12 month stats and video

It's well-visit day! New stats to report!

Weight: 23 pounds even - 25 %'ile

Height: 29.25 inches - 50 %'ile

Not really any news to report from the visit. Dr. B said that he would go ahead and diagnose David with infantile asthma, based on his continued pattern of wheezing when he has a cold. But so far, since it hasn't been severe and there are periods of wellness in between colds, he's optimistic that he won't need daily preventative medication and that it will hopefully resolve on its own by the time he's two or three. So we'll pray for that.

Since David skipped the bottle and is now drinking a few ounces of whole milk from a sippy cup, the doc said it would be ok to start to wean him if I want to. He's nursing 4 times a day now. I don't mind it that much except that it would be nice to be able to leave him with a babysitter here and there without having to worry about all that. So I don't know...maybe I'll try to cut it down to 3 times a day...baby steps.


For David's 12 month video, here's one of him playing with Scout (and his grandparents) at the party. It shows a pretty good picture of what he's like at this point. He cruises, transfers between coffee table and the couch, and stands still without support. (Don't be fooled by our asking him to "walk to Mommy." We were just being optimistic that maybe he'd take his first steps on his birthday - just because that would be fun.)

The Party

So I might just be a Small Party Convert. For Katy's first birthday, we had a huge bash. We rented a shelter at a park, and I think there were 30 some people there. And I will say that it was really fun, and I was in the mood to PARTY. I felt like doing a serious Happy Dance to have gotten through my first year of parenthood, so it was appropriate. But it was also a lot of work and I was pretty stressed about the whole thing. So for David's birthday, we just had grandparents over to our house. It. Was. Awesome. So relaxing, enjoyable, and I was not stressed at all. Not one little bit.

Who is that little man posing as my baby boy?

He's going to be one well-dressed boy this summer...

The perfect set of books (the kids are mesmerized the the illustrations in these books)

Oh, how he loves these veggie puffs...

Mommy's boy

A Buckeye or a Wildcat? Only time will tell...

Grandpa and Grandma Sue brought Scout, who was a special guest for the kids

Shirtless for sloppy joes...

He was interested in grabbing the cake while we sang, but he didn't really eat much of it or smear it all over. He seemed to be bothered by the stickiness on his hands.

Katy got this bubble machine "for David" as a gift

Shew...the birthday boy is in bed...what a fun party!

The Cake

After all the help you all offered regarding cake-making, David's birthday cake deserves it's own post. I took several pieces of advice together and came up with this monkey cake. My goal for next year is to take the Wilton class, but this spring it just didn't work out in time. So I'm really happy with the results, and I enjoyed coming up with something that represented my little round-cheeked monkey boy. I used a recipe from the Cake-mix doctor, in case you are curious.

Success! Here's to years of cake-making adventures!

Your first year

2008

2009

My David,





It hardly seems possible that you are 1 year old today. This year has flown completely out from under me. But in the same token, it seems like you've been part of our family for quite some time. You fit right in, like you were supposed to have been here all along.





I have so enjoyed getting to know you this past year. When I was pregnant, I was so curious to see what you would be like, and in a strange way, you are exactly as I suspected. Your personality is more laid back than your sister's, and sometimes I worry that your needs gets overlooked because you aren't quite as...demanding... as she is. But you certainly make yourself heard, and everyone comments on what a happy boy you are. You love people, and you smile at everyone. So far, you have not had any stranger anxiety, and you enjoy going to different places.





You also like to eat. You always have, since the day you were born. A few weeks ago I was getting nervous because you started pushing away the spoon and spitting all your baby food back our at me. So one day I was feeding Katy chicken nuggets and I shrugged and gave you one in little pieces. You inhaled it, and then waved your arms in that panicked way that I know means you want more. Since then I've been feeding you mostly finger foods, and you're eating like a champ. You also still like to nurse, which is fine for now. You haven't taken a bottle since you were 6 months old. We've moved on to the sippy cup, and you're getting better at this. I think still nursing is your way of making sure I don't leave for too long. You're sneaky that way.





You've spent many of your waking hours on my left hip this year. It's as if you put a stake in it as your territory, available to you whenever you deem necessary. But other than the back pain that has resulted (and sent me to physical therapy), I haven't minded one bit. You love to be held, and I love to hold you.





For the past couple of months, Daddy has been taking Katy to swim lessons on Thursday evenings. This has given you and me an hour and a half together before bedtime each week. This time has been so precious, and I learn more about you during that hour than the rest of the week. Last night, for example, we spent 30 minutes going up and down the stairs, dropping things and picking them back up again. You were happy as a clam.





