The Messy Cook

Stunt Man

2012-02-17T19:15:00.001-06:00

Decorating Paxton's DOC band tonight was so much fun for me. I'm so excited to have something fun on his head now rather than the sterile white that makes people stare as if something is seriously wrong with my baby. Half of them look curiously, and the other half look at me like I'm an angel to take care of this baby. Oh, and let me say I love the folks that come up to me and tell me about their child who had a DOC band, and how it was really worth it. I'll be one of those ladies someday. So fortunately, it's not anything serious which is now reflected with a little lighthearted decoration.

You can see the Mod Podge drying on these pics. Sorry - tried to do everything within the hour he gets to take it off. Of course, I had to add a peace sign since Pax means peace. :) I just love how it turned out. Now hopefully they all stay in place!

Mama's Buh-day and Other Funnies

2012-02-16T19:55:00.002-06:00

My birthday is coming up at the end of this month. The subject of birthdays has come up a lot lately with Everett, so he knows that in our family, mine comes next. So I found it hilarious today when he presented me with a square block with a long skinny block standing up on it - my birthday cake. And later he wrapped a towel in his blankie and gave it to me. I can't remember if he actually said "Happy Birthday" or "Mama Birthday". Regardless, it was the best, most thoughtful present ever and gave me some much needed chuckles. :)

When I put Ev to bed, we always say good-night to everyone we love before we say prayers.

Last night:
After (in no particular order) Mom, Dad, Pax, Grandma, Grandpa, Lauren, Sarmad, Frankie, Julian, Aida, Elijah, Johanna, and others...
Ev: "Good night pockets."
Me: "Pockets? Who is pockets?"
Ev: "Two pockets."
Me: "The pockets of your pants?"
Ev: (casually) "Yea."
Me: "Ok, Goodnight pockets."

Now first an explanation - a friend brought her newborn to the park a few weeks ago. I explained to Everett that her girls are big sister and little sister just like he and Pax are big brother and little brother. He laid by her, looked at her adoringly, patted her head and called her leetle seester and baby seester, talking about her ever since then. In the car once he randomly said, "baby seester so cute!" It was funny because the other kids are playing on the playground, and Everett is laying with the baby. It was really sweet and reminded me of how he used to look at Pax. Ok, so...

Tonight:
Me: "Good night Daddy"
Ev: "Good night little sister."
Me: "Good night Lauren."
Ev: "Good night little sister."
Me: "Good night Grandpa." (expecting him to say good night Grandma)
Ev: "Good night little sister. Little sister is sooo cute!"

Photo Update

2012-02-12T20:47:00.000-06:00

We've mostly been on survival mode over here while getting through a household common cold and Paxton not sleeping well with his helmet. Despite all that, we've had a lot of fun and sweet moments together resulting in some cute photos I couldn't resist sharing.

It blows my mind that the fetal position that once resided in my body now takes up a laundry basket.

What's better than a box? Not much.

Poor Pax is still trying to get some teeth. Chewing on the papalilly (Everett-speak for caterpillar) antennae.

It pays to be a peeping Tom when you sneak a peak at a very sweet moment between Daddy and son.

Shenanigans in the kitchen after dinner.

I love pictures like this. It really shows what 19.5 months will do! (Pax is naked because he was wearing his dinner.)

Paxton's New Hat

2012-02-07T21:22:00.002-06:00

I was an unexpected basketcase today after we got Paxton's DOC band fitted. More on that later. First, let me say that Pax did really awesome. He has tolerated the band extremely well so far. He seems to fall asleep ok in it, and it is not causing skin irritation as of yet. Staying asleep is another story, but I'm sure that will improve. I have to take it off every few hours to check his skin until Thursday at which point he will wear it 23 hours per day. The one hour off is for bath time, cleaning the band time, and lots of smooching.

Everett was a perfect big brother today. He had an innate sense to protect and care for Paxton more than usual today. It was remarkable. You can see this love in the pictures below. During his appointment, Everett put his arm around Paxton in a protective way, and once we were home, he spent extra time caring for him. I was really amazed, but not necessarily surprised by this brotherly connection because I feel like I share this intimate bond with my own sister as well.

Also, let me say "Peaceful Pax" has been amazing through this process. Through several evaluations, measurements, pictures, putting a sock over his head for a 3D image, etc...he hasn't fussed once. Of course, we did not go with the facility that would have used plaster to make an image. I'm not confident that he would have remained calm through that.

Now for the basketcase component. *sigh* A few days ago I was really excited about getting this band, and I still am. It was a hard decision to make, but once made it brought relief. We are glad to have this technology available to help reshape his head and prevent any potential future problems. We are extremely lucky to have this small and fixable problem when so many people have much larger problems. We are also EXTREMELY (seriously, EXTREMELY) lucky to be doing the majority of treatment before it gets hot. It started being over 100 degrees everyday in May last year. Sweat and overheating are big problems in these things, and we will have to stay inside if it gets too hot. Despite all of these positives, I broke down when I felt the cold, hard plastic in that perfect space between my shoulder, neck, and face where his soft, sweet-smelling head used to be. He also tends to look down a lot with it on, and the band comes really close to his eyes, so I felt really sad to not be able to see his face. I'm looking forward to getting a few more days under my belt and getting more comfortable with it in general. Oh and stay tuned for the pictures of it decorated in a week or two! That should be fun. :)

Pax at 7 1/2 Months

2012-02-03T21:49:00.000-06:00

So I'm between months, but I figure while I'm thinking of it is the best time!

Paxton has been doing so much lately. He has a wonderfully calm demeanor interspersed with very quick screams of frustration if he isn't getting what he wants (dinner is gone, can't eat the grass, big brother took his toy, etc). It's so short-lived that it's a little humorous and definitely cute (for now). How nice that in comparison to the two-year-old protests, it just ends up funny.

Pax is full of big peals of laughter (especially at the sight of Daddy or the bathtub), lots of crawling, pulling up, and a little cruising. He has had so much tummy time trying to round out his head that his mobility is really amazing. Unfortunately, despite all the activity, he still has a flat head. He will be getting a helmet next week to help correct that. I'll do a blog post with all that when we get it on him.

No teeth yet. Waiting, waiting, waiting, hoping that they will bring a better ability to eat (small, mushy) finger foods. He does best with purees for now.

Paxton and Everett have been having fun together. They have a really sweet relationship in which Everett is extremely caring toward Paxton and Paxton is very happy to see Everett. Everett likes to say things like "happy [to] see you!", "[good] moooorning Pax!", and "issokay Pax" while rubbing his head. I often find him rubbing Pax's head like it's a Buddha belly. His friend, Julian, has picked up on this too, so when they're all together Pax's head gets a lot of love. Or those two get a lot of luck.

Fun with Daddy and Brother

Practicing wearing a hat before the helmet comes.

Actively participating in a family hike.

Storytime with Daddy.

Only one of us got out of our pajamas for an early morning grocery run. He is such a great shopping buddy. We had a lot of fun, and I was energized for the rest of the day despite getting up at 5am.

Resolutions: A month in...

2012-02-02T20:01:00.002-06:00

If you recall, my New Year's Resolution this year is something like - being a better wife, mom, a better everything. To be a little more specific, though it's still vague, I'm coming at it from a "you can only change yourself" attitude, working toward being really, really awesome and thus attracting the same. For example, being my best Mom-self means happier kids, which benefits me which then benefits them, etc.

So the most wonderful opportunity fell into my lap recently. It is a year-long program that addresses my resolution PERFECTLY. It's called Evolve, and it is put on by Carrie Contey, parenting guru of Austin. Check out carriecontey.com. She is amazing. I seriously became a better parent after watching just one video. I am so excited to delve into this. It explores parenting, partnerhood, personhood, and prosperity. The prosperity aspect addresses the perceptions we (subconsciously often) hold about money and how to pass healthy attitudes about money to our children. The rest is pretty self explanatory. What I really love about Carrie is that she teaches you how to slow down, connect with your children and partner, and enjoy life. I am so excited about this. Eric is a little wary, but lucky for me, he is willing and open-minded. I can't wait to see what 2012 brings for our family.

Oops! I forgot to put what I've actually been doing. I started running semi regularly. It gives me some alone time whether I'm pushing a stroller or not. It feels good to be exercising again rather than just lifting ~~weights~~ kids. Taking care of myself definitely has a positive impact on my parenting. We also had a date night in January. Yay! It's so nice to enjoy a peaceful meal with Eric. Aah! And I've been putting extra effort into planning educational and fun activities for Everett. It'll be so fun when Pax is old enough to join us! This morning we had a fun time fingerpainting.

Some Awesome Workout Buddies

Do you think he'll be accepted to Hogwarts?

You wouldn't believe me if I told you he was hesitant at first.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2012-01-24T09:27:00.002-06:00

Last night, Eric and I had a lovely date night at P.F. Chang's. We began talking about the Chinese Zodiac, and handy wikipedia gave me each year's motto. Hilariously, they fit extremely well...

Everett and Eric - both born in the year of the ox. Motto: "I persevere." This could not be more true of both of them.

Pax - born in the year of the rabbit, or more accurately the hare. Motto: "I relax." We had a good chuckle at this, because Pax is definitely our relaxed baby.

Me - born in the year of the monkey. Motto: "I entertain." I don't know if this was really fitting prior to having kids, but it definitely fits me now. I (and all moms, really) do nothing but entertain all day. From singing Old MacDonald and the ABC's to doing silly dances and making crazy noises and faces...did I mention this can be seen in public? I get requests. I can't let my fans down. ;)

This is the year of the dragon. It's motto: "I reign." I think this calls for some iron chef competitions. The secret ingredient? Gagoos!

"Aday Fly!"

2012-01-24T09:17:00.003-06:00

Or it could be "Ehdjeh Fly!" Everett says his name two different ways - Aday and Ehdjeh. And "fly" is probably more like "fwy", but I didn't want the title to be too obscure. :) Needless to say, he was having a lot of fun yesterday evening...

Giant Ev sitting on the house. Giant Dad: "Get down here right now or I'll get you down!"

I would like to be cheesy for one second, and say...

Go SOAR in life Everett! We will be here to catch you!

Maybe I'll make a motivational poster for his room with that last one. haha! :)

Pax and I relaxing while all this was going on.

AVOCADO!!!

2012-01-18T20:20:00.001-06:00

Kindness and Love Live On

2012-01-17T15:39:00.000-06:00

At the moment I am struck at how our actions have repercussions through the lives of others during and after our lives in this world. I'm pretty sure Eric's Grandmother Keahey just helped her great grandson, Paxton, just by living a good life. I never got to the chance to meet her as she passed away at the beginning of our marriage and was taken by dementia already at that point. She was a teacher in Temple, TX for many years.

So today I have been extremely frustrated trying to get a piece of information out of our insurance company. I have called so many different places, and nobody can help. A common story, I know. Somehow I ended up talking to this nice woman at the children's hospital in Temple. She decided against further transferring me and took down my name and number to find out who I need to talk to and call me back. "I had a geometry teacher named Mrs. Keahey," she said! "Yes, her name was Helen!" We chatted a little, and she told me how much she was helped by Mrs. Keahey. She came early, stayed late, and was devoted to her students. I can't help but wonder if Helen's kindness and devotion to this student so many years ago is prompting her to take those extra steps to help her family now.

Food for thought as we go through our lives.

Grateful

2012-01-15T21:48:00.001-06:00

Tonight I am grateful for my husband. He is a cool under pressure kind of guy, which makes him well suited for his job as a physician in the ER. You could say we complement each other; however, I don't think freaked under pressure is a complement exactly.

So tonight, when Everett bounded around a corner into me while I carried a big foam chair and bounced right off it onto our tile floor in the worst way possible, I was first freaked, but then grateful that Eric was (a) home, and (b) cool under pressure as always. I scooped Everett into my arms as quickly as possible. If you are a parent, then you are familiar with the silent cry when a child gets hurt. This would be the silent start to a very loud cry, and there is no breathing going on at this time. It is the worst (non)sound ever. This particular silence lasted longer than I have seen causing my panic to start. He finally inhaled, started wailing, and then all of a sudden slipped peacefully into sleep. Terrified and aware that this was very bad, I handed Everett to Eric, and after a few very long seconds he woke up and started some very pained crying. A dose of Motrin helped I'm sure, but what eventually did calm him down was, of course, a game on the iPad. Eric softly whispered to me, "what a great iPad commercial this would make." Hah!

