18 months: Word Explosion

The last month has been busy & stressful, to say the least, but our little Wade has been cool, calm, collected, and flexible. I always prayed that baby #1 would turn out like his daddy, and this month has been a true testament that Owen is built like his daddy both in stature and in temper. He battled his first (double) ear infection this month. But he loved his amoxicillin and consistently asked for more =) He's also been working hard on teeth. We are up to 9.5.... the top left eye tooth has at least broken the skin.

 

We met our new pediatrician yesterday, and got his 18 month stats:

 

Weight: 24 lbs 6 oz (25%)

Height: 32 inches (75%)

Head: 18.25 inches (10%)

 

 This month started out with a long list of goodbyes. One Sunday moring, O and I skipped church and had a brunch for all of my classmates from the DNP program. There has been one priority (besides starting our careers as nurse practitioners) since graduation: childbearing. L-R: Eliyah & Aviana (Twins, 6months), Ian (8 months), O (18 months).. and 2 more girls on the way.

The climbing continues. He'll now climb in his chair when he is ready to eat... though apparently he  wasn't in the mood for picture taking this day.

We're also in to hiding... I often just see feet peeking out.

He's a true German: Socks & Sandals.

Hiding under the table reading magazines. He's just like his daddy and his papa... LOVES to look through magazines and point out pictures that he knows.

So exciting to watch food cooking in the big hot thing.

He loves to take his truck book anywhere. This was his entertainment on our way to Columbia, Sunday.

 

We celebrated 18 months today playing with Tyler and Nathan in their toy heaven. There were more cars, choo choos, and balls than Owen knew what to do with. He just went from one to the next.. and Tyler was very gracious with his sharing.

 

Tyler showed Owen a really cool toy (Ali's great garage sale find). Nathan (3 months) is just making sure the boys get along.

 

I am calling this toy my new babysitter. It's at GaGa and Papa Wade's house, and he will be entertained by it for at least 20 minutes. It's awesome.

How does he sit like this?

Checking out Papa Wade's magazines.

Additional Owen Highlights:

• He LOVES to read books, and now he'll bring you one and back up to sit in your lap.
• He cheers for the Cards with clapping and pumping his fist saying "Woot, Woot, Woot"
• He's definitely running, though he often gets ahead of himself, and now that we are wearing shorts in StL, he's got terribly scraped up knees.
• He had his first all out tantrum at Target over the 'BIG BALLS' (the red, concrete ones outside of Target). We had played with them a bit before shopping, but apparently not long enough. We cried and cried and cried about the big ball. 
• Yesterday, he found a baby doll and gave it kisses..unprompted. I bet he'll be a great big brother. 
• He knows lots of body parts: ears, eyes,  nose, mouth, hair, hands, toes, belly
• He knows that a Dog says 'ruff' and a monkey says 'ah ah ah'
 

I have saved our best update for last. His words are EXPLODING. Mike and I tried to write them down on our way to Columbia, and I think we counted 40-ish. Way to go O. Here's our list:

Fish (sshh)

Elmo (melmo)

Shoes

Tea

Pear

Waffle

Bye Bye

 Apple (Bapple)

Bowl

Pea

Big (as in ball or truck)

Pool (learned this once we got to StL, surprise, surprise)

Dog

Cat

Tractor

Truck (ck... my dad says, buy a vowel, Owen)

Blueberry

Strawberry (the berry words are a stretch.. I'm not sure I can spell how he says it)

 Grandma (Mi Ma)

Bath

Choo Choo

Bus (Buff)

Airplane (ckk)

Turtle (Too-da-loo-da-loo)

Thank you (only Grandmas have heard this one)

Ball

Tea

 Cheese

 Boo

 Duck

Waffle

Dada (nice and upbeat)

Mama (nice and whiney)

Papa (also up beat)

Cars

 Juice

Baseball

Cukoo (It's a song)

Cracker (Ca-Ca)

Cheerio

 Tiger

Boat

Baby

Bowl

As always, we are more in love with him than we ever thought possible, and we think he's practically perfect in every way (except maybe in the eating department....)

