20 Month Update

Stats:  29 pounds

Clothes:  Still fitting well in 2T and 24-month clothes.  We dug out some of last year's shorts, which were this size, and they still fit!  I love putting him in hooded sweatshirts and cotton shorts with the numbers on them for baby varsity look!  He's wearing size 6.5 shoes.

Favorite Food:  bananas, green beans, spinach, pasta, French toast, Nutri-Grain bars, scrambled eggs, York Peppermint Patties (I love this kid), Donatella flavored gelato, Jamaican fruit cake, papaya, pineapple

Favorite Words:  "uh-neee" - Honey - He hears Steve call me that.  Now Xavier calls me that.  I plan on never correcting him :)

"tay-doo" - thank you

"na-na-na" - banana
"uh-oh", "bye-bye eee-ya", "I do!"

Least Favorite Activities:  diaper changes, going inside the house after playing outside when he's not ready (this is where the tantrums begin), sitting in the high chair for more than 5 minutes.

Favorite Activities:  Dipping his food in ketchup or honey with a corresponding "Dip!", dancing, throwing rocks into the street, pointing to the dog and giving him instructions (the same way I do!), petting the dog, giving Steve and me hugs when we come home, dumping buckets of toys and filling them back up.

Signature Moves:  Having conversations with strangers.  The other day, he ran down the driveway to meet our neighbor who had stopped in her car to talk to him.  With me by his side, he walked into the street and went right up to car, jabbering in response to her questions!

He also likes to wave "bye-bye", sit on his couch and eat snacks, and take all the pots/pans out of the cabinets and organize them neatly on the floor.  Sometimes, he'll even request a spatula and whip us up some dinner.

Mom's Proudest Moment: While changing Xavier's diaper, Xavier was chewing on what looked like raisins.  But, turns out, he somehow managed to get hold of a few pieces of his poop and eat it.  I thought I would throw up.  I brushed his teeth 5 times.

Dad's Proudest Moment:  On the way to the babysitter, the deejay's were talking about a new movie coming out by saying, "MILF's, like, you know, Mom's I'd Like to... dot, dot, dot".  Then Xavier repeated, "dah, dah, dah....dah, dah, dah".  When they brought up the V-word lady part, Steve quickly turned it off! (I'm wondering what in the heck Steve listens to in the mornings, haha!)

Other Milestones:  Grabs his bottom right after he poops and says "boo?".  Then he proceeds to pull his pants down.

Singing and dancing to the songs in Frozen.  He picks up a lot of words from this movie.  He likes to sing, "dee, dee, dee, dee....no" (Deep, deep, deep, deep snow.)

This is by far my most favorite age!  Yep!  He's so sweet and interactive with everyone around him, I love to sit back and watch it.  The favorite part of my day is when we play outside and throw sticks and stones together.  And then, he finds a little stoop to sit on, points to me with that little pointing finger, and asks me to come sit by him :)

Greetings From Jamaica-mon!

It's official, Xavier loved the beach!

He couldn't get enough of the ocean and found the sand to be endless entertainment.  His favorite part was crawling into the water and he loved to pick up handfuls of sand, and throw them as far as he could.  However, it resulted in most of the sand landing back in his face and him crying :)  It was pretty great seeing his eyes light up when he first looked out into the ocean screamed, "Aaaahhhhhhh!"

I can't wait to share more pictures when we get back!

Beachbound Baby

We are heading to the Caribbean very soon for our week long resort vacation!!  It will be Xavier's first time at the beach and on a real vacation!  I'm so excited to see how he reacts!  But, we all know what it will really be like.  Kid eating sand, throwing it everywhere!  Everything dirty, sticky, germy.  People judging me as I try to sip my drink of the day while holding a baby on my hip.  Haha!

Here are some of the goodies that will be coming on our trip with us.

Swim diapers - absolute must for babies who aren't potty trained.

Sunblock stick SPF 55 - we use aerosol sunblock too.  The stick is great/convenient for areas where we want more protection, face, hands, head.

Baby powder - I hear sprinkling babies skin with baby powder is the best way to get the sand off.  We shall see!

Water shoes - best way to protect those precious little feet.

Swim trunks and shirt - the shirt has SPF 50 built right in!

For myself, I picked up these gold sandals from Target.  I'm trying to decide between a couple different cover ups.  I already have a sarong, but am looking for something to wear over my bikini while walking on the resort's grounds.  I like this one and this one.  I'm sure I'll end up just buying both!

I plan to recap our adventure of flying with a toddler (oh, this should be bliss!), beach-bag essentials, and tips for keeping your sanity.

Our Easter

Happy belated Easter!  We were filled to the brim with happiness with another fun holiday weekend!

On Easter Eve, we had family come to town and Xavier got to open his first Easter basket.  It was filled with all sorts of fun things, including Brown Sugar Cinnamon poptarts!  What a treat for him!!

We had a little egg hunt in the backyard, snapped some family photos, and headed to brunch.  Xavier really liked hunting the eggs (after a few attempts of getting him to stop throwing rocks and focus on egg hunting - haha!).

