Fall/Winter 2013

February 13, 2013

Fall Fun October 2013

1/27/13

 

1/27/13

Flashback

 Photos by www.dotsonstudios.com... 

taken at home right after Micah joined our family in July 2012

Once upon a time...

there was a Mom who had every intention of sharing her kids' ups and downs on this blog.  And then there was a social networking site that ended up replacing it.  But, just in case anyone still read this blog, every so often she would pop on over and report on her three little bear cubs.

Bear cub #1, Hannah-Bear, is in 2nd grade and 8 years old already.  She loves to make jewelry and art.  Dolphins are her favorite animals.  She is tender-hearted and loving, and a huge help to Mama Bear.  Her favorite book series is "The Rescue Princesses."  She loves gymnastics and is striving toward the perfect back hand spring. She is a Brownie and Girl Scouts and loves her little troop.  She loves to sing along with Jamie Grace and Francesca Batistelli and Plumb.

Bear cub #2, Brandon, aka Buddy,  is 5 and in Kindergarten.  He is spirited and silly.  He has recently begun playing with Legos and likes to read, as well as to snuggle and to be read to.  He loves Superheroes, Imaginext Castle and Pirate toys, and playing with big sister in the giant wardrobe box that it took Mom 3 years to unpack.  He is inquisitive and your typical 5 year old boy.  He loves David Crowder's song "How He Loves Us."

Bear Cub #3, Micah Monkey, is 19 months old.  He walks and climbs has a few words but prefers to grunt or point.  He says "Mama, Dada, ah- Da (all done), ba (bottle), dog, cat, hi, up, this, that, cup, and probably other things that Mommy cannot think of right now.  He weighs 27 pounds and eating is his favorite hobby.  He loves to tear the flaps off of lift-the-flap books, play the xylophone when we start streaming K-love music videos on YouTube, climb the stairs, open and close doors, and he will go and pick up toys or books and bring them to you.  He will also get a sippy cup out of the cabinet and walk to the fridge door when he wants milk. He also loves Mommy's coffee (which he calls "caca".... yes, Mommy knows what that means in Spanish.)  He only sleeps 12 hours straight about 50% of the time, and Mommy is ready for him to decide to do that permanently.  He loves to copy Sissy's gymnastics moves, like downward facing dog.  One time I asked him if he wanted goldfish for a snack, and he walked over to the fish tank and pointed to the goldfish that were swimming.  (We have two, Salmon and Sandy.  We bought a third which the kids named Shimre, but it died and we buried it in the flower bed.)

We have had a little bit of Winter weather here in East TN, including a 7 inch snowfall last week! (The most in this area in over 20 years.) The kids built snowmen and sledded and built a fort with Daddy.  I made snow cream.  Micah was not crazy about going out in the cold, wet, white stuff , but he loved staring at it out the window.

I am sure there is much more I could add, but I'm going to take a break for now (and probably for the next 6 months, given my current rate of posting.)

Quarterly update ;)

Micah's 1st birthday came and went.  It was wonderful.  He is wonderful.  He is sweet and cuddly and likes to eat a lot.  I took him for his check-up and 13 1/3 months, because I'm a 3rd time Mom and that's how I roll.  He weighs about 23 lb 12 oz.  His weight is in the 70th percentile.  His head is still at the 75th.  His height is 50th.  He eats just about anything we give him, although cucumber bits are not his favorite.  He cruises the furniture, walks with the walker, has climbed 4 steps, and does not seem to be in any rush to walk on his own.  He'll give you "five" if you are lucky and give Mama open-mouthed kisses. He says Mama, Dada, up (while standing at the bottom of the steps), dog (pointing to a book or a real dog), and the other day he said "back" when Hannah was not in her seat in the back of the car.  He claps to music, especially any of the K-Love studio videos on You Tube.  He refuses to sleep through the night, waking between 12:30 and 2:30 for extra snuggles.  He's finally getting the hang of his sippy cups but prefers his bottle, but he is off formula and  on whole milk.  He will stack blocks together, play with his peek-a-boo pop up toy thingy, and loves his xylophone/piano combo that was a favorite of the other two, also.  He is our Micah Monkey and we love him to bits.

