Family

Riley is 2.5

We celebrated his 2.5 year birthday at Disneyland! I actually didn’t even realize it until we were headed home.

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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.

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BFFS. Doing the Long Distance Thing.

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Loves rain puddles!
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Helping me celebrate 30
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Same age. 1 day apart. BFFs for Life!

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Stomach Flu Day

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Halloween 2015

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“Ma Boat!!!”

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Cars in a line – TA-DA!
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Big Brother

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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.

Family

NewMerfbaby is a Beachball!

NewMerfbaby is 37 weeks!beach-ballScreen Shot 2013-07-08 at 3.00.42 PM

He’s the size of a beachball. Yea. Sounds about right.

How I’m Feeling: I’m ready. Well, physically I think I’m just finished being pregnant and ready for the next stage to begin. It’s harder and harder to do daily life with a toddler. I was still going into the office every day at this point in my pregnancy with Riley, and I can’t imagine that now. But then I think about it, and Riley sort of is like my job?

Belly/Weight: 38lbs gained so far. And I think I’ll probably stick to that. It’s been fluctuating the last few appointments between the same numbers so I’ll probably hover around 40lbs, same as Riley. New stretch mark over my bellybutton is kind of sad :(

Life Changes: Kelly’s back to shooting his show, so it’s just me and Riley most days and evenings. Sometimes we get to see Kelly in the morning before work, or he’ll get home just in time for Riley’s bedtime which is nice. Riley and I have slowed down a lot. I’m mostly nesting around the house, and Riley’s helping me “un-nest” and move things around after I’ve set something up. He can sense the changes coming and he’s been a little clingy and whiney – seems to be totally normal toddler behavior, but I am a little sad that the time with just us is coming to an end soon. But I can’t wait for him to have a brother – I think it’s going to be awesome!

Movement: I tried twice to get a video tonight of my tummy bouncing all over the place, but both times he got camera shy!

Sleep: Slept hard last night, and thankfully Riley even slept in until 7am today! I make it a priority to lay down every day during Riley’s nap – sometimes I nap, sometimes I just rest. It’s been awesome. I know I need to conserve any extra energy for labor and the early days.

Cravings: In N Out – we had it for lunch today after my OB appointment.

Exercise: Zero. We walked around the neighborhood over the weekend and that’s about all I have in me. Did some swimming (floating) in our pool.

Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week: This is a strange one…my OB appointment. I didn’t think she would “check” me today so I wasn’t prepared when the nurse asked me to undress…and I had Riley with me. Caught with my pants down (literally) with a cranky toddler that was “all done” (his words) with the Dr’s office. He sobbed and tantrumed while we waited for her to come in…I’m sure the other people in the office loved that :) Finally I convinced him to let me hold him and he rested his head on my shoulder and calmed down. Dr came in and asked how I was doing and I explained his behavior, and she said her oldest did the same thing right before she had her second. I figured it’s all normal behavior, but she reminded me that they can sense that everything is going to change. Broke my heart a little. He was fine the rest of the visit, and when she checked me I was 1cm – so that’s something at least! She also doesn’t think I’ll go past my July 29th due date which sounds amazing, and scary all at the same time. Sort of makes me feel better about all the cramping and contractions I’ve been having.

On My Mind: I’m totally at peace with whenever labor begins. I was really anxious about it all a few months ago. Worrying about Riley, and if Kelly would make it home in time. But, the closer it gets I feel totally fine about it. I can’t control it, so we’ll just deal with it when it happens. I have some plans in place for everything so we’ll just roll with it. Totally doesn’t sound like me, huh?

