9 Months Old!!

Time just keeps ticking away and this little girl just keeps getting older, it just seems crazy to me that she is getting so old!!  She wasnt in the best mood for her photo shoot, she just didnt want to cooperate, but I got enough to not try and attempt it again, cause my guess is she wasnt gonna want to cooperate the next day either!!

Lets check in with our growing girl...

• she went to the doctor this month, she is a petite little girl..
• 17lbs exactly (30%)
• 27 inches exactly (25%)
• head is 42.5 cm (16%)
• see what i am saying, a petite one
• still wearing 6 to 9 month clothes, imagine she will continue to do for at least a few months
• she is officially crawling, she started probably 3 weeks ago
• she got sick for 3 weeks so her crawling took a back seat to figuring out how to breathe and suck her thumb at the same time, but now that she can breath she is getting into everything
• like all other little kids she loves the pots under the stove, the dogs food and water bowls, and anything that doesnt belong to her
• she is pulling herself up on everything she can find, often times it is just a wall and she comes crashing down
• she has started talking more, no official sounds consistently (like ma or da) but just more chatter
• she still has the funniest little laugh for such a small girl, its like a grown man is laughing, ian thinks there is something wrong :)
• she loves her brother and her dogs, she watches them and laughs and laughs
• is getting a bit more independent, she likes to just sit in the middle of the toy room and just investigate and play, which is nice for me at times :)
• still sleeps all night long (around 10 to 12 hours) but has decided that she doesnt want to take naps during the day, you have to force her to take them
• when she wakes up she doesnt make a sound, she just sits up or stands up in her crib and waits for you to find her
• she has quite a temper, she gets a bit mad when you take something away from her.  nora tried to take one of her snacks the other day and it was not a pretty site, nora got a few smacks from this tiny girl
• she loves to eat, she loves her bottles and her purees and her finger foods.  she shoves like 10 cheerios in her mouth sometimes.
• she recently decided that veggies are not her favorite and will either gag or just push the food away, we are still working on her getting over this
• she is just changing so much everyday and is getting to be so fun!!!

8 Months Old!!

 She seriously can not be 8 months old, I just dont get how time can move so quickly!!!!!

So once again, lets see whats new...

• she wasnt supposed to go to the doctor but her ears had been bothering her, so she did, and she weighs 17lb 6 oz, so she is getting bigger. ian says her cheeks and legs are showing it :)
• her ear pain was teething pain, evidently her upper gums are very swollen, so maybe some top teeth will be joining us soon!!!
• she is still a piggy and could eat all day if you let her, she loves to eat finger foods (as long as they arent apples) and is getting a handle on the pincher grasp, but is still a big fan of fisting her food into her mouth
• she can hold her bottles (when she wants to) and when she is done she swats it away, if you try to move it back she just keeps swatting at it and gets mad
• she is a bit sassy ;)
• she still hates things on her head, she wont leave anything one for more than 30 seconds

• she is SOOOOOOO close to crawling, she gets on all 4s and tries to move but then one of her legs will just slide out below her and she belly flops, I give her a week or so before she has it down
• she learned how to get to a sitting position from a laying down
• she learned how to pull herself up to standing
• she is just starting to move her legs around while standing (while holding onto things of course)
• she always wants to be moving, either trying to fall off a chair, reaching for whatever you have, rolling around, trying to get the iPad, a dog, her brother's toy, whatever it is, if its not hers she wants it!!!

• you really have to be careful of what you have around her because she will grab it and knock it over in a second, this little girl has fast arms!!!
• this isnt new to this month but she still does it, but lisa claims she has turrets of the arms.  she will have a toy she wants, throw it in front or in back of her, and then look around like "where is my toy, i wanted it".  its pretty funny, she is so gerky most of the time and then add her random throwing of toys she wants into the mix and you can get a good laugh from her
• she loves the iPad, when she gets to play on it she laughs and laughs, its sooo funny
• she is really starting to enjoy her johnny jumpup, she loves to jump and bounce and again, she just laughs and laugh
• still sleeping all night (from around 9pm to 715am), but is getting harder to get her naps in, so around 7pm she starts breaking down for the night, lots of mommy time is required which is not the most fun for me sometimes 
• she is my little guy that i love with all my heart!!!!

MRI do's and dont's: hopefully a comical, yet very realistic guide

As a patient, DO NOT:

• be 3 years old
• be autistic
• not like strangers
• not like doctors, nurses, anyone in the medical profession really
• freak out when they put lotion on your arms in the waiting room
• refuse to walk through the doors into the office
• not like medicine
• spit out medicine
• refuse to watch your favorite movie cause you know they want you to
• fight like a buckin' bronco
• refuse to give up fighting even when you are exhausted
• refuse to sleep even when you are beyond tired
• not like shots
• not like needles
• not like bandaids and/or tape on your skin
• need 5 people to hold you down in an attempt to insert an iv
• have your veins blow in both your arms while trying to insert said iv
• have a tiny little hand to then try to insert an iv into
• not like things being taped on your (hands, legs, ears, anywhere)
• did i mention fight like a buckin' bronco
• also, did i mention refuse to give up
• try to keep fighting the sedatives they are pumping into you while strapped onto an MRI
• keep trying to scream when they have the max dose of medicine
• reach up with your arms during the final 2 minutes of the MRI
• refuse to wake up after your allowed 30 mintues of rest post MRI
• get super mad when they remove tape from you
• get super mad when your mom tries to get you dressed 
• refuse to eat or drink so you can leave the clinic
• get mad at your lovely nurse aunt who came along for a horrible 5 hour journey only to have the dirty socks of a 3 year old thrown at her in the car