Brandon turns 5 in 5 days.  His 2nd day of staggered start kindergarten is tomorrow, then he begins going full time on his birthday.  He is fun loving and sweet and is beginning to read "cvc" words. 

Hannah started 2nd grade.  She loves her teacher so far and it's hard to believe how quickly she is growing up.

I would write more, but it's bedtime and I need to get the big kids in bed (baby is already in his crib.)

Time flies... and lessons at the playground

I can't believe it's been 8 months since Micah joined our family... plus 11 days!!!  Hannah and Brandon are such great older siblings, and they love their baby brother so much. 

Today was the first real Spring day... temps around 70, sunny skies, the perfect breeze for sailing and kites and the playground.  (Not that we have a sailboat, but seeing the open sails on the water reminded me of my teenage years with my family.)

Our milestone of the day was that it was finally warm enough to let Micah try out the baby swing at the park.  He LOVED it.  He sat back and relaxed, and watched Hannah as she soared high above him on the big kid swing a couple of spots over.   I forgot to put my memory card into my camera before I left the house, so I texted a pic of his smile to our closest family members. Hannah and Brandon learned quickly that gentle pushes are required with the littlest family member.

While I fed Micah his bottle, Hannah came down and told me about one of the boys who was sitting on the play equipment.  I don't remember exactly what she said about him, but the gist of it was that she thought he was strange.  She said he was making strange noises and waving his arms funny.  I looked up at him, and even though I could not see his face, his posture and mannerisms and noises made me wonder about what made him special.  I explained to Hannah that God makes each of us different, and even though they may seem strange, we need to be kind and help those we do not understand. 
A couple of minutes later, the boy's father approached to call him down from his perch.  I let my curiousity speak, and asked him straightforward if he had Down's Syndrome, and the dad confirmed that he did.  I asked how old he was, and he mentioned that he was turning 11 and his party will be tomorrow.  I told him that my daughter was curious about his differences (she had since gone back to play on the equipment.)   The boy came down and joined has father, taking his hand, and Hannah came back toward us.  "I hope you have a great birthday!"  His Dad said thank you for him as his face lit up.  He gently prompted his son to say, "Good bye."

As a Mom, I like to hope that I did the right thing, and I think I did.  I like to think I would rather have a stranger inquire about my child's needs and show genuine concern rather than exchange awkward glances and shuffle away.  I hope that exchanges like this will gradually show Hannah that everyone deserves to be loved and respected, even if things we don't understand make us uncomfortable.  She had pointed out that a friend who was also at the park thought the boys' noises were scary.  I told her that it's normal to be a little afraid of things we are not used to, but that was just how he was able to express himself. When your kids do not have the same special needs as another, it is so easy to look at the things the other child can't do.  If I were that parent, I would want to focus on the things my child could do, especially the things that I may have been told would not be possible when they were born 11 years earlier.

Micah's 5 weeks old!

Ever since I became addicted to another site I have neglected my blogs.  Our sweet new addition arrived on July 5th.  He weighed in at 7 lb 7 oz and 20 inches long.

The first 2 weeks were rough, he became jaundiced and struggled to gain weight.  He was not back up to birth weight until week 3, after we switched gears with feeding and I started pumping and supplementing with some formula.  He's now doing great, and gets about half breastmilk and half formula per day.  Not too bad with just 3-5 pumping sessions!  I don't expected that to continue, but I am thankful to be able to give him some of the extra antibodies.

We've been able to tell that his diapers are getting smaller and legs and belly are getting bigger, but it was nice to take him in for his 1 month checkup and receive confirmation that he is indeed thriving.  9 lbs 2 ounces, 38 3/4 head circumference, and 21 1/2 inches long.  He was 7 lb 12 1/2 ounces 2 weeks ago at his last checkup, and it was so nice to have a break from dragging him in for weight and bilirubin checks!

Hannah and Brandon are adjusting well overall.  Hannah is our big helper.  Both love to love on their baby brother, sometimes a little too much.  They love to hold him and play with him on his play mat, or take the little ornamental stuffed puppies off his swing and lay them around his head while he naps.  Brandon is in the 4 year old boundary-testing stage anyway, but he definitely tries to get away with more when I am feeding the baby.

