Baby #2 and Easton's 21 month update!

Let's do this again!!!

Dan and I are SO delighted to be expecting baby #2, due May 14th 2015! We are very very blessed to have gotten pregnant easily again and are so excited for Easton to be a big brother! He will be 2 years and 4 months older than his baby sibling! 

So I'm officially 12 weeks along, and I'm feeling pretty good! Thankfully the exhausted, need-to-have-a-nap-everyday phase is over (it lasted from about weeks 6-10) and my morning sickness is gone for the most part too! I feel a little yucky first thing in the morning but once I've had breakfast, I feel a lot better. If you remember my constant complaining of morning (HA... try all day!) sickness while I was pregnant with Easton, this is a welcome change!

We had an early ultrasound at 10 weeks and got to see the little bean and his/her strong heartbeat! Such a wonderful experience to see your baby for the first time, wiggling around inside you :)

We'll go for our comprehensive ultrasound around 20 weeks, which falls right around Christmas, so we'll be finding out the gender then and I will definitely blog about it! So far my mama's intuition is failing me, I have no feeling whatsoever whether its a boy or girl! What do you think!?

Yes, I know... it's HUGE!

I do feel like I've started showing MUCH sooner than I did with Easton! I compared my bump at 12 weeks this time around with my bump at 18 weeks with E and they're pretty much the same size! YIKES! Better slow down on the Halloween candy...

Which is a perfect segway into Easton's update! Here are some photos of the little Lion man from yesterday, in his Halloween costume!

 

Easton is 21 months (closer to 22 now, but whose counting) and I'm LOVING this age!
He says TONS of words now, and is even starting to put 2 words together. Full sentences are right around the corner! I love hearing him talk and say new words. Proud mama!

He loves to read books, make Playdoh animals, play hockey with daddy, do puzzles and play games on the ipad, go for walks, take his nap (weirdo!), watch 'Diego', 'Backyardigans' and 'Chuck and Friends' on TV, help mommy bake, sing "Old MacDonald" and "Wheels on the Bus" (with actions too!), go to Amanda's house (daycare 1-2 days a week) to play with his friends, but most of all, he loves to play with his TRUCKS! My goodness this boy is truck obsessed. Tractors, bulldozers, dump trucks ('dumpy'), big rigs, pick up trucks, monster trucks, race cars ('racey'), police cars ('peece'), you name it, he LOVES all things automobile. Such a boy.

Easton reached a big milestone last month.... transitioning to his "Big Boy Bed"! About 2 months ago, Dan and I bought him a toddler bed and put it in his room for his "friends" to sleep on, knowing that eventually we'd need the crib for baby #2. We made it up with sheets and a blanket, put a bunch of his stuffed animals on it, and told him he gets to sleep in it when he's a big boy! Well, one night, about a month ago, Easton didn't feel like going to sleep at bedtime (which is quite unlike him, we never have issues at bedtime), and he CLIMBED out of his crib! BOOM! It terrified Dan and I, so we decided it was time. The next morning we made a big production about moving his crib and putting his "Big Boy Bed" in its place, and telling him he gets to sleep there now! We tackled nap time first, and he got out and ran to his door 4 or 5 times that day, to me sitting right outside. I brought him back in each time and told him to go to sleep. Its time for a nap. Well eventually, about an hour later, he fell asleep. That night went AMAZINGLY well, he slept the entire night in his bed, not getting out at all! Even in the morning he stayed in bed and just called out to me that he was awake! Since then, he's been great about going down for naps and bedtime, and has only gotten out a handful of times! I figure if he was still in his crib and he really wanted to get out, he would, so he might as well do it from a safer spot! I'm so pleased with how smoothly it went!

Now for the boring stuff - so I remember for #2...

Easton sleeps from 8:00 pm -7:00 am (roughly) and naps for 2 hours from 12:30-2:30 ish.

He's still in a picky phase with food, even turning up his little nose at some of his past favorites! He started LOVING milk, which is so strange, because he used to not want anything to do with it. He still loves to "dip dip" his food in any sort of dip really, loves yogurt, grapes, cheerios with milk, toast with PB and honey, most kinds of soup, crackers, cheese, beans, apple sauce and pasta. Not a huge meat guy.

For a while, about a month ago, I thought  he was getting ready to potty train. He peed on the potty 4 or 5 days in a row before bath time, but then just stopped doing it. Or he'd peed on the floor or in the bath right after I'd take his diaper off! Little Monkey. Thats ok though, our initial plan was to wait until #2 is here in the spring, and the weather is nice, to start the potty training process, so that's what we'll do. He'll be about 2.5 which I think makes more sense anyways.

He's wearing 24 months or 2T clothes, size 6-7 shoes, and size 5 diapers. He hasn't grown much since 18 months I don't think. I'd say he's up to about 28 lbs now, and around 36" tall.

