20 Months

Woah... typing the title for this post seriously caught me off guard for a minute. In 4 short months and 7 days my little boy will be 2! How did this happen?! Just last week he was wiggling in my tummy.... and just yesterday I was planning his first birthday!  And now it's already time to plan his second birthday?  Yikes.
The past couple weeks have really hit me that he's getting big. He's now more a "little boy" than a baby for sure. But I'm not sure how I feel about that...

Only a few hours old...

Almost 20 months old...

 The conversations I can have with Dax now are what I feel blows me away the most. We have amazing back and forth conversations where we both understand completely what one another is saying. He's putting together great sentences, words are really clear, and he knows how to work the tonation of his voice to show a question and emotion. If he doesn't know the name of something he'll pick it up and say, "this?" until he gets an answer from one of us. Most of the time when we're in the car I'll jsut turn the radio off and talk with him. There is nothing more amazing to me than listening to his thoughts.

Daxton has such a loving heart. I know a big thing for Daniel and I both is to raise kids that are compassionate and empathetic towards others... and so far, Dax seems to get it. He has such a tender heart. He doesn't like to see others sad or hurting whatsoever. He worries about others. Daniel and I can't play fight because Dax gets really concerned. The other day at Smashburger Dax was watching a baby at the table next to us when it started crying. He started looking very concerned and saying, "baby" over and over. I eventually had to hold him and calm him down until the baby stopped. Precious. 

"Discipline" is so far so good for us. It's a word I hate to use but can't think of one to use in it's place. I don't think of it as disciplining him.... it's more us redirecting him, understanding where he's coming from, and helping him learn the appropriate ways to act. This is a big, new, scary world for him so we have to teach him the right ways to handle situations, not just "discipline" him for responding in a way that makes sense for him.   His two big problems right now are hitting and fits.  His hitting is usually a way of trying to play more so than hitting to be mean, so we just change our facial expressions and let him know "that hurts" and he is super, super quick to try a different way of playing. You can see in his face that he gets it. The fits I know are completely age appropriate. I usually just try to give him words to describe his emotions, take him to a quiet place (if we're at home) where it's less stimulating, redirect him, or just verify his emotions and then walk away and go about my business (once he sees he's not getting a big dramatic reaction from me he stops) .

My little boy has become quite the daredevil! Anything fast or high, or dangerous is something right up his alley... yikes. Him and daddy laugh... but I get knots in my tummy!  It must be a boy thing!

He's really into writing and painting right now. He also loves cars, books (this has never changed), baby dolls, his broom, phones, and balls. His love for music and nature continue to blow me away. He's fascinated with trees and birds. Music in any form, whether it's songs on the radio, a toy, singing songs, or playing instruments, is his passion.

He's a great helper!! If he finds trash on the ground he picks it up and throws it away, he has started putting his own dishes away (in the sink) after eating, and LOVES helping with laundry. He gets so excited when he sees me gathering clothes and says "laundry" super loud and will either 1) Pick clothes up and put them in the basket, or 2) take clothes out of the basket and start dragging them to the door of our garage (where the washer and dryer are).  He helps put the clothes in the washer, move them to the dryer, and then take clothes out of the drying and put in the basket. Adorable.

Super excited teacher mommy here!  This little boy can identify a circle and square! I was just drawing with chalk outside one day (and working with two and three year olds my "doodles" just happen to be shapes) and he asked "this?"  I told him once and he has them down ever since! Me and Daniel still get a little amazed each time he tell us.

Sleep is great for the most part. He's going to bed at about 7is, sleeps until 6 or 6:30, and is taking one 2-3 hour nap during the day. He's still putting himself to sleep great in his big boy bed! He has also quit taking his binky during naps at daycare (YESSSSS!) Next step will be at night.... yikes! He's in the middle of getting teeth so I'm not sure when that will happen. He just got his bottom molars (he's finally up to 9 teeth) and one other is right on the brink of coming in. Because of this we've had some restlessness at night... I'll be glad when teething is completely done that's for sure.


Well that's where our little man is now! He's getting way too big, way too fast.... but the process is so much fun! Tods and twos are my favorite ages so I'm loving every minute of it!

Godspeed Little Man

Today our little boy is 17 months old! I just realized that I haven't done an update on him for a month and a half and so much has happened since then!
This little boy makes me so, so, so incredibly happy. There are really no words to describe the feelings he gives me... all I know is I love them. No matter how busy or stressful my day has been, he can instantly make it better. It's incredible. He's incredible.
And he amazes me each day with all he's doing and how smart and loving and just plain wonderful he is (not that I'm partial or anything).  I know I sound like a ranting momma when I write these things but I just want to remember (in writing) all of the amazing things he's doing each month... because, boy, does it go fast.

* Dax is completely task oriented. It's actually pretty ridiculous. I often catch myself just shaking my head and laughing at the things he does. Things have a certain spot and way that they should go (this includes the food on his plate.... which should not mix).  And if you mess with it... he'll fix it. He likes toys and experiences that have a direct result and that allow him to really see cause and effect. He's fascinating to watch.
* He ways almost 27 lbs and is 31 inches long! Such a chunker!
* He's great at scribbling. And he doesn't like to use crayons or markers... he much rather work with pens or pencils (which I LOVE by the way!) I think he'll fit right in at his new school in the fall :)
* Talking is insane. Like literally out of control. He repeats anything and everything you say.  He has a huge vocabulary of words now that he uses regularly (like 20+) and combines 2 words often (occasionally 3). Even his teachers at school comment on how vocal he is. I guess his screaming fits at 6 months old should have been an indication that he was going to speak his mind as soon as he could! Some of my favorite things he says are please, thank you, nah nah, strawbees, puppy, and chey chey.
* He absolutely adores his dogs! He officially calls our big dog by name (Sadie) and our little dog "Puppy". He never refers to her by name.... just puppy. It's precious. He will also let me know when their dog dishes are empty... he's a good brother :)