As a parent (or aunt who tags along), DO NOT:

• expect it to not be awful if thats what you are expecting
• expect to get out on time
• remember to take off all of your jewelry, and not wear anything with metal to only put super cute skinny jeans (with a metal snap) on the child getting the MRI
• forget to feed yourself lunch
• leave a guy with 2 infants and take his cell phone with you, especially if he needs to get to work and your appointment ends up taking 2.5 hours longer than scheduled
• forget to bring things to do (that dont require cell phone or internet connection in the black hole the office is in) in the time you are waiting for medicine to kick in or your child to stop freaking out
• forget medical facilities go from hot to cold in the blink of an eye and not be prepared with layers
• bother to wear makeup, you are just gonna get red cherry flavored medicine spit in your face multiple times
• ever think about bringing the child's grandparent along because if they would have seen what was going on they would have taken the child and walked out  :)

As a patient, DO:

• be tired; very, very tired
• be hungry; very, very hungry
• be thirsty; very, very thirsty

As a parent, DO:

• bring along your sister who is a nurse so she can understand the medical stuff they keep saying and also so you can leave even though your child refused to eat or drink because if he gets sick later the medical staff knows the nurse at home with you will know what to do
• be super nice to the medical team that is getting beat up and spit on by your precious 3 year old, they will make this day go better for all of you 
• take your child to the branch that specializes in children, they know what they are doing, they dont get mad, and they are crazy enough to deal with this every day, you wouldnt want to deprive them of their love, would you????

Whats up with Logan you ask???

I know some people are curious about Logan's improvement in his PPCD class and what we heard when we went to visit the pediatric neurologist last week, so I thought I would try to give a not very long update (its still gonna be long, this is me after all, but hopefully it wont be forever long).

Lets start with the doctors appointment:

• he was diagnosed as autistic, but on the high functioning side of the spectrum (which is what I kinda figured)
• this diagnosis was not just about his speech delay, but that along with his sensory issues and his behavior around his peers, now if we would have looked at this a year ago his behavior with peers would have been much worse than it is now, but his sensory issues would have been better, so he is making progress in areas and not so much in others
• to see if we can a reason for the speech delay he is scheduled for an MRI, and EEG, bloodwork to test for lead, thyroid and fagile X.  they could all come back and not show anything and if thats the case we can also do genetic testing.  We have amazing insurance so I would guess if these dont shed any light we will probably do that, but right now we are focusing on these.
• the MRI is scheduled for Monday, Lisa is gonna come along to keep him awake on the way there as they say that will help with the sedation that is necessary.
• the bloodwork we just stop in, Lisa is also gonna come to that and we will need additional help from their staff to hold this crazy boy down
• the EEG is not until December 4th, but I am gonna see if there is any chance of getting it moved up, but that is at the neurologists office (the one that took months to get into) so Im thinking thats not gonna happen :)
• since he has a diagnosis now we can get additional private speech therapy (ST) and occupational therapy (OT) and there is no cap from insurance like before he was diagnosed, so we will be adding additoinal therapy to help him continue to improve
• it is very common for children that are high functioning to function normally with therapy and modifications, so thats what we are gonna do
• as for home modifications we basically need him to never play alone (or as little as possible), we need to teach his brain that it is good to be around other people (children more than adults but adults still help) and to interact with them, not just play alone or sit back and watch
• the OT will be needed to help me figure out how to get him to touch certain things or to put on jackets, hats, etc.  I am at a loss when it comes to this so I welcome their expertise
• the OT and ST will also be able to help with his horrible eating habits but we are also trying to help too by basically only offering his hot dogs and cheese (2 things he has eating in the past) and if we doesnt eat them after 6 to 8 hours we are to give him something (he loves peanuts so thats been what he have chosen so far) but even in just a week we have gotten him to start eating cheese and french fries again, which is great!!!

I think that covers the bulk of the appointment, lets move onto his PPCD class:

•  he is making soooo much progress!!!
• he loves to go to school each morning, he grabs his backpack but still wont wear it, but will hold it
• on the weekends he comes to me in the morning and hands me his backpack, thats how much he loves it there
• he has a few little friends that he likes to play with in the different centers in his room
• he chases some of the pre-k boys around on the playground, his teacher says they dont talk to each other but they interact which is great for him
• he still wont eat breakfast but sits with them each morning and evidently gets excited when there is syrup and also french toast sticks, he picked up a stick the other day but didnt eat it, maybe one day soon he will!!!
• he just gets more and more vocal each day, he used to sit in the corner and watch and now Mrs. P says she has to tell him to use his inside voice cause he runs around screaming
• he loves to play with play doh and the home center (where the toy kitchen and food is), and he is so in love with the water fountain, he thinks it is the coolest thing ever, however, he comes home most days with a very wet shirt :)
• as much fun as he has there, when he comes out and sees me waiting for him he runs into my arms with the biggest smile and gives me a huge hug, it is awesome!!!