I can't help but wonder how this would have gone if Eric was working (2.5 hours away in an ER in which he is the only doctor present, thereby unable to pick up and leave in an emergency. I mean, that would kinda ruin other people's emergencies). I imagine first freaking out, then calling 911, then waiting for treatment for hours with an upset Everett needing to be held and a tired baby that obviously also needs to be held, and getting imaging done on an upset and tired 2 year old. And after all that, I'm sure it would be "watch him, wake him up periodically, give us all your money" with two babes that haven't slept and a tired and frazzled mother. Don't misunderstand me -- I am not advocating not seeking treatment. It is just incredibly helpful to have a home assessment from an ER doctor.

We are blessed with a good outcome. I hope I never see Everett pass out again, though I'm sure with his personality, it will not be the last time I see him get hurt.

This is one of my favorite pictures of these two. March 2011, Ev is 16 months.

Yesterday when Ev fell while outside, I heard him say, "Am I kokay?" before he got up and kept running around. Haha!

The Many Properties of Shaving Cream

2012-01-14T20:24:00.001-06:00

Ooh, today was fun. Everett and I had a messy good time in the backyard exploring shaving cream. I'm on a messy kick lately. I figure as long as I already have to clean daily, we might as well really get in there and have fun making our messes. He got to experience the meanings of the words squishy, foamy, slippery, messy (he knew that one I'm sure), etc. He got to feel it between his fingers and toes, and then all over eventually.

We started out with our trusty clear box. He would tell me a letter of the alphabet, and I would draw it with the shaving cream. I would have used the cheap really foamy white stuff, but Eric has a bunch he is no longer using, so we went with the blue that turns white, which was actually pretty cool to experience as well. The whole project smelled really manly.

He was a little hesitant until I got my hands in and suggested putting it on the slide.

It wasn't long before he was having a blast. Shaving cream on a slide makes it extra slippery!

After the shaving cream was exhausted, we added some water.

I accidentally bumped into him while his hands were in front of his face. Hah!

It was really fun to watch him go. His creative juices were flowing, and by the end he was playing with shaving cream, water, grass, and dirt. He also was more creative in his play for the rest of the day. Overall, a success!

And folks, if you're going to have this much fun with a 2 year old, it is imperative that you have an exit strategy. You know, bribery. Today's bribery came in the form of a freshly baked whole wheat, banana, blueberry, coconut, pecan, applesauce muffin. "Nummy, nummy" says Everett. :)

And during this entire playtime, clean up, and muffin, Paxton was taking a fantastic nap. Couldn't ask for more. After all, shaving cream is not a suitable play item for a 7 month old. Our next project we will have to make baby friendly.

Gotta Turn This Day Around!

2012-01-12T20:30:00.000-06:00

Whew! What a day! We started out with three tantrums from Everett within the first hour of him waking up. Then Ev spilled his cereal while I was making Paxton his breakfast. Later, Pax spewed avocado all over me while Everett was getting into something else (I don't remember what now). Everett burst into Pax's room while I was putting him down for a nap. As Pax was in the sweet spot, asleep and about to lay down is when Everett burst through the door to give Pax his blanket. Sweet and well meaning, but ruined the morning nap. He also burst in on another occasion today after Pax was trying unsuccessfully to go to sleep saying "HI PAX! SLEEP GOOD? YEA?" Very cute, but note to self: get more doorknob covers.

Frustrated with how the first few hours were going, I decided I either needed to exercise Everett's brain or body. Since it was in the thirties and windy outside, I decided to start with his brain. I have a really crafty and awesome friend who blogs about the projects she does with her daughter. So I got this idea from her.

First we squished rice, food coloring, and rubbing alcohol around in bags. I really would have expected Everett to enjoy this step more. He really was not into it.

Then we laid it out in a clear box. So pretty.

Everett's thing for awhile now is putting things into different containers over and over. So I equipped him with some things to scoop and different containers.

The problem is I used too much rubbing alcohol, and it really stunk. Hah! And it was kinda wet.

But when it dried, I found a way to make the rice safely enjoyable for Paxton. And Everett enjoyed it too.

So after exercising his mind, it still wasn't quite enough. The fail proof cure for a moody Everett? Playtime with Julian of course! Aida was nice enough to let us come over so they could burn some energy before nap time. So wonderful. Turns out while Everett cries when the dog gets near, Paxton cries when the dog goes away. He was fearless and loved the kisses from GaZoo.

As I was cuddling with Everett before bedtime, I recognized that, though it was a hard day, it turned out well. It's always good when it ends on a sweet note.

New Food (It's Not) Friday

2012-01-09T21:20:00.002-06:00

Yesterday Pax got a taste of bananas for the first time. He liked them so much that they wouldn't stay in his mouth because he giggled gleefully with every bite! Hah! He had Everett and I cracking up big time! I considered jumping up to get my phone and record it, but decided instead to just enjoy the moment. My apologies folks...cause it was hilarious! :)

The Besties Take on the Capitol

2012-01-07T21:09:00.001-06:00

In the aforementioned glorious afternoon spent at the Texas Capitol, Everett got to run around with his best friend, Julian, eat snacks galore, feed imaginary squirrels Cheez-Its, laugh, kick balls, etc. They had a blast with each other as always. And Pax finally got someone to play with too! Johanna and Elijah came to play, and we all had such a fun time together. Elijah was so sweet toward Pax, and they interacted as much as a 7 month old and one year old can. I look forward to seeing that friendship grow.

Everett is always happy when "Ju-ee" is around.

Aida has the ~~cookies~~ power.

Pax and Elijah trying to ingest more grass and leaves than their moms would like.

Ev and Julian, the alphabet scholars, pointing out letters in English and Spanish. Everett learned at least 3 words in Spanish today.

This is why it took us forever to leave. We had to stop and look at every who-knows-what and leaf on the way out.

The Many (Fun) Faces of Paxton

2012-01-07T20:01:00.001-06:00

I ended up getting some fun shots of Pax today while spending a glorious January afternoon at the Texas State Capitol.

Hey, You!

He speaks Italian.

Yee-Haw! My little Texan chewing on the grass.

Thoughtful Everett

2012-01-01T21:46:00.001-06:00

I know I have mentioned this once or twice before, but I am more and more impressed with Everett's thoughtfulness. He touches our hearts, and I hope so much that we can foster this amazing attribute into adulthood. Here are some examples that I'd love to read about in years to come...

-Today as Everett and Dad were sitting down to cuddle in front of a show, Ev got his own Gee (blankie) and then got up saying "Da Gee, Da Gee," repeat, repeat, repeat. He came back in the room carrying the blanket Eric's Grandma made him as well as Pax's Gee. He had trouble figuring out what Mama's Gee would be. :)

-We try to play often with his best buddy, Julian. On one occasion when Julian was sad to be leaving the park, Everett patted his back, put his face in front of Julian's, and said "issokay Ju-ee, issokay" a few times. On another occasion, he brought Julian his water - here's the amazing part - without drinking it himself! haha!

-When Pax is upset he likes to pat his head and say "issokay Pa". He also asks "okay Pa?" when Pax coughs.

-Today he brought Dad his Gatorade, looking all through the house for him saying "Da Drink!"

-He loves to help and volunteers by saying, "Help me!" which actually doesn't mean that he needs help, but rather that "me" is going to help. Pronouns are a little backwards right now.

And my favorite:
-Yesterday during a tantrum, Everett threw his head at mine. I involuntarily yelled a loud "OW!" when his head hit my nose, which caused him to scream louder and an octave higher. Dad took over from there. When all was calm again, Dad explained that Mommy has an owie because he hurt me while he was upset. He replied, "Get Band-aid, Mama!" So he brought me a band-aid with the sweetest look of concern and melted my heart.

Here is a video or Everett feeding Pax. I did not suggest or encourage this in any way. He just took the initiative and did it. Luckily, it went well, and nobody got gagged. haha!

And here is my narrative/translation if needed: Ev says "Mmm! Good! Pax." On the second bite, Pax attempts to grab the spoon, and Ev says, "No, no, no, no." Then "Eat, Pax." The Uh-oh is because of the food on Pax's face, and he is running to get a towel. :)

2012 Resolution

2011-12-27T20:54:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!

Picking a New Year's resolution is a tradition which I particularly enjoy. I've never kept one for a whole year, but that's beside the point. The start of a year and a new good habit is refreshing and motivational. Awhile ago I was reading a marriage blog that I enjoy perusing on occasion, and one post in particular has stuck with me. It basically said that when it comes to being wanted, all one can do is present something worth wanting. I found that so profound and eye-opening. So my resolution this year will be to present and BE something worth wanting...as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a friend. It means becoming a better person in many ways, such as being kind, nurturing my friendships and family, being patient with my children, etc. It also means taking responsibility (at least in part) for the failure or success of these relationships.

So, on this first day of 2012, I hereby resolve to:
     Be a wife worth marrying over again.
     Be a mother one would choose if given a choice.
     Be a daughter, sister, and friend that is supportive, present, loving, compassionate, etc, etc, etc.

And I can't help but wonder - what will 2012 bring? 2009 brought us Everett. 2010 brought the pregnancy that brought us Paxton in 2011. It's crazy to look back on all the change that has happened in three short years!

A Few Christmas Firsts

2011-12-25T20:04:00.000-06:00

Well today Paxton learned how to crawl! And Everett learned how to give raspberries/zerberts!

Some Funny Ones

2011-12-17T20:37:00.002-06:00

I have to hide my boots because Everett loves trying them on.

Here is Paxton being swallowed by his winter-wear. The gross looking things in Everett's bowl are NOT items of food I give him but rather chunks of play-dough that he fell in love with and could not part from for about a week.

"Potty?!" No Ev, the Rug Doctor is not a potty.

Every time we go to Target, the same conversation...
Ev: "Car! Drive!"
Me: "No Everett, that is for people whose legs don't work well. And yours work JUUUUST fine!"

"Phhhhbbbbbt" We've been getting a lot of fun motorboat noises from Pax lately.

Everett got his picture of "Wenew" (Aunt Lauren). He put it on the floor and then gathered some of his toys so they could play together. Awwwww! Sweet and sad at the same time.

Heehee. I'll let you caption this one for yourself. They're both making hilarious faces. Needless to say they don't look thrilled about either the walk or their outfits. But don't worry, the very next picture I took has them smiling. It's just not as funny. :)

New Food Friday #2

2011-12-17T20:23:00.000-06:00

Well, we seem to have delved into food with a bit too much vigor. Pax is practically begging for the food we eat in front of him, but his little body just isn't as ready as his mind. It certainly isn't ready for two meals per day. After four days of carrots, we finally figured out that it was the reason for 2+ hours of crying in the night. We went a few days with no solid food, and the wake-ups stopped. Over the last few days he has had very little solids, but we have introduced pear both in its whole state (through a net as seen below) and pureed. This was started after he very jealously watched Everett and I share a pear. I couldn't help but give him a small piece, and he really went to town on it. I would not have guessed you could eat pear entirely through mesh.

On the verge of upset. Ev's hand is a blur because it is about to push Pax onto the pillow so he can relax. Pax didn't quite look at it the same way. haha! It really was well intentioned.

Play Pax Sophie!

2011-12-13T16:12:00.000-06:00

I especially love seeing what Everett's first word to me will be when I get him up in the morning or after a nap. Usually it's something like "Ju" (Juice) or "Pa" (Pax). Today's was especially sweet. I had Pax with me, and when we went in, Ev said, "Pway Pa Popie! Pway Pa Popie!" (play Pax Sophie). I lifted him out of his crib, and he bolted for where all the toys are kept. He looked for Sophie, Pax's toy giraffe. When he couldn't find her, he ran back to his room, rattle in hand and plopped it on Pax's chest, very proud of himself. Then he laid right on down for me to change his diaper! Seems like a dream, but I swear it was reality. What a sweet boy. :)

Pax Skywalker

2011-12-09T21:29:00.001-06:00

Using the Force to obtain more oatmeal.

The Return of New Food Fridays!

