Developmental Milestones

I don't think anyone actually checks my blog anymore, seeing as it's been about 6 months since I last did a post, but I'm going to do one anyways :o)

I can't believe it's been that long since the last one, it feels like we were just in Edmonton. But as I was reading my older posts, it made me realize how good it is to keep track of milestones for the kids. It is my goal to copy all my posts and print them off one day.... I really hope I do it.
So I'll start with Anthony, he will be 15 months old in 2 days!

Anthony loves his 'dee-dees' (blankie) SO much!

He is definitely in the 'getting into everything' stage, and he keeps me quite busy. He has been a fast little crawler for over 7 months already, and didn't show any desire to walk. Then one day a couple weeks ago, while we were at playgroup, he saw something across the room and walked to it! He even had to maneuver his way around toys and kids, but he was a champ, and did it no problem. That was his first time taking more than two steps! Chris and I had tried so many times to get him to walk to us because we figured he could. And after seeing him that day, I realized he COULD have walked sooner, he just WOULDN'T. What a funny little guy. So now he's walking everywhere, and I love watching him, with his little arms up, and how he sometimes teeters for a few seconds before gaining his composure and going again :D (that was a REALLY bad sentence, but I don't feel like changing it)

this picture captures Anthony's joy and love for life :o)

As for some other milestones, Anthony seems to be taking after Ethan in the talking department, and can sing on tune!! The first song he sang was "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and since then has learned "ABC's" "Twinkle Twinkle" and another song that I always sing to him. I really have to get it on video and share it because it's one of the cutest things ever :o)
I'm trying to remember when he started singing, but I can't remember the exact date, I think it was about a month ago.
Now for words, I'm going to list all the words he says, mainly for my own records, so read it if you'd like, but you probably won't care, LOL!!

hi
bye
mommy
daddy
nana
papa
puppy
baby

ball
blanket (dee-dee)
bottle (ba-ba)
more
Antony (An-na-nee)
num num
ni-night
yes
no
uh-oh
boo

wow
wowie
ow
here (when he gives us something)
there (when he does something, as in, there I did it)

That's all I can think of for now. As for Anthony's personality, he is a funny little guy who loves to be loud and can be very persistent if he wants something. He will try to grab cutlery out of the dishwasher about 20 times before he'll quit. I even flick his hand, remove him, and finally just have to take the cutlery tray out or close the dishwasher. I figure it's not worth me getting mad at him over, so it can wait! Needless to say, my dishes aren't getting done as much these days!
I actually forgot about this stage where they realize the world is their oyster, and they start exploring and discovering all the things around them - like the toilet, vases with decorative rocks, the garbage can and all the wonders it holds, how to grab full cups of coffee off of counters, etc.... you get the point! I do find myself getting frustrated easier, and had actually gotten to my breaking point, when I realized I just needed to accept the stage we're in here, and do things about it to make my life easier.

With Ethan we didn't really have to baby proof the house because he was so obedient from a young age, but with two kids, it's just hard to keep on top of them, especially with three floors of the house. So I have actually put our movies away, we're going to put locks on the cupboards, and I try to make supper earlier in the afternoon so I don't have to worry about constantly watching/disciplining/redirecting Anthony while I'm trying to cook!

(this is why I took the movies out of the shelf :)

Well I need to go to bed, so I'll have to write about Ethan another day. I think I'll get on another blogging kick, but I'm not making any promises ;)

Video Time - Anthony is on the Move!

Once Anthony realized he could move, it didn't take him long to figure out how to get where he wanted to go! I now have to make sure my floors are spotless, or he chokes on little pieces of things he tries to eat (and with a toddler who leaves a trail behind him (especially from all the shoes he puts on all day) wherever he goes, this is quite a task!)

