We celebrated his 2.5 year birthday at Disneyland! I actually didn’t even realize it until we were headed home.
Another 6 months has passed since I last did an update, and we’ve had Charly around since then!
Size: 38lbs? I really have no idea, we should stick him on the scale here at home. Height, 41.5″ we measured him before we went to Disneyland. He’s wearing 5T/6 clothing. Size 9 shoes. We’re on the verge of the season changing back to warm again, so I need to buy him some summer gear. He’s one of the biggest kids his age I’ve ever met. When we meet new people they always ask how old he is. They are shocked when I tell them.
Health: He had the real full blown stomach flu over the weekend after Thanksgiving. It was gnarly. He tried to tell us he didn’t feel well, and we didn’t understand him until he got sick on the living room floor after refusing breakfast. When I went into his room I found out he’d probably gotten sick during the night, but we never heard him make a peep on the monitor. He spent the rest of the day laying on the couch, using the “barf bowl” and looking miserable. He got sick all over me multiple times when I would hold him, no warning. By the end of the day he would say “mess!” every time he was going to get sick. His fever spiked that night and after treating it he was much better. I read a lot about vomiting and got much better at managing when and what to give him. I slept on the floor of his room half of that night, and he was back to himself the next day. We thought he may have had the chicken pox after Christmas and were frantically texting everyone we thought might know. We ended up taking him to the Peditrician just to be safe. They ruled it an isolated allergic reaction, and the only thing I can pin it to is the ALL Free And Clear Detergent we’d recently started using. The bumps on his face still haven’t 100% cleared up
Sleep:Kid NEEDS his sleep. I have a feeling he’ll be napping for a good long time. I think he’s like his Daddy. He takes an 1.5 – 3 hour nap and sleeps from 7:30pm – 6:30am. If we’re off our routine for too many days in a row he doesn’t handle it well. He’s not a mess, he’s just so so much happier when he’s gotten the right amount of sleep. He’s always been like that. If he misses a nap, or doesn’t sleep long enough I pull up his bedtime to offset it. Still happy in his big brother room, and wakes up calling for us. If he’s taken a good nap he wakes up so chatty and just rambles on about all kinds of things.
Eating: I’m a little frustrated with the pickiness that’s appeared recently and the “yuck!” faces I get when I offer him new foods. I try to give him 2/3 things he will for sure eat (grain or any kind of fruit or dairy) and then offer 1 new thing. Sometimes he eats the new thing, sometimes he doesn’t. He loves green smoothies, which is the only way he’s eating green veggies. Breakfast foods are still his favorite. He’s just started grabbing a whole apple from the fridge and eating it for real, it’s so cute and funny. He ate one today and got it all the way down to the core! I’m trying to get him into more veggies and new kinds of foods, but I think he eats pretty well for a toddler so I can’t be too upset. I do kind of repeat foods (I do it for myself too) so that’s part of it.
What Riley is up to: His personality is coming through and he’s a funny, organized and focused kid. He can be very particular about how he wants something done. He likes routine, and will remind me if I’ve missed a step. He has a great attention to detail and really good fine and gross motor skills. He can throw a ball, do a floor puzzle and he’s learning to dress and bathe himself. I think he’s pretty typical when it comes to behavior and energy. He’s moderate energy, and tantrums have gotten so much better. We rarely have to count to 3 and get him to time out. Times we do are often for pushing boundaries, or hitting the dog. Poor Betsy. His speech is coming along, and he’s saying new words every week. He’s also counting to 10 on his own and starting to identify letters. He cannot go outside without his sunglasses and a hat.
BFFS. Doing the Long Distance Thing.
Loves rain puddles!Helping me celebrate 30Same age. 1 day apart. BFFs for Life!
Stomach Flu Day
Halloween 2015
“Ma Boat!!!”
Cars in a line – TA-DA!Big Brother
Toys + Activities: Hotwheels, park trips, stroller walks, walking Betsy, stacking, lining up cars, cooking, helping with tools, painting, Playdough, Curious George, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Thoughts: It’s a sweet chapter in parenting. Sure, it’s hard and totally exhausting. But it’s so cool to see him becoming more of a little human, and have his own style and personality. I love how happy he gets when he can communicate something to me and I understand him. Being a toddler must feel like being in a foreign country where you have a limited grasp on the language, and you don’t understand all the unnecessary (in your mind) rules for everything. I love that we did Baby Led Weaning with him, he’s very careful when he eats and doesn’t make a huge mess. I’m also glad we encouraged solo play since he’s happy to do something on his own for a while before inviting me to join in or see his finished project. We don’t have any plans to send him to preschool, and I’m pretty happy with that plan. I’d like to homeschool, so we’ll see where it goes.
