recovery entails, you probably don't want to...) had my six week checkup yesterday, and all is fine. feeling good and i've started working out again. i have been walking since about the first week, but have now begun running and a little bit of body-weight strength training. and since that body weight is much higher than i really want it to be, i'm getting even more of a workout...so it's somewhat of a good thing, if i choose to look at it that way.
--billy's doing great with a newborn. it's fun to watch him learn. he missed most of it with aidan. he was there for aidan's first three weeks, came back after three months, and then was in and out until we left a year and a half later. this time, he's knee deep, so to speak. he still kinda gets stressed when he can't make her stop crying immediately. i keep trying to tell him that he has to do more than just keep doing whatever he's doing...sometimes you gotta get creative and dance with her or something. but still, he's doing great. he's not so grossed out with the possibility of spit-ups, so that's progress too! :)
**update on aidan:
--aidan is doing great. he loves his sister, and constantly wants to hold her. i have to guard her from him most of the time though, cause he doesn't think about how his jumping around and flailing limbs could easily hit her. he also doesn't understand that she doesn't need a blanket over her face and/or can't catch a ball...but we're working on that. he likes to watch her "drinking" (nursing), he likes to play with her, and show her toys. he also likes to get in her face to make her smile, saying "hey, you!"
--he was almost potty trained the week before she was born. we've backtracked a bit in that department, but i was expecting it. then we either had company or were company out of town for nearly five weeks, breaking our routine, so we've just had to deal with it for a while, and can now jump back on it. hopefully we'll get all the kinks worked out soon and we can have only one baby in diapers.
--as for jealousy or aggression, we haven't had too many instances. he's hit her occasionally, but he hits us, so i don't know if it's related, or if it's just that she's there, or if he wants to see what we'll do. she's only cared/cried once. of course i wasn't there to guard her then...that's how it works, i guess. when i asked him why she was crying, he said "hit baby." i put him in time-out and asked why he hit her. he said, "shoes." (he hit her with his shoe. good answer, huh?) then he said, "crying." we had to have an explanation on why we don't hit people, especially babies.
--he has tons of new phrases...too many to list, but we hear a new all the time, and they get longer and more recognizable every day. He now knows his colors and can count from 3 to 9. he can count from 1 to 3 too, but he always forgets 2. since this is a july update, i can't tell you that he added 2 to his sequence on august 1st... ;) he still doesn't string those two sequences together unless he's prompted with a 4, but still it's pretty cool. on our trip to jersey he just started counting and billy and i smiled and laughed at the first couple numbers, then looked at each other as he just kept going. he amazes us all the time. --he's also grasped the concept of plural and possessive. and he calls himself by name and says "aidan's."
**update on sierra:
--sierra's doing great, aside from being hit with shoes. ;) she's super strong. she's been holding her head up since she was born. she's been able to hold it up longer and longer and now she can keep it up. her legs are really strong too. if she doesn't want her diaper changed, good luck!
--but she's really sweet. she smiles when she's contnet. and she laughs in her sleep. it's pretty funny. she eats really well, and sleeps really well. during the day she's awake about an hour at a time, has to eat every 2.5 to 3 hours. at night she sleeps 3 to 4.5 hours at a time, and only wakes up to eat. really easy, i can't complain. so basically i'm up at 3am to nurse, and that's it.
**comparisons:
--they're very much alike in personality...both really content and easy going. both eat well and sleep well. they have some cute differences though...aside from the obvious (gender and) color differences, she being darker all around, hair and skin. aidan had the hiccups nearly every day while i was pregnant, and has had them maybe twice since he was born. sierra had hiccups once while i was pregnant, and has them every other day now. aidan never spit up, and she does a little. guess she has issues with gas/air bubbles or something.
--she's also pretty vocal, already. she sighs as she nurses, she hums when she's content, she grunts as she wakes up; never has to cry though unless she's left too long. mostly she will just let out a little squeal every so often when she feels she's being ignored. but when she does cry, sometimes she has to cry a bit longer than aidan had to because i have more to deal with than i did with him (meaning him), and i can't just drop it all the time to get to her.
--we think her eyes are changing colors...and they don't look blue so much anymore. personally, i was hoping for another blue-eyed baby, but oh well. today i noticed they were not the slate blue/gray she was born with. they look closer to hazel or green...but then she is wearing a tourquoise dress today. maybe that has something to do with it? they still have time to change some more, so we'll see.
