Warp Speed

Seriously, I swear that is how fast time goes these days - a warp speed! Just shy of 2 months since the last post. Seriously, there are days it seems like that was just yesterday.


The kiddos continue to amaze us. T's behavior continues to slowly, but steadily mature. He definitely tries harder to "listen" and "follow directions" (as he says) but sometimes it's just too hard and he lets his emotions get the better of him. I've explained to him that when he's able to control his emotions and do what he knows is right and not do what he knows is wrong he will earn rewards and privileges. Sometimes reminding him of this fact when he's on the verge of throwing a fit helps him realize that he needs to calm down or go to his room to let off some steam safely and respectfully... hopefully this trend will increase and will be the case most of the time. I'll just keep praying for that.


He is still in love with being 4 and tells everyone - friends, family, younger kids, older kids and, of course, complete strangers. Usually he gets a sweet smile and the informed one shows interest (may not be genuine, but still friendly) but occasionally, especially with kids, he'll get the, "well, I'm __" and somehow an age coolness competition ensues. We took T to a Shakopee Varsity Boys baseball game a few weeks back and he confidently marched up to a 13 year old boy and announced to him, very proudly, "I'm 4!" The kid looked at T with a look on his face expressing that he though T was the craziest kid on the planet and, hesitantly, responded, "Uh... I'm 13." He then laughed and T, satisfied, ran off. A moment later, some other teens joined the above mentioned 13 year-old who then shared and reenacted the exchange that had just happened between T and himself, of course with sarcasm in his voice. T watched from afar and I just sat there, watching above from the bleachers, praying that my little boy did not understand what was truly happening - that he was being made fun of. Thankfully, the smile stayed on his face and he marched up the stairs and rejoined B, C and I. I'll be honest, watching the teenagers laugh at my little boy and his excitement surrounding all that entails being 4 made the mom side of me hurt a bit. How could it not? What a comfort to my soul, though, that T was oblivious to the mocking.

C, now 16 months old (yes, really!) is a full fledged walker. In a matter of a few days she went from hesitant walking between furniture and family to toddling all over creation. Within a week of that milestone she was able to stand up after a tumble without having to crawl to a wall or other object to aide in the stand. Again, growth at warp speed.

I don't have the stats in front of me but at her 15 mo appointment we learned that C's growth has grown closer to the "norm" and her height (around 31") and weight (just shy of 24 pounds) are in the 63rd and 64th percentiles, respectively. Her head circumference (h.c.), though, continues to be nearly off the charts - now at the 94th %ile (if I'm remembering correctly... above the 90th %ile for sure). After hearing what C's vocabulary is the doc laughed and attributed the h.c. to being so smart. When looking at C I don't notice that she has an abnormally large head, so that's good. In the same respect, T's head was always at or below the 40th %ile (again, if I'm remembering correctly) and his never looked small to me.


Speaking of C's vocabulary, I s'pose I could make a quick list of her words. She still speaks in 1 word phrases and if she doesn't know the word she will scream or show us what she wants. Ok, here they are, in no random order:
1) Mama
2) Da-ddy (yes, she pauses between the "da" and the "dee) and Da-da (always loud for both!)
3) Tee-tee (Tegan)
4) kitty
5) Papa
6) na-na (n'night)
7) baba (bottle)
8) bee-bee (baby)
9) peez (please)
10) hi
11) baah-baah (bye-bye)
12) socks
13) sooz (shoes)
14) piddy (pretty)
15) Bee-bee-bee (Bumblebee - no, not the bug... the Transformer)
16) aah-daah (all done)
17) baah (ball)
18) Uh-oh

I think that's it. She can show you her nose consistently and, on occasion, will show you her tongue and eye(s). When she sees a picture of a fish she'll make a "fish sound" (as we call it) with her mouth - super cute! Same goes for a chicken or rooster("caah-koo" making the "caa" go up in her voice - high pitched) and a kitty/cat ("maow"). She's very good at making airplane and car sounds, too.

To put it plainly - she keeps us smiling!



Have I mentioned that Wawa is ALL GIRL (aside from playing with trucks, trains, cars, planes and Transformers)? The child is obsessed with shoes and l-o-v-e-s wearing "piddies" (pretties, a.k.a. skirts, socks belonging to anyone and everyone in the family, my watch and jewelery and hair barrettes and bows). She now has 3 tutu-skirts and several hair bows/ribbons (which she is just now starting to leave in her hair). If she doesn't have shoes on she will bring you some and tap or rub them on her feet until you put them on her. She then prances around the house declaring that she is "PIddy" and giving everyone her sneaky, shy eyes. Such a sight to see!

