It's been awhile since I've posted the "what's what" with Carley and Graham. How they're doing, what they're doing, etc. And for all of you who already know all of the following, you'll have to forgive me- I'm also using this blog as sort of a "journal". A nice way to document tidbits of our lives and look back at it later!
Let's start with Graham. :) Today is his 11 month birthday! I always heard this was true...but time REALLY has flown this past year. He's no longer a baby-baby, now almost a toddler-baby. Where has the time gone?
As far as developmental "stuff", he's recently (this week) started just standing up on his own. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff. He cruises along holding on to furniture, but still uses crawling as his major mode of motoring. If we try to hold his hands and walk, he usually just sits down, but he thinks this standing up thing is pretty neat. He has great balance!
He likes to feed himself- finger foods, not much with spoon or fork yet. Mom's too much of a chicken to start that mess yet. He loves food and eating in general. He still just says "da da", "ba ba", and sometimes "ma ma", but loves making lots of silly noises that aren't really words. He flexes his hands open and closed to wave "bye bye" and NOW will open his mouth WIDE and pat his hand on his mouth- blowing kisses! He's been clapping for awhile now too. It's hilarious because all of these "things" that he learns that we cheer for and encourage, he is very obviously proud of himself and very aware that he's doing these things!
He loves his mommy and being held, but during the day has lots of play time by himself. He'll crawl around the house and I'll find him in the playroom or in the living room or kitchen, sitting there chattering to himself and clapping toys together. He LOVES playing with Carley. She makes him so happy. They are complete goofballs together!
He loves exploring and has already figured out how to get around the gate at the bottom of the steps- and he's already fallen down the steps too. :( If the stairs are accessible, he's on them! He is also a magnet to open toilets and I find myself pulling his hands out of toilets daily. YUCK!!!! He's a quick little booger. Into EVERYTHING!
We have just gone through (are still going through) the transition of all transitions that I thought would NEVER happen- SLEEPING IN HIS OWN CRIB AT NIGHT! Up until a few weeks ago, he was still (as in...since he was born) waking 2-3 times a night to nurse. Up until a few weeks ago, the longest he'd ever slept was maybe 5 hours. Once. While the sentimental, glad I have a snuggly baby, last time I will do this, side of me didn't completely mind him sleeping next to me all night- my body (that hadn't rested well for 10 months) was telling me otherwise, and we knew it was time for him to learn to sleep on his own in his room. Syd and I developed our plan and off we went! It's been two weeks now and we are THRILLED with his progress. We haven't ever had to "officially" cry it out (until he falls asleep)- but there has been lots of crying! We've used a mixture of bedtime routine, letting him cry awhile, feeding him right before bed, and rocking to get to where we are now. He now goes to bed at a decent time and wakes 1-2 times at night. He goes to sleep with minimal soothing from us- so we're on the right track! WHAT A RELIEF! It's not perfect, but it's certainly headed in the right direction! WOOHOO!
His temperament is fantastic. He is curious, chatty, snuggly and playful. He is not easily distracted when he wants something. He has a little fit if he's not getting his way (clothes being changed, being left alone in his crib, taken away from the toilet). I absolutely love the discovery of this age and the pure FUN! I think my favorite part of his personality is his humor. He doesn't belly laugh a lot- Graham's laugh is like a mischievous little grunty laugh. (with the crinkled nose, toothless beaming grin and twinkle in the eye to go with it)
Ah......time flies when we're having fun!
Now- for CARLEY!
I haven't really blogged in detail about Carley lately. It's been more so about how Graham's developing, his "stats" and whatnot. Here's a little bit about my little girl...