That's about it!

Here's a photo overload of the little dude, mainly from our trip to Mary Lake in August, and our pumpkin patch visit in October.

Fifteen months!

Easton has changed so much in the past few months, especially in terms of his cognitive development, so I thought I was due for an update.

It seems as though he understands 90% of what we say to him (although whether he chooses to listen is another story entirely). He is able to follow simple instructions, and although he can't say more than a few words, he can express his feelings and let us know what he wants or needs. 

At fifteen months, his vocabulary consists of “that” (sounds like dat), “there” (dare), dada, mama (very rarely... usually only when he wants food right off my plate), doggy (although we haven't heard him say it in a while), ya, and uh-oh. I'm really excited for this vocabulary "explosion" over the next few months, so he can communicate with us more easily. 

Some of the things he can do physically now (I suppose most are since his first birthday) include; putting his boots on, brushing his teeth (even though it's more like sucking the toothpaste off the brush), climbing the playground, going down the slide (on his stomach, feet first is his preferred method), drinking from a cup (most of it ends up on his clothes but he sure tries hard!), using a fork and spoon, signing “all done” when he’s finished eating, pointing out his head, feet, toes, belly button, eyes, ears, mouth and nose, identifying dozens of different animals and everyday items in books, and building pretty impressive towers with his lego blocks. I'd say he's pretty clever, but I guess I'm a little biased. 

He loves his stuffed gorilla Congo, being outside (in any weather!), going to the park, walking Lucy (he insists on holding her leash too), dancing, being chased, helping me sweep, cook, put the laundry in the machines (and press the buttons) and then “fold" it, playing with bubbles, cars, trucks and balls, reading and going to the library, taking baths, his soother (we're working on it...), watching Curious George, eating fruits and veggies, yogurt, raisins, cheerios and pasta, and giving us kisses.

He hates having his diaper changed, drinking milk, coming inside, having his nails clipped, long car rides, and when you don’t acknowledge him in under 0.07 seconds. 

He weighs about 25 lbs, is 32.5 inches tall, wears size I8 months – 2T and has size 6 feet. He hs thinned out a ton in the last few months, and is starting to look like a toddler instead of a baby. He has ten teeth, including 2 molars (with another breaking through at the moment - not fun). He sleeps approximately eleven hours at night (8pm-7am) and still takes two daytime naps, one in the morning for 1.5 hrs, and one in the afternoon for about 45 minutes.

 

He has such a sweet personality. He's sensitive (definitely from my side of the family!), determined , curious, careful, helpful, outgoing and oh-so-charming (he's got me wrapped around his finger, thats for sure!).  He’s rarely in a foul mood, unless he hasn’t gotten enough sleep or he's in pain from teething. He has his cranky, clingy days - like any kid - but all in all... he's a keeper! He’s not shy with other people or kids, although he can take a few minutes to warm up to others and trust them, then he's your best bud. He's at SUCH a fun age right now - I can't wait for summer, for being outside, exploring, and going to the park/beach/zoo!

Love this little man! Here are some photos from the past few months.

The above are all from our family trip to Mexico in January.

And the climbing phase begins... 

Easter brunch 

7 am: A little too eager...  

Shopping with daddy ... there's nothing more fun apparently!

Yea...  

Selfies with mama wayyyy too early

Smoothies are a crowd favourite

The snow had finally melted enough that we could use the sidewalks!

Apparently he liked it...  

Congo!

First trip to the park this year

"It was a bash... it was a MONSTER BASH!"

We got back from a family trip to Mexico very late on Friday (after flight delays and 12 hours of travel) and hosted Easton's first birthday party on Saturday afternoon. Needless to say, we didnt think that one through very well and were pretty much zombies all day! It turned out perfectly though, and everyone had a great time!

Our families and a few friends and their kids came to our house for a “Monster Bash”, complete with monster cake (which an amazingly talented friend of mine made!), monster balloons, lots of food, and a slideshow I put together with our favorite photos from his first year. We also decorated with streamers, a colourful Happy Birthday banner made by me, and a couple of monsters I made out of bristol board and construction paper on the walls. The favours were homemade oatmeal cookies (with baby oat cereal in them) shaped as “1‘s” and they were actually quite tasty considering I made them! He got lots of cute outfits, some books and puzzles, and a play circus tent from his Oma and Opa (Dan's parents)! He also got his first RESP contribution from my parents, which is such a great idea and something I’m so happy to be starting for him so early. From Dan and I he got a mini stick hockey net, a Thomas the Tank mini suitcase, and a car track carpet and cars. I also made him a Growth Chart so we can track his height every birthday.

I'm going to end it here with some photos from his party!

Have a great day :)