Now that what we refer to as Spring is here (at least according to the calendar) T has been doing his best to ride his bike around as much as he can. He's got a new green helmet, his favorite color. There was no option in his mind of what color helmet he'd get - green was it. The old red strider bike from when he was "little, you know - like 3" (pronounced 'free' still) is no longer an option for the kid. The tires are just too bald and he's just too big... I swear the kid has grown 3 inches just in the past 3 months! I'm tempted to measure him and compare it to his 3 year check-up height.

OK - I s'pose that's enough for tonight... Sorry for minimal pics. The rest are still on the cameras. Look for an Easter post soon...
Love to all!
~j

49 Month Old!!!

Yes... my big boy is now 49 months (and 4 days) old and yesterday was his 4 year well-check at the doctors' office.
Tegan continues to be one of the most personality filled, strong-willed children on the face of the earth - and we love just about every part of what that entails... well, except the tantrums and defiance and all that. But, it's a package deal so we'll take it :)


Knowing how much T would protest a shot I checked ahead of time to see if he would be receiving any immunizations and was told "no, not until he's 5." Well, I was misinformed and Mr. T did, indeed, have to get a SHOT! (here he is pointing to where he got his shot) Poor guy didn't even see it coming, the nurse was fabulous and totally distracted him. He cried, there's no hiding that fact, but he stopped quickly and was very excited to get a prize out of the bucket, in addition to the 2 stickers he had already earned for cooperating so well during the vision and hearing screening. It was great to see him chat with Dr. J, do exactly as he was told and check-out great.

For those of you wondering where Tego stands amongst the general population of 4 year-olds here ya go:
Weight - 42 pounds = 87%ile
Height - 41.6 inches = 74%ile

Yes, that means our little man continues to be a dense one, but let me tell you - there ain't much fat on that body of his. Mommy is envious, but I'm sure if I ate like him and had the activity level and energy level that T has I'd be a skinny-minny too :)

No more pictures, Mommy!

I'm sure you're wondering what fancy things you get to do when you are 4 and no longer 3? Well, in the Moore household you get to watch Transformers 2: Revenge of The Fallen. Yes, that's a PG-13 movie, so don't tell T because I'm sure when he's older and more aware of all that stuff that made the movie PG-13 he'll want to watch other PG-13 movies and we'll say no. We'll have to figure out how to explain that one to him then... Anyway - watching him watch the movie was SO funny! Tegan lined up all 24 of his Transformers guys on the couch before we could start the movie. Then, he spent most of the movie either trying to narrate what was going on in the action scenes or (thankfully) playing with his Transformers during the more PG-13 scenes. The funniest part was when he'd play with his Transformers, because not only were they fighting each other, but they were mimicking what they had just "watched" in the movie and reenacting the action scenes. Needless to say there were a lot of sound effects and such coming out of T's mouth (you know, the sounds that the Transformers make when they transform and fight and "pew" and such. Oh, and if you don't know what "pew" is, it's not the smell, it's an action that some refer to as "shoot". T calls it "pewing" because that's the sound it makes when it happens. So there's "pewers" and "pews" and "pewing" and "pewed". Got it all? Ok, good!)


OK - getting close to T's bedtime... gotta somehow pry him away from the Cars movie B suggested he watch to wind down for the night. Praying for minimal tears as Tegan promised not to cry when we said it's bedtime. I'll believe that when I see it.

Love to all!
~j

Birthdays, Birthdays, Birthdays!

In the past 2 months we have celebrated our fair share of birthdays. A week before Christmas we celebrated Brendan's - to flatter him we'll say that he still has a few years where his age will be closer to 30 than 40 - ha!. Then a week after Christmas "Wawa" , as Tegan calls her now, turned the big O-N-E! (Don't ask me where he came up with that nickname, but it's stuck and we all use it now. The a's are pronounced the say way you pronounce the a in wall) Then, 3 weeks later we celebrated Ty's heavenly birth with a family meal out at a restaurant (it may have just been at Chili's but we were out as a family). There's another 2 years that have flown by. Finally, on Feb. 5 we celebrated T's 4th birthday, complete with a houseful of 9 boys and the most amazing Transformers cake you have ever seen.