Lets cover some of his progress:

• he can count to 20, but after about 12 its hard to understand unless you are me
• he still loves the alphabet, but now he says the letter and then says the sound it makes, except vowels, they all have the same sound (e), he has always had issues with vowels
• he says probably 30 or 40 words now and is actually saying some 2 word phrases, which is great, still nowhere close to sentences but I will take 2 word phrases any day!!
• he is now repeating almost everything we say and a lot of the gestures we make, this is very exciting because his ECI therapist worked on this for a long time and would get so frustrated (not to him) because she couldnt figure out why he wouldnt copy her, she would be so proud of him now
• he has starting brushing his own teeth, but the bad part of that is he no longer lets me anywhere near him with a toothbrush and as you can imagine he does a horrible job, so I try to clean them with a washcloth and last night he bite my finger HARD!!!
• i got him to sit on the actual toliet twice, he wont do anything on it, and wont sit on his potty chair, and now wont sit on the toliet anymore, but its a little bit of progress
• he learned how to pull a pull-up up and down, can take off his shoes and socks, and can almost put on velcro shoes so the self-help skills are staring to improve a bit too
• he can trace his name like nobody's business, this boy is an excellent tracer of letters, but still cant say his name at all
• i can spell about 20 or 30 words and he can read them to me, and its not just from instant recognition, sometimes he stares at it and sounds it out, its just so great to see

 Gosh, I am sure there is more but this is pretty long.  Bottom line is he is making progress and with the additional therapy he can make even more and hopefully by the time he is ready to start actual kindergarten he wont be behind at all, which is what I want for him.  Kids are mean now, and I dont want him to get picked on or bullied, so I have probably 2.5 years, we can do a lot in that time!!!!

7 Months Old!!

Once again a month has flown by and this sweet little girl is 7 months old, I really have no clue how this is happening!!!

So, whats new this month:

• she is still wearing 3 to 6 month clothes (which she was a month behind swtiching from 0 to 3 months clothes), but she is starting to get a little long for the sleepers
• she is over her super duper grumpy phase and it a happy little girl who will play on her own if you need
• she still loves to eat, this girl could out-eat Nora which is quite a feat (ha ha, just kidding Lisa, you know I love Nora)
• FINALLY has 2 little bottom teeth, they are super cute, and she just keeps chewing on everything she can, especially books if you leave them in her reach
• speaking of reach, tries to reach everything that doesnt belong to her if its anywhere near her
• is starting to get on all fours, I think she will be crawling in no time!!
• can roll over and can sit up from a laying position but doesnst do it much, she rolls over the most when she is asleep
• loves to stand, she just seems to want to do the things she cant quite do herself yet :)
• HATES things on her head (like headbands), she takes them off
• while she seems quiet to most people get her alone with her toys and she will get quite loud, she makes a lot of gurgling sounds, they crack me up
• still sleeps all night, goes to bed around 9pm and wakes up around 7:15am (when we have to get her in the car to take logan to class)
• takes about a 30 minute nap in the morning and then maybe a 1 to 2 hour nap in the late afternoon, but otherwise likes to be awake
• she has the funniest laugh, its like a cackle, its so not baby like.  ive tried to get a video of it but every time I get the phone ready she stops, stinker!!

Things she loves!!!

• her brother, when he isnt sitting on her, taking her toys, or spinning her around in the johnny jumpup, no clue why she likes him?!?!?
• jaska and annie when they are doing nothing at all
• her head, she is always rubbing it
• her blanket, she grabs part in her thumb sucking hand and the other part in her other hand and rubs it against her nose
• eating, she gets soooo excited when she sees her food or bottle, you have about 5 seconds to get it in her mouth before she starts screaming
• finger foods, she isnt the best at the cheerios yet but is improving and just loves to try and feed herself
• her 3 hour no Logan time in the morning to spend with her mom :)
• kicking, this child loves to kick, she is always kicking

6 Months Old!!!

Amelia is somehow 6 months old, or as Ian says she is now .5  According to Ian until you are 1 year old you do not exist and are not a real person :)  Anyway, I took her pictures on the correct date but then we went on vacation for a week so I am just behind in posting them, but not taking them, good for me!

Lets see what is new...