Weight: 19.3 lb (75%) and 28.5″ (98%). He’s been so active this month so I’m not too surprised that his weight is a little down. But he’s still eating well and nursing for long periods, undistracted. Doctor said everything looked good!
Health: Two bottom teeth! The first came through on New Years day. The second one followed a few days later. Teething just like Riley, but he seems to handle the pain much better. We all had a cold this month, lots of runny noses and congestion.
Sleep:We’re SO close! I was really hoping he’d had doubled his birth weight by this point, but not yet. The days we hang out at home and het gets really solid naps are awesome. He’ll nap from 1.5 – 3 hours depending on how long his morning nap is. Sometimes he’ll take 2, 1.5 – 2 hour naps and then a 45min evening cat nap. Bedtime is 7pm. And I’ll dream feed him between 9:30pm and 10pm before I got to bed. Some nights he’ll sleep through the night until 7am/8am. Other nights he’ll wake at 2am or 4am to eat, and then go back to sleep. Because his night waking is random I’m sure it’s because he’s hungry. I typically let him fuss for 5min before I go down to feed him, just to make sure he’s actually hungry. He’s falling asleep on his own, and sometimes I’ll have to sit in the room until he calms down, or “sush” until he’s relaxed.
Nursing: Going well, I’ve gone back to feeding him on both sides, just to make sure he’s really getting full feedings. Sometimes he takes both, sometimes not. Teething has made way for biting, not cool. But we’re still doing ok. He started solids this month. I can’t keep food way from him! If he’s sitting on my lap he’s clawing at my plate to get handfuls. He loves sitting in the high chair during meal times and will eat anything I give him. So far he’s had: avocado, banana, broccoli, blue berries, raspberries, green beans, sweet potato, carrots, red potatoes, Dave’s Killer Bread (toasted), yogurt, steak and pot roast. Meat is probably his favorite. Which makes sense, red meat was one of my major cravings when I was pregnant. Funny – since I was vegiterian when I was pregnant with Riley, how stuff changes! We’re doing Baby Led Weaning with him, like we did with Riley. It’s much less stressful the second time around. Plus, since I’m doing Whole 30 I have tons of BLW friendly food around. I haven’t offered him water yet – I was at target yesterday and didn’t find the sippy/straw cup I wanted.
What Charly is up to: We are for sure in the sweet spot. He’s happy and content. He’s sleeping and napping pretty well and can roll around to get to toys he wants to play with. I’m excited for him to sit up, soon I hope. He’s much more of a roller than Riley was. He’s so happy when we go in to get him after a nap, or when he wakes up in the morning. Watching him discover food has been really fun too. He’s generally a really happy, chill and content baby.
Still holding onto those blue eyes!
With his BFF
PostPartum: I had my Women’s Wellness exam this month, and all is well. I’ve still got like 18lbs to go before I’m back to my pre-pregnancy starting weight. I seem to be holding onto it longer than last time around. But I was lighter when I got pregnant, so maybe it’s all just the numbers. My tummy is still hanging out, and some weight around my hips…oh, and my nursing situation makes me hold extra weight up top. I have to get it together and get fitted for a new nursing bra. Even the ones I was wearing with Riley at this point are too snug. Just so dang expensive. But, for something I’ll be wearing for another year, probably justified. I’m not back to working out yet. I just can’t make time for it. I’m eating really well, and constantly packing and cleaning around the house so it’s not like I’m not active. I miss a traditional work out – and I’ll get back to it, this just isn’t the time.
Baby Gear: Lots of teething toys. Highchair. We just got a new to us Bob Double Stroller, never thought I would want one, but Riley still really likes the stroller. Ergo. His lovie (a bear) we call Lil’ Oso.
Thoughts: The coming weeks and months are going to be crazy. Like I was telling Kelly the other night – our life is so unbalanced. We don’t see each other very much because of how his schedule is, and that bothers us both. We’re looking forward to moving and getting more quality family time together. I try to take photos and videos of the kids, but it just doesn’t make up for the personal time. I can’t wait for weekend adventures and family dinners.
The Merfett 