Our Life Back in Texas!: 10/20/13

Friday, October 25, 2013

Toddler Activities

Hold onto your seats people - 2 blog posts in one day! :)

I feel like Joseph went through a spell where he just wasn't that interested in playing with his toys. Even when I would really sit and try to play some of his old favorite things, he wouldn't get that interested. So to help his boredom (which can lead to acting up and spending time in time out) I figured it was time for some new activities.

This time, I went for some hands on activities that would let him really focus on what he was doing. He has loved it. We put all our "activities" in a Rubbermaid box in the pantry that we do regularly now. Unfortunately, he gets so excited about all the options that he does each one for 2 minutes and then is done and wants to do the next one. ;)

His first time to do Play-Doh! With some Mickey Mouse tools of course!

Playing with dry pinto beans - an idea I got from story time at the library

He started having a little too much fun and many ended up on the floor :\

Scooping them all up into the bowl

Using the gluestick to paste different colors and shapes of construction paper

Watercolor time!

So proud of the "snake" he made

Finger paints! Unfortunately the mosquitoes have been too awful to do this again outside, but hopefully soon.

One happy little guy

Andrew ~ 7 & 8 Months

With our move happening when it did and playing catch up for a while now, I never got around to doing Andrew's 7 month update. So, I figured I would just combine it with his 8 month update since he turned 8 months old last week!

Our little guy's personality continues to shine and develop in such amazing ways. He is such a joy and really is a happy little baby. His sleeping has gotten so much better at night. He typically wakes up one time during the night to eat (anywhere between 1:30-4). Every once in a while though he will sleep the whole night through which is just heavenly! The first time he ever did that was the night before my birthday - what a gift! :)   If we are at home all day, he will typically take 2 naps - one around 10 and one around 2ish. Since we normally are out running errands or on our way to playdates in the mornings, he typically takes a short nap there and one on the way back and that puts us at a very late/awkward timed nap around 5:45.

He is eating more quantity of his baby foods. I tried some puffs the other day with him. He pretty much just played with it so I put one in his mouth. After keeping it there a while he kinda choked a little once he eventually swallowed it. I think he is not quite ready for finger foods so we'll try again after a while longer.     Andrew still doesn't have any teeth either! He chews on his fingers like crazy but no sign of that first tooth yet!

Over the past month or so, Andrew has definitely gotten a bit more separation anxiety. He will cry if I put him down and walk away. Normally he will calm down and just start playing but sometimes he just wants his momma.   I feel like he really recognizes me when he is being held by other people - which is fun!   And boy does he love to be held by whoever will hold him! Although he is quite the squirmy guy these days.

I feel like he has gotten so much heavier lately. According to my rough weight estimates on our scale, he is somewhere around 19ish lbs. I can't wait to see where he is at his 9 month apt next month! His eyes are still very blue too! When Joseph was this age his eyes were already very hazel (they are now brown). So, it looks like we may have a little blue eyes on our hands!   He is in 9 month clothes and size 4 diaper.   I feel like he just got in 9 month clothes not that long ago and I already feel like some of them are getting small.

His big accomplishments lately are that he started pulling up on things several weeks ago. And then just a few days ago, he started sitting up from the laying down position. He is very close to crawling too. If he sees something he wants, he can pretty much roll and scoot his way there. I told Michael the other day that once he is officially mobile, my world is going to change even more! :)    Here are some pics from the past couple of months.

Some little snuggles before bed one night

In his high chair having some peas!

7 month pic with Turtle

He really loves playing with all the toys upstairs in the playroom

He is batman for Halloween

Playing downstairs - I tried so hard to take an action shot picture but he looked up and saw me and instantly smiled!

Sweet little bitty

8 month pics - he is quite the butterball these days!

More rolls!

My mom took this picture when we were at their house - love how sweet his little eyes look

Sunday, October 20, 2013

A Week Away

A couple of weekends ago, we went to Tyler for my Godson/nephew, Gabriel's, first communion and confirmation! It was such a lovely Mass and we had a great dinner and party with him afterwards celebrating his special day in his faith! That Sunday we all had a fun day at my parents house celebrating my nephew Jacob's 8th birthday! The kids all enjoyed a piñata and of course some yummy cupcakes.

The timing of the weekend worked out well too. The following week Michael had to go to New York for a work trip, Tuesday thru Friday night. I decided to take advantage of the time and stay up at my parents house for a few days while he was out of town. On Tuesday, we drove over to Tyler and went to the zoo with my sister Kristina. Unfortunately her kids were all in school, but she was able to spend some fun auntie time with Joseph and Andrew. It was a gorgeous day, actually all week was, so it was just perfect for being outside and having a picnic at the zoo!

On Wednesday, my mom was able to take off of work to spend the day with us. We had a nice and slow morning and then went to Chuck E. Cheese for Joseph's first time there! He had fun playing several of the games there, although I think his favorite part was just putting the tokens in the games! Afterwards, we went to lunch at a nearby deli where I ran into my 2nd grade teacher! She actually recognized me (but probably only because we are friends on Facebook!). That afternoon, we just headed back to Mom and Dad's house where Joseph and Andrew loved spending time with their Grandma and Grandpa too when he got home from work!

Thursday, we met up with my best friend from high school, Carrie. She has two adorable little girls and is expecting a baby boy in March! It was her first time to meet Andrew and my first time to see her pregnant in person. We met up at a pumpkin patch that had lots of great activities for the kids. They all had so much fun running their little hearts out. They had lots of cute photo ops so we tried to take advantage. I so wish we could have gotten a pic of me and Carrie but we were so busy trying to keep up with all the kids!

I headed back home Friday after lunch. I was kinda nervous for my first long car trip with just me and the boys, but all in all it went just fine. I have to say that it was a really good week away for me. I was very eager to get back home and see Michael, but I think the change in scenery and routine was very refreshing for me. It seems like we have had "house stuff" going on for several months now and it just felt good to get a way for a few days and have a break from it all. My parents house is more out in the country and in a small town, so it was also very relaxing to be out there where the daily pace is so much slower and relaxing.

It was really good to get home to Michael that evening. It was actually the longest he has been away from either of the boys so they were excited to see him too. When Joseph woke up the next morning (he was already in bed when Michael got home Fri night), he asked about him first thing. As soon as he saw him he just ran and gave him the biggest and longest hug he has ever given...to anyone. It was the sweetest thing I ever saw and I know Michael wasn't ready to let go of that hug either!