Big Announcement!: Well, let's start with the big announcement! No, I'm not pregnant. But I AM officially a stay at home mommy! For the last few months Brian and I have been talking about this decision (mostly me doing the talking!) and we finally decided to make it happen. It was a really tough decision because my co-workers are like family to me and for a working mom, I think I had it as good as it could have been. But with all that, I still only got to see the kids for an hour and a half to two hours each night and that just wasn't cutting it! And as most working moms can relate, the mommy guilt was just too overwhelming! I think one of the breaking points was when Keaton got sick I still went to work because I had a meeting to attend. I called the doctor once I got to work to see if we could have daycare give him Pedialyte since he hadn't peed all night (or so Brian had thought). They immediately told me I needed to rush him to the ER to get him put on an IV since he was probably dehydrated! Totally not what I expected! Of course I felt like a terrible mom for leaving him and putting work above his health! So I rushed home, all to find out he HAD actually peed during the night after further clarification with Brian and he had since peed while he was at daycare. He was still a little dehydrated since he wasn't peeing much, but there was no need to take him to the ER. So then of course the other side of the guilt starts to set in for leaving work over nothing. It's a lose lose battle I think when you are a working mom! I give props to the working moms because it's a very tough balance, which unfortunately seems to lean more towards the work side since kids tend to be more forgiving than bosses!
Most people that know me wouldn't expect me to be the stay at home type but surprisingly I am! I certainly won't be just sitting around (except to update the blog). I am really looking forward to doing all the stay at home mom things like grocery shopping in the middle of the day, hanging out at the pool on a weekday, watching Lexi in activities like tumbling and dance, going on early morning walks and bike rides, picnics in the park, homemade lunches and dinners...I could go on and on! It's only been a week since I've been a stay at home mom and we've done all of these things and more! I think I'm really settling into this role already :-) We've met a few other stay at home moms in the neighborhood and my next door neighbor coordinates weekly playdates. So far we've been staying really busy and having a lot of fun. I'm sure winter will be a little tougher but hopefully by then I'll know lots of good activities to keep the kids entertained.
So now that I'm home all the time with the kiddos I get to see so much more of them growing up and changing! Keaton has grown so much and made so much progress in the last month!
Keaton Updates
Table Foods: Keaton has always been a great eater and a hungry little guy. On Mother's Day we gave him his first taste of table food, mashed potatoes and bread pieces. Needless to say he loved it! Since then we've been gradually introducing new foods like cheese, Cheerios, ground turkey, mashed bananas, noodles, and even some cake and ice cream :-) He seems to prefer this type of food over his bottles and baby food. I think Alexa was about 11 months when she stopped eating baby food and by 12 months she was done with bottles. Seems like Keaton is on the same path!
More teeth: Keaton has sprouted his 3rd tooth on the bottom. Still none on the top, but I believe Lexi was the same so I'm sure the top ones are coming. Once those come in he'll be able to eat a lot more variety of foods. His teeth seem to bother him more than they did with Lex. I just bought him one of the Sophie giraffe teethers so hopefully that will help him!
Crawling: For the last couple of months Keaton has seemed like he was so close to crawling! He moves backwards and can turn himself around while on all fours. He can even go from his tummy to sitting but he just couldn't figure out how to go forward. Finally last Monday morning he made forward progress! Since then he's been doing much better. But he still only crawls forward if he REALLY wants something like his teddy bear or food!
Standing: He's actually been doing better with standing than with crawling! His legs are much more stable when he stands and he's started to cruise (not very far but it's something!) The other day he pulled himself from sitting to standing by using my leg. Who knows, maybe he'll be walking before he gets down crawling!
9 Month Stats:
Keaton had his 9 month checkup a couple weeks ago and he's still a little guy! People are always saying he's a big boy but he's really not! He just carries all his weight in his cheeks so that makes him look bigger. Here are his stats:
Weight: 18lbs 11oz (20th percentile)
Height: 27.8inches (34th percentile)
Head: 18.5inches (90th percentile)
Favorite Things: Some of Keaton's current favorite things are his Ted Bear (see pics below), food, his activity table, and his sissy. He thinks she's hilarious!
Not so favorite things: Some of Keaton's not so favorite things are getting his clothes changed, when mommy or daddy leaves the room, and being hungry or tired.
Lexi Update
Little miss Lexi bear has been keeping me pretty entertained lately! She is such a sassy stubborn little girl, but man do I love her! I swear I can't get enough of her (even though we butt heads on a daily basis).
Naps: For the past few months Lexi has been really fighting her naps. In fact, she's fighting one as I type this! No naps means I have one grumpy girl on my hands by the end of the day! I've tried just about everything to get her to nap, including emptying her room of all toys, stuffed animals, etc. Seems like she only takes her nap when she's falling over tired! Hopefully we are not approaching the end of the nap era! I still need my 2 hours of mommy time!
Potty regression: A few weeks ago Lexi started pooping her pants again. I thought we were well passed this and fully potty trained so you can imagine my frustration. The only thing I could think was that she was doing it for attention (I was still working at the time). Luckily it only last for a couple of weeks and she is now back to her normal potty trained self! I was really worried that we were starting back at square one!
Dancing queen: After deciding to stay at home I enrolled Lexi in a ballet/tap class. It's once a week for 45 minutes and is 8 weeks long. I thought she would love it since she loves to dance...I was wrong! I don't know what I was thinking putting her in ballet/tap! She'd rather be running around like a maniac than wearing a pretty leotard and dancing like a ballerina! The first class was, um, how shall I put it, not great! She didn't listen to the teacher at all and I was utterly embarrassed. The second class was a little better, but still not great. For the third class, as soon as we walked in the door she said "I don't want to go to her class. I don't want to dance!" I seriously didn't think I was even going to get her to go into the classroom. But luckily when her teacher showed up she was able to coax her in. Once she was in the class she seemed to do a lot better. This past Monday was slightly better, but she still has her moments. I guess I can't expect an almost 3 year old to have the structure and attention span for a full 45 minute class. I think we'll try tumbling in the fall. At least then she'll have a little more freedom to run!
Third person: For the last couple of weeks Lexi has been referring to herself in third person. She'll say "Lexi's not tired" (which by the way, means she really is tired!). Or "Lexi likes that. She needs a drink." and so on. Occasionally she'll refer to herself as Rapunzel too. Silly girl!
Lexi-isms: Lexi says so many funny things these days I can't even keep track anymore. Half the stuff she get's from TV/movies and the rest I don't know where she gets it from. Well, except the bad stuff...unfortunately that comes from my potty mouth :-) Here are some of the latest phrases:
"Damn it!" - I have to admit this came from me. Surprisingly she used this in the correct context too. I had to hide my face in a pillow to cover the laughter!
"I don't care about that"
"No little guy!"
"I shake my booty"
"I'll handle this"
"I'm the dragon warrior" (from Kung Fu Panda)
Favorite things: Kung Fu Panda, Tangled/Rapunzel, Toy Story (Buzz & Woody), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, swimming, fruit snacks ("Scooby Doo's), Ted Bear and Syd (stuffed teddy bear and monkey), icing, ice cream, popsicles, candy
Pics from the last few weeks:
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| His thinking face |
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| Father's Day |
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| Off to dance class! |
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| First dance class |
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| Loves Ted Bear! |
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| Being a silly girl! |
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| Shopping trip to Sam's Club |
Lexi's getting so big! She looks like a little lady in her ballet outfit. :) I love her Lexi-isms! She and Carson have an awful lot in common. Enjoyed the update! :)
ReplyDelete- Erica