Our boy is really laid back overall, only fusses when something is wrong... soggy or soiled diaper, hungry, or gassy, etc....  We are so blessed to have 3 healthy children!

Bye-bye 1st baby tooth!

Both kids had dental checkups earlier this week.  Both were cavity free.  Yeah!  Hannah had 4 loose teeth... front 2 and bottom 2.  The bottom 2 were very loose.

She pulled one of them out tonight.  All by herself.

... and then she worked on #2 for a little bit before finally falling asleep.

We've got a bun in the oven.

 

17 weeks ultrasound.

It's a boy!

The kids are so excited!  

They forgot how bored they got at the last checkup

and asked to come find out if they are getting a brother or sister.  

In the car this morning, Brandon exclaimed, "Mommy, I am so excited about our baby!"

Hannah's name pics before we learned the gender included Dolphinia.  

(Someone loves the movie "A Dolphin Tale.")  Brandon's vote is for "Owie."

Special Day

One of my best friends from college got married last weekend, and she asked Hannah to be her Flower Bear.  Not really, she was her flower girl. :)  So we ventured up to Clarksville and enjoyed a mini vacation as a family.  Hannah had her hair professionally styled on Saturday morning, and we enjoyed the extra time at the salon with Anna before the wedding.

I took a bunch of photos, here are a few:

Making Strides

Both kids are making progress in their respective areas of concentration, so to speak.  Buddy is basically potty trained for daytime and most nights, but I still put him in a pull up at night just in case. Of course there are still days with 2 or 3 leaks, but the lure of candy as a reward seems to be pretty effective. (Yesterday morning was an example of "in case.")  He is adjusting to Preschool, and according to his teacher he is sweet and really making progress.  He's learning those basic social skills like listening to an adult other than a parent, learning how to stand in line, practicing all sorts of pincer grasp activities, and toileting without assistance because the teacher would be in there all day if she helped the kid.  He knows his body parts on himself and his basic colors, by the end of the year she hopes that he will draw body parts in the correct place on pictures and spell his own name.  (He recognizes many of his letters already.  And he's watching "Word World" as I type this for reinforcement.)  The days he does not go, he asks to, and the days he does go, he asks to stay home with me.  It's sweet.  He also misses his sissy.  We often have a little picnic at a park after I pick him up from school and before we go get Bear.

Bear is adjusting well to Kindergarten, except for the early waking.  (I wonder where she gets that from.)  There is no way we would get her to the bus in time as most days she is still waking up, so I drive her in.  We use that time to listen to her kids' choir CD in preparation for the upcoming Christmas program.  Her favorite subjects are lunch and recess, followed by art and music.  So far she has said that one boy asked her to be his girlfriend, but she told him she is not old enough.  Last night she said another boy asked to kiss her, so she told her teacher and the teacher told him that is not allowed.  So apparently the boy/girl relational distractions start early these days. It really doesn't bother me yet, I think it's cute. In spite of that, she is finally starting to show some interest in reading and making progress in that direction.  She can sound out 2, 3, and some 4-letter words with short vowel sounds if she is focused, but after 10-15 minutes of reading with me she tends to get tired.  She loves the songs that her teacher uses to help her remember things, and she has begun to make up more of her own songs. While she resists handwriting because she gets frustrated that she can't do it perfectly, yesterday she copied the titles of some of the books she would like from the book order form onto a sheet of paper.  That is a huge accomplishment for her.

I am so proud of both of my little people!

2 weeks later

B is doing much better and we have decided he is definitely going to go to go to preschool.  Tomorrow is his first day.

kindergarten parents and preschool slacker parents

Not really.  This afternoon was busy.  We took Bear to meet her kindergarten teacher today, and I have to say, I was pretty impressed.  She seemed friendly, organized, and experienced.  She listened when Bear asked her questions.  The classroom is welcoming, from the "tool boxes" where she'll keep her school supplies, to the assortment of posters, learning centers, and even a "think about it/time out" chair with a cute poem on it.  We met a mom and daughter who just moved here from out of state a week ago along with a few other parents and kids.  My only reservation is that as of now, there will be 24 students in her class, without a teacher's aid.  No wonder she said she'll take all the parental involvement she can get!!!

