Benjamin, Month 2

This month has been a crazy busy one with Daddy's birthday and all the Christmas festivities.  Benjamin was a champ and went with the flow as we drove all over the place to visit family.

Developmental Milestones this Month: Benjamin (like Andrew) fits into the textbook category for his development.  He can do the following (all age-appropriate according to What to Expect the First Year): smile in response to your smile, startles at a bell/clapping sound, lifts his head 90 degrees and raises his chest when he's on this stomach, rolls over from his stomach to his back, holds his head (relatively) steady when sitting upright, grasps rattle/toy held to his hand, pays attention to small objects in front of him and tracks them as I move them.  The only thing that he's not doing yet is vocalizing, he's a quiet boy.  He squawks at us when he wants something or is bored.

Things Benjamin likes: Mommy is his favorite person, but Daddy gets the most smiles!  He loves his swing.  He has spent so much time being held by family and friends, that he hasn't spent a lot of time exploring our home.  He loved the Christmas tree lights. He likes to be held tightly, likes his pacifier

Things Benjamin doesn't like: He's the easiest ever... he is pretty much chill.  He doesn't like being hungry, when Andrew moves him all over the place

Sleeping: Benjamin likes to sleep at night.  He started having a longer stretch by week three and now he's up to 7-8 hours (9 pm to 5 am, with a dream feed about 10:30 pm). He wakes up and eats sometime between 4:30-6 every morning and if you're super quiet and fast in getting everything ready, he'll go back to sleep from the bottle to about 7 am.  It's nice.  Napping during the day is consistent, but not long.  I need to swaddle and put him down quicker (actual follow the Baby Whisperer rules), but I've enjoyed holding and snuggling him.

Eating:  Ben eats 4 oz every 3 hours with an extra feeding at night and dream feed at 10:30.
We are still holding on to breastfeeding although it hasn't gotten any easier.  Originally the goal was 6 weeks, but we were going strong, so then it was 8 weeks, then 2 months.  I know that the end is very near and I want to end of a happy note instead of with rejection.

Diapers: Still in size 1--I have no idea how many we've used (unlike with Andrew... because first time and second time mom is so different)

Clothing: Ben is still in newborn clothes, except sleepers where he is in 0-3 months because of his length.  He's a peanut; doctor's appointment on Thursday to get the actual measurements.

Benjamin, Month 1

Milestones this Month: What a month to be born!  Ben started his life with so much excitement; Thanksgiving, celebrating Great Grandpa Ed's 90th Birthday, prep for Christmas, and so many visitors.  He's a very loved baby

Things he appears to really like: pacifiers, bath time, necks (like having his face snuggled up into it), being held tight, patted on his bottom (pretty hard at that), his swing

Things he appears not to like: being hungry, cold wipes, being bothered by brother when he's almost asleep

Sleeping: Ben has been a pretty consistent sleeper since the first week home from the hospital.  We had out first 5 hour stretch at night as a two week old (then we were instructed to wake him every 2 hours to eat so he could gain wait, we did that for a very long week) and it's pretty consistent every night.  His typical night sleep a 5-hour stretch, eat, and then sleep a 3 hour stretch before being up for the day.  During the day, he eats, is alert for about 30-45 minutes and then sleeps if you help him.  In order to sleep well, he needs to be swaddled just like big brother.

We're working on making that 5-hour stretch start when we're going to bed (instead of 6 pm which has happened a few time) and to make that "eat" in the middle of the night a bit quicker because being awake over a full hour is exhausting despite the fact that he's sleeping a pretty long stretch.

Eating/Breastfeeding:  The breastfeeding with Benjamin has been much easier than with Andrew because I knew what to expect; that said, it hasn't been "easy."  I was prepared for it not to work, but I has some intense hope that it would; I am not as devastated this time and just happy for the success that we are having right now.  That said, I still wish that I could be that mom that just whips out her boob in public to calm a screaming child (there is something unproductive of whipping out of the boob, the nipple shield, the SNS, the formula container, and tape to set it all up to nurse).

I still have a severe under supply and despite having and doing everything possible, it isn't increasing enough to feed him exclusive breast milk.  He is getting about 20-25% of his daily intake of breast milk and the rest formula via the SNS (supplementary nursing system, aka a little tube in his mouth that runs from a bottle).  I hate the pump with a passion which probably has to do with the fact that it confirms how little BM there is (like 0.5 oz from both boobs) but I still do it 3-4 times a day and he gets 2-3 oz of pumped BM in one of his SNS bottles of the day.

I didn't want to introduce the bottle because of the experience with Andrew so we waited until week four.  He still only has a bottle once, maybe twice a day.  So far it hasn't caused any problems with the BF latch or rejection as I feared.

Diapers: We ran out of newborn diapers so we've moved onto size 1 (which are HUGE on him, but not leaking).

Clothing: He is wearing newborn clothes and they fit perfectly with the exception of sleepers.  Most of the sleepers are already too short and pull at his neck. The 0-3 are huge, but he's in them.

How's Mommy? Great! A scheduled c-section was the way to go! The first week was brutal (but still better than Andrew's delivery) and I took Norco and Motrin pain meds around the clock.  I weaned off the Norco during week two and just used Motrin; by week three, I was off everything.  I love that I can go to the bathroom without pain, stand up, sit down, etc.  The only real limitation I seem to have is bending over which feels super tight on the incision. I have overdone it a few times, but nothing major.  I'm exhausted, but hey, that's normal.

