From the Land of the Langs

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Yee-Haw, Partner!!!

The day FINALLY arrived. We have been talking about this day for an easy 6 months. I booked everything far in advance. My-the anticipation.

The party started at 3:30. The ponies were to arrive at 4:00. Kids showed up. People talked. Kids ran wild. Next thing I knew, it was 4:15. No ponies. Starting to stress, I finally received a call from the company. They were running late. Boy was I relieved. Phoenix never, not once, mentioned anything else about his party other than the horses that were coming. He couldn't wait!!!! He wanted to ride a pony more than anything else.

We kicked off the pony part by painting a pony. I'm talking real paint with a real life horse. It was too cute because all the kids did their handprint on the pony. From there it turned into a masterpiece of paint smattered all over, colors combining into a black mess. But the kids were having a blast and thats all that mattered. It was the cutest thing ever!!!!!

From there we went to pony rides. The rides were to last an hour, but since the company was running late they stayed longer. All the kids wanted to ride the blue pony. Poor red (brown) guy :(. They took turns riding them all over the backyard. A kid would take a turn and then immediately go right back in line for another. My heart was filled watching them having such fun in celebration of my "baby."

From there, we had dinner. We served BBQ, hot dogs, baked beans, mac&cheese and potato salad, all courtesy of M&M BBQ. Dinner was beyond fabulous.

The kids were all anxious for the waterside at this point (we opted to wait until pony rides were over), so thats just what we did. We blew the slide up and let the kids go to town!

After a bit, we did cake and ice cream.

We finally remembered the piñata. Because all kids need more candy right before bed, right (well, as long as they aren't spending the night with me!!!)???!!!! Again, the kids had a blast taking turns hitting the mustache. Well, all except Phoenix. He totally lost it when one of the kids broke it open. Total meltdown. So we gave him a golf club and let him go to town :). It worked ;)!!!

What a fun-filled day we had celebrating Phoenix! Thank you to all of our friends and family who helped make this day possible by being there for us, helping us, and just laughing with us. Memories are made to last a lifetime and the ones from this day will definitely do just that!

3 years of F.U.N.

Phoenix,

I honestly don't even know where to begin with this. Words cannot describe how incredibly proud of you your father and I are. You are quickly growing into a well-mannered, own-minded, God-loving young boy. Gosh, that makes me sad (the growing part, not the rest!). You, my #1 baby-growing up :(. However, I do want you to know that you have told me repeatedly that no matter how big you get, you'll always be my baby. I will never let you forget or back out of that, don't you worry!!!!

You truly amaze us with your ability to listen, comprehend and remember. You don't forget much. Rather its how to get somewhere, a toy you brought along with us on an outing, or if someone has a boo-boo. You listen. I mean truly listen when people talk. You take everything in. Very observant. Wise beyond your years.

Your vocabulary is amazing. I don't know how else to put it. You are constantly speaking with words well past that of a three year old. Craziest part-you use them ALL in the correct context. Sometimes, you'll say a bad word. Your dad and I look at each other like, "how do we correct that? at least it was used correctly." You LOVE reading and are constantly asking me to read to you. That plays a big part in your vocabulary.

You love and teach your sister continuously. While you have times when you aren't very nice to her, you ALWAYS take care of her when it comes down to it. Rather its calming her down, hugging and kissing her, giving her toys or just talking to her, you are always trying to help her. You reinforce her good behavior and discipline her bad. You taught her how to clap. Seriously-it was you! She would only clap on command for you, no one else :). You work on her signs with her too. The bond you two have is simply MAGICAL.

You are totally into: dinosaurs, jake and the neverland pirates, pirates in general, music, cowboys and frozen and gunsmoke. You also love tools, machines, playing outside, going to the park, eating at Tata's house, helping me cook and clean, as well as rescuing Sissy. You are also into super heros and monsters.

You do not like: being told no, going to bed at night.....To be honest, that might be about it. You are a very easy child. Oh wait-theres one more....the thing you hate more than anything in this world-Dada going to work.

Food you like: You always request buk-buk (you told me you call it chicken now since you're 3!), green beans and macaroni for just about every meal. However, you love steak, shrimp and crab legs. You could also eat Chinese buk-buk and egg rolls for just about every meal also.