* My parents came in town last weekend and we made our first trip to the aquarium. We loved it! Especially the parts where we got to touch things in the water!
* He loves school. Just loves it. When we pull in the parking lot in the morning he starts saying "school school" and tells everyone hi on the way in. At the end of the day he tells everyone on his way out bye bye and blows kisses. The other day his little friend Blake was watching me get Dax's coat on him to leave and Dax said "bye bye Blake" and Blake said bye bye back and then they started blowing kisses to each other. Melt.My.Heart.
* Points to his eyes, nose, ears, head, mouth, teeth, tongue, toes, fingers, belly, and hair when asked.
* The boy is strange. He loves hats, shoes, and socks. Most toddlers really enjoy just taking these things off.... but he insist on wearing them most of the time.
* He has started really liking to play pretend. He loves getting bags (or anything with a handle for that matter), keys, or daddy's watch and walk around saying bye bye. He also pretends his food is a car and "drives it around on his tray. Adorable.
* We have a potty we've began introducing. We are not by any means beginning the potty training process.... just trying to get him comfortable with it. He enjoys sitting on it and once actually peed in it. He knows the sign for potty now so that's pretty cool :)
* Temper tantrums have got much better. About a month ago they were hard core. Everything led to a melt down... at least it felt that way to us. I've really worked with him on validating his feelings and using words with him and encouraging him to use words and showing him that there are other ways to get help or tell me what he needs. We still have them every now and then and I just try to breath and keep my calm and remember why he's having them.
* He loves to brush his teeth.... and will do it multiple times a day on his own. Speaking of teeth.... we now have two on the bottom, two top molars, and his two from middle teeth! We are slowly but surely getting there. We also went back to the dentist to check his battle wounds from his fall at daycare (read about that here). She said one of them might be a little stuck but she wants to see him back in 6 months when it has grown in a little more to see if we need to talk about surgery or anything. Prayers that that doesn't happen would be awesome!
* Likes to play with buttons, dials, doors, pouring, and scooping. I think he's going to be like daddy in wanting to know how everything works.
* Food has been interesting. This boy is picky... but in a good way I guess. It's a blessing for sure... but sometimes it's not very convenient. Restaurants don't always have the healthy options that Dax prefers... and good Lordy
* Will tell you the sounds of a cow, sheep, horse, fish, dog, elephant, monkey, lion, tiger, bird, and crocodile.
* Sleep.... oh precious sleep. Between teething and being sick we've had a lot of sleepless nights. This last week (he had RSV... which I'll talk more about in a minute) I spent two night sleeping on the floor next to his bed... waking up every 30-60 minutes with him. It.was.awful.
* He's really exploring movement with his body. He's walking backwards, stopping his feet, spinning in circles, and has started the rave-like motion with his hands. It's so fun to watch him explore his body!

Ok... now RSV. Ugh. So a year ago (almost to the date) Dax had a his first few visits the ER with RSV. Well Tuesday evening he started running a fever (low.. like 101). I stayed home with him Wednesday and took him to the doctor. Well the doctor couldn't really listen to his lungs because he was crying (he now has a fear of anyone in scrubs or white coat) and decided that maybe it was a nasty cold, maybe turning into bronchitis (this wasn't our normal doctor by the way). We got some antibiotics and headed home. Over the next few days the cough continued to get worse, runny nose continued to get worse, ear were draining pretty good (thank God for the tubes or I'm sure we would have had another ear infection), his breathing got really labored, and his fever spiked to 104 a couple times. We both knew at this point that it was RSV again. It was the same exact symptoms as last time. On Thursday he actually didn't eat or drink anything but a waffle all day. It was pretty scary because he was showing some beginning signs of dehydration, but luckily Friday morning he began drinking again. The difference between this time and last time was that Daniel was now experienced enough and comfortable enough to assess Dax at home and treat him ourselves (for RSV there's nothing you can do but watch their breathing and hydration). So we began giving him breathing treatments a few times a day, Tylenol when his fever got high, and lots of fluids.  I guess Daniel knew what he was doing (shhh don't tell him I said that) because Dax is doing better. Fever is down, runny nose isn't as bad, breathing is drastically better, and cough isn't as bad. RSV is no fun (it's actually super scary to me) and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this will be the last time we get it!

Toddler Spaces Part Dos!

Just like the living room, I try to change out toys in his room about once a month. I still only do quiet, calm toys in his room because we want it to be a peaceful, calm place. Most of the time we spend in his room is spent reading books. Really the only time he plays in there is for about 10 minutes before he falls asleep (at night time and nap) and if I'm working on something in there. He wants to be with us so he spends most of his time playing in his space int he living room. Here's a peek at his room right now....

 View from by his door.

View from the closet.

 Dax's closet doors are magnetic so we have letter magnets on it, along with a magnetic picture of Cheyenne (his cousin who is one of his favorite people), and we also usually have a Santa magnet on there too :)  He's a big fan of Santa

 So When I first put art up on Dax's wall I said I was going to rotate it out. But I can't get myself to part with any of it so I just keep adding to it :)  I do think it's kind of fun though to see how his art has progressed from 6 months to 16 months :)

 Reading space. Eventually I want to hang some fabric from the ceiling around this area and make it super cozy but I want to wait until he's just a bit bigger. So for now stuffed animals and pillows will have to do  :)

 These are Dax's shelves now. Few of our favorite books on the shelf, wooden stackers, wooden shape sorter, wooden bead toy, sensory bottles, and a couple cars.

And the last thing is the bookshelf. Here are some of Dax's books that he's not quite into yet, some wooden cars and wooden puzzles. The box is a sensory box. We have a few different ribbons of different textures, a sensory bottle with bells in it, some metal bracelets, and some puffy balls. Eventually I'll make some smell bottles and add them in there as well!