Now to each one:

Brendan: Ok, so not really Brendan, but we did hold our annual holiday potluck party on B's birthday so I had to mention what a great time we had spending time with so many of our great friends. To those of you who didn't come, your loss ;) Seriously, though, the hardest part is getting time to chat with everyone who comes. We are truly blessed to have such a large group of friends who, although we have met them through the various avenues of our lives, seem to really get along well when they are all together. Does that make sense? It's neat to see friends that we have through one activity that meet friends that we have through another part of our life and they develop friendships beyond just seeing each other at our parties. How fun to be a part of the development of new friendships!

Casey: Now I know I already said this in a past post but seriously, where has the last year (well, almost 14 months now) gone?! My little itty bitty is no longer that at all - she's tipping the scales at over 22 pounds and is nearly 30 inches tall (if I'm remembering correctly. Don't have the stats right by me). As Brendan says, she's in the "short and fat" category (sorry C, Daddy said it, not me). Her weight is around the 75th %ile while her height is only in the 55th. Oh, and then there's her head circumference that's above the 80th %ile. I can definitely attest to the fact that there are a few shirts hanging in Casey's closet that are quite difficult to get over her head and we've virtually given up on wearing them anymore. You'd think it'd be a great excuse to go shopping but if you were to see this girl's closet you would understand when I say that's not necessary. Instead, I'm spending those dollars on pillows, paint and curtains/draperies to help updated and finish off the "simple" updates to the house that we still haven't taken care of. As far as when the painting will be getting done... that's a good question. With C being outrageously mobile and into EVERYTHING I don't anticipate getting much done when she (or Tegan for that matter) are home.

I'm sure you're wondering what that "everything" is that Casey is getting into. Well, aside from that fact that Casey's favorite place to be when upstairs is sitting in the left-hand drawer under the TV while at the same time digging through the right-hand drawer, emptying its contents onto the floor and her I'll give you a taste from just one day: eating dirt from a potted plant in the kitchen, pulling the coffee filter with used grounds out of the trash, playing in the toilet and emptying the contents of both drawers under the TV in the family room. Oh, and that was in a time period of about an hour. Yes, she's one wild woman! After saying this you probably think we just let her roam and don't stop her - let me tell you, the girl is fast! She's one that I can foresee needing one of those toddler leashes for (though I'm not sure if I can let myself do that...) We (at least I) are hoping this whole walking thing will start soon because usually those mobility transitions slow them down for a period (albeit a short period, but still).

As mentioned in my last post, C is definitely doing the "pre-walking" thing where she cruises around everywhere using everything she can get her hands on: furniture, walls, chairs, toys, laundry baskets, boxes, legs, curtains... you get the idea. It's comical to see her trying to figure out what she needs to do so that she can do the cruise instead of crawl. I can definitely see that she is excited about this skill and would much rather walk than crawl if she could, though when we walk with her (her holding onto our fingers) she will sit down almost immediately after we let go of her fingers. Only once has she continued to try to walk after we did just that.

12 Months

13 Months

Tegan: Mr. 4 year-old is, thankfully, starting to show signs of exiting the part of life that made the past 2 years VERY emotionally stressful when it comes to emotions and behavior. It's no secret that Mr. T wears his emotions on his sleeve, or should I say sleeves? Because there are a lot of emotions there! He's still extremely strong-willed and has a really difficult time when he doesn't get his way and by no means am I hinting at the fact that he's no longer throwing tantrums because that is NOT the case at all - but they are definitely fewer and farther between. Maybe it's just that we have finally found things (privileges, if you will) that we can take away that he does not want taken away and will, and does, seriously consider altering his behavior to avoid the loss. Specifically, anything he has related to Transformers. This week, B and T even built a large "fortress" or "base" or whatever you want to call it (T changes it's title each day). The thing is big - I mean several feet wide. Not massive, they used a bike box to build it, so nothing refrigerator box size or anything, but still, it's big enough to very comfortably house all 24 of his Transformers. So, as soon as T starts to show signs of misbehaving, almost as soon as we remind him that he will lose the option of playing with his Transformers and/or "base" he generally shapes up pretty quickly. It may only work for a few months or weeks, at best, but still. It definitely feels good to find something that he responds to.

I'm sure I've mentioned that Tegan was adamant that he was NOT going to "pretty school" (most of us call it preschool, just to clarify... not beauty school) and was NOT going to be 4 - he was going to be "free (3) forever!" Well, I don't know what the Devin Grandma said, but there was something that flipped a switch in his little mind and shortly before Tegan's birthday the big man decided that he was SO excited to be 4 and go to pretty school. It's amazing how much he's already changed developmentally since he turned 4. The kid is SO excited and interested in learning about letters and letter sounds as well as how things are spelled. He walks around saying words and then telling us what they begin with, though he phrases it as, for example, "Daddy. /D/, /d/, D begins with Daddy". Last weekend he started really caring about the letters following the "T" in his name. He wants to know "what's the next letter that I start with after T?" HA! It's just so darn cute to hear him.