2011-12-09T18:20:00.001-06:00

When Everett was starting to eat, I dubbed Fridays as New Food Fridays in order to provide a week between introducing new foods. And because it's fun. I'm sorry to say I, myself, did not have anything new today. I'll have to work on that for next week. Pax's new food today was carrots. I didn't realize until reading Everett's New Food Friday post that his first food was also carrots. Paxton's first bite surprised him, but then he was excited for more. He eagerly ate the entire serving. You can see I'm not bothering with a bib these days. He is a much less messy eater than, ahem, I am used to. :) Although, I'm sure it's just that we are more experienced feeders.

Yessss!

Carrots = Pure Happiness

Everett's Birthday, Take TWO!

2011-12-02T20:04:00.001-06:00

Over Thanksgiving we had a little 2nd birthday celebration for Everett while my family was in town. He enjoyed TWO carrot and applesauce cupcakes (SO good!). Here is a fun photo comparison below. My how they grow in one year!!! Despite Everett's face in his one year pictures, I assure you he thoroughly enjoyed that chocolate cupcake.

Pax Eats!

2011-12-02T13:42:00.001-06:00

Real food that is! It's that time! I was dreading the messy, pureed, tedious learning-to-eat stage for awhile, but I've finally come around and am excited again. I guess amid the toddler pickiness, I am excited for the fun that babies have with new food experiences.

I've had several people make comments wondering why I waited so long. This puzzles me. So let me briefly explain myself. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting on solid foods until 6 months of age for several reasons. One reason is to prevent development of allergies by early exposure to allergens. The digestive tract also needs some time to mature. I also felt he needed to be able to sit adequately in the high chair, which for now is mostly adequate - some propping required. And finally, there is a tongue thrust reflex in which their tongue pushes food out of their mouth when introduced. You can see why this would be a great survival skill and another reason why little humans are so amazing. Trying to get them to eat before this reflex disappears...well it's really messy. And learning to eat is already messy. The final and very important reason to wait has to do with his genetically inherited (my fault) proclivity to regurgitate all day. Spit up blueberries, beets, and such? Not fun. Been there with Ev. Not anxious to go back.

So Pax is 5.5 months, and he is showing great interest in participating in meals. Yesterday I gave him a slice of apple in this device that holds food in a net. He gnawed and sucked on it and thoroughly loved it. Tonight he finally got to do what he's been begging to do for a few weeks. He sat at the table and ate dinner with his family! :) It felt so right to have all four of us around the table.

First I made sure he could sit in and tolerate the high chair.

Those smiles are for Daddy. :)
Then we sat down for dinner for the first time as four eaters. I know, there should be something green on our plates. I had salad for lunch. :)

Paxton, like his brother, ate more than I expected. He eagerly ate his oatmeal, and he did really well. Of course I'm better at it this time around. I didn't bother with the super thinned out cereal. I mean, who likes feeding someone soup on a tiny spoon? Not me! We skipped to a thicker version.

And below - of course Everett decided he needed to wear a bib now too...while playing with his farm.

Just So You Know...

2011-11-14T22:10:00.000-06:00

Ev and Pax, I look through our pictures on my phone every night before I go to sleep. You know, when I was a kid we didn't take pictures everyday, we had to wait for film to be developed, AND if we didn't capture the moment just right we had to live with bad pictures because the moment was waaaay gone. Can you imagine??? Oh and we also didn't have cameras in our phone...or phones in our pocket. But that's another story for another day.

A Sampling of Our Favorite Everett Words

2011-11-14T21:58:00.001-06:00

p.s. He must have gotten ketchup from the sound the bottle makes. :) Funny kid.

Ev and J's Day of Pfun!

2011-11-10T19:39:00.001-06:00

Tuesday when I took Pax to the clinic, my friend, Aida (she lives in Pflugerville, so fun becomes pfun and means it was extra fun), was generous enough to let me drop Everett off for the morning. Her son, Julián, is Everett's best buddy, and Everett was incredibly excited to spend this time with him. These boys are born a few days apart and have known each other all their two years of life. The great thing about Everett and Julián is that though Ev speaks English and J speaks Spanish they understand each other perfectly. Better than we do I'm sure. Here's a fun example of how their speech merges. Everett used to call dogs "bark bark", and Julián calls big dogs "vaca", which is "cow" in Spanish. Now Everett calls dogs "baca". haha!

Well, referee Aida did a fantastic job. As you can see, the boys played beautifully together though she tells me there was one fight that was also documented. I haven't seen the footage, but I do believe it. haha! There were an abundance of incredibly adorable pictures, some of which are below. (I had trouble selecting just a few. ;)

Moving in!

They look like they could be brothers, right?

Little engineers at work.

If you know how toddlers play, you know this is an amazing display of the very difficult concept of SHARING!

Pax Cute

2011-11-10T09:25:00.001-06:00

I took the boys to a baby shower for some dear friends on Sunday. Ever since then, Everett has been looking at Pax and saying "Pa Cue". Translation: Pax [is] cute. Haha! He must have heard a lot of people saying that. He isn't bothered by it or jealous. He says it endearingly and with a sweet smile. I keep assuring him that Everett is cute too. I should say "Ev Cue". :) I try to get him to say "Mama Cue", but so far I got nothin'. haha!

Swings

2011-11-09T19:59:00.000-06:00

It's amazing what 19.5 months will do!

Our Quest for a Round Head

2011-11-09T19:56:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I took Paxton in for evaluation of his head shape. He has brachycephaly, or flat head syndrome. This is pretty common now since kids are put to sleep on their backs to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Hey, flat head is better than death! The treatment can be a helmet to help reshape the head, but it looks like that's not recommended by the clinic we went to until 6 months (he is 4.5 mo). In the meantime, he gave me a whole bunch of impractical advice such as putting him on his stomach to sleep and sit and watch him during the nap at first. Um yea, not really an option as I have a two year old (which he didn't ask about before giving these great tips). And when I brought up that he will not relax on his stomach and lay his head down, rather he only cries harder and harder, his response...that I'm not letting him cry long enough (he did not ask how long I let him cry) and that Pax would eventually lay his head down and fall asleep. No thank you! I'd rather not upset my child into exhaustion to have him plop his head face first into a mattress and fall asleep. I'm pretty positive that this guy doesn't have kids or that if he does he had very little to do with raising them. He said some other pretty ridiculous things and didn't ask anything about what we've already done. He had no idea he was talking to a healthcare professional married to another healthcare professional and that I could tell what a poor job he was doing. .

So I'm upping our already in place efforts to keep him off the back of his head. My goal is very little use of the bouncer and swing, and trying to limit the carseat as much as practical. When he can roll both ways more proficiently, he will naturally start sleeping on his stomach. And if not, that would be the appropriate time to encourage him to do so. I use baby carriers often. We got a Bumbo, which is a special chair that helps him sit before he can actually sit on his own. So far, Pax will sit in it for a little bit, but Ev spends most of the day plopping in and out of it and crawling around with it stuck to his butt. He's obsessed with it.

My back feels like it's about to break from carrying Pax all day. Paxton, when you're old enough to read this, and if you have a nicely shaped head, know that massages would be good Mother's Day presents from you. And while I'm at it, Everett, it's pretty hard lifting your 30 lb self into and out of the car, crib, bathtub, etc. So you can buy me massages too. ;)

Everett's 2-year Stats

2011-11-04T10:54:00.000-05:00

Ev went to the doctor today for his 2 year well check. All is well, and he was very brave. Here are his stats.

Height: 37" - 98%tile
Weight: 29lb 2 oz - 60-75%tile
Head: 49cm - 50-75%tile

If you go by the old approximation that his final height will be twice his two year old height, then he is predicted to be 6'2"! So hard but amazing to imagine him an inch taller than Eric someday. :)

Two Years of Immense Love

2011-11-03T20:25:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to our sweet Everett! It's hard to believe it was two years ago that you entered our lives. Time goes too fast. What's even more amazing is how our hearts know no limits when it comes to love. Just one of the amazing things you taught us immediately.

Everett, you are TWO! And you are:

-SMART! You find ways to play with your toys that I would have never thought of. Yesterday you used a straw to aid in stacking blocks that have a hole in them. You can remember where you put something days ago. You are learning words at a rapid pace now and can retain words told to you just once. My absolute favorite thing you are doing right now is saying a prayer, "O God guide me" before bed. You repeat after me or Dad, and often instead of repeating you say the next word. Most of the words are intelligible to only God Himself, but in your defense they are big words. And God is the only one who really has to understand anyway. I'm going to put that on video soon. :)

-FUNNY! You say really funny things. You love to laugh. You love to make Paxton laugh. You are a generally very happy guy.

-CARING! You hold Sophie (giraffe teether) in Pax's mouth to help him chew on it. You are sharing your toys with him now. You softly rub his hair. Lately you say "hold Pax!" a lot, which means you want to hold him, and which makes Pax laugh and smile. Today as Pax was crying, protesting his nap, I found you camped outside his door quietly playing with one of your toys. Also, you recently found a stuffed bear and pig and have been carrying them around, feeding them, putting them to sleep, pushing them down the slide, etc.

-HELPFUL! You like to put things back where they belong. You like helping me clean, wiping things off with a rag, putting trash in the trash can, and trying to sweep. You hand me things I need for Pax, like the burp rags. You and Paxton share a bath now, and you enjoy helping bathe him.

-You're normal too. You have tantrums. You don't always listen. You love cookies. You know, normal two year old stuff. :)

We love you SO much and are really enjoying watching you grow up. Happy birthday Everett!

These are some pictures from his best buddy Julian's birthday party this past weekend (Halloween hence the cowboy costume).

Loving getting buried by Dad at the dino pit

Mother's Day in October

2011-10-17T09:42:00.000-05:00

What a day! First Everett poops in the potty for the first time (I know, I know. I told myself I wouldn't be one of those moms that broadcasts this news, but it's much more exciting than I anticipated.). And THEN he asks for vegetables for breakfast! OK, sure! Chants for "mommy! mommy!" don't go unrewarded around here. Ok, that's not for me, but for edamame...but still...it sounds nice. ;)

Quick Updates

2011-10-10T20:18:00.002-05:00

I realize I haven't been blogging much lately. Life has been exponentially more busy with two, though it feels a lot more normal now. Let's see what news I can come up with quickly here...

-Paxton is having a hard time sleeping lately; therefore we all are. He is in the midst of mastering the art of rolling over. He goes to his belly with ease, but then gets stuck. He is incredibly cute, so you can't be mad at the guy for getting us up 4-5 times/night. He'll get it, and we'll all rest better soon. He's talking a lot, loves watching Everett, and enjoys hanging out in the jumper. He is really interested in manipulating the toys on it, which is fun to watch. Oh, and his big squishy cheeks and thighs are so adorable, I just kiss and squeeze him all day long. I love him SOOOO much!

-Everett's speech is blossoming and hilarious and so cute. He is using the potty more and more, which is exciting for us. Potty is also my favorite word he says lately. It comes out like "paw-ee". So cute. He also says "boobee" = blueberries, which makes it hilarious when he talks about big blueberries. He calls rabbits "tatas", and he likes to point out and exclaim BIG TREE when he sees them, which happens to come out "biiicheee". We are trying to teach him "tall tree" though he's still partial to the previous. Eeek! Haha! When we ask him his name or if he talks about himself lately, he says "you". Hmm. So we sound really strange as we are replacing "you" with "Everett" in our sentences to help him learn. Also, Ev loves to be my sous chef, which equates to him standing on a chair watching me cook most of the time. But sometimes he even gets to stir...which is really messy. But hey, I'm the messy cook, who am I to judge. I also love him SOOOO much!

-Eric has been having to work away from home for several days at a time lately. Boo! We miss Daddy so much when he's gone. It is perhaps making me feel more capable managing the two boys on my own though. I admit I tend to freak out in advance, which is just silly. Trying to do that less. Eric is such a great Dad, and I have really been enjoying watching him with the boys. And I love him SOOOO much!

-And me. Not much new going on with me. Just taking care of the boys, laundry, cooking, cleaning, laundry, playgrounds, storytime, laundry, errands, dr appointments, weeding, and you know...laundry. The usual. I'm enjoying getting to go for walks now that it is not 100+ degrees everyday. We had 90 days of that this summer! Unbelievable. The mornings are just gorgeous, so we've been spending a lot of time outside. I just love starting my day with Pax (Everett is still sleeping) and a cup of coffee outside as the sun is coming up and the birds are singing. Aaaah.

Paxton is 3 Months!