Our Time in Edmonton

Every time we go to Edmonton, Chris wants to move there. It's his home, it's where he grew up until I stole him away at the young age of 20 to come to Manitoba. Those of you who know the 'land' up here in Canada, know that Alberta is a booming economy, known as "The land of milk and honey," and then there's Manitoba, known as "the butthole of Canada." I'm not saying I agree with these labels, but there is something about rolling hills, river valleys, and the hustle and newness of a big city that really appeals to both of us. So it's not a matter of "if" we'll move to Alberta, it's a matter of "when." Chris is locked into his job for another 2 years, so as of now, we're talking about possibly moving after that..... this makes me very sad to think of leaving my family, and I don't know how I'll ever be able to handle it, but the job opportunity (which I'll get into another time) would give Chris a stable schedule which would make him home for our kid's important developmental years when they need their dad. This is very important to me, so it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make....*sniff, sniff* Also, knowing how wonderful Chris' family is, makes it that much easier to think of living there. We also have some friends and Chris' extended family who live there, that I'm looking forward to getting to know better :o)

Now for our trip: I love visiting Chris' parent's place. It's so relaxing and peaceful, and they LOVE the kids, so it's a good time for everyone. Chris' dad (Jim) loves doing things with Ethan, so every day that he wasn't working (even when he was totally sick with a chest infection), he took him somewhere - they'd walk to see the geese and ducks, go to the park, went to a horse farm to pet and see horses (Linda went too), or they'd just go play in the yard. Ethan LOVED it, and I was so happy that they got to bond so much. He would always talk about Jim when he was at work, and couldn't wait for him to come home :o)

In the above picture, Ethan is lying on the floor with Chris' brother, John and clearly thrilled! I felt like this was a really good bonding trip for all of us with chris' family - especially for all of us with John. He often has had to work on past visits, but we got to see him almost every day, which Ethan and Anthony really liked and me and Chris did too! I also got to know him a lot better, and we had a great time hanging out with him - we went to the movies and out for dinner a couple times, and I'm really thankful for that :o)

The above, and following pictures, were taken at the zoo! I LOVE animals, and Ethan definintely takes after me in that way. He LOVES Diego, and knows animal's names that I've never even heard of. On the way home, we were driving and saw some bison. Ethan saw them and yelled out "there's lots of camels! And baby camels! Where's more?" So he still mixes some up, lol!! (sidenote: we saw a pair of moose on our drive home, at two different times!! This was so cool cuz Chris had never seen a moose)

Anthony probably didn't notice the animals that much since all the kids caused so much action around him. We went to the zoo with Chris' cousins and their kids which made 6 kids in total. It was so great to see them, they're one of the reasons I'm looking forward to moving there one day :o)

Now for Chris' mom, Linda. I've always been SO thankful that she is my mother in law. I couldn't ask for a better one. We hit it off right from the start, and have always had a special connection. I really consider her to be a great friend, and my 'other mom.' She's been a part of my life for the past 8 1/2 years, and it's been great to watch her become such a special part of my kids' lives. She is such a hands-on grandma, who feed them, bathes them, and plays with them non-stop. Chris is a total momma's boy, and I love that about him, because he loves talking with me about his day every day. It might be hard to believe, but he actually talks more than me!! I know this is because of his mom, and I'm thankful for the son she (and Jim, obviously) raised. I love her so much, and know that the boys do too.

Ethan loved his cousin, Noah, and talked about him non-stop after visiting them. Here they are posing for a pic. I love it cuz Ethan was so enthralled with Noah, and Noah's just being a goofy boy. I'm bummed that I didn't get any good pics of the kids with their grandma and grandpa, I'll have to see if they got any with their camera. So that's it for our trip - it was action-packed, and fun-filled, I can't wait to go back!

Road Trip!

