Jack - 14 months

**I wrote this at the beginning of July and thankfully, this phase has finally passed.  He now has 3 or 4 molars and is a much happier child.  Whew!  I'll go ahead and post it anyway and then do another update at 15 months.  Maybe I can actually get that one done on time.


This has been the toughest month yet for my sweet little Jack.  We've officially entered the phase of tantrums and he's replaced words/signs in favor of screaming/shrieking.  Eeeks!  He's also getting molars and is very, very attached to mama right now.  Praise God that he continues to sleep wonderfully.  Otherwise, I don't think I would be a functioning adult right now.  Three and a half years is a piece of cake in comparison  :)  He also is very content to ride in the stroller.

In June, we spent 2 weeks in Texas visiting family and friends.  It was a wonderful trip!  The kids had a great time with their grandparents and we got to celebrate Jack's birthday and take Elise to Sea World.  The kids were SO great while we were there.  We were there for 15 nights and Jack slept 12-13 straight hours every single night except one (when he had an unexplained fever).  I was really amazed that he did so well in the pack and play.  Woo hoo!  He started his fussy/clingy stage while we were there, but since there were always extra people around to hold him and play with him, it wasn't a big deal :)      

Stats:  Jack is about 22 lbs and 31 inches.  He's wearing size 3 diapers, but I think we might switch to 4's pretty soon.  He wears mostly 12-18 month clothes with some 18-24 month onesies and pjs.  He outgrew his first pair of shoes and now wears size 5 pediped sandals.  I'm not actually sure how many teeth he has because his poor gums are so swollen on the top and the bottom.  His molars are causing his gums to look blistered and swollen like the ones in his 11 month pictures.  Poor baby!

Sleeping:  As previously mentioned, he's been sleeping great even though he's fussy quite a bit during the day.  He's pretty much dropped his morning nap.  I occasionally put him down for one, but he usually just plays in his crib.  He sleeps from 7 pm - 7:00/7:30 am and takes a nap from about 12:00/12:30-3:00.  He goes down very easily and is quite content to play independently in his crib upon waking.  He still sucks his thumb when he is going to sleep and it is quite cute.  

Eating:  He's been picky off and on this month, but I think it has more to do with getting molars than anything else.  His favorite foods are black beans, yogurt, dry cereal, most meat, blueberries, sweet potatoes, bananas.  We are still nursing 3 times a day but I'm getting ready to drop the pre-nap feeding.

Playing:  Jack's favorite toys are balls and anything that plays music.  He loves to carry around the Fridge Farm, the drum, the Baby Einstein takealong tunes, and anything else that he can repeatedly turn on.  He started walking 100% of the time on June 20 (meaning that he would stand himself up as soon as he fell down instead of crawling somewhere to pull up) and loves to carry toys around and explore.  He can make the playroom look as if a tornado hit it in just a few short minutes.

Learning/Communicating:  As mentioned above, this month has been extremely frustrating because he is fussing/shrieking/screaming instead of using words or signs.  Hopefully this passes quickly!  His receptive language is very good.  He can follow 1 and 2 step instructions and understands quite a bit.  He is also very affectionate right now.  He loves to climb in someone's lap and give a quick hug/lay his head down for a few seconds and then continue playing.

Here are some pictures from his birthday party in June.  We couldn't have done it without our parents... they were such a big help!  Mike's sister, Jennifer, was the creative inspiration around all of this and made the adorable cupcakes.  Thanks, J!      

First up, a little swimming and splashing...

The yummy food that our families helped prepare...plus sliders and chicken from the grill!

Adorable golf ball cupcakes (Golden Oreo truffles covered in fondant with chocolate chip cupcakes... they were delicious!  Thanks, J!)

Jack loved his cupcake and was actually very neat... I smeared some frosting on his face at the end to make it look messy.

 

Big sister enjoyed her cupcake, too :)

The kids loved visiting with everyone and opening presents

Jack was totally over pictures by this point and just wanted to go to bed.  He had such a fun day!  

Jack and his grandparents...

Elise - 3 1/3 years old

Elise is extremely proud to be 3 and reminds us all the time that she's 3 and will be 3 1/2 in July, and therefore strong and smart and can do anything :)  

Stats:  She's about 36 lbs and 40 inches.  She wears size 10 shoe and 4T/5T clothes.  

