Here's the Latest

Unfortunately, when I say the latest, that means I'm about do a super brief coverage of the last few months.  I've been so bad about updating this blog that I find myself trying to catch everyone (including myself) up in one posting - my detailed postings from long ago are just that...from long ago - when life was simpler :)  But not nearly as exciting!

So, here goes...

Mattie Jane is now wearing panties!  She has done so awesome with potty training the last few weeks.  Other than a few wet diapers in the morning, she has managed to keep her diapers dry all day long.  Poopin' hasn't been quite as successful, but we're crossing our fingers that the transition to panties will encourage more potty use when she gets the urge. 

In addition to potty training, Mattie also transitioned to a big girl bed back in December.  We are in the process of adding the final touches to her big girl room - I will add a few pictures very soon.  But here's a little sneak peek...

In terms of growth and development, we are wondering where our baby girl has gone!  Mattie's vocabulary has exploded over the past six months and she has continued growing like a weed since birth.   She currently wears a 3T, but anything I buy from this point on will be a 4T.  She's snug as a bug in a rug in her 3Ts.

We're currently working on breaking the paci habit.  Mattie HAS to have her paci when she goes to bed.  Not only does she have to have one in her mouth, but she has to have a few reserves too.

I wonder if Dora and Boots would mind helping us out with this one...any one know how we can get in touch with them?  We're gonna need to bring in reinforcements for this one.

As for Evan - we now have a young man on our hands.  I am constantly blown away by his ability to think and reason.  He has a love for numbers and a love for learning in general.  He recently woke me up and said, "Mama, I can can count backwards."  Still half asleep I waited to hear "...10, 9, 8, 7..."  But instead I got "100, 99, 98, 97..." all the way to zero.  Yes, it was painful to sit there that long, but I was so impressed by this skill.  He then counted backwards from 100 by 10's and then 5's.  He recognizes and can write all of his numbers from 1 to 100 as well.

I am most impressed by these abilities because Evan just gets it.  He understands order and sequence which is the foundation for basic math.  He loves to read the clock and figure out how many minutes he has until his bedtime - and he always figures it out.

Evan is also excelling in reading.  He recognizes many of his sight words and also does a great job sounding out the words he is reading.  Because I am a teacher, I try really hard not to "over teach" Evan at home.  We take advantage of those teachable moments instead and he seems to respond positively to this.  Evan is very much a pleaser, so he loves to hear "good job" and "you're so smart" and all those encouraging phrases.

Since he began walking, Evan has walked on his toes.  For a long time we thought he would just grow out of it, but that has not been the case.  Here we are almost 4 years later and he is still perched up on those toes.

If he is bare footed and on a hard surface he will be high up on his toes, much like a ballerina.  With shoes on, he will rise up on his toes periodically, but most of the time he will walk flat footed.  But his flat footed walk doesn't look like the average flat footed walk.  He sways his hips a bit which tends to look feminine.

As concerned parents, we of course don't want Evan to suffer from any physical issues later on in life or any psychological issues from walking "differently."  We all know how evil school aged children can be.  I made contact with a physical therapist to see what, if anything, we could do to try and correct his issue.

We are about 4 sessions in, and while I don't think there will be a miraculous fix, I definitely learned a lot about what the underlying cause for the toe walking is and how we can work on resolving the issue over time.  In a nutshell, Evan walks on his toes because he has a weak core.  The therapist told me that because Evan started walking so early (10 1/2 months) and never crawled on his hands and knees, he never built up or strengthened his core.  So to compensate for this lack of strength, he walks up on his toes so his core is not doing most of the work.  That's also why when he does walk flat footed, it looks so awkward.  Consider me enlightened by this information.

So, believe it not, all those exercises I do at the gym are the same ones Evan needs to be doing at home.  We need to strengthen his core in order to take the load off his toes.  I'm thinking Evan and I should do Yoga videos together :)

While I love to brag about Evan and the wonderful big boy that he is, I will also say that he's annoying and gross just like the rest of the boys his age.  He constantly makes himself burp and calls his sister silly names just to make her mad.  He spits and hits, knowing how completely inappropriate it is.  But we of course understand that this is all normal - sometimes we have to hide our laughter (because it is actually funny at times) while other times we want to kill him.  And someday Mattie will probably get a good lick in for annoying things like this...

To wrap this posting up, I want to add that Robert was promoted to Regional Director for Wonderworks, Amanda and Scott welcomed Bryson Nash on February 7th and Todd and Barnes just had their first baby girl on February 16th!  We proudly welcome Olivia Katherine to the family!