--all in all, everything is wonderful...wonderful baby, wonderful big brother, wonderful having daddy around, and having a wonderful time.
june 07
--we have a new member of the family to introduce. sierra rose hunt was born on friday, june 22nd. i had had contractions off and on since tuesday, but they never got painful though they did get regular. went to bed thursday night with the same situation. woke up at 1am with contractions that were real. woke everybody up at 2 after timing them, and we got to the hospital at 3am. they had to "observe" me and monitor the contractions and her heartbeat, while they checked me into the computer. i was 4-5cm dilated and they were 3.5minutes apart at that time.
--when i finally got to go to my room, they were hurting much more and coming much faster. almost immediately (seems to me now) that i felt like pushing. so at 4:45am, my midwife checked me again and i was fully dilated and ready to push. sierra was born at 5:08am. pretty fast...not counting the days of warmup contractions. aidan's total labor was 9hours...her's was about 4. sounds great, right??? only problem was that i never really had time to adjust and get "comfortable" with each pain level before they got stronger...each contraction was worse than the previous. oh well. we made it through...and without meds!!! and we have a healthy little girl now, so we're happy! :)
--she was full term, weighed 8pounds 15ounces, and was 20.5inches long. (aidan was two weeks early, 8pounds 13ounces, 21inches long.)
--personally, i think she looks EXACTLY like aidan did when he was born, she just has darker hair...besides the obvious gender differences! ;)
--i've had a lot of help lately, we've had company basically every day since the 15th of june. i had one day alone a couple weeks ago, and i have today. tomorrow, we're driving to new jersey/new york for about 10 days. then things will probably settle into more of a routine when we get back. --sierra's great. she's already growing and learning. at two weeks she weighed 9pounds, 4.5ounces, and was 21.5inches long. (fyi: she went down to about 8pounds 5ounces by the time we left the hospital, and she was 20.5inches long.) she was holding her head up almost immediately, but can do it much better and longer these days. her eyes are open a lot more lately, she's staying awake during the day for longer periods of time. she's a great sleeper, she only wakes up around 2am and 5 or 6 am to eat, going to bed around 11:30. she's a really easy baby, and super sweet. we're having lots of fun with her around.
--aidan has regressed a bit with the potty training, and at first was upset to have to share mommy and daddy with someone new, acting out a bit. that's gone down now, though it still happens, and we're getting back to our potty routine. mostly he wants to "help" (which means hold her.) he's also a good real helper...he'll go get things for me or take diapers to the trashcan. and he likes to rock her in her seat and kiss her on the head.
--when i finally got to go to my room, they were hurting much more and coming much faster. almost immediately (seems to me now) that i felt like pushing. so at 4:45am, my midwife checked me again and i was fully dilated and ready to push. sierra was born at 5:08am. pretty fast...not counting the days of warmup contractions. aidan's total labor was 9hours...her's was about 4. sounds great, right??? only problem was that i never really had time to adjust and get "comfortable" with each pain level before they got stronger...each contraction was worse than the previous. oh well. we made it through...and without meds!!! and we have a healthy little girl now, so we're happy! :)
--she was full term, weighed 8pounds 15ounces, and was 20.5inches long. (aidan was two weeks early, 8pounds 13ounces, 21inches long.)
--personally, i think she looks EXACTLY like aidan did when he was born, she just has darker hair...besides the obvious gender differences! ;)
--i've had a lot of help lately, we've had company basically every day since the 15th of june. i had one day alone a couple weeks ago, and i have today. tomorrow, we're driving to new jersey/new york for about 10 days. then things will probably settle into more of a routine when we get back. --sierra's great. she's already growing and learning. at two weeks she weighed 9pounds, 4.5ounces, and was 21.5inches long. (fyi: she went down to about 8pounds 5ounces by the time we left the hospital, and she was 20.5inches long.) she was holding her head up almost immediately, but can do it much better and longer these days. her eyes are open a lot more lately, she's staying awake during the day for longer periods of time. she's a great sleeper, she only wakes up around 2am and 5 or 6 am to eat, going to bed around 11:30. she's a really easy baby, and super sweet. we're having lots of fun with her around.
--aidan has regressed a bit with the potty training, and at first was upset to have to share mommy and daddy with someone new, acting out a bit. that's gone down now, though it still happens, and we're getting back to our potty routine. mostly he wants to "help" (which means hold her.) he's also a good real helper...he'll go get things for me or take diapers to the trashcan. and he likes to rock her in her seat and kiss her on the head.
may 07
-- due date is 23 june, and we'll see what comes of that! i'm hoping to go earlier than later, but i don't have much choice in the matter. however, the doctor wants to do another ultrasound next week (i'm going every week now) to see how big sierra is right now. aidan was nearly nine pounds two weeks early, and though i'm sure i could handle it being on the larger side myself, i don't know if they want to wait on an already big baby. i'll keep you posted on th at.
