Friday, August 24, 2012

Beck age 2 Summer

Beck 26-28 months


We just love listening to him talk! He is constantly coming up with new things to say, more complete thoughts, and creative words. Always making us laugh and impressing us. Here's some of our favorites:

He uses the words maybe, too, first, just a few seconds. Such as...

"Can I watch a show for just a few seconds!?"

"Can I have applesauce, maybe?"

"Jessie can have some too."

"First let's put the boy on."

"I got an idea!"

"Pay attention!"

"It's my fault!"

"Use your super powers!"

"To infinity and beyond!"

"Who's ready to listen!?"

"Hey Babe!" he hears me call for Jamie that way, so after I call for Jamie, he uses his grown up voice and calls him too

When I was taking him potty one day and he didn't want to go, I was getting frustrated. He could tell. He told me "It's just a game!... Duuuuude!"

I asked him to help me but he couldn't hear me, so he came back and said "What'd you say Mom?"

One day we were going to Mimi's house but she wasn't going to be there til later. We called her before we left our house and he told her "We're going to your house Mimi. You'll be there in a little bit!"

He has been interacting with Liv much better lately. I think because she can play with him more, so he sees her as a play mate.

glow sticks in the bath
craft time elephant

he loves having a bath partner!

Daddy's garage sale find

my baby

backyard sensory tub

digging in the "backyard"

lining up all the cars

"I gotta fix it Mommy!"

wearing his goggles on top of his head like Daddy


big helper when Luke and Laine came to stay with us

be good in Wal-Mart = ride Pumba

pool time with Daddy and Laine

should've known it was too quiet...

Splash Park

Froggie!

practicing fine motor skills by icing a cupcake... learning can be fun and yummy!! 

cows at Chic-fil-A... he wouldn't go near them

pulling Sissy


favorite book right now. it was the first book he really "got" and cared about. 

Add caption

perfect


snack time... he eats off all the chocolate chips then wants to be done with that cracker and move on to the next one, leaving me with no chocolate chips. we put an end to that. 


he was very excited that Sissy was old enough to join him at the water table


every Friday night we eat at Cheeseburger in Paradise (the grandparents are a little obsessed) therefore we've made some friends there. the manager took Beck around the restaurant giving him jobs (and paying him in dollars!). one job was bussing the "dirty" tables. 

which one doesn't belong?

feeding Sissy

working on fine motor skills with play doh, cheerios, and spaghetti noodles... he just wanted to break the noodles and eat the cheerios. 

he wanted Sissy to go to sleep with him

Elmo loves the library too!
he's very into lions right now... they're all "Lion King"

loves salads

they're building a house to our right and across the street. construction... oh joy. 

he said he's "goin to work!"

driving Uncle Drew's boat

the boys watching Daddy surf

Patoka Lake



look closely... notice the 2 boys in the center. recognize them? the dark haired in the green shirt and the blonde in the plaid shirt. why am I not surprised by their behavior, even if it is church!


his idea to do the airplane noises!



"to infinity and beyond!"



Monday, August 13, 2012

Liv's Birth VIDEO



Liv's Birth

My sweet friend Megan was at the birth so she could video it for me. She generously edited it to music also, so sweet! I finally got around to downloading it to You Tube so I could post it here on my blog. I love being able to watch it over and over!

Just a bit about the video... It's not edited, but I feel like it's pretty conservative. So watch at your own discretion bc clearly I don't care who sees it. (Thanks for the edited version Meg, but I hated missing any parts of it! Sorry!!)

Also, I'm sharing this with those who view my blog for many reasons. I want my friends and family who couldn't be there to get to share in one of my favorite moments of my life. And good thing we did video it bc my own husband didn't even make it to the birth :(

I'm also sharing it bc if I hadn't seen or read about a natural childbirth from someone else sharing their story with me, I may have missed out on this amazing experience. Many people have misconceptions about natural (unmedicated) childbirth. I hope someone else who watches this will learn that birth is not scary, it's not a reason to be medicated, and it's not something to be scheduled into your week, like a haircut. It's the healthiest birth for mom and baby. It is something to plan and prepare for (mentally and physically), and it's what God created us to do. Just as we plan and prepare for baby to come home, birth can be planned for. A lot of thought, concern, research, and practice went into preparing for this birth. I didn't want it to happen to me. I wanted to be in control so I could enjoy every moment before, during, and after the birth. And enjoy I did! I hope you enjoy it as well!!!

