Harris - 12 months

Sneaking this one in before the end of March so I can check it off my ever-growing blog to-do list.  But, we need some stats here people.  Cito-meeto is ONE!

Weight:  21 lbs, no change since the 9 month appointment and in the 25th percentile

Length:  75th percentile - long and lean like his sissy

Food: all table food.  Loves fruit, steamed veggies, sausage, pasta and carbs galore
Officially off the bottle and on whole milk.  The sippy cup skills are slowly improving.
Teeth:  Top front four, bottom front three and two right molars coming in now.

Walking and now starting to run....well, walk REALLY fast after Harper and usually bite it face first in the process.  The climbing has started. Harris can now climb on top of Harper's bed and on some of the furniture.  Yes, being a boy mom is very different!

Loves:  His pacifiers (I feel like breaking that habit will be a blog post in and of itself), food, laughing, people, Honey & Grandy, banging and making noise, animals (especially Rooney and Pretty Kitty), dancing in the car (which is awesome!)

Sleep:  BETTER!  I fully attribute this to the tubes and the time change.  Going down at 7pm - or I should say crashing hard at 7pm.  He'll either wake up at 5am and want to be held for just a few minutes and then goes back down or sleeps all the way through until 6:30pm or 7pm.  Harris is a great napper, down to one nap a day but goes down about 12:30pm and sleeps until about 3pm.

Communication:  Babbling up a storm.  We're working on baby signing but pointing and grunting is his main form of communication.  Says dadada, mamama, lalala and babbles quite a bit.

Harper and Harris - I am in love with this relationship.  Harris adores his big sister and follows her around where ever she goes.  Harper is sweet with Harris most of the time.  She has gotten a little protective with toys and I, personally, think it's hilarious to see her devise plans of how not to let her little brother touch her toys.  She can be pretty creative!  In the car, they will just stare at each other and laugh.  When Harper dances, Harris dances.  When Harper runs, Harris tries to keep up.  When Harper wants to do a puzzle, guess where Harris is????  

Two and a Half - Harper

My little Squirrely Whirl,

You are two and a half!  And you love to say it.  I can just hear your little voice "two-and-a-haff".  I remember when you were a baby thinking that I couldn't wait until the day when I could carry on a conversation with you.  Well that day is here and it's even more fun than I thought it was going to be!

There are times when I wish you could stay two and a half forever.  You are so curious.  One of your favorite things to say is "Wha-wha-wha what's dat Mommy?" and "Where's it going anywhere?" meaning where is something going or what is it doing. You sing ALL DAY LONG.  It is so sweet to hear you in your own little world just singing and singing and singing.  Your favorites tend to be Old MacDonald, Ram Sam Sam, Jesus Loves Me, Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman.

When you are home, you are a total chatterbox.  You are non-stop talk but get you outside of the house and it always takes you some time to warm up.  You love to giggle and dance and run through the house yelling "ahahahahahahah!!!!!"

Other things you love?  DINOSAURS!  You can't get enough.  T-Rex is your absolute favorite but you amaze me with your knowledge.  You can name T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Triceratops, Brachiosaurus, Diplodocus, Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, Pachycephalosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Stegoceras, Anchylosaurus, Coelophysis, Velociraptor, Microraptor, Utahraptor, Corythosaurus, Protoceratops, Chasmasaurus and I'm sure there are more.  How do you know ALL of those dinosaurs???  You have dinosaur costumes, dinosaur shirts, dinosaur sneakers, dinosaur legwarmers, dinosaur pjs, dinosaur wall stickers, small plastic dinosaurs, stuffed dinosaurs, dinosaur books...you are a dinosaur explosion and I'm sure the collection will continue.  Let's just hope your little brother is as into dinosaurs as you are!  If you had it your way, you would be adorned in something dinosaur at all times.

Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles.  You could sit and work puzzles all day long and sometimes, you do!  You especially love your Thomas the Tank Engine puzzles.