You will be starting MDO 2 days a week in just over a month. You are in no way "ready" according to you. However, I know it'll be tons of fun and I am looking forward to seeing you grow leaps and bounds from this fabulous experience. I am also looking at putting you in a gymnastics class. I think it'll be great for your coordination and I know you'll enjoy flipping all over the place :).

It amazes me how proud one can make a person in such a few short years. You definitely like to test us these days, but we love you even more for that. We love you just the way you are and wouldn't change a single thing about you! Not even the 4:00am wake ups, ready to start the day :).

Thank you for teaching us, loving us, and guiding us along in this journey of life. We love going thru it with you. You are our inspiration, our laughter, our tears. But most importantly, you are one of our strongest connections with God. You make us proud, kid. Continue living life just the way you are.

Happy, happy birthday my sweet, sweet, sweet ray! May God Bless you with many, many more years of health and happiness!

Stats

We headed to the doctor July 1st for Luna's 9 month check up and Phoenix's 3 year. I prayed for an easy outing, but got anything but :)

Luna,

You are a little over 21 pounds, putting you in the 90% for weight. You are 2'4", in the 66% for height.

I spoke to the doctor about your lack of crawling, pulling up, etc. I told her I wasn't overly concerned but was worried. I also informed her that my lack of practice with you likely played a big part in that. I am in no hurry for you to be on the move. Low and behold-we return from the doctor and you start crawling EVERYWHERE. I also put you down for bed that night and checked the monitor only to find you standing. Needless to say, your crib got lowered at 8:30 that night :)!

You only had to get your finger pricked and you didn't cry at all. However, you hated when the nurse tried putting the band-aid on.

You checked out beautifully and cooperated even better. Good job my sweet girl!

Phoenix,

You are 33 pounds, closer to the 75% (which was very surprising to me) and 3'1", closer to the 50%.

I spoke to the doctor about several concerns for you. Mainly your stuttering. It doesn't bother Dada or I but it obviously bothers you. Often times you raise your voice out of frustration, hang your head low when trying to speak or totally change directions in what you are wanting to say. Others have mentioned it to me as well, so I know it bothers some more than others too. The doctor confirmed my belief that it is totally normal at this age and you will grow out of it. Your brain simply processes way faster than your mouth. I guess its because you always have soo much to say and your vocabulary keeps on growing. I also spoke to her about sleep. She says Dada needs to STOP falling asleep with you. Ha-I've been telling him that for over a year ;). He claims its his only time of the day with you and I can't take that away from him. Its hard for me to argue with that.

You didn't have to get any shots either but you did have to have the follow-up blood work done to check your white blood count. Lord, you would've thought they were taking you away from me and we were never going to see each other again. You screamed and cried, kicked and wailed like I've never seen before. It was quite embarrassing but also a little funny (not at the time). Thankfully, we both survived. Like your sister, you hated the band-aid. I made you keep it on though because last time you took it off too early and got blood everywhere. Wasn't going to happen again. Thankfully, your blood work came back much better this time-sort of makes the whole debacle totally worth it!

I also got your blue card for MDO. Its starting to become real that you will be gone 4 hours a day, twice a week in just over a month. I mentioned it to your Dad the other day and he immediately got tears in his eyes. He didn't want to discuss it and quickly changed the subject. He's not ready for this. You aren't either. You keep telling me "no school." However, I truly think you'll love it once you get use to the idea. It'll be hard since you've NEVER been away from me but it'll definitely be good for the both of us. I am sad but am also looking forward to you growing up in a world outside of your comfort zone. I promise baby, it'll be great!!!

I took you to the gas station for an icee and a treat afterwards. You even got to go inside with me and pick out anything you wanted. You originally picked cheez-its. Silly boy :).

Thank God, everything looks great with you as well.

Both my babies are happy, growing and healthy. Dada and I truly are Blessed and we thank God everyday for that.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

We Don't Have a Flipper on Our Hands

We did swim lessons again this year. The first 2 weeks of June. Phoenix loves getting in the water, but hates going under now. Now sure where this new fear came from but I"m not a fan.

In the days leading up, some were filled with excitement while others were filled with tears. One day he loved Ms. Lynn. The next, he no like her.

Obviously, I wasn't sure what to expect from him. It was either going to be a complete bust or a total success. I was spinning the wheel.

He cried more this year than he did last. Not sure why. Some days it was freezing (literally all their little lips were blue). Others, I think he chimed in simply because others were crying. Whatever the reason, it was ridiculous.