Whew...that was a lot.

Partners in Crime

We used to have quiet mornings.  Evan knew to come down quietly and play with his toys on our bedroom carpet until Mattie Jane decided to get up.  Now that Evan considers his sister his partner in crime, we awake to a little more excitement.

Also note Evan's "word for the day" - underwear.  I'm scared to know what other words he is teaching his sister.

Table Talk

We ate lunch today at our favorite spot, the Prince Creek Diner.  We are always warmly welcomed by the friendly staff there and all of the waitresses know Evan by name.  There is one waitress in particular that always makes a point to swing by our table to say hi and to chat Evan up a bit.  I'm thinking today she got more than she bargained for...

Sabrina approached the table and said, "Well hello there, Evan.  How are you today?"  A visibally tired Evan gave a quiet nod and hid behind Robert's arm.  We explained to her that we found Evan in the living room at 4:30 this morning playing with his cars and that he had not been back to sleep since.  Sabrina looked at Evan and smiled and said, "Well you must be a very tired little boy, huh?"  Evan looked up at her and said very matter of factly, "I pooped on the floor!"  Robert and I looked at each other and just died laughing.  Sabrina acted like she didn't hear a thing and said, "Y'all sure do have cute kids" and then casually walked away.

We've rehashed this moment several times already today just to get another good laugh.
 

What Did You Say?

I've been asking Evan this question a lot lately. While socializing with kids his own age has been the best experience for him thus far, Evan is learning and retaining more than what is listed on his weekly lesson plan.

Now we are assuming of course that Evan is picking up these sayings and words from the other kids in his class because we don't ever say these things at home.

• As he's sitting on the couch with no underwear he looks down and touches his thang and says, "Evan has a BIG wee wee!  See, Mama?" (how typical, right?)

• I ask Evan to sit with Mattie while I make his breakfast.  He begins to whine and says, "No, I'm sick of Mattie."
• Evan hears a noise and looks at me and says, "Ew Mama, you farted."

We are very much aware that this could be a lot worse, but he is only 2 1/2.  I don't even want to imagine what he's repeating at 5 years old.  We have certainly learned to be very careful about what we say, even to one another when we think he's not listening - because this kid is always listening.

Sufferin' Succotash

Last week my mom found great humor in pointing out that Evan says "yes" with a sort of sloppy lisp.  He also says the letter "S" the same way.  If you remember Sylvester the Cat from Looney Tunes then you know exactly what I'm trying to describe.  It more or less sounds like he has a collection of spit in the back of his mouth. Which is why my mom called out "sufferin succotash" over and over and over again.  It was her effort to poke fun, but to also get a reaction out of Evan.  And, not surprisingly, it worked.

He thought the expression was absolutely hilarious - so hilarious that he made every attempt to repeat it.  Now having practiced it for a few days he has it down pretty well.  He decided to drop the "sufferin'" part and just go with "succotash."  The funniest part about it is that he naturally has the lisp sound down perfectly.

Yesterday morning Robert and I overheard Evan downstairs in his crib going back and forth between "succotash" and his other favorite expression, "yay-ya."  I have a feeling he's gonna be one of those kids that can be told to say anything - could get dangerous.

In baby news, I'm pretty sure I'm starting to feel movement.  What is referred to as quickening is what I'm most likely feeling.  It's a fluttering sensation that sometimes feels like popcorn popping.  It could also just be gas.  My stomach has been bubbling the entire pregnancy - I'm sure you all wanted to know that, but it is a natural part of pregnancy.  Among many other disturbing things.

I have had several requests for an updated belly shot.  Amanda is coming up tomorrow so I will have her take one so I can avoid my infamous mirror shots.  Robert will be leaving me tomorrow for an entire week.  He's heading up to Georgetown to get some things done at the restaurant.  Updates on all of that soon.

Noted Developments

I have to keep reminding myself to make a point to record Evan's developments because I will, without a doubt, be that parent who won't be able to recall the age when their child first said please or thank you or announced he had a "stinky." (by the way - my dad thinks it's ridiculous that we ask Evan if he has a stinky.  He thinks we should express it in a more masculine manner by asking if he - get this- took a dump.  What!? Crass, I know.  No wonder I was such a tomboy growing up.)

