Quickie Update

Well, I'll do the good news first...

This past Thursday, January 27th, Max pulled himself up for the first time! I didn't get to see it, actually no one saw it. I walked into school to pick him up for an ear infection follow-up and weight check and he was standing up, holding onto the toy shelf. His teachers asked me if he had been pulling himself up at home to which I replied that he's tried a couple of times but with no success. They said he had been playing over by the toy shelf and the next thing they knew he was standing just like that. He hasn't done it since, although he has been trying a lot more frequently.

After that excitment, we were off to the dr for what was hopefully going to be good news-no more ear infection and an appropriate amount of weight gain. Thankfully, we had reason to celebrate!!!! Both ears were clear for the 1st time since the middle of December and he's up to almost 18.5 lbs. He's still just a little guy but he's gaining the way he should be now.

Ok, now for the not so good news. He woke up twice Friday night screaming and messing with his right ear again. The doctor confirmed what we already knew...ear infection. :( He let Max go straight to the Augmentin this time (even though they don't usually like to start with the strongest meds) since that was the only one that worked last time. If this one gives us trouble like the last one or if he gets another one right away again, tubes will be in our very near future. Of course surgery is never something to look forward to but in this case, it's preferred. My poor baby doesn't deserve to have this continued amount of pain and discomfort. Plus, since Kaelan had tubes at 10-months, we know there is nothing to worry about.

"Happiness"

I had to share this hilarious video of Max laughing hysterically. The boys are SO incredibly ticklish, and both in the same spots. We love torturing them whenever possible.

A quick update on the little one. He has been practicing the art of standing up by using his 2 activity tables. He can lean against them (as long as they're pushed up against something stationary) and play for a good 10 or 15 minutes without fussing. He fusses because he hasn't figured out how to get down yet...hehe. :) Not a week ago if you held him above the ground he would refuse to put his feet down, like he was saying, what are you waiting on, put me all the way down on the floor. However, the other night we put the legs on one of this tables and I encouraged/forced his legs down, propped him up, and he loved it. Ever since he's happily put his feet down whenever. I've even attempted to practice walking. Of course he's a long, LONG way away from this skill, but he made progress a couple days ago, if even just the smallest bit. I held on to his hands and tried to sway side to side while pulling ever so slightly to encourage his feet to move forward. He had never truly done it himself before but he did 3 or 4 times that night. I cheered and he smiled as if he was proud of himself but he didn't know what for. Adorable!!!

I remember when K was just a baby, around the same age as Max. So full of personality and joy already. I remember feeling so happy to have this baby, this person, this "thing" in my life that makes my heart hurt with how much I love him. I admittedly didn't think that I could feel that way about anything else. But every night when I'm carrying this baby boy up the stairs, smiling at Daddy until he's out of sight, giggling and "talking" when he looks at the pictures that decorate the walls of our stairway, and hugging, literally hugging me before I lay him in bed, a happiness comes over me that I simply cannot put into words. I leave his room with a sense of peace and excitement for the next day when I get to do it all again. I am so grateful for these 2 boys and every emotion they allow me to have. Hoping that you take a moment to think about something, large or small, that makes you feel the same way.

Good night!

Kaelan is 4!!!

Can you believe our little buddy is 4 YEARS OLD???!!!!!! Well, he can...haha! Obviously we had his pirate themed party at Chuck E. Cheese and we had a BLAST! He had 7 friends from school show up. Jackson and Ross (the boys from the snow-day) and Riley came too who he's become close with since the moms teach together. Plus his favorite teacher came and Grandma and Grandpa were down which was the icing on the cake. (Papa was out of town on business so we're celebrating with them next weekend when we go to the circus.) It was a great night full of games, pizza, cake, and of course presents. In fact, the amount of presents was RIDICULOUS!!!! It was worse than Christmas if you can believe it. However, I have to admit that many of them are fun for us too. :) Here's some pics and video from his birthday weekend...

Proudly showing off his birthday medallion

On one of the rides in the gameroom.