I posted the story of the birth after she was born. Here is a link if you missed it.
Livs Birth Story

*Everyone is entitled their own birth story and reasons for choosing their type of birth. After MUCH research, this is the birth I chose and God allowed me to have. I love you no matter what method you choose :)

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Liv 9 Months

Liv 9 Months

Check out Liv's 9 month pics!!!
Liv 9 month pics

Stats:
Length 27 3/4 in  53%
Head 43.5 cm 40%
Weight 17 lb 10 oz 40%

Her two top teeth came in this month.

Breastfeeds 5 times a day (7, 10, 1, 4, 7)
Still no solid foods.
Naps 8:30-10:30am, 1:30-4pm

She has started waking up anywhere between 6-6:30am. Very frustrating. I have no idea why, but it doesn't seem to be going away. It doesn't matter what time I put her to bed, same wake time. Up til now, she always slept 7-7, 12 hours. Maybe she's just an 11 hour girl. Lord I hope not.

At her check up this month, Blanke checked on her tongue tie like he always does. She continues to grow and nursing is not a problem for either of us. He was surprised we both made it this long without problems due to her tongue tie. Now that she's starting to talk, he wanted to find out if it was inhibiting her speech. He suggested taking her to a speech therapist to get an opinion. From teaching at ECS, I have a relationship with the speech teacher, so she came over to check it out. She was also surprised she'd done so well nursing with how short it is, and she was more surprised to find out she could say her "N" sound, as this requires the tongue to go forward. She suggested having an ENT look at it. So we'll be seeing an ENT this month. I'm anxious to hear what he says. I hope he gives clear answers and feels confident one way or the other bc I'm torn. Based on research, it isn't necessary to clip it and it can stretch out (which is what Blanke has always said), but I've also learned that by the time we realize there is a problem (when she is talking more at age 2 or 3 or later) she will have learned to use her tongue as it is, and if we clip it she'll have to relearn how to use it (for eating, talking, etc). So I don't want to wait too long if it needs to be done.

Says uh-oh, da da, ma ma, na na na

Crawling, doesn't furniture surf much. Likes to stand and sit over and over.

Standing in crib: this was really frustrating for about 2 weeks. After much research on the babywisemom blog, I learned that she was right at the age for this to happen and I wasn't alone. It caused her to have interrupted naps bc she'd stand up and couldn't figure out how to sit back down or be so excited to try out her new skill that she couldn't fall back asleep. So during wake time, I'd practice having her sit down in her crib. She eventually figured it out and we've moved past it and gone back to napping peacefully.


This was a very frustrating month bc she was very clingy. She was just learning to crawl, but didn't figure out that if she wanted something, like me, that she could crawl to get herself there. So she'd just cry for me.

I've noticed that most of the time that Beck plays with her I'm correcting him to stop or be gentle. I've also noticed that as soon as he comes near her, she starts to cry. I'm wondering if this is a learned behavior from her. Either bc she knows she's not going to like how he plays with her (usually rough), or bc she knows Mommy corrects him so it must not be right. So I've tried to limit my corrections and let them work through it. I've tried praising him for what his intentions are, which is just to play with her as a playmate, even if it comes across to rough simply bc he doesn't know better yet. I really feel like it's helped.






Of course Beck couldn't let her have the spotlight

She figured out how to stand in her crib this month

She loves the swing, but this is how she rides. Very funny. 



Can I get some girl toys Mom!?


Pedis by Momma! Love my girlie girl!


Her BF Max!

Just a taste of real food on her 9 month birthday




She is a very expressive pooper, which is very helpful in potty training. I can tell when she's going, so I take her to the potty, and voila! Poopy in the potty!


My favorite part is when Beck says "she's crawling!" He was so excited for her!