Father's Day

Father's Day was fun this year because Ari actually understood it a bit. Sean got his big present a couple months early, when a grill he wanted was on sale. But we got him a battery charger to open on the holiday, and Ari made him some cute projects. This was my favorite Father's Day activity that we did for Sean:

This is an "all about dad" activity:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E19gRmkTnRg/T8fUjCXi-LI/AAAAAAAAAE0/7ksA_6_2Na8/s1600/father%27s+day+printable+8x10.jpg

Ari's answers:

My daddy's name is Sean.
My dad is 3 years old.
His hair black and his eyes are green.
My dad's favorite food is crackers.
Daddy's favorite color is red.
My dad likes to wear pants and a shirt.
My dad's job is going to work.
He loves to eat "openmeal" (oatmeal).
He's smart because he knows: me!
My dad works hard at work.
Daddy always tells me "love you too!"
I'm happy when daddy: is here.
I love my daddy because: I love him!


Too cute!

I wanted to let Sean sleep in but our kids had other plans. The baby woke up at 4 and stayed awake until almost 6, which was totally random, and then of course Ari was up at 6:30. Sleep is for the weak! We did take Sean out to breakfast (Jerry Bob's) and Ari stayed with Nana, Papa, and Aunt Mandy so we could go to Guadalajara Grill for dinner since I had a gift card. I really tried to go all out and spoil Sean because he is a really fantastic dad and we are all so lucky to have him! I think he had a good day. :)

4 Months

Avery is four months old! He had his well baby check up on the 14th and he is healthy, happy little boy. He weighs 15lbz 6oz (50th percentile), is 26" long (85th percentile), and his head is 43cm (90th percentile). He has gained 6.5lbs and grown 4" since he was born! (I looked up Ari's 4 month stats again to compare - Ari weighed 14lbs 14oz and was 24.5" long.)  He had a fever the day after his shots and was pretty miserable, but by the day after that he was fine.

At 4 months, Avery grabs things and puts almost anything he grabs right into his mouth. He is teething and has several bumps on the top and bottom gums. He has rolled from his back onto his belly a couple of times. He is ok in the car now as long as his big brother is in the backseat with him! He loves to watch Ari and if he starts to fuss, he will calm right down if Ari sings to him (not so much if I sing to him though). He is trying really, really hard to sit up and I imagine he will have the hang of it by 6 months for sure. He is really a laid back, happy little guy and we are very much enjoying this stage with all of his smiles, giggles, and "talking." Since I know he is my last baby I am trying even harder to savor all of the cuddling and cuteness everyday. :) He slept through the night for a few weeks, but this past week he hasn't been sleeping as well... he did seem to have a little cold, and the teething may also be the culprit.

These pics were taken the day after his well baby check up, so he wasn't feeling great. He did give me some great smiles anyway though. :)

Potty Time

A few weeks ago, Ari said he was ready to use the potty all the time. Of course, his interest only lasted a couple of days before he changed his mind... but I decided to get serious. He has been physically capable for so long and just not interested, so we bought new cool undies and just made the switch, and tried to keep him motivated. He had a couple of accidents in the first week, but then we were pretty much good to go, although going #2 in the potty did take some convincing. But he finally earned his reward after being accident free for a week or so, and he picked "green cake." We made this key lime cake together. I am so glad to only be changing diapers for one baby now! And the cake was delicious, here's the recipe:

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  
• 5 eggs
• 1 (3 ounce) package lime flavored gelatin mix
• 3/4 cup orange juice
•  
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice + a bit of lime zest
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 
  
• Combine cake mix, gelatin mix, oil, eggs and orange juice. Pour into three 8 inch cake pans, or two 9 inch pans. Bake according to instructions on box. Allow to cool, then frost.
• To make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add lime juice, zest, and confectioners sugar. Mix well.

3 Months Old

My baby isn't a newborn anymore! He turned 3 months a couple days ago. He is growing too fast.

Avery is a pretty laid back baby. He was a little fussier the first 4-6 weeks but he has really become pretty chill since then. He fusses sometimes if he's tired or teething, and of course he still isn't a fan of the car. I am amazed sometimes at how different he is from how Ari was as a baby. I can set him down, regularly, without him crying! Other people can hold him, without him crying! Amazing. ;)

He is starting to do all the cool baby stuff. He is already trying to grab for things and has been successful a couple of times. He really, really wants to sit up and tries to... he definitely doesn't have the balance yet but he has the strength and I know he will sit up way earlier than Ari did. He smiles all day long and it is getting easier everyday to elicit baby giggles from him (although none on video yet!). I find new tickle spots every week. He hasn't rolled over yet but I am pretty negligent about tummy time, I probably should do it more than 2-3 days a week.... :P

He has several bumps in his mouth and has his super drool-y fussy times. He also has his fingers in mouth pretty constantly. I am thinking a tooth or two isn't far in the future. Probably partly because of this, his night time sleep is still sporadic. Sometimes he sleeps for 5-6 hours in a row, sometimes he is still waking every 2-3 hours. I really can't complain because did I mention he sleeps during the day without me holding him??

Without further ado, 3 month photos, outfit courtesy of Aunt Renee. :)

Pork Chops & Sushi

I've made some sales plus we have the yard sale money, so we went out for sushi last night. Mmmm sushi! We usually go to Nana and Papa's on Sundays for dinner but Nana Mary was out of town all weekend and I didn't want to cook.