2011-09-21T21:33:00.000-05:00

Wow, I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Time flies. I will admit it has been a hard three months. Not because Pax is difficult at all, but rather the overall transition to family of four. I feel like it has been an intensive training in parenting two, and I am starting to get the hang of our new routine. I'm much more comfortable bringing them both somewhere now, though it is still quite scary when traffic or elevators are involved (there was an incident involving a small Everett hand getting stuck for ~~an eternity~~ a short time. It was so scary I felt like I could faint, but all is well and Dr. Daddy was there). Our challenge these days is getting them to not wake each other up when napping or sleeping at night. Bedtime can be like a crazy sleep circus involving me going from one baby to the other and back to get them both asleep sometimes. This is, of course, when Eric is working in the evening. When he's here it is much easier to coordinate.

So Pax seems to have turned into a typical three month old baby overnight. But he DID turn into a three month baby overnight, you say. Ok, that's true. But any parent will understand that three months is magical. All of a sudden he is more engaged in his environment. He laughs more easily and for longer periods of time. Watching Everett is fascinating and usually gets a smile. All of a sudden he is also talking a LOT and loudly. I really love having conversations with him.

Here is an excellent video of my singing...no, don't worry...of Pax laughing. Oh, but there IS singing. Sorry. Enjoy!

Everett at 22 Months

2011-09-06T21:07:00.002-05:00

Two months shy of two years old?! How in the world did this happen? *sigh*

Some things Everett is into these days:

-WATER! Or BOPPEE! as he calls it. He loves to play in the sprinkler, play at the sink, help give Pax's bath, play in his own bath, water plants, pour water between containers, basically anything having to do with water.

-He seems to pull out a few new words everyday lately. It is SO cool to hear the stuff he comes up with! He is stringing two words together lately. It's usually "more (insert food item here)" or "bye-bye (insert person or inanimate object here)". He much more readily repeats words he is hearing now, and I can hear him practicing them sometimes when he is alone in his crib. So cute. :)

-Regarding food - sometimes he's picky, sometimes not. Who knows. Toddlers are a mystery sometimes. Just because he gobbled two pounds of broccoli one night, doesn't mean he'll touch it another night.

-He's really active - climbing, running, etc. I barely have to help him anymore on the playground, and am mostly there as a safety net. I read recently that some kids work on verbal skills first, others work on motor skills. He's definitely a motor skills first kind of person.

-He adores his baby brother. When Pax cries, he says "sad", gives him a few pats on the stomach or back, and kisses his head. It is important to him to kiss Pax goodnight and to say hi in the morning. I can't wait to see this relationship flourish over the years. It's already so sweet.

Don't worry. He doesn't ACTUALLY drink grande Starbucks drinks. He tries reaaaally hard to get out a few last drops when I'm done. :)

Pa Pa and Kiki

2011-08-29T21:54:00.000-05:00

Last week, we were lucky enough to spend the entire week with my parents. Through toddler tantrums and sleep strikes, they did not kick us out. Despite their request to be called Darth Vader and Princess Lea, Everett has named them Pa pa, which is more like pa PAAAA, and Kiki! We will continue to reinforce "Grandma" and "Grandpa", but it's pretty cute in the meantime. :) Here are some highlights from our visit.

Grandpa took some time off of work and took us to the Dallas Aquarium, the Children's Museum, and an awesome aquarium at Grapevine Mills. Everett had a blast watching the fish and playing with everything (water in particular) at the Children's museum. I really loved seeing the manatees at the Dallas Aquarium, but most of all loved watching Everett's exuberant excitement!!! Pax slept most of the time, which was really nice as well. :)

There was lots of time spent in the pool. Everett learned the words pool and swimsuit among others he picked up along the way. As a side note, today is day 74 of over 100 degree weather this summer. Whew!

Pax laughed for the first time! And another two times! It was so awesome. One of those times, Everett actually made him laugh by doing an exercise from yoga in which he pumps Pax's arms to and fro and says "choo choo". We call it choo choo arms. Pax was cracking up! It was the first time I saw them really interact with each other, and I just loved it.

Though Everett pretty strongly refused naps and bedtime, he DID open his mind to some new foods! One struggle yielded to another. He began this streak by gobbling down broccoli, saying "more! more!" while our mouths gaped open in shock.

And the quote of the week goes to my mom. While looking at Paxton..."I think I'm going to look like that someday. You know, with my cheeks resting on my shirt."

Everettspeak and Funnies

2011-08-12T13:09:00.006-05:00

Love these verbal leaps! Today Everett said his name for the first time that I know of! It was so exciting! Both boys were sitting in my lap, and he started naming us off...Pa, Mama, Ewewett. Wow! So cool.

And here's him yesterday as we were driving out of the garage...

Da-da boppee (bye-bye water)
Da-da zee (bye-bye fish)
Da-da Mama
What? I'm right here, Ev! But glad to know I made it after the water and the fish.
Da-da Daa (Dad)

And as we're leaving today...

Da-da poo (it's exactly what it sounds like - hah!!!)

And finally, something funny that happened the other day. He took his snack of goldfish crackers and placed them in the water he was playing with. I stepped away to tend to the laundry, and when I returned, this is what I saw...

So he really learned a lot by this experience. Goldfish can't swim. They get soggy when wet. Then you can't eat them. He can't reach the sink to dump them in. And when trying, they dump ON him! And when you have soggy goldfish all over your body, your mom makes you wait while she grabs her phone to take a picture first because it's just too funny! The one on his face just cracks me up so hard!!!

Update:
One I must add from just now when getting him up from a nap...
Me: "I love you so much Everett. Do you know how to say 'I love you?'"
Everett: "mama daa" (Mama Dad)

:)

Fun New Developments

2011-08-10T12:47:00.001-05:00

Well, it seems both boys took a developmental leap at the same time. This past week has seen some fun new words, activities, and smiles from everyone.

Paxton will be 8 weeks old tomorrow. Over the last week, he has been responding to us and delighting us with big smiles. Such a joy to see these. He can hold his head up high in tummy time, and rolls belly to back with some effort. Though he is not a fan of regular naps yet, he is sleeping 9-10 hour stretches at night, with an additional 2-3 hours after nursing. What a blessing! We moved him into the guest room, which is next to Everett's room, and luckily they haven't bothered each other with their noise yet. I adore his big scrumptious cheeks and kiss them as much as I can. My favorite thing to do when bathing Pax is massage his face so that I can mash around those cheeks and cause him to make some really funny faces. Haha!

Everett is 21.5 months old. He has had an awesome verbal leap over the past few days. All of a sudden he is surprising us pulling out more words and really cute pronunciations. Potato = pa-tote-tee. My favorite. :) He makes simple sentences, usually about something falling down. "Oh no! Boppee down!" = oh no! The water spilled! Another great one is "no, no, no ka" pointing to the crayon mark on the wall and shaking his head = don't color on the walls. :)

His favorite thing to do right now is play in water. Since it's about 106 degrees everyday, we set up a towel in the kitchen with bowls, cups, and spoons, and he has a blast. He also loves dinosaurs and requests to watch "saur choo-choo", Dinosaur Train, a PBS show. Side note: I have really learned a lot about dinosaurs. :)

Ev is much more gentle with Pax now. He wipes his mouth with the burp cloths, pats his belly when he is upset, and says "oh no!!!" when he cries over the monitor. He did have a hard time for one night when we moved Pax next door to him. He cried for awhile before going to sleep - not sure why that change was hard for him. Hopefully we don't have to move him to a big boy bed too soon as he has demonstrated change DOES affect him right now. We'll try not to alter his world TOO much more at this point. I really love seeing Everett communicate with us more easily, and I love his conversations with himself in the car. I really wish I knew what he was saying as it seems quite intricate and interesting. He has a great sense of humor in his play as well, putting a funnel over his hand and poking me and the cat with it, pretending to feed the Elmo on his plate, etc. Every day seems to bring something new and funny from him. I can't wait to see what these two come up with together in about a year.

(Barely) Doing It All

2011-08-05T22:17:00.000-05:00

Everett screaming. He insisted I hold him despite having my hands full already. (I love how they're both looking at the camera/Daddy)

Seriously?

Sympathizing.

Now Pax is crying, flailing, and in need of better head control.

Ok, braced against my face. All is good again.

Daddy can do it all too.

Another Well Rested Baby

2011-08-05T22:01:00.001-05:00

When Everett first shocked us with an amazing night of sleep we took a picture of that well rested baby face (click for Everett's post). I thought since Paxton blessed us with this amazing feat last night, he should have a well rested baby picture too (or three). :)

Not only is he sleeping long stretches, but I put him in bed awake and he actually goes to sleep on his own! I never believed that was possible when reading the sleep experts recommend it. Not sure if Everett wasn't able or if I didn't give him the chance.

We are doing the same sleep training method, except this time we already knew what to do. Instead of waiting to be instructed at our 2 month pediatrician visit, the only thing we waited for was the scale to say 11 lbs. ;) When I look back at that blog post and see that Everett slept from 9pm-9am with one wakeup, I think to myself, "9am? When is the last time I got to sleep until 9am? Probably that day!" Paxton slept from 7pm-7am with one wakeup at 4am. Awesome. You can see we have scaled our sleep times earlier as we don't know what it's like to sleep until 9am anymore.

I love this expression. I wish I could come up with some hilarious caption.

Muah!

I Eat My Veggies, Mom!

2011-08-03T19:35:00.003-05:00

No, not talking about the boys this time, but ME! I love my veggies, Mom! I thought this time I'd write about me and this preoccupation that has taken over my brain - vegetables! Huh? What? I know, I didn't expect that either. Several years ago, my sister taught me what a CSA is, and I've been hooked ever since. If it weren't 107 degrees on a regular basis this summer, perhaps my garden wouldn't be the barren, crunchy, sad thing that it currently is. I am still able to order fresh, local produce here, and I love ordering a CSA basket every few weeks. When I first signed up with a farm, there was an element of mystery. I didn't always know what the veggies were. I'd look them up, figure out how to cook them, and sometimes how to pronounce them! Sometimes it would be a success, sometimes not, and I was still developing a taste for them. It was an adventure. Lately, I order from a company that lets me order when I want versus on a weekly basis. So I actually see what's projected to be in the basket before ordering. This does produce a lot less waste for our household, and even minus the fun of the mystery, it's great fun planning how I'm going to use them. The fun part for me this time is planning it out so that it ALL gets used.

So it's a culinary adventure around here, right? Sometimes. Eric is not the veggie lover that I am. In his defense, he never complains, and I think he tries to be stealthy when he scrapes 75% of his dinner into the trash. It continues to be my fantasy, however, that I can somehow transform his tastebuds into something that craves sauteed Swiss chard, tomato and onion salsa, buffalo mozzarella, and a big basil leaf sandwiched between two slices of breaded and pan-fried eggplant. It's really quite fantastic - try it. This week I made a veggie lasagna featuring eggplant, squash, portabello mushrooms, and spinach - two of those ingredients he really does NOT like. But he ate it! He didn't have seconds, but he ate his entire portion. How did I achieve such a feat? Why, by covering it with two of his favorite things of course - cheese and tomato sauce! :)

So my plan (I realize it's a LONG term plan) is to turn Everett and Paxton into vegetable loving, gardening, foodie chefs. Then ~~it'll be 3 against 1~~ we'll all be healthy. :)

Here is Everett (15 months old) "helping" in the garden earlier this year.

Taming the Tantrum

2011-07-24T19:45:00.002-05:00

For some reason, I think it will be interesting to look back in several years and reflect on my hardships now versus then. And so I shall describe the current challenge in our household.