Little Brother happily eating his yogurt. He loved the music and watching the characters on stage. Thank goodness Grandma was there to take care of him while Mike and I were busy with the party. He was such a good boy all night but he was DEFINITELY ready to go home and go to bed when it was over.

Here's the beginning of the personalized birthday show when the kids get to meet Chuck E. Cheese. Make sure you have the sound up for this one, his reaction is priceless!!!

Chuck E. giving Kaelan his birthday crown which was pretty awesome by the way. I love how he shakes his hands when he can't contain his excitment. Just thinking of it now makes my cheeks hurt. :)))




The pirate cake

Hopefully there wasn't too much pizza on the cake since he had a mouth-full when he blew out the candles.

This was one of the highlights of the evening. He didn't even know what the tickets were for or even that he was supposed to be collecting them. But who cares, he had SO much fun and we loved watching him.

A hilarious video of our humble and grateful child...hahaha!

One of the things we got him was a soccer goal so he could practice before he starts little league in a couple months. He seems to like it so far...hooray!!!!

He shoots...

He scores!!!!!!

The ground was still way too saturated from all the melting snow and ice so we had to play out front on the edge of the street. Kaelan caught on to the good ol' Wayne's World lines of "Car!" and "Game on!" He was so funny every time he said it!!!

Te temperature was actually above 50 so we took advantage by going for a bike ride. We quickly realized that we need to raise his seat and handlebars. The poor guy was practically banging his knees on the handlebars with every pump. Such a big 4-year old!! :)

His new passion seems to be coloring, especially in his superhero coloring book. Here he's attempting to trace wolverine. Clearly it didn't work very well.

Mike traced this from one of his coloring book pages. His coloring has really improved over just the last month or so. He is taking his time and being much more careful about staying inside the lines. It's so awesome to watch his face while he's coloring. You can tell how hard he's trying...hilarious!!!

I just thought this was funny. We were sitting down to dinner and as I was putting things out, I looked over and saw K "reading" he comics. So cute!

Some updates on Kaelan:

• Behavior - well, to put it nicely, 3 was a ROUGH year for him/us. There were many times we didn't know if he'd make it through the day alive. Not from injuries, from behavior! :( He had many days with "red faces" at school which is the worst of the 3 faces (green, yellow, & red). In fact, there were even a couple days that he was threatened with 2 red faces or even no face at all. He went through phases of throwing fits, yelling at his teachers, and pushing and hitting friends. His teachers would say that it's normal for a 3-year old boy, but as the parent and a teacher myself, I was mortified at much of his behavior at school. Don't get me wrong, he had just as many green phases over the past 5 months (the behavior system began with the new school-year in August) but when 1 red face would come, there tended to be more that followed that week. I have to say that I truly believe much of the poor chioces he made were due to his lack of sleep. Also over the past 5 months (well, who'm I kidding...the past year), he got in the habit of waking up around 5:30 every morning. The poor kid is just so worried about missing out on something that he can't allow himself to stay asleep. So, obviously, not getting enough sleep can have an effect on behavior. Now, I'm definitely not trying to make excuses, but at least there might be some reason for the days I wanted to either kill him or myself. :) I embarrassingly admit to making myself cry on a couple occassions just to try to get him to make better choices. He DOES NOT like to see Mommy cry so I used whatever ammo I could get. Whatever works right? Anyways, I have to say that over the past month, he has shown incredibly improvement in behavior, attitude, and responsibility. He gets far more green faces than anything else and takes responsibility for his actions when he doesn't have a green face. He no longer throws a fit when I pick him up if he knows a punishment is coming. No fit, but boy does he try to charm his way out of trouble. :) The last "red face" he had, he repeatedly told me how much he loved me and tried to cuddle with me and tell me I was pretty. I couldn't help but smile but a rule is a rule and a consequence is a consequence. He still got his punishment but the little guy "took it like a man" and didn't try to fight it. It seems that he is finally starting to understand that his actions have consequences whether he, or even Mommy and Daddy, like it or not. His behavior has taken a toll on Mike and I as well since we are both relatively strict and expect nothing but the best from our children. We couldn't understand many of the things that were happening which broke our hearts and made us feel helpless, and honestly, like bad parents. We finally realized (with the help of past experiences watching SuperNanny) that the more we "reacted" the worse his reaction. If we didn't get emotions involved, things went much more smoothly. Now, it's like, "Well, you did, you know you did it, and you knew what would happen if you did it...so now we all have to deal with the consequences." So far so good in 2011!!!
• Eating - Kaelan is still not a good eater. The normal kid staples are pretty much what he sticks to. His favorites include chicken nuggets, cheese pizza (heaven forbid there be anything on his pizza), and fish sticks. For sides he LOVES cheese, pasta-roni, french fries, and bananas, grapes, or apples are his fruits of choice. He doesn't have much of a sweet-tooth but he is a snacker. He could eat cheetos, pretzels, or goldfish all day long. We do make him try at least a bite of everything but it is often a long process. Unfortunately his mind is stronger than his tastebuds because there are things he's tried that I know he would like if he would allow himself to. Oh well, in time I guess.
• Personality - The kid is HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He says things on a daily basis that are so witty and comical. He has a great sense of humor, which is obviously a necessity in our family. We love to laugh and laughing together is the best!!! He is a true boy who loves to climb, play rough, run around, and get into mischief. I can only imagine what's in store once Max is old enough to "hang" with big brother.
• Education - He can count and recognize his numbers thru 10 easily. He still gets hung-up when he counts to 20, often going from 13 to 18 (who needs 14, 15, 16, and 17 right?). He can also count by using 1-to-1 correspondance (pointing to objects as he counts them) up to 13 or 14 as well. If he could remember those other #s consistently he'd be able to do it all the way to 20 easily. He of course knows all his colors and shapes. He's known his alphabet for a couple years but his letter recognition is getting really good. Mike thinks he knows them all (they go over them together in the bathtub) but it's probably more like 15-17 out of 26. He has been doing very well again during circletime lately (he used to LOVE it but the first 1/2 of this year was rough as I said above). His teachers say that he's one of the only kids who routinely transfers what they learned at circletime to the activities they do throughout the day. He likes it because he gets rewarded with Smarties! ;) They are also beginning to practice writing their names. He's already mastered about 1/2 of the SC kindergarten standards and he's only 4! We're very proud!!!
• Talking - I'm pretty sure his voice works from the minute he wakes up until the time he goes to bed. There are NO short stories or explanations. He will go through quite a lengthy description of why something is the way it is or what he's about to do - literally step by step as if he's the "play-by-play" sportscaster of a basketball game (much slower of course). "I'm gonna get down and play but if I get hungry I can come back and sit in my chair and eat my brownie and drink my milk and if I'm still hungry I can get more of everything that was on my plate...some fish stiiicks (he drags out the words as he lists them), some graaaapes, some cheeeese) and then when I'm done I'll get down and play. Ok Mommy?" That was literally the explanation he just went through after dinner tonight. It's really funny, but when you're in a hurry, it's reeeaaaalllly aggrivating. As far as he's concerned, you have to stop what you're doing and look at him if he wants to tell you a story so getting ready in the mornings can be a chore for sure. But, at least now he can get himself ready while I do the baby so that is works out super.
• Entertainment - He still loves music and memorizes songs very quickly. He also has a great sense of rhythm and we love to watch him dance. He enjoys cartoons and movies. Anything with superheros is his favorite. His new cartoon of choice is The Super Hero Squad. It has almost all the heros he loves all in one show. He also loves to watch Phineas and Ferb which is good cuz Mommy and Daddy think it's hilarious too. As for movies, Toy Story is still one of his favorites along with The Avengers but he likes all the Disney stuff. I'm sure he'll go through a Cars phase when the new movie comes out this summer. He loves to play with anything Imaginext, pirates, swords, and/or superheros. He also loves to wrestle and play rough with Daddy. So fun and great exercise, but not always great if it transfers to rough-housing with friends at school. We think he's starting to understand when it's appropriate and when it's not. Fingers crossed!!!
• Bedtime - his bedtime routine is cute but can be lengthy. He gets a bath every-other night. He has learned to come up with any excuse to prolong having to go to bed - drink of water, giving Mommy a hug and kiss, giving Max a hug and kiss, telling Jasmine goodnight, putting something away, ANYTHING! It's funny to see what he'll come up with. Once he's finally in his room, we read him a book, tell him a story about a character named Kaelan (who has amazing adventures as a pirate or superhero or pilot, etc.), and rock for about a minute. He usually sleeps from about 8:30ish to 6:30ish lately. I've even had to wake him up for school a few times over the last 2 weeks. If this keeps up I may even get to sleep like a normal person again!!! wink wink ;)