--aidan update: feats of the month include naming colors (red, blue, green, yellow, and brown) and climbing UP the slide. however, he couldn't make it with the collection of sticks he had in his hands the first time. (he's a collector like his dad was, i'm told) but once i convinced him he'd make it to the top if he put them down, he did it just fine. now he goes up the stairs only a few times, but climbs up and slides back down (sometimes backwards or upside-down) most of the time...all the while telling himself to "ho wand" ("hold on").
--we got together with his friend jarah a few times this month. jarah is the precious blonde younger woman...by 10 whole days, but you wouldn't know it to look at them together. aidan's almost a head taller and outweighs her by nearly 20pounds. i guess they're both at the extreme ends of the growth chart for their age. jarah jus t had a new baby brother in february (isaac), and aidan enjoyed holding a real baby for the first time. thought it'd be good practice for him...and he looked so proud. we also got him a little baby doll (much to the dismay of his father) that he can practice being gentle with. he cuddles her and feeds her and puts her to night-night. but then, he'll hold her upside down and say "fall down??" of course i tell him, no, that we must be gentle with babies...that we can't cover their faces with blankets, or make them fall off tables, or "take bath" in the potty.
--potty training is going well...but it is a process. he will sometimes tell me when he needs to go, but that's better than never. and when i take him cause it's been a while, he'll go if he has to or won't if he doesn't. he's also much better at staying dry for long periods of time. however, sometimes he'll pee t hree whole minutes after he just went to the potty in lowe's or somewhere, and i have to clean the store floor. so it's still a bit frustrating.
--vocab is coming along as well. he speaks in sentences, but you have to catch the few main words and deduce what he's saying. however he knows exactly what he's saying and will repeat it nonstop! prepositions are tough for him. he'll come to me with arms raised and tell me "down" to get him to pick him "up." he tells me he wants "out" of the potty, instead of "off." but that's a tough concept, so no worries. his new big words are: "dinosaur," "animals," and "downstairs/upstairs." dinosaurs comes from "the land before time" movie that is his current favorite...that and "toy story." buzz is his favorite character right now. his shoes are buzz, which he loves, and he has started this thing where he stands on something puts his fists in the air, says "fee and beyonnnn" ("to infinity and beyond"), and jumps! i think he'll have to be buzz for halloween or something. he also calls all leaves "tree stars" now. pretty cute. buzz and dinosaurs have beaten out nemo and madagascar right now, though we still watch them a lot.
--aidan update: feats of the month include naming colors (red, blue, green, yellow, and brown) and climbing UP the slide. however, he couldn't make it with the collection of sticks he had in his hands the first time. (he's a collector like his dad was, i'm told) but once i convinced him he'd make it to the top if he put them down, he did it just fine. now he goes up the stairs only a few times, but climbs up and slides back down (sometimes backwards or upside-down) most of the time...all the while telling himself to "ho wand" ("hold on").
--we got together with his friend jarah a few times this month. jarah is the precious blonde younger woman...by 10 whole days, but you wouldn't know it to look at them together. aidan's almost a head taller and outweighs her by nearly 20pounds. i guess they're both at the extreme ends of the growth chart for their age. jarah jus t had a new baby brother in february (isaac), and aidan enjoyed holding a real baby for the first time. thought it'd be good practice for him...and he looked so proud. we also got him a little baby doll (much to the dismay of his father) that he can practice being gentle with. he cuddles her and feeds her and puts her to night-night. but then, he'll hold her upside down and say "fall down??" of course i tell him, no, that we must be gentle with babies...that we can't cover their faces with blankets, or make them fall off tables, or "take bath" in the potty.
--potty training is going well...but it is a process. he will sometimes tell me when he needs to go, but that's better than never. and when i take him cause it's been a while, he'll go if he has to or won't if he doesn't. he's also much better at staying dry for long periods of time. however, sometimes he'll pee t hree whole minutes after he just went to the potty in lowe's or somewhere, and i have to clean the store floor. so it's still a bit frustrating.