So it's important to note that Evan's language has really developed over the last month (18 mo - 19 mo).  He likes to mimic everything I say now which is very entertaining.  His pronunciations are a bit off, but that makes it even funnier.  For example, he loves calling for our dog, Peppers.  Except when he calls for him it sounds more like this:  *scream* Peppooo! *scream* Peppooo!  He screams every time he gets excited and he'll do it over and over again.  It happens every morning when the garbage truck comes down our road too.  He screams and runs to the window and almost tears the blinds off.  He screams over and over again, "It's a guck!  It's a guck!"  It's even more entertaining when the truck comes really early and Evan is still in his crib - through the monitor we hear, *scream* "It's a guck!" *scream* "It's a guck!" 

While my family was here last week it took Evan all of a few minutes to learn who was Mimi and who was Todd.  He loves to announce when someone is walking into the room.  If my mom would walk in he would point and say, "It's Mimi."  Or when Todd would come in he'd say, "It's To (pronounced with a short o).  He attempted to say grandpa a few times, but it just wasn't flowing correctly.  So he settled for dada which was a little creepy.

In addition to an increased vocabulary, he knows all of the animals and their sounds, he knows his body parts and where they are and he knows shapes and colors - among other things.  He loves to sit in my lap with a book and I'll ask him to point to all the different things on the page.  He is always so proud of himself when we make it to the last page because his favorite part is saying "the end."

And the one, not so pleasant, development is his constant use of the word "no."  He says it ALL the time.  He'll say it even when there's no need to say it.  My mom made a good point when she said he probably likes hearing himself say that particular word.  It is one of the few words he says correctly, so that could definitely be the case.  It's not so cute however when we're strolling through the grocery store and he's repeatedly saying "no, no, no.  Other shoppers are looking at me like don't you discipline your child?  It doesn't help that he looks like he's 3 years old either.

He's growing up fast.

18 Month Check-Up

Evan had his 18 month check-up today.  I could quickly sum it up by saying he is still huge and healthy, but what's the fun in that?  As far as percentages go, he is 83% in height at 33 1/2", 97% in weight at 32.4 lbs and 98% in head circumference at just shy of 20".  The nurse is responsible for taking all of the measurements which is why I was curious when Dr. Sahai measured Evan's head again.  He kinda mumbled under his breath, "yeah, she measured it correctly" as if he thought her measurement was off.  I asked him if there was a problem - he laughed and said he just figured his head growth would start tapering off.  I again had to describe to him the big melon that sits upon my dads' shoulders.  I said, "Picture the Ohio State mascot."  I think he understood at that point.

Dr. Sahai informed me that the National Board of Pediatrics suggests that you do not give your child peanut butter until age 4.  Evan was devouring a PB&J as he shared this bit of info with me.  I totally played it off like I knew that already, but he's no fool.  In fact, he rattled off several other suggestions that he thought maybe I should know, such as no shellfish or swimming until age 4.  Well, let's see - guilty and guilty.  I never said I deserved the Mother of the Year award.  And besides, Evan likes all of the above.   No harm, no foul - right?

We  talked about social development the majority of the visit.  My doctor strongly suggests to start socializing Evan as much as possible at this point.  He said we will notice an explosion as far as vocabulary goes and his behavior will be affected as well - positively.  Kids learn a great deal from other kids their same age.  He explained that manners are learned easier and displayed more often from kids who are more socialized.  This is also true for showing frustration and dealing with frustration.  Socialized children are less likely to throw tantrums and misbehave if they are able to see other children "doing the right thing."  Dr. Sahai finally broke it down by simply saying, "You don't want to be that parent with the bratty kid that none of the other kids/parents want to be around."  This is very true.  I begin my search tomorrow for local moms with 18 month olds that want to play.  This should be interesting.

And, in conclusion, Evan had another booster shot.  He didn't even cry this time.  But, sadly, I did.  What's wrong with that picture?

Words Are Fun

My mom and I were walking through the Wal-Mart parking lot a few weeks ago and Evan, as always, wanted to show off his impressive, yet limited vocabulary. As we walked he pointed to every single parking space and said, "car...car...car...car...car..." until we reached the front doors. We parked quite a distance away so I had "car" ringing in my ears as we went inside. I was still a very proud mama!
Evan has since made a few additions to his vocabulary that I have happily recorded to show every one how brilliant our kid is...yes, you may all gag now.

The Gift of Gab

Well, we wondered if Robert's long-windedness would be passed on. I think we found our answer. It is also apparent who will be the overprotective parent. Watch and see.

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