{Ben: 15 Months Old}

Ben turned 15 months old on March 12th!  He is growing like a weed and eating everything in sight....literally.  More on that below.  Here are few updates on Benny:

1.   At Ben's 15 month check-up, he weighed in at 31 pounds and 2 ounces (99%) and was 34 inches tall (100%).  So he is still one chubby and tall baby!  But he really has slimmed down.  We are getting comments from everyone we know lately how much he is thinning out. 

At 15 month check-up...

2.  Ben is talking up a storm!  At 12 months, he was saying five words.  He is saying probably somewhere between 20 and 30 words now.  He doesn't babble a whole lot, but when he talks it is usually a real word.  His favorite words are still mama, ball and dog though.  He probably says mama 50 times a day. 

3.  Ben knows where his nose, eyes, hair, teeth and belly button are.  And can say all of those except hair and teeth.  We spent lots of time pointing them out on him, me and the dogs.  Poor Trudy and Chloe practically get their eyes poked out by him.  But it is oh-so-cute!

4.  He is running now and climbing more than ever.  He is very active even though most people think he is moving in slow motion.  I think because he is a big boy, he does move a bit slower at times.  But at home, when he is following us (especially Luke around), that boy can sprint!
 
5.  Ben has eleven teeth currently - the four at the front on top and bottom, two top molars (one on each side) and one of the bottom molars.  Due to those darn molars popping through this is the first time I can really say he is having some trouble with teething.  He makes the funniest faces and sticks his tongue out all weird.  And the drool!  This boy is not a drooler, and he is drooling up a storm right now.  He really is a good teether, especially compared to Luke since they really affected him, but even he can't avoid those hard molars.   

Cheese!

6.  Ben goes to bed at 8:00 pm and usually sleeps till around 7:20 am.  He is napping just once a day.  He goes down around 12:30ish and sleeps anywhere from 1 1/2 to three hours.  I keep reiterating this, but there is nothing better than when your baby learns how to sleep.  It is heaven.  He does wake up occasionally at night, but not very often.  Usually it is due to teething and he might cry a bit and goes back to sleep himself.  This past week, he woke up and moaned "mama" for five minutes straight.  That was a long five minutes at 2:00 am for me. I am glad he wasn't crying, but that was hard for me to hear.  So glad he went right back to sleep!

7.  As mentioned a few weeks ago, he stopped nursing at 13 months and is fully on a sippy cup with the exception of one bottle of whole milk right before bed.  He loves his bottle at the end of the day and we are both not ready to give that up yet.  I probably will throw in the towel with that when he turns 18 months.  Which is right around the corner!

8.  Food.  What can I say?  The boy is eating us out of house and home.  He has such an incredible appetitie and I really struggle keeping him full.  He is constantly eating or wanting to eat.  Sometimes it can be a problem when I don't have enough in the house or when he wants something new to eat versus the same old snacks, so I am constantly going to the store.  He whines a lot in the kitchen and I have to exercise lots of patience during these times.  I do try to limit his food to three meals a day with two snacks (one morning and one afternoon), but sometimes that is just hard to do.  He is just a growing boy I guess!  His teachers at school taught him the sign for "more", so he is constantly doing the sign and saying more over and over again.  It was so cute, until it was sooooo annoying.  Oh Ben!  Luckily, we have had no more choking issues lately.  I am knocking on wood that is behind us.

No joke...the boy finished this off himself.  I thought we were going to share... 

9.  Ben is obsessed with balls.  Baseballs, basketballs, bouncy balls...you name it, he likes it.  He carries them around, says "ball" almost as much as he says "mama" and really lights up when he sees them.  It is an incredible obsession that Luke never had, so it is fun to watch.

