Excuse my lack of photos lately – I promise I’ll get caught up on uploading them to my computer sometime this weekend and post a bunch next week!
Colton has really been breaking out the “Uh-Oh”s lately. He used to just say the first syllable – “Uh” – but now he has picked up on the entire phrase. Whenever anything drops to the floor – a sippy cup at lunch, a toy that misses the toy box – he breaks it out. …but he doesn’t just say it once – he says it a hundred times…”Uh-Oh; Uh-Oh; Uh-Oh; Uh-Oh!”. So cute! He’s also become efficient at throwing things away. This is a good thing if it’s a napkin or diaper, this is not such a good thing if it’s a toy, his socks or a hairbrush (all three – items that have been lost in the past week). Things have started to go missing around our house lately and I’m guessing they are being thrown into the toy tubs (and are hiding at the bottom) or being thrown away, never to be seen again.
Wyatt has started shaking his head “No.” to things he doesn’t want. He’s not saying the word quite yet. If you ask him if he wants his milk or water to drink – he might shake his head “No.”; if you ask him to come over to give Mommy a hug when she gets home from work – he might shake his head “No.”. Turkey. Wyatt has also taken an interest in the family photos on the walls in our living room lately. He will point at them and I’ll tell him who is in the pictures and then he’ll usually point at himself. It started out that he would point at their newborn pictures and I’d tell him that was Wyatt & Colton and then he’d point to himself, but now he does it with all pictures.
It’s just amazing to me at rate these boys are changing & growing! Such fun!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Daycare Changes
Today is kind of a sad day in our house. Today is my sister’s last day watching the boys.
My sister, who is 3 years younger than me and has two little boys of her own (“I” – 3 years old & “N” – 8 months old) and has been watching our boys (& hers)at our house for the past year. She has decided to take a job a lot closer to her home (right now she drives 30+ minutes to our house every day) which will give her more family time and less drive time. She started watching our boys when they were 12 weeks old and I went back to work. We really appreciate what she’s done for us the past year more than words can say. We will all truly miss seeing her & my nephews every day. (She lives close enough that I know we’ll get together many times on the weekends.) We wish her good luck in her new job!
So…now the hunt for new childcare has begun. We’ve been looking at both in-home daycares & daycare centers. We have not had much luck with in-home daycares having availability for two kids under the age of two so far. We have toured one center (which we loved and know both people that work there and take their kids there – which is a HUGE plus) and will be touring a couple more to give us a comparison. My mom has kindly offered to watch the boys until we find a new “home-away-from-home” for them.
It will definitely be a change for the boys & my morning routine but I think it’ll definitely be good to get the boys out of the house during the day and interacting with more kids. Wish us luck!
My sister, who is 3 years younger than me and has two little boys of her own (“I” – 3 years old & “N” – 8 months old) and has been watching our boys (& hers)at our house for the past year. She has decided to take a job a lot closer to her home (right now she drives 30+ minutes to our house every day) which will give her more family time and less drive time. She started watching our boys when they were 12 weeks old and I went back to work. We really appreciate what she’s done for us the past year more than words can say. We will all truly miss seeing her & my nephews every day. (She lives close enough that I know we’ll get together many times on the weekends.) We wish her good luck in her new job!
So…now the hunt for new childcare has begun. We’ve been looking at both in-home daycares & daycare centers. We have not had much luck with in-home daycares having availability for two kids under the age of two so far. We have toured one center (which we loved and know both people that work there and take their kids there – which is a HUGE plus) and will be touring a couple more to give us a comparison. My mom has kindly offered to watch the boys until we find a new “home-away-from-home” for them.