I still wonder what it will be like to raise a son (I don't think there's much difference in the first year), and I'm anxious to see what the upcoming years will bring. If things go as planned over the next 6 weeks, you will never remember living in this house. It will be "the house where we lived when I was born," of which you've seen pictures and heard stories. (Well, come to think of it, you might know it as "the rental" if we still own it.) It's crazy that you won't ever have memories of the time we've spent here, even though I know you have been influenced by it.





You love your Daddy and your sister. You get so excited when Daddy walks in the door after work, saying Dada and bouncing up and down with your arms out. You also follow Katy around wherever she goes, wanting to play with whatever she's playing. Sometimes if she's upstairs and you are down, you stand at the gate and whine to go up with her. She's the life of the party in your eyes.





But you're also Mama's boy. On the occassion when I leave you with someone else for a bit, coming home is the best part. My heart melts to see how excited you are to see me, and how you won't let me get my coat off before you want to be held. That's what motherhood is all about. Those are the rewards for our efforts.





So I love you, baby boy. You are my Bubs. My Bubby Boo. Dave-o the Babe-o. My Dabid. The first year is a tremendous accomplishment for all of us as a family, and today, we celebrate!





Happy 1st Birthday!





Love you,


Mommy

Funny Convo's

As we're pulling out of the drive-thru, Katy shouts from the back seat:

K: What are you eating today, Mommy, the number 5??

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Somehow Katy has heard a rumor that the "Easter Rabbit" is coming to her house. (Oma, did this come up when you were coloring eggs or something? I can't figure it out.) Just like Santa, she's scared of the Easter Rabbit.

K: Mommy, I don't want the Easter Rabbit come to my house for Easter.

M: Don't worry about it, Katy. You won't see the Easter Rabbit.

K: What we gonna do Easter?

M: On Easter, we will wear a pretty dress and go to church to celebrate that Jesus is alive.

K: NOOO!! I don't WANT TO!!

M: You don't want to what?

K: I don't want to celebrate!

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Lately Katy has been wanting to climb into my lap and snuggle, which has taken her nearly 3 years to develop. (Have you ever seen a newborn who didn't like to cuddle? I had one.) While on my lap:

K: Mommy, will you do something special with me?

M: Well, this is special, isn't it? Snuggling with Mommy?

K: NO! This is NOT special! I wanna do something SPECIAL, Mommy!

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The other night after I put David to bed, I asked Katy if she wanted to go to Target with me to get David a birthday present. I'm not kidding you, I may as well have asked her if she wanted to go to Disney World for an hour. She squealed:

K: Yes, yes, YES!!!!

M: What do you want to get David for his birthday?

K: (without hesitation) A Dinosaur!!! (?) Let's go, let's go!

She literally hopped and skipped all through Target, she couldn't believe that she got to go, just with Mommy, no cart, and that we got to buy a TOY.

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Tomorrow is David's big day. I'm all ready to make a cake this afternoon, and to party hardy tomorrow!

Ready Freddie

This weekend Oma and Opa were here for Round 1 of David's first birthday celebration. It was a low key event, but certainly had some highlights.

Digging into the gift...

Imagine a birthday gift as big as you are!

Sweet! His plaid shirt fits right in...

David get his first taste of ice cream...and not just any ice cream...this kind is Graet.

This kid loves to slide. The look on his face is priceless.

Almost as good...the seesaw.

Especially with Big Sister on the other end!

Bubs is ready for toddlerhood. Let's get this party started!

What the....

Tonight when I returned home late from the grocery store, Brian asked me to check out our daughter on the video monitor. I looked and saw her fast asleep in her bed...in her birthday suit.

After a brief chuckle, I went up to wrestle her into a diaper so we didn't have to change the bed sheets in the morning. When I entered her room, I found:

-pajamas in a pile.

-wet diaper on the floor.

-poop in the potty (she has one in her room).

-a clean diaper next to her in bed (a case for pull-ups?).

This from a girl who has only used the potty maybe 3 times all week. Huh?

I Heart Haircuts!!

One of the areas where I have splurged a little with the kids is taking them to the kiddie haircut place. Of course I still take coupons, but I have enjoyed this so much that I think it's worth the few dollars every once in a while. Every time I have tried to cut Katy's hair myself, it has been DREADFUL. So we go where she gets to go down the slide and watch a video and she considers it a real treat to get a haircut.


And today, DAVID joined in! I thought it would be cute to get his haircut before his birthday and OMG! My boy! I just love it, he looks so grown up that I can't stop staring at him. I'm not sure if you can tell much of a difference in the pictures, but what a big boy he is!

He surprised me by being a little nervous at first. He was like, "What is this lady doing to me?"

But he warmed up once his hands were free...

And look! I'm so big!

In fact, I'm all cheeks!



Hmmm...now what can I get away with...?