Poor Everett. There just aren't enough snacks in the world to keep this guy happy. He is really quite predictable. When we watch Sesame Street, he inevitably wants crackers at the end or near end of the show. I try to prepare for this by having dinner ready; however, often there are a few more minutes on the clock before it's ready. Today, as expected, he ran to the pantry, hand wiggling the doorknob, and demanded "gagoo?! gagoo?!" (cracker?! cracker?!). I look at the timer for the rice. Ten minutes! Oh dear. There is an eternity standing between Everett and happiness. Or near happiness as it is not a gagoo that he is getting, but rather a real dinner. Well, the end of the world came as he screamed, kicked, thrashed, and screamed some more. Paxton and Everett were both crying at this time. I did a quick risk/benefit analysis and determined Everett to be in need of my full attention. I put a mildly crying Pax down, reminded myself that Everett is too young to understand or control his emotions, resolved to put my pointed finger back in its holster, and calmly asked him to stop screaming. As I watched him I wondered, "did I give birth to a wild animal?" We had a time out to see if he could cool down. He did not. I took him to his room to have some quiet time. He ended up laying on the floor, poor pitiful thing, screaming a little quieter, grunting, and groaning, snot and tears covering his face. I kneeled down and stroked his hair while saying "shhhh". He seemed to need this attention and did calm down. I kissed him and told him I love him to which he started crying again - hard. It was a cry that broke my heart. It was instantly recognizable as the kind of cry one does when it comes from deep inside, from a pained soul. This was no longer just about gagoos. I held him in a tight embrace trying to impart all my love as I heard the timer go off for the rice. Hard to believe this all took place in ten minutes. He asked to color, which he did while I fed him dinner. He ate happily. We had a lovely rest of the evening. We ate, we played, and my heart melted when he took my face, a hand on each of my cheeks and gave me a kiss goodnight. I love him so much. :)

Paxton at 5 weeks

2011-07-21T21:32:00.003-05:00

Paxton has been doing so well! He has been mildly fussy with some colicky symptoms lately. Let's be honest, that's just a nice way to say he has gas. :) May I now apologize to the 18 year old Pax reading this if you're embarrassed...but again, let's be honest...you probably still have gas. ;)

He has been sleeping really well these days. I'm afraid to say it for fear it will never happen again, but he actually went 9 hours between feedings last night!!! We managed to get about 7 hours of sleep in a row, which is just amazing. Thank you Pax. We needed that.

He is starting to have more alert time during the day, and I so enjoy looking at that wide eyed adorable face. I also enjoy looking at that sweet sleeping face. He is filling out, and is about 10.5 lbs at this point. Such a cutie pie!

My friend, Lea, did some great newborn photos, some of which are below.

Everett at 20 Months

2011-07-21T21:16:00.002-05:00

Everett has obviously had a lot of changes in his life lately. He has dealt with it pretty well. He gives his new brother nothing but love, but does display some added frustration in general. He has been forced to practice patience, which is usually not easy. He has shown a little bit of jealousy when people come over and get excited to see Paxton or if he wants the attention of the person holding Pax. And the biggest challenge is in his excessive desire for snacks! No is not a word he likes to hear...though he really likes saying it! ;)

His communication is getting more extensive. He has more words in his vocabulary and we have been able to have conversations recently, which has been really exciting. We have to fill in the blanks, but we always ask him if that's what he meant, and he's good about saying yes or no to help us know if we get what he's trying to say. Here's a sweet conversation Eric and Everett had before bed last week:

Eric: "Did you have fun at the pool today?"
Everett: (nods yes)

Eric: "Do you want to go again sometime?"
Everett: thinks about it for a few seconds, then says..."Pa!"
Eric: "You want Pax to come next time?"
Everett: (nods yes)

Heehee! There are more extensive conversations, but that's one of my favorites.

Oh, and a fantastic accomplishment - he is much better with a spoon and fork now. Many thanks to Grandma who worked with him on that while we were in the hospital after Pax was born. That has made life a little easier around here.

His loves lately: dinosaurs, Sesame Street, and socks.

Brothers of One Month

2011-07-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

Everett and Paxton's relationship has been off to a very special start. In the five weeks that Pax has been with us, Everett has doted on his brother immensely. Ev loves it when we lay Pax down on a blanket as it affords him an opportunity to be really close to him. He tries to hold him, pick him up, roll him over, lay on top of him. I can say that he is learning that Pax is a little fragile at the moment, and is starting to give him a little space. He immediately lets out a sympathetic "oo-ooh!" when Pax cries. When Everett goes to bed, after bath and jammies, he comes out to say goodnight to Pax and myself. He says "Pa!" and gives him a sweet kiss on the head. And in the morning, he comes into the kitchen where Pax is usually on the table in the bouncer and says "Pa!" and waves an enthusiastic hello to him. Paxton has started watching Everett and follows him with his eyes interested in what is producing all the activity and squealing around him!

Trying to pick him up. This is when we step in!

Probably just got a flailing fist in the face.

Sweet brotherly love. :)

Grandma and her boys.

Love this one. :)

The New Out-to-Eat Norm?

2011-07-12T21:05:00.001-05:00

Oh my goodness. Tonight we were THAT family. You know the one. There's a screaming toddler that won't stay in his chair. Two frustrated looking parents. You ask to be seated as far from them as possible. The infant was calm, so we had SOMEthing going for us! haha! I was mortified when the neighboring table asked to be moved. Eric made me feel better when he brought up that Everett did not start misbehaving until the woman at that table started ogling over him and distracting him from his meal. Ok, good point. But still...mortified. In our defense, we did go at 4:00pm on a kids eat free day, when families are at the least risk of ruining other people's meals.

Before having kids I would have sworn we would never be that family. We would *make* our kids behave. Uh-huh. Sure. Six months ago I would have said the same thing, perhaps a little less confidently. Parenting is humbling. And that's a good thing. Shame on me for passing judgement on something I had no idea about. Lesson learned.

So we survived. We ate fast, and despite Eric fielding Everett's behavior while I breastfed Pax in a booth in which me holding Pax barely fit, we did get to eat most of our meals. Everett refused to eat his dinner - well, he did lick the ketchup off his home fries if you count that. However, on the way home he did request "mooore", and I gave him some of his packed up meal. *sigh* We also met a nice Grandma who came over to offer advice and try to help us comfort Everett.

Perhaps next time it will be take-out. :)

Two Weeks Later

2011-07-01T08:19:00.000-05:00

We are all doing great after two weeks of being a family of four. Everett loves his baby brother (still). He checks on Paxton, strokes his hair, points out his eyes, ears, and nose (perhaps it would be best if he didn't touch them though - hah!). He asks about him and waves at him every morning when he wakes up. I don't sense any jealousy yet - I mean, he's not trying to play with Everett's toys or anything! - I think the tantrums that are thrown are just the same ones that would have occurred anyway. Ev is getting much better at independent play, and has gotten really good with a spoon and fork.

Paxton sleeps a lot. When he's not sleeping he's eating or requesting to be held. A good friend, Lea, took some absolutely beautiful photos of him this past weekend. I've included a few here from our sneak preview.

I'm feeling great. I'm so happy to be among these four people, and I feel so blessed over and over.

And on another note, Everett has made me feel like a bonafide mom now - he has decided that he doesn't like boogers on his hand so they should be wiped on Mom...at times when my hands are full and can't dodge it. Let's face it, that's part of the job description - receptacle for boogers and trash. *sigh*

The Meeting of the Brothers

2011-06-17T20:45:00.000-05:00

There were some very tender moments yesterday when Grandma brought Everett to the hospital to meet Paxton. Everett immediately gave him kisses and enjoyed putting his face directly in front of Paxton's to stare for a little while. He offered his blankie and some toys he had with him. He was simply fascinated with Paxton and enjoys looking at and checking on him. Today we came home from the hospital, and upon waking from his nap he immediately asked about the baby. Here are some sweet pictures I will treasure forever.

Paxton's Birth Story

2011-06-17T14:04:00.002-05:00

Paxton's entrance into this world was both long and short. Let me explain.

On Thursday one week before his due date I started to have contractions that felt to me and my memory of Everett's labor to be the real thing. I called my parents in the middle of the night, and they made the 4 hour trek to Austin anticipating a birth! However, that did not happen. I continued to have contractions on and off over that week that felt like they would amount to something. We were sent home from the hospital on Friday after contractions did not persist.

Wednesday, the day before his due date, we had a doctor appointment. He "stripped my membranes"(google it if you're so inclined) in an effort to get labor started. Because of my previous c-section, I had a deadline of one week past the due date before I would have to deliver Paxton by c-section, and induction was not an option. Boy did it work! I had very strong contractions later that afternoon. They were persistent, and we went in to the hospital at about 9pm. They watched me for an hour, and the contractions though strong were not changing my cervix. I was offered "therapeutic sleep", which was IM Morphine and Ambien. I really didn't want to be in a coma when delivering my baby and am not in favor of being drugged, so I refused. Since I refused, they felt they could not do anything for me at the time and sent me home. I wanted to seriously hurt someone. We drove home and contractions became extremely painful. It didn't take long before we were on our way back to the hospital with severe pain and nausea - likely in transition. I got to the hospital with my cervix at 5cm (I was 1.5 cm when sent home an hour earlier), and progressed to 10cm after another hour or so. It was the most intense pain I have ever experienced. I sounded like a primal beast. I felt very fortunate to have a doctor that allowed an epidural to be placed at such a late point in the game. They worked as quickly as they could, but I was already 10cm at this point, and my body was pushing despite my intense efforts not to. Having the epidural during pushing allowed for a much more pleasant experience complete with joking and conversation. Most importantly it allowed for a slightly slower process which reduced tearing significantly, though most would say 30 minutes of pushing is not slow at all.

So there you have it. Paxton was born on his due date like his brother Everett as well as myself (a hilariously perfect fit to my personality). June 16, 2011. He was 7 lb 12 oz, 20.5 inches long, and cute as a button. What surprised me most was his dark hair and so far dark eyes.

To compare this to our previous experience, you can read Everett's birth story.

What's In a Name?

2011-06-17T13:22:00.001-05:00

Choosing a name for a child proves to be quite a difficult process! For us at least. We chose the name Paxton Anderson Keahey for a few reasons. Pax is Latin for peace, which we just love; however, we didn't want to give what feels like a nickname as the full name. We both fell in love with the name Paxton, which would literally mean "peaceful town". Hopefully he will make a peaceful town out of wherever he is in life.

Both Everett and Paxton share the middle name Anderson, which is my maiden name. I really love this tradition, common in Spanish speaking countries. Eric carries his mother's maiden name, Horton, as his middle name. Since marriage, my own maiden name is my middle name as well.

If anything, we needed a Peaceful Town to balance out our Wild Boar (Everett). hah!!! We obviously chose Everett's name for our love of the name rather than its meaning. :)

Waiting!

2011-06-11T17:45:00.017-05:00

I have some higher than normal traffic on this site lately. I have a feeling some might be checking to see if we have any news. So I thought I'd just put a quick note to say - not yet. I've had a few fake-outs now...so real seeming that my parents drove down in the middle of the night. (sigh) I feel bad about that. But at least there is some extra Everett/Grandparent time, which is always good for all parties. Due date is Thursday, and the dr won't let us go more than a week past that with my history of c-section. So here we'll be...waiting! Come on baby!

Almost Baby Time!

2011-05-31T21:44:00.001-05:00

Here we are at (just about) 38 weeks! We've set up a few things around the house and installed the carseat. This was mostly in an effort to get Everett used to these things (and get him to stop pressing their buttons, sitting in baby chairs, throwing blocks in the bassinet, etc.). It wasn't really out of a need to get things set up because let's be honest - at this point, we could set up all those things that took hours in about 5 minutes. We're like super baby gadget setter-uppers now.

We're getting really excited to meet little brother and see how Everett takes on his role as big brother! Due date's in 2 weeks!

So now we wait...

No, No, Noooo!

2011-05-31T21:34:00.000-05:00

Ok, I realize you are going to think I'm crazy with this post. I thought I'd record my current thoughts so I, too, can look back on how crazy I am.

Over the past week or so Everett has really started to perfect and use the word No! It's never alone. Always no, no, nooooo or more. Sure it gets trying...but the way he says it is incredibly adorable. I'm usually smiling on the inside while doing my best to portray the appropriate facial expression on the outside.

Perhaps this is one of those things only a mother (or father) can love. ;)

18 Months

2011-05-11T21:27:00.000-05:00

Everett had his 18 month well check today, and let me tell you, as soon as we got in the room and the door shut, he knew EXACTLY where we were. Poor little dude screamed for most of his appointment. He screamed so much he didn't notice his shot - hah!

Weighing in at 28 lb (75%tile), Everett Anderson Keahey is an astounding 34.5" tall (95%tile) with a head circumference in the 50-75th percentile! I recently bought him some 3T pajamas! 3T! As in for a 3 year old! He's half that! Ok, so we knew he would be tall. Here's what else he's up to.