• she is up to 15lbs and 13oz (39th percentile), up only 1lb and 12 oz in 2 months
• she is exactly 26 inches long (45th percentile), up 1.25 inches in 2 months
• her head it up to 41cm (14th percentile), up 2.25 cm in 2 months.  woo hoo, she made it into the double digits on the percentile this time, she has such a small head :)
• she got her ears pierced, I know a lot of people think it is cruel or not necessary at this age, but I dont see how it is cruel at all (it hurt her less than her shots) plus I remember getting mine pierced when I was around 7 or 8 and being sooo scared about how much it would hurt, at least she had no clue what was gonna happen, plus now she is super cute
• she still loves to eat, I seem to have officially ran out of milk last week, so she is getting bottles mixed with lisa's milk and formula plus solid food.  when she sees me getting a bottle ready she starts to scream, she loves those bottles, tries to take them out of my hands!!
• she loves solid food, she has eaten sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, spinach, carrots, bananas, grapes, mangoes, peaches, pears, and apples.  not a big fan of the green veggies but if you mix them in with sweet potatoes or fruit she seems to have no idea :)
• still not loving tummy time, but at least now when she is sitting up she will reach so far for a toy that she topples over and sometimes she will stay on her belly for up to 5 mintues.  I still think she is gonna stand before she crawls, this girl loves to sit and stand.
• has started doing a real deep belly laugh, usually over the most normal things.  she laughs when the dogs come down the stairs behind her, she laughs soooo hard when she gets to play on the iPad, she laughs when I stand her on my legs and make her dance, and of course when you tickle her
• she is super ticklish, especially under her chin and around her belly button, she just cant contain her laughter.  logan loves to hear her laugh and is always trying to tickle her belly, he doesnt do the best job so I make faces as he does it so she laughs and he thinks its because of him, for a split second I have 2 happy children
• she is loving the 3 hours we have each day without Logan, actually she no longer  has her "lets cry for mommy every second" phase, and I am guessing thats because now she has some time with just me
• she sleeps about 10 hours each night, and now only naps about 1 hour in the morning and then maybe (just maybe) little 10 minute naps or so (if you keep holding her or you are driving) later in the day.  it gets annoying but you know what, I would rather her sleep 10 hours at night.
• I am starting the transition into her crib for sleeping.  she has been using her sleep & play rocker (which keeps her tight and she loves it) but she is getting a bit big for it and she always sleeps on 1 side of her head and its getting pretty flat, so fingers crossed the crib (and head movement while sleeping) will help otherwise at her 9 month appointment we might have to look into getting a helmet to help even her head back out
• she loves her toys and to chew on things, about 2 weeks ago she got 1 tooth that starting coming through, just a tiny bit is showing and it hasnt seem to change in 2 weeks, but it doesnt seem to be bothering her too much, so I suppose it can take its sweet time
• she does for some reason love logan, she loves to play with him and watch him, but she does not like it one teeny tiny bit when he screams in her face, which he does a whole bunch
• other than me (of course) I think her favorite thing is TV, just loves to watch it, doesnt care what is on, she will just sit there and chew on her toys while watching whatever screen she can find, and if you are in her way she will just look around you, she is just so funny

Cheap & Easy Baby Food Tips

I decided that with Amelia I was gonna try to make her baby food.  I have no problem with pre-packaged food, but since I stay home now I have the time to make it, it is cheaper than buying all those bottles (man did it surprise me how quickly that added up with Logan) and its better for her to get fresh ingredients.  Plus once I started I realized that I really enjoyed making it, I cook for everyone else, why not her!

I started making the food when she turned 4 months old, I know she wouldnt be eating it for another month (if not longer) but I wanted to just have some ready so I wasnt trying to make a bunch quickly.  In the process I have tried a few different tools/methods and I have discovered what works best for me (and my budget), so I decided to share, maybe it will help another mom out one day.

Making the Food:

You dont need a fancy baby food making contraption.  I looked into them, and they sure made them seem like they would be so easy, but they are expensive and after reading reviews I really wasnt sold.  I love to read reviews on sites like amazon and I know you have to still keep an open mind because people that tend to love things often dont review them but if you hate it you will, but either way, I decided I didnt seem worth it.  So what do you need, a pan (probably already have one of those huh) and a steamer.  I was using my old metal steamer that I HATE cleaning, and was at BuyBuy Baby the other day and found this awesome silicone steamer with handles, so its super simple to clean plus it works as a colander and a funnel.  Its $10 at the store but can also be found on amazon (Trudeau Silicone Vegetable Steamer with Handles).

it is hot (especially since I hold it over the pan for a few seconds to let any excess water drip out), I have my trusty Ove' Glove on, you have greater hand control than a traditional oven mit

just pour the green beans right into the blender!

yum, pureed green beans :)

You can also see the best way to puree foods, a blender.  I started with my food processor because thats what everyone seems to use, but my sister used a blender one day (not sure what made her try) and she said it was so much better, so I tried and good god was she right!!  If you think about it, when someone wants to make a smoothie they dont use a food processor, they use a blender, so why not for baby food purees, its basically the same thing.  Now, my blender is very loud, so I have to do it when Amelia is asleep upstairs or when someone else is home to hold her (or take her outside) but my sister's blender is not so bad, so test it out first.  Her blender has a liquify button that she uses, mine just has 2 settings (fast and faster) but plain old fast works fine.  You will have to use a spatula to keep the food moving, and certain foods (like carrots, sweet potatoes) you will need to add water (either from the pan or add nursery water), but the blender is amazing!  And once again, I bet you already have one, plus if you ask me, a blender is much easier to clean, but that might just be me :)

So instead of spending $100+ on a fancy baby food making machine, I spent $10 on a silicone steamer, not bad.

