2 Years Old!

  Two years old…  Can you believe this?  How has 2 years gone by so fast?!  The joy this child has brought me the last 2 years is undeniable. I’m so proud to call myself his momma.  This post is all about the little tidbits and things I don't want to forget about.  This age can be very frustrating but so rewarding and fun at the same time.

I have to start off by saying that Remy is quite the mix of his momma and daddy though he still looks just like Phil.  I don’t see my face in his at all.  I think I say this a lot…  The rate at which he is learning amazes me.  He’s learning so many new things so fast.  He is remembering what everything is called and is putting together sentences.  He attempts to repeat everything and always has to ask 'why' or 'what's that'?  He also attempts to sing with me.  His current favorite song is ‘snuggle puppy’.  I got this song from a book and he makes me sing it several times each night before going to bed.  I swear this kid never stops talking!  Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what he’s saying and he’ll say it over and over again, so seriously.  I’m sure it’s frustrating for him when I can’t figure it out.  But most things I’m picking up on.  My absolute favorite thing is that when I tell him I love him he says ‘lub you’ right back.  That sure pulls on the heart strings!  He calls most everything by the proper name, as best he can.  He likes to repeat ‘momma, momma, momma’ until I say what and then he just says ‘hi’.  Pretty sure Phil taught him that.  There are a few words we are especially trying to work on currently because 'duck' and 'truck' are coming off as a naughty word.  Let's just say he's pronouncing both with a 'co' instead of the proper 'du' or 'tru'.  :P

Remy is moving across the hall into his "big boy room" this weekend.  Oh how sad!  We decided that since we don't know the sex of baby #2, and the nursery is neutral, we'd move Remy over to the other room and paint and decorate it for him.  He's also being booted from the crib and will be switching over to a toddler bed.  This is the scariest part!  We wanted to do this at least a month or two before baby #2 came so he'd have time to adjust and not blame baby for being kicked out of the crib.  Baby #2 is due to arrive in less than 7 weeks so we better get him moved over.  I really hope it's a smooth transition!  His toddler bed is a car that the hubs painted black.  It's the "batman bed".  And the overall theme of his room is comic books and super heroes.  Hopefully he loves it!  I'll let you know how the transition goes and post pictures of his room at a later date.  :)   

Remy has peed in the potty many times now!  He doesn’t like the kiddy potty that you can just put in your living room or wherever.  He wants to go to the adult potty.  Sometimes he wants to stand and sometimes he wants to sit.  Usually he prefers to stand.  Guess it depends on his mood.  ;)  We’re taking it slow.  When he shows interest and asks to go potty we are all for it and he gets very excited when he actually pees in the potty.  He typically asks at least once a day, usually before bed when we're putting him in his jammies.  We haven’t actually spent an entire weekend potty training.  We just haven’t had the time!  Hopefully we will have a free weekend here soon because I think he's ready to be done with diapers.  Well, during the day at least.  We’ll see how it goes.  It would be nice to have only one little tot in diapers.  Even though we use cloth it would still be nice to only have one child's set of diapers to wash.

Rem grows special attachments to certain toys.  One day he’ll be obsessed with a tiny little ducky and have to carry it around with him everywhere.  This can go on for just a day or a week.  Then he will become obsessed with a new toy and forget about the last.  Sometimes he becomes obsessed with the same toy after a few weeks of neglecting it again.  I think we’re on obsession #3 with his tiny ducky.  There’s only a few select stuffed animals that he needs in his crib when he goes to bed.  He needs puppy, 2 different stuffed monkeys, a squeaky monkey and cookie monster.  Thankfully these are all small stuffed animals.

Remy is also currently obsessed with Vader (our little yorkie).  Vader doesn’t like kids and usually stays away but he’s getting much better about letting Remy pet him and hug him.  Obviously Vader has ever right to be nervous around him.  Sometimes Remy is in the mood to chase him around the house and other times he just wants to pet him and hug him.  Remy is always asking where Vader is and wants to be around him.  He doesn’t care much about Winston right now.  Haha.  It's weird how they go through phases because he used to be obsessed with Winston and didn't give a hoot about Vader.

Remy is obsessed with driving his car and just plain being outside or in the garage.  If the kid could live outside he’d be one happy camper.  I’m terrified how he will do all winter long.  We won’t be able to go outside much since we’ll have a newborn and I don’t want to take a tiny little baby outside in zero degree weather.  Hoping for a mild winter so we don’t go insane!

We've given Remy all of his haircuts except for the very first one.  He is sooo good when we cut his hair, which surprises me actually.  By the end he's starting to get antsy but I can scissor cut his entire head with no problems.   He's not as fond of the buzzer.

This last month Remy got hand-foot-and-mouth disease.  It was the worst virus he’s ever gotten.  Poor buddy had a fever, sore throat and got sores in and around his mouth, on his hands, feet and butt.  He was just miserable for about 4 days.  Wouldn’t eat, drink or sleep.  It's been over 3 weeks since it started and he’s actually still recovering from it.  His poor hands and feet are now peeling.  I don’t think it hurts but he doesn’t like the looks of his feet.  Unfortunately both Phil and I got it too but a milder version.  It’s definitely a virus I’d like to never ever see again.  