Week 30, Baby #2

I LOOK: pregnant and round. With swollen feet and fingers this week, I'm getting looks from coworkers.

• Total Weight Gain: according to my scale +11.1 

I FEEL: swollen.  With official work starting last week, and 12 hour days starting, I've been on the go consistently.  We did a 8 hour day at Disneyland on Tuesday and I felt great with some sitting built in.  I'm nervous to start my first day of students and high energy tomorrow.  

• Baby Movements: kick counts still pretty pointless because he moves constantly (well, other than during our 3D/4D 
• Weird Pregnancy Symptom/Event: I'm just a tad cranky these days.  My filter is diminished. 

I CRAVE: food in general, bean burritos in specific.  I

I THINK: its been a crazy two weeks and tomorrow it will get crazier.  We've demoed a kitchen, gone to Disneyland, bought a car, prepped for school to start... 

I HOPE/I'm EXCITED: He has a name!  Baby Benjamin is officially named!  We're still working on his middle name, but he has a first name :)  He'll be a Ben.  It was also awesome to see him on the 3D/4D ultrasound on Sunday with the family.  Benjamin looks a lot like Andrew did at 3o weeks, same scowl and lips, but Benjamin has a different shaped nose and bigger cheeks.  

DOCs SAY: My appointment a week and a half ago was stressful.  I saw the OB instead of midwife and she rubbed me the wrong way from the beginning (remember the lack of filter?).   Anyway, I was measuring four weeks larger than the 29 weeks I was supposed to be, so we did an ultrasound last Wednesday (8/23) to check on his growth.  The tech isn't allowed to tell us anything, but we did get to see Benjamin moving all around.  I'm waiting for some response from the OB.

Baby Pfeffer #2, Week 28

The blogging world has pretty much moved on, but as I approach the end of this pregnancy, I find myself a bit sad that I don't have the same type of documentation as I did with Andrew.  I also have found myself looking back at what I wrote for each step of the way more and more.  So for my sake more than any other, I'm going to start blogging again.

So welcome to Growing a Family, Part II

Today I'm 28 weeks pregnant with our second bundle of joy.

28 weeks with Baby Pfeffer 2

I LOOK: pregnant and round.  

• Total Weight Gain: +10.8; this time around I have been super careful and consistent with my Weight Watchers tracking online so that this number stays reasonable.  My midwife's overall goal was ten pounds for the entire pregnancy; while I won't make that, I'm hoping that my consistency will pay off with less than a 20 pound overall gain.

• 

  28 weeks with Andrew

  Maternity Clothes: This time around, I pulled out all of the clothes I had from Andrew and haven't bought much.  I started this pregnancy at the same place I ended (size wise), so most of the pants were too small. I have purchased two pairs of shorts, a few pairs of stretchy shorts for under dresses, and a few tunic shirts.  Mostly I am wearing my LuLaRoe dresses and leggings and feeling great that no other part of my body is getting bigger.  It's been nice to spend most of the awkward second trimester on summer break.

I FEEL: Pregnant.  I can copy the words I wrote almost seven years ago almost exactly (I was thinking it was worse, but it isn't; perspective is great).  Week 28 with Andrew: "On a day-to-day basis when at work, I can forget that I'm pregnant; basically I'm just a bit sore all over, a bit more hungry, a bit less patient, a pee factory."  The only thing different (really just sooner this time), is acid reflex.  I despise it and have been counteracting it with Zantax and a bit of ice cream at night.

• Baby Movements: This baby is a mover; he doesn't have a pattern that I notice, but seems to move consistently all day long.  I'll be interested to see if my teaching lulls him to sleep like it did with Andrew :)
• Weird Pregnancy Symptom/Event: the discharge is horrid and I'm an emotional mess.  

I CRAVE: nothing much.  I've been trying to eat so well that I haven't allowed myself to give into much food.  So far for the entire pregnancy, I've craved bean burritos (but stuck with the 13 point Del Taco ones instead of the 23 point Baker's one like with Andrew) and chocolate milk.

I THINK: We're a bit nuts to start demo on our kitchen this week (Saturday to be exact), but I'm so excited to have this final piece of the house puzzle finished.  I didn't realize that we were finishing HUGE projects at this stage of the game with Andrew too.  With the kitchen demo comes Andrew moving into the room that was the office and getting his own big boy room.  The baby will be in the same nursery as Andrew, with the same decor.

I HOPE/I'm EXCITED: to be in third trimester already; this pregnancy has flown by so far!  I will be returning to work in the next two weeks for a new school year and I hope that my body can physically handle the transition (I am a bit concerned with my stamina).  I'm also excited to finalize his name (we're almost there)!

DOCs SAY: Next appointment is on Wednesday.  I love my midwife this time (Candace), her sass is awesome, and she's been super supportive of both the weight loss/gain, and with my fears of another delivery like Andrew's.  I'm going to ask for a growth ultrasound this week and I'm hoping she agrees.  

Three Years Old!