Well, I think I'm finally done. I'm sorry this is so long but this is how I document their fantastic childhood so it's as much for me if not more. Thanks for visiting our blog and please leave us a message/comment to tell us you were here.

Snow Days

Well, it's naptime during our 2nd snowday in a row. Yesterday (Monday) we were hit with 4-6 inches of snow. School was already cancelled Sunday evening around 6, just because of the threat of multiple inches of snow. Of course, being from the midwest, I thought it was absolutely ridiculous that schools are cancelled before anything even happens. However, after seeing and experiencing the road conditions down here, I could totally see why. They don't have the means to make enough of the roads safe enough for buses and cars. In fact, most of the area was completely shut down. The boys and I, however, decided to have a snow-playdate instead. Here's some pics of our time with Jackson and Ross (the sons of a friend I teach with).

Day 2 - After the snow stopped, the freezing rain/sleet began, dumping around 1/10 of an inch of ice on top of the snow. Clearly we were not able to play outside. Instead we played pirates in front of the nice, warm fireplace!!!

Bitter-Sweet

Well, it finally happened...Max can crawl. I know I should be so happy, and I am, but it also means the beginning of the end of him being a baby. :( It happened for the first time yesterday, Friday, January 7th. I opened the door to his classroom and saw him sitting over by his crib because one of this teachers was taking off his bedding to be washed. She said, "Go ahead, crawl to Mommy." I thought, ya right! I mean, I know they work with him at school and of course we do it nightly at home but he just isn't motivated. He could easily get on all fours and even pushes his back-end up so he's on his hands and feet. He could also move his knees back and forth, he just simply could not figure out how to move his arms. But...to my surprise, when I looked back down at him, he lifted one of his hands and moved towards me. I was SO excited and proud at that moment. I don't know if that is truly the 1st time he's done it. Although his teachers say it was, they may just say things like that so Moms don't think they miss the important "firsts". But, no matter, he continues to inch his way around and eventhough he's not getting anywhere very quickly yet, it's so fun to watch him! Here's a quick video...

Ever since I finished his 9-month post I have been thinking of things I needed to put on here, both to share and so I would have it in writing so I would never forget. So, here's some of the other things Max is doing and loving these days...

First of all, he LOVES his big brother. He thinks it is hilarious to watch Kaelan laugh and giggle, that is when it's not right in Max's face. :) His favorite games are "super-baby," when we fly Max around the room chasing K, and peek-a-boo where K puts a blanket over Max's face and pulls it off. I could listen to their cackling forever!!!

Pardon the lighting of these next few videos. It was during the evening and we don't have a light for video. These are also from a couple months ago so I apologize if I've put them on here already. However, I doubt I did since I typically neglect our poor family blog. Anyhow, these are too good not to have on here, regardless of how late.

The little guy (well actually both of them) is VERY ticklish!

Just for fun!

Some of his favorite toys include the new musical "zoo", toolbench, and musical instruments he got for Christmas. All of which play songs and light up. He loves to dance and even has a favorite commercial because of the song that plays. Everytime it comes on (I think it's the ipad commercials) he stares at the tv and bounces along to the music.