We've been on summer break for the last couple of months. She will return to school in a few weeks. Pre-Kindergarten! She will be a young one in the class, but I think she will do well. If she needs to wait for Kindergarten, we are certainly open to that. I just want what's best for her! Anyway, her Pre-K is a small class in a church setting. Four mornings a week. She absolutely loves learning and thrives on new information. She will also start dance again in a few weeks and FINALLY gets to be in TAP class! She's been wanting "cloggy" shoes for at least a year now. This summer she has taken a few gymnastics classes. She loves so many activities- we need to be making some choices about what to explore, really pursue, and what to quit. I love seeing her explore so many things but being too busy doesn't help anyone! She's only three. :)
Our days at home generally involve her wearing a costume of some sort all day long around the house. Leotards, princess dresses, you name it! She loves dressing up and she LOVES fun shoes. She prances around all day long. She is a fabulous big sister to Graham, though she's starting to develop a bit of an annoyance with him and his increased mobility and curiosity for her things. :) Most of the time though, she's down on the floor with him, doing whatever it takes to make him laugh. I love seeing their relationship develop. It's so sweet!
Like any 3-4 year old girl, she's testing her attitude limits. Every now and then she will throw some extra sass into her tone or huff and sigh like a teenager, but that doesn't get her far. When she's with her friends, she generally likes to be a leader. Sometimes, just plain bossy. Three year olds have a lot of exploring to do with their personality before they find their place. :)
Carley is a great listener- to teachers, to adults, to those "in charge". She responds really well to a little attention and praise here and there. She has a sweet heart and is concerned when her friends are upset. She is sensitive, compassionate, curious, thoughtful, dramatic, joyful and energetic. She picks up adult mannerisms in her communication that are hilarious. She will give us reassuring nods or winks here and there. She likes to test out her new conversational phrases like, "Well, if you say so!" or "No WAY!" and they just about floor us. We've always been really impressed with her communication skills.
One of my very favorite things about Carley is how much she loves to snuggle. She sleeps with me when Syd is gone and she will get in bed and say, "C'mon. Let's snuggle." And she does. We snuggle close and lay there and talk and fall asleep. Or sometimes when she wakes up in the morning she'll say to one of us, "I wanna snuggle you." She's done this forever. She loves being close, and she and her dad especially love to snuggle together and be lazy on Saturday mornings. How lucky are we?!
I'm sure I forgot something, but I think I accomplished most of my goal. Documenting what's going on with the kiddos. Parenting is a new adventure- every day! You have to be on top of your game, that's for sure. :) It's completely exhausting at times, but I remind myself (all the time!) what a blessing it is to be at home with them to experience their childhood full on with them! What a blessing they are ~ sometimes I wish they could stay this little forever.
Let's start with Graham. :) Today is his 11 month birthday! I always heard this was true...but time REALLY has flown this past year. He's no longer a baby-baby, now almost a toddler-baby. Where has the time gone?
As far as developmental "stuff", he's recently (this week) started just standing up on his own. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff. He cruises along holding on to furniture, but still uses crawling as his major mode of motoring. If we try to hold his hands and walk, he usually just sits down, but he thinks this standing up thing is pretty neat. He has great balance!
He likes to feed himself- finger foods, not much with spoon or fork yet. Mom's too much of a chicken to start that mess yet. He loves food and eating in general. He still just says "da da", "ba ba", and sometimes "ma ma", but loves making lots of silly noises that aren't really words. He flexes his hands open and closed to wave "bye bye" and NOW will open his mouth WIDE and pat his hand on his mouth- blowing kisses! He's been clapping for awhile now too. It's hilarious because all of these "things" that he learns that we cheer for and encourage, he is very obviously proud of himself and very aware that he's doing these things!
He loves his mommy and being held, but during the day has lots of play time by himself. He'll crawl around the house and I'll find him in the playroom or in the living room or kitchen, sitting there chattering to himself and clapping toys together. He LOVES playing with Carley. She makes him so happy. They are complete goofballs together!
He loves exploring and has already figured out how to get around the gate at the bottom of the steps- and he's already fallen down the steps too. :( If the stairs are accessible, he's on them! He is also a magnet to open toilets and I find myself pulling his hands out of toilets daily. YUCK!!!! He's a quick little booger. Into EVERYTHING!
