Friday, September 14, 2012

An incredible year and a half


Painting with Mimi



Play-doh with Papa

He loves stacking things
 
Silly Daddy!



Bryson has hit the one and half year mark, and it has gone by so fast.  He’s a little man now with own unique personality, which I love beyond words.  He is also a growing boy!  At his doctor’s check-up, he weighed 32 pounds.  That weight puts him in the 99th percentile.  His height was in the 80th percentile, and his head was in the 98th percentile.  Yes, we certainly have a big boy!  I’m amazing that I can still tote him around.  He loves when I perch him on top of my belly (his sister) and snuggle in.  I guess it makes him feel like he has his own seat since my belly is as big as his chair.  Haha

Our little guy has become quite the talker and animal sound maker lately.  He picks up on new words and is starting to master them now.  One of my favorites is still turtle, because he puts emphasis on both t’s and is so serious when he says it.  He has a turtle sandbox, and whenever he sees it, he points at it and says turtle.  I can’t get enough of that.  The other favorite is when we ask him to say sister and baby.  He says sissy instead, which is even cuter.  When he says baby, he emphasizes the y.   He is also very good at understanding what people tell him.  Of course, that doesn’t mean he listens to the direction, but he definitely knows what the request is. 

His personality is starting to show more each day.  He has the funniest facial expressions.  I was so use to the happy faces that I got 99% of the time, but now I get these Mommy-is-crazy looks that I can’t help but laugh at.  He now has angry expressions where he scrunches his eyes and mouth and stares at you.  He’s a pretty serious little man sometimes.  He is also getting into the temper tantrum stage.  They are pretty mild for the most part and only last about a minute, but if I try to walk him somewhere he doesn’t want to go (like from outside to inside), he will pull back on my hand, stop walking, then slowly lay down right where we are and either give me the crazy look or cry.  Then if I dare to pick him up, he gets more angry.  It’s lovely.  I’m looking forward to when he does that in public.  I’m sure that won’t be embarrassing at all. 

We are really pleased with the new school that we put Bryson in.  He went from a daycare environment where the “teacher” was more of a babysitter that simply watched the kids play and didn’t teach them anything to a school environment where Bryson actually learns things.  Imagine that!  They do all kinds of activities each day to promote fun learning and then give us homework (flashcards) to practice with Bryson when he’s not there.  They give us a daily agenda of what they are focusing on so we can be more involved in teaching him as well.  He now knows almost all of the animal sounds and can point to the main body parts (nose, ears, head, toes).  He can also do sign language like a pro.  He knows about 20 signs and uses them regularly.  Sometimes it throws Mike and I off because he’ll do something we haven’t seen before, and we’re like oh no, what does that mean?  We have to do a quick search so we understand him.  He’s teaching us, too.

I’m constantly amazed at the things he learns so quickly.  Mike and I took him to dinner last night and he squealed at one point while we were eating.  I put my finger to my mouth and shhhh’d him, and so he did it right back to me.  It was funny how he knew what to do to mimic me.  And I guess he understood what it meant because it worked!

Another thing I have to brag on is how much he enjoys books and puzzles.  He will grab a book versus his toys, climb up on the chaise lounge, and sit back and “read” his book.  He prefers sitting in your lap and you reading to him, but he’s perfectly content on his own.  He also loves to do puzzles.  As soon as he puts one together, he tips it over and starts again.  One day when I picked him up from school, he was doing a puzzle that consisted of three giant pieces and that was the entire puzzle.  However, at home his puzzles have about 10 smaller pieces and he completes them easily.  Now that he’s mastered those puzzles, he will get two of them and dump out all the pieces to both, lay out the boards and figure out which piece goes to which puzzle and complete them both.  He did this last night and put both together in about five minutes.  Oh, and I looked at the back of the puzzles and they said for ages 2+.  That’s right, Bryson is a genius.  J

I am trying to figure out how to post videos on here, so here's my first attempt.  It worked! 

I guess Bryson thinks Aspen is a horse?

Yes, I'm making stupid noises, but it makes him laugh.  For that, I'll do anything. :)

Friday, September 7, 2012

34 Weeks and Counting




Once again, it’s been way too long since I’ve posted anything on here.  It seems like as the weeks pass, I get busier and busier, if that’s even possible.  I had a ton of stuff to do to finish up Kylie’s room, and I’m getting a tiny bit panicky that it’s not complete.  I do realize she won’t actually use her room until she’s around 6 months old, but still, I would like for it to be ready when she arrives. 

We had our baby shower two weeks ago, and it turned out perfectly!   We had a wonderful time, and Mike and Bryson even came to represent the fellas.  There was lots of yummy food and the cutest owl decorations I’ve ever seen!  We got lots of amazing things to fill her room with and enough clothes to last her a year!  We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful group of family and friends.  And a great big thank you to Sandi for throwing our shower!  As always, you thoroughly outdid yourself!  We love you!

I have exciting news on Kylie’s official birthday (as long as she stays put until then).  When I went for my check-up two weeks ago, I asked the doctor again if she was serious about her offer to induce me at 39 weeks.  I have been sold on this route from the first check-up when she said since it’s my second baby, she could do it a week early.  I tried to book the date then, but she laughed and told me to sit tight until closer to time.  I guess 32 weeks was the “closer to time” timeframe, because she agreed!  Woohoo!  I am officially 39 weeks on Thursday, October 11.  The doctor says she normally schedules surgeries on Thursdays and asked if I was ok with the following Friday.  I said “sure!”.  Then she started looking at her calendar and tells me to hold on, because if she does it on Thursday, it will be the coolest date ever (10/11/12).  She then agreed to schedule any surgeries for the Tuesday before and booked me for Thursday because the date is so unique.  I was thrilled, and gave her a huge hug to seal the deal!  So, like I said, as long as Little Miss holds out, she will have one cool birth date!  J

The doctor also confirmed that Kylie is a strong kicker and a very healthy little girl.  Her heartbeat is staying between 140 – 150 with each visit, which is great.  As of my latest check-up yesterday at 34 weeks, I have gained 30 pounds.  With Bryson, I gained 40, so I have a month to go to limit myself to only gaining 10 more pounds.  That probably sounds easy, but I remember how quickly the pounds came on my last month, so I’m hoping I don’t surpass the last weight.  Fingers crossed! 

Miss Kylie is moving around all over the place.  I’m getting to the point where I can feel her arms and legs poke out, which is wild.  They are so little bitty, and I’m super impressed at how strong she can be with those little limbs.  Last night, I’m pretty certain she grabbed a hold of my hip bone and pulled on it as hard as she could.  Either that, or she was pressing on it with her legs (maybe she was doing squats).  Either way, it was not nice because it hurt like crazy.  I was able push her back to dislodge whatever limb was shoving into my hip bone, but within a matter of minutes, she settled right back there.  Thanks, Kylie.  That feels great.  J