Enough for tonight. Thanks for reading & love to all!
~j

2 Years

inhale - exhale - inhale - exhale

REALLY?!

Received an email with this title yesterday:

Your toddler at 24 months

Let's just say it made me break down into tears over my lunch break. I've called and emailed this company multiple times to take me off their email list. I've even spoken to a real person and explained why I want to be off the mailing. What do I have to do?!

4 days until his heavenly birthday... my left eye has been twitching off and on for nearly a week now - you could say I'm feeling some emotional pain and stress.......

Priorities

So being the new year it is time for me to take stock of where my priorities currently lie and how they need to be adjusted/rearranged. One priority that needs to be bumped up higher on the list is - you guessed it - this blog. 2010 was not a good year for me and keeping up with the blog. Shame on me. Not only is it not fair to everyone who reads this but more importantly it wasn't fair to my children. After having Tegan I decided to use my blog as a means to record exciting events and milestones in my children's lives instead of keeping up with baby books. I did pretty darn good for Tegan's first 3 years or so, but this past year has been not so great. So - here's to a new year and better blogging!

I left off with updates on Tegan (though that was over a month ago)... time for some Casey updates:


Miss Casey is officially 12 months old (actually, closing in on 13 months old) - yes, that is 1 year! Where did the time go? I feel like I just had her and my maternity leave should just be getting started. No, I really feel like I just had Ty. It's still so weird not being pregnant - yes, even 12 months after giving birth it's weird. I suppose it makes sense - I was pregnant with Ty for 34 weeks and nearly 37 weeks with Casey, only having 3 months "off" (approx 12 weeks) between the 2 pregnancies. That's approx. 71 weeks spent being pregnant in a 83 week period. WOW!


OK, back to "Casey Lou", as we all call her (especially Tegan). Crawling began around Thanksgiving though at that point it was really more of the "army crawl" than what most people think of as crawling. She did that consistently for several weeks (much longer than Tegan did) and then it seemed like overnight she decided it was time to do the "regular" or "normal" crawl and she's been doing that ever since - and truly, that really happened right around Christmastime.


Now we are to now. At a full 12.5 months old Casey is in full-fledged furniture cruising mode. She pulls up and cruises all along the couches, chairs, high chair, coffee table, walls... you name it, as long as it helps her stay standing she'll use it as a support to cruise (or "prewalk" if you want to call it that). She has even let go a few times, that I've observed, and stayed standing for a few seconds before getting that "OH CRAP" look on her face. You know, the look a baby gets when they realize they are standing and not holding onto anything and then lose all balance. Love that look! Let's just say that even though she's a pretty darn quick crawler, I'm enjoying this time before she's literally "up and running"!


C has also become a very, very, VERY smiley and verbal child while at the same time being one of those super quiet babies who always seems to be taking everything in with a straight face. It still amazes me how much of a unique and intriguing child C is in her very own way. Or there's this face - it was a favorite of hers to make for several weeks. Always put a smile on my face :) That's my little "gril" (Have I mentioned on here that Tegan says "gril" for "girl"? It's hilarious to hear... Oh, and that he calls "preschool" "pretty school") Poor Casey, her brother is forever going to be interrupting her even it is through me on this blog.


Talking - I was talking about Casey talking. She's got a few "words" that she says. One that's pretty consistent is "nana" or "nigh-nigh" though she uses it to mean just about anything other than may me, Brendan or Tegan so it really has no meaning - though, when I use it in the evening to tell her that it's bedtime (which is the only way I use the term, to refer to bedtime and going n'night) she does seem to truly understand what it means. The other 2 words that she does use appropriately are "dada" and "mama" although I am sometimes referred to as "dada" by her. Sure shows you who her favorite, huh? I do hear her trying to practices saying "Tngn". She somehow says it without vowels. It's sweet.