Until next month. Love, Heather

25 Weeks

Baby Wade at 25 weeks and Baby Willard at 21 weeks

 Week 25 Developments

• Sweet Baby Girl Wade (who remains unnamed) is about 13.5 inches and she weighs a pound and a half. In otherwords, she's gaining a little bit of body fat.
• She's also growing more hair, and if we could see her, we would be able to discern her hair and texture. I'm predicting dark and curly. Any thoughts? 
• She's moving bunches, but differently than Owen (if my memory serves me correctly). I can now see her kicks on the outside... but Mike hasn't been able to catch it quite yet.  

Physical

• Weight: +13lbs  
• Today I feel great, but it's been a rough week on my back. My SI joints really like to separate early. Twice this week my back has gone out rendering me mostly unable to lift Owen. Thank goodness we are staying at Gaga Wade's house. She whips out the heating pad, the comfy recliner, and goes on baby duty the rest of the day. LOVE her. I'll have to be really careful when our boxes arrive next week. 
• The heartburn has been much better. I think it's my body just generally loving the sun and heat. 

Spiritual and Emotional

• Well, we are in StL. My systolic blood pressure has decreased by at least 20 points... though it's likley to go back up next Monday when our 'stuff' is delivered. This week we have just been hanging out with family and a few close friends. Mostly just RELAXING which has been wonderful.
• We are living in Mike's parents' basement until probably July 4 when we have our furniture in our house and beds set up, etc. We are so grateful to have 2 sets of parents willing to take us in for a few weeks. Staying with the in-laws is preferred this time, though, because Becky is out of school for the summer, so she can play with Owen while I run errands, and Mike & Dave can carpool to work. It's great =)
• We have the keys to our new house, and I got to see it yesterday; Mike did a great job picking it out for us. I'll get in there this week and deep clean so as to be ready for the delivery of 'stuff'.
• Our cars arrived on Tuesday, and it is nice to have our own vehicles here. There was not a scratch or dent from the shipping.... just from the trash can I backed in to on Wednesday with the Explorer. Oops... 
• We've had some correspondence from the bank, so we are praying that the short sale is continuing to progress.
• I have MEGA preggo brain this week. I drove to Target without my wallet. On that same drive, I convinced myself that the AC was broken in the Tucson. Turns out I haven't used it since last August and I FORGOT how to turn it ON. Thank goodness my dad checked it out before I took it to a technician.
• I met my new OB on Thursday. He comes highly recommended by Lindsey & all of her friends, and we really liked him too. I'm a little nervous about him being a guy, but I'll give it a go and let you know how it is =) Any recommendations about delivering at St. Luke's vs MoBap?
• Owen has been an absolute joy and trooper through all of these changes.. but I'll save his updates for the 18 month post due later this week =)

 

Memorial Day at Lake Chelan

We spent Mike's last weekend in Seattle... not in Seattle. It's been a stressful few months, and we knew that June was likely to rival Feb, March, April, and May in the stress category, so we decided to head East in search of sun and warmth. Fortunately, our good friends, the Culbertsons, were able to join us, and we had a blast!  We headed out to Lake Chelan, WA on Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous day to drive over Steven's mountain pass into the "desert" climate of Washington State.  



Endless time with Daddy is the absolute best!



We definitely found sun, and even "warm(er)" weather. We had a high of about 70 each day, and to us Seattlites, 70 felt AMAZINGLY perfect. Owen was less offended by the sun than he normally is... maybe it's because he was on vacation? Maybe it's because he could throw endless numbers of rocks into the water?



Amity and Rachel loved the sun too!

Sterling taught her how to skip rocks.

The two kiddos had a blast being on the 'GO, GO, GO'.

I had a great time not having to carry O anywhere the entire weekend! My SI joints really enjoyed our 3 day weekend.

The swing set was just behind our condo. Perfect.

Amity is a FISH. She would even jump in from the side of the pool! Here she is taking a little break in the "cooler floaty" the dads found at Walmart. Turns out it is the perfect size for a toddler.

Owen's favorite part about swimming: the BALL.

O was not quite as brave as Amity.

Amity hid goldfish in the pocket of the cooler floating device. She and O spent time in this in and out of the pool!

A quick 'Watch Baby Einstein on You Tube" break to help the kiddos transition in to nap time.

They both LOVED to be outside on the balcony.

I love her sweet expressions.

Rachel and I went hat shopping. It's too funny..she's so tiny and petite, but her head is bigger than mine! No wonder Owen's head is in the 8th %tile. Both of his parents have small heads.

