Sunday, July 26, 2009

Baths, Naps, Fountains, and Friends

Emerson's bath in the sink the other day started off pretty well, but then quickly turned bad. She's unpredictable... I never know when she might lose it!

She was so worn out from the bath, that she needed a nap!
We found another park with fountains, which are Zane's favorite. When he unexpectedly gets wet or the water changes, he does a high pitched squeal of happiness. He sort of laughs and screams at the same time. We went to a different park the other day too, and he had the absolute best time.

In this picture, Janelle and I are laughing at Zane and I'm imitating his hands shaking when he gets happy.
Recently, we have added some new friends to our playgroup. The other day, there were 3 toddlers and 5 babies, ages 1 week to 2 1/2 months. There are more babies soon to come too. Here is Emerson with her friend Addie.
Emerson is at the top right, the chubbiest and oldest of all the babies.
It was tricky having the babies laying on the ground with 2 year olds playing nearby...we almost had a few injuries. :)



Meanwhile, Zane was playing with his friends and then took a break to "sleep" on the couch. He started off pretending and then got a little too comfy and stayed there for a very long time. Sweet boy.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Our Two Little Monkies

She likes to sit up on the couch and look at toys set in front of her, watch Zane play, and sometimes watch T.V.

Emerson has started trying to put more things in her mouth, including her own dress.

Zane likes to go "swimming" in the tub on his belly. He says, "Watch this, Mommy, I'm swimming in the bath!"

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Emerson is Playing!

Emerson is 10 weeks old now and is finally noticing her toys and intentionally playing with them. I love how babies' arms are out of control all the time, and her's usually are, but she's starting to get some control over her hands and arms. It's fun to see her smile at mobiles, fans, and other toys in her view and in her reach and also to watch her concentration when playing.

Trying to Say "F"

Zane is talking up a storm, using amazing sentences, but he definitely still has a few speech things that he needs to work on. Everytime he says a word that starts with "F" he uses an "H" sound instead. Usually when we try to get him to say it the right way, he says, "ffff, hish" (for fish). So there are some pretty funny words and sentences, like, "Hi a kite instead of fly a kite," "hork instead of fork," "Grandma Hand instead of Grandma Fran," and every other word that starts with F. In this video he also was playing with his new dinosaurs and cars, two of his favorite things right now.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

A Few More Things About Zane...

*Today he said perfectly, "I'm playing with my dinosaurs. They say ROAR. They are nice."

*He can list all the animals that live in the desert, ocean, forest, and farm.

*We like to play guessing games...I will make an animal sound and he guesses the animal, or I will hum a song and he will tell me the song and who sings it.

*When we go through a drive through, he asks for chicken nuggets, french fries, and Diet Coke because of Chic Fil A and he calls every drink Diet Coke. Yesterday, I picked up a prescription at Walgreens drive through and he asked for those things. Seriously, that is sad.

* Yesterday I said that I don't feel good and Zane said, "Mommy's sick. Mommy Tylenol." And he said it in a sad voice and gave me a hug. :)

* He says, "Does that sound good?" Also, "See ya later, I'm going to the store. I'm going shopping." (and he grabs a bag and acts like he's walking out the door) He also says "I 'm checking my email" (when he wants to get on the computer.)

* He recognizes and names dump truck, tow truck, cement truck, tractor, train, engine, police car, fire truck, school bus, car, motorcycle, helicopter, airplane, truck, bike, skateboard, scooter and I'm sure others. He also knows that a red light means stop and a green light means go and says it when we're at stop lights while I'm driving.

* Yesterday, when I was making a smoothie, he said, "Woah, Mommy, that's a loud noise!"

* He knows to say he's eating, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, or snack.

* Yesterday, the moon was out during the day, and he said, "Moon! It's night night time. Stars?" :)

* He tries to share toys and food with Emerson and then, when she doesn't take them he says, "She's too little."

I just love my little guy and am amazed at how much he knows and says and learns everyday. He's awesome and I don't want to forget all these little things that happen everyday!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Update on Z and E

Updates on Zane:

* He is now 36 in. tall and weighs about 26 1/2 lbs, which puts him in the 90%tile for height and 30th %tile for weight. His head size is only in the 23rd %tile.