You don't get them very often but you love a cookie and savor every last bite.  Daddy and I have to laugh at how long you take to eat a cookie but you know how to make it last.

Coloring, stamping and stickers are great entertainment in your world.  I think we bust out the art supplies at least once a day.

You love Ms. Lisa, your teacher at school.   You love your Honey and Grandy.  You love talking to Grammy on Skype.  You love your uncle Brent.  Any time these people are mentioned, you jump and up down and get so excited.

Don't get me wrong, you definitely like to test the limits.  There are days when I think you could gold medal in whining but it can usually be beat with the threat of time out or banishment to your room.  You're also learning to challenge your mother and can get a little gleam of mischievousness in your eyes but you are quick to make sure that we are on good terms when you know you've pushed the limit a little too far.  Good thing time out is an effective tool for you!

You are starting to have that oh-so-typical love/hate relationship with your little brother.  You always want to know where he is and what he's doing, love making him laugh and can dole out hugs and kisses when you think no one is watching.  But you're quickly realizing that he wants whatever it is you might be playing with.  He also wants to follow you EVERYWHERE.  I have some good and bad news.  He'll, most likely, want to follow you everywhere for the next few years.  Enjoy this time with your built in best friend.  He won't always be scurrying at your feet!

You have a definite sense of style.  Most days, you have a firm opinion about your outfit and what you would like to wear.  I've learned to pick my battles and love seeing what your little imagination decides is the fashion of the day.

I love you so much my little Squirrel and you make me smile all of the time.

Happy two and a half years!

Love,

Mommy

Harris - 11 months

My happy little pumpkin is eleven months old.

 

Four Teeth

Walking!!!  Yes, fully walking and so proud of himself.

Saying dada, mama, baba but not necessarily at anything.

Points at everything and waits for us to say what it is. As soon as we do, he breaks out in a huge smile.

Follows his sister everywhere and loves sharing things with her.

Still not sleeping through the night.  Someone please tell me he magically will when he turns one!

Starting to wean himself off of bottles and great table food eater.  LOVES fruit and veggies.

Loves his pacifier, his elephant Wubbanub, his little stuffed football and his plastic mixed veggies and plastic waffle that he confiscated from Harper's kitchen.  He likes to have one of these five items if not all of them in his hands or mouth throughout the day. 

Harris is such a happy boy and loves being around people and animals.  He is our little social butterfly and will smile at almost anyone.  Such a sweet boy.

Harris - Ten Months

I realize the boy is about to hit 11 months but I'm squeezing the ten month markers in before the deadline.  The pictures were authentically taken about a week after Cito turned ten months and I'm trying desperately to remember what he wasn't doing three weeks ago.

Teeth - three.  Two on bottom, one on top with the fourth just on the edge of his gums when he turned ten months.

Diet - I weaned Harris just before we left for our trip to DR so at ten months, he's officially formula.  He's also moved to table foods - hooray!  And he won't have anything to do with someone feeding him with a spoon.  This boy wants to feed himself only.

Crawling like crazy and taking about 3 steps at a time.  He is just on the verge of walking but is moving everywhere.

Sleep - still not great at ten months but I have a little update to the sleep department headed your way!

Just now starting to get stranger anxiety.  This hit on December 22 when we had our Santa party and it's stuck.  He'll smile all he can at a passing stranger but he only wants to be held by those that know him best.

Harris adores his sister and now follows her everywhere.  Harper goes to her room, Cito goes to her room.  Harper goes the kitchen, Cito goes to the kitchen.  Harper goes to the potty, Cito goes to the potty.  

Harris is just starting to get verbal and is making more noises with each day.  

Throughout late December and January, Harris's face was covered in war wounds from attempts at walking. The poor child was a giant scab.

And Harris LOVES his Daddy.  He wants Mommy when all is great and dandy but when he's feeling sick and puny, he only wants Jared.  

