Monday, June 23, 2014

Happy Third Birthday Braden!

Braden turned three years old on Saturday June 14!  It's so hard to believe that three years have past since he was born.


He is turning into such a big kid these days and we love his personality... most of the time anyhow.  He is very sweet, caring, funny, energetic,  and busy.  He is also extremely determined and stubborn and is not afraid to put up a fight to try to get something that he wants.  He has entered the age of "line stepping/crossing" and defiance, so some days are a little rough.  Our biggest battles of the day are getting dressed in the morning (he has VERY strong opinions on what he wants to wear) and bedtime.  He is also starting to really resist taking a nap, and it is a toss up as to whether or not he will nap that day.  The pediatrician says that he is very healthy and has actually jumped up into the 50th percentile for weight - we thought we would never see that day!

We celebrated his birthday as a family by heading to the Indianapolis Zoo.  We do have a membership, but had not been this year yet.  The boys loved seeing the animals, especially the dolphin show.  We have been 3 times since then, and they insist on watching the dolphin show every time.  The also really like the new orangutan exhibit.  We rode the carousel and the train, played in the splash pad, and then let Braden pick out a special item in the gift shop for his birthday. He chose a pretty cool backpack which he now likes to carry his "work stuff" in.

We have not had his birthday party yet.  We are doing a combo party for him and Logan since their birthdays are only six weeks apart, so I'll post on that later.  For now, here is a video and some photos from the day!

















Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Lots and LOTS of Updates

May is always an absolutely crazy month for us.  We have birthdays, Mothers Day, and our anniversary which is busy enough.  Throw in Memorial Day weekend with the Indy 500 and it's nuts.  This year was extra crazy with an additional race over Mother's Day weekend, the first Grand Prix.  I feel like we need a vacation to recover from May!  We did attend both races this year and enjoyed them both.  The weather finally cooperated and we spent the majority of our time outside.  The boys love being outside, which is great.  However, getting them back inside is an epic battle at times.  We managed to get our vegetable garden planted and we are excited to see how it turns out this year.  Nate, Angie, and Jackson came over on Memorial Day and the boys had a blast playing in the pool.  We also finally purchased a zoo membership which is going to come in handy.  The boys LOVE seeing all of the animals, but the zoo also has an awesome splash pad that they had so much fun at.  It's nice to be able to go to the zoo for just a few things and then leave, not feeling guilty for not seeing everything.  

Updates on Braden

Braden is almost three years old, which is hard to believe!  I weighed him the other day and he is 32 pounds which means he has gone through a recent growth spurt because he was only 28.5 pounds about a month ago.  He is very smart and speaks in clear and full sentences.  He loves to dance and listen to music, play outside, run and jump, and watch cartoons whenever he gets the chance.  We did get rid of cable, so his favorite show, Paw Patrol, is limited to the ones that I have on my iPhone, but he does enjoy the PBS Kids programming.  He loves preschool at daycare and is usually excited to tell us what he learned about.  Sometimes he refuses to talk about it, or tells us that he did 'nothing' that day, but those instances are few and far between.  He is fairly consistent with identifying colors, though he gets red and green mixed up all the time.  He can count up to about 16, and then just repeats 16 over and over.  And over.  There is nothing wrong with his imagination and creative play.  He is able to occupy himself for extended periods of time and play independently.  He also plays well with Logan and other kids.  He is potty trained and very rarely has accidents.  He is inconsistent about staying dry at night, so he is in pull-ups overnight.  He still takes a nap everyday for 1.5 to 2 hours.  Bedtime is often a challenge because he doesn't want to go to bed and keeps coming out of his room.  The other night he came out of his room about 14 times.  The reasons are sometimes legit and sometimes not.  They vary from needing a tissue to needing water for his feet because his feet have hiccups.  Thankfully, last night was easier.  He only came out twice - once to tell me that the cat was in his room and another time asking for a tissue.  

He has become VERY independent in the past few months and wants to do absolutely everything by himself.  It is a battle if we insist on helping him with things and he can throw a major tantrum.  We do allow him to choose his clothes for the day, especially his underwear - trust me, it's not worth it to try to pick out his underwear for him.  He DEFINITELY has opinions on which underwear is acceptable.  Unfortunately, the independence has led to stubbornness.  It is difficult to get him to do things he doesn't want to do, like clean up toys, and this leads to a lot of time outs.  We are also working with him trying to explain the difference between truth and lies.  I will catch him doing things he is not supposed to do (like messing with the window blinds) and he will tell me  "I wasn't doing anything" even though I clearly witnessed him doing it.  And he is very whinny.  People warned me that age 3 is a whinny age, and man oh man they were right.  

Updates on Logan

Logan amazes me constantly with how smart he is.  I am sure it is from watching his big brother and observing their preschool sessions.  He consistently speaks in four word sentences and sometimes throws in a five or six word sentence.  His imagination has really started to develop and he is engaging in more independent play these days.  He "reads" books to himself which is really adorable.  He also loves to dance, run, color and play outside.  He knows the ABCs and can sing them by himself.  He also knows many other children's songs and will just randomly sing them, though he often blends two or three songs together.  It is not uncommon to hear him sing "you know the muffin man, twinkle twinkle star, B-I-N-G-O".  He is not as into cartoons as Braden is, which is not a bad thing until I need him to sit still for 20 minutes.  So far, the only one that he will consistently sit still for is Paw Patrol.  Good thing Braden likes it too.  He is able to identify most animals and the sounds they make.  He is a good eater for the most part and will at least try everything we offer him.  He takes one nap a day, usually longer than Braden.  He will tell us when he is ready for nap and bed, runs and gets his blankie and lays down on the floor.  We are working really hard with him about listening and not hitting.  We are also using time out with him, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.  Getting him to stay in timeout for the entire minute is challenging though.  

Updates on Baby Boy #3

Things are still progressing normally at a little past 24 weeks.  I always feel better once we get to 24 weeks because the chances of survival in the event of premature delivery substantially increase at this point.  I've been having back pain, but am seeing a chiropractor for this which seems to be helping.  Luckily my insurance benefits for this are great.  At some point this summer, we will move the boys into the same room so we can put a nursery together.  Overall, not too much to update here.

Here are some photos from the last month:

Our most successful attempt at "say cheese"

Helping Mommy water the flowers

Sliding into the pool is so much fun!

Not sure what's up with this picture, but Logan does NOT have red hair.

Pow wow with cousin Jackson

Having so much fun!

Watching the fish and sharks at the zoo

They were fascinated by the penguins

They loved that they could get right up next to the orangutans.  

The first time we have actually made it through the dolphin show!


Logan wasn't ready for the tiger to get so close... he jumped back and said it was scary.

2014 Indy 500

One of our new favorite places - the Park at Traders Point Christian Church