Showing posts with label Drewdle Bug. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drewdle Bug. Show all posts
Thursday, July 14, 2016
Drew and Mary's birthday
Drew turned 3 on the 11th and Mary turned 1 on the 12th! Last year I was in the hospital for Drew's birthday having Mary, and sadly this year I was in the hospital again on his birthday having my gallbladder out. Really looking forward to not being in the hospital on his birthday next year! To celebrate their birthdays we had two small celebrations over the weekend with some gift, cupcakes, and balloons. The kids were happy, and it was nice and easy on us as we prepared for me to have surgery on Monday. Here are some pics from the weekend:
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Drew: 2.5 years
Drew loves: still loves all things that go (anything with wheels or wings!), but his favorite is firetrucks. We taught him that fireman help people, so now every time he hears a firetruck he proclaims "they're going to help somebody!". Drew has also been enjoying art projects lately - especially painting. He requests painting every time we do Table Time, so I've been having some fun coming up with different wants to play with paint so keep it interesting. Drew is into Duplo legos, he likes to build towers and play make believe with the little lego guys.
Drew hates: being obedient - haha! He doesn't really seem to dislike anything right now; he's too busy testing boundaries and being inquisitive about the way things work.
Milestones: He has started talking in sentences, recalling past events, and telling us about future events. These are big speech and language developments that are really neat! He's become aware of when he has a dirty diaper and wants it to be changed right away. I attempted potty training but he isn't quite ready yet; although he will often tell me before he needs to go poo and request to use the potty instead of his diaper - so that's a big win! One milestone I think that is really fun to watch is he has started memorizing things: the alphabet and letters, counting 1-10 and numbers, part of his bedtime book song (if you read part of a page, he'll recite the rest), and the monthly memory verse. I just started doing a monthly memory verse; it's a short verse from the Bible that I add hand motions too. I have no idea how well it would go over, but just yesterday at lunch he was mumbling to himself and I glanced over and he was reciting the memory verse and doing the hand motions quietly to himself. Ahhhh - I was so thrilled to hear sweet scripture coming out of his mouth, and he was so proud of himself!
Right after the new year we took the side off his crib, making his crib into a toddler bed. This was a hard change for me, as I consider the crib one of the final remnants of his babyhood (with potty training being the final step!). He adapted swimmingly, and only fell on to the floor one time the first night. Although we've told him he can get out of his bed once his Okay to Wake light turns green, he still waits in bed for us to come get him - so I don't push the issue. I didn't want getting out of bed to be "fun way" for him to disobey to get our attention, so I've tried to remain nonchalant about the rule of staying in bed until the light turns green. So far, so good!
Drew hates: being obedient - haha! He doesn't really seem to dislike anything right now; he's too busy testing boundaries and being inquisitive about the way things work.
Milestones: He has started talking in sentences, recalling past events, and telling us about future events. These are big speech and language developments that are really neat! He's become aware of when he has a dirty diaper and wants it to be changed right away. I attempted potty training but he isn't quite ready yet; although he will often tell me before he needs to go poo and request to use the potty instead of his diaper - so that's a big win! One milestone I think that is really fun to watch is he has started memorizing things: the alphabet and letters, counting 1-10 and numbers, part of his bedtime book song (if you read part of a page, he'll recite the rest), and the monthly memory verse. I just started doing a monthly memory verse; it's a short verse from the Bible that I add hand motions too. I have no idea how well it would go over, but just yesterday at lunch he was mumbling to himself and I glanced over and he was reciting the memory verse and doing the hand motions quietly to himself. Ahhhh - I was so thrilled to hear sweet scripture coming out of his mouth, and he was so proud of himself!
Right after the new year we took the side off his crib, making his crib into a toddler bed. This was a hard change for me, as I consider the crib one of the final remnants of his babyhood (with potty training being the final step!). He adapted swimmingly, and only fell on to the floor one time the first night. Although we've told him he can get out of his bed once his Okay to Wake light turns green, he still waits in bed for us to come get him - so I don't push the issue. I didn't want getting out of bed to be "fun way" for him to disobey to get our attention, so I've tried to remain nonchalant about the rule of staying in bed until the light turns green. So far, so good!