It will definitely be a change for the boys & my morning routine but I think it’ll definitely be good to get the boys out of the house during the day and interacting with more kids. Wish us luck!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Happy Birthday to me! …& Baby Signs
I’m a lucky lady, celebrating my birthday today. Even though the weather is gloomy outside – I’m going to try to celebrate it to the fullest inside! (Side-note – I really think that employers should give you your birthday off – it’s only fair, right??!!) My “boys” (aka my husband) left me my first birthday card of the day in the diaper drawer where they/he knew I’d find it. (…finding a birthday card in the diaper drawer…a true sign that you’re a mother of toddlers!) I’m looking forward to fun night celebrating with all my boys going out for dinner.
Baby Signs
The daycare where my sister used to work used sign language with the younger children as a form of early communication. I have always found the concept very interesting. We don’t go overboard with signing but use a couple basic signs to help the boys communicate with us & each other. We always say the words aloud that the signs mean while we are making the sign to hopefully encourage the use of both words & signs.
Our current signs: “More”, “All Done” & “Please”.
More
This is the first sign the boys picked up on. Instead of tapping their fingers together, the boys do more of a clap with their hands but we know what they mean. They use this sign mostly during meal times.
All Done
This is a sign the boys really haven’t picked up on even though we use it with them all the time (although maybe that’s because I have “bottom-less pits” of children who are truly not wanting to be “all done” at meal time).
Please
The boys picked up the quickest on this sign. The cutest part is that they even use it with each other (…very rarely though, usually if one has something the other one wants they resort to just grabbing it!). They use it correctly – especially when “asking” for things they aren’t supposed to have like the remote or mommy/daddy’s cell phone!
Our next signs to tackle: “Thank You”, “Milk” & “Eat/Food”.
Baby Signs
The daycare where my sister used to work used sign language with the younger children as a form of early communication. I have always found the concept very interesting. We don’t go overboard with signing but use a couple basic signs to help the boys communicate with us & each other. We always say the words aloud that the signs mean while we are making the sign to hopefully encourage the use of both words & signs.
Our current signs: “More”, “All Done” & “Please”.
More
All Done
This is a sign the boys really haven’t picked up on even though we use it with them all the time (although maybe that’s because I have “bottom-less pits” of children who are truly not wanting to be “all done” at meal time).
Please
Our next signs to tackle: “Thank You”, “Milk” & “Eat/Food”.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Brewers - NL Central Division Champs!
It was an awesome weekend for Wisconsin sports – the Brewers, Badgers & Packers were all on top!
We are true Brewers fans......so congratulations goes out to our favorite baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers, who are now the 2011 NL Central Division Champions! (They have not held a division champs title since 1982.) Go Brew Crew!
We are true Brewers fans......so congratulations goes out to our favorite baseball team, the Milwaukee Brewers, who are now the 2011 NL Central Division Champions! (They have not held a division champs title since 1982.) Go Brew Crew!
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Happy Birthday Cory! (& fall consignment sale season!)
Happy belated Birthday to my amazing husband, Cory! His birthday was last Friday but we had such a busy weekend that I did not get around to posting about it until today.
Cory & I celebrated his birthday by going out with a group of our friends to our town’s local Oktoberfest festivities. The boys were also having a blast at home having grandpa & grandma (my parents) over to play. We had a fun night out.
Last week/weekend was also full of semi-annual children’s consignment sales. I volunteered for a local sale on Thursday morning so I could get into the sale to shop before it was open to the public. Volunteering was a pretty fun and the benefit of shopping early was well worth it – definitely something I plan on doing each spring & fall before their sale. The boys are fairly set for 18 month clothes (which they are just starting to grow into). I found a pair of matching sweaters (lucky find!) for the winter and was also able to score a couple cheap, in-great-condition toys, including these items (all for under $75):
On Saturday, I travelled, with my sister, 1 ½ hours to the nearest “moms of multiples” consignment sale I’ve found. Cory was bow hunting for the day & the boys spent the day playing with grandma (Cory’s mom) and big, cousin “H”. I scored quite a few matching/coordinating shirts for this winter & next spring along with a few pairs of pants & shoes. I also bought this toy (the only problem I found with it is that the yellow knob doesn’t seem to light up all the time):
Sunday, we finished off the weekend by going out to lunch as a family to Applebee’s to celebrate Cory’s birthday. The boys behaved very well and “hammed it up” quite a bit to a table of “grandma’s” that was next to us, who couldn’t get enough of them! They made sure to wave bye-bye to our waiter too.