As Is

So we had our inspection this weekend, and overall it went really well. The inspector could not believe the (good) condition of the house for its age, and there were mostly minor corrections to be made. Brian, of course, prefers to make minor corrections himself. There was potential for us to request some money to be put in escrow for a new roof in the coming years, but the interest/offers on this house have been rolling in, and the seller may be feeling so confident at this point that they would be willing to say "no thanks" to our request and gladly move on to the next offer. SO...we've decided to move forward with the contract, with the property As Is. Which IS actually really good, it basically just means that we aren't going to ask for money toward a roof that may or may not need to be replaced in the near future. So!! It's looking like May 1st is more and more likely a closing date for us. Wow.

So my mom says it's been too long of a stretch without kiddo pics, so here you go:

Oh, how I love how much they love to swing!

Katy and Jack protecting David. If one is holding the stroller, the other one needs to, too.

Notice David's dirty knees...Katy told Jack "Stay on the sidewalk, Jack." They were also having a riveting conversation about the characters on their shirts.


Cuteness with static.

We turned David's car seat around today (I know, it's a couple of weeks early, but we had the seats out for something else, so...)

David was absolutely cracking up the whole time we were driving, and Katy kept saying, "I'm holding David's hand!" If only we could bottle this sweetness...

If I may...

At this rate I'm going to have to change the name of this blog to, "Questions about Potty Training." But if you don't mind...I have one more. And I'm making it easy on you and putting it into multiple choice format.

So here's our status with potty training:

- After about 5 days of training, we had gotten to the point where she went 2 days without wet accidents, but that was without...ahem...bottoms.

-Everytime I try to have her wear panties...she has accidents. She will start to go a little and THEN run to the potty.

-During all the trips out to the new house, I could not risk an accident, so I put her in a diaper. She really is not at the place where she can tell me that she needs to go.

-If we are hanging out at the house, I will ask her periodically if she needs to go potty. EVERY time she says, "no phank you." Sometimes she will have an accident 2 minutes later.

-She is actually doing GREAT at pooping in the potty the past few days. We've figured out how to make her comfortable and she's had several successes and no accidents since last week. (Sometimes she goes in her diaper during nap, but that doesn't bother me if we're having successes while she's awake).

So here's the thing: we've been at this for 12 days. We're still having lots of accidents, and we're nowhere near being able to go out in panties. And if things go well with the house inspection this weekend, the next couple of months are gonna be CRAZY with change. So here are the options as I see them:

a) Continue full force and try really hard not to go anywhere until we get this thing under control (don't know if this one is possible).

b) Work on it when we happen to be home, wear diapers when we go out, don't make a big deal about it (how long will this go on?).

c) Take a break completely and go back to diapers full time until after we move. Start again maybe in June when things are settled a bit.

But wait! One more factor to consider before you push that button!! In order to start preschool in September (Katy will be 3 years and 3 months), she has to be potty trained with no help required. This was true at every school I visited. To be honest, this is the biggest pressure I feel, otherwise I wouldn't be concerned and would just go with the, "no one goes to kindergarten in diapers" philosophy.

Ok, thanks for your thoughts...I sincerely appreciate them...

Sick of Sick

Ok, seriously. This is getting ridiculous. I know it's winter and that babies and toddlers have a way of keeping the family nice and germy, but I feel like we can't catch an illness-break. David has had a cold since late January, which the exception of about 4 days of wellness. During that time Brian and I had bouts of stomach flu. Then last week I finally gave in to David's cold, which seemed to kick me pretty hard, and has now developed into a sinus infection that makes it hard to think about much else. (And my stupid doctor's office won't see me until tomorrow. I am so switching docs when we move). Then on Friday night (in the middle of the housing drama), Katy woke up with a fever. It's been low-grade off and on since then, and I'm thinking she has also gotten the cold, because she just now developed a runny nose. And she hasn't gone anywhere for a whole week because of potty training, so where in the world did she catch it?

This is only the report for the last couple of months. Our family has been sick since October, with small bouts of wellness thrown in for good measure. Maybe I shouldn't take them out as much? But that drives me nuts. Maybe we should never play with other kids? But that makes them (and me) lonely. Maybe I should be dissinfecting the house on a nightly basis? But I don't have the energy, because I'm sick.

This little conversation yesterday was my bright spot:

Katy and I were coloring, and she crawled up into my lap and said:
K: Ahhhh.....Mommy....my best friend EVER!
M: That's nice, Katy, is Mommy your best friend?
K: Yeah, Mommy and Daddy.

Note to self: show to Katy when she's 14.

More exclamation points!!