The idea of driving 15+ hours with an 8 month old and 2 year old might sound like a nightmare to some people, and in a sense, it was, but not in the way you'd think. We packed up and left last Thursday evening at 5 pm - a later start than originaly planned because Chris had to work late. And So we began our journey to Edmonton with a full car and high hopes of our kids sleeping through the night of driving.......um, no. Ethan has always been an incredible sleeper, I can change his poopy diaper in his sleep and he won't wake up. So I figured he'd fall asleep in the first couple hours, and the rest would be history. Apparantly he no longer sleeps well in the car - he was up throughout the night every hour. It's not like he was crying, he'd just wake up, open his eyes, and watch the oncoming cars. It was like the approaching lights somehow put him in a trance-like state in which he couldn't close his eyes. He would often be up for over an hour, then fall asleep again. I kept saying to him "Ethan, put your blanket over your head and go to sleep" to which he'd reply "ok mommy," then peek out the side of the blanket, LOL!!

This is Ethan sleeping in the car when he was 1 yr. old, aww

Then there was my plan to sleep....no such luck. I was so freaked out that Chris would fall asleep at the wheel, that I couldn't sleep! And I had only gotten 3 hours the night before! I think I fell asleep 4 times for half an hour each time. Out of all of us, Anthony was the only one that slept, but even he woke up for a couple hours from 2-4, not crying, just awake.

Our forever smiling Anthony :o)

We finally arrived at our destination - Chris' parent's house - at 5:00 am (their time, which is 6:00 our time). So the trip which would have been over 15 hours in the day ended up being 13, woohoo!! It was nice that we didn't have to stop to eat or change diapers, and it saved us a ton of time - HOWEVER, I don't think it was worth it, and we will be driving home during the day on the way back!! There are not many things that are worse than being SOOOOO sleep deprived and exhausted that your head has a permantent dull ache, your eyes can only open half way, and you have a constant underlying feeling of nausea, all of which will only go away after some good shut-eye. So that was our through-the-night-roadtrip-nightmare! (the nightmare was that I wanted to be sleeping, but couldn't!)

Spring Cleaning!

I love how the warm weather brings energy and inspiration with it! It's amazing how the shining sun and dry ground can do that! Today I organized all our toys in the basement, vacuumed the ENTIRE house (3 floors!!), did 5 loads of laundry (including folding and organizing), cleaned all 3 bedrooms, had to hold a sick baby a lot of the time, had an hour nap, and played with Ethan!! Nevermind the regular cooking, cleaning the kitchen, washing bottles, etc... that comes with everyday life. And it feels great!

For the past 3 summers, I've either been in my first trimester of pregnancy (crappy), had a newborn, or been EXTREMELY pregnant and had a newborn. I was so bummed to move into our new house last summer and not have the energy to plant flowers or veggies. I've already planned how I'm going to landscape the front of our house, and have great plans for growing my own veggies and herbs (I don't have room for a garden, so I'll have to be creative). Just yesterday I trimmed the HUGE cedar trees that give us shade and privacy around our deck. It felt so great to get that done, as I'd wanted to do it last summer already.

The back of the house 2 summers ago - those trees were overtaking our deck,
so I had to trim them (this was before we moved in)

One of the things with having a husband who works A LOT, is that I have to do pretty much all the work around here (buit I don't mow the lawn, I hate it). I'm ok with that when I have normal energy levels, so the past few summers have been rough. But now I have a fresh, rejuvenated start! Here are some pics of the house, since I don't really have any other pics to post, lol!! This is it for this week cuz we're going to Edmonton for about 2 weeks tomorrow and I'm in the process of getting rganized and packing. I'm sure I'll have lots to write about there, until then, enjoy this beautiful spring!

I want to cut down the cedars,

plant colourful flowrs, and obviously paint the house!

(this was also before we moved in, 2 summers ago)

Spring Has Sprung!

