Happy Birthday Keaton!

I'm so behind on updates!  I started this post the week of 9/10.  So much has changed in the last month, so a lot of the stuff in this post is old news now :-)

Keaton is a year old!  Where did the time go?  I definitely think the time goes faster when you have two.  It doesn't seem that long ago that we were rushing to the hospital, and then holding him in our arms a couple hours later!  I've said before that with Alexa, I knew from the moment she was born that she was going to be our little troublemaker!  Well, I knew with Keaton too that he was going to be my little sweetheart!  He was perfect in the hospital right after I had him, sleeping most of the time but content the rest of the time.  He's starting to become a little more vocal now and I can see a little bit of mommy's attitude shining through :-), but for the most part, he's still such a sweet little guy.  He smiles all the time and is pretty friendly to everyone too (unlike sissy!).

We had a birthday party for him with family and friends over Labor Day weekend.  We had a great turnout and luckily the weather held off.  The theme was a tailgate and everyone dressed in their favorite sports team attire.  Of course the house was decorated in orange and blue, even though he doesn't know yet that he's an Illini/Bears fan :-)  He got so many great gifts!  I think Alexa liked them just as much as Keaton did!  Although it's hard finding a place for all the new toys, I love getting them because the kids get bored with the same old toys!

Here's some pics from his birthday party:

One of their favorite toys!

On Keaton's actual birthday (9/6) we started the day with a birthday doughnut.  Then he got one his favorite lunch foods, mac n cheese.  For dinner, we made one his other favorite foods, hamburgers.  Then for the cake, I made angel food cake with strawberries, another favorite of his.  It was delish!  Here's some pics from his birthday day:

Birthday doughnut!

Lexi helping to blow out the candle

Birthday mac n cheese!

 
Here are some of the other things he's been up to the past month:

Sippy Cups:  We started using sippy cups instead of bottles around the time he was 10 months old.  He did fairly well with the transition but he would never hold the cups on his own.  We'd always have to hold them for him (he never held his bottle either).  About a month ago I decided he should be holding the cup on his own by now so I tried to train him.  It didn't go so well the first couple of times and he just got frustrated because he wanted some milk!  Then all of the sudden one day I set the cup in front of him and he picked it up all on his own.  Now that's the only way he wants it.  If we try to hold it for him he snatches it out of our hands (that's the mommy attitude I was referring to earlier).  Unfortunately one of his favorite games is to launch the sippy cup after he's finished taking a drink.  And when I say launch, I literally mean launch.  He doesn't just drop it...he chucks it so it goes flying across the room, milk splattering everywhere.  I've been trying to teach him not to do this but that's not going so well.  So in the meantime, Brian and I take turns playing catcher at every meal.  At least he has a good arm ;-)

Teeth:  Last update Keaton had 3 bottom teeth, and 2 popping through on the top.  He now has 4 bottom teeth and 2 that are completely through on the top with 2 more poking through.  As I expected, those two top teeth are huge!  I think Lexi's might have been the same way and they look pretty normal now, so I guess his face just has to grow into them :-)

Mama:  I hate to admit it, but Keaton's first word was "Dada", same as Lexi.  He didn't repeat it over and over though like Lexi did when she was his age.  I kept trying to get him to say "mama" but he never would.  Then, just like Lexi, he started saying it when he was cranky, hurt, or tired.  It's like a really long drawn out "mmmmmaaama."  Oh well, I'll take it :-)

Walking Progress:  About 11 months is when Keaton took his first steps.  I looked back at the blog for Lex and it took her about 5 weeks after her first steps to start walking well.  Keaton's a little more laid back though, so I expected it would take him longer and I was right.  He's doing much better and makes more progress everyday but he's still hesitant to walk without being prompted.  He can walk farther distances between Brian and I or between me and the couch/chair/etc. and seems to be getting steadier.  But I'm thinking we still have a few more weeks before he's walking full-time.  He's such a fast crawler that I think he prefers this method of getting around.  Once he realizes he can go faster walking I think he'll just take off. 