On another note – I’m preparing myself for becoming the leader of a legit 3 ring circus. Just this week we’ve had TWO major public “situations.” The first was Monday at the bank. Riley was playing while I did our banking – our bank has a child area in the middle of the lobby next to the tellers, it has legos and iPads. After I was done I went to get him and a bank employee caught my attention to ask me a question about my pants (she’s expecting and wanted to know where I got them) so we chatted while I kept one eye on Riley. He took off toward the entrance off the bank so I quickly ended my chat to chase after him. He ran into an empty office just as I got to him, then he spun on his heel and ran FULL STEAM into the glass wall of the office. Smacked his forehead, which sent him flying backwards so the back of his head hit the desk. WAM-BAM. It was so sad, poor kid. The same employee comes tearing around the corner explaining that it happens a lot with kids. Hm. Glass walls maybe not so much? Luckily we use a small bank and were the only customers in there, but man. What a scene. It all happened so fast, and I was like .5 seconds behind him. So, today we’re waiting in the lobby of my OB’s office and I get up to use the restroom and Riley goes trotting ahead of me a step and a half. He pauses in front of the door and just as I’m reaching for him to pull him back a nurse opens the door at the exact moment he turns toward it and WHACK! Another hit. What are the odds? The nurse was horrified, but I scooped Riley up and told her over and over again to not feel bad, we’re learning not to stand in front of doors. Seriously – it’s been something he’s having to learn the hard (aw, pun) way. So. Screaming. Pain. Tears. Yea, 3 ring circus and we haven’t even added our newest act yet. The really ironic thing is – Riley rarely walks in public, since he prefers to be carried or ride in his stroller. Lately it’s a lot of stroller riding since I can’t carry him much. And he’s not a kid that bolts away from me. But both those situations happened in places that we visit weekly and he’s comfortable. So, yea. The Murphy Circus is coming to a town near you!

Family

NewMerfbaby is a Toilet Brush

NewMerfbaby is 27 weeks!

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About 14 1/2 inches long and 14 weeks to go!

How I’m Feeling: OK. I really feel pregnant this time around – and I overdid it on Friday so I had some intense Pelvic Pressure that was bothering me. Saw my OB and Chiropractor this week and everything looks good! He’s very active, and I’m always thankful when I feel him moving around.

Belly/Weight: Eh, gained more last month than I should have. I’m up 28lbs so far, which is ahead of where I was with Riley at this point. I’m more active during this pregnancy, but I’m not on top of my diet as much. Trying to make little changes here and there to keep the weigh gain slowed. I probably “feel” more pregnant because of that weight gain too!

Life Changes: Passed the Glucose test – yay! Man, that stuff is gross. The color is just so wrong. Ick. Trying to be better about resting and taking it easy during the day. It’s hard because I know I have to preserve my energy with Riley since I have to make it from wake up to bedtime. He does take a nice long afternoon nap, so I get a break in the middle of the day – and I totally just sit and try to relax. Sometimes I pay bills or email – but I try to get off my feet during that time.

Movement: We think he’s face-up right now, and that was part of the reason I had so much pressure on Friday. He was flipping. I feel like he’s high – I have little to no appetite and killer heartburn. I really only eat 2x a day because dinner hardly sounds good.

Sleep: Rolling over at night is getting to be more challenging, but I’m still sleeping well thankfully.

Cravings: Sushi. Oh man, I want sushi BAD. I’ve probably mentioned it to Kelly like 5 times lately.

Exercise: Yep. Had to cancel on Tuesday because Riley’s been sick, and a hot mess. Really hoping to get some Yoga in soon. I need it. My Chiropractor told me I need to take deeper breathes. My diaphragm is super tight and deep breaths will help. I try to be more aware of it – and just thinking about it will cause me to take a deep breath.

Favorite Pregnancy Moment this week:  Planning a little early (like a month) 2nd birthday for Riley with a few of his (and our) friends. Thinking about his 2nd birthday is crazy – but also realizing that if we wait too long to celebrate it I could be too preggo, or the baby might be here!

On My Mind:  Parenting a toddler. Had to stand my ground on some tantrum stuff with Riley this week and it’s exhausting and embarrassing when it happens in public. I can’t blame it completely on him having a cold and not feeling well – some of it really is him testing boundaries and getting upset when I don’t give in. Just have to think big picture.