Sleeping:  Elise is still a fantastic sleeper. We transitioned from the crib to a toddler bed in mid-April and the transition was extremely smooth.  Most of the time, I wake her up in the morning and after her nap, but if she wakes up first, she calls for me to come get her.  We've had little phases where the bedtime process has been frustrating (i.e. "needing" to go to the bathroom multiple times before finally going to sleep, etc) but started bribing her with a few Fruity Cheerios in the morning with her other cereal if she stayed in bed the first time, and it works probably 9 out of every 10 nights.  We think the last phase of bedtime issue started because she stopped sucking her thumb at the beginning of May.  We were shocked that she actually stopped, but we think she was trying so hard not to suck her thumb while falling asleep at night that she couldn't fall asleep and therefore kept wanting to go to the bathroom, etc.  Occasionally when I wake her up from her nap, I find her sleeping with her thumb in her mouth, but I don't think there's anything I can do about that.  She definitely doesn't suck it during the day, in the car, while reading books, or while initially falling asleep.    

Elise still needs a nap (thank you, Lord!) and falls asleep easily every single day.  I think there have been 2 days in the last 4-5 months where she hasn't fallen asleep for her nap, but she's happily talked in her crib for the duration of nap time.  I've figured out that the optimum nap length is about 1.25 hours, and the optimum night sleep duration is about 11.25 hours.  She typically goes to bed by 8:30, is woken up by 7:45, and takes a nap from 1:15-2:30 or so.  She's very flexible on the nap start time.

I recommend this alarm clock (though this price on amazon is a lot higher than when I bought it)... you can set it to turn green when it's okay for the child to wake up in the morning.  I have seen Elise stir on the monitor only to roll over and go back to sleep because it isn't green yet.  It has also helped with her 2 digit number recognition and she likes to guess the next time on the clock.

Eating:  Elise is still a great eater as well.  She likes a variety of healthy foods.  She went through a big growth spurt in March and just kept eating and eating.  I'll refer you to my last post because I could have easily written the same paragraph today... 

http://mikeandstephpowell.blogspot.com/2012/03/elise-is-3-years-old-2-months-late-oops.html

Personality:  One of the funniest things about Elise right now is that she is extremely polite to me and Mike.  She really lays it on thick and thanks us profusely for things and constantly compliments us on our outfits, behavior, actions, etc.  However, she is usually very standoffish to strangers.  Public Service Announcement... if a random 3 year old doesn't want to talk to you, don't push it and don't tell her that she must be shy.  I'm pretty sure it just encourages the behavior.  Elise really enjoys playing with other kids, both with Jack and kids her own age.  She will walk right in to church or preschool.  She also asks a million "how" questions, some of which are very insightful.  For example,  

It was raining very heavily (the power went out) and Mike was on his way home from school, and she kept asking how he could possibly get from the car to the house without getting wet because she didn't think the umbrella would be good enough.  

When I brought the van home on a test drive (by myself) to show her and told her we were going to buy it, she asked "Mommy, how are you going to bring the van and your car back home at the same time?"

When she sees things/people/animals in random places, she always asks how they got there or how they are going to get down.  This happens a lot with illustrations in books.

Favorite things to do:

Since we have been in Texas this week, she has loved playing with grandparents, going swimming, playing with Legos, Little People, etc.  She loves to run around outside, go to the park, climb, go on a walk (in the stroller or on foot), ride her trike, go to the zoo, aquarium, children's museum, preschool, etc.  She loves to organize the cards in her wallet (used gift cards and the fake credit cards that come in junk mail).  She loves to read books, but doesn't show much interest in sounding out words/learning how to read.  She does like to identify words that are the same and go through all the words on a page and spell them out.  She doesn't seem to have any favorite toys right now because it seems like she plays with something different every day.  She collects things in her wallet and backpack and knows exactly what was there and where, and if you move anything, she notices and asks why you moved it.

Other random things:

In April, Elise made her first trip to urgent care because she (inadvertently) stuck a googly eye up her nose.  She kept saying "How are they going to get the eye out of my nose?"  

We made our first call to the poison control center because I caught her in the bathroom trying to squeeze toothpaste in her mouth.  She then claimed that "I ate a lot of it and squeezed it a lot and a lot of times!".  