10.  He still is his happiest when he is outside.  Luckily we have had some great weather lately (until the 100+ degree weather hits this summer....ugh) and we go on walks and wagon rides a lot.  He still loves to swing in the front yard and so we are constantly doing that on pretty days.  He will watch some tv with Luke as well which is nice when I need to get something done or cook dinner.  His favorite is probably Mickey Mouse right now.  I will see him smile and even laugh at some of the moments on the show. 

11.  Ben was sick twice in the last month or two - back to back.  Initially it was a respiratory issue and he was wheezing very badly.  Which in turn makes me freak out due to his issues.  But we got through it with inhalers and steroids and he bounced back quickly.  Then he got the fever virus that Luke had, but it luckily only last a few days.  Since we went to his 15 month check up during all of that, we delayed the two vaccines he needed and just got them this week.  He didn't even flinch on the first one, but then cried big tears on the second.  He was fascinated with his neon bandaids he got and cried hard when I took one off later.  So I put it back on and he was happy again! 

Ben's first snow cone!

12.  Ben has started hitting.  I hate this part of growing up.  He seems to be hitting a bit earlier than Luke did, but I attribute that to Luke setting the example.  Luke hits poor Ben all the time.  We are really trying to work with Luke on it and there has been some improvement, but unfortunately monkey see monkey do.  Luke hits him, so Ben hits now.  Luckily it is usually just to me or back at Luke and not at his little friends at school. 

13.  He is really understanding what we are saying and taking commands very well.  When it is time for a diaper change, I tell him to get a pillow from the couch, lay it down and then lay his head on it and he does!  He puts things in the trash and brings things to me.  Not always 100%, but definitely doing well!  He seems to be so proud of himself when he does this (as am I!).

14.  He is such a giggle box!  The boy laughs all the time and is so ticklish.  So when he is not laughing, just tickle him and he will erupt in a huge belly laugh. 

I guess that is about it for right now!  He is changing so much these days, and it is so fun to see all the new things he is learning.  Until 18 months...

{Soccer}

Luke had his first soccer practice today...well, his first sport practice ever today.  We signed up for soccer on Thursdays at 4:00 pm.  It would last about 40 minutes and hopefully would be pretty painless.  We signed up with three of his best friends so I really didn't put much thought into it until today...when I realized that his three friends wouldn't be there for his first day.  Cue minor freak out.  But I figured it was really me worrying for no reason and he would be okay.  He has grown up so much in the last few months. (Rookie mistake)  Well, he was okay.  For about 5 minutes...

Then came the realization that he was on his own and that mommy and daddy were in plain sight (due to those darn water breaks - can't we just leave so we are not a constant reminder that we are not with them?!?!).  Then Luke wanted to be at my side, not participating in soccer whatsoever.  I tried very hard to be strong and be empathetic but also encourage him to participate.

Ummmmm, that didn't really work.

Then Chat, who had been walking Ben all around came back to the scene.  He went over to Luke and said, "If you go play soccer, I will give you candy after practice is over." Cue major glare from the me in his direction. 

And guess who smiled and went prancing back to practice.

Ahhh!  That little turkey!  He participated and had fun the last 20 minutes of practice after literally hanging on my leg and sobbing for 15 minutes.  Totally different kid when Twizzler Bites are at stake. And the first thing he said as he walked off the field... "Can I get my candy now?"

I just got back from dinner where I had two large margaritas.

{Luke: Three Years Old}

As you might remember, Luke turned three on Febrary 24th!  I am just now getting around to writing out what he has been up to.  I can't believe that he is a little boy now...definitely no longer a toddler.  We did his three year check-up with the pediatrician a couple weeks ago and all signs say he is healthy and happy guy!  Although a few weeks late, here is Luke at three years old in a nutshell:

1.  Luke is tall and heavy.  At three years old, he is about 40" (90%) and weighs 39 lbs (96%).   He is super skinny, but he is very dense, so I attribute his heavy weight to that and the few extra inches he carries around.  He wears a size 10 shoe.  Most people assume he is closer to four years old upon his appearance and height.  He is looking more and more like Chat every day. 