Well that's it for our newest updates! I know I love seeing pictures of other kids rooms so hopefully you enjoyed it too!

Almost a toddler

Our little boy turned 11 months old a couple days ago. So now, in less than a month, he'll be one. He'll officially be a toddler and I don't think I'm ready for that. Here's a little run down on where he's at at 11 months...
* According to our scale yesterday he weighs 22.8lbs. He's fitting 12 month clothes perfectly right now and is in size 4 diapers. We usually have to move up sizes in pants in diapers sooner than usual because his little thighs are so fat everything gets super tight on them.
* Walking. He will walk a couple feet before he gets nervous and sits down. I really think he could just take off but I think he freaks out and decides to go back to the trusty crawling.
* He has always responded to signs when I've done them or just said the word but this month he actually signed "all done" to me when he was finished eating... without me even asking him to. :)
* His form of waving before was flopping his entire arm up and down but now he has the "open, close hand" wave down and it's super cute.
* He says a lot.  But my favorite thing is what he calls his daddy.... "gah gah".  He has yet to say the 'd' sound which has me sort of freaked out b/c that's usually the first sound a baby makes. It has me so freaked out that I plan on asking the doctor about being tongue tied when we go for his next appointment.
* His little personality is getting cuter and cuter. Has has the funniest facial expressions and he now thinks that he's the funniest thing there is. He'll be crawling around the house or riding in his car seat and just laugh and laugh at himself. It's really funny.
* Still no teeth.... sighhhh. But there is a pretty good bump on his lower right side so maybe one soon?
* The not having any teeth isn't stopping him from eating that's for sure. In the last week we have really up'd the finger foods and have been able to cut a bottle out. He's now doing 3 bottles a day and we're transitioning into whole milk by giving him a sippy cup with half formula, half milk at all of his meals. He also loves his water and likes going over to the table, getting it down to get a drink, and then putting it back up.
* His favorite toys are ball, cars (esp. dump trucks), blocks, books, stacking rings, the dog bowls, and playing in the pot and pan cabinet in the kitchen.
* He's fast... super fast. And disappears in the blink of an eye. I can usually find him in the bathroom or in my closet. He will also go back to his room and play on his own too which I think is so cute but sort of makes me sad that he doesn't need momma to play with him all the time.
* We're still at 2 naps and for the past week he has been putting himself to sleep at nap time. It is usually a pretty big process of me going in and out to lay him back down and comfort him but it's dropped from being a 45 minutes process to about 25 minutes. It's still a work in progress but I'm happy with how it's going and that we were able to do it without making him cry it out.
* He's super, super lovable and will randomly walk up to me and kiss me. He also loves to kiss his books... especially the pictures of monkeys and dogs.  He's a pretty big fan of mommy and daddy kissing each other too and will smile super big and then give each of us a kiss. I love it. :)
* Since Saturday he has been fighting a nasty summer cold and I'm afraid it may be starting to settle in his chest (everything he gets tends to do that ... the doctor said that's probably because of his TTN he got at birth that put him in the  NICU for a week). So his little cold has turned very yucky sounding.

Well little man starts back to daycare in 2 weeks and I'm super sad our time together is coming to an end. I could def do this stay at home mom business all the time.... maybe one day :)  Here's a picture of our not-so-little 11 month old playing in the rain/mud for the first time

So I know it's not the normal time for updates on Dax (usually once a month) but he has done so much in the last week that I feel the need to write about it... in particular to keep our family updated on his life. So if you're not ready for a little mommy bragging than I would skip over this post ;)

* He "dances"! WOOHOO!! It's not quite the stand up dancing yet but he holds his arms up in the air and flaps them while he bounces his body. It's pretty cute. It's also his go to anytime he gets really excited.... which lately has been a lot.
* Walks with his new walking toy! He does so good.... when he wants to. He has now figured out that he can push it around while on his knees so when he's feeling lazy that's what he does. He gets really excited while he's doing it and talks/screams the entire time. I highly recommend this toy at target for $17.

* Our little dare devil will now let go while he's standing up and stand all alone for several seconds. It catches me off guard and I get way excited everytime. He also tried to take a step while doing this a couple days ago.... was unsuccessful... but tried. I'm afraid we're going to have a walker before i'm ready! He also was squatting on the ground the other day and stood up without touching anything. Wowzer...
* He's really into cars and makes a car sound now when playing with them! He especially loved this little dump truck we had and would try to put toys into the back of it but it was so small they wouldn't stay. So today we bought a BIG dump truck at Target and he's in loading heaven!
* Naps are sooooo much better! We switched to 2 naps, one at 9:30 and one at 1:30. They last anywhere from 45 minutes to 115 minutes. This is huge improvement from his previous 30 minutes naps. Those were not working for momma or baby.
* He's eating everything! He has done absolutely amazing with table food and I'm so proud of him everytime he eats! I was really worried the first few times b/c it seemed he didn't like any table food but puffs.... but he will now try anything and loves it. As far as finger foods go he has had, pasta, peas, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, cheese, strawberries, peaches, mango, and butternut squash. He has also tried kiwi and bananas but isn't really a fan of those. He'll eat them purreed.... but not at finger foods... it must be a texture thing :)
* He might be a bit OCD... like his mommy :)  He has an obsession with putting toys/food/whatever he can get his hands on into buckets/bowl/dumptrucks. For example, I had layed out 6 pieces of butternut squash on his try. He put them all back into the bowl and then ate them. And like I mentioned earlier... he loves to load up his dump truck with toys.
* He absolutely will not go to sleep if his feet are covered up. This has been going on for awhile but has become even more evident lately while putting him down for nap. He will kick and kick and kick until he gets the blanket off of his feet.
* He has finally got the stage where he puts everything, and I mean everything, in his mouth now. I have taken away plastic, grass, leaves, fuzz, paper, and the skin of garlic and onions. I.Am.Terrified.