Cory & I celebrated his birthday by going out with a group of our friends to our town’s local Oktoberfest festivities. The boys were also having a blast at home having grandpa & grandma (my parents) over to play. We had a fun night out.
Last week/weekend was also full of semi-annual children’s consignment sales. I volunteered for a local sale on Thursday morning so I could get into the sale to shop before it was open to the public. Volunteering was a pretty fun and the benefit of shopping early was well worth it – definitely something I plan on doing each spring & fall before their sale. The boys are fairly set for 18 month clothes (which they are just starting to grow into). I found a pair of matching sweaters (lucky find!) for the winter and was also able to score a couple cheap, in-great-condition toys, including these items (all for under $75):
On Saturday, I travelled, with my sister, 1 ½ hours to the nearest “moms of multiples” consignment sale I’ve found. Cory was bow hunting for the day & the boys spent the day playing with grandma (Cory’s mom) and big, cousin “H”. I scored quite a few matching/coordinating shirts for this winter & next spring along with a few pairs of pants & shoes. I also bought this toy (the only problem I found with it is that the yellow knob doesn’t seem to light up all the time):
Sunday, we finished off the weekend by going out to lunch as a family to Applebee’s to celebrate Cory’s birthday. The boys behaved very well and “hammed it up” quite a bit to a table of “grandma’s” that was next to us, who couldn’t get enough of them! They made sure to wave bye-bye to our waiter too.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Quick mid-week update
Some changes in our household this past week:
– Colton popped through another tooth – his top, right second tooth. The current tooth count is: Wyatt – 2 and Colton – 7.
– Wyatt is getting braver with walking and will take 5-10 steps on his own, but still much prefers crawling.
– Colton walks EVERYWHERE! I rarely see him crawling anymore and it is so weird to get used to this new littler person toddling around. He is even getting better at negotiating uneven surfaces and takes his time going over them.
– Wyatt loves…I mean LOVES bath time! He really enjoys being in the big tub, splashing around with his brother and crawling around the tub chasing toys that are floating away. He cries every time we take him out.
– Colton is such a chatter-box. I’m not sure what we’ve been feeding this kid lately but he talks non-stop. He has such great stories to tell us…if only we could understand what he was saying.
– Wyatt has been drinking silly-juice before bedtime lately. I’m not sure where he’s getting his hands on it but the last few nights when we’re starting our bedtime routine – changing diapers, putting on lotion & changing into jammies – you can get him deep-gut-laughing and he just doesn’t stop. I’m sure it’s not ideal to get him so riled up before bedtime but his laugh is so contagious that you just can’t help but laugh with him.
– Colton’s eczema has been really flaring up lately. It hasn’t seemed to bother him much but this makes me think we have a long winter ahead of us.
– Wyatt knows where his head is and will point to it, if asked. We’re working on adding other parts of the body to his recognition list.
– Colton popped through another tooth – his top, right second tooth. The current tooth count is: Wyatt – 2 and Colton – 7.
– Wyatt is getting braver with walking and will take 5-10 steps on his own, but still much prefers crawling.
– Colton walks EVERYWHERE! I rarely see him crawling anymore and it is so weird to get used to this new littler person toddling around. He is even getting better at negotiating uneven surfaces and takes his time going over them.
– Wyatt loves…I mean LOVES bath time! He really enjoys being in the big tub, splashing around with his brother and crawling around the tub chasing toys that are floating away. He cries every time we take him out.
– Colton is such a chatter-box. I’m not sure what we’ve been feeding this kid lately but he talks non-stop. He has such great stories to tell us…if only we could understand what he was saying.