So late last night, we found out that there was indeed another offer on the house that was higher than ours. We felt deflated, confused, and not sure what to do. We also found out that the sketchy key situation had also been remedied. So early this morning, we went back to the house with some questions and a critical eye. This 2nd visit confirmed for us that we really really like the house, all of our questions were answered positively, and we felt confident and comfortable raising our offer. So we put in another offer half an hour before the agent went to meet with the seller. He warned us that she might be feeling pretty cocky at this point with 2 offers and several more showings within a few days on the market. We were super nervous that she was going to let all offers expire and see what else she could get. I was literally nauseous all morning, especially after we saw the house again and I felt like I really really loved it.

But at 12:15 today, our agent called and said that we are in contract!! He said that she was toying with the idea of letting the offers expire, but he convinced her otherwise. The only question mark is that there is an issue that may come up during inspection, and originally the seller was willing to work with us on that. But now we aren't sure with the other offer on the table if she will. But I'm really optimistic that we'll be able to work something out.

So as long as everything moves forward, we'll be moving in May!! I'm going to need a few days to wrap my mind around this. I was really thinking July or August. I'm planning a big ol' garage sale in my head.

Buyer's Market???

Forgive me if I use too many exclamation points here...but Holy Cow!!! Remember that house I mentioned that we really liked? We made an offer on it today!! But get THIS.

This house, which has been on the market for 3 days, had one offer on it that expired at noon today. When we went to the house for a second showing this morning, someone had jammed a key in the lock (so no one else could get in?). We also learned that there were going to be THREE MORE showings this afternoon!! (if anyone can figure out how to get in) So we submitted another offer, 15 minutes before theirs expired. As we were loading the kids into the car, the agent ran out to tell that our offer had been verbally accepted (with one minor change)!! HOWEVER, he won't be able to get it in writing until this evening or tomorrow morning, so if the original bidders (or any of the folks planning to see it today) get an offer in before then, the sellers would have another offer to consider.

How is it possible, that in this terrible housing market, we end up in a bidding war? I guess that shows that the place is a hot commodity. So our offer expires at noon tomorrow, so we'll have to know something by then. I'm a nervous-wreck, I really hope it goes through!

Oh, and if it does, we'd close on May 1st!

I'll be over here biting my nails if you need me...

Video/potty update/OMG-we're-moving-post-#2

I fell off the bandwagon a bit on the monthly videos of David. So here's one to catch up, which really has no purpose except to demonstrate what Bubs is like at 11 months. We've been looking back at videos of Katy when she was this age, and it's amazing the difference between them. He's a perfectly loveable little boy...

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Ugh. Potty training. People told me it would be hard, but it's a lot of work! We've made good progress, though. Knock on wood, we haven't had any wet accidents for the past two days. Pooping, well, we're having a harder time with that one. I can't tell you those stories, though, or you may never want to visit us again. So we'll continue to move forward and see what happens from here.

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So....we looked at this house today. And I kinda...um....love it. But it's priced to sell and not going to last long, and we were hoping not to move quite so quickly (remember we don't have renters here until Sept. 1). But we like it. And I'll probably dream about it tonight. We are going to make some calls tomorrow and see what our options might be to make a move. A hundred things would have to fall in line for this to be our new house, but we'll see.

Potty Weekend Retreat

I feel like we've been camped out in our house this weekend - a very unusual experience for us, we are not homebodies. But we stuck around and gave potty training an old college try. (what does that mean, anyway?)

So overall I think it's been successful, and hopefully it will get better this week. Katy is peeing in the potty most of the time, and we had fewer accidents on the 2nd day than the first. I think she gets it, it's just a matter of learning to stop what she's doing and get the to potty in time. We had a poop success, and a poop non-success, if you know what I mean.

So here's my next round of questions. (Sorry I'm always bugging you guys with questions. You do such a good job of answering them, though.) Is it normal for her to be peeing every 15 minutes or so? Or is that a sign that she's not ready yet? I've been giving her lots of juice, so I know that could explain it. But sometimes we're literally just getting cleaned up from the last potty, and she says she has to go again. I'm wondering if she's just doing it for the stickers...

Right now I'm using the plastic potty, mostly because we don't have a bathroom on the main floor. But we still have to drag the silly thing upstairs to empty it out and wash hands, so it's not really saving any steps, just making it closer for her to "make it." How long do you think until I can ask her to try to go upstairs to go? How long before they can hold it at all?

And then what is the strategy for getting out of the house? I don't have any plans until Friday, but I'm having a hard time imagining going anywhere at this point. And when we have to use a public restroom, what on earth am I supposed to do with David? Sit him on the bathroom floor, where he will crawl under to the next stall or put his mouth on the toilet paper dispenser? I almost think it would be better to leave him in the cart (just kidding, I know that's not an option). Seriously, strategies?

I know that timing is never perfect, but I keep thinking maybe this would've been easier before David was mobile (there is nowhere I can put the potty where Katy can get to it but David can't). And if we weren't moving, I'd be begging Brian to install a first floor halfbath... at least I'm getting some exercise.