Well that's it for the mommy bragging. Lots of exciting post coming soon with all of my arts and crafts activities I've been working on lately! Get excited!

Our 18 Month Anniversary

Well yesterday my little man officially became nine months old! It was sort of a big deal to me because  nine months is how long this precious little miracle grew inside me, and now he has spent nine months eating, sleeping, talking, learning, and exploring in this world we share! We have had a beautiful 18 month relationship and I can't wait to see what the next 18 hold.
Here's a little update on what our nine month old little boy is up to these days...

* Crawling like a mad man. He's super fast and gone in the blink of an eye. He has also decided to branch out and explore on his own now and a couple times I have found him wondering into the kitchen or bathroom all on his own.
* Pulls up and tracks like a pro. He's been pulling up for awhile but he has just now mastered getting down. In fact, it's pretty much is favorite thing to do now.... stand up, get down, stand up, get down. Oh the simple things. He is also tracking between pieces of furniture and has started getting brave and doing it with only one hand. I'm afraid he'll be walking before we know it!
* He is just fascinated with drawers, doors, and cabinets.... leading to lots of smashed fingers! :(  He doesn't get into the things in the drawers or cabinets, just simply opens and closes them over and over.
* He really enjoys the game "I throw everything on the ground and watch people around me pick it up". Mommy is not such a fan.
* His favorite toys right now are a shape sorting cookie jar (that he loves opening and closing), a rubber spatula (lol), the dog bowls (eek), and his little wagon that he really enjoys flipping upside down and investigating the wheels.
* He's really into books right now and loves looking at them. He's a boy after my own heart <3
* Sleeping is going great. He sleeps from about 6 or 7pm until about 6am without making a sound!  Right now he takes about a 45 minute nap at like 9am, 1 1/2 nap at around 12pm, and a 30 minute nap at around 3. I'm hoping to start trying to get into two naps here before long... but we'll go with the flow and right now his flow is screaming for 3 naps :)
* Food, oh food. It feels like all I do is feed this boy! He has fruit and cereal or toast in the am, veggies for lunch, and yogurt and fruit for dinner. He also munches on puffs, yogurt melts, or mum mums when he needs a snack. We're starting to do a few finger foods now because all signs from his little body are saying he needs to! So far we've done banana, kiwi, toast, and cheese. He does absolutely awesome with them and deciding what to do and when is so stressful!
* He says "more" and "momma" and knows exactly what they mean! I love it and still get so excited when he says them! He knows what "all done" means but hasn't signed it himself yet and he also knows who "dada" is but hasn't said it yet. He is making some of the funniest sounds now and I love listening to him "talk"!

That's all the updates I can think of now but I'm sure I'll come up with more as soon as I sign off from here :)   Look for a post soon on how we're settling in and some pics of how the house is going!

8 Months!

Well in three short days Dax will be 8 months old! Wow! We'll be in Bixby painting the new house then so we're doing his 8 month update now :)

* Boy does this little man love his food! He's having a 6 oz bottle every 4 hours, 2 cubes of fruit and cereal for breakfast, 2-3 cubes of veggies at lunch, and a protein for dinner. The protein switches between tofu and a veggie, or yogurt and a fruit.
* He also munches on Organic Mum Mums and Organic Puffs, both of which he LOVES. We're working on picking things up with his finger and thumb and actually getting it to his mouth. He picks it up pretty good... but getting it in the mouth isn't quite there yet.  He does really good with the Mum Mums and will hold it all by himself and take bites off of it.
* He's drooling and fussy at times like he's teething... but no teeth poking through yet!
* Sleep is going really great! He's been going to sleep at about 6:30 or 7:00pm and sleeping until anywhere between 5:45-6:30am. He'll usually wake up at about 4:45am but the desperate side of me wishing for one more hour of sleep before I have to get up for work puts him in bed with me and he goes right back to sleep.
* He's officially a crawler! He's so stinkin fast! He still rotates between the lizard crawl and actually crawling but whatever he does it's quick. If I want to see him crawl all I pretty much have to do is open the front door and he takes off as fast as he can to it! This includes climbing up a small step from our living room to entry way! I was way impressed the first time this happened... who am I kidding... I'm way impressed every time this happens!
* He likes to spit now. lol.  Another little one in his class at daycare started this and now Dax does it all the time! It's really cute right now but I'm sure the first time he does it with food in his mouth it wont be so cute anymore!
* Makes all sorts of crazy sounds... but still has yet to say Dada, and only says Mama when he's crying.
* Naps are going awesome and all of them are in his crib now! We turn on his sound machine, pat his butt for a couple minutes, and he's out for the count! We actually just packed the swing away and it was sort of a sad day :(
* Dax wants to stand up all the time! He has pulled up successfully a handful of times on his own but is constantly trying to pull up on anything and everything he sees! Even when he's crawling he gets his legs under himself and tries to stand up.
* Bob Marley still works miracles for him...
* His favorite toys right now are baskets that his toys go in, plastic Easter eggs that I put beans in and sealed, Scout (of course), his sensory bottles, and a small tin bucket I found the other day. Who needs all those fancy expensive toys when you have things like buckets, baskets, and water bottles??
* He has had mango, pears, applesauce, peaches, banana, plums, avocado, butternut squash, sweet potatoes,  tofu, parsnips, zucchini, green beans, peas, broccoli, yogurt, and blueberries. Up next are honeydew, carrots, and some new fruit... any suggestions??
* He's in 6-9month clothes and size 3 diapers during the day and 4's a night. His pants are starting to get a little short... but the next size up are still too big in the waist... so lets just say if a flood comes through Dax is prepared :)
* And possibly the most exciting part for me.... I def. recognizes when I sign "All done"!!  A couple days ago when I signed it he automatically started reaching for me to get him out of his seat. I thought that maybe it was coincidence... but he has done it a couple more times since them! yay!!!