Ari has been loving the kid chop sticks the last couple times we went. Last night they did not give us any so he asked the server himself, "Can I have chop sticks please??" Where is my shy boy? At least he said please. And he called them the correct name. For the rest of dinner, he referred to them as "pork chops." LMAO. :)

Avery 2 Months

Avery is already two months old! Times flies when you're... taking care of a newborn and a toddler every day and waking up every couple hours all night? Ha. :P

At his two month appointment, Avery weighed 12lbs 5oz (50th percentile), and he was 24.5" long (95th percentile). His head was also in the 95th percentile. The doctor was impressed by how social he is - lots of smiles, very alert, good eye contact. He really is a pretty happy baby; he started smiling around 4 weeks! She also was impressed with how strong he is, being able to hold his head up and his mad tummy time skillz. He is starting to track things with his eyes, and coo and talk to us. He is all around healthy, no concerns!

I did tell her he already seems to be teething and I don't think she believed me, but we know the signs and it's pretty obvious. He got his first shots at this appointment (he had heel pricks at the hospital but no shots). He was a trooper and only cried for a minute and let daddy comfort him. Later that evening though he spiked a fever and his legs seemed so sore, so I had to give him tylenol. He didn't feel good the next morning either but by afternoon he was fine.

Avery is really a pretty laid back baby, at least compared to how Ari was. He takes his morning nap in the baby swing - Ari never napped anywhere but our arms as a baby. ;) Our first month had some rough days as we got to know each other, but once we figured out his signals and tendencies, things got a lot easier. Now I'm just waiting for him to stop pooping in the middle of the night, I'm sooo over the 4am diaper changes - soon, I hope. He is slowly starting to sleep better at night although some nights the teething interferes. He generally sleeps in 3 hour chunks now for the first half the night. The longest he goes without nursing though is in the morning, from 6-7am to 10-12, 4-6 hours! Wish I could get him to do that from say, 11pm to 4am or so. ;)

I had to look up Ari's two month stats just to see the differences. :) http://caralaird.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html Ari was in the 25th percentiles for height and weight, and was already sleeping 5-6 hours in a row at night. He also had less hair and was way fussier. Otherwise milestone wise they are pretty similar!

This song is dedicated...

Avery is sometimes soothed by random pop/alternative music in the car. Every time I've turned on the local "80s, 90s, and today" pop/alternative station for him to listen to, this Jason Mraz song has come on. In my head it will always remind me now of when Avery was a baby. (I know I hear it every time probably because they play it all the time or something, but now it's related in my head regardless.) It's a sweet song and given my own experiences it really hits home. So I'm putting it here to dedicate it to my boys.





"I Won't Give Up"

When I look into your eyes
It's like watching the night sky
Or a beautiful sunrise
There's so much they hold
And just like them old stars
I see that you've come so far
To be right where you are
How old is your soul?

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

And when you're needing your space
To do some navigating
I'll be here patiently waiting
To see what you find

'Cause even the stars they burn
Some even fall to the earth
We've got a lot to learn
God knows we're worth it
No, I won't give up

I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily
I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make
Our differences they do a lot to teach us how to use
The tools and gifts we got yeah, we got a lot at stake
And in the end, you're still my friend at least we did intend
For us to work we didn't break, we didn't burn
We had to learn how to bend without the world caving in
I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not
And who I am

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up
Still looking up.

I won't give up on us (no I'm not giving up)
God knows I'm tough enough (I am tough, I am loved)
We've got a lot to learn (we're alive, we are loved)
God knows we're worth it (and we're worth it)

I won't give up on us
Even if the skies get rough
I'm giving you all my love
I'm still looking up

Spring is here, theeee skies are blue!

I've been teaching Ari about the seasons and we've done some spring related crafts. After I got him some gardening things for Easter, he wanted to plant something. I do not have a green thumb and know very little about when to plant what, so I googled and also called my mom who is an experienced gardener. We decided to plant some flowers and some vegetable seeds. We have not done the seeds yet (green beans and radishes) but we did the flowers. He had a lot of fun and likes to water them every day. We planted marigolds and allysum.

Easter

Ari enjoyed Easter this year. This is the first year we dyed eggs and did an egg hunt. I slept in Easter morning and Sean forgot to take pictures of him digging into his Easter basket, but we do have some pictures of egg dying in the days before, and of him after the egg hunt at Nana Mary's!

Here is his Easter "basket." Not very traditional, but I didn't feel like doing lots of candy and Easter related toys that he would only play with for a couple days. He got some snacks, new markers since his are drying out, and some gardening stuff.

We did a super simple method for dying eggs that involved rolling the eggs on a paper towel with food dye on it, no dunking (or knocking over) cups of dye. He loved this and it gave the eggs a cool tye dye / textured effect.

And with his eggs after the egg hunt at Nana and Papa's. He had a great time as usual playing with his cousins and we all enjoyed a yummy Easter dinner prepared by aunt Mandy and aunt Piper.

First Bath & First Smiles

Avery's cord stump didn't fall off until he was about four weeks old, so he was almost a full month old before he had his first real bath. He loved it, just like his brother always did!

He also started smiling around four weeks! I am pretty sure Ari didn't smile before the six week mark. We didn't manage to get tons of shots of the smile that early, but here are a couple... it was definitely there when he interacted with us. Now he smiles as soon as he sees me or his dad after he wakes up, and he smiles at me during and after nursing. :)