2.  Luke is talking up a storm!  I always thought he was a little bit behind in the verbal department and it always worried me a little bit.  He always hit the milestone marks at the pediatrician's office so the doctor always said not to worry, but I just felt his peers were speaking more than him.  He has completely caught up now!  Over the last three months, he really had an explosion in communcation.  He talks and talks and talks all the time and I just love it!  He can communicate pretty much how he is feeling, what he wants, etc all the time.  I love hearing what is on his mind!  And he is getting funny.  This is an example of a conversation at the rodeo a few weeks ago:

Volunteer at the rodeo: Hi handsome!
Luke:  I am not handsome.  I am Luke!

3.  Sleep, on the other hand, has become a bit of a problem.  He doesn't really need a nap everyday, but does at least a few times a week.  But no matter how tired he is or not, he fights pretty much every nap and every bedtime. This all started about three weeks ago out of the blue.  He cries/wines when trying to put him to bed and all of a sudden wants the door open, no sound machine and even tries to keep the light on.  That is the only one I won't budge on...he has to have the light off, but I will let his door stay open and the sound machine off.  He has a night light and one of those Dream Lite stuffed animals, so there is plenty of light in his room. He needs more milk, or more books, or just to lay with him...He throws out every excuse.

He usually goes to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 and sleeps till about 7:30 am.  If he naps, he goes down around 1:45 and will sometimes fall asleep and sleep for about an hour and a half and sometimes will never fall asleep. Sometimes we don't even try to put him down because the fight just isn't worth it.  And then if he does fall asleep, he really struggles to go to bed at a decent time.  So we are kind of in a limbo period -- doesn't need a nap, but can't really do well without one.

It took him a long time to learn how to sleep as a baby, but once he learned to sleep through the night at 10 months, he has been the perfect sleeper and napper.  He went down without any problems and would take a two to three hour nap with no issues.  Then he hit three and all of it changed.  It is becoming more and more of a problem so I am thinking we need to implement some type of sleep chart or something to motivate him to go to bed easier.  I am so tired of dreading nap/bedtime. 

4.  Luke knows all his letters and numbers up to 20 or so.  Probably more numbers, but he never has the attention span to keep going.  He loves to sing the alphabet, but it is pretty spotty. He has the tune right, but the actual letters sound funny since he runs them all together!  He also loves to sing Ring Around the Rosie...but just because he loves to fall down.  He still flings himself all over the house and furniture and is in a constant 'run' everywhere he goes.  He has more energy than I know what to do with!

5.  He still goes to school three days a week and for the most part loves school!  He also does swim lessons once a week and is making huge strides in learning to swim independently.  And Luke starts soccer on Thursday!  Although Chat is not really hoping for him to have a soccer career, we do hope he gets a lot out of this team sport, gets lots of energy out and has some fun!  He has definitely gotten into sports lately and even got to go to his first Rocket's game on Sunday.  I am not sure if it was the Skittles or the game that he liked more.  Ha!

6.  We have a potty-trained little boy!  We started potty training in the fall and just went with his cues.  By December he was pretty much pee trained. It took till about February but now he is poop trained too.  He typically has no accidents and always tells us when he needs to go.  He takes a nap in underwear as well.  We still do pull-ups at nighttime though because he goes a ton at night.  We eventually will limit liquids and try at night, but not for a very long time.  I am not in a hurry on that one!

7.  Luke is still my cuddler.  He cuddles with me every chance he gets.  He reminds me of an elephant.  He uses his arm like an elephant trunk and is constantly rubbing it on my arm or body and will wrap it around me constantly.  He wants me to lay with him and gives me tons of kisses and hugs. The best is he says "I love you" all the time and it just warms my heart.  We have a very special bond.

8.  He has gotten very in tune with his feelings.  He is constantly telling me if he is happy or sad which is sometimes a great thing, but not so much other times.  He gets his feelings hurt too.  When he gets in trouble, he really struggles when I am upset with him.