 Well the next couple weeks are going to be sort of nuts for us! We'll be making trips to Bixby this weekend and next to paint and clean the house, next week is my last week of work, I'll have one week at home to finish up getting things done, and then the big move! Eek!   Continue keeping us in your prayers as we face all of the changes coming our way!

Happy Wednesday!!!

27...26...25...24.....

The count down is on..... 27 days until the big move. YIKES!  This is coming way too fast and I'm not ok with that! And I'm sure those 27 days will go just as fast at the last month has....  *big breaths*

Starting with last week we have so much going on all the way until the move! Thursday I went to my adorable nephews t-ball game.

He's pretty darn cute in that uniform... but I think he rather find every rock on the field than play ball itself. His nickname is Rocks because that's all he does when he's in the field... search for rocks. You can usually find a back pocket full of rocks by the time the game ends. Thursday night while we were there he hit a home run and was very proud of himself... as was I :)

Dax loved watching the boys run around on the field.... maybe we have a future ball player on our hands??
Friday was, well Friday... therefore, we busted out the ole' moon bounce in the Superstar room...

 

With my time quickly coming to an end as their teacher I'm doing as much as I can to get lots of smiles and fun memories in with these kiddos... boy how I'll miss them!

That night we had dinner with some amazing ladies that I work with to celebrate baby Teagan coming soon! We had so much fun and lots of laughs... plus good food... what could go wrong??
Saturday my wonderful husband watched the baby for  a little while so I could meet a couple girls that I went to school with for lunch! The last year in college I got super close with 3 special ladies and would have gone completely insane without them! They also gave me the cutest baby shower when I was pregnant and I thank them so much for that!  Anyways, I got to meet two of them for lunch at the old stomping ground (The Mont) for lunch! It was SO much fun to catch up with them, reminisce on good times, and talk about our crazy lives we're all living now. I also found out that there will be a new little on come November and I couldn't be happier for Mr. & Mrs. Martin :)     It was really refreshing to get out with friends and not worry about all of the stresses going on right now in life!

So this week includes Easter festivities at work all week, completing my applications for Grad School in the fall, getting the house clean (the landlord is showing it to a potential renter Thursday), Easter egg hunt Saturday morning, niece & nephew birthday party Saturday afternoon, my going away party with work ladies Saturday night, and Easter on Sunday. Man oh man! After that is my birthday, a week of work, a weekend in Tulsa painting the new house, my last week of work (tear), and then the big move! Wow!

Dax is handling all of this chaos like the little trooper he is! Since the last post he officially got his first haircut!

 

BEFORE...

 

and AFTER...

His aunt Kelly did such a good job! My little baby is becoming such a big boy!

He also now how mastered the lizard crawl. For those of you who are asking, "what exactly is a lizard crawl?".... I like to think of it as a step up from the army crawl. Unlike the army crawl.... all four limbs are moving in the correct motion instead of just his arms... but it isn't quite a crawl because he just drags his belly on the ground while doing it. It's surprisingly effective and he gets around pretty quick. Today he actually crawled like a normal child for the first time for a few seconds... but then quickly went back to the lizard.

He's also now making all kinds of fun sounds and is really quite funny. He makes me laugh.. a lot. Especially when he does things like this...

We've also started some snacking/feeding ourselves in the last week! He does so good chewing on his puffs, frozen yogurt bites, and mum mums and LOVES getting to eat them. The mum mums he has mastered eating on his own but we're still working on picking up those tiny puffs and yogurt bites on our own. And I'm one happy momma because I was able to find all three of these things in organic form.... I was like a kid in a candy shop!

Also, a big "winning" moment in the Freno house right now is that all naps are now in the crib!  YESSSSS.  Before he was only napping in his swing when at home and he was quickly out-growing that!  Now we lay him in his crib, tell him night-night, turn on his sound machine, he plays for about 15-20minutes, and then he's asleep. Every once in awhile we have to go in there and pat his butt for a minute but usually he does pretty good just going to sleep. 

Happy Sunday!!

Life in the Fast Zone

Man time has been flying!!  (hence the extremely cheesy title).  We now have a chunky 7 month old that is in full on teething mode (yay for a new milestone... not cool for mom and dad and baby). We took Dax to the doctor again this week for what we thought may be another ear infection. He had gained a pound in two weeks! WOW! He's up to 19lbs, 5 1/2 oz! Such a little chunk! Luckily there was no infection.... only allergies and teething. He now takes allergy medicine everyday so hopefully that helps out! We've also been chewing on lots of fresh frozen or cold fruits to help out with the sore gums and Dax LOVES it!
Also since the last post... we found a house!!  This was such a weight on our shoulders and finding has made things much less stressful! It's a three bedroom, 2 bath house in Bixby, Oklahoma. It's on a half acre lot with a big back yard and lots of trees for the dogs. It has a fireplace (a must for daniel and I) 2 car garage, and a big covered patio. We're pretty excited. Finding this house has definitely made the idea of moving an easier one for me so hopefully as time goes I'll get more and more comfortable with the idea.
So my very best friend in the entire world is a pretty awesome blogger ... you should check it out ourlovelystory .  She does a ten on ten where on the tenth of each month she post ten pictures from that day. I LOVE this and plan on starting it myself. Since I don't have ten pics from today my first ten on ten will be ten pics from the last month ... ready.. set... go.