I love the smell in the air, and the freedom the warmer weather brings me. Since it's been nice outside, we've gone for walks almost every day, twice a day, and I love it! I think Ethan and I were both feeling pretty cooped up after a long winter stuck in our house. And along with the weather comes new inspirations, new ideas, and renewed energy! So I have decided to blog once a week! I often think my life is boring and that there's no point in writing about it. But I've realized that I like reading about other people's boring lives, so people probably like reading about mine too :o)

Out for our first walk of the season

I‘ll start with Ethan. He recently turned two, and I wondered what kinds of changes I'd see in his personality since you always hear about 'the terrible twos.' Well I have noticed that he says 'no' a lot more....especially when I ask him to do something. The thing is, he just says it matter-of-factly, not defiantly, so I can't get mad at him. And even though he says no, he still does what I ask. So I do see him forming his own personality and becoming more of an individual and I'm ok with that, it's supposed to happen. Chris and I have worked very hard at being consistent and following through on our discipline, and Ethan listens very well, and knows we mean business!! He is also just such a sweetheart and so willing to please us, that it makes our lives a lot easier than some other parents of two year olds!

Ethan inspecting the dirt after falling in the mud
(notice the dirty pants too, I'm doing a lot more laundry these days)

As for what he's into these days, he LOVES playing outside, and will often play in the yard by himself for an hour or more at a time! I'm so glad we have a fenced yard (we bought locks for the gates, just for peace of mind). He also loves watching bigger kids play and wants to do what they do, it's very cute. Unfortunately we have some rowdy neighbour kids on one side that I'm not too happy with though because he loves watching them through the fence, and one day the little 4 year old poked his nose and made him cry! The little brat also started throwing things over the fence at him like rocks and pop cans with rocks!! I gave a good talking to that kid, that's for sure!!

I love watching Ethan grow up and learn new things, he is constantly shocking us with concepts and words he understands and I really need to start writing them down. A funny one I remember is this:

Ethan: mommy, where are those clouds going?
Me: I don't know Ethan, where are they going?
Ethan: Ummm...... McDonalds!

Bathtime fun!

Now for our little Anthony. He's pretty much along for the ride! Ethan is so busy and has lots he wants to do, so Anthony is often just there, perfectly content to watch from the sidelines. I don't know if he likes going for walks or playing outside as much as Ethan does, but he's never fussed, so I assume he does. It's pretty funny though, because we have a double stroller (a $10 yard sale special, but I really want a new one, it sucks), and Anthony is behind Ethan. Well after we've been walking for a while, and Anthony is bored with the scenery, he starts pulling at Ethan's hat, or hair, or collar, or ears, LOL!!! Ethan just shoos his hand away because he's too busy telling me about every single vehicle he sees (there's a red truck, and a white car, and another red truck! There's daddy's airplane, there's daddy's tractor). So I think the little brother being a bit of a bug is already beginning, and I love it!! (that's because I was a brat to my older sister, so I think it's funny)

The beginnings of crawling

Anthony started army crawling about a week before he turned 8 months, and now can crawl on all fours, but not very fast. He is also eating cheerios on his own (when he gets them in his mouth), but he still needs to work on mastering that skill. I love having two boys, and find managing them both to be second nature. It is a lot busier, but I wouldn't have it any other way :o)

Anthony LOVES the swings!

As for me and Chris, it's just the same old work and home. But it's good, and we're both excited about our future. As for now, we're planning on taking a road trip to Edmonton in a couple weeks. So all you Edmontonians, let's get together! That's all for this week!

You can see Anthony going in for the attack!!

The Latest

I realized it's been a while since I did a post to update the latest things going on in our lives, so I thought I'd take a minute to do so. (Sorry there aren't any pics, I don't have them on this computer) Where do I begin? The first thing that comes to mind is that we had a big party to celebrate Ethan's 2nd birthday! My lil guy is officially a toddler! Chris' parents came down for the weekend, and that was so nice. There are families I know who don't make an effort to see their grandchildren more than once a year, but Linda and Jim see our kids every couple of months, and they love it! Ethan knows exactly who they are, and remembers details from the last time he saw them. I'm really blessed to have such great in-laws, they're awesome! We had a great weekend, and a great party. Ethan loved waking up to a decorated house, and he ran around looking at all the balloons gasping and saying 'wow' each one he saw. He also loved eating cake which he had for the first time! As for Ethan's development by the age of 2, here are some things he can do:

- count to 15 without error
- count things. Eg. I'll say "look at those tractors" he'll say "there's 2 tractors" or if I ask him to count how many blocks he has, he will, and he gets it right
- knows his shapes and colours without error

- speak in pretty much full sentences (using: and, the, that, this)

- he can't figure out the proper ways to use personal pronouns and it's pretty funny

eg. he either talks in 3rd person or says 'yours' when he means 'mine.'

One time I asked him "do you want to get that, or do you want me to get that?" his answer was "me get that," meaning me, not him, lol! (Did you get all that??)

- he loves jumping

- he loves singing, we spend a lot of time singing. He can sing his whole ABC's, and twinkle twinkle, and mostly all the songs we sing

- he's a goof, and loves to 'bug' me. Eg. he sticks out his tongue when I wipe his face, and I say "EW" which he finds hilarious and does it more. He also will grab things and run, and loves to be chased.

- he loves playing hide and go seek, but especially loves to find us. When he hides, it's pretty funny cuz he always hides behind the curtains, then when we say "Ethan where are you?" He says "hiding in the curtains" LOL! Or he'll just crouch in the middle of the floor with his face down. One time I couldn't even find him when he did that! Haha!

- He's very easygoing and doesn't mind sharing for the most part. He doesn't care if kids take or play with his toys (unless it's something he REALLY cares about), and loves giving toys to Anthony

- he will not smile and say hi to Anthony! I always ask him to say hi to him because Anthony just LOVES him, but he refuses. Sometimes if Anthony is smiling at him and he sees, he'll smile back, but that's not too often a day

Ethan is a wonderful kid, who obeys really well. We've found timeouts to work really well. All we have to say is "Ethan do you want a timeout?" He'll say "no timeout," then we say "well then stop doing that" (whatever he's not supposed to) . He'll stop instantly. It took a good week of following through on giving timeouts and now we just have to threaten. It's pretty nice. I can see how having a baby now would be SO much easier because Ethan is easier to discipline and he listens so much better. Oh well, I'm glad we had them close together.

One thing that kind of bothers me about Ethan is that he has developed a speech delay (that's the only way I know how to describe it). It pretty much developed in one day, and what happens is that he stalls on the first sound of the words he says. It's not every word, but it is quite a lot of them and it isn't getting better. It started about 1 1/2 months ago, so we're keeping our eye on it, and are on the waiting list with a speech pathologist. It's quite sad to watch because he often can't even get the word out, but he tries really hard :( He even stops breathing because he's struggling so hard to say the words he's thinking in his head. I really pray this is just a developmental phase because I can see that it would be quite hard to deal with when he's older.

That's where Ethan's at, and I just did a post about Anthony, so now for me and Chris. I have started weight watchers and I'm pretty excited to lose weight. I started doing it on my own in January, but it just wasn't enough accountability and encouragement for me, so I just joined the actual meetings last night. Since January, I've lost a total of 14 pounds, and hope to lose 60+ pounds (including the 14). I've got quite a ways to go, but feel like the meetings will really help. As for Chris, he recently got a promotion at work and a nice raise!! His bosses really trust and appreciate him, which makes him want to work very hard for them. This was a huge blessing, we really needed it!! There's another possibility of a raise and promotion in April, so that would be even better! We feel like we can finally get ahead. It's been a long journey of ups and downs with his career, and it's like we're finally going to be on an uphill journey from now on (meaning it only gets better now). I think that's about it. My life isn't too exciting, I take care of kids, which I love, and I'm looking forward to warmer weather so I can get out for walks AND THEN, I'm looking forward to summer so we can SWIM!!! Yay!