He is an excellent sleeper...thank god!!! He still takes a short morning nap between 9 & 10, although we and his teachers are trying to cut that one out. He then takes an afternoon nap after lunch from about 12-2 (sometimes longer if we're lucky) before taking another hour nap before dinner from about 5-6. Finally, he happily goes to bed around 8:30. In fact, he is so happy to go to bed that as I'm burping him in his room after his last bottle, he literally reaches/lunges towards his bed. I lay him down and give him perhaps his very favorite belonging, his "lovie" that he got from Nana. It's one of those tiny stuffed animal blankets that's satin on one side and extremely soft on the other. He snuggles it and loves it and plays with it until he drifts off to sleep peacefully. The sweet little guy then snuggles with it all night long, holding on to it no matter how he moves or changes positions. Heaven forbid he wake up at some point and can't find it (Mommy does not like those nights!!!). I very rarely have to get up with him at night and he usually sleeps until 7 when I have to wake him up to go to school. On the weekends, he wakes up between 7 and 8 and happily plays with his "lovie" and talks to himself until I go get him.

A good sleeper he is, a good eater he is not. He has never had the appetite needed in order to drink the amount of milk he's supposed to. In fact, as I said in his 9-month update he is a bit underweight and we've had to "beef-up" his bottles. However, I quickly realized that if I added formula to his bottles (like a protein shake) he would be too full to drink much of his next bottle. Luckily, his appetite has recently increased and now drinks the 28-30 ounces a day he is supposed to. He is also up to eating 3 meals a day. I've been trying to introduce new finger foods as often as possible for 2 reasons, the 1st of which is very selfish - I want to eat too. :) Also, however, I learned from Kaelan that I waited to long to introduce "real" food and to this day, he is still not a good eater. I know it's typical for kids to not branch out from "kid friendly" food, but that doesn't make it any easier for the parents. He's learning to try new things but it never seems to go past just that...trying. So, I'm hoping to get Max eating the same things we're eating sooner than later. So far, he is very willing to try anything and everything. The unfortunate thing is that he has a bit of a gag-reflex and if it doesn't disolve or soften and break up fully, he has a very difficult time swallowing it. Even tiny, tiny pieces of soft foods like egg or noodles. I often have to fish food out with my finger because he'll just hold it in there so he doesn't have to attempt to swallow it. He'll even store things somewhere in his cheeks and enjoy some baby food before I realize there's something else in his mouth. Crazy kid! So, hopefully the ability to swallow non-purified food will come quickly. He enjoys any kind of babyfood that is fruit, loves yogurt, bread of any kind, crackers, goldfish, french fries, and even tiny pieces of chicken fingers (thanks for sharing big brother).

Unfortunately, little man is still battling an ear infection. I think I mentioned that he had an ear infection in his right ear just before Christmas. Well, either he got another one immediately or it never fully went away because 4 days after he completed his antibiotic, we were back at the doctor for the same problem. 2 days later, he woke up screaming and holding his other ear so it seemed to turn into a double ear infection. It is now almost 3 1/2 weeks after he was originally diagnosed and it is still causing him pain and discomfort on a regular basis. I'm going to call this afternoon when he wakes up to see if I should bring him back in for a more aggressive treatment. Cross your fingers and pray for something that will make him feel as good and happy as he acts...bless his content little heart. :)

Ok, well, I actually started this novel of a blog on Friday, the proud mom trying to share her little baby's successful crawling experience. However, both of our computers are hit or miss and I've just now been able to finish.

Daddy put him in Kaelan's chair and he was so proud!!
Watching TV like a big boy

A Christmas Medley

We are a VERY spoiled family as we happily participated in 4 separate Christmas celebrations. This post includes anything and everything Christmas, including the boys' school Christmas program. Here goes...

I took this video on our way to sit on Santa's lap.

Christmas Program

Christmas #1 with Grandma & Grandpa

Love this picture of Max looking at Grandpa..."What's so funny?"

"Christmas morning" - Just because it's not December 25th doesn't mean we can't enjoy all the same traditions. I love that my parents enjoy this just as much as I do!!! We planned this day out very carefully to make sure that the Saturday after Thanksgiving felt exactly like the real Christmas morning. SO fun!!!!!!