Freezing the Food:

Once again, they make all sorts of expensive versions of ice cub trays and containers to freeze your baby food, but not for me.  I went with a silicone brownie bite tray, they are $10 each but you can find it at Hobby Lobby and save 40% with a coupon, score!  You can find it on amazon in the brown color (Wilton 24-Cavity Silicone Brownie Squares Baking Mold) or in light blue at Hobby Lobby.  I was planning on getting 2 from hobby lobby but my sister got 2 off amazon first and didnt like them (she wanted something that held more than 1/2 oz per cube) so I got hers.  Now Amelia is still just under 6 months old, so maybe as she gets older I will decide I dont like the 1/2 oz cubes and want bigger ones, but I just dont see that happening.  

I like having such small cubes for a few reasons 

• when she is just starting out Im not wasting food, I can serve her just 1/2 oz 
• if I want her to eat something she doesnt like (like peas) I can mix it easily with something she does (like any fruit) and can make all sorts of different combos of food without worrying that Im gonna make a big batch and she will hate it
• I think the smaller size makes it possible to store more in the freezer, I have one bag of larger (2oz) ones from my sister that Nora didnt like and they take up much more space than my little cubes

 

it holds ( 24 ) 1/2 ounce servings.  most things I make use just 1 pan (this was 4 or 5 pears).  I typically make 2 different items on the same day so I can just rinse out the pan and blender (instead of washing it twice) and then put the 2 molds in the freezer overnight.

Storing the Food:

If you havent noticed a pattern, I am not much on wasting my money on special items made for baby food, so what do I store them in, in quart size freezer baggies and 2 plastic bins from target.  

when they are frozen I just pop them out of the mold onto the counter and then slide them into a bag

8 ounces of pears ready for my baby to eat!

You can fit 12 ounces of food per bag, which is the size of one mold so it works perfect.  Then you have to continue to store it in the freezer, this has been the hardest part for me.  I have a side-by-side fridge/freezer so that means the freezer isnt huge.  Not only do I need to have space to store the food but also to put the molds while they are freezing (plus hold food for more than just Amelia) but I found a way!

I leave the top shelf open to fit a mold (plus the ice cub tray full of breastmilk behind it).  On the bottom shelf I have actual food stored so when I need to freeze another tray I put it on a small cookie sheet and put it on top of a box of frozen hot dogs otherwise I could never fit 2 trays at once!  The food for the adults gets shoved in the bottom drawer and the door, little girl takes up about 2/3 of our freezer space :)

I found those plastic bins that are stackable (the gray handles move in so they can stack) and they fit the space in my freezer perfectly (I did measure it before I went shopping for a container).  The top bin holds foods I feed her often and the bottom bin has extras or foods she isnt quite ready for, its works pefect and each bin was only a little under $4 each.

Eating the Food:

When its time for her to eat, no fancy contraptions for me, I put some frozen cubes in a bowl, microwave them for 20 to 35 seconds, and she is ready to eat.  If I need to bring food on the go I use all the old baby food containers I kept from when Logan was little.  If you dont have those I still suggest just buying some baby food, if you dont want your little one to eat it then just dump it down the sink, clean the container, and keep it for travel purposes, its still gonna be way cheaper than buying the special containers they make!!

Amelia - 5 Months

I know, I know, Im like 3 weeks behind.  I really have no excuse, the honest reason is after posting the all the pictures on shutterfly, then trying to narrow it down to post some of facebook, the idea of making it down to only 3 pictures for the blog just seemed like too much!! I've decided for each month on the blog I am going to post 3 pictures, one vertical, one horizontal and one close-up, but as you can imagine that is hard to do, especially this month where towards the end  I changed her hair bow to a light pink one which I liked better than the white one!!  Man, life is hard....

 

Lets see, whats new with her (trying to think 3 weeks back)...

• she didnt go to the doctor this month so I dont have her stats, but she is certainly growing.  she is getting longer and is putting on some weight, finally has a few little fat rolls
• she is just now starting to wear 3 to 6 month clothes (this was 3 weeks ago, not when I posted the blog)
• she loves to suck her thumb, but only when she wants, cant tell you how many times I have tried to shove it in her mouth when she is crying :(
• she loves her feet, is always holding them and looking at them
• has finally stopped eating all the time (thank goodness), she can sometimes go up to 5 hours now, but is usually eating around the 3.5 to 4 hour mark
• although she is still crazy with her tongue, we are moving forward with more solid foods.  she really likes sweet potatoes, really doesnt like peas, isnt the biggest fan of rice cereal.
• still not liking tummy time, will tolerate it for a teeny bit longer, but after about 2 minutes she is done with it
• is always sitting up, loves it
• is going through a "everyone but mommy" sucks phase, I am not the biggest fan of this phase, and she wants to be held a lot, seriously, a lot
• doesnt seem to have the longest attention span, have to change her activity every 5 to 10 minutes
• is sleeping about 9 to 10 hours at night and typically taking a long nap in the morning, and then fighting sleep the rest of the day even though she gets exhausted :( 

This is why you shouldnt post a blog 3 weeks late, I really cant remember anything special that happened from 4 to 5 months, I want to write the stuff thats happening now, but I cant (at least not for another week or so).  Even with her grumpy phase I still love the little girl!!!