His independent play time is going well, sleep is going well, and eating is going well-enough. Our only real struggle with him right now is behavior - he's been testing boundaries and forcing the issue of consequences and discipline daily. It's exhausting, but I know it's worth it to be consistent and it provides him comfort knowing that the same rules are still valid and nothing has changed. He's got to rub up against those boundaries to see if they are still there. At the end of the day he always requests snuggles from mom, and I cherish the opportunity to just scoop him up into my lap and bathe him in love, affirmation, and prayer.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Drew's 2 year photos
These should have been posted when I did Drew's 24 month update, but I could not get him to sit for the camera for the life of me! He is obsesseddddd with cameras and can't control himself long enough to sit still for a picture if he knows someone is taking pictures. He understands the idea and he tries so hard to sit still but then he rushes over to see the screen. As a mom that loves to take pictures, it makes me cra-zy. It's so hard to get a picture of him smiling - even though he smiles all day long - because as soon as he sees the camera out he comes running to look at the screen and gets upset if you try to get him to smile for a picture.
So if you're following the calendar you'll know that it took me TWO MONTHS to get the following photos of Drew. I about gave up!
So if you're following the calendar you'll know that it took me TWO MONTHS to get the following photos of Drew. I about gave up!
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| Got it! |
Thursday, July 16, 2015
Drew: 24 months
Drew loves: all things that go (cars, trains, bikes, motorcycles, firetrucks, airplanes, helicopters, boats, ambulances, garbage trucks, regular trucks, vans, buses, taxis...), blocks, reading books, and markers (coloring).
Drew hates: one area where he has been struggling is tolerating certain kinds of events or scenarios with certain types of people. I can't seem to determine the consistent variable, but because I'm his mom I can usually predict which scenarios are not a good idea for him. I just can't put my finger on why. He is fine when it's Kyle or I, or groups of immediate family members in certain scenarios (we have rotating family dinners with Kyle's family or my family on Sundays and that never phases him). He does great when I take him to indoor gyms or play centers. He does great at church, both in kids church and when he's running around in the sanctuary with all the church-goers afterward. He does fine in restaurants (other than getting a little antsy). He does great when we go to other people's houses for play dates. He does ok-ish when I have mom friends over to our house for play dates...eventually he usually retreats upstairs to his room to play alone. He does not do well at large family gatherings or new environments/places we don't go often. Sometimes I take him to visit Kyle at work and it takes him a really long time to warm up even though it's mostly family that we are visiting (Kyle works for a family business). Something about the environment is just not his jam. We went to a family wedding a few weekends ago and it was a train wreck. New environment, dozens of people trying to interact with him, and lots of noise and movement...just not his scene. No idea if this is a normal phase for his age, or a personality thing?
Milestones: He seems to be adding a new word or two to his vocabulary each day, and doing three to four word sentences. He is remembering events and things that I tell him we're going to do for far longer than ever before. We think of all of this is very amazing and totally cute, but that's our job as his parents :-) Sleep is great (7:30pm - 7am with a 2.5-3 hour nap during the day), eating is tolerable (for a toddler!), and behavior is mostly great. He does really well when we give him a warning of what's coming up next (such as "we're leaving the park in 2 minutes"). He has no concept of time, but the warning allows him to adjust his expectations and then he'll usually just say "bye park!" and head off to the car. About once a week he does some bigger act of direct disobedience/defiance as if to test the boundaries to see if they are still there, and we discipline him accordingly. Just as I was told would happen, it appears he is extremely comforted by knowing that the same boundaries are still in place and the same behaviors still warrant discipline. I know they say kids don't come with manuals, but Drew is such a textbook Babywise child! So we often joke that Drew actually did come with a handbook :-)
At the time of writing this we're still awaiting baby Mary to arrive, so I haven't made any big changes to our routine or environment. Drew is starting to show some interest in potty training, but I'm letting that go because I know now is just truly not the time for that! We did transition him out of the sleep sack for sleeping and now he has a pillow and quilt (that I made him...sailboat theme, of course!). He loves snuggling up in the quilt, and that delights my heart! He is very much still in the crib and we have no plans to change that anytime soon. He knows not to climb out of it and has been obedient to that end. So the crib stays, for now.