Everett, at 18 months, you:
-love your blankie "gee". It goes many places with you, and you carry it around the house, stopping now and then to lay down on it and put your thumb in your mouth for a little 2 second rest before going back to chasing the cat or begging for crackers.
-usually say "meow!" first thing when you get up in the morning and from naps, which means you want to see Frankie, the cat. You love chasing him, being next to him, and you've gotten really good at petting him gently.
-have a love/hate relationship with food. You love snacks - crackers, cheese, and apples being your favorite, perhaps because you can say them. You often are not interested in dinner even if it's one of your favorites (spaghetti!). Your very cute round belly keeps me from worrying.
-enjoy feeding your food and drinks to family and friends. A good friend calls you "the caretaker" and another one jokes that you will be a spiritual healer because of your sweet gentle touches.
-are about to be a big brother!!! And I think you're going to be fantastic!

Sorry these got all out of order when I captioned them, and it's making me too crazy to fix.

The reason it's hard to take pictures these days


No one makes Ev laugh like Daddy.

Getting tickled!

Just a couple of guys hangin out.

Aww! Ev likes to put his head on the cat and on babies in a gesture of gentleness and love.

Aaaaahhh! Red tupperware makes me crazy!

Love how happy my boys make each other (and me).

He is loving his cowboy hat lately, though it's a little small.

I can't help smothering my cutie pie!!!

Blurry but funny

The Baby Blues

2011-05-09T20:45:00.000-05:00

"While the children are yet in their infancy feed them from the breast of heavenly grace, foster them in the cradle of all excellence, rear them in the embrace of bounty. Give them the advantage of every useful kind of knowledge. Let them share in every new and rare and wondrous craft and art. Bring them up to work and strive, and accustom them to hardship. Teach them to dedicate their lives to matters of great import, and inspire them to undertake studies that will benefit mankind."
-'Abdu'l-Baha

I am constantly thinking about this quotation from the Baha'i Writings and how it applies to the stage of life we are in with Everett, particularly the part about accustoming them to hardship. I really ponder HOW to do this. I finally realized that things that seem small and trivial really ARE hardships to him, and that this will continually be redefined. When I first read it as a non-parent I only thought of big stuff like cars and houses - stuff that doesn't matter at all to an 18 month old. Helping him learn how to deal with the little stuff will hopefully help give him tools to deal with the bigger hardships in life. And let me add that the stuff we consider "little" is worth crying and screaming for 10 minutes about to an 18 month old. Try doing THAT every now and then. Exhausting!

So having this conversation with Eric led us to ponder some possible titles of blues songs an 18 month old would sing...

"The Googa is Gone" (Googa = cracker)
"They Keep Lockin' Me Out the Fridge"
"The Stuck in my Crib Blues"
"Dreams of Turning Doorknobs"
"The Good Stuff's Always Out of Reach"

I'm sure you have some good ones to add. Especially you, Dad. :)

None for You, One for Me, None for You, One for Me...

2011-05-02T14:27:00.000-05:00

Everett hijacks Dad's breakfast...

First Babysitter!

2011-05-01T19:58:00.000-05:00

People! I am on cloud NINE right now! I just have to blog about it. Tonight I left Everett with a non-family babysitter for the first time (Johanna, I'm counting you as family). It gave me nausea all day long. I'm used to tears and clinging when I leave, so I was pleasantly surprised when he excitedly took the babysitter's hand and led her to the back door to play outside. He barely noticed me saying good-bye and frankly could have cared less. I was only 1% heartbroken because the other 99% of me was so happy that he was happy. I found myself missing chunks of the movie I was watching wondering what they were doing, and every slow person I was behind on the way home gave me road rage. When I returned 3.5 hours later, he was still playing outside, squealing with happiness, and not bothered in the least by my leaving. HE EVEN ATE ALL HIS DINNER WITH NO COMPLAINTS!!! That's big. When it was time to say goodbye to our awesome babysitter, he reached to hug her, turned to me and said and waved "bye-bye!" Oh, ok Everett. I'll just go find something else to do now! Hah!

We have a jewel of a sitter and a heck of a kid. :) Love em.

Where's Your Brother?

2011-04-24T15:13:00.001-05:00

Well, Everett really isn't getting enough credit around here. Yesterday, during conversation with Dada and I somehow it came up to ask him "do you know where your brother is?" He spun around a few times looking around the room until he stopped with intent having made his decision and pointed at my belly! Wow! We were really impressed. I mean, we really don't talk to him a whole lot about it based on the assumption that at nearly 18 months and with no concept of what a "brother" is, he just can't possibly understand what we're talking about. The majority of our conversations about his brother consist of "ugh! You're squishing your brother!" and "*grimace* stop kicking your brother!" as I am so often converted from mother to jungle gym. So perhaps now, in these last 8 or so weeks, we'll talk a little more about it. :) That's right, I said EIGHT WEEKS!!!

Ev's New Chair

2011-04-17T12:07:00.001-05:00

Ev got his own little chair to replace the rocker we need for the new baby. Preferred mode of entry and exit: the chair's left arm. Silly kid!

17 Months - Funny Words and More...

2011-04-16T21:22:00.003-05:00

Some of Ev's funny words:
Gagoos = crackers
Ohweos or Ohweoweos = tomatoes
Boobie = blue green - let me explain...I've been going over colors. He loves his stacking rings, which in order, are blue, green, etc...so maybe he thinks blue and green are one word. And he says this word, boobie, a LOT! hahaha! Not sure that he knows what blue or green is yet.

Everett has started to be really affectionate lately. I have gotten my first voluntary kisses lately. He stops what he's doing, starts opening his mouth like a fish and comes at my face. My face is wet, but my heart is full. This is the only time messy kisses are a good thing.

He shares his food constantly. He loves offering me bites, and he even grabs the utensil I'm holding and spoons food into my mouth, then his, then mine, etc... Of course, he DOES steal food out of other kids hands, but he also feeds them. Haha!

Here are a few pics from a paint playdate we attended this month. Lots of fun to get messy! :)

This is Everett saying "Gee!," which is Give! He says this when giving something. No thanks Ev! You can keep it!

Car dancing

2011-04-05T19:38:00.000-05:00

Please forgive the shakiness of this video. I assure you I was not driving, but despite being the passenger, I am 7 months pregnant, and find turning around to face the backseat a bit of a challenge. Plus I had to dance a bit myself. :)

Guide to this video:
-At the very beginning you see his version of snapping
-He has to play cool guy for a few seconds before the music takes him over, so be patient.
-His word "ah!" plus hand motion is sign language for all done, which is explained in the video, but for some reason I'm telling you anyway.

Needless to say, I'm glad we purchased a carseat with extra head protection. Haha!

Ghee

2011-03-25T21:42:00.001-05:00

If you think I'm talking about clarified butter, you're wrong. Ghee is two things around here. It's Everett's beloved blankie, made by his Grandma; and it is also "give". If Everett is handing you something, he is probably also saying "ghee".

I find it extremely cute that he calls his blankie "ghee" (it's the end of the word blankie). I thought I was going to be in extreme trouble this morning when I snuck it into the wash only to be spotted as he watched the laundry tumble. "GHEE!!! GHEE!!! GHEE!!!" It took a little while before he moved on to something else, but I was worried the entire 40 minute cycle plus dryer time was going to be a traumatic episode for us both. Haha!

"You Need to Walk the Kid"

2011-03-22T19:51:00.001-05:00

It isn't uncommon for Eric to compare parenting these first 17 months so far to training a dog. Granted, neither of us have actually trained a dog, I think he's right. I mean, think about it. We teach them tricks, obedience, and to pee in the appropriate place. Good behavior is rewarded with praise and sometimes treats. They are playful, so darn cute, and have the energy of twenty or more adults. There have even been a few times when I have caught myself patting my leg when asking Everett to "come" which usually follow with a palm to the forehead "geez! What am I doing?".

So I can't say I was surprised when Eric's solution to my most recent parenting dilemma was "I think you need to walk the kid." You see, as a walker of 2 months or so, he is very interested in walking. Not all that interested in riding in the stroller. NOT interested in listening to directions like "take my hand", "come here", "walk with me", etc. Not a recipe for safety in my book. So Eric's idea was to practice walking together and following directions with walks to the mailbox a few blocks away.

So reluctantly, I did. With the stroller, because I wasn't willing to carry him several blocks if he was unwilling to follow direction. Much like a puppy, he is interested in all the rocks and twigs along the way. We had some good parts with stretches of walking straight ahead appropriately as well as some rough spots that involved an obsession with a hole in the sidewalk and then crying and obstinance at not wanting to come to me, hold my hand when crossing the street, etc. I must say having the stroller was brilliant as it was a consequence to not following direction. I guess I'll keep persevering in this frustrating task with my eye on the prize. Though puppies aren't great at taking walks, they learn quickly!

If any of you more experienced mamas have any advice on teaching skills like following direction and listening, I'm all ears! If it's just a matter of getting a little older, please tell me! :)

Rocky Mountain National Park

2011-03-20T20:08:00.000-05:00

We had a great visit with Lauren and Sarmad last week. It was a bummer that Sarmad had to work during the day, but we understand as Eric is often on the other end of that situation. We did lots of fun stuff, one of which was a hike at the beautiful and snowy Rocky Mountain National Park. For a pregnant lady at altitude, I will say I found it really challenging to keep up. But we all survived! We were hoping to see a frozen waterfall; however, it was frozen AND covered in snow.

We were probably trying to put his mittens on or something.

Everett and Aunt Lauren (and Dad)

Lauren standing on above mentioned waterfall.

Ev and Dad

Pointing and probably saying "what's that?"

Dad, Everett, and Aunt Lauren

You can probably tell now that I mention it, but we were putting Everett on his feet very gingerly (and placing him by rocks and such). He had a trip to an Urgent Care earlier that day for what was probably a bruised tibia. He wasn't bearing weight well on one leg after an accident going down a slide (a really cool one) the previous day. We were afraid he had a fracture, but the xrays looked good. Thank goodness - I didn't really want to find out what two days driving home with a kid in a full leg cast is like. A little Motrin later, he was great.

Fish Face!

2011-03-20T19:41:00.000-05:00

Everett loves to say hi to the fish and feed him first thing in the morning.

Don't worry, we've added some rocks and a plant by now. :)

Ev's Bike Shop

2011-03-20T19:34:00.000-05:00

Maybe he'll let Dad work there someday.

What's really perfect (and unintentional) was that he was wearing his t-shirt with a toolbelt drawn on it...the unfortunate part is that it didn't show in the pictures. And I didn't think to make it show because I didn't realize it until now. Sorry!

No Nap! I'm Having Too Much Fun!

2011-03-19T21:39:00.002-05:00

Everett's relationship with the Pack and Play (portable crib) is SO over. We basically drove it to Colorado and back with very little use. Admittedly I give in quickly in a hotel with neighbors to listen in on Everett's protests, but he even persisted his refusal at Lauren and Sarmad's house when given 20-30+ minutes to work it out on his own.

So we discovered the joys and challenges of co-sleeping. We definitely can see the appeal much more than we previously did; though, perhaps less active children kick their parents less during their sleep. Within minutes of laying down with him on a regular mattress, he was out cold. (Moving him to the pack and play then seems like a great idea, right? Success rate perhaps 30%. Success rate at staying there until morning probably 10%.) It's also a positive when you're forced to take a nap during the day in order to get him to. :)

Everett enjoys being crammed in a space when sleeping --perhaps a trait leftover from the womb. He often sleeps the short length of his crib though he is taller than that. So when the three of us were sleeping in a bed, we often looked like an H with him in the middle. One of us would get the sweet end (his head) while the other would get the dangerous end (his kicking feet) causing us to sleep in a defensive position. It was so worth the kicking though to be able to wake up and see Eric and Everett cuddling. I really wish I could have taken a picture, but you can understand the flash would not have made anyone happy. My favorite, and the most hilarious was Eric and Everett cheek to cheek, Everett's head upside down and body along the headboard (feet in my face). I also got to wake up and find myself a cheek part of this human puzzle in a following night. Last night he kept smooshing the top of his head into my belly and unknowingly against his brother. It was mostly sweet, minorly uncomfortable. Haha!

Oh, and another fun aspect of all this was getting to see what he is like first thing in the morning. Last night, when at a hotel that had an aquarium in the lobby, his first word upon waking was "fish!" But most other nights it was "what's that?" sometimes with the added effect of grabbing Daddy's nose. It's a fun game we like to play, but there is an added element of hilarity when being woken up with it.