My sweet, happy boy!

Potty Training Sucks

Okay people.  Time to be fully honest.  Time to lay it all out there.  Time to swallow my pride.  Funny thing about parenting - just when you think you have it TOTALLY figured out, something rolls along and b#%@*-slaps you across the face.  For me, it was potty training. 

Let me start from the beginning because there are oh-so-many-details to include in this one little post.  So at the end of the summer, Jared and I started talking about potty training.  We had some initial thoughts to try to squeeze this process in August but at Harper's teacher conference before the school year started, her teacher said they really wouldn't focus on this until after Christmas so we gave ourselves a little break.  In the meantime, I thought it might be smart to go out and purchase a little training potty to get The Squirrel use to the idea of it all.  I made a big deal out of it and took her with me to BrUs to pick out her own potty, just like all of the books say to.  They had a cute little froggy potty, a nice sleek modern white potty, a fun potty with a happy face on it - all great options.  But then, before I could block her vision, she spotted it - the horrendously ugly and terribly annoying talking Elmo potty.  Ugh.

"Dat one Mommy, dat one!"  I put on my best sales smile and tenderly tried steering her in the direction of any other the aforementioned options.  

"Look at this cute one Squirrel!  It would be so fun to tinkle on!"  

"No Mommy.  Dat one.  Elmo, Elmo, ELMO, ELMO ELMO!"

Great.  So now I was stuck with the talking Elmo potty. Whatever.  

After many a conversations with friends, I decided that the Three-Day Method made total sense to me.  I have friends that SWEAR by it and say "Viola!  Three days and it's a done deal!"  Perfection.  So off I went to read up and study.  Over the next few months, we would practice occasionally on the potty just to get her use to the idea but never any luck.  We tentatively decided on post-Christmas as our go time since Jared would be home for a few days and we could tag-team this action.  Then in November, the Squirrel had a UTI due to the antibiotics she was on so we had to get a urine sample.  Harper successfully sat on the potty at the doctor's office and peed in a cup.  FANTASTIC! I came home, bragging to Jared and we set the firm date.  December 26 we would own that potty!

As Christmas approached, I started talking to Harper about Big Girl Panties - how only babies used diapers, how she was a big girl now and wouldn't it be fun to wear panties, how Santa wanted to bring her a special present of big girl panties.  We would peruse the underwear aisle at Target and talk about all of the many options so I could get an idea of what kind she would get excited about.  All of the books and articles said to  get them underwear that they would want to wear and wouldn't want to get dirty.  We would look at the little girl panties with their explosion of Disney princesses, Dora the Explorer and TinkerBell.  The Squirrel took no interest what-so-ever.  Until the day she spotted them...Thomas the Tank Engine panties....err, should I say underwear. That's right.  She wanted the Thomas underwear and only the Thomas underwear.  Unfortunately, they only make Thomas underwear for those equipped with the male anatomy.  Believe me, I searched high and low.  And after that point, when we talked about panties, she insisted that she only wanted the Thomas panties.  So yes, I bought my sweet little girl Thomas underwear made for boys.  

Then the week of Christmas, out of the blue, the Squirrel started saying she wanted dinosaur underwear.  Once again, underwear makers are totally sexist and figure that ONLY little boys would want to wear dinosaur underwear.  After searching high and low, I finally found them and made the purchase of boy dinosaur underwear.  I did buy girl panties to throw in the mix and try to see if she might want them from time to time - guess what, she doesn't.

On Christmas Eve, the girl had a rough night of sleep and Christmas night was the same story.  It was accompanied by a runny nose so before we dove head first into potty training, we woke up the morning of December 26 and made a quick trip to the doctor to get her ears checked out.  No ear infection so home we came and it was GO TIME!  