Just came down the stairs and SO excited!!!

Didn't waste ANY time before playing with his new pirates and serpant pirate ship. This kid LOVES ImagiNext stuff!!!!

Loving his new toolbench! Hitting things to make noise is one of his favorite things to do so hitting something that makes noise and plays music and lights up equals very happy baby!!!

"I'll look up, but I'm not giving you a full smile." Annoyed!!!

Grandpa and K playing. One of my favorites from all the Christmas pics. These are the good times!!!!

Christmas # 2 & #3 with Nana & Papa

Ok, so I'm REALLY disappointed that I don't have any pictures of our Christmas with Papa and Nana. (Christmas #2 was at the Fulmer Family Christmas in Atlanta.) I did video and Papa took the pictures but for some reason, the format of the photos won't work. It could be the way I transferred them or the fact that his camera is professional grade and my computer just can't keep up. Hopefully I can get some videos to download if I can find a way to break them down into smaller snipets. The ones I have now are too long. GEEZ!!!

Ok, got it! - This is 1 of my very favorite Christmas moments. I literally got teary watching his joy. He talked about this thing for months leading up to Christmas.

The REAL Christmas Morning!!!

I looked at every store for matching pajamas and finally found some on Christmas Eve at Wal-Mart. I know...adorable right??!!!!!!

Too funny!!

And this was literally like 3 seconds later after giving him that cup...what a baby!!!! ;)

Kaelan - "WWHHHYYYY???!!!"

Sorry, I just can't get enough so you won't either!!! :)

Sprinkling the reindeer food out front the night before. He made it in school - oatmeal for their snack and sparkles so they would know where to land.

One of his gifts from Santa was a box full of super hero costumes. You all know the story of his Captain America Halloween costume. Needless to say, he wore costumes for the next 3 days straight.

Love him laughing at his new animal zoo

He liked banging his cups on the zoo

9-months...can you believe it!!!

Well, our little Max is 9-months and counting now. It's kind of sad but he is SO much fun. He's still not crawling but so incredibly close we have the video camera ready at all times. His 9-month well check went pretty well although he did "get in trouble" for not gaining enough weight. He is 16.5 lbs which is only .5 lb more than he weighed at his 6-month check-up. He's never been a good eater but he had been sick for 2 weeks prior to his visit. Poor Max had a bronchial infection. He had LOTS of congestion, a pretty wicked cough, and even some difficulty breathing. On top of all that, he also had his first ear infection in his right ear. Oddly enough, he was a lucky one. Almost all the rest of the babies in his class at school had full-on RSV, one was even hospitalized. So, we consider ourselves blessed and thankful to his teachers for being proactive and encouraging us to visit the doctor just in case. Back to his stats, he is now 27 3/4 inches long which is even shorter (percentage-wise) than last time (I think he went from 40th% to 25%). Most importantly though, he sleeps well and is an extremely happy baby boy!!!

Although he can't quite crawl yet, he easily gets from one place to another by rolling and scooting. He can also go from sitting to a crawling position and then from laying, to a crawling position, back to sitting. He also loves to wave and give high-5s. He then happily claps for himself whenever we say "yea Max or good boy." :) He has an excellent pincer grasp (picking things up with his index finger and thumb) and would prefer to feed himself than get spoon-fed by Mom or Dad. For this reason we've recently given him diced cooked carrots and peas for the first time. He liked the carrots better than the peas (I don't blame him) and loves bread of any kind (again, I don't blame him). But his favorite so far came last night when he had baked beans for the first time. He shoveled those little babies in happily. He was not so happy when I had to clean him up afterwards...haha. I, obviously, am thrilled to now have a healthy meal option for him that I know he'll eat. HOORAY!!!

A small collection of photos from our recent trip to Sears Portrait Studio. I'll include some of Kaelan in a later post since this one is just about Max.

Kaelan wanted to offer his little brother a ride on his rocket ship. Guess who enjoyed it more ;)

P.S. We hope everyone had a safe and very merry Christmas and New Year. We love you all!!!