Quick family shot before we loaded up the car. I'll have to get the one of all 6 of us from Rachel & Sterling.



We had an absolute blast of a time. Amity walked around calling Owen, "Owey". She answers every question with a very affirmative 'YEAH'. "Amity, do you want some breakfast?" "YEAH". "Amity, do you want to go swimming?" "YEAH". She also helped Owen figure out the word Apple. They shared fairly well, but we also had some opportunities for lessons. All 4 of us parents are dreading the fact that they are both old enough to need discipline now...

We ate every meal in because it's so much easier with toddlers, and we barely left the condo's surroundings (lake, pool, swings) except to run by the grocery and explore the "main street". This all worked out perfectly. The kiddos went to bed by 7ish, and then we got in some amazing adult time with Sterling & Rachel.... we hope to have many more memorial day memories to come.....maybe we'll just meet 1/2 way next year?



19-21

19 weeks. Mother's Day 2012.

21 weeks

Just barely needing maternity clothes.. mostly for comfort. As you can see, however, that the maternity pants are all bunched up in the back because I haven't 'grown' in to them yet. Haha. Soon, very soon, I am sure.

Here are the LONG overdue pictures of her sweet face from the ultrasound. Though blurry, this is the best profile shot we could get. She was a wiggle worm. I do love this one, however. I think her spine looks beautiful. Mike thinks anatomy should never be called 'beautiful', but I tend to disagree. She's also waving in this one. Can you see her little hand?

Nothing cuter than tiny baby toes!

Technically this is what is going on this weekWeek 21:

• Di Di Ga (Owen's version of baby girl) now weighs about three-quarters of a pound and is approximately 10 1/2 inches long (the length of a carrot).
• She's definitely moving, but I haven't noticed any pattern to her movement yet.
• Eyebrows and lids are now present

And since I am now 22 weeks.......here are a few 22 week developments:

• She's developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums (wonder if hers will take as long to surface as Owen's?)
• Her eyes have formed, but her irises still lack pigment.
• Her sweet little body is covered in lanugo (fine hair) and deep skin wrinkles. She'll need a few lbs to help fill those in. 
• The pancreas & accompanying hormones are developing steadily. 

Physical

• Weight: At my appointment last week (20 weeks) I was +8lbs for a grand total that you are welcome to guess. 
• I feel wonderful. My energy is great, aside from the fact that I am a senior citizen and go to bed between 9:30 & 10. 
• My heartburn this go around is impressive. When I use impressive in a medical sense, it's generally not a good thing for the person (at this time, me) experiencing the symptom. I get heartburn (already) with water, and I can assure you that the tomato soup I ate to clear out the pantry was not a good idea. It does seem, however, that ice cream goes down just fine. Phew. 
• I feel a bit like I've 'popped'. The 21 week picture was taken a week ago, and the view from above feels different this week.

Spiritual and Emotional

• It is a huge blessing that we have a contract on the house. Now we just wait for the bank. I'm certain I'll have given birth to Adorabelle before we have closure on this house situation. But, nonetheless, God is good, and we have a huge step in the right direction.
• I'm still antsy to get to StL, especially since Mike is already there. He had a great first day and is already cracking up at the cultural differences between SEA and STL. I'm sure this will provide some entertainment for some time to come.
• Single-momming it with O has required extra grace (not a surprise), but it's mostly because he's sick and teething. He can't help being uncomfortable & running fevers...... He might have been able to prevent pooping in the tub yesterday, but we don't have a way to communicate about that yet. Add it to the list of things to work on.
• I just watched the movie How Does She Do It with SJP & it allowed me to revisit the fact that I am completely undecided about if/when I will work before all of my children are in kindergarten. It's just so darn hard... but then it's so darn rewarding to be a little bit professional. Next time I start a new job/career, I'll try not to get preggo within the first 6 weeks and then plan a cross country move & sell a house.
• I am still definitely 'teary', but I've been able to hold it together for the most part. With Owen I was an emotional basket case, so I am enjoying the control I do have.
• I am in a weird time of 'goodbyes'. It's now fairly certain that it's the last time I'll see these friends for quite some time. Closure can some times be hard, uncomfortable, etc.... but it's time to move forward.