Favorite foods at the moment seem to be mac-and-cheese, hot dogs, ranch enchiladas, cookies, fruit snacks, blueberry pancakes, pickles and most fruit.  He's not a huge meat fan unless it's in a bun.  If you just put chicken or hamburger on his plate he will likely not eat it.  He also hates tuna.  And we have an odd ball because he doesn't really care for cake or cupcakes and doesn't exactly dislike ice cream but doesn't love it either.  He's gotta have his milk in the morning and at night.  He'd prefer to have juice all day long but that's a no-no rule I have so he only gets 1-2 watered down juices a day.  The kid drinks like 6-7 sippies a day.  He's getting better at drinking from a normal cup though we still have our spills or he sometimes will stick his hand in his drink.  

Remy is currently in size 6-7 shoes and 24 month – 2 T shirts and pants depending on brand.  We had his 2 year check up last week.  He's 29 pounds (70%), 35 inches tall (75-80%) and his head circumference is 50 cm (85-90%).  Doc said everything looks good.  He's growing as he should and perfectly healthy.  Remy chatted up a storm the entire way to the doctor's office and then when the nurse came in there was nothing but silence.  He was being super shy and he did NOT want to take his clothes off to be examined.

First time camping in a tent!

 Family time in Gordon.

   Lovin the outdoors!

 Visiting with great grandma.

Visiting with great grandma.

Just mowing the lawn with a bag over his head.

 Selfie!

 Loves to help me mop the floors!

 Feeding baby some popcorn.

 Happy boy :)

  Selfie!

 Fun on the way home from the Dells.

 We tuckered the boy out.

 Obsession with ducky.

 Loves big boy beds.

 Being cheesy.

 Favorite thing to do is drive his car!

 Loves to swing.

 

Our morning routine!

 Remy had to give me some 'pretties'.

 Just doing a little yoga in the morning...

 It's amazing how fast they can go from tantrum to happy.

 LOVE this boy!  I can't get enough of him.

Watching daddy make his birthday cake.

 

Birthday!

He's in LOVE with his nerf gun.  He calls it his 'goo-gun'.

 

 He knew exactly what to do with his candles!  After saying 'hot' a million times.  ;)

 Wasn't too big on the cake and ice cream portion of his birthday.

 Our experimental birthday cake.

 He loved all his new toys!  I was a bad momma and didn't take more than a few photos and none at the actual party with family and friends.  :-/  Oops.......

 Tractor and grain cart from Uncle Justen & Auntie Ashley.

 Just like daddy!  He actually is very good at aiming.

1 Year Old!

October 2nd, 2012 we welcomed this sweet sweet boy into our lives!  

 

 I’ll be honest and say the birth wasn’t my favorite part but once I saw his sweet face my heart just melted.  I forgot about all the pain and how tired I was.  Having a baby is quite the miracle.  Obviously, the pain and exhaustion came back to me soon after but he was so worth the 31 hours of labor.  I don’t even know how to describe how much I love him.  I would do ANYTHING for this boy.  He is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.  I know all mothers say this sort of thing but I seriously cannot imagine my life without him.  Knowing that I get to wake up to his chit-chatting and cuddles makes getting up early every single day worth it.  It’s funny, I don’t even care that I don’t get to sleep in because he’s such an awesome morning person that it’s so worth it.  RARELY is he unhappy in the morning.  I’m the one who gets up with him 100% of the time.  Every once in a while the thought occurs to me that I should let Phil get up with him so I can sleep in.  Then shortly after that thought I think naw, then I’d miss the smile he gives me when I go pick him up, the squeals of happiness that momma is there and I’d miss the cuddles (which I don’t get much of since he’s not a cuddlebug).  So Phil only gets to see that when I’m gone, which has only happened once in his whole life.  Lucky man you would think, but he’s missing out on the best time of the day.  That’s no lie…

Remy’s personality is busting through.  You can tell he’s got my temper though.  That will not be fun…  Other than that, he’s super sweet, loves to chat, loves to give kisses and thinks life is great.  I think we are very close to walking.  He’s getting more and more confident and daring.  He’s standing without holding onto things longer and more often and he’s diving between furniture taking maybe one step on his own (I don’t count this as walking).  It might be a matter of weeks and he’ll be walking!  Or he’ll think, ‘why do I need to walk by myself?  I can already do it holding onto stuff so why bother?’  So I guess it also could be a few months too.  I just hope I get to see it firsthand when he’s ready! 

Remy’s favorite foods seem to be anything pasta related, pineapples, mandarin oranges, peaches and grapes.  I guess fruit in general.  He doesn’t prefer potatoes much and doesn’t like pork chops.  He had his first cupcake at his birthday party and loved it.  Now I think he’ll be into the sweets.  He drinks water with no problem but when he’s around another baby with juice in their sippy he KNOWS that theirs is juice and his is just water.  Then he wants nothing to do with his sippy and finds ways to steal theirs.  So I guess we’re on to juice now.