 

A couple weeks ago our theme in my class was Bugs. One day we made bug eyes using egg cartons and pipe cleaners. The kids LOVED them and it was pretty darn cute to see them running around the playground with them on :)

 

These are the other two rugrats of the house, Sophie and Sadie. They're my other children and I love them as if they only had two legs and didn't stink.  Look how cute they are?? They're def. enjoying all this spring weather!

 

Hopefully this is a sign that getting Dax to do chores will never be problem. He loves the vacuum cleaner. He'll jump out of your arms to try to see in and just smiles at it. Oh the little things...

 

This was Dax's first experience with frozen fruits and as you can plainly see he loved it. He was quite the fussy baby and pulling on his ear this evening so I assumed it was his teeth hurting. I put some frozen cherries in his mesh feeder and he went to town! He was quite the sticky red mess afterwards but his little gums felt much better.

 

Such a man... such a man. Two of his favorite things... being naked and the tv remote.

 

We had our first zoo trip Friday and had so much fun! Dax loved it! He and this gorilla had quite the stare down for the longest time. His favorite animals were the monkeys, deer, and sea lions. 

 

This was after our zoo trip lol. Daddy and Dax were both pretty wore out and I walked into the room to find this cute sight :)

 

More soothing of the gums went on yesterday. We went for the less messy alternative of a fresh cut pear from the refrigerator. Dax was in heaven! He loved this just as much as the cherries.

 

We're in the process of transitioning Dax from taking his naps at home in his swing to in his crib. He takes his naps at daycare in his crib and will soon outgrow his swing so crib it is! He does really well! He'll usually play for about 15 minutes and before he ends up falling asleep. It's a lot of fun to watch

him over the video monitor. During his 15 minutes of play time he has figured out how to pull the bumper down so he can peak through the bars of the crib and take a peak at what else is going on in the room. Today he got caught in the act.

 

The beautiful sky this evening! I really think Oklahoma has some of the most beautiful evening skies possible! This evening after Dax went to bed Me, Daniel, and the dogs enjoyed the perfect weather outside and I caught this gorgeous picture! What a way to end the day!

Hope you enjoyed my first ten on ten! Next time I'll try to get ten pics from that day.... try at least :)

An Update on Life...

So I realized that I haven't had a real, solid update on our lives lately... so here's a quick run down on Dax, work, family, moving, and life in general... enjoy :)

Dax-man

Dax had his six month check up yesterday. At 6 months and 22 days he now weighs 18lbs, 5 1/2 ounces. He's 27 inches long and head circumference is 45cm. He's 59% in length, 56% in weight, and 85% in head circumference (big head lol). He has had a cough for about 2 weeks now and for the last several days had a runny nose and runny eyes. We had also noticed a couple days prior to his appointment that he was playing with his ears so we were unsure if he had an ear infection or had just found his ear. Well come to find out he has an ear infection AND an upper respiratory infection. yuck. The poor little guy just can't breath and has a horrible cough.  He is now on antibiotics, Tylenol for the pain from his ear, and breathing treatments as needed.
Other than being sick, Mr. Man is doing so good and growing just way too fast! He now can get up on all fours for a few seconds... but then falls back down lol.  Rolling around is still his main form of transportation. He is exploring with his voice so much and I just LOVE it! He currently has two favorite sounds.... a real high pitch screech that he does with his mouth shut, and this really fast, chipmunky giggle. lol They're both pretty awesome and I'll have to try to catch them with the camera to share with you guys. Our wiggle worm still refuses to sit up for longer than 30 seconds at a time. He much rather be rolling around or standing. If you try to sit him down he'll instantly start turning or he'll stiffen out his legs so that he stands up. I think it is very likely that he'll crawl... and possibly stand... before he decides to sit up on his own.
Sleep.... oh sweet precious sleep... has FINALLY returned to us! You can't hear me but I just sighed really loud after typing that.  He isn't quite as awesome as he was at 8 weeks... but is WAY better than he has been the past few months. He is now going to bed at 7:00pm and waking up at 6:00am. Usually during the first hour or two after he falls asleep we have to go in there a couple times and give him his paci back, and some nights at about 3:30am we have to do the same thing. Those times literally take like a minute though so it's not so bad. Much better than the every hour he was waking up before.
Dax is on this amazing schedule that he does NOT stray from and I love it! We didn't really push him into a schedule, it just sort of happened with our daily daycare/work routines. It is really pretty nice to be able to know what he's going to do at what time (for the most part). We even went out of town for four days this past weekend and he still stuck to his schedule.  Dax's day right now looks like this... Wake up & bottle at 6:00, get to daycare at 7:00, cereal & fruit at 7:30, bottle at 8:30, nap at 9:00 for about 30min- 1 hour, veggies at 11:00, bottle at 12ish, nap around 12:30 for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, bottle at 2:30 or 3:00, get home from daycare at 3:30 and play until about 4:30, then a 30 minute nap. Bottle at 5:30, cereal at 6:30, and start our bed time routine at 7:00.    I love it and it works out SO well for us.

Work

All but two of my precious kiddos! The cutest 8 girls and 4 boys you'll ever meet!

Work is so great and I absolutely ADORE my kids! They are truly a group that LOVES learning and it's amazing to watch them. I do a name writing sample each month with them and they have amazed me looking at the difference in the past 5 months! The last couple weeks we have been talking about Going Green and they have just taken off and ran with the idea! I love hearing them remind one another to "take care of our Earth"... it literally melts my heart... and I love seeing them run to the recycling box with their paper, put it in, and look so proud of themselves! Three and four year olds are amazing and I don't know if I'll ever be able to teach another age!  Almost every child in the class can now properly identify all uppercase and lowercase letter of the alphabet and numbers 1-20. Many can also write those letters, and several can tell you the sound that each letter makes. I get a little sad each day when I think about leaving those little stinkers in a month and a half :(  May 6th will be my last day there and I can pretty much guarantee there will be tears.