After meet the teacher at school, it was time for gymnastics.  Daddy was with us, and Bear showed off.  Daddy also monitored Buddy, who has a habit of trying to play on whatever equipment the girls are not using.
 Her gymnastics school is very small and non-competitive, and the instructor puts her heart and soul into these kids.  I am amazed at how Bear's flexibility and skills have begun to grow. 

So, about the slacking.  Buddy's "meet the teacher/open house" was scheduled for tonight.  But his teacher sent a postcard that noted that she would not actually be at open house, and I confirmed that when I called the school's director.  Daddy drove back into town from out of state, I had a meeting at the same time as the open house, so we decided to skip.  The kids and I toured the facility last spring when we registered him, and we will not get lost when school starts on Tuesday. 

frustrations in potty training

Mommy is frustrated.  Buddy doesn't seem to care, except he says he wants to go to preschool, and he must be mostly potty trained before 8/15.  In my mind, that means he must tell me when he needs to go 75% of the time or more.... not wait til he leaks to head to the toilet.

If I tell him when to go, he stays dry, but if I wait for him to tell me, he has an accident.  At least it's pee,  I guess.  He seems to dislike poop in his pants enough to put THAT where it belongs.

If this doesn't come together quickly, my boy may just be staying home with me without a break a bit longer.

potty talk

Potty training is going.  I figured I would update on here instead of FB because some day I will forget how potty training really went. (Not to mention the fact that I am not sure I would want to see all the potty talk in my news feed, especially if I was not a parent of young children.)

B actually started showing some interest and awareness a year or so ago.  It's been up and down, I have not pushed the issue... with moving, etc., and the fact that he would go from wanting to use the toilet to not caring, I took the lazy route.  Encouraged and praised when he pursued it, otherwise stepped back.

He has been waking up dry most mornings for at least a month... unless I give him a cup of milk in the middle of the night when he wakes up.  He has been sitting on the potty a couple of times a day, and pooping in the toilet instead of his pants most of the time.  So last week, the decision was made.  Mom and Dad are tired of buying diapers.  Little Man knows pull ups/disposable training pants are fancy diapers and treats them as such, in spite of the admonition that Buzz, Lightning, Woody, or the Firefighters do not like to get peed on... it was time to transition to big boy pants.

Last Friday went well.  We even went out to eat and home and he stayed dry.  Saturday was a bit of a challenge... two big puddles in the playroom, plus drippings down the hall as he yelled, "Mommy, I need to go potty."  At least we have hardwood floors that clean up easily, right?  Yesterday he did fine as long as we took him every 30 minutes or so, we put a pull up over his underwear just in case when we went out and it was only slightly damp by the time we got home 2 hours later.  He had one small accident where he started but then stopped until he got to the potty.  We played hooky from church so that was a non-issue......

So here we are, Day 4 of potty boot camp, Buddy addition.  He's been in his big boy pants and kept them dry since about 9 am.  I'm still making him go every 30 minutes or so and not waiting for him to tell me.  It's just safer that way.  But he clearly understands the expectation, and I have not changed a stinky diaper in almost a week, so progress is good.

Now if I could just get him to aim his "firehose" down... he's quite forgetful about that.  He does aim better if I set him on the regular toilet seat facing the tank instead of on the padded insert facing forward.

Ah, the joys of parenting a little one.

potty training, take 2

I am calling today the first official day of potty training for Buddy.  I bought him some big boy underwear earlier this summer, and within 5 minutes he had peed in them.  Tried another pair, that one didn't last long, either.  So I decided that neither of us was ready, in spite of the fact that in November he asked to go potty at rest stops on our way to and from our house hunting trips.  I wasn't ready for potty training in the midst of packing to move then.  I am sure it's gross and lazy to some, but he has worn diapers his whole life, so why rush it?