Three, going on sixteen.  My tiny baby is three!  I re-read his two year old post where I hoped that he would still want to cuddle and hug--boy, does he like to cuddle!  He actually specifically says, "Mommy, I want to cuddle" and it melts my heart.  He is a bundle of never-ending energy ninety-nine percent of the time.  His sass is extreme and his bossiness rivals his momma's.

A flash to the past with a regular update!

Developmental Milestones for this Year:

• Physical/Gross Motor: Running, jump, skipping, climbing, he does it all. One of his newer favorite things is to sit "apple-sauce" style.  He gallops, balances, hops on one foot, catches large balls and kicks pretty much anything.  He is very into sports--football and basketball.  He goes about 50 mph at all times.
• Teeth: His two year old molars finally made a presence in July (27 months) and we're good with no more on the horizon.  He enjoys brushing his teeth and has learned to swoosh/spit so he gets "real" kid tooth paste.
• Cognitive/Language: I'm biased, but Andrew is pretty much the smartest kid on the planet.  He remembers everything and can tell where we are going/what will happen there simply by the surroundings, he knows which streets lead to mommy's work, his school, the mall, etc.  He is able to follow unrelated commands (when he feels like listening).  His favorite academic skill is matching, but also loves to point out anything that he notices.  He also loves singing the ABCs and puzzles are a great challenge (he does 25 piece puzzles by himself). 
• Vocabulary: Talk about a Language EXPLOSION.  Seriously, there isn't much this kid can't say that this point and when he's comfortable, he never stops talking and asking questions. Most of the time he talks in sentences and is very good at asking and answering questions.  He has learned to count and can get up to 20 without messing up. He sings many songs and acts them out after learning the motions from school.  He messes up his pronouns most of the time (them are sad, her is the sister, etc). He goes through phases when he throws in new, huge words.  A few of my favorites...
• "Mommy, please stop talking, I have a story to tell you."
• "Apparently, I'm hungry."
• "Jesus loves Mommy, Daddy, Andrew, Papa, Grandma, Auntie, Grandma Kay, Papa Kay, Reese, Michael, JJ, my teachers, Mickey Mouse [insert whoever he can thinking of for 20 minutes]."
• "I love you to pluto and back."
• "Them are my best buddies."
• Potty training: We are completely diaper free during the day and have kept the night-time pull-up.  He wakes up dry once a week and mommy isn't willing to do it all the way.
• Psychosocial: He continues to be a social butterfly struggling with aggression.  He LOVES school and his teachers report that he is a huge helper.  Playing with people is the only way he wants to play; he struggles with independent play (I guess being with 22 two-years olds all day would do that to do).  He understands sharing and will almost always share upon request.  At home, he enjoys making mommy and daddy happy.  He actually acts shy when he is in a large group of people he doesn't know for about a minute (tries to fool you!), but doesn't seem to have many fears.
• Personality: Andrew, like most three year olds, likes his stuff, his way.  If he doesn't get his way, he makes it know with his words and his actions (loud and bossy actions).  He can be very silly, making silly faces and sounds, even calling himself silly.  He's taken to saying, "sad David" when something doesn't go his way and we had to teach him to say "shoot" after he said "damnit" on Valentine's Day.  When he doesn't know something, or is confused, he shrugs his shoulders and turns his hands up.

Physical Growth:  At his last appointment for his asthma, he was 36 inches tall and 31 pounds.  He has had a relatively healthy year now that we have the medication for his asthma figured out.
Sleeping: Andrew has decided that sleep is for the birds!  We are battling bedtime, nap time, and morning early waking.  He'd rather be with us.  He usually goes to bed about 8 and wakes up anytime between 3:3-7 to climb into our bed to sleep for a few more hours.
Eating: He eats more than mommy for almost everything.  He will finally try "regular" chicken that isn't ground and in the shape of a nugget.
Diapers: Only for nighttime (size 4)
Clothing: We have worn 2T for the past six months or so and will probably be in them throughout this summer.  His foot has grown two sizes this year to an 8.
Favorite Toys: He jumps from thing to thing, but his go-tos are his Cars toys (Mator, Lightening, Airplane), camera, books, and puzzles.  He cooks a mean wooden pizza, kicks a great field goal, colors like a maniac, and reads and reads.

23 Months Old

We're one month away from two and although most of my fellow April mommies can't believe it, I'm ready for him to be two officially.  We have a little boy on our hands, no more baby.  It's a lot easier to explain his behavior some times when you say he's two.  On that note, these "terrible two" moments are intense and aggravating.  Aunt Melissa witnessed a full meltdown after a fifteen minute bedtime extension (a HUGE no-no these days) and she was pretty shocked.

Here's our last update of year two!

