Piper and Oliver checkups - december 29

Piper and Oliver had well-child/baby checkups on December 29. Piper is doing very well. Dr. Bell was so good to involve Piper in his checkup and let him play with her otoscope. She asked him where his mouth was and then looked in his mouth which made it more fun for him. She then asked him where his ears, eyes, etc were. He loved when she asked where his belly button was. He'll show that to ANYONE. But, he expected her to tickle it and, of course, she didn't know that. Ha! I don't have the stats for their visits, but I'll get them from the nurse and enter them later. We are keeping an eye on his speech--informally--as I know he's doing just fine. He learns new words every day and attempts to say new words on his own. Finn is so good to help him sound words out too. Unfortunately, Finn still can't say his L's, so Piper doesn't say L's either.

Oliver is doing well and growing like crazy. He's cooing like he should and sitting pretty well. He doesn't like tummy time so he doesn't get up onto his knees yet, but that turned out to be okay. He only loves his belly when he's sleeping. Oliver got 3 shots and Finn insisted on staying. Finn has been very interested in injections since he had to get one at his 4-year checkup and then again when he had his most recent CT scan in October on his neck. So, at the foot of the exam table he stood so he could watch Oliver get his shots. The first shot, both Oliver and Finn did okay. The second one is where they started to fall apart. Oliver started crying and Finn had his hands up by his mouth and they were shaking. I talked to Finn about the shots and he decided just to stand by the exam room door (more like he was standing in the corner) and not watch. They were both fine a minute after the injections. Lisa, our nurse, thought it was sweet that Finn wanted to stay with Oliver. Lisa then offered Finn a sticker and he asked for 3. For a split second I thought about telling him to just take 1, but I knew why he wanted 3. Lisa brought Finn back into the exam room and told me that he had gotten a sticker for Oliver, a sticker for Piper and a sticker for himself. I think she really loves Finn. =) By this time, Oliver, who was 30 minutes late for his morning nap was asleep in his car seat, barely sucking on his thumb and snuggling with his blanket. 

super happy ollie - december 20 and 21

People at church ask me all the time where my baby is and if we really have a 6 month old. They've never seen him! We get to church at about 9 and he goes to sleep in their crib at about 9:15. He doesn't wake up until 12:15 when it's time for me to feed him and then leave. He sleeps so well (except during his afternoon nap when he rolls to his back and can't get back over). Since he was 2 months old he's been sleeping through the night. If I hear anyone fussing in the night, I'm 99% sure it's NOT Oliver. I have to wake him up at 8 in the morning (not sure how long he would sleep) and when I wake him up, he's just ready to get up and smiles that whole-body smile that babies have. I wake him up after his morning nap at about 11:30 and, again, he acts like he was just about to get up anyways and smiles. Afternoon naps have been different the last couple of months with him rolling, but once he gets into a deep sleep he will usually be okay. By the way, he's been rolling from his front to his back for 2 months and I've only seen it once because I sneaked into his room to watch him. Matthew has never seen him roll. 

It is not unusual for Oliver to just be smiling for no reason. I left the vacuum cleaner out one day next to his jumperoo and he talked and smiled at it for 30 minutes. It was hilarious!

December 21 was the first day that I felt okay about sitting him up with a blanket around him so that he could play. He was steady without help for a few minutes and loved sitting up. Of course, he smiled the whole time. 

piper turns 2!

To keep from having Piper's party run right into the Christmas busyness, we had it the weekend before his birthday. On December 17, Bob and Darlene, Steve and Melissa and their kids, Allie, Anna, Meg, Grady and Kate; and Kristen and Monty came to celebrate with us. It was a full and fun house and Piper had a great time. We had his favorite foods--pizza, green peppers, carrots and peaches. I know it's a weird combination, but he loves them all. Ha! Matthew spent the whole afternoon making a tractor cake for Piper. He and Finley were so excited about the cake!

Here's our 2 year old!

 Darlene (half of her), Oliver, Melissa, Grady and Anna. 

Anna, Meg, Finley, Piper, Allie

Singing Happy Birthday. We had practiced all day blowing out the candles after we sing the song. Unfortunately, he couldn't wait and blew it out in the middle of the song. 

Eating his John Deere tractor cake. 

 Opening his gifts. 

Anna (far left), Allie (middle) and Meg (far, far left in the pink toed socks) made a pillow for Piper. How special!

More gifts...

On the morning of his birthday, he opened the gifts from Nana, Papa and us. He got his own nursery rhymes book and a Doug and Melissa car transporter from Nana and Papa; a car from Finley (he used his own money and was so excited to give Piper a gift!); and a John Deere tractor from Mommy and Daddy. 

Happy birthday, Piper! We love you!

in love with a hat - december 17

Is it possible to love a hat? Just ask Piper. He wore this hat around the house all day on December 17. He would walk up to everyone and make sure that they noticed his new hat and as soon as you saw it, you had to have some kind of surprised reaction. Then, he would beam in pride and run away. I do like the hat, but I absolutely love that cute face!