9.  It is definitely the season of the "ouchie".  I think he picked up this term as school because I always said "bo bo", but he has chosen this term.  He gets upset everytime he gets hurt and we have to look at and kiss the ouchie. He likes to tell everyone about them and they clearly are a very. big. deal.  Ahhhh!  Funny they seem to hurt sooooo bad and bring lots of tears, yet a simple kiss can make it all better.   It is also the season of "being first".  He has to be first getting out of the car, walking to the door, getting into the door, etc.

10.  His favorite toys are still trains and he plays with them every single day.  He loves to go outside and play and of course, he loves his friends.  He asks to play with them every day and recently, when he was sick for a week, he was sobbing by the end of the week to be able to see them.  He still tends to be a leader among them and has the best time.  I don't know what we would do without our friends :).

11.  TV is still one of his favorite things - ughhhh.  I try to limit it because he would watch all day long.  He loves watching Thomas, Chuggington, Mickey Mouse and other shows like that.  But he also likes a lot of the princess shows too.  He loves Princess Sofia and some of the movies like Cinderella.  It doesn't bother me and Chat, and I actually like watching Tangled over Jake and the Neverland Pirates any day! 

12.  This boy is an animal lover!  Chat takes the boys on a walk almost every day to go visit all the dogs on our block.  He gives Chloe and Trudy hugs and kisses all the times (and the occasional body slam - yikes!).  I think he definitely has gotten both Chat's and my love for animals.

13.  The tantrums are still present, but are much more managable and less often.  I am thinking that three will be a much less emotional year than two was.  And for this, I am super thankful.

I can't wait to see how he changes over this year and continues to grow into a sweet, special little guy.  We constantly work with him on things and let him work through things on his own. We have our ups and downs, but overall we have a pretty good thing going lately.  I hope that doesn't change since I put it in writing because one thing I know, the only constant about children is that they are constantly changing :). 

{Three Bits of Gratitude}

We are having some more sick days over here.  The weather is beautiful outside and I am at home with two boys -- one pretty much getting over being sick and the other with high, high fever.  So high (104.5) that we had to make a run to the doctor, then the hospital for a chest x-ray.  Luckily, it looks like it is just a virus that it has to run its course. But poor Luke is having some really hard days.  I am doing my best to keep his fever down and him comfortable.  Oh and keeping Ben occupied which I find a bit harder than the first.  Chat has gone out of town for work and will hopefully come home Thursday night to a healthy house hold.  Crossing my fingers!

As I had a few minutes while everyone was napping, I read a blog post about happiness and it got me thinking.  What would I say if I had to pick three things I am thankful for today -- on a day that has not been the most glamorous.  Well, here goes...

1.  How Luke loves to hold my hand. 

2.  Ibuprofen (How did mothers do it back in the day without medication??? High fevers are scary.)

3.  A big fountain coke to help get me through the day (Thanks Lynn!)

Hoping that we get less of this....

And more of this....(from both boys!)

Over the next day or so!

{Boys Being Boys}

Wow, boys just do boy things from the beginning, don't they?  I have noticed differences growing between the boys and girls in our group of friends lately, but this hit me right between the eyes.

Luke is wrestling.

Like roll around on the grass and pin each other down wrestling.  Of course, laughing the whole time.

My friend Whitney and I just look at each other in disbelief (although I guess we both knew this was bound to happen).  What do we do?  Where did they learn this?  Do we let them?  When do we step in?  Is this normal?

After all the stares back and forth, we decided yes. This is normal and we are going to let it happen.  Just as long as they are on the ground (versus on top of a play structure or jungle gym which did happen) and that both boys are having fun.  We are there to make sure no one gets pinned down against their will or someone doesn't go too far and winds up getting hurt.  After three years of preaching "no hitting!" and "no pushing!" and "hands to yourself" this is where we are at.