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month:

• Physical: Andrew now runs proficiently without falling, he can jump off the ground with both feet, kicks balls correctly (not running into ball, but actually lifting the leg), throws far and high overhand, pushes and pulls huge/heavy objects all around.   
• Teeth: No new teeth in the past two months.
• Cognitive/Language: points and identifies over 50 things in books (mostly animals and household objects), identifies 23 body parts (his new ones are forehead, elbow, knee), knows what he wants and tells us, uses words like "me" and "my" correctly ('my mommy' and 'me eat'), calls himself by name often ("me And-doo"), and his language has continued to expand. 
• Vocabulary: He copies Daddy's words all the time (not Mom's for whatever reason), and has started coming up with his own words.  He'll basically repeat anything that Dad asks him to say so we've heard a lot of words for the first time.  He knows that things are up/down and tells us when something is "up" and he wants it "down."  He hears the train and tells us "choo choo is down."
• Gabba-gabba = TV
• Baba = Popsicle
• Juice = all liquid
• Apple = all round fruit
• Potty training: He still goes pee and poo on the toilet at school.  At home, it's hit and miss. 
• Psychosocial:the life of an almost two year old is hard--momma doesn't give him what he wants and when he wants it, so temper tantrums are normal.  So is time-out for hitting and biting mommy.  Aggression is ever present at home and school. He initiates play now and requests us to sit down by patting the ground next to him.  His kitchen is actually getting used as a kitchen now--he puts the cookies into the over and tells us "hot" or eats the pizza slices or feeds me pizza.  He has also really enjoyed choosing his own snacks from his "snack" drawer--he goes into the kitchen, pulls the drawer open and digs around until he finds exactly what he wants and brings it to us.  We've learned what he'll pick every time (fruit snacks and fruit cups) and that we can't put them into the drawer.

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  we've gone twice in the past two months for an ear infection and then croup. In November (19 Months) he was 26 lbs, 6 oz so he's gained a half a pound in four months.

• February 16 (ear infection/cold): 26 lbs, 12 oz
• March 5 (croup): 27 lbs, 1.8 oz

Sleeping: Bedtime has become a HUGE area of problem at this house.  If we get it right, it's easy.  Right = 7 pm, wind down time in his bedroom, playing on the big bed, reading books, and singing songs to be in bed by 7:15.  He talks to himself for awhile and is asleep calmly by 7:30.  If we're late, or don't wind down enough, we can have angry screaming for 20-30 minutes.  Regardless of what time he goes to bed, he has been waking up earlier than before--anytime between 5:30-6:15ish.

Eating: Eating is hit-or-miss these days at home.  Some nights I'm thankfully that he eats two balanced meals and two snacks at school because he won't eat anything at home for dinner.  The fail safe foods that he'll eat pretty much no matter what are pizza and fruit (of any kind).

Diapers: Still in size 4s and I've lost count! Probably close to 1600 size 4s used. He's wearing the Huggies Slip On Diapers at school because they wanted him to be in pull-ups to make potty training easier.  He likes those ones better, but mommy doesn't because they don't hold urine as well.

Clothing: Still a size 6W shoe. We are in 12-18 months clothes for shirts and pants, but I'm happy to announce that we can wear non-adjustable waist 18 month pants if they are stretchy waist band.  Also, the long sleeve shirts are getting a bit too short on his arms, so there may be hope to move up a size.

Favorite Toys: We've had really nice weather (other than this week), so Andrew has done a lot of playing outside.  He loves to play soccer on the front grass with Daddy, ride in his truck, and just overall explore the backyard.  In the house he plays with his kitchen, little balls, and books the most.  He loves emptying the organizational buckets onto the ground--even if he doesn't want to play with the stuff on the inside.

21 Months Old

Well, I just realized that I completely forgot to write up Andrew's twenty month report. Although I am sure I'll look back at these and appreciate that I included the little details and things that happen, I'm ready to stop writing them up monthly.

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month:

• Physical: Andrew can climb anything to get what he wants and is pretty stable doing it.  He's learning to throw balls and is pretty good at it.  He colors with crayons and pen/pencil with the tip of the utensil (he loves his magnadoodle for this reason).  Much to our amazement, he's figured out how to open the doors in the house (egg shape handles).
• Teeth: All four of his canines are out and pointy
• Bottom Left: December 13
• Bottom Right: December 14
• Top Left: December 21
• Top Right: December 24
• Cognitive/Language: mastered stacking (he can get 8-9 blocks taller than himself), master copier of mommy and daddy, he's finally started babbling conversations, points to twenty body parts on command, enjoys reading stories and intently pays attention to the pictures, announces everyone's farts as "poo poo"




Andrew got his hair cut on New Years Eve and his hair dresser gave him a green Mohawk!

• Vocabulary/Words: We've had a language explosion in the past month.  Over Christmas break, his vocabulary doubled and we have lots and lots of words (even though NO and MINE are still used more than all the others combined).  We're still signing away, but he's replaced some of the signs for the verbal word now (mainly milk, eat, and more).  We have more and more two word sentences.  I love how he says 'thank you' (tank too) with his baby voice.  He also has great inflection with some words--"yeah" has like ten different pronunciations.
• Potty training: He still goes pee and poo on the toilet at school, but he seems to be more interested in the toilet paper and flushing the toilet at home. 
• Psychosocial: totally seeing his stubbornness at this point.  Last night he didn't want to go to bed, so he repeatedly yelled, "no yet mama, no yet!" as I got him ready for bed.  Add in the lip noodle effect and it can take quiet awhile to go potty, change a diaper, brush his teeth, and add PJs.  He's showing aggression with hitting and pushing people away, but is also very loving.  He gives the best hugs to everyone (including Reese) and shares kisses.  Every day when he leaves daycare he runs to each of his teachers and gives them a hug.

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  not a since appointment in two whole months! 