Drew hates: one area where he has been struggling is tolerating certain kinds of events or scenarios with certain types of people. I can't seem to determine the consistent variable, but because I'm his mom I can usually predict which scenarios are not a good idea for him. I just can't put my finger on why. He is fine when it's Kyle or I, or groups of immediate family members in certain scenarios (we have rotating family dinners with Kyle's family or my family on Sundays and that never phases him). He does great when I take him to indoor gyms or play centers. He does great at church, both in kids church and when he's running around in the sanctuary with all the church-goers afterward. He does fine in restaurants (other than getting a little antsy). He does great when we go to other people's houses for play dates. He does ok-ish when I have mom friends over to our house for play dates...eventually he usually retreats upstairs to his room to play alone. He does not do well at large family gatherings or new environments/places we don't go often. Sometimes I take him to visit Kyle at work and it takes him a really long time to warm up even though it's mostly family that we are visiting (Kyle works for a family business). Something about the environment is just not his jam. We went to a family wedding a few weekends ago and it was a train wreck. New environment, dozens of people trying to interact with him, and lots of noise and movement...just not his scene. No idea if this is a normal phase for his age, or a personality thing?
Milestones: He seems to be adding a new word or two to his vocabulary each day, and doing three to four word sentences. He is remembering events and things that I tell him we're going to do for far longer than ever before. We think of all of this is very amazing and totally cute, but that's our job as his parents :-) Sleep is great (7:30pm - 7am with a 2.5-3 hour nap during the day), eating is tolerable (for a toddler!), and behavior is mostly great. He does really well when we give him a warning of what's coming up next (such as "we're leaving the park in 2 minutes"). He has no concept of time, but the warning allows him to adjust his expectations and then he'll usually just say "bye park!" and head off to the car. About once a week he does some bigger act of direct disobedience/defiance as if to test the boundaries to see if they are still there, and we discipline him accordingly. Just as I was told would happen, it appears he is extremely comforted by knowing that the same boundaries are still in place and the same behaviors still warrant discipline. I know they say kids don't come with manuals, but Drew is such a textbook Babywise child! So we often joke that Drew actually did come with a handbook :-)
At the time of writing this we're still awaiting baby Mary to arrive, so I haven't made any big changes to our routine or environment. Drew is starting to show some interest in potty training, but I'm letting that go because I know now is just truly not the time for that! We did transition him out of the sleep sack for sleeping and now he has a pillow and quilt (that I made him...sailboat theme, of course!). He loves snuggling up in the quilt, and that delights my heart! He is very much still in the crib and we have no plans to change that anytime soon. He knows not to climb out of it and has been obedient to that end. So the crib stays, for now.
Here are some pics from the last three months:
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| family date at greenlake |
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| Drew saw a bus... |
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| upping his slide skillz |
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| my boy and my bump |
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| happy guy! |
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| when we say "smile", this is what he does... |
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| mother's day kisses |
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| sharing a treat with dad |
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| our visit to Idaho |
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| post Friday morning donut date, just watching the delivery trucks go by |
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| I caught Drew playing with his baby doll on the monitor...practicing for baby Mary, I hope! |
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| donut date happiness |
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| bubbles! |
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| this kid would eat the entire container of greek yogurt if I'd let him! |
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| watching cars...again... |
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| watching the trains go by with dad on Father's Day |
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| happy 2nd birthday Drew! |
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| When Drew gets frustrated and/or misbehaves, he's decided that he needs hugs afterward before he can move on with his day. This was probably the hottest day of the year so far, and we spent a lot of time hugging. He basically sits on baby Mary for these hugs, but I don't mind (and I assume she doesn't either!) because we're a family that's all about hugs! |
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| water park fun |
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| every night before bed he asks for "Bible book" on our bed with both of us - it's so precious and we love that he likes to read his Bible! |
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| waiting for dad to get home from work (you and me both, buddy!) |
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| throwing rocks in the water at the beach |