Family

For the 100th time..... I have the best family in the world! We recently all just spent 4 days together at the lake and it was just perfect! We spend the entire 4 days playing games, laughing, talking, and just simply hanging out together. There's never a dull moment. I also really love the lake b/c I get to spend quality time with my nieces and nephews that I wouldn't get to otherwise. My nephew Kole spent a loy of time haning out with Daniel and I. He is becoming such a GREAT young man and I know there are big things in hid future! My niece Brinyn is so great with the younger kiddos. No matter how old she gets she still finds time to spend with and hang out with them doing things they love. I think she'll make for a great teacher one day. My niece Cheyenne is the biggest diva around.... that can also talk more smack than a grown man when playing games! She is just hilarious to watch! And my nephew Zain is one of the most lovable, ornery, hilarious little boys you'll meet. He's fully of hugs and kisses all the time... for no reason whatsoever. One of my favorite moments this weekend came when his mom (my sister) was nagging him for picking at his sister. He leans over and kisses my sister on the cheek and says, "there, will that make you shut up?"  I laughed SO hard! It was simply brilliant!  I love them all!


Moving

Well, I can't same I'm glad and happy and excited about it... but I can say I've come to terms with it and am preparing myself and family for the move. I know it's for the best and I am glad I get to support my wonderful husband in reaching his dreams, but it's still hard for me. Prayers would still be appreciated.



Well... that's life... I hope you enjoyed :)

Half a Year Old

Well if there was a 30th in this month, Dax would then be 6 months old! Where has the time gone?!?  It seems like just yesterday I was feeling him move around in my belly and today Daniel and I sat here watching him wiggle and roll across the living room floor. Everyone always tells you that the time goes fast but you never really understand it until it happens. Tomorrow we are taking him to get his 6 month pictures done and I can't wait!  Here's a little run down on where little man stands today...

* His 6 month appointment isn't until March but as of two week ago he was right at 16lbs
* He grew super fast. He was a little guy for so long and grew so fast that he was only in his 3-6 months clothes for a month. He now fits perfectly into is 6-9 month close.
* He STILL is not sitting up on his own.... and I don't think he will. ever. lol  He is def. strong enough, he just won't sit still long enough to sit on his own. He moves CONSTANTLY.
* We've up'ed his eating to 3 times a day. He got to the point where he would get REALLY mad if he saw us or the other babies in his class eating and he wasn't so we went ahead and started giving him more and it helps. He's eating about 25-30 oz of formula a day, multi grain cereal for breakfast, a veggie for lunch, and and oatmeal for dinner.  I think we're going to add a fruit in soon.
* So far for his food he has tried butternut squash, peas, green beans, avocado, and broccoli. His favorite is the butternut squash, he loved the broccoli but it made him gassy :( , he hated avocado,  green beans were ok, and he didn't like peas at all (until I mixed it with the squash and then he liked them). I'm still making all his food and it's so  much fun!  Zucchini and sweet potatoes are my next venture.
* He's not crawling... but he def. gets around! He alternates between rolling around like a Rollie Pollie and wiggling across the floor like a caterpillar. Also in the past week he has learned to use his stomach like an axis and go in circles when on the ground. He has the crawling motion down pat with his legs, so I think once his little arms get a little stronger he'll be all over the place.
* Sleep is still sort of a mess. It's better than it was about a month ago... but def. isn't as good as it was when he was 2 months old.
* He loves his Bounce Bounce Baby and could sit in there forever. He knows how to spin the seat now so he just sits there and goes in circles playing with each of the toys and then moving on to the next. It's pretty darn cute.
* He has started being really lovable... and I'm in heaven!! When you pick him up or hold him on your lap sometimes he'll bury his head into your chest and just laugh. He'll also just lean his head against your face sometimes and has also starting giving what I like to pretend are kisses (I'm sure they're really just him trying to eat your face but I can wish right).

Saturday relaxing with Daddy!

 Yesterday getting ready for cousin Ryans bday! Such a big boy!

 Today at Babies R Us... it's a rough life ;)

This evening... ready for our walk!

Oh sweet sleep....

Oh sweet, precious sleep... how I've missed you and oh how glad I am to be reunited with you.  Starting at six weeks Dax would sleep through the night... like sleep at least 7 hours, wake up and eat, and then back to sleep for another few hours.  This wonderful phase of sleeping went on until he was about 3 months old when he got sick.  Starting then he would wake up every few hours... and from that point on it has just gone down hill. For probably the last 2 weeks he was waking up every hour, hour and half at night. UGHHHHH. Not wanting to eat, not wanting to be held... just waking up and fussing. Waking up every hour at night, mixed with waking up at 5am to go to work and teach pre-k for 8 hours, then comeing back home to start the nightly cycle over again was the most exhausting thing I've ever experienced! It was even worse than when he was a newborn.  We had racked our brain trying to figure out what was wrong with him. We thought and tried everything.. .maybe he was too hot, maybe he was too cold, maybe he needed cereal, maybe he needed a better night time routine... and that list could go on and on. Needless to say none of those genius ideas panned out and helped the problem...
Well a few days ago after an evening of Dax fussing and spitting up a lot it occured to me that maybe his acid reflux was acting up again. He had really bad silent reflux when he was little and it had gotten a lot better over the last couple months. Adding this new idea to the ongoing growing list of things that could possibly be waking him up, we decided to give him Colic Calm (which is suppose to help out with acid reflux some) and have him sleep on his wedge again that we used when we was little. WAHLA!!! MIRACLE WORKER..... Dax slept 8 straight hours that night without a sound, woke up and ate, and went back to sleep for another 2 hours. Needless to say we've been doing those same two things every night since and we are now going on night 4 of sleeping all night! I'm not going to lie... I've been waking up several times a night to check our video monitor to see if he's breathing... but hey.. I"ll take that any time over him waking up every hour.