Sleeping: (same as 18 months) We're a loving sleeping family! Bedtime is around 7:30 and he's sleeping until we wake him up for school at 7:00 am.

Eating: Currently his favorites are fruit (still), raisins, ground turkey meatballs, and pizza.  He's been protesting veggies and on-and-off eating less than normal.

Diapers: Still in size 4s and I've lost count!  Probably close to 1400 size 4s used.  He's wearing the Huggies Slip On Diapers at school because they wanted him to be in pull-ups to make potty training easier.

Clothing: Still a size 6W shoe, but we purchased 6.6Ws at the Stride Rite outlet for Christmas.  We are in 12-18 months clothes for shirts and pants.  Our new wardrobe is basically Osh Gosh jeans (adjustable waist) and long sleeve shirts.
Favorite Toys: His Christmas toys have added a lot of joy!  When playing independently, he alternates between his Mac truck (from Grandma Linda), his legos (from Aunt Pauline), and his books.  When we play together, he's been loving his kitchen and shopping cart (from Grandma and Grandpa Bennett).  His Cozy Truck (from Aunt Melissa) is constantly asked for, but it is an outside toy for Daddy to push him around in. The horse (from Grandma Pfeffer) is one of his favorite seats in the entire house.

19 Months Old

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month:

• Physical: He's mastered most of the gross and fine motor skills for the 18-24 month time period (running, pushing/pulling large objects, carries large items while walking, comes down stairs, seats himself on chairs, builds towers of 4-6 things, places rings on spindle, turns pages individually, turns knobs).  Still working on using utensils, but not great.
• Teeth: no new teeth this month, but the canine teeth are close.

• Cognitive/Language: very into stacking objects onto other objects (pretty much obsessed at this point), enjoys coloring/scribbling and actually stays on the page, points to fifteen body parts on command, enjoys reading stories and intently pays attention to the pictures, started vocalizing poo-poo and pee-pee needs (gotta love daycare!).
• Vocabulary/Words: I've lost track of the new words that he says these days!  It seems like every day there is something else coming out of his mouth again.  Just today, he's said up and hello for the first time. The funniest thing that he does is stand at the back door yelling, 'out bun, out bun.' I'm assuming this means, "I want to go outside to see the bunnies."

Potty training: Daycare has started the 'potty training' process with Andrew.  Basically every three hours when they would normally check his diaper, they put him on the mini-toilets in the room.  They started this on his 18 month birthday, on October 30th, he peed on the toilet for the first time and he has continued to do it several times a day.  Last weekend, he told me poo-poo and I sat him on the toilet at home and he did and then he did it again in the bath yesterday in front of Grandma.  I know that this is totally TMI, but I seriously am shocked.  I censored the picture for you and avoided the picture of the actual poo-poo :)

Psychosocial: beginning to move around the house without supervision and without too many issues, mimics mommy and daddy, beginning to understand the concept of 'playing with' instead of just 'playing alongside' us and friends at school, temper tantrums galore.

We continued to play with the cardboard house in the living room!

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  we've had an entire month of wellness!  It's hard to believe, but October and early November was a good for his health.  Our well-baby visit is Tuesday for 18th month appointment.  

Sleeping: (same as 18 months) We're a loving sleeping family! Bedtime is around 7:30 and he's sleeping until we wake him up for school at 7:00 am.
Eating:  (same as 18 months) Loves to eat. Currently his favorites are fruit (still), sugar free organic fruit snacks, ground turkey, anything with tomato sauce.

We spent a lot of time at AHS Football games! Our little lion was very into the atmostsphere, the cheerleaders, and the actual game!  He loved cheering for the players too!

Diapers: (same as 18 months) Size 4s (1188 used) during the day and night.
Clothing: We moved up to a size 6W shoe this month (we've been a 5.5 since June).  Clothes are a 9-12 month in shirts and 12-18 months for pants (that MUST have adjustable waist--thanks Osh Gosh)... I'm really, really tired of them (still)... it's been SO warm we're mostly in shorts anyway.
Favorite Toys: anything that he can stack, unstack, put a lid on, take a lid off, place inside something, etc and BOOKS!  He's started reading books to me, along with YELLING parts of the story to me.

 Andrew has a bit of a cold that we're trying to prevent turning into more, so we are doing breathing treatments at night--our big boy can do it himself.

And because no post would be complete without tears!

 

18 months old

Now this one is actually kind of shocking to me; it's hard to believe that my itty bitty baby is already a year and a half.  It's even harder to believe that I'll have a two year old in six months!  I feel like it was yesterday that it was his first birthday party and not that too long ago that he was just a tiny baby. As an eighteen month old, we're fully into toddlerhood. 

Andrew and Miss Simone at school on Back to School Night

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month:

• Physical: He is a strong, very physically little boy.  He is a massive dancer and is trying to trying hard to jump.  Working on using utensils, he enjoys stabbing items, but usually gives up and goes back to his fingers.  Pushes and pulls large objects (like  his highchair, the side tables, his small chair, etc) around the living room.
• Teeth: no new teeth this month--sitting happily at 12 teeth.
• Cognitive/Language: very into stacking objects onto other objects (some that are meant to be stacked, some that aren't), indicating wants with words (yes/no) and with head nods, throws temper tantrums whenever he doesn't get what he wants, points to most body parts on himself, mommy, and stuffed Mickey, constantly claims things as "mine" and pulls it away.

