Family Portrait

One of the milestones on Will's 3 year old survey at the pediatrician was whether they could draw a person with at least a couple body parts in the right place. Will does a lot of drawing but we hadn't really tried people yet - we do a lot of balloons, trees, etc. where he can draw the strings or stems. So we decided to give a family portrait a try. I drew a basic stick figure and explained what each part was. Then Will gave it a shot. Here's what he created:

He drew himself first and I think that is probably the best one. Alex is clearly to scale but I think he had a hard time drawing facial features that small. Or Alex is just covered with spit-up and drool which would make it an accurate representation. Mommy was drawn taller than daddy (probably a coincidence) but with a "Harry Potter" scar.  And for some reason, Daddy's mouth is on his forehead.  But all in all, I think it is a great first family portrait!

Worst Weekend Ever

Worst Weekend Ever might be a bit of an exaggeration... but it was pretty bad.

We decided to use the three day weekend for "Potty Training Boot Camp."   On Friday night, we were able to walk up to town for dinner and we ran to the Farmer's Market Saturday morning to stock up on veggies.  Then the potty training began and we were stuck at the house.  On Saturday, we let him play outside a bit in the backyard but we realized we needed to stay closer to the bathroom and have fewer distractions so we pretty much stayed inside the rest of the time. 

We had been talking up switching from diapers to underwear for a while.  Will had a countdown chain and we made a point of showing him the diaper pile getting smaller and smaller.  He didn't have any trouble switching from his diaper to undies.  He actually thought it was pretty fun to run around with underwear, a t-shirt, and crocs.  We increased his fluid intake and kept asking him to tell us when he needed to go.  On the first day (which was really more like half a day) we went through 15 pairs of underwear.  He would occasionally tell us he thought he needed to go but never actually went on the potty.  We would run him to the bathroom when he started to go, but typically he was done by the time we got him there.

We thought we made a little progress on Sunday morning.  He had an accident right after breakfast but then "held it in" through the morning despite having a lot of liquid.  He said a couple times that he wanted to try the potty and would sit on it, but never actually went.  Around lunchtime, he said he needed to go but didn't actually pee.  But then he had an accident a couple minutes later.  We thought it might be progress that he knew he had to go.  In the afternoon, we were able to get him on the potty in time to have a couple dribbles which we celebrated. 

Monday was more of the same.  He would tell us he didn't have to go to the bathroom as he was peeing.  The 3 day method said that it doesn't "click" for some kids until the end of day three.  I think we'd feel more encouraged if he sat on the toilet and actually went at least once.  We're going to give it today and possibly tomorrow.  If he hasn't shown any signs of improvement we may put this on hold and try again in a few months.  We don't want it to be traumatic for him.  I talked to several friends with boys and a lot of them tried training around 3 but didn't have success until closer to 3 1/2.  We'll keep you posted.

Watering our Garden

Hanging out in Will's Bed

Fire Pit, Marshmallows, and Potty Training

Cute Undies

Alex thinks tummy kisses are pretty funny!

Tummy Time and Rolling

Alex is really good at tummy time now. He is pretty happy and will smile and babble for quite a while. He has also mastered rolling over from tummy to back. He has rolled back to front a couple times but he doesn't do it on a regular basis yet.

Dinner on the Deck

More Florida Footage

Playing with Uncle Josh

Grann, Aunt Maran, and William

This weekend, Phil and Will went down to Tampa to visit Aunt Maran, Uncle Josh, and cousin Allison. They left super early Friday morning and had a connecting flight in Detroit. There they were joined by Grann for the second leg of the trip. They had a great time and stayed busy! They went to the Tampa Aquarium, the zoo, the mall, and the pool. They also hit up several parks and playgrounds. I haven't heard all the details, but it sure looks like they had a good time!

While they were gone, Alex and I kept busy as well. On Friday, we walked up to town to do some shopping at Hot Mama and to grab Ramona's Table to go. On Saturday, we went for a nice long walk in the morning and then ran some errands. During nap time, I went to a friend's baby shower and then we went to another friends house for pizza. Alex had fun watching the other babies and the big kids running around. On Sunday, we went for another nice walk in the morning and then went out to Rockford for Alex's 4 month photo shoot. It was really hot (90 degrees) but he was a trooper. By the end, we could tell he was getting tired and he passed out in my arms while walking back to the car. He didn't wake up when I put him in his car seat and he slept the whole way home. I had to wake him up to eat and then he slept for another 2+ hours. Then we went for another walk before calling it a night/weekend.

Watching planes at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport

Enjoying the big hotel bed

At the Aquarium with Aunt Maran

Train at the Zoo

Feeding a Giant Lovey

Making a friend at the pool

Swimming

We had a very busy Wednesday: We started the day with a fun science experiment.  We mixed vinegar with food coloring and Will used a medicine dropper to drop it in a pan filled with baking soda.  He played with it for 30 minutes before we had to head out.  Then he played for another 30 minutes when we got home and again after his nap.  After nap, he discovered he could mix the colors and just pour them into the pan so the fun was over pretty quickly at that point.

This morning, Will also had his first dentist appointment.  He was very brave and thought the experience was pretty fun.  He liked the "toothbrush that tickles his teeth." The dentist said we were doing a good job of brushing.

Then the three of us went to the Gardens since it was such a pretty day.  We spent a little over 2 hours playing in the fountains, the tree house, and walking the boardwalk.  We had a small picnic lunch there before heading home for naps.

Unfortunately, Will decided not to nap but Alex slept for almost 2 hours.  Then we went out on Will's bike for a bit.

Now it's time to make some dinner and rest a bit!