In all fairness to Phoenix though, he wasn't feeling well those two weeks either. I kept telling Jason something wasn't right. He wasn't acting like himself. He wasn't eating, he was laying in my lap all the time, he was very whiny and would not follow directions. He was also acting out. This is usually how he acts when he has strep. Never ran a fever though. I think Jason (along with everyone else) thought I was trying to make excuses for him. I wasn't. I will be the first to tell him to suck it up. But I knew something wasn't right. The weekend of Father's Day, he started running a fever. I knew something was up, so instead of waiting the usual 3-4 days, I went ahead and took him in. It seems he was fighting some sort of virus. They ran blood work as well. He is once again anemic and his white count was a bit low. They aren't too concerned, however they do want to retest him to make sure his levels have risen. He goes July 1st as well for his 3 year check-up so I'm sure they'll retest then. I knew in my heart my baby wasn't feeling well but I am still not going to excuse his behavior. He lost many privileges during those two weeks because of his behavior (sick or not). It took about a week after the doctor for him to finally be back to his old self. Man am I glad to have him back!!!

Although there were tears, he still managed to follow directions well and stop crying when it was his turn. I was at least proud of that!

He did great overall though. He was swimming from one side to the other (short length), jumping off the rock (diving board), and falling in and getting to the side all by himself. He kicked and used his arms great (which we struggled with last year), but he didn't want to keep his chin down for the life of him.

He has only been swimming twice since lessons. Both times resulted in not going under. What is his deal?????

9 months

Luna,

Wow-9 months. A few months ago I wasn't sure I'd survive to see this :), however; I'm sure glad I did!!!! All those months of terror have been totally worth it now. You are such a joy! You love to laugh, smile and play.

You can sit on the floor forever, rolling around playing with all your toys. You crack me up because you grab a tub, tilt it, then grab a toy out-look at it and toss it to the side. You then go in and grab another and do the same thing. Its like you know exactly which toy you are looking for!

You still aren't crawling (which I love), but you are now getting in position and rocking. Therefore, I think crawling will soon be happening. You can also go from the lay down position to the sit position. I have yet to witness the action, just the results.

You love giving big-open mouth kisses and clapping! You were watching swim lessons the other day and all the kids were clapping, so of course you had to join in :)! You clap at appropriate times. You will sometimes wave bye-bye and even say it (I consider it an attempt, but I swear, it sounds soo right).

We are still working on signs. We stress more, neh-neh (food), thank you (signing and gracias), all finished and play. You aren't doing them just yet, but you are responding to them. I'll take that!

You understand NO. I mean really understand it. When I say no, you immediately stop what it is you're doing. You listen great in that regard. You also listen when you want to feed yourself and grab for the spoon and I tell you Mama do it. You immediately stop grabbing. I love that you are now able to follow directions.

You eat like a champ. Any vegetables and fruits. You love love love bread. You enjoy noodles and chicken too. You love snacks and enjoy feeding yourself. You are drinking from a sippy cup great, but we need to work on your throwing your cup. You've already cracked one from throwing it soo hard. You also drink from a straw like a champ (credit Icees for that). You are nursing roughly 3 times a day still. I no longer puree anything for you. Just cut it finely and you are happy-likely because you enjoy picking it up and feeding yourself. Its been nice. You still have just your bottom teeth, but your top should be breaking thru any day now (I think I actually saw a slight part of one two days ago).

Although your sleep is still unpredictable, you sleep great. I just never know how long you are going to sleep. Naps (usually 2 good ones, other than cat naps in the car) usually last anywhere from 1-3 hours. You sleep thru the night roughly 8 hours a night, wake to eat then sleep for another few.

Peek-a-Boo with your BB is by far your most favorite game. You snatch it off my head and I say Peek-a-Boo. You then take your BB and try putting it on your head for me to snatch!!! You laugh constantly and whenever you are upset, we play and you are instantly happy!

Brother-My how you love him! You try to be near him at all times. You love when he plays in your crib with you. You stop crying the second you see him and you give him the biggest, wettest kisses ever! His love for you is just as great, if not bigger.

You are in mostly 12 mth clothing, size 3 diapers. We go for your 9mth check up on July 1st, so we'll have stats then. You are roughly 20lbs though-based on sick visits throughout the month.