– Wyatt has been drinking silly-juice before bedtime lately. I’m not sure where he’s getting his hands on it but the last few nights when we’re starting our bedtime routine – changing diapers, putting on lotion & changing into jammies – you can get him deep-gut-laughing and he just doesn’t stop. I’m sure it’s not ideal to get him so riled up before bedtime but his laugh is so contagious that you just can’t help but laugh with him.
– Colton’s eczema has been really flaring up lately. It hasn’t seemed to bother him much but this makes me think we have a long winter ahead of us.
– Wyatt knows where his head is and will point to it, if asked. We’re working on adding other parts of the body to his recognition list.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Bath Time Fun!
We love bath time at our house!
Here is how bath time has changed in our house over the past year:
Infant Tub
Here is how bath time has changed in our house over the past year:
Infant Tub
The first “true” bath the boys took was in our Fisher Price Whale tub. At first the boys did not really seem to enjoy bath time, which I believe is quite common in infants. It wasn’t long though before they seemed to start enjoying it. This tub has a “stopper” on the bottom to help keep baby’s butt from sliding down, which proved to be very helpful! Bath time started out in the kitchen and as the boys got bigger, we moved the infant tub into the real tub to help contain the splashing mess! At this stage, we bathed each boy separately.
Toddler Tub
As the boys started to outgrow their infant tub, I was still looking for another option before moving them into the real tub. I was lucky enough to snag our Munchkin Inflatable Duck tub for a good price at a thrift sale last spring. LOVE IT!! This tub was very soft/cushioned and helped the boys sit up very well on their own. This tub also has a squeaker in the duck’s beak which the boys love to hear when we push it. I would definitely recommend this tub to any parent with a baby who is starting to outgrow their infant tub. At this stage also, we bathed each boy separately.
Real Tub
The boys took their first big-boy bath together this past weekend while we were camping. The smaller, camper tub was a perfect size for them and they had such a blast splashing together. We decided then that we wanted to start doing baths together for them on a regular basis. We purchased a big, soft non-skid bath mat at Wal-Mart this weekend (this will prevent the boys from slipping around in the tub) and we were ready to go. They had their first big-boy bath together at home on Monday night. They have a ton of fun splashing, playing and laughing with each other. Wyatt even got sad last night when we took him out before Colton.
Baths are the beginning of our nightly bedtime routine. Everyone is all smiles and they are a good wind-down from a long day.
Here are a couple pictures from camping bath time last weekend:
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| Colton splashing! |
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| Wyatt loved playing with this cup! |
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Labor Day Weekend Pictures
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| Colton finding a new love for the long-lost Bumbo seat - silly boy! |
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| Wyatt hanging out in the Bumbo seat - silly boy! |
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| Daddy & his boys enjoying a 4-wheeler ride. |
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| 4-wheeling is serious business! |
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| Wyatt trying to peak at Colton around his hood. |
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| Wyatt |
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| Colton |
14 Months Old
I’ve been really bad at posting this past week but we’ve been so busy enjoying our last weekend of “summer”.
Both Cory & I took the day off of work on Friday to get a head start on the extended Labor Day weekend. Cory headed out goose hunting in the morning (first hunting trip of the year – that really means that fall is on its way!) and I finished up packing the camper for the weekend. We spent the weekend camping at a friends’ cabin which is about a 2 hour drive north of our house. It was a fun weekend with friends with a beautiful mixture of summer & fall weather and only a little bit of rain. The boys did great and had a lot of fun. They were able to enjoy a couple of 4-wheeler rides from their dad too.
Colton has really started getting brave with this new “walking” thing. He takes an average of 5-10 steps on his own all the time now. You can already tell that his sense of balance is getting better. Wyatt has also started taking a couple steps on his own but is still pretty hesitant and a bit wobbly and would rather crawl. He will take some steps on his own several times a day when he’s with my sister (she says she gives him slight support on his back and he starts trucking along) but I haven’t had quite as good of luck getting him to do that with me.