* His vocabulary is completely out of control and he's basically talking in normal sentences all the time now. We have real conversations all day. He is getting pronouns, verb tenses, and the structure of sentences right...it's crazy! For example, if he wants to take a shower, he used to say, "shower?" Now he says, "I am taking a shower with Mommy. It's warm. I'm getting all wet."
Here are some recent funny and amazing things that he says:
* When something sad happens, he says, "Too bad, so sad."
* He says, "Mommy, I need my ___." when he wants something.
* He says, "That makes Mommy sad or that makes Mommy happy or Mommy's silly or funny, depending on what he does or what I do.
* He tells Emerson what he has or what he's doing, like he'll say, "Look, Emerson, I have a sheep. Or "I'm eating lunch, Emerson."
* He tells me about all his "owies," where they are and how and where he got them. "I got an owie on my knee. I feel down at the park." It hurt."
* He says, "What's up, Mommy?"

* I think he has dreams now, and tells me about them. One morning when I went in to get him, he started telling me that the dinosaurs came upstairs and went in his room and that they scared him. He wouldn't stop talking about it all morning. Another time, he told me about all the animals that had been in his room the night before.

* He know the names of books and movies and can go find them out of a huge pile when we ask for one. He also knows a lot of books by heart and can say the words on the pages without help.

* When he's saying a word that we don't know, he repeats it a few times and says no to our guess, but then to help us out he gives us clues and gives us the context of the word by explaining it. For example, he was telling me about his bandaids and I could not understand the word, so then he started telling me "doctor, shot, I cried," etc. until I guessed it.

* His favorite toys right now are his sand box and anything with water, dinosaurs, cars, trains, and anything to do with sports.


Updates on Emerson:

* She is now 23 in. tall and weighs 12 lbs 13 oz., which puts her in the 90th %tile for height and also 90th %tile for weight. Her head size is in the 78th %tile.

* Size 1 diapers are almost too small already and she's wearing 3-6 month clothes pretty comfortably.

* She giggles now a little bit by gasping in while she's smiling. She smiles a ton now, which we are loving!

* She is STILL waking up about 2 times per night to eat. I guess when you are in the 90%tile for weight, you need to eat day and night to keep up! The good thing is that we have started putting her in her bed awake after her last feeding of the night, and she falls asleep on her own. Then she goes right back to sleep after eating during the night.

* She is doing much better at being on her own for small amounts of time, instead of needing to be held constantly, even though she still prefers it.

* She likes being able to sit up and look around instead of laying down and is holding her head up much better.

* She likes baths now and doesn't cry through them anymore. We're making progress.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Birthday / 4th of July Weekend

Our 4th of July weekend was packed with birthday celebrations for our little 2 year old. I can't believe Zane is already 2!! He got to spend time with family, go to a big parade, and have a pool party. We all had so much fun, but were exhausted by the end of the weekend.

These are pictures of Zane opening some gifts from his Grandparents.

He got a new sand box, which he had been asking for everyday during the past few weeks. He hates when his hands get dirty, so of course he really couldn't stand sand getting on his hands and feet at first. Now he's gotten used to it so he's having so much fun getting messy and playing in it.


On the 4th, we went to the parade in Monument with Aunt Nell. Here's us getting dressed and ready...
They both look so serious and I think look so much alike in this picture. :) :)
On the way to the parade, we had one happy, excited boy.




Emerson slept soundly as we walked through crowds, heard really loud gun shots and sirens, and ran over bumps. I wish she would sleep that well at home!
After the parade, we had a "pizza party" with more family.


Zane got a new table and chairs from his Grandparents.

He got some new books from his aunts and uncles.

Then, Sunday night, we had a big BBQ pool party at our neighborhood pool. It was a Veggie Tales at the pool theme. The balloons and napkins were Bob, Larry, and Junior, as well as the cake.

He liked to let the balloons go "high in the sky" and watch them fly away. He's saying, "Bye, green balloon."

He had a bunch of little buddies to play with. While the weather was still stormy, they entertained themselves by running back and forth on the deck since they couldn't swim. They ended up getting a little time in the pool later on.


He had frosting on his face and was so happy while opening gifts. It was cute because he named each thing and then wanted to stop and play with each gift. When he got books, he sat down and read them, with each toy he begged to open it, and he wanted to eat the candy.

Emerson had fun too, but was tired by the end. Here's a big yawn.
Here's a before, in between, and after picture of the cake. Thanks, Sharon, for making it for us! When the group sang "Happy Birthday" he stood completely still and stared at everyone in shock. He wasn't sure what to think about so many people singing for him. (I wish I would have gotten his expression on tape!) Then he blew out the candles and wanted to eat.