Elise still loves to ride in a stroller, and almost always chooses to ride if given the choice to ride or walk.  

She generally hates to color/draw/write, but she is for sure right-handed.

She is at a pretty easy stage right now, but can throw a fit with the best of them :)  It seems like the fits usually occur at the drop of a hat and close to a meal time (when she is hungry but wants a "snack" and not an official "meal").  

She loves to sing songs and dance.

I left my funny sayings at home in the junk drawer, so I only have one to share with you right now, but if I wait until I dig the sayings out, she'll be 3 1/2 so I am going to go ahead and post it as is :)

I was trying to teach a math lesson, so I put 4 yogurt bites on the table and...

Me:  "Who would like a yogurt bite?"

E:  "Me!"

Me:  "How many yogurt bites are there?"

E:  (counts) "Four!"

Me:  "How can we divide them evenly between you and Jack?"

E:  (very thoughtfully) "Well, I get 3 because I'm 3, and Jack gets 1 because he's 1."

Here are some pictures by my sweet sister in law (Michelle B Photographie) from April.  Happy 3 1/3, Elise!

Jack - 13 months

Happy 13 months, little dude!

Stats:  At Jack's 12 month appointment on May 15, he weighed 20 lbs (no diaper or clothes) and measured 30 inches tall.  He wears mostly 12-18 month clothes and a size 4.5M shoe.  He still has 8 teeth.

Sleeping:  Jack is an excellent sleeper, both at nap and night time.  We're slowly dropping his morning nap, and he has been very flexible during the process.  He gets one a few times a week.  During the last 3 days since we've been in Texas, Jack has extended his night time sleep, going from 7 pm - 8 am with a 2.5-3 hour nap :)  Not bad!  He had his first ear infection this month, which caused a high fever and 3 nights where he woke up screaming.  The day he started an antibiotic, he started sleeping through the night again.

Eating:  Jack still loves meat, beans, and cheese, and has a new love for fruit.  It took him a long time to eat fruit from his tray, but we're finally there.  For some reason, he does not like fruit for breakfast.  Some days, he will eat green vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, peas, etc) and some days he spits them out, so he still gets a Sili Squeeze with a fruit/green vegetable puree quite frequently.  He likes all orange vegetables.  He dislikes cow's milk, so we're still nursing 4 times a day and eating cheese and yogurt.  He is very interested in the food on our plates and begged me (by signing "please" over and over) for some pizza crust at dinner tonight.

Playing:  Jack is walking about 50% of the time and he just learned how to stand himself up this week.  He can walk up to 20ish feet (across a big room) if he wants to and can also turn himself around without falling.  He loves to play "catch", and will throw a ball back and forth for a long time.  He's pretty accurate!  His favorite toys at home are the play kitchen, Fisher Price Laugh and Learning Home, and the Leapfrog Fridge Farm and letter magnets on the fridge.  He LOVES to take magnets off and then put them back on the fridge, all while listening to the corresponding music.  I think he has really good fine motor skills for his age.  He also loves to take lids off and put them back on, especially the Melissa and Doug Wooden Magnetic Kitchen Bottle Collection that Mimi brought Elise on one of her visits this spring.  He enjoys pushing vehicles and banging anything to make noise.  He got to swim for the first time last week and loved it!

Learning:  Jack has added a few new words this month, including "car", "ball", "Jack", "eat", and "shoes", which brings the total to 18-20 words.  His favorite words are "dog", "Elise", "keys", and "shoes".  He understands a lot more words than he can actually say and can follow a lot of commands, mostly involving "Walk to (a person)", "Bring (a person) (a thing)", etc.  He can identify some body parts, like "hair", "belly", and "feet".

He is so sweet and fun right now!  He gets so excited when he walks to someone and just laughs and giggles when he gets close to them.  He adores his big sister and the feeling is mutual.  We can't wait to celebrate his birthday this weekend!

Here are some pictures from my phone from the last few days.

Jack (13 months), Me, Gretchen, and Luke (10.5 months)

Busy boys!

Playing with GG and Paw Paw (Jack had just walked to Paw Paw and is holding his arms up to be picked up!)

Zoom in... Can you tell how much he looks like his Daddy?!