Stacking his ducks on top of his barn (and the mess he likes to make).

• Vocabulary/Words: We have 35 words in our vocabulary, adding hat, toes, mine
• Old words are Mama, Dada, Dog, Duck, more, hi, no, byebye, ball, bunny (bun), banana, bird, tree, diaper (die), milk, night-night (ni-ni), Reese (eese), shoes, me, pretty, ears, eyes, kitty, turtle, book, hot, cold, three, Des, Grandma. 
• Psychosocial: wary of strangers (finally), beginning to role play, enjoys "family hugs," gives kisses with a closed mouth, gets very excited when he sees familar people, temper tantrums galore.

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  several small trips for ear infections, we've gained and lost weight this month

• Sept. 16: 24 lbs, 14.4 oz and 31 inches (respiratory tract infection)
• Sept. 22: 24 lbs, 3.2 oz and 32 inches (ear infection and stomach flu)  

Becoming quite a thinker

Sleeping: We're a loving sleeping family!  Bedtime is around 7:30 and he's sleeping until we wake him up for school at 7:00 am.
Eating: Loves to eat.  Currently his favorites are fruit (still), sugar free organic fruit snacks, ground turkey, anything with tomato sauce.
Diapers: Size 4s (990 used) during the day and night.
Clothing: 9-12 month still... really, really tired of them... we're going to have to move into 12-18 months when he needs pants in order for him not to have "high waters."  We've had an unreasonably warm September and October so far, so the shorts are still happily on (along with his sandals).
Favorite Toys: moving on to trucks, trains, and airplanes (he has several smaller ones he likes to carry around) and balls.  He likes to play with puzzles and stacking pretty much anything occupies so much of his time.  Books are still pretty much a constant part of his day.  He REALLY loves playing outside at school!

17 Months

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month:

• Physical: nothing physical is too physical for Andrew, we have a total little kid going on. He's getting better about uneven surfaces and climbing is still his favorite past time. 
• Teeth: after over two months of working on them, we finally have all 4 molars out.
• Right Bottom First Molar, September 6
• Left Bottom First Molar, August 31
• Cognitive/Language: points constantly and if we don't look, he yells Mama or Dada to get our attention, school has also promoted more jabbering (with a few less real words thrown in there), and we added two new signs (thank you and drink).
• Vocabulary/Words: We have 32 words in our vocabulary, adding hot, cold, three (as in 1-2-3-Go), Des (Desiree) and Grandma.  He has also become a copy cat with words, so we've heard others, but I won't count them until he says them independently.
• Old words are Mama, Dada, Dog, Duck, more, hi, no, byebye, ball, bunny (bun), banana, bird, tree, diaper (die), milk, night-night (ni-ni), Reese (eese), shoes, me, pretty, ears, eyes, kitty, turtle, book). 
• Psychosocial: totally showing defiance and frustration through temper tantrums, knows what he wants and where it is kept (he runs to the frig and hangs there until he gets the cheese, grapes, or whatever else he wants), very clear who mommy and daddy are and wants us over anyone else.

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  Obviously we had the whole tongue issue, but other than that craziness, an uneventful Kaiser month.  His tongue has healed nicely and other that a small indent on the tip, you can't even tell what happened. He does have a pretty visible scar on his chin right now.

• August 14 (date of tongue surgery): 24 lbs, 4.6 oz
• August 22: 24 lbs even, 32.5 inches (that's almost an inch in two weeks!) 

Sleeping: The first two weeks back to daycare Andrew had to be woken up to go to school (helpful for Daddy), but last week he went back to waking up around 6:30.  Hopefully we can get back to the 7 am time.  His naps are shorter at daycare than they were for the summer (right at 2 hours instead of 2.5-3). He puts himself to sleep after a cup of milk, slow dance and 'Jesus Loves You' song with Mommy.  And probably the cutest thing ever is that he now wraps his arm around my neck when we're singing.

Eating: Andrew pretty much eats everything that we eat and is getting better using a fork. Current favorites: grapes, meatballs (any kind), hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pizza, string cheese, blueberries, strawberries, bananas. Overall, he will always pick fruit first.  When he is hungry, he signs eat and smacks his lips and recently has started grabbing the diaper bag and pulling it to me for a snack that he knows are in there (yogurt fruit/veggie melts).

Diapers: Size 4s (792 used) during the day and night.
Clothing: 9-12 month still... getting tired of them (I feel like I saw this
Favorite Toys: water, books, balls singing and dancing, climbing on the chairs/mommy, and Little People animals

 Some pictures from Grandma and Grandpa Bennett's house on Sept. 8. 

Andrew's such a ham and LOVES mowing the lawn!