So did we create a monster? Now that we are home he protested for 20 minutes, Eric went in for awhile, then he protested some more, and now he's sleeping peacefully (and alone!) in his crib. I'm sure he'll be back to normal in no time. ;)

16 Months

2011-03-05T13:53:00.001-06:00

Well, time has flown. Everett is 16 months old. I thought I'd do a brief "where we're at" post so we can look back and remember these fun times.

-Everett is VERY into being outside these days. He asks for his "saww" (socks) and "shoo" (shoes) and then walks over to the back door. He sticks his finger in the crack between the door and the frame, looks at us, and says "side?" At one point it was "pside?" (please outside?). Crying always follows if we are unable to go outside at the moment.

-Which reminds me...he uses "please" and "thank you" signs. He sometimes confuses which one he is supposed to say, but he knows it's one of the two. He verbalizes please sometimes, which comes out peas.

-He is very verbal. More of it comes out as real words every day. Yesterday he said his second sentence. "Oh no! Where'd it go?" He really likes to drop things and say "oh no!" with his hands upturned in classic uh-oh fashion. I think this is so cute. His first sentence was "where is Dad?" a week ago when I got him up in the morning as Dad usually does that. The words are awesome, but his babbling is still so hilarious. "Diddle, diddle, diddle" is one of our favorites.

-He is really sweet. He has started blowing kisses and is starting to get the hang of kissing faces, though it's still pretty difficult for him. He nuzzles his head on the cat every now and then and nuzzled his head against our friends' newborn recently. He gives hugs when he feels like it, which is getting to be more frequent. He likes to carry around his Elmo and Cookie Monster and gets really excited when he sees Elmo on TV.

-The separation anxiety is strong these days. This has been very difficult for me as I am unable to leave his line of vision without him crying. I am trying to do this more little by little to help lessen it, but it still really stresses him out when either of us leave. This also includes Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Lauren. I have been trying to leave him in the daycare at the gym, which only lasts about 10-15 minutes after which he is crying so hard he can barely breathe. And we plan to start looking for a babysitter before little brother gets here, so we will see how that goes.

-He has a long attention span for figuring out how things work. Particularly in a dexterous fashion. For example, this morning he spent a good amount of time working on how to get the straw of his cup to open and close. Often he will work on something, get frustrated, cry, and keep trying until we take it away. We had to take away a ring that his hand just wouldn't fit into because he kept trying and crying.

-He's a really good walker, but not a great listener yet. What a combo! hah! He really wants to walk when we are out places, but he doesn't exactly stay near me or following directions like "come here", "hold my hand", etc. It seems like evolution would have made this happen in the opposite order, but I guess that's just how we learn. I really don't want to become one of the moms with a leash on their kid, but I certainly understand it now and rescind all previous judgment. :)

24 weeks and 31 years

2011-03-01T21:53:00.000-06:00

Thanks to my wonderful sister for babysitting, Eric and I had a really lovely dinner out for my birthday. So here is little brother at 24 weeks...and me at 31 years. ;)

Happy Ayyam-i-Ha!

2011-03-01T21:47:00.000-06:00

Ayyam-i-Ha is a special time for Baha'is. It is a time of charity and gift-giving and is a preparation for the Baha'i Fast, which is from March 2-20. You can read more about it here.

For Ayyam-i-Ha this year, my parents and sister came to Austin. We had a great time together, and Everett is sad now that they have all had to go back home. We were very excited to give him a balance bike now that he is an experienced walker. We have to hold the bike for now, but I imagine it won't take long for him to get the hang of it. A balance bike is a bike with no pedals. The purpose is for the child to learn bike balance early; therefore never needing training wheels or a tricycle which can be a little dangerous. You can imagine Eric is excited. :)

Here are a few fun pictures from the weekend.

In the first two photos, Everett is wearing his new "hat". We wanted to make sure he would wear the helmet before we gave him the bike. He has been anti-hat for awhile, but was really excited about this one. It took a little encouragement, but he likes to wear it for many different occasions now. I love how extra adorable it makes his already adorable cheeks. haha! And of course that it protects his precious noggin.

Opening presents with Grandpa

Grandma turning him into a gamer

He asked to wear his "hat" and climbed into Elijah's (friends' new baby) carseat

Fun at the Park and a Fat Lip

2011-02-21T15:42:00.001-06:00

Yesterday Everett suffered a walking injury. After tripping, his face met the tile floor where it promptly gave him a fat lower lip. Poor pitiful guy. But not THAT pitiful because it meant he got to try his first popscicle. :) I find it really interesting to see him go from not knowing what something is to learning what to do with it and then enjoying it. I take for granted all our context clues we have that tell us what something is for.

How should one eat a popscicle? In a diaper and crazy slipper/shoes of course!

Is this what I'm supposed to do?

Oh yea! I got it now!

And this morning we went to the park where I got to take some lovely photographs now that we have unloaded our camera's data card. It was perfect weather for photos and for playing. Below are some of my favorites. (AND - thanks to Dad's superstar skills, Everett finally let us put sturdy shoes on as seen in the last picture! I'm so proud of them both.)

Fill my cup, Dad!

2011-02-19T18:26:00.001-06:00

Daddy always gives the best baths. It's not uncommon to have the delightful experience seen below. It's so much fun to hear our little guy laugh like this. Everett has been enjoying filling his cup from the faucet, so when the faucet had to be off, Eric found this to be an excellent alternative.

Communing with Mother Earth

2011-02-17T19:28:00.001-06:00

One of Everett's favorite things lately is plunging his hands in the earth. My garden to be exact. Thanks for the aeration little buddy! Now let's just try to keep SOME of the dirt in there. ;)

Grandpa's theory: He is receiving messages from the earth, and we just can't understand when he tries to share them with us. hahah!

Listening to the wisdom of Mother Earth

A Few Funny Photos

2011-02-08T11:13:00.000-06:00

In case you forget where your #2 goes.

Some days keeping up with him is really exhausting!

Cute Little Voice

2011-02-05T21:35:00.002-06:00

There is something incredibly adorable about hearing your kid say words, especially for the first time. Those little voices that toddlers have are just too cute. Ev has developed a morning routine when we go to get him up lately. He walks (in his crib) to one side where he looks over and points at a cross-stitch picture his Great Grandma made for him. He says "whassat?" (what's that?). To which I reply, "that's a choo-choo train!" This morning he repeated "choo-choo train", and it was just the cutest little set of words ever (and surprisingly clear). Eric and I looked at each other with amazement. Our eyes said "are you hearing this???" Then later when we he sat down to watch Sesame Street with Dad while I was cooking, I heard a very clear "Elmo!" I had to come around the corner to find out if that was actually him - it was so oddly clear that it didn't sound like his voice. Again - are we really hearing this? It's too fun. I'm so blessed to be able to be home during these times. And we are blessed to have Dad home with us at random times during the week as well.

Most of the time during the day, though, Everett composes a statement or question with such confidence that I feel bad I have no idea what he is trying to say. I look at him with the same meek "eh?" face that I get when someone says a sentence in Spanish that I know I should understand but I just feel foolish because I don't. Or we sometimes reply with a just as confident "yes, oh sure, uh-huh" which makes me wonder what exactly we're agreeing to.

Everett relaxing on the couch with Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Teddy.

Start Saving for Braces!

2011-02-01T15:30:00.001-06:00

So at the dentist today, we learned that Everett will need braces someday. But I could have told you that with my 5 year history with them and Eric's few years as well. We all had dentist appointments today, and I was really impressed with Everett's ability to sit still and let the dentist take a peek. He tends to get really quiet and shy around other people, which is so funny for me to see as he is normally so boisterous.

I was also incredibly impressed with everything they could tell us already! She knew he was a thumb sucker because of the direction of his front two teeth. She also told us he will have a gap tooth in the front until he gets his frenulum (skin that goes between your top lip and between the two front teeth) clipped someday (maybe 10 or 11 years old - whenever those braces come into play). It's too low, and apparently even if you fix it with braces, it continues to pull apart with every facial expression unless it's clipped. Interesting! She also told me his bottom teeth are tight, so we'll need to floss. FLOSS??? A 15 month old??? Ok, I'll try. But he won't even let me put the toothbrush in his mouth, so this is going to be some challenge! But a worthy challenge that I shall begrudgingly accept.

Oh, and I have to somehow get him to stop sucking his thumb. Which I'm bummed about because it's totally cute, and it comforts him. :( Luckily he only does it when he is going to sleep or holding his blankie. I have no idea how we're going to break this habit...especially when I only 10% want to. haha!

Sorry Grandma, no pictures. He was in my lap and Eric was getting xrays, so we only have our memories. ;)

Hello?

2011-01-29T21:35:00.003-06:00

Cheese Phone. Hello? Are you there cow? Moo?

Things Everett has used as a "telephone":

1. landline
2. cellphone
Here's where it gets crazy -
3. TV remote
4. blocks
5. plush soccer ball
6. Elmo
7. a tissue
8. cups
9. a straw
10. cheese stick (as seen above)
11. frittata

I wonder who you can channel through a piece of frittata.

Meditative Meals

2011-01-29T19:20:00.000-06:00

Fish are very conducive to meditation, don't you think?

I can only assume when he signs "eat" and then "fish" he wants me to feed the fish, not that he wants to actually eat it. Though it IS on the table.

Let's Go Guys!

2011-01-29T10:26:00.000-06:00

This morning Everett surprised us with yet more things we didn't realize he knew. I know this will happen frequently, but for now it's still simply amazing to us.

So what did he do? He brought his shoes to his dad and signed "go". This is a new association AND a new sign; hence our amazement. :) What a guy!

This sign language business has turned out to be pretty cool!

Everett's New Pet

2011-01-27T15:16:00.002-06:00

Everett loves everything fish lately - seeing them, reading a book that has them, eating them, saying the word, doing the sign, etc. So we thought it was imperative we get him a pet fish. He went crazy in the pet store. I have a little sample of his excitement in the video below. He just went from tank to tank scream talking. It transitions into another video from when we got home. Yes, he did stick his fingers in the top. You can understand why the video is kind of shaky.

Oh, and his name is Ish.

Everett's Words

2011-01-21T21:45:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I struggle with whether or not to post things like this. I don't want to appear braggadocios, but ultimately the purpose is for us to have something to look back on and remember in 10, 20, 30, etc years. And the grandparents like to read this stuff too. :) I find it fun to look at my baby book and see what I was doing at different ages, so perhaps it will be fun for Everett as well.

Everett's language skills have exponentially increased with the start of him walking regularly (oh yea, now he's a pro walker as of a few days ago!) -- coincidence? I doubt it. There must be some link between the coordination of walking and the brain connections to make language work. Watching language and walking develop has been so incredible for us.

Everett's words at 14.5 months
1. His favorite word, said daily, is fish. Said "ish" and accompanied by the sign language version (him waving his right arm in the air). Today he woke up saying "eat" and "fish" in sign language, which meant either he wanted last night's dinner for breakfast or he wanted breakfast and to read his cat book which features a fish on the cover. He looooves to point out when he sees a fish. I usually end up looking around and sure enough, there's a fish.
2. all done - this comes out in a very enthusiastic almost scream "ah dah" with arms that shoot up by his ears in "so big" fashion (sign language). He uses this to tell us when he's done with his meal, which isn't always accurate. Once I thought it was really cute when he screamed with arms up "ah dah! ah dah! ah dah!" three times. hahaha!
3. mama
4. dada
5. again - "geh" He usually says this after we have just read a book, and he would like to hear it again. And again. And again. Or if we're doing something silly which requires a repeat performance. :)
6. kitty cat - "ki ca" sometimes accompanied by sign language. He likes to scream when he sees our cat, Franky, in the morning. Sometimes the screaming involves words: "KI CA!! KI CA!!!" The cat promptly runs away.
7. no - a nasal "nonononono". It's never just one. :) Sometimes accompanied by his hands criss-crossing in front of his body as his Aunt Lauren taught him.
8. duck - "du"
9. yes - "ess" usually said in an "of course" tone of voice when asked a question.
10. down - "dow" usually to get help getting off the couch (which he doesn't need but sometimes requests anyway)
11. what is that? - "tizzat?" said frequently while pointing at something. Curious guy.