And that's pretty much the highlight of our life this week...  Dax goes for his 4 month shots next week so be preparing yourself for a post on how much my little man has grown coming up soon :)

Time flies...

Sorry it's been awhile! Between Thanksgiving, decorating for Christmas, Christmas shopping, work, Daniel preparing for Test Block, and me playing with my adorable son I haven't had much time! Well Dax was 3 months old on November 30th!  Three months, already! It's crazy how fast time goes by. The past week has been so much fun with him. He's really starting to interact a lot and has started reaching for toys... needless to say most of my time is now spent dangling toys over his head and giggling at how hard he works to reach it... he loves this game :)  Also in the past week his love for his feet has grown tremendously... and I'm just waiting for the day when I walk in the room and he has a toe in his mouth.  If he's laying flat on his back you can pretty much count on his hands being in his mouth (or bib or whatever else he can grab and stick in there) and his feet being straight up in the air... it's pretty funny.  With that said his clothes and bibs stay wet most of the day... and if he has a hold of your hand you can pretty much count on that becoming drool covered in no time at all :)
Well Dax has been in his crib at night for a little over a week now!  It was such an easy transition for him... and I think he really likes it!  The first couple nights we were in there quite a bit reinserting the binky but that has dwindled down since then. Hopefully with his new love for his hands he'll realize how to soothe himself with those and the need for us to give him his binky back throughout the night will go away. And p.s.... I LOVE my video monitor.. best invention EVER. Its so comforting to just be able to hit the button on the top and see him whenever I need to throughout the night. The first few nights I think I spent most of my time watching it... but I've gotten better :)
So onto life besides Dax accomplishments (there is a such thing... sometimes anyways). Thanksgiving was great! I'm reminded at every family gathering how special my family is! We have a bond unlike many families and I am so, so, so very thankful for that! The weekend before Thanksgiving we had Thanksgiving dinner with my grandparents at their new "full service apartment" as we're calling around them (aka, assisted living center). That was very special and I think it helped a lot in making the transition a little better for them. I also got to see my adopted mom while I was there (my bff's mom who lives in Kentucky) and she got to meet Dax for the first time! That was pretty special.  Actual Thanksgiving day was spent at my moms house with my parents, all of my siblings and my 50 nieces and nephews (okay.. only 6... but at times.. like when Christmas shopping... it feels like 50). We ate wayyyy too much, took way too many pictures, passed around Dax, and played some chicken foot. I'd say it was a successful Thanksgiving!
Now Christmas decorations are up, complete with Dax's first Christmas ornament and new stockings with each persons name on it. I've always been a big fan of Christmas time, but now with Dax it makes it even more exciting! I've got him one gift so far (a book of course) but have def. done my fair share of online browsing for him. Daniel and I decided that since Dax is really too young to enjoy the surprise of Christmas presents that we are each going to get him something and keep it a surprise for the other. That way on Christmas morning at least someone will be surprised when we open the gift! I'm really excited about this! lol. With Christmas comes traditions! My best friend who has a little one a month and a half older than Dax had a wonderful post on her blog the other day about traditions they want to start now that their family has truly began. This got me thinking... and I'm sort of a sucker for holiday traditions... so I've come up with all sorts of ideas that I can't wait to start as soon as Dax gets a little older. One thing that I started last year with my niece and nephew was baking and decorating homemade Christmas cookies Christmas Eve morning. We had so much fun watching a Christmas movie in our pjs with a fire in the fireplace, Christmas tree lights on, and making cookies and I would LOVE to continue this tradition. Maybe I'll borrow my niece and nephew again and do it again this year... since I don't think Dax would be much help in the kitchen :)

 Notice the "mouth of concentration"... it's hard work playing with toys :)

yes... that's a thumb in his mouth!  Forgive the crazy hair... mommy was having fun playing with it during bath time!  He rotates between fist, rag, and thumb during bath now!

2 months 18 days

Today was little mans 2 month appointment!  I'm not going to lie... I was so nervous about these shots! He woke up so happy this morning... little did he know the impending doom that was coming his way.. poor guy. He was quite the happy guy until the doctor came in the room... and instantly he knew something was up. He did give Dr. Cook a good idea of how good his lungs are though ;)    Our once big guy isn't so big anymore! He's going to be a little man.... no baby fat here!  Today he weighed 11lbs 2 oz  (17th percentile), was 23 inches long (27th percentile), and his head circumference was 15.75 inches (30th percentile).  Our laugh of the day came from realizing that his head is growing faster than the rest of his body lol... he gets that big head from his daddy :)  .   It kind of worried me him being so little but Dr. Cook didn't seem too worried so I guess I'll have to find comfort in that.   And on a side rant... the percentiles are based of formula fed babies?! Really?? Why not be based on breastfed babies since that's what is promoted by doctors... or better yet... why not have two separte charts... whatever :)   The shots themselves weren't so bad. I hated seeing him flinch and here him cry because it hurt... but it only lasted a few seconds and he was done. Now I have one happy, very sleepy baby snoozing in his crib.
Speaking of crib... we've still had Dax in his bassinet next to our bed at night time. He doesn't wake up during the night to eat, but he does wake up pretty often and just needs his paci back or for us to put our hand on his belly to let him know we're there. Well... this week he has started scooting around in the bassinet so we've decided that it's time to move him to the crib. EEKKKK  I'm so nervous about this! We have a video monitor so I'll be able to see him whenever I want  during the night so that's comforting... but I'm really nervous on how the transition will go for him and if we'll be having to make several trips to his room during the night. Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated :) We're going to do it next week over Thanksgiving break. Daniel and I both have Thursday and Friday off so that will give us a good 4 days to really work on it... and time to sleep during the day if the transition isn't going so well :) Prayers for an easy transition for him and us would be great!