But he has been waking up dry, sitting on the potty willingly with increased frequency for even longer than that, and he's going to preschool in less than a month and is supposed to be potty trained by then.  Yesterday he asked to wear his Thomas the Train underwear.  He has been keeping his pull ups dry longer the last week or so, so I told him that he can wear them if he is ready to be a big boy and keep them dry.  "Ok. I a big boy."

8:30 am.... after breakfast pull up was wet because I didn't set him on the potty when we awoke. Bad Mama.  Whatever... decided since we were waiting on the gutter guy (who never showed up) today was as good as any to try to be consistent.  So, every 30 minutes to an hour after that point, he sat on the potty.  He even told me he needed to go once, and his pants were still dry.  The only times we changed his underwear were 1) when he decided he wanted to wear James instead of Thomas 2) when I put him in his swim diaper for the pool, just in case and 3) when we got back from the pool.  Oh and 4, I put him in another pull up for night time because I am lazy and mornings are rough.  I think I might follow a friend's advice and buy a toy he really wants, and tell him if he can keep doing such a good job he can have it before his birthday.

As previously mentioned in social media, I hereby declare day 1 of potty training a huge success.  Way to go little Buddy!!!

summer fun

We are really enjoying our new home and neighborhood this summer. When we lived near Nashville, we paid HOA fees and got nothing but rules.  No amenities of any kind, they couldn't even help get street lights turned on on our street after the developer went bankrupt.  I digress, this is about my kids.

Last Fall and Winter, we looked at around 50 houses in the quest for our new home.  The one we bought is huge, if I have not mentioned that fact already.  Not a mansion, I suppose, but huge.  I would not want any larger unless I could afford housekeeping help.  It has everything we had on our wish list, and then some.  I really cannot believe how blessed we are.  Even with the issues we've encountered, well... those could have happened anywhere.  There's room for guests, so come visit. (Please call first.) :)

One of the aspects we're enjoying the most is our neighborhood pool.  Hannah is meeting some of the other kids who she may pass in the hallways at school, I am meeting other Moms, and it's just plain fun until it's time to pack up and leave and the kids protest.

I intended on putting the kids in swimming lessons, but did not do it.  So Hannah has been swimming with arm floaties all summer.  Brandon typically swims with floaties on his arms and a tube raft around his waist.  He has no fear.  The first time there without Daddy, B jumped right in before I got the floaties on.  (We put them on at home or in the parking lot now.) Hannah, for the most part, has been unreceptive to me wanting to teach her to swim.  (No surprise there, she doesn't usually want me to teach her to read or write, either.)

About a week or so ago, she watched a video of her cousin swimming.  A couple of days ago, she met a 2nd grade girl at the pool, who was swimming without flotation help.  Tonight, she declared that she would swim without floaties.

And she did.  She pulled her goggles over her eyes, held her nose, closed her mouth, and completely immersed herself under the water.  She swam to me or to the wall or steps several times, 6-10 feet.

it's hot, mom!

I am so proud of her.  When we returned home, she said she wants a swimming lesson on how to swim with her head out of the water tomorrow.

The pics are from a previous day, I did not have my camera with me tonight.

pre-SCHOOL checkups

I took the kiddos in for their check-ups today.  We skipped H's 5 year check-up, with all the house hunting and pre moving stuff, it just was not a priority.  B had his 2 year check, but he was fighting the crud so we skipped his shots.


I love that as Bear grows up, the Doctors start talking to her more.  They learn about her eating habits and interests directly, and if I have something to add, or they have a question, they ask me.

Buddy was like a tornado trapped in the room.  Oh. My. Word.  Fortunately, our new doctor has 3 boys and seemed unphased by my little hyperactive twister spinning uncontrollably around the exam room.

So, here are the long awaited stats:

Bear @ 5 yrs 8 months: 44 inches tall, 46.5 lbs.
Buddy @ 2 year 10 months: 36.26 inches tall, 32 lbs.

My babies are growing up.  Before you get any ideas, though, we DO have a new addition to our family:

Meet Skip, our betta fish.  The kids love him.

Easter Pics

We were so glad to have Sara, Grant, and Ella come visit. Here are a handful of photos which they took.