Lexi's 3 Year Stats

Alexa had her 3 year check-up on August 23rd.  It was a little past her birthday but I don't think it matters as much now as it did when she was a year and younger.  She's barely gained 3 lbs in the last year but grown almost 3 inches!  She's the height of a 3 year old but the weight of a 2 year old, which makes it very difficult to buy clothes!  Luckily she can still wear a lot of her 2T shirts from last year but all of her pants are about an inch too short.  The 3T pants are usually made for a weight of 33lbs so while the length is good, they are falling off her waist!  Ugh!  Oh well, I guess it will be a good problem to have when she gets older :-)

Weight: 29.5lbs
Height: 37 inches

Stroller Fun!

First video is Lexi pushing Keaton.  Check out his chubby little legs swinging!

Next video is Keaton pushing Lexi.  Too funny!

First Steps Video

Dinner with Great Gpa and Great Gma

The week before my birthday we went to one of my favorite restaurants, The Grand Cafe, in Bloomington with my grandma and grandpa.  We were finally able to get some pictures of them with the kids.  The food was great and we had so much fun.  We even got to see a double rainbow...but I didn't get any pics of that :-)

Trip to the Ozarks

One of my favorite things about staying home with the kids is that I get to visit my cousins Kristin and Dillon more often!  They live in the Ozarks and we have such a great time when we go visit.  Me, the kids, and my mom took our first trip there this summer in July.  Kristin has two kids around Alexa and Keaton's age and Dillon has a little girl a year older than Lex, and a little boy that's 8 (maybe 9).  The older kids (minus the two little baby boys) love playing together!  They jumped on the trampoline, played in the wagon, ate popsicles, swam, and had a great time!  My Aunt Martha lives there too and my mom and her were nice enough to watch all 6 of our kids so the adults could have a night out while we were there!  Surprisingly everything went well and all the kids slept!  Here's some pics from the trip:

Nana pulling Keaton in the wagon

Jumping on the trampoline

All the big kids!  Funny, I never would have thought my daughter would be the one with the lightest hair!

Lexi using her muscles

Dillon pulling the girls and Maddie

Nana and Lexi

The fireworks show put on by Dillon and Shane

Aunt Martha's awesome pool with a view!

He loved the water splashing in his face!

Swimming with Nana

Addie!

Lexi and AV

Finally an update!

Yikes!  It's been a really long time since I've done an update.  You would think that since I'm staying at home now that I'd have all this time to blog but I swear I'm busier now than I was when I was working.  Funny how that happens!  I'm lucky enough to have been selected for jury duty this week though so I'll have plenty of time to get caught up!  Where to begin?!  I'll start with Keaton.

Keaton 10/11 Month Update
I can't believe it's been almost a year since Keaton came into our lives!  He is growing up so fast into such a little man.

Food, food, food!
Keaton is seriously crazy when it comes to food.  He is officially off baby food, probably for about the last month or so.  Anytime he sees food he immediately starts lunging for it.  He always wants whatever other people are eating too, even if it's the same as what he already has on his tray!  I guess he thinks it's something better.  I have to hide the yogurt and applesauce until he eats his other food otherwise he'll start screaming because he wants it!  He's not really picky about what he eats though and will pretty much eat anything.  His favorites are probably strawberries, mashed potatoes, grilled cheese, and hamburgers.  He doesn't seem to care too much for watermelon.  Unfortunately he doesn't get too many vegetables either since they are kind of hard to chew!  I might start giving him pureed vegetables again until he gets some more teeth.

Bye bye bottles!
About a month ago we switched Keaton to drinking his formula out of sippy cups.  He didn't take to it at first but after a few tries he got it.  I also started only giving him formula with his meals, 3 times a day and no nighttime bottle.  Just like Lexi, he did great!  He didn't miss a beat with going to bed or sleeping through the night.  Last week I used up the last of the formula and decided to transition him to whole milk (organic).  Again, he did great!  He spit up a little more than usual the first couple of days but he seems to be adjusted to it now.  It will definitely be a lot cheaper than buying all that formula!

On the move
In the last update Keaton had just started crawling.  Now that 2 months have gone by he's a proficient crawler!  He is so fast, especially when he wants something.  And he is into everything!  Some of his favorite things to mess with are opening the cabinets in the kitchen and Oscar’s water/food bowls.  A few weeks ago he started climbing stairs so we have to constantly watch him.  He goes up the stairs pretty fast but he hasn’t figured out how to go down them yet.  Instead, if he wants to go down the stairs he goes head first!  