Science Experiment

Hours of Fun

Baking Soda, Vinegar, and Food Coloring

First Trip to the Dentist

All Smiles

A Quiet Moment at the Gardens

Another photo with the horse

Happy Mother's Day

We had a wonderful weekend. The weather was beautiful Friday night so we walked up to Ramona's Table for dinner out on the patio.

Saturday morning, Kristen and her mom had a cooking class (birthday gift from Phil) from 8-12:30.  The group met at the Farmer's market for a tour of the new facility and pick up some local produce and then went to Uptown Kitchen to prepare a bunch of delicious recipes.  It was so much fun!  While Kristen was away, Phil and the boys went up to an EGR baseball game for a bit and did some playing at home.  Saturday evening we went to Mangiamo's for Martin's 70th birthday dinner.  Both boys were on their best behavior.

We were still full Sunday morning so we didn't venture out for Mother's Day brunch.  Instead, we went up to Calvin College for a nature walk.  We went on one of the trails, walked across the skywalk, and went to look at the small waterfall by one of the ponds.  Will had leading the way on the trail and throwing rocks in the water.  Alex had fun because he got to face out for the first time in his carrier.  After we got home, Will played in his sandbox and blew bubbles while Phil mowed the lawn.  During nap, Kristen ran to Romence Gardens to pick up flowers for the deck.  After the boys woke up, we walked up to visit Oma for a bit and then had dinner out on the deck.  After dinner, we were able to get all the pots planted before bedtime.  It was a great Mother's Day!

Another milestone this weekend - Alex tried his first solids.  The pediatrician said to start with green vegetables and then work our way into grain cereal (they don't recommend rice anymore - it is too processed).  So we started with peas.  At this point, he still gets all his nutrition from milk and is only expected to have 1-2 tbsp a day.  We'll work our way up to more over the next few months.  He did ok with it.  It seemed like he spit out less than William did when he had his first solids.  But then he did spit up about 10 minutes later...

Hmmm... not so bad.



Oh the horror!

Happy Mother's Day!

Tough Love - Night 2

Just a quick update: Alex went to sleep (in his sleep sack) last night without any trouble.  He started fussing a little after midnight.  I turned off the monitor and set my alarm.  He put himself back to sleep and ended up sleeping until just after 4am.  So he went about 7 hours.  Good job, kiddo! 

Tough Love - Night 1

Last night was the first night of "tough love" for Alex.  We decided we might as well take away his swaddle as well.  He's been sleeping without his swaddle during naptime but we put him on his tummy (and check on him every 5 minutes) to prevent his arms from flailing which wakes him up.  We didn't feel comfortable doing that at night since we wouldn't be able to check on him regularly.  Although the pediatrician said he could go 7-8 hours, we decided to start with 6 hours at least for the first week. 

It went really well.  He went right to sleep on his back at 9pm.  I heard a little bit of fussing at 12:15 at which point I turned off the monitor and set my alarm for 3 am.  Phil actually had a conference call from 2-4am so he was up at 1:30 and said all was quiet in his room.  When I woke up at 3 he was asleep.  I went in to peek at him - he was on his back with his little hands resting up by his chin.  He must have sensed me in the room because 2 minutes after I left I heard him start squeaking but he fell back to sleep by the time I got to his room.

He slept until 5am.  Such a good boy!  He did get shots at the doctor's office yesterday which might have contributed to his sleepiness but I would still say night number 1 was a success! 

Our Little Peanut!

Alex had is 4 month check-up today. He was perfectly healthy. The doctor was very impressed with his ability to sit up (supported) and with his tummy time. She also was able to get a lot of belly laughs out of him (until shot time). Here are his stats:

Head: 15.75 / 7%
Height: 25.25" / 46%
Weight: 13.8 lbs / 11%

He's a tiny one! At William's 4 month check-up he was 25.75" and 14 lbs 13 oz.

The pediatrician did say that Alex should be sleeping 7-8 hours in a stretch at night which he is definitely NOT doing. He actually was sleeping this much up until about a month ago when he started getting up twice at night. She said he was old enough for "tough love" so tonight we will be letting him cry himself out. We had to do the same thing for Will - it only took 3 nights and he was sleep trained. Hopefully it goes just as well with Alex!

Just Cute

Already playing with big brother's stuff when he's not around...

We decided to break out the exersaucer. It took Will a while to warm up to it but Alex seemed pretty content and interested.

We had a great weekend. On Friday night, the U of M Women's Glee Club was in town. The Alumni Club helped them by finding a venue and setting up host families where they could spend the night. Phil went downtown for the concert on Friday and on Saturday morning we all went downtown to San Chez for the brunch he set up for the group. Since we were downtown, we decided to walk around a bit. We went to the GRAM and were able to see the Rauschenberg exhibit. They had an interactive display on the third floor and Will was able to create his own piece of art by moving around the magnets. Then we did a little shopping before heading home.

Grandma and Grandpa came over Saturday night to watch the boys so we could go out for my birthday dinner. We went to CitySen in the new City Flats hotel and had some delicious burgers.

On Sunday, we walked (and Will rode his bike) up to Breton Village to do some grocery shopping. Then we stopped at Breton playground on the way home. In the afternoon, Phil and Will went for a "rain" walk. By the time we got them out the door, the rain had pretty much stopped but Will still had his raincoat, boots, and umbrella. They ended up walking all the way into town and to the boardwalk. Will was a big hit with his cute rain gear.

Painting with Water Color Ice Cubes

Fountain at the GRAM

Fountain at the GRAM

"Rain" Walk

4 Months Old!

Alex is 4 Months old today! Although he loves to smile and laugh, he hasn't mastered "smiling for the camera" yet.  It is also impossible to get a decent photo of both of the boys together as you can see below.  (In the 3rd picture, Will has an evil look on his face and it looks like Alex is falling. That is actually how Will smiles for the camera and Alex was resting comfortably on Will's legs)