When it comes to receptive language (I think that's the proper term) Case (yes, we call her Case sometimes - it wasn't a typo) is able to physically respond to questions we pose. Specifically, we'll ask her where her baby is (she got a Bitty Baby and several accessories from the Devin Gram'ma for Christmas and/or birthday) C will go over to her baby, assuming "Baby" is in the same room, and usually give her a kiss. If we ask or suggest that she "feeds" her baby or gives Baby her "baba", C will crawl over and "feed" the baby her bottle, though not necessarily putting the bottle to the doll's mouth. She does always get the bottle to feed some part of the doll's face, though. Yesterday it was the forehead. This is an improvement, as you can see, since initially she wanted the "baba" for herself to chew on - obviously a baby who prefers the breast over the bottle for eating. Over the weekend she even began to take the baby out of her cradle post-bottle and burp her by placing the baby on her lap (face-up or face-down - doesn't seem to matter to C) and patting whatever part of the torso is facing up. Whatever the interaction is with Baby, C always gives her baby a kiss (or a few kisses) at some point before she is done playing with her. Miss C has even gotten really good at making the kiss sound and, unlike most babies, will give closed-mouth puckered-up kisses! LOVE IT!


Here's her monthly pics from 9-11 months (1 year is still in the camera - does that surprise you?!)

9 months
10 months
(I promise this wasn't her full outfit for the day.
It's what she wore under her Halloween costume)
11 months
(thought you'd enjoy the sequence and appreciate how much work these monthly shots/pics have become)

OK - How's that for a post? I don't want to overwhelm you all with too much info ;)

Hope you enjoyed the updates and pics. Take care and love to all!
~j

SICK!

All I have to say is I'm sick of being sick. I will be home, again, today sick (2nd time in 10 days with the pukes) so I'll try to blog a bit between my naps.Yay for you all, boo for me!
~j

I Should Win An Award...

for being the worst blogger ever! Sorry to my faithful readers for the horrible blogging I've been doing this year. I think I've said it before, but whenever I have time to sit and blog I just feel like sitting and doing nothing. Work is pretty stressful for me this year (teaching 2 programs is hard!), Tegan is still pretty darn naughty (independent might be a better/nicer word for it) and C is still up once a night to nurse (even 2x the past few nights - I think my milk supply is quickly diminishing). Needless to say I'm mentally and physically exhausted - despite no longer being in training for a marathon (which I now only get a good run in once a week. Dang daylight savings time and it being nearly dark by the time I get home.)

Tegan getting his turn at the firehose at the Savage Fire Dept. Open House in Oct.

OK - what to update you all on? EVERYTHING - I know! I think I'll post in small installments so check back for more throughout the weekend. :)

Sitting on the front of a fire truck - SO excited! :)

Tegan is still very much 3 (even though I've tried to teach him to say that he's 3 and a 1/2).

Lifting the heavy Fireman tool

He has decided that he wants to stop growing and getting bigger and be "free" (aka 3) forever. That's a story in itself. We were in the car on the way to or from daycare (can't remember which at this point):
Tegan - Mom, can I tell you someping?
Me - Sure, sweetie.
Tegan - I wanna stay free forever.
Me (thinking "Stay free"? How does he know about the maxipads?!) - Why is that, buddy?
Tegan - because I don't wanna go to pretty school (have I mentioned on here that he calls preschool "pretty school"?)
Me (light bulb goes on above head) - oh sweetie! Don't worry, preschool is so much fun! You'll love it! All of your friends in preschool love it and have so much fun.
Tegan - I don't like it. It isn't fun. I wanna stay free forever. It's scary!
Me - You know what? You don't need to worry about that because you won't be going to preschool for almost a year anyway. So let's just not worry about that.
Tegan - well I just don't wanna grow any more.

Ready for trick-or-treating - arrr, Matey!

Poor guy is scared, scared, scared! He brings up daily how he just doesn't want to go to pretty school and needs to be "free" forever. I try to just change the subject but that tactic is only occasionally successful. When it doesn't work I try to remind Tegan of all the fun things he wouldn't be able to do if he stopped growing and getting older - aside from the fact that we can't stop time. I don't know what brought on this fear - especially since all of his friends that are in preschool LOVE it.

At the pumpkin patch - poor T wasn't feeling well that day, though :(

OK - all for now. I'm cold and tired and want to veg out on the couch (it's going to be along week next week - conferences. Ugh!)

I'll work on getting some pictures posted soon. Love to all!
~j

Halloween 2010

I'm not even going to make excuses for my lack of blogging other than the fact that I'm behind on EVERYTHING in my life right now...

Here's a few pics of my little love-bugs from this evening. T was SO excited to go trick-or-treating and C enjoyed riding along in the wagon and being outside (despite the cold).




OH - and C turned 10 months old today... this is the most decent picture I got of her on the red chair. May have to try these again tomorrow with some help. She kept trying to crawl over the side and at one point crawled off the front. Needless to say she's rarely sitting still. :)

OK - it's late...

Love to all!!!
~j