--vocab is coming along as well. he speaks in sentences, but you have to catch the few main words and deduce what he's saying. however he knows exactly what he's saying and will repeat it nonstop! prepositions are tough for him. he'll come to me with arms raised and tell me "down" to get him to pick him "up." he tells me he wants "out" of the potty, instead of "off." but that's a tough concept, so no worries. his new big words are: "dinosaur," "animals," and "downstairs/upstairs." dinosaurs comes from "the land before time" movie that is his current favorite...that and "toy story." buzz is his favorite character right now. his shoes are buzz, which he loves, and he has started this thing where he stands on something puts his fists in the air, says "fee and beyonnnn" ("to infinity and beyond"), and jumps! i think he'll have to be buzz for halloween or something. he also calls all leaves "tree stars" now. pretty cute. buzz and dinosaurs have beaten out nemo and madagascar right now, though we still watch them a lot.
march - april 07
--started potty training more officially. have made progress, but we're still working on it. he will go whenever i take him to the toilet, usually without much fuss, but still won't tell me when he needs to go, and/or sometimes even when he's already gone. our other potty training issue is aiming...gotta be ready for it! :)
--aidan and i went to blacksburg in march to visit my sister at va tech. my mom and grandparents drove up too. it was great to see them all and spend some time with them.
--easter was pretty fun. we had grammy (billy's mom) down for the week. i cut his hair before then, a change from the 80's bowl cut he was sporting. at first we went with the original bowl cut...but it looked a little too something, so a couple days later i ended up tapering the back a bit...looked much better. he totally looks like a little boy these days. he's so grown up, it's funny.
--he repeats everything he hears, whether he understands what's going on or not, so now's the time to really make sure what he hears is appropriate!! he has some new phrases of his own too. sayings he's picked up and even uses at the right times. things like, "come on," "oh no," "let's go," "fall down," "in the potty," "where'd it go," "one, two, three, five, four," it's pretty fun to watch him learn.
--we were in jersey the last part of april, first part of may. billy's mom threw us a baby shower. it was really great. we had a good time at a great restaurant, and got an absolute ton of gifts. i don't think i have to buy anything but diapers for a year!! good stuff! my sister drove up for the shower, which was nice. emily got to meet billy's side of the family and it was fun to have here there for the shower. my dad drove "over" (he tells me it's not down, but over, from his part of long island) the next day and we all went to lunch before emily had to drive back to school.
--things are great with sierra. still no issues, just getting bigger. we have (officially) six weeks left...but i'm thinking (hoping) that we go early again this time. but we'll see. seems i've been blessed with good pregnancies...nothing bad to report...however, i have gained more weight this time (after starting out heavier already...yuck)! oh well. soon enough, i'll be running again.
--aidan and i went to blacksburg in march to visit my sister at va tech. my mom and grandparents drove up too. it was great to see them all and spend some time with them.
--easter was pretty fun. we had grammy (billy's mom) down for the week. i cut his hair before then, a change from the 80's bowl cut he was sporting. at first we went with the original bowl cut...but it looked a little too something, so a couple days later i ended up tapering the back a bit...looked much better. he totally looks like a little boy these days. he's so grown up, it's funny.
--he repeats everything he hears, whether he understands what's going on or not, so now's the time to really make sure what he hears is appropriate!! he has some new phrases of his own too. sayings he's picked up and even uses at the right times. things like, "come on," "oh no," "let's go," "fall down," "in the potty," "where'd it go," "one, two, three, five, four," it's pretty fun to watch him learn.
--we were in jersey the last part of april, first part of may. billy's mom threw us a baby shower. it was really great. we had a good time at a great restaurant, and got an absolute ton of gifts. i don't think i have to buy anything but diapers for a year!! good stuff! my sister drove up for the shower, which was nice. emily got to meet billy's side of the family and it was fun to have here there for the shower. my dad drove "over" (he tells me it's not down, but over, from his part of long island) the next day and we all went to lunch before emily had to drive back to school.