"us handsome guys" - december 14

Finley and Piper got new clothes/pajamas and were wearing them when Finley said, "Let's take a picture of us handsome guys and send it to Nana". How do you say no to that? So they both sat down and said, "Cheese". What handsome guys!

30 minutes of potty training - december 09

Piper had been showing signs of potty training...like telling me when he had pooped or going into the bathroom, standing in front of the toilet, holding up his shirt while leaning forward and making noises like he was peeing. They were the kinds of signs that mothers all over the world long to see. So, on a Friday when Matthew and Finley were going to get some cows, I decided to train Piper. 

It all started with oh, about 2 quarts of apple juice (Piper's favorite drink). Two quarts of any liquid in an almost 2 year old spells disaster, but the experts say to pump them full of liquid on training days. I couldn't have pumped him fuller if I'd had an IV. I put him in underwear and he waddled around for a while probably because of the 2 quarts of juice and maybe the new feel of underwear. We went through all the steps to 'how to use the potty'. We did 'dry underwear' checks every few minutes and he would get praised every time he was dry. Everything was going great, and then the juice moved through his system....and boy did it move! It never stopped. For a straight 30 minutes he did nothing but pee...no matter where he was. Looking at this picture now, he's probably peeing at that very moment. (Finn just saw this picture on the computer screen and said, "Piper's peeing in his pants"). Yes, that's what happened. Piper peed in his underwear, A LOT. The last time he peed in his underwear, I was running after him as he was running through the house while peeing. I didn't even know it was possible to pee while running--although, I have since been told that it is possible! We put the fourth pair of underwear down the laundry chute and the rest of them back in his drawer upstairs to be used at a much later date! To be continued...

P.S. I love you, Piper. Don't hate me for this post when you get older. 

movie night - december 03

When you have a 4 year old, an almost 2 year old and a 6 month old, taking a great picture of all 3 is nearly impossible. I thought movie night was a good picture-taking time as they were all bathed, in fairly good moods and ready for some popcorn and a cartoon. Why did I even think it was possible? Finn has a weird look on his face because I was making a face to get them to have happy faces. It never did work...as told by the next 3 pictures.

lavender turkey, anyone?

We spent Thanksgiving at home and had a big Thanksgiving meal at Matthew's parent's house on the Sunday following Thanksgiving. I had never successfully prepared a turkey and wasn't too excited about ruining another turkey. Matthew had to go to the grocery store Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. You can imagine that his 20 minute shopping spree turned into almost an hour! I had asked for about an 8-pound turkey since we thought we were having friends over. Didn't know they only sold them in 13 pounds or bigger! He came home with a 13-pound turkey which made me even more nervous to mess it up. My mom had told me about the roasting bags for the turkey and we got one of those. My mom had also told me to make sure I took the innards out of the turkey. I wonder what would've happened had she not told me about those things. So, in my hand went to fish out the nasty things hidden inside of the turkey...all the while trying desperately not to dry heave on our future food. Why in the world do they have to push them all the way to the other end of the turkey? Maybe they should give some options when you are buying a turkey. How about, "would you like to stick your whole arm in a turkey and fish something gross and squishy out or would you like a turkey that you don't ever have to put your arm in?". 

Matthew helped a lot in the preparation of the dinner and when we had  floured the roasting bag (apparently so it doesn't blow up while baking--yay), rubbed down the turkey with the butter, and put it in the bag, I went to wash the turkey slime off of my hands. Unfortunately, I hadn't closed the turkey roasting bag. Our soap dispenser got clogged and that soap shot 3 feet right into the bag and on the turkey! I couldn't believe it! All that work and now the front and top of our 13-pound turkey had lavender soap all over it! I had ruined the turkey even before baking it! Matthew saw that some had gotten on the top of the roasting bag, I quickly wiped it, and the soap running down the sides of the turkey, away hoping that we wouldn't have lavender-soap-tasting turkey in a few hours. Got it in the oven and then we waited...and waited...and waited. I learned something that day. You wait ALL day for the food to get ready and then at the last 20 or so minutes EVERYTHING happens at the same time! Finally we sat down for a quiet meal with just our little family. Our company that we thought was coming ended up going home to be with their family, so the 13-pound-NON-lavender tasting turkey we ate. It was a good meal and a good day with my boys!

fun with the family - november 18

Evenings that we are all at home are fun. We usually end up on the floor in the living room with Finn and Piper running around (or on) us. Oliver usually watches in amazement between the 20 ounces of milk that he likes to drink every night. 

Oliver has started sitting some and babbling. He's the most easy-going baby I've ever known. Even if he's sick or just had shots he always has a smile for you. 

Wrestling with Finley and Piper. They usually win.  

Piper has been really happy lately...a MUCH NEEDED change in his attitude! He's fun to play with and even asks for you to play by hitting the floor next to him as hard as he can to get you to sit with him. Oliver often has a shocked look on his face...no joke. 

 A blurry picture, but I couldn't not put it in. Finley is so sweet and fun. Again, Ollie with his shocked look.