Climbing the stairs

 
First Steps!
A couple of weeks ago we tried having him walk with this push car, the same one Lexi learned to walk with.  He did great!  He walked around the whole house, with us only helping to turn the car at the corners.  I knew it would only be a matter of time before he was taking steps on his own!  I worked with him to stand without holding onto anything and he was able to do it for just a few seconds.  Then I tried to see if he could take a few steps on his own.  He would sort of just fall into my arms though, but I thought it was progress.  Then on Friday night I thought we’d try again with him walking over to Brian and to our surprise he took a few steps!  Of course I didn’t have the video camera on so once I got it we had to try it again and he did it!  This time, while the video was running, he took about 4 steps on his own.  Both Brian and I were so excited!  I don’t think either one of us thought he’d be walking by his first birthday since he seems to be a bit behind Lexi in both motor and language skills.  But I’ve seen so much progress in him the last couple of months and I can’t help but think me staying home with him has something to do with it :-)  I think seeing sissy walk has also given him a little motivation :-)

He’s been able to take a few steps again since Friday but he’s still a little ways from walking on his own.  I’m not sure if he’ll be walking by the time he’s one (3 ½ weeks) but he’ll sure be close!  Here's a pic of him walking with his car.  I'll try to upload the video of his first steps in another post.

Taking a morning stroll

 
More Teeth!
Last update Keaton was up to 3 teeth on the bottom.  Since then, his two top teeth have come in.  They haven’t completely dropped all the way but from the looks of it they are going to be huge!  LOL!  He’s going to look so funny with those 2 front teeth.  I can see a 4^th tooth coming in on the bottom and by the way he acts he might be getting another one.  So by the end of this month, he’ll have 6 teeth for sure and maybe more!

Bubbles, bubbles!
There is a book he got for Christmas and it’s called “Bubbles, bubbles.”  Every time he sees this book he goes crazy trying to get me to read it.  He will pick it up, whine, and then throw it down to let me know he wants me to read it.  He giggles when I read it and then when I get to the end, he starts bouncing up and down to tell me to read it again.  It’s so cute!  But after the fourth of fifth time of reading it I have to hide it :-)

Bath Time!
Once Keaton was able to fully sit up by himself in the tub we decided to start giving him and Lexi baths together.  This way Brian and I were able to alternate bath time and give each other a break!  The first bath they both loved!  They were both giggling and playing.  Since then, things have gone a little downhill!  Lexi no longer wants to share her toys and doesn’t want to play with him, but of course he wants everything she has, so that makes it interesting!  Keaton is also obsessed with standing in the tub, which is not a very good idea with slippery floors.  He’s fallen multiple times and gotten dunked a few too!  I think we are switching back to separate bath times :-)

Momma’s Boy
Keaton is definitely a momma’s boy.  Of course I love that he loves me, but it also makes it difficult to get anything done.  Some days are worse than others where even if he’s playing I have to be right by his side or he freaks out.  If I walk out of the room he starts crawling after me crying.  I thought that me staying at home he’d get enough of me and be less attached but so far that doesn’t seem to be panning out.  I’m hoping that as he’s able to walk and play more with Lexi he’ll become a little more independent.  Lexi was super independent when she was little, but Keaton is the exact opposite.  He wants us to do everything for him!  Prior to this week he wouldn’t even hold his sippy cup and would just throw it on the floor if we put it next to him for him to do on his own.  Over the weekend though he’s started to show an interest in holding his sippy cup, so we’re making progress!

Sibling Fun!
Lexi and Keaton have such a love/hate relationship…mostly on the part of Lexi :-)  Sometimes she is so mean to him and wants nothing to do with him.  Then other times she is so protective of him and wants to play with him.  One example of their fighting is when I was at the grocery store with them.  I made the mistake of putting them in a side-by-side cart.  Keaton was pulling Lexi’s hair and Lexi was pushing him.  Seriously!?  I never thought a 10 month old and 3 year old could fight like that!  Lesson learned!  To counter though, the other day we were driving to Barnes and Noble and I heard Keaton giggling in the backseat.  I turned around (we were stopped) and I see Lexi holding his hand.  Luckily I had my phone handy so I was able to catch this priceless moment!  15 minutes later inside the bookstore Lexi was telling me she didn’t want to play with Keaton though :-)

 

Priceless!