16 Months

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month:

• Physical: climbs and balances well on furniture (this is our big one), jumps off step/uneven surfaces, attempting to jump on flat surfaces, self feed with fork pretty well, runs without falling, and can hold his weight with his arms.
• Climbing: We really need to examine this one because he's a bit "advanced" in climbing.  I know most toddlers go through this stage, but my kid can pretty much climb anything and does.  It takes him such a short time to successfully get to new heights (literally).  On July 28th, Andrew climbed out of his crib; Dave's "hidden" camera captured the replay which took a total of 12 seconds. He's climbed onto the dining room table, up the bookshelves, up and on his high chair, up the recliner and high chair to the mantle.  He cannot be left alone in a room for even 90 seconds without a potential new height found.
• Teeth: we have two molars after a full month of teething and two more coming any day now.
• Right Top First Molar, July 29
• Left Top First Molar, August 1
• Cognitive/Language: uses sign language (all done, please, more, eat, milk), smacks lips to eat/drink, vocalizes for pretty much everything, full understands/vocalizes/shakes head to indicate 'no' and 'yes', understands/follows simple commands, knows/points to body parts (ears, nose, eyes, mouth, tummy, feet, hair, teeth, tongue), points to objects in books (specially animals he recognizes), makes cars "rrooom," makes train "choo choo," and makes elephant and lion sounds with hand motion.
• Vocabulary/Words: We have 28 words in our vocabulary, not counting the sign language. This month we've added me (as in "I want that"), pretty, ears, eyes, hot, "titty tat" for kitty cat, turtle, "boo" for book (old words are Mama, Dada, Dog, Duck, more, hi, no, byebye, ball, bunny (bun), banana, bird, tree, diaper (die), milk, ni-ni, Reese (eese), shoes).  We have a lot of B words, they are all sort of sounding the same, but he knows what he's talking about.
• Two Word Sentences: "No, eese" along with a finger pointing at her to stop trying to eat his food, "Hi There," and "ni-ni dada eese" (translation: night night daddy and Reese).
• Psychosocial: wants Mommy more and more (actually teared up when I dropped him off for the day at daycare), shows sense of "mine," interested in strangers, but actually showing hesitation at first now, shows personality through defiance/temper tantrums. 

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  Just updated the "well baby" list

• August 6: 24 lbs, 3.2 oz and 31.75 inches long

Sleeping: He's still in summer mode (wonderful summer!).  Usually have a 2 hour nap about 11:30-12, bedtime about 8-8:30 and up around 7 am.  I'm hoping that we can keep the 7 am wake-up when we start back to school schedule in the upcoming weeks.
Eating: Current favorites: grapes, chicken nuggets of any kind, pizza, string cheese, blueberries, strawberries, bananas.  We're also (thankfully) back to eating some veggies as long as they are flavored and hidden.
Diapers: Size 4s (594 used) during the day and night. Cloth swim diaper in Large :)
Clothing: 9-12 month clothes comfortably and I'm thinking we'll be here well into 18 months.
Favorite Toys: WATER (hasn't changed), books, singing and dancing, climbing on the chairs/mommy,  and Little People animals.

 Andrew went swimming with Aunt Melissa for his 16 month birthday.

see that face?  Oh, the personality!

15 Months Old!

He's 1.25 today and his old age isn't slowing him down! 

Mommy and Andrew are home for the summer and we're enjoying every minute of it (well, we are now that Mommy has gotten a routine in place and Andrew is following along). Being a stay-at-home mom is hard work, but the benefit of being able to experience life from Andrew's perspective is amazing.  Come August, Mommy is going to have a really, really hard time going back to work (start tears now...)

I'm sure its the age, but the shear amount of cognitive development happening right now is amazing to watch.  One day he won't recognize a word and a few days later not only does he know what it means, but he can/does try to say the word. 

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month: 

• Physical: climbs onto furniture (couch, chairs, highchair, dining room table, credenza, kitchen cabinets), attempting to jump, walks up and down stairs alone, scribbles spontaneously when given crayon or marker, drinks from straw without issues, beginning to self feed with spoon/fork, imitates housework, brings objects upon request
• Teeth: still at 8, no new ones
• Cognitive/Language: jabbers expressively, uses sign language (all done and please are used consistently), vocalizes for attention, understands/vocalizes/shakes head to indicate 'no' and 'yes', points/shouts to indicate want, waves hand in front of nose for 'stinky,' knows body parts (ears, nose, eyes, mouth, tummy) and will touch them sometimes, very attentive with books (pointing to things he recognizes),
• Vocabulary: We have 19 words in our vocabulary, not counting the sign language.  This month we've added "bun" for bunny, banana, "bo" for balloon, "birr" for bird, tree, diaper, milk, "ni-ni" for night-night, "ese" for Reese, "oes" for shoes (old words are Mama, Dada, Dog, Duck, more, hi, no, byebye, ball).  His first sentence is heard around nap time, "no ni ni" gets mixed in between whiny tears.
• Psychosocial: wants Mommy, gives toys to adults, imitates adult activities (putting on shoes, combing hair, putting on lotion, blows his own nose), follows simple requests, beginning to play with older children, kisses freely and when asked, understands "be nice." 

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  Another month without a doctor's visit (second time in his life!), although he did weigh in at WW on Friday morning.  We have our well baby visit schedule in August.