Let me tell you, I was ready.  First off, I just knew this Three Day Method was going to work for my Harvard-bound girl.  Why wouldn't it?  According to all of the books, she was showing all signs of readiness.    Second, I refused to let my child be the one sporting pull-ups.  They are so tacky.  What parent puts their child in a pull up?  Really people.  Grow a pair and get your child potty trained in three days.  No, we were going to do this and do it right.  Away with the diapers!  No pull ups in our house hold!  Panties....er, underwear....all the way!

So The Squirrel woke up from her nap, we went naked from the waist down just like I'd read and did a little show and tell with T-Rex.  I showed her how he tinkled in the potty (with a syringe and some water), how he pooped in the potty (with mini chocolate chips), how he flushed and washed his hands, how he got a mini-marshmellow for a successful trip on the potty and how he got a sticker on the sticker chart.  I also showed her what would happen when he had an accident - how we would run back and forth from the accident spot to the potty chanting "No tinkle on the floor, we tinkle on the potty!" ten times and how he would help clean up the mess, just like I'd read.  It seemed to click.  She had two little tinkles on the floor and then she understood what it was coming out of her.  She started running to the potty.  We had success people!  We were still waiting for a BM but I just knew that would come in the next 24 hours.  We also had everything set out for playing on the hardwood floors for three days of entertainment.  Legos, a huge cardboard train from Uncle LJ to color, a tinkle tea party, dinosaurs, crayons, markers, coloring books.  I even documented each step so I could appropriately brag about our success here on the blog and, of course, be pinned all over Pinterest as an example of how to successfully potty train your child.  I could just imagine the praise as it was poured down on me for my perfect mothering.  

Day Two - The Squirrel woke up and peed all over her chair at breakfast.  Next she peed all over her chair in time out (one of my cloth covered dining room chairs, mind you).  And then she peed all over her carpet in her room.  Okay, so we were having a little set back.  But we corrected the action, didn't freak out when the accidents happened and just had the girl sit on the potty after each accident and then help clean up the tinkle.  By lunch, she was sucking down apple juice and water like it was no body's business and having success again.  Perfect.  We could just edit this little morning episode out of my stupendous parenting blog post and move on.  However, Jared and I were quickly realizing that the girl was needing to make a "movement" but was squeezing it in with all her might.  Okay, little hiccup but we could fix that.  I had little toddler suppositories so I inserted one of those suckers and we spent the next hour sitting on the potty waiting for that movement.  By that time, it was creeping past nap time and the girl was basically falling asleep on the toilet so we threw padding and covers all over her bed in case the suppository kicked in during her nap and tucked her in for a snooze.  She woke up from her nap, had plenty of success with the urine but zero with the other stuff.  By that night, so we were starting to panic a little. 

Day Three a.k.a. Total Chaos - The Squirrel woke up and kept peeing everywhere but the toilet.  Wait a minute.  All of the other moms said Day Three would be easy peasy.  My child genius should not be peeing on the floor.  It had to be the doo doo situation throwing her all off.  Well, we could fix that...again...but no, for real, this time I would fix it.  I sent Jared off to the pharmacy for a little Pedia-Lax.  The directions said it would cause a stirring in 6-12 hours so we gave the girl a dose and went outside with our potty in tow for a little fresh air.  We were ALL getting stir crazy.  So about 5 minutes into playing, Jared and I both looked away for about 3 seconds, looked back and the Squirrel had snuck off behind the grill and was clearly doing her business.  6-12 hours my foot!  It had been about 10 minutes!  We grabbed her, threw down her pants, stuck her on the Elmo potty but it was too late.  It was EVERYWHERE.  And it was 38 degrees outside.  So after some code word cussing by her parents (are we the only ones that code word cuss when the kids are around?), the poor girl got cleaned up in the freezing cold.  It wasn't until I went in to wash out her clothes in the sink that I looked in the mirror and I saw it.....THERE WAS POOP IN MY HAIR!  Yes, I might have shed a tear or two.  I might have exclaimed to Jared that this was the absolute hardest thing I had ever done as a parent!!!  Um, listen here sister - your child was in the NICU for 9 weeks.  You went home without her.  She's gone through surgery.  You had your appendix taken out while you were pregnant with baby #2.  You have a second child that still isn't sleeping through the night at 9 months.  Potty training is NOT the hardest thing you have ever done as a parent.  Get a grip!