--things are great with sierra. still no issues, just getting bigger. we have (officially) six weeks left...but i'm thinking (hoping) that we go early again this time. but we'll see. seems i've been blessed with good pregnancies...nothing bad to report...however, i have gained more weight this time (after starting out heavier already...yuck)! oh well. soon enough, i'll be running again.
december 06 - january 07
--we spent xmas in jersey with billy's family. went back and forth between his mom's and his dad's houses. and my dad came for xmas dinner at his mom's house. after that, we had a quiet new year at home, and tried to get unpacked and cleaned up and ALL THE GIFTS organized!! and goodness, did aidan get some gifts! you should have seen my car trying to get back home. packed every inch and on the roof!--my dad and my sister came to va beach for a weekend visit, and we got word that my grandfather (my dad's dad) passed away. as sad as that was, we were together for the travel, and were able to extend our visit somewhat instead of meeting up in mississippi, and we were able to visit with family that can't always get together. --however, before we left for missi, we celebrated aidan's second birthday! wow...time files! he got to open MORE gifts, and enjoyed every minute. we took him to chuck e. cheese to play with his friend jarah, who will be two this week. --my cousin lisa came in from minnesota to va beach a week or so ago for a conference for her work. we met up one evening and spent hours remembering, talking, and catching up. seems like whenever we started college, visits were fewer and farther between, and short! so it was great!
--an update on aidan's progress:
--aidan has many many more words in his vocab now. i won't list them all, though i am trying to keep track of them. his favorites are "more, drum, tree,slide, baby, fish, Elmo, bath, watch, poo-poo, and choo-choo." he's even starting to put words together into small sentences (mostly two-worders), like "up please", "out please", "no, mama", and my favorite: "more please juice". he knows all his body parts, but can only name a few. his favorites being "eye, knee, elbow, back, hiney, and toes." he also tells me when things are "hot" and to "shhhh." and when my dad was here, if i didn't let aidan do what he wanted to do, he'd call for "paw-paw!"--we had his two-year check up yesterday. he's now 36.5 inches tall and 34 pounds. he's still 95th percentile in height, but about 80th in weight. he got a flu shot, and didn't like it a bit. other than that, all is well. --i've signed us up for a playgroup. we're going to the first playdate next monday. and we're also starting story time at the library. should be fun!
--an update on billy:
--things are good at work, just busy. he has a major inspection coming up in april, and he' has some slackers working for him. so he's trying to get them into shape. plus about half are pregnant and due in march, so that doesn't help at all!--as for the new "plan" by gw...we don't think it'll effect billy, but i guess it's always a possibility. the way we see it, if they were to take him away from his post here, they'd just have to replace him. however, we're almost expecting him to have to go somewhere when our three years here are up. either on a ship patrolling the gulf (that's what i'm hoping for), or on an IA (individual augmentation of duty) to the ground in either iraq or afganistan.
--an update on baby number 2:
--we are now almost 18 weeks along. i had our first appt with our midwife at the obgyn office last week. i got to hear the heartbeat and had some bloodwork done. tests came out fine, and the heartbeat was a strong 145bpm. our ultrasound is scheduled for feb 8, and billy (and aidan) will be coming to the rest of the appointments with me. we'll keep you posted...
--an update on aidan's progress:
--aidan has many many more words in his vocab now. i won't list them all, though i am trying to keep track of them. his favorites are "more, drum, tree,slide, baby, fish, Elmo, bath, watch, poo-poo, and choo-choo." he's even starting to put words together into small sentences (mostly two-worders), like "up please", "out please", "no, mama", and my favorite: "more please juice". he knows all his body parts, but can only name a few. his favorites being "eye, knee, elbow, back, hiney, and toes." he also tells me when things are "hot" and to "shhhh." and when my dad was here, if i didn't let aidan do what he wanted to do, he'd call for "paw-paw!"--we had his two-year check up yesterday. he's now 36.5 inches tall and 34 pounds. he's still 95th percentile in height, but about 80th in weight. he got a flu shot, and didn't like it a bit. other than that, all is well. --i've signed us up for a playgroup. we're going to the first playdate next monday. and we're also starting story time at the library. should be fun!
--an update on billy:
--things are good at work, just busy. he has a major inspection coming up in april, and he' has some slackers working for him. so he's trying to get them into shape. plus about half are pregnant and due in march, so that doesn't help at all!--as for the new "plan" by gw...we don't think it'll effect billy, but i guess it's always a possibility. the way we see it, if they were to take him away from his post here, they'd just have to replace him. however, we're almost expecting him to have to go somewhere when our three years here are up. either on a ship patrolling the gulf (that's what i'm hoping for), or on an IA (individual augmentation of duty) to the ground in either iraq or afganistan.
--an update on baby number 2:
--we are now almost 18 weeks along. i had our first appt with our midwife at the obgyn office last week. i got to hear the heartbeat and had some bloodwork done. tests came out fine, and the heartbeat was a strong 145bpm. our ultrasound is scheduled for feb 8, and billy (and aidan) will be coming to the rest of the appointments with me. we'll keep you posted...
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