Which makes this actually really funny.  Luke and Cooper wrestled for like 10 minutes and had a ball.  It's like we almost saw all their little boy energy floating out of their bodies and they were more balanced afterwards. 

So I don't get to do barbies and make-up.  I get wrestling.  And it is so funny, I just have to laugh.

Without further ado, the wrestling match...

 

 

 

 

{Another One Down & A Canceled Trip}

Viruses really are the pits.  After Luke getting sick, then me getting sick, I guess it was only natural for Ben to get sick.  I almost thought we were going to make it through without him going down, but that wasn't the case.

I got a call on Wednesday from the boys' school that Ben was wheezing.  I went and got him early, brought him home and we used his rescue inhaler but it didn't seem to be working.  So off to the doctor we went...

He was wheezing really bad, so we got two inhalers and some oral steroids and we were off.  He seemed to be doing better on Thursday -- acting totally okay, laughing and playing.  Then he got fever yesterday afternoon after his nap.  It got up to over 101.5 before I gave him some ibuprofen and that seemed to control it.  But I started wondering if the worst was yet to come.  We were supposed to be leaving today to drive to Jackson, Mississippi to see Chat's college and go to some baseball games.  Chat hasn't been back since he graduated and he was so excited to bring the boys and show me what life was like back then.  He was super pumped to see his old baseball coach and see the team.  But after lots (and lots and lots...okay, maybe a few fights) we determined we shouldn't make the drive.  Even though Ben is doing well and seems to be on the mend, we don't know when his breathing issues will take a turn for the worst and we didn't want to risk being so far from Texas Children's Hospital.  Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed.

So instead of a trip, Chat is off to work tonight to cover a shift for a co-worker.  He is hoping that if he does this, than this guy can cover for him in a few weeks and we can try to get this trip rescheduled.  I really do hope it turns out that we can go.  Chat looked like someone shot his puppy all last night and this morning.  He is that disappointed and I feel really bad.  I am disappointed too.  Even though it was a long drive, I was excited about doing this as a family of four.  Sometimes it is hard to be the parents and do the responsible thing, but we both didn't want to risk anything with Ben given his history. 

We did have a few fun things this week even in the midst of all the coughing and wheezing -- like the Houston rodeo!  I went with several of my mommy friends and we saw Lady Antebellum.  I wasn't sure I was going to be well enough to go, but it turns out it was a great night out and just what the doctor ordered.  

 

My dad got us six tickets from his work and some parking passes, so all we had to do was show up...which made the night pretty easy.  The band was really good even though I only knew a few of their songs.  I actually wished they had continued playing for a bit more!  And nothing is better than a funnel cake to make a night perfect! 

 

The boys and I also went to the zoo on Thursday with some friends when we thought Ben was doing better.  Nothing like the carousel and a train ride to make any day better!

 

Pictures are getting harder and harder to get with these growing kiddos...

 

The good news is we get to go to two birthday parties this weekend that we were going to miss if we went on the trip.  So at least Luke we get to have fun with friends!  This also gives me a few more days to get better myself.  I am feeling better, but still coughing a bunch.  I hope to get all my energy back and then be sick-free this spring!  I wish I had some tips on how to boost my immune system. 

 

Next week is spring break, so the boys will be out of school.  Chat will actually be in Austin for the majority of the week for training, so I am hoping the boys and I are healthy and we can get out and about to pass the days.  Now off to swim class!

 

{Rodeo, Weekend Away & A Project}

The past week seems like a blur!  Let's start with Thursday.  My friend Whitney and I loaded up the kids and headed to the rodeo for some good fun!  And boy did it not disappoint!

 

Luke loooooooved the animals.

 

 

What you don't see in this picture is Ben with his death grip on me. 

Apparently the animals kinda freaked him out.  The deer who was eating my jean jacket kinda freaked me out too though.  So I really can't blame him.

