Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Photo Every Hour: April 21st

According to my records, this is the eighth consecutive month that I've done a photo every hour post, with the photos usually being taken on the (randomly chosen) date of the 21st. And I seriously feel like half of those months, the day I am taking the photos ends up being a day right after someone has been sick or right before someone gets sick. I generally feel like we are a pretty healthy family, but maybe that's because I tend to block out the sicknesses? Because the fact that we seem to be so often sick on or around the 21st of the month would argue that we are not as healthy as I like to think we are. Although for the most part, our "bugs" tend to be pretty short lived, so maybe I should give our immune systems some credit. And thankfully, the bug that William had on April 20th did not pass to anyone else--or continue into the 21st--so although our day was perhaps a little more laid back than some, it was at least free of any sickness, which made taking the pictures more tolerable (and more enjoyable to share).

Rise and shining! 
7:00 Morning selfie with my boys
8:00 Checking out a new show on Netflix, Oddbods. So weird
9:00 Nothing says #momlife quite like a Target run at nine in the morning
10:00 Always a successful trip when we can get in and out of Target in less than an hour (and thank you Huggies Rewards points for the free Starbucks!)
11:00 Prepping lunch for the little ones
12:00 Playtime before naps
1:00 Procrastinating my to-do list after the boys went down for their naps (or quiet time, in William's case) ridiculously easily
2:00 Actually getting a few things done before the chaos resumes (especially since I'll be single-parenting while Darrell is gone all evening!)
3:00 Snacks and tracing time (dry erase marker books are brilliant for young kids!)
4:00 You know what I love more than spring and being able to play outside? The inventor of the Fubbles no-spill containers. Pure brilliance 
5:00 Getting dinner ready to go in the oven
6:00 The aftermath (Chicken + Bacon + Red Onion + Spinach + Alfredo Sauce = Awesome)
7:00 Bedtime snacks. I swear these kids would eat around the clock if I let them
8:00 One of my favorite moments of the day. Getting them ready for bed is usually crazy, and getting them to settle down and go to sleep in the same room is still a little bit of a battle, but these 10/15 minutes when they sit in their beds and read before lights out is just priceless
9:00 When Darrell is away for the evening, I snack on junk food (chocolate ice cream with caramel sauce and strawberry puree) and watch Friends. Don't judge
10:00 Figured I'd give this little one some love on the blog while I'm getting ready for bed. I swear I'll do a pregnancy update soon... Maybe... 
So if  Darrell isn't home when I go to bed, I have to have music playing. Otherwise I can't fall asleep. And some nights, even when he is home, I have to have music playing to drown out whatever annoying kid's song is cycling through my head on repeat (why do those darn children's songs have to be so catchy?!?)

Friday, April 21, 2017

William: Four Years!