And some words he has said recently which I can't really count in his vocabulary yet as he has only said them once or twice - mouth "mouf" (while pointing to a toy's mouth unprompted - so proud), dog "dah", nose.

Though he doesn't say ear, he can point to them. We are working on body parts lately.

Sign language words, but not verbal yet - more, eat, butterfly, milk, thank you, please, baby, banana, car, shoes

Proud Mama Moment

2011-01-17T18:47:00.003-06:00

Every day lately I get at least one specific intrinsic reward for my job as mom. Today's proud moment came after Everett asked for a piece of my orange. Instead of eating it he squeezed its juices all over the floor and cabinet. I handed him a washcloth and nicely said "wipe it up please," which he did! And did well! He wiped the floor, the cabinet, and then more parts of the floor for the fun of it. haha! What a great little helper. :)

I think one aspect of this situation I'm most proud of is me giving him the credit to be able to do that. I'm finding he is able to understand and do so much more lately, and it's fun to give him the space to participate. But it's still something I have to think about.

One Year Old Sense of Humor

2011-01-15T21:19:00.001-06:00

Our little Everett has developed quite a sense of humor lately. He has always enjoyed a good laugh, but more often now he's the one trying to get us to laugh (which doesn't take much). A few examples...

A few days ago I was reading him his Reptile book which involves counting the crocodiles at the end. He grabs my thumb so as to control my hand and bobs my pointer finger up and down pointing to the crocodiles as I count. THEN - he takes his other hand and covers one up while we count again. Tricky, tricky!

No explanation needed for this next one. This evening...

And lastly, today when it was time to get ready to leave the house, I said "ok Everett let's go get your socks and shoes on." So he walked me over (because he still requires holding on to one finger) to his dad's huge shoes and stepped in. I don't know if he realizes it, but he's pretty funny. :)

Simon Says...

2011-01-15T21:10:00.000-06:00

Everett is so hilarious lately! I love seeing him imitate us. Here are a few good ones.

This first one is from when Eric was talking to me on his cell phone. Everett grabbed the TV remote hoping we could have a conversation as well. :) Today he was playing with our landline (don't worry, I unplugged it so that he would not call 911 and babble in their ear). I showed him how you talk on the phone by saying "hello! etc, etc" to nobody. I then found him with the phone to his ear saying "errow?" (think how Scooby Doo would say hello). It was so hilarious! I tried to get him to do it again on camera, but it was a one time performance.

One of his favorite things to do is bang on the keyboard and "use" the mouse. You can see the mouse is removed in this picture. It takes abuse, so we must periodically save it.

This morning he got the cat food out of the pantry, brought it to the cat bowl, and tipped it like he is pouring it in the bowl. I didn't even realize he had seen us do this very often. Pretty cute. :)

What will this kid do next? The learning seems to be taking off exponentially these days!

Brothers!

2011-01-04T18:05:00.001-06:00

Well, in June it's going to be me and a house full of boys! Everett is getting a little brother! When I think of all the wonderful brothers I know it warms my heart to envision these two going through life together. What fun it will be for all of us! And I am guaranteed to stay skinny at least while my life revolves around chasing them. Haha!

I recently read this article -- it was so funny. It said the main difference between boys and girls are braids and tights, which accounts for having to wake up an hour earlier to get girls ready for school. hah! :)

Baseball Fan

2011-01-03T20:35:00.000-06:00

Last night, Eric put Everett to bed. It was the usual routine - stories and prayers, then:

Eric: "Good night baby, I love you."
To which Everett replied "Go Dodger!"

We're not sure which one he meant or how he heard about them, but it was pretty cute. :)

Everett Ensures Dad's Dental Hygiene

2011-01-02T21:06:00.000-06:00

An Almost Walker and Fish Lover

2011-01-02T11:01:00.003-06:00

Well, something very exciting happened on December 22nd. Everett and I went to Gymboree for some playtime. While distracted by a lady blowing bubbles and maracas in both hands, he took a significant amount of steps (toward those bubbles). He replicated this a few times, then again at home, and again when Daddy got home. The next day he did it a few times, the day after that once, and since then not so much. Hah! So though I can't say I have a walker, I do have a boy that knows how to walk.

While his brain works on that he's been doing some other pretty cool stuff too. Two stories involving a fish.

This morning after finishing his breakfast he gave the sign for "fish" more than once, which is his right arm waving back and forth. I thought maybe he was mixing up his signs and asked him if he was all done. He very enthusiastically signed "all done". At this point I'm still confused why he signed fish and am trying to figure out if it could be another sign I'm not thinking of. I get him out of the chair and he leads me (walking while holding on to one of my fingers) to the living room where his really awesome new CAT book is, which has a fish on the cover. Hah! He signs fish and says "shh". So we read that a bit. When we got to a page on the inside that also has a fish, he signed fish, said "shh" and flipped to the cover. It's so fun to see his brain make new connections. I thought this was especially neat because we had not been to the living room yet that day. This morning he also signed "thank you" for the first time (with prompting). That's one I've been working on for awhile. We were very proud to see that.

Now a story from when my parents and sister were visiting last week. This happened while I was outside, so it is most unfortunate that I did not witness it. What I did witness was my mom crying with laughter when I walked inside. You see, Everett was standing by the above mentioned CAT book when he ripped a big stinky fart. At that moment, he saw the fish on the cover and signed it, which looked like he was waving away his stinky fart. :)

Everett will be 14 months tomorrow, and my dad will be the "18 year old Swedish boy" he's been for years. Lately Everett loves putting things into and out of other things...like his toys into the trash or the hamper, and the letter "I" through the "O" in his bath alphabet. He is really starting to put stuff together and is starting to say more words gradually. I assume the expert walking will come soon as well. He is working on his first 4 molars, which will make 12 teeth when they're in. Two have cut through, and we're waiting on the other two. So far, cutting molars is not as bad as I had expected, though it's not nearly over yet. And my dad can proudly say he has all his teeth, is an expert walker, and only puts trash in the trash can. Happy birthday Dad!

Meanwhile, I am giddy waiting for our good friends Johanna and Soroush to have their baby boy any day now. And am so excited to find out on Tuesday if we are having a house of boys or a balanced gender household. That is presuming we stop at two. :)

Santa

2010-12-21T13:46:00.000-06:00

We thought it would be fun to stick a one year old Everett on Santa's lap and see what he thought. To me, his hands say it all. They are "let me outta here" hands. Personally, I thought a screaming picture would be both hilarious and memorable, but Santa was so nice, that was not HIS goal. :)

Look Out!!! It's the Milk Monster!

2010-12-14T21:35:00.001-06:00

I'm sorry - I know the video is sideways, but it takes forever for me to get it right. I'll work on that and edit later. For now, enjoy.

Quick Update

2010-12-06T18:51:00.001-06:00

Loyal blog followers - I have not forsaken thee! I apologize for my lapse in posts. I have been working on making the first year's posts into Everett's baby book. Not a quick task. While I await the procurement of the pizza by my husband I shall give a quick update. (The procurement takes awhile as we cannot agree on who makes the best pizza and must order from two places.)

Everett is saying more and more things. It is so interesting to watch him verbally communicate, whether it is intelligible by us or not. The funniest thing lately is that he calls little yellow stuffed animals "ducks". This really only includes a bird other than actual ducks, but I think yellow animals fit the, um, bill. I've been doing the "what does a ____ say?" game for awhile now and just recently he's started to respond. To the duck one only, but it's a very cute start. "What does a duck say?" To which he responds a very funny "khekh khekh" like he's clearing his throat. There is a lot of language that is there that we just don't get as well. But we're starting to.

Temper tantrums. Fun. He's started protesting more than he has in the past. He has a very determined personality, so we're going to do our best to direct it toward perseverance and away from stubbornness.

Still no walking. But sooooo close! I know, I've said that before.

I'm feeling pretty good. We go to the OB on Friday, so we get to see some new pictures of baby #2, or "June bug" (due in June). I'm really excited about these as they are at 13 weeks, and Everett's best ultrasound pictures by far were at 12 weeks. Hopefully we'll get some good ones to share.

Hope everyone is doing great!

My Giggling Dance Machine

2010-11-20T21:00:00.000-06:00

I think Everett is just the cutest little boogie machine. Not talking about his nose this time. Here is him getting down and giggling at his baby keyboard.

Pflugerville Pfall Chili Pfest

2010-11-13T19:35:00.000-06:00

My Dad's going to love those Pf's. That's really the name, I swear! Today Everett and I, while Dada was working, headed out to the Chili Pfest. We met our friends Aida and Julian and had high hopes of sampling lots of chilies. The boys must have slept too long because we didn't make it before the chili ran dry. :( So sad! We did buy them some from a non-competitor however (we could have made much better), and got them in a baby bounce house and petting zoo. Here are some fun photos from our day.

The boys were so brave

He was so interested in the animals and didn't want to leave them.

This was really yucky. I did it for the boys.

Feed for the animals.

We had a great time dancing to the live music.

Hey brother!

All tuckered out. What a great day!

One Year Well Check

2010-11-13T14:09:00.000-06:00

Everett weighed in at the doctor's office this week. Here are his measurements:

Height: 31.5 inches 90%tile
Weight: 21 lb 15 oz - 25-50%tile
Head Circumference: 46.2 cm 25-50%tile

We had an insurance change, so we had to switch pediatricians. I loved our old one, but I also really liked our new one, a colleague of Eric's. We learned how to discourage picky eating, and we are instructed as he gets closer to 15 months old to encourage him to "use his words." Currently his words are momma, dada, ki ca (kitty cat), and sometimes he says ba (ball) and ca (car). He is starting to mimic our words a lot more lately. For example, he likes to hold up this toy corn on the cob he just got. I say "corn!" every time, and he just started responding with "co, co, co, co" (always 4). haha! It's so fun to watch his language develop.

He's doing really well. Even with the 4 shots he received. Proud of our little guy.

Big Brother

2010-11-08T13:34:00.000-06:00

By now you've probably heard, we are expecting our second child! We are so excited. I wanted to give you a little more info. We are 8 weeks, 5 days pregnant at this point, which puts the due date as June 16th. Everett and baby #2 will be 19.5 months apart. Perfect in my book. :) My sister and I are 18 months apart, and we've been close friends all our lives. I'm sure that's due to good parenting in addition to the 18 months, so hopefully we can help these kids be close as well. When pregnant with Everett, we did not find out his gender until birth, and it was really fun and exciting. This time we're going to try it the other way for fun. So we'll find out the gender the first week of January. I have absolutely no preference either way. I want a healthy, happy, fun-loving, sleep-loving baby of any gender. :) And I can't wait to see Everett as a big brother. :)

Mini Birthday Party

2010-11-07T15:10:00.001-06:00

This weekend, Everett's Grandma and Grandpa came down to celebrate his birthday with us. We attempted to go to the Gypsy Picnic Food Festival, but it was just madness. Think really long lines for a $3 sample. After getting some lunch at Torchy's Tacos we came home for presents and cupcakes! He got some really fun toys and some cuddly winter clothes. We are going to purchase him a balance bike for his birthday, but he isn't walking yet, so that plan is put off just a bit. When it was cupcake time he tentatively played with it before smashing it frosting side first into his mouth. It was so funny because he just held it there for awhile smelling it and perhaps trying to figure out what to do next. Needless to say, he figured it out and devoured it within a few minutes. My mom has a great video I'll have to get from her.

It's been a fantastic year. Everett has brought so much to our lives, and parenting has helped us grow in many ways as well. We are so grateful for this happy, constantly laughing little dude.

One Year!

2010-11-02T19:11:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness, where does the time go? Seriously! I have such a hard time believing that one year ago at this time I was in labor. I had really thought at 7pm last year that we would be holding a baby. But instead it was at that time, 19 hours into labor, that I said "epidural please!" (and wow - good idea) And 6 hours after that we met our precious son.

This year feels like a blur - from feeding every hour and a half and finding great accomplishment in 3-4 hour stretches of sleep to now really playing with and interacting with him and relishing the 13 hours he sleeps at night. And so many changes in between.

Tomorrow we shall celebrate Everett's birthday with a trip to Rudy's BBQ. He loves that place, so it seems fitting. My parents will visit this weekend at which time we'll have presents and the first cupcake.

Will post more soon!