Logan Starts School!!!

While Logan is only just a few months over 3 years old, he started in the Austin School District on Monday.  Due to his speech delay (and a few other things) he qualified to be part of a special program the school district offers, its the Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities (or PPCD).  Since he is just 3, he attends school for only 3 hours a day for 5 days a week.  He attends from 7:30am until 10:45am each day, so still plenty of time for him to enjoy the rest of his day.

I knew all summer he would start, but since his birthday was 2 days before school let out for the summer I had to wait until he could start up.  Next summer if they feel he needs help during those summer months he can continue to get help from the school, but since he was just enrolling he couldnt do it the 1st summer.  Anyway, the school near us did not have a PPCD class last year but was getting one this year, so again, I had to wait all summer to get any information as they didnt have a teacher yet.  I didnt know the time, what he needed to bring, anything, it was driving me insane!! So 1 week before school started I finally got some information on the class and everything was great from that point.

being shy in the morning, he did not want his picture taken, plus it was a bit earlier than normal :)

I called the school on Monday morning and got right to the teacher who I know was super busy but still took about 30 minutes on the phone to talk to me and said that Logan and I could come in so I could get my questions answered and he could see the school and the room and meet her so he would hopefully be more comfortable when school started.  Turns out she has a 3 year old boy and a 5 year old girl, the girl was herself in the PPCD program (she is starting kinder this year).  This is her first year to teach a PPCD class but she has worked in the special education department for many years and her assistant has been working the PPCD program for 9 years.  But she is just wonderful, so nice and friendly, she even offered to skip her lunch that day if we wanted to stay longer (which of course I did not let her do).  We were there for a little over an hour with her and then headed to the office to get him registered, which nobody had any clue what was going on with this program, but I did learn that Logan will be the youngest child in the school (which isnt too surprising really).  The teacher was busy on Tues & Wed but told us to come back on Thursday and bring Lisa since she will be helping out sometimes and then told us to come back again on Friday for the "Meet the Teacher" and that if we wanted to come early we were more than welcome.  Seriously, I love this lady.

Anyway, each time we went back he did great, didnt even get scared when we arrived for "Meet the Teacher" and he had to walk into the school with all the other parents and students (there were probably 50 families waiting to get in along with us).  We got him his school supplies, a water bottle (a smaller version of Ian's), a new backpack (well, we got this a few days after school started since he didnt like the hand-me-down we gave him), and new shoes that were not crocs (since thats pretty much all he wears otherwise).

when lisa got here he did not want to leave, he wanted to keep laying on the couch

we did have to bribe him with some m&ms to get him in the car, it worked!

On Monday morning Lisa was gonna come over to drive him to school, the ECI therapists (who set us up with this program) and the teacher suggested that it is often times easier on the kiddo to not have mom do it.  So she came over at 7 to get him ready since we didnt know how crazy the school would be.  He got up fine, I told him he was gonna play at school and he got right up, he got dressed, had some time for iPad play, did good but wouldnt really let me take good pictures and wouldnt walk out to Lisa's car unless I came with him.  But once he was in the car he was fine.  I guess there was a moment as he was walking up and tripped that Lisa thought it was all gonna fall to pieces, but he got up and was fine.  Such a big boy!!!!

a happy boy after his 1st day!!!

I picked him up on Monday and he had a great day.  He went back fine until Friday when there were some tears, and he has had tears each day since then, but whenever I pick him up he is happy and had a great time, so he just needs to start remembering that in the morning :)

his artwork from day 1

his artwork from day 2

Somebody is 4 months old!!

My little girl turned 4 months old a few days ago, I cant believe how quickly the time is flying by.  She went today for her checkup and shots, she is sleeping now, she gets a tad grumpy after her doctors appointments.

I took her pictures yesterday (a day late, oh no), and she was super duper cute, I could just eat her up!!