I'm not sure what the "official" title for a four-year-old is, but I'm pretty sure "toddler" is no longer applicable. At least not for William. Which is scary, because I'm pretty sure the next step is "kid"--and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Although he certainly seems to be.
All dressed up for my good friend's wedding!
Despite a few bouts with stomach bugs over the past year (seriously--it seems like we've dealt with one of those almost every month), William maintained a weight near the fiftieth percentile, weighing in at 35.5 pounds. At 3 feet, 3.5 inches, he's down to the twentieth percentile for height, which seriously makes me wonder where he's hiding all his weight. The kid is lean (not for lack of eating, mind you!), and you would never guess that he's carrying an average weight on a smaller than average frame. As a result, we only recently starting replacing his 3T clothing with 4T items, although most of his 3T bottoms still fit better around his waist (especially true for shorts since we don't have to worry about length!). In fact, we recently bought his swimsuits for the summer, and ended up with a 4T shirt and 2T bottoms. Go figure.
Happy boy at the beach
William continues to be a pretty good sleeper, although we ended up having to buy a clock for his room because we realized nap time and bed time would go much more smoothly if we could give him a number on the clock that the lights had to be turned out by. It's also been nice in the mornings on the (somewhat rare) occasions that he gets up really early; we tell him that he has to stay in his room and read until a certain time and he's usually pretty good about doing that. A few weeks before his birthday (right around Daylight Savings Time, actually) William pretty much dropped his nap for good, but thankfully he's still really good about reading and having quiet time (which is good, because this Momma isn't ready to give that up with another baby coming this fall!). As a result, he's been going down really easily at bedtime (currently around eight) and almost always sleeps until at least seven, if not a little later. Fingers crossed those habits keep up.
Having fun on our family camping outing
I feel like at this point talking about food preferences for William is a moot point; he likes food and that's pretty much the end of the conversation. I'm not even kidding when I say William tells people "I like all food" when they ask what his favorite food is. I've heard stories from other parents about their kids becoming pickier eaters after they start school because they "learn" from their peers that certain foods are supposed to be "gross", but thankfully we have a while before we have to start worrying about that.
Nothing beats a scoop of peanut butter straight out of the jar
Although William still prefers to have me (or Darrell) help with many of his daily, independent tasks (such as brushing his teeth and getting dressed), he can do most of those things on his own. He's also really good about remembering to do things that have been told to him in the past--things likes turning off the lights when he leaves a room and putting his shoes away in the closet when we get home. Oh, and I suppose it would be fitting to mention here that he is fully potty trained--during the day, at least. We tackled that about a month after his third birthday, and after the three accidents he had the first two days, he's probably only had four or five more (and thankfully, they were all at home and all just pee). I took a bunch of notes and meant to do a blog post about what we did, although maybe at this point I'll just wait until we potty train Garrett and do a joint post. He's also started some independent activities (Sunday School, gymnastics, swim lessons) and it's been fun to watch him grow in those environments and follow the directions of another adult without Mom or Dad right by his side.
While his days at Vacation Bible School went well--his first "solo" activity--he got a little nervous when it was time for the performance at the end of the week. He may not have sang or done any of the motions, but at least he stayed up there the whole time!
Since this is my blog and William is my favorite oldest child, I'm going to brag on him a little bit--which is not something I do very often. Even though he probably deserves it. Sometime late last summer (just shy of 3.5 years), William read something to me. We were driving in downtown, and all of the sudden I heard from the backseat "Mom, why does that sign say 'one way'"? My jaw pretty much hit the floor, although I quickly shook it off and assumed that he just recognized those words from stories we've read. Well, after a few months of similar incidents, I finally accepted that maybe he actually was reading for real. And that's only become more and more apparent. Darrell and I have to be careful reading stories now, because he'll follow along with us and correct us if we read the wrong word or accidently switch a few words around. His ability to sound out unfamiliar words isn't exactly spectacular, but he knows enough words that he can read most toddler-level books (like Mercer Mayer's Little Critter stories) with about 85% accuracy--even if it's the first time he's seen the book. He's also gotten pretty good at writing his name (and even the whole alphabet), although the letter sizes are usually pretty inconsistent. And while I don't make it a point to "quiz" him on his skills, we were reading a counting book a few months ago and he counted the items up to fifty pretty easily and made it up to one hundred with only a handful of errors.
Excited to get his story bible at church
Because being a brother is such a huge part of his life, I would be remiss not to address his relationship with Garrett. And guys--it's awesome. Sure, they're brothers and have their fair share of fights and squabbles, but watching William as a big brother has just been incredible. He is Garrett's biggest cheerleader and biggest teacher. He gets excited when Garrett does something well ("Good job Garrett!"), he is supportive of Garrett when he is trying new things/learning new words ("That's a good try Garrett"), and he can be very patient when showing Garrett how to do something new. He's also really good with his younger cousins, so I'm excited to see him as a big brother again this fall (although he seems to have a preference for male babies; he definitely favors his male cousins over his female cousins and he tells everyone that the baby in my belly is a boy, so it will be really interesting to see what happens if it ends up being a girl). It's also really fun to listen to the boys talk to each other; Garrett talks well enough that the two can actually carry on a pretty decent conversation and it's usually pretty entertaining.
Enjoying a little fun on a mild late winter day
All that sweet big brother stuff aside, I do see a few oldest child traits in William that I don't particularly love (and that remind me a lot of my childhood with my older sister). William has a tendency to be a little bossy, and he definitely likes things to be done a particular way. Which means that when he and Garrett are playing together he spends the majority of the time telling Garrett how to do it the "right" (aka his) way and getting mad (to the point of full-fledged tantrums) if Garrett doesn't follow suit. It's definitely something we're working on.
Fun at the lake!
Even though William is growing up way too fast, I'm really enjoying the child he is turning into--although I do cherish the moments when he is still my "baby". And I can usually count on a few of those baby moments first thing in the morning and after the (rare) nap when he is apt to be in a very cuddly mood. He's also gotten very sweet with saying "I love you", although there's a little bit of a routine we have to follow--I have to say "thank you" after he says "I love you too" so that he can say "you're welcome".
Smiles with Mommy at the Apple Orchard
Happiest of Birthdays to my favorite four-year old; it's been a wonderful year and I can't wait for many many more!
On his first roller coaster ride with Grandma
Fearless!
I no longer get to push my own cart at the grocery store :-)
Big boy in the dentist chair by himself
Helping Mommy make cookies for Daddy's birthday
Don't be fooled by his stink-face smile; he loves himself some ice cream!
My little golfing boy
Helping Daddy build a fort at the Children's Museum
Big boy walking on the balance beam by himself
He loves toasted marshmallows, he loves graham crackers, and he loves chocolate--just don't make him put them together as a s'more!
Love this boy!
Happy happy birthday!!

Friday, April 7, 2017

Photo Every Hour: March 21st

Every now and then, when I have these unintentional long breaks in blogging, I think that maybe I just won't come back to the blog and let it quietly fade into oblivion. And then I remember that this is the only thing that even sort of resembles a baby book that my boys have, the only thing I've (kind of) used to document my pregnancies, and I think that I can't abandon it just yet. Especially with Baby Three on the way--and a certain toddler (kid?!?) getting ready to celebrate his fourth birthday. So, let's catch up on life a little, shall we?

7:00 Enjoying my breakfast while the kids are (thankfully!) still asleep

8:00 Nothing says "Today is off to a great start" quite like having my coffee brewed by 8:00

9:00 Playtime!

10:00 Taking advantage of our newly acquired membership to the Sertoma Butterfly House and Marine Cove

11:00 Tanks full of cool reptiles and a window that looks into the butterfly room--and my boys sit down with books #weirdos #theygetitfromtheirmama

12:00 Lunchtime!

1:00 Naptime battles today. Enough said

2:00 Enjoying a little peace and quiet

3:00 At least he woke up in a better mood than he went to sleep in

4:00 Play date with friends

5:00 Headed home for dinner!

6:00 Helping Dad with a project for the basement
 

7:00/8:00 Crazy boys leads to a lack of pictures during the bedtime shenanigans

9:00 When you have to buy airline tickets for four passengers, you get on the iPad and your husband gets on the laptop so you more efficiently compare routes and prices to find the best deal. Anything to save a few bucks

10:00 Taking a few minutes to myself before bed after finally booking our tickets to the beach

Bedtime!