The boys have been sleeping awesome. (Although Colton had a couple rough nights over the weekend & earlier this week where he was waking up in the middle of the night, crying & not wanting to go back to sleep – but last night he was back to normal and slept right through the night.) The boys are sleeping around 11-12 hours each night. They fall asleep somewhere between 6:45-7:15 PM. (Our bedtime routine is: bath (on bath night), lotion & jammies, blanket & book; and they do awesome with it!) They go to bed semi-awake and do a good job of putting themselves to sleep. They both have been sleeping until around 6-6:45 AM.
No further ground has been made on the tooth-front, although I think Colton’s got another one (or two) on their way by the way he’s been chewing on his fingers.
We’ve worked with both boys for a while using sign language for two “key” phrases – “more” & “all done”. They both seem to be picking up really well on these and are using them more & more at meal times. The next ones I will probably add in are “Please” & “Thank You” because we’re always using those phrases around the house with them now.
Wyatt
Wyatt has started to say the sound “ma” for milk. The boys get a sippy cup of milk right away in the morning after we change their diapers. When I ask if they want their milk – Wyatt will make the “ma” sound and will repeat it if I say the word milk back to him. He’s trying really hard!
Colton
Colton has been so super smiley lately! I don’t know if he’s just so proud of himself for walking or what it is, but I’m loving it. He gives you the biggest tooth-filled smile that will just melt your heart – so sweet!
Both Cory & I took the day off of work on Friday to get a head start on the extended Labor Day weekend. Cory headed out goose hunting in the morning (first hunting trip of the year – that really means that fall is on its way!) and I finished up packing the camper for the weekend. We spent the weekend camping at a friends’ cabin which is about a 2 hour drive north of our house. It was a fun weekend with friends with a beautiful mixture of summer & fall weather and only a little bit of rain. The boys did great and had a lot of fun. They were able to enjoy a couple of 4-wheeler rides from their dad too.
Colton has really started getting brave with this new “walking” thing. He takes an average of 5-10 steps on his own all the time now. You can already tell that his sense of balance is getting better. Wyatt has also started taking a couple steps on his own but is still pretty hesitant and a bit wobbly and would rather crawl. He will take some steps on his own several times a day when he’s with my sister (she says she gives him slight support on his back and he starts trucking along) but I haven’t had quite as good of luck getting him to do that with me.
The boys have been sleeping awesome. (Although Colton had a couple rough nights over the weekend & earlier this week where he was waking up in the middle of the night, crying & not wanting to go back to sleep – but last night he was back to normal and slept right through the night.) The boys are sleeping around 11-12 hours each night. They fall asleep somewhere between 6:45-7:15 PM. (Our bedtime routine is: bath (on bath night), lotion & jammies, blanket & book; and they do awesome with it!) They go to bed semi-awake and do a good job of putting themselves to sleep. They both have been sleeping until around 6-6:45 AM.
No further ground has been made on the tooth-front, although I think Colton’s got another one (or two) on their way by the way he’s been chewing on his fingers.
We’ve worked with both boys for a while using sign language for two “key” phrases – “more” & “all done”. They both seem to be picking up really well on these and are using them more & more at meal times. The next ones I will probably add in are “Please” & “Thank You” because we’re always using those phrases around the house with them now.
Wyatt
Wyatt has started to say the sound “ma” for milk. The boys get a sippy cup of milk right away in the morning after we change their diapers. When I ask if they want their milk – Wyatt will make the “ma” sound and will repeat it if I say the word milk back to him. He’s trying really hard!
Colton
Colton has been so super smiley lately! I don’t know if he’s just so proud of himself for walking or what it is, but I’m loving it. He gives you the biggest tooth-filled smile that will just melt your heart – so sweet!
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