Whats new with her:

• she is 24.75 inches (61%), up 2 inches from 2 months
• she weighs 14 lbs 1 oz (46%), up about 2.5 lbs from 2 months
• her head is 38.75 cm (7%), its still little (although it looks perfectly normal on her) and its up 2.75 cm from 2 months
• so that means she has been doing some growing over the past few months, in large part to her auntie lisa milkshakes
• she is such a happy little girl, always smiling, especially when anyone talks directly to her, she just loves attention
• she loves to just look around, she could spend hours sitting in her bumbo next to me as I cook or do housework.  she will just sit there and talk and smile, and sometimes yell at me if she really gets into the talking
• she is not eating as often anymore (thank goodness) but when she gets hungry man does she get hungry!!  she screams and nothing will stop it other than food.
• she has associated her glider with eating, so if I ever try to sit in it with her and not nurse her she gets just a wee bit angry
• she LOVES LOVES LOVES to sit up, the only time she doesnt mind laying down is when she is sleeping or when I am changing her diaper (she really enjoys the one on one time on her changing table).  the doctor commented today on her strong core muscles, she can sit up for a few seconds on her own (before she flops over to the side)
• she also gets super excited when you have her stand up, she waves her arms around and smiles and starts almost dancing, its super cute
• still not a huge fan of tummy time, she is getting a little better at tolerating it, but only for a few minutes at a time
• her hair just keeps getting lighter and thinner, I hope she keeps it, at this point Logan's was all gone, so at least she still has a decent amount
• she has started laughing, like a real laugh, it doesnt happen a lot but when it does it just makes me so happy
• hmm, I think thats all for now, we just love her to pieces (especially logan)

Amelia - First 3 Months

Of course I did the bear in the chair pictures for Amelia, but have only been posting them to facebook (and of course her shutterfly page), so I thought I would just do 3 of each of her first 3 months.  Since I didnt blog I probably dont remember exactly what happened each month, but I'll try my best.

Month One (taken on 4/13/13)

• well she didnt go to the doctor at this date, but went at 2 weeks when she was almost back to her birth weight (so a tad under 9lbs) and had not grown any taller
• she didnt do much at this age, was kinda a potato (as her dad calls her)
• she liked baths, sleeping, eating, and pooping
• she was very very good at eating and pooping, by far her 2 most favorite things in life
• not a fan of tummy time
• when she had her hair washed it got super poufy (as you can see from the pics), I loved it!!!

 Month Two (taken on 5/13/13)

• this time she went to the doctor, woo hoo!!
• she was 11 lbs and 9 oz (56%), 22.75 inches (62%) and her head was 36 (3%), yes, she has a tiny head :)
• she still didnt do much at this age, but was looking around a bit more, started to babble (big fan of the O sound), loves to kick her feet and throw her arms around
• she liked baths (just not hair washing anymore), sleeping, eating, and pooping
• her pooping skills went down a bit (still knew how and mastered the blow out, but the frequency went down, I was ok with that)
• her sleeping skills just kept improving, will take 2 to 4 hour naps in her swing (we both love that swing) and was sleeping around 7 to 8 hours at night
• loved to eat, wanted to eat every 2 hours, not my favorite part about her, but I am getting a lot of reading done ;)
• still not a fan of tummy time
• starting losing some hair, plus it was thinning out and getting lighter, but still has hair that still gets poufy after a bath
• oh, and starting smiling, isnt she freakin adorable when she smiles!!!!

 Month Three (taken on 6/13/13)

• once again, no doctor visit, but she is growing, getting a tiny bit chubby, but not her head, its still small :)
• talking a bit more, starting to laugh a little, loves to watch her brother (not sure if its because she likes him or she has already figured out she needs to know where he is for her own safety)
• LOVES to sit up, little girl never wants to lean back or lay down, she is gonna have some super duper strong stomach and back muscles from constantly trying to pull herself up
• on that same subject, loves the bumbo, will just sit in it and watch the world go on around her
• started playing in the exercauser, is a big fan so far, but only for about 5 to 10 minutes at a time
• she likes baths (still not the hair washing), sleeping, eating, and pooping (but its going down the list of her likes right now)
• her sleeping skills just kept improving, will take 2 to 4 hour naps in her swing (we both love that swing) and was sleeping around 8 to 9 hours at night
• still loves to eat, would eat all day long if you let her, still not my favorite part about her, but I am getting a lot of reading done ;)
• has discovered her feet and her hands, loves those hands, she can fit both fists in her mouth, I am inclined to think she will get teeth early (like logan who had one already by 4 months old)
• started getting supplemental bottles of lisa's breast milk (or an auntie lisa milk shake as I like to call it), Im not making enough and Lisa is making a billion ounces a day, so she is nice and gives some to Amelia.  right now she is getting about 6 extra ounces a day from that.  but still wants to eat all the time.
• still not a fan of tummy time
• still losing some hair, still thinning out and getting lighter, but still has hair that still gets poufy after a bath.  by this point logan was almost bald so Im happy with her current hair status.  however I think we will need to cut it soon, she has a crazy spot on the top/back of her head that sticks straight up and her bangs are getting close to her eyebrows!!!

We just love her to pieces and cant wait to see what each new month brings!!!!

Logan's Rainbow Colored (and 3) Themed Golden Birthday Party!!!

