Beach Day at Lake Charlevoix

Before vacation is a very distant memory let's get started...
A bit of fun in the sun!  We only had one day at the beach this year - another would have been really nice. Next time...

Castle building...

 And the discovery of water guns...

and the gun is now a waterfountain...



diving

The video not overly clear, but you get the concept.   Baby diving for a carrot stick - it really is a carrot stick.  If Mark let go of him he'd still get the carrot I'm sure, but he doesn't get the concept of coming to the surface yet.  He is getting the hang of swimming and can swim from mom to dad underwater.  We have to pull him up then.  He will jump unprompted to us as well so we have to pay very close attention and stick by his side.  There are cues he's jumping.  Humpty dumpty might be sung or he will get all excited and wave his arms.  He has even start to try to get me to let go of him.  It's a game.  A game I won't play because he doesn't surface well.  We bought two new swim aids to try out on vacation - he hates life jackets and also his floaty boat.  He can't go in a lake without something on so it could be an interesting trip.  Tantrum time.  Favorite song is posie, posie...  as in Ring around the Rosie, pocket full of posies.  Loves going underwater.

20 weeks

Unlike my sister I am referring to a pregnancy and not how long my husband has been deployed.  20 weeks done and 20 weeks (or less) to go!  We are halfway there.  Not much going on other than persistent nausea up thru 18 weeks and random at this point.  Totally random.  Mark has done quite a bit of cooking and fending for himself.  Lane is easy with mac-n-cheese.  It is getting better and I am eating more meat.  No steak though.   Not much in the way of kicks either as there is a “pillow” of placenta blocking that feeling.  Maybe a few wiggles?  The ultrasound pictures were a bit fuzzy because I had an Oreo Cookie Coollata right before – wiggle, wiggle.  Don't recommend that to anyone.

Lane is as excited as an under 2 year old can be.  He has no clue he might just get to share his birthday for many years to come.  That’s where the early part would be nice so he wouldn’t have too.  Late November is just fine with me!   I’ve been coaching him about the baby and he seems to think he has one in his belly button too.  He pulls his tummy skin out to see his button.  Kind of funny.  I don’t have that problem – I can see mine!

We will be making a few changes to the nursery and adding in some pink!  Or maybe purple?  Taking out some boy stuff and add in some girl fluff.  This means the bedroom shuffle and a big boy bed will go down in September.  Tried the big boy bed last month.  Fail.  Four nights of misery.  Stay in bed.  Haha…  Didn’t work.

The name debate is on-going.  There is a name, but also discussions of other names.  That will be the one surprise for the big day!

sick day?

Does this look like a sick child to you?

 He's in a Bird & 3rd trance.

Yesterday he came home from school with a fever of 102.  Had it all night, but still was in bed by 11 pm.   2nd dose of advil this morning cured him.  By 8 am he has eaten a bowl or more of cheerios.  Cinnamon Life.  Sippy of OJ.  Sippy of milk.  Sippy of water.  And now 2 freshly made banana muffins.  Oh I forgot the Cheez-it's.  Now he's playing with cars, books and watching tv.  And crashing into cupboards on his riding fire truck.  Sick?  No more.  Back to school?  Hopefully tomorrow.  Crossing my fingers he takes 2 naps today so I can sneak in at least one.

Candy Monster

The terrible two’s are almost upon us or are early?  Holy tantrums.  While Lane is a good eater and not overly picky he can be very stubborn when he see’s something to eat that he wants.  Crackers and cookies can’t be kept on the counter.  Yogurt needs to be hidden in the fridge.   Fruit is fine to a certain extent.  Too many blueberries is not good.  Nor are too many pieces of apple.   Last night he kept pointing at random items in the kitchen and asking for them.  One bowl he was pointing at had no food it in except for a candy bar along with random items...  tv remote, battery charger, golf ball, etc…  The candy bar was hard chocolate with bits of butterscotch and it was leftover from our trip to Aruba.  It was “ok”, but obviously  not something I finished so not that good.  It’s been there a  long time.  I gave in thinking “no harm”.   He got a tiny piece and I thought that would be the end of it. 

Of course not it wasn’t the end of it.  30 minutes of screaming ensued.  He wanted more and it was dinner time.   He refused his cheese and tossed the broccoli.  Normally he loves them both.  Mark then took over when he got home.  30 more minutes of whining and crying.  It was so bad we were laughing.  He was then given the choice of eating his dinner or night-night time.  It was 6:30 and obviously he was tired beyond tired.  So night-night won out.  Minor fussing, but he was asleep in about 15 minutes.   While I felt a little bad to put him to bed without his dinner he really doesn't eat much at dinner time and if he was hungry he would have given in much earlier and eaten his dinner.  An hour of screaming was enough.   We are lucky that he hasn’t figured out that the small stool could be used to get into the cupboards.  That will come I'm sure.  Time to stop having junk food in the house.

p.s.  tossed the chocolate into the trash!

From Infant to Toddler

It’s official Lane graduated to the Toddler Room last week and this is the end of his first week with the big kids.  So far so good.  The teachers love him and say he’s a very nice little boy.  Fun to watch and be around.  The first couple of times I picked him up and he was quiet.  Last night he was the one I heard coming down the stairs.  Talking away and walking around with a truck. 

Once in a while you can pick out a word he says amid all the chatter.  Of course he understands it all so we should too.  On our ride home Wednesday night he kept repeating the same sentence and I kept saying “ok”, “yes” and  “tell me more” because the only word I understood was “stuck”.  It was like I was being scolded because his finger was a wagging.  He sounded kind of bothered, but not upset.  Just wanted me to know something.  I had asked what he did at school that day and that was his response.  Last night I asked the girls who watch him in the afternoon if he got stuck on something and told them why.  Turns out he gets “stuck” in a car on the playground because he gets into it the wrong way and then whines for a rescue.   He’s also picking up other life skills.  As in how to pick his nose!  That was day #2.  He thought it was hilarious and watched me to see what I’d do.   He hasn’t done it since…  because I thought he had stuffed something up there I immediately tilted his head back to look and see what was there.  It also involved pushing his nose around to get a look.  Must not have been fun…

Next week they get to go on picnic outside for lunch, which he will love.  She said they will bring the treats like ice cream or other junk food and then she looked at me as if to ask if that was ok.  Must be my request he eat fruit for one snack a day put me in the picky mommy category.  I said that was fine and explained the fruit request.  They give crackers and cookies for snacks 3 times day along with juice.   He gets more than enough carbs from all his snacking and meals and he needs more fruits and veggies.  I can’t imagine he’d be happy if they put green beans or peas in front of him, but fruit pretty much always wins over any other food.  And it does make a better diaper the next day if he’s had an apple or banana.  This is to their advantage because I pay big bucks for those poopy diaper changes!  Perk of being in daycare!

I'm a big boy now!