 

Apparently free whistles are the best thing eva...

 

After funday Thursday, I headed out of town for two nights to visit with some old friends on Friday.  This is the first time I have left the boys for this long since I can't even remember.  Chat stayed with them all weekend and had a full schedule with those two.  It was a wonderful time away, but guess what happened? 

I got sick.

I know, I know.  I am a broken record.  Seriously when will my immune system improve?!!?  I woke up Friday and my throat felt funny, but I rallied and headed out around 3:00 pm to pick up my friends Robin, Brooke and Candice to head to Kerrville.  It took us till about 8:15 pm to get there, but I loved every minute of that car ride.  There is nothing better than being locked in a car with three of your best friends for hours.  We talked and talked and talked.  I loved it.  We finally got there, picked up our other friend Lindsay and then headed to get something to eat for a late dinner.  I think I was a bit delirius at this point because all I remember is laughing hysterically (like could-not-stop-laughing-even-though-everyone-is-staring-at-you laughing) when the waitress told us that a special was asparagus.  I have no idea.  But I laughed so hard that I cried and it was the best feeling.  We headed back to Lindsay's house (after a Dairy Queen run -- Kerrville has three -- can you believe it?!?!) and stayed up talking till about 1:00 am and then all fell fast asleep.  Well till about 7:30 am and then we were all up since our darn internal clocks are forever messed up due to our children.

Saturday was great even though I woke up and felt horrible.  I pretty much lost my voice which is just a cruel joke when all you want to do is talk on weekends like these.  But I powered through!  We talked the morning away and even had a little sprinkle for Lindsay who is expecting her third baby in just about three weeks.  We did it in pjs with no make-up and probably hadn't even brushed our teeth.  It was perfect.  We finally got ourselves together and headed out the door by about 2:30 pm to meet our other college friends in Fredericksberg.  We met at a winery (which is funny since half the group was pregnant) and then went to a fun dinner afterward.  There is nothing like time with good friends...

Love. These. Girls.

We headed back to Kerrville after dinner and tried to make it an earlier night.  We went to bed somewhere between 11:00 and midnight and got a bit more sleep than the night before.  I woke up not being able to breathe but took more medicine and a hot bath and felt a bit better.  We had some final chats over donuts and we were headed back to Houston by 10:00 am.  As we all hugged Lindsay goodbye and everyone's eyes got a bit teary, I realize how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends. 

I made it back to Houston just in time to get ready to head to a family wedding with Chat and the boys.  I was exhausted and sick, but really looked forward to this wedding so I just focused on that versus the hippo sitting on my chest.  Luke had trouble waking up from his nap and getting ready.  He really had a bad meltdown -- it was hard since he hadn't acted like this in a long time.  He was really crying and almost thrashing around in his carseat on the way over to the wedding so when we parked, I told Chat to take Ben and head in and that we would be there in a bit.  Luke got in the front seat with me and I just held him for about 15 minutes.  He just laid his head on my chest and wrapped my arms around him. We sat in silence just holding each other and took some time to reset after a very busy weekend.  After that, Luke seemed to get better and we made it through the night.

Sometimes I forget that Luke still needs his mommy.  He is growing up so fast and he is becoming so independent that I forget that he actually is so young and that I am so much to him -- security, balance, love.  I am sad that my time away had an effect on him and he struggled do to it, but it warms my heart that my touch, my words and my love are what he needs most.  I know it is fleeting and that he won't always need me like this, but there is nothing more precious to me than his sweet arms around my neck.  It always makes coming home so sweet. 

Lastly, today I got a tutorial in machine quilting.  Yes, I am trying to be crafty and do a few things as a hobby.  Like making a quilt!  Chat's grandmother was in town from Oregon and she helped me today.  I don't know what I would have done without her.  We got pinning all the layers down and then even started quilting with my sewing machine.  Boy it is hard work!  I am thinking it is going to take me months to get this project finished...