We have just gone through (are still going through) the transition of all transitions that I thought would NEVER happen- SLEEPING IN HIS OWN CRIB AT NIGHT! Up until a few weeks ago, he was still (as in...since he was born) waking 2-3 times a night to nurse. Up until a few weeks ago, the longest he'd ever slept was maybe 5 hours. Once. While the sentimental, glad I have a snuggly baby, last time I will do this, side of me didn't completely mind him sleeping next to me all night- my body (that hadn't rested well for 10 months) was telling me otherwise, and we knew it was time for him to learn to sleep on his own in his room. Syd and I developed our plan and off we went! It's been two weeks now and we are THRILLED with his progress. We haven't ever had to "officially" cry it out (until he falls asleep)- but there has been lots of crying! We've used a mixture of bedtime routine, letting him cry awhile, feeding him right before bed, and rocking to get to where we are now. He now goes to bed at a decent time and wakes 1-2 times at night. He goes to sleep with minimal soothing from us- so we're on the right track! WHAT A RELIEF! It's not perfect, but it's certainly headed in the right direction! WOOHOO!
His temperament is fantastic. He is curious, chatty, snuggly and playful. He is not easily distracted when he wants something. He has a little fit if he's not getting his way (clothes being changed, being left alone in his crib, taken away from the toilet). I absolutely love the discovery of this age and the pure FUN! I think my favorite part of his personality is his humor. He doesn't belly laugh a lot- Graham's laugh is like a mischievous little grunty laugh. (with the crinkled nose, toothless beaming grin and twinkle in the eye to go with it)
Ah......time flies when we're having fun!
Now- for CARLEY!
I haven't really blogged in detail about Carley lately. It's been more so about how Graham's developing, his "stats" and whatnot. Here's a little bit about my little girl...
We've been on summer break for the last couple of months. She will return to school in a few weeks. Pre-Kindergarten! She will be a young one in the class, but I think she will do well. If she needs to wait for Kindergarten, we are certainly open to that. I just want what's best for her! Anyway, her Pre-K is a small class in a church setting. Four mornings a week. She absolutely loves learning and thrives on new information. She will also start dance again in a few weeks and FINALLY gets to be in TAP class! She's been wanting "cloggy" shoes for at least a year now. This summer she has taken a few gymnastics classes. She loves so many activities- we need to be making some choices about what to explore, really pursue, and what to quit. I love seeing her explore so many things but being too busy doesn't help anyone! She's only three. :)
Our days at home generally involve her wearing a costume of some sort all day long around the house. Leotards, princess dresses, you name it! She loves dressing up and she LOVES fun shoes. She prances around all day long. She is a fabulous big sister to Graham, though she's starting to develop a bit of an annoyance with him and his increased mobility and curiosity for her things. :) Most of the time though, she's down on the floor with him, doing whatever it takes to make him laugh. I love seeing their relationship develop. It's so sweet!
Like any 3-4 year old girl, she's testing her attitude limits. Every now and then she will throw some extra sass into her tone or huff and sigh like a teenager, but that doesn't get her far. When she's with her friends, she generally likes to be a leader. Sometimes, just plain bossy. Three year olds have a lot of exploring to do with their personality before they find their place. :)
Carley is a great listener- to teachers, to adults, to those "in charge". She responds really well to a little attention and praise here and there. She has a sweet heart and is concerned when her friends are upset. She is sensitive, compassionate, curious, thoughtful, dramatic, joyful and energetic. She picks up adult mannerisms in her communication that are hilarious. She will give us reassuring nods or winks here and there. She likes to test out her new conversational phrases like, "Well, if you say so!" or "No WAY!" and they just about floor us. We've always been really impressed with her communication skills.
One of my very favorite things about Carley is how much she loves to snuggle. She sleeps with me when Syd is gone and she will get in bed and say, "C'mon. Let's snuggle." And she does. We snuggle close and lay there and talk and fall asleep. Or sometimes when she wakes up in the morning she'll say to one of us, "I wanna snuggle you." She's done this forever. She loves being close, and she and her dad especially love to snuggle together and be lazy on Saturday mornings. How lucky are we?!
I'm sure I forgot something, but I think I accomplished most of my goal. Documenting what's going on with the kiddos. Parenting is a new adventure- every day! You have to be on top of your game, that's for sure. :) It's completely exhausting at times, but I remind myself (all the time!) what a blessing it is to be at home with them to experience their childhood full on with them! What a blessing they are ~ sometimes I wish they could stay this little forever.
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1 comments:
i devour these updates on the kids even though it makes me miss them all the more.
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