Sometimes Lexi gets these crazy ideas for playing with Keaton.  We were up in the playroom one day and she decided to put this wedding veil on him!  LOL!  Then this past weekend she thought it would be a great idea to put him in her baby doll stroller.  It was too cute and was probably one of the funniest things I've seen.  He was giggling the whole time and swinging his legs back and forth.  Then Lexi wanted Keaton to push her.  This was even funnier than him pushing her!  I'll try to post the video of that one.  Love these moments!

Lexi's idea to dress him up

 

Pushing Keaton in the baby doll stroller

Lexi 3 Year Update 
My little girl is 3!  Where has the time gone?  For anyone that knows her though, she's 3 going on 16!  When I think back and look at the videos of when she was Keaton's age, you could just tell she was going to be a little pistol!  Honestly, I wouldn't change it though.  She has such a strong personality and I love every bit of it.  She makes me laugh everyday!  Of course she can be difficult but then an hour later she says something so off the wall that I forget about all that!  

If I had to describe Alexa in a few words, here's what comes to mind:

Independent
Stubborn
Sensitive
Motherly/protective
Smart/thinker 
Unique
Funny
Beautiful (even though she doesn't want to be!)

Happy Birthday!
Lexi's birthday is on July 9th but for the last two years we've celebrated it on the 3rd since that's when Morton has their fireworks show.  Our immediate family members were there to celebrate with us and it was a great time, despite the 100 degree weather!  Lexi got so many great gifts and loved each and every one of them!  We splurged on her gift and got her her first car...a Cadillac Escalade!  She's still learning how to steer but she's getting better driving it each day.  Keaton is even able to ride with her and he loves it!  

On her actual birthday we went to Chuck E Cheese with my mom for lunch.  This was Lexi's first time and she was so ADD in there!  She would go from one ride/game to the next, not even staying long enough for it to finish.  We didn't even need to pay for tokens because she just wanted to move the knobs and didn't care if it actually worked!  Her birthday is also our wedding anniversary so at night we ordered in Biaggi's then had some birthday cake!  Lexi loved blowing out her birthday candles and digging in headfirst into her cake!  All in all I think she had a pretty great birthday week!

The birthday girl!

Cousin Taylor helping open gifts!

First ride with Keaton!

Fighting over something!

Her new doll house

Reading the card Daddy picked out

Blowing out the candles

Digging in!

Cheese!

"I talked Mommy!"
 Anyone that knows Lexi, knows that she is not a social butterfly and tends to be more of a loner.  She doesn't warm up to people very quickly either.  Whenever we would go to the store, the cashiers would try to say hi to her and she'd just stare at them.  In the last couple of months I've seen her start to be a bit friendlier.  One day she said "hi" back to the cashier and was so proud of herself saying "I talked Mommy! I talked!"  LOL!  A week or so later though a little girl said hi to her at the grocery store and Alexa ignored her then told me "I don't like to talk to people." 

"Cool"
I think this might be common with kids, but Lexi has trouble saying her "ps" for certain words.  The two I've noticed are pool = cool and Pluto = Cluto.  No matter how many times I try to get her to say the words with a "P" she always says them with a "C".  It's so weird because she can say other "P" words just fine, like puppy, popsicle, etc.

Excuses, excuses!
Recently Lexi has started coming up with excuses for why she can't do things like walk on her own, put on shoes, or put on clothes.  Here are some of her favorite excuses: 
"I can't walk.  My legs are broken"
"I'm too tired"
"I'm too tough" - This one makes no sense to me!
 
Lexi-isms
I really can't even keep track of all the funny stuff she says now because almost every word out of her mouth is hilarious!  Here are a few of the ones that stand out though: 

"Stinky little butt" - She picked this up from me.  I'll say this if she's being particularly ornery.  Now she just goes around saying this to us or Keaton. 
"Actually" - You really have to hear her say this to find the humor in it.  For example, I might ask her if she wants to have milk.  She'll say yes, pause, then say, actually, I'll have lemonade.
"My birthday's coming up" - In the weeks leading up to her birthday my mom and others would tell her that her birthday was coming up.  So then she started walking around the house saying "my birthday's coming up."  She still says it even though her birthday's passed!
"Toeny tails" - This is what she refers to her toenails as.  I think it's a combination of toenails and pony tail!  She'll ask me if I can paint her "toeny tails".  Too cute!
"She's my best friend!" - I think she got the concept of best friend from a TV show.  So for the last couple of months she's being saying "Mommy's my best friend ever."  Occasionally Daddy will be her best friend, but it's usually Mommy :-)