Day Four - Okay, so I will be the expert on the Four Day Method.  New concept!  I'll write a book!  I'll be famous!  Perfect.  Day Four was just about as bad as Day Three with another no pooping day.

Day Five - Last ditch effort.  This will click today, this will click today, this will click today.  By the end of the day, I had cleaned poop out of two pair of Thomas the Train underwear and was waving a white flag.  On went the Pull-Ups and online I went to find out how people potty train that aren't using the Three Day Method.  

Then I found it on Kindle - Stress Free Potty Training by Sara Au and Peter Stavinoah.  I read it from cover to cover that night and everything clicked - for me.  Basically, my child is an Internalizing Child.  And I know this.  She takes time to warm up to new situations, she is in no way shape or form a dare devil, she has a definite comfort zone and doesn't like to step a toe outside of that, I have to prep her for each day by telling her what the day will consist of.  And here I was trying to toss the poor child into a new routine with the snap of my fingers.  I'm an idiot.  

So bottom line, we backed WAY off. We put away the timer that was buzzing every 15 minutes to tell us to stick her on the potty.  We threw away the marshmellows - I think I was also throwing sugar highs into the mix.  We just let the girl start going at her own pace.  And guess what, she might be in a pull up but its working.  We've now had three successful BMs on the potty and today was the first day that she peed on the toilet every time she had to go!  Now, I certainly don't think we're out of the woods here and we certainly aren't ready to sport our boy underwear 24 hours a day, but Harps is adjusting to this new routine in her own time and she'll get the hang of it eventually.  

So there you have it.  My first experience in potty training.  And knowing Cito, he'll put me through a whole different experience when its his turn.  Maybe I'll get my shiny parent trophy his time around!

And now I leave you with all of my "teaching pictures" from Day One and Two and then ones since then that I just found humerous.  Oh, and as you might notice, she decided on Day One that she no longer liked the Elmo potty so we ended up with a potty seat and a stool.  Harris, on the other hand, now loves to chew on the Elmo potty.  So that's special.

Getting a marshmellow from Mommy's Potty Training Apron

A potty tea party

  

This sweet boy was so patient being stuck inside for five days

Triceratops has to tinkle too

We spend a lot of time without pants on now around our house per my new potty gurus

Proud of my girl for all of her hard work!

  

Harris - 9 Months

I've been good to take these pictures on the actual 9th of each month but posting them has been another story.  So a few days late but I'm trying to only document things Cito was doing up until his 9th month and not over the last 10 days because, believe it or not, there have been some significant changes.

This last month can be summed up with two words - ear infections.  It seems like Harris lived at the pediatricians office and was on some form of antibiotics for the entire month.  We have our appointment with the ENT in January and I'm praying for tubes. The good news is that his inhailers are doing their jobs and his breathing has gotten much better.

The raise in ear infections has resulted in a lack of sleep.  We might have had one or two nights of uninterrupted sleep but otherwise, this mama has been up throughout the night and is pooped!  You'd never know it from my happy boy though.  He's still full of smiles.

We're venturing into finger foods much to the dismay of his father.  If Jared had his way, our kids would have their food pureed until they were 30 but the kid's gotta learn how to eat!

My boy is busy, busy, busy.  He is crawling like a maniac and pulling up on anything he can get his hands on.  I must say, he's pretty quick to get his bearings too.  

Cito has found his voice and has this Chewbacca noise that he makes.  It's pretty hysterical.  Most of his babble consists of da-da-da but the ma-ma-mas are starting to slip in there.

And he adores his sister.  They just laugh at each other all day and it totally melts my heart.