On Easter morning, we were so excited to show Xavier the Easter Bunny came!  It was fun watching him dig into his Easter basket goodies.  Have I mentioned holidays are so much more fun when you have a kid?!  Some of his favorite things this year were the magnetic blocks, bubble bath, and, of course, the very first thing he pulled out, the banana.

On Easter Sunday, we had more family come in to town so there was a third Easter basket for him!
And P.S. If you have a million plastic Easter eggs rolling around the house, they make perfect bath toys!  Many of ours have little holes in the bottom, so we have been making it rain!

First Surgery

Ear tubes.

Xavier had several ear infections starting around 9 months.  Our pediatrician recommended tubes surgery after Xavier's third infection in a three month period.  Unfortunately, every time his scheduled surgery came around, Xavier would get a cold and start wheezing.  The surgeon won't operate on kids who have been wheezing recently, so we had to wait and wait, then he'd get sick right before the next scheduled surgery.  We put off surgery until at his 18 month check-up, the pediatrician noticed some fluid in his ears.  He doesn't get sick much anymore, so we decided now was the time.

The surgery was a breeze!  We were the surgeon's first appointment that morning.  The nurse gave him some benzo-like liquid to drink and he was on the verge of falling asleep!  Steve and I went back to the waiting room, sat down to read a magazine, and before I could finish my article, they called us back.  Xavier was awake.

He was a little groggy/cranky at the office immediately after waking up, which the nurses warned us about.  But, after we put him in the car to take him home, he was back to his old self again.  Lots of smiles and laughs the whole way home.  With the exception of a few (hilarious) falls from the dizziness, you never would guess he just had surgery.  That day, his naps were normal, bedtime was normal, and he ate just fine!

Time will tell it's effectiveness.  He did great!

Winter Recap in Pictures

Spring is right around the corner and we have been in such better moods!  I'm working on my fitness, we are playing outside more, and Steve has gotten back into cooking.  I also have plans for tackling some summer projects, including taking down our Christmas tree (yea, it's still up).

Although we sometimes wondered if winter would ever end, we still had fun making festive drinks and playing in the snow.  Here's a few highlights in pictures.

Xavier read lots of books,

sled down some neighborhood hills,

built (and ate) his very first snowman,

and brushed up on his yoga.  Check out the form on that down dog!

We made snow cream.  I never imagined something made out of freshly fallen snow could taste so good!

And we celebrated Dr. Suess's birthday with homemade party hats.

It was an action packed last couple of months and we are looking forward to making more memories with our guy!

18 Months: Sleep Update

A few things have been happening (and still working on) over the past few weeks, making 18 months a big milestone for our little man!

First, naps.  Xavier transitioned to one nap about 5 months ago and it is working out great!  The daycare he was attending dropped the morning nap around 13 months, much earlier than I would have picked for him.  He had a really hard time adjusting and would literally lose his marbles every time we picked him up at the end of the day because he was so exhausted by not getting his morning nap.  So I would have liked to waited to drop the morning nap sometime around 15-16 months, but we didn't have a choice!  I do hear this a tough transition all-around, but there's no reason for a 13-month-old to only be on one nap!  Now, he goes down for a nap right after lunch, usually around 12:45 - 1:00, and sleeps a solid 2 hours.  He still sleeps great through the night, going down at 7pm and sleeping until 7am.

We packed up all the bottles around his first birthday and he was on tilt-the-head-back sippy cups until about 14 months.  He started not getting the milk to come out fast enough, so we transitioned in some different straw cups, and he's been on those ever since.  He learned very quickly that straw cups don't flip back!  He always drinks some water before bed, so we keep a straw cup on his nightstand for him to drink from while we read or watch him point out his body parts - belly button, nose, eye, ear, etc.  He drinks from regular straws now, which is nice because when we eat out, he can drink right from the restaurant's kids cup (no hauling bulky straw cups!)!

We are working on weaning Xavier from his pacifier.  Our pediatrician said it's good to wean babies off it around now, otherwise, he will want to use pacifiers until he is 3.  When he gets mad about going to bed, he throws them out of his crib, and screams until we come back to put it in his mouth, because he can't sleep without it.  But, I notice when I get him up in the morning, his pacifiers have been thrown out of the crib, and he seems to only want one when he sees one nearby.  They are great for calming him down during his tantrums or in the car, and he is very attached to them before bedtime.  But, once he's asleep, he's usually spit it out.  So we might try this again in a couple months!  Or, since our guy isn't attached to a blankie or stuffed animal, we may continue using them for a while!

A few weeks ago, we added a blanket to his crib for sleeping.  After we rock him and lie him face-down in the crib, he likes to take the blanket and roll it under his belly to put himself to sleep.  All the blankets we use are breathable, muslin material, so we never worry.  Lots of parents wonder when to add a pillow to their child's bed, and we aren't planning on doing it until Xavier moves out of his crib to a toddler bed.  For now, he sleeps just fine without one.