• July 6: 23 lbs, 10 oz (0.4 oz more than May 5th)

Sleeping: He usually takes a 2 hour nap from 10:30-11 to 12:30-1 and a quick cat nap after swim lessons.  Several times he's missed his nap time, or had a shorter one and it doesn't seem to affect his mood or his night sleep (thank goodness).  Bedtime has been moved back an hour (8:30 now) and wake-up time thankfully followed (7 am now).  Most mornings Andrew snuggles in bed with mommy for 15-20 minutes, sometimes falling asleep for a little bit more.
Eating: I understand the warning that your boys will 'eat you out of house and home' already.  This kid consumes 1000-1400 calories a day!  He eats pretty much anything except for bread and veggies (current food strike of choice).  Current favorites: blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, bananas, string cheese. 
Diapers: Size 4s (364 used) during the day and night.  Cloth swim diaper in Large :)
Clothing: 9-12 month clothes comfortably.  I'm assuming we'll be here for while still.
Favorite Toys: WATER! Little People animals, balls, books, and puzzles

 some pictures from our morning ball play time today

 Daddy taught Andrew how to put the balls into his shirt, which Andrew thinks is the coolest thing ever.

 a little morning mommy too (as scary as it might be)

Fourteen Months

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month: walks/runs everywhere, moves constantly, says no/yes and shakes head appropriately, give kisses and blows kisses, sings and dances, takes objects in and out of containers (he's obsessed with carrying around baskets with small objects inside), knows and can point to his nose and ears, push and pull toys and furniture while walking, and get some shapes into his shape shorter (square and circles).

• Vocabulary: Andrew has said a bunch of things once or twice (ball, slide, thank you, milk, golf, aunt), but there hasn't been any new workds consistently (old words are Mama, Dada, Dog, Duck, more, hi, no, byebye).
• Teeth: We finished the top and bottom four teeth and we're working on molars, but they haven't broken the skin yet.  
• Right, Botton Laterial Incisor--June 2nd.

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors: The whole Pfeffer family had a nasty 2-3 week cold and Andrew still has it.  As of Thursday, it is still a cold/cough without turning into a ear or respitory infections (woo hoo)!

• June 7: 22 lbs, 12 oz

Sleeping: He's taking one nap at daycare (about 11:30-1:30) during the week and two naps (9:30-10:45 and 3:00-4:00) during the weekend.  The first half of the month he started taking one nap for the weekends, but he's now back to two naps.  I think he's confused.  We're good night sleepers now.

Eating: Andrew eats pretty much anything these days.  His favorites: grapes, strawberries, meatballs, and anything on mmommy or daddy's plate.  He's been refusing veggies recently, we'll have to trick those in for a while.

Diapers: We're into size 4s (198 used) without any leaks, but they look huge on him.

Clothing: Still in 9-12 month clothes.

Thirteen Months?!?

I can't believe that Andrew is thirteen months old already!  This month has absolutely flown by because of work and weekend commitments.

New Developmental Milestones this Month: Here are the new developmental things that he started doing this month: run, jump, climbs up steps using hands, slides down slides by himself, helps you dress him (put on shirts), tried to put on his shoes, rolls and throws balls/objects, empties and fills containers, hides himself during peek-a-boo to initate the game, gives kisses, hugs, and high fives on command, waves bye and runs to the door when it is time to leave, turns pages of books, and "answers" the play phone with "yeahyeahyeah, bye."

• Vocabulary: We've added "mah" for more, "yeahyeah," "hiya," "nah" for no, and "buhbye" to the list (old words are Mama, Dada, Dog, Duck). 
• Teeth: We've gotten three teeth this month and they haven't been in pairs.
• Left, Top Lateral Incisor--April 17th
• Left, Botton Laterial Incisor--April  30th
• Right, Top Lateral Incisor--May 4

Physical Growth this Month/Doctors:  We've had two ear infections, pink eye, and cellutis of eye (most likely caused by the bacteria that caused his ear infection).  Even with his issues, he's gaining weight rapidly!

• April 17 (double ear infection): 22 lbs
• April 26 ("well" baby visit with fluid in his ears w/o infection): 23 lbs, 3.2 oz and 30.5 inches long
• May 5 (cellulitis of the eye and ear infection again): 23 lbs, 9.6 oz

Sleeping: He's taking one nap at daycare (about 11:30-1:30) during the week and two naps (9:30-10:45 and 3:00-4:00) during the weekend.  He really isn't ready for the one nap, but he doesn't have a choice in his new room. He has another month before we out for the summer, so he'll be continuing with this pattern until then.

Eating: We're on all whole cow's milk (WCM) and finally down to about 16 oz a day.  He eats breakfast at home, breakfast at school, snack, lunch, snack, a huge dinner, and a bedtime bottle. He will eat me out of house and home by the time he's three.  The only thing he doesn't really like is meat (chicken nuggets, meatballs, and fishsticks are the only thing he'll touch).

Diapers: tAndrew wore his last size 3s today (2177 diapers total).  Even though they still fit, I didn't want to get another 256 delievered from Amazon, so we moved on to 4s (overnight diapers will change to 4s too).

Clothing: We're firmly into 9-12 month clothes now and pretty much all of them fit.

 Eating dinner (mac and cheese, peas, and meatballs)

 playing in the dining room

 singing and dancing any time music plays is a new trick

 egg salad was a hit (especially when he realized that it made mommy and daddy make a big deal about putting it in his hair)

I know I wasn't planning on doing a traditional monthly update, but I can't think of any better way to document Andrew's new cute things.  I've been holding back of the daily, or weekly, updates about his new tricks because really, you don't care that much :)