My big boy turned 3 on June 3rd, and you cant let a golden birthday slip by, so I decided we were gonna make it a 3 themed party.  Well as I started looking at things online and found some awesome candle holders in the store, I decided to make it rainbow colors too!!  Plus this party was mainly family members and I really didnt want to spend a whole bunch (especially since now that we have Amelia too I am gonna have to scale back on birthday party decor), so I decided I was gonna use all the old party supplies we had, and I did, I didnt have to buy any plates, napkins, cups, plastic silverware for this party at all!!!

 

his awesome invite from etsy (seller was kottage on 5th), she was great to work with and very fast.  i whited out my address and phone number on this one since im posting this to pinterest.

the birthday table!!!

i filled 3 jars with his favorite candy (jelly beans, m&ms, and red licorice pieces) and put a 3 candle in each one.  originally i saw this and it said to then put balloons on them, but i didnt mess with that.    i also got the 3 shaped candles at walmart, they had lots of colors and were covered in glitter and were only $0.97 each, score!!!

when looking for pretty 3 shaped candles at walmart I found these awesome rainbow candle holders that spelled out Happy Birthday and just had to have them, and again, since it was at walmart it was dirt cheap, I think it was only $2 or $3, cant remember exactly, but i loved them and the pick that goes in the cupcake is plastic so you can wash and reuse them.

i love jello, i know a lot of adults dont eat jello anymore, they should, and i do.  logan doesnt eat it, but he doesnt really eat much so if i only made things he would eat for his party we would have had only m&ms, goldfish, and cheese-its.  anyway, i had seen on pinterest where you can make little layered jello treats in the disposable chinet glasses.  i thought since it had 3 colors that would fit well into the 3 theme.  well I ended up using blue on the bottom and red on top (because i like those flavors) but wasnt sure what to use in the middle.  i ended up going with yellow (pineapple flavor, who knew) and i am so glad it did because it ended up looking like a rainbow since the yellow kinda merged with the other colors.  i started these 2 days before his party to make sure each layer had enough time to set before i poured the new layer on, and they took up quite a bit of fridge space, but so worth it!

for his 2nd birthday I made a banner for each month of his life, but I wanted pictures out somehow, so thanks to pinterest I made a giant 3 out of pictures.  It took far less photos than I thought (I think I printed around 50 or 60 and used around 35) and it was a good size 3, so now I have a bunch of extra printed photos laying around and have no clue what to do with them!!

to really play up the 3 theme (and the rainbow theme) I made a bunch of 3s out of construction paper.  i made 3 of each color, so I had a lot, i just put them all over the house but i made sure to put more right around the birthday table and the back door since that is where everyone would be (to eat or play outside in the water).  now i could have very easily made a fun rainbow banner but with a new baby i decided to just buy one this year, it was all the colors and each one had a different pattern, so it was great, and at $5 was honestly one of the most expensive items I got, but there was no way I was gonna get around to making one this year, and im sure ill use it again!

the birthday boy a little overwhelmed by all the snacks (or perhaps very hot from playing outside in the crazy texas heat in his new trampoline).  you can really see my table runner in this picture, yes, it is large (i mean large) yellow napkins that I got from IKEA, it added just the little bit of extra color the table needed without too much distraction.

this cake is perhaps what i was most excited about for the party.  i love to bake but havent made anything cake wise more complicated than a basic round layered cake.  but i really really really wanted a 3 shaped cake.  i found a lot of things (actually all of them) to make the 3 using a bundt cake, but once i decided to do it rainbow inside i knew that wasnt gonna work because it needed 4 small layers.  so i just made 2 round cakes and shaped them to look like a 3, which was super easy.  i was gonna try to make the icing either super smooth or cover it with candy, but in the end i decided it didnt need more color and that i just didnt have the patience for smooth icing, plus its for a 3 year old, so who really cares!!  Since I dont have a 3 shaped cake stand I covered a piece of cardboard in wrapping paper and then covered the entire front in clear packing tape, that way the paper stayed dry and i could wipe off icing as i iced the cake (seriously, how did i ever survive before all these helpful tips from pinterest)

I made 4 layers: blue, green, yellow, red.  I got gel food colors to try and get a really vibrant color but they were all still kinda pastel like.  I probably need to just keep adding more color but I was afraid (since I had already added a bit) so I left it lighter than I wanted.  To get the 4 layers in the entire 3 i made 2 round cakes (just used a box mix and added some stuff, since a box mix makes 2 round layers) and then before baking it I separated it into 4 round pans, so each layer was pretty small, especially after i went and leveled it off, but we like icing in this family so there were no complaints about the icing to cake ratio.  I stacked all 4 layers (so ended up with 2 rounds of 4 layers) and then cut it into the 3 shape.  I found that the best way to see if it really looked like a 3 was to take a picture and then look at it, it was hard to look at it in person and decide.

My friend Rachel back in Indiana (who often makes cakes) was helping me via text with the cake.  So after I shaped it I froze it for a bit and then did my crumb coat (i hadnt cleaned the board off yet).  It was also hard to clean the icing off the board in the inside circles of the 3, then my mom said to use a q-tip, such a smart lady.

the final product, turned out pretty and yummy!!!