 We said goodbye to the bottle around 11 months.  He was taking a sippy just fine and one day I just never gave him a bottle and he didn’t care one bit!  He’s still getting breastmilk mixed with cow’s milk in his sippy in the morning and at night.  We’re down to about 15 bags of milk though so it won’t be long and he’ll be on 100% cow’s milk.  I don’t think he’ll care one bit.  I think we’re going to try using a real cup soon just to see what happens.  But I’m pretty sure we’ll be picking up a spill.  Remy likes to throw his sippy sometimes.  Bad habit!

I think Remy has 12 teeth right now!  It’s hard to tell since he doesn’t like me fiddling with his mouth.  I know he has two of the larger teeth in the back.  Those puppies look like they had to have hurt coming in!  Poor buddy.

He still has the leaky eye as we like to call it.  We’ve been working real hard on trying to get it unclogged on its own but I think we might have to bring him in to the eye doctor to have it done.  I guess we will find out what the doc says at his 1 year appointment later this month.  I sure hope we don’t have to put him through that.

Remy loves to take his toys out of containers and put them back in.  If I just point at the toy and then the container and ask him to put it away, he does.  He’s been doing that for a while now and he loves it.  He also loves to hang out on the couch.  I think it makes him feel like a “big boy” to sit and hang out with us.  I’m trying to teach him that he can’t stand on the couch and he knows what sit down means.  I think he likes to stand just to get a reaction from me.  But he’s really good about listening right away and sitting down.  Well, most of the time...

 Remy talks up a storm and says the usual, mama/dada and I swear he says “bye-bye”, “up” and “doggie” (or at least his version of those words).  He never says bye-bye to me in the morning when I drop him off at daycare but he says bye-bye to other people when they leave our house.  It’s funny when the dogs fight he puts up his hand as if to say “stop” and yells at them in his own language.  Or he points his finger at them and yells at them.  It’s way too darn cute!

Phil and I gave him part of his birthday present the morning of his birthday.  Here’s his new set of wheels!  He LOVED it!  He’s played with one before at daycare and seemed to really like it so we got him one of his own.  Too bad summer is over.  It will have to be an inside toy until winter is over.  I find it funny that he jumped right in and shut the door.

 Remy throws temper tantrums all the time.  It’s actually pretty funny.  He usually gets down on his belly and whines if he doesn’t get what he wants.  Just this morning he threw a tantrum because I had to take him out of his new birthday toy to leave to bring him to daycare.  He wasn’t done playing with it apparently.  So yes, like I said earlier, he’s got my temper.  :-/

Oh how I love my little man.  :)

11 Months Old!

My little man is 11 months old!!!!!!!!  One more month and he won’t be a “baby” anymore.  So sad.  :(  I love the little guy he is turning into but I’m sad that he’s growing up so fast.  Remy is getting quite the personality.  I love making him laugh and seeing what he thinks is funny and what pisses him off.  He’s at the stage where I can finally start annoying him and having more fun with him.  Haha.  Currently one of his favorite things is to crawl away from me and he wants me to come run after him screaming “I’m gonna get you” (the louder the better and the more I make him jump the better) and when I get him I have to tickle him to death.  He laughs sooo hard!  I can tell when he wants to play this game because he’ll start to crawl away and then look back at me as if to say, aren’t you going to come get me momma?  So freaking adorable.

Remy has also gotten very good at walking with a walking toy.  Just over the long weekend he seemed to get really good at it.  A few days ago he didn’t have much control over it but today he’s a pro!  His only problem is when he gets stuck against a chair or the wall – then he gets frustrated.  He’s also practicing standing all by himself without holding on to anything.  He did this the other day for like 5 seconds!  He was also doing it over and over again last night but he would only last a few seconds before he fell over.  He was so proud of himself.

Remy is still a very good eater!  He eats most anything but definitely has his favorites.  He loves loves loves mandarin oranges, pineapples and spaghetti.  However, he’s picked up a really bad habit of throwing his food once he starts to get full/bored or when he doesn’t particularly like something.  We’re hoping this phase ends soon.  Telling him “no” just seems to make him do it more – he likes the reaction he gets.  So for now we’re just ignoring it and giving him smaller portions – he gets more when he eats it all.  That way there’s not a ton on his plate flying throughout the room.  This is one good thing about having dogs.

We took Remy to his first fair over the weekend – MN State Fair.  He does so good out and about.  He usually hates being tied down all day in a stroller or on someone’s lap but he did awesome.  All the distraction definitely helps.  He was the life of the party on the bus ride back.  He was making the whole front of the bus laugh.  He was chit-chatting and playing with everyone.  I love that he’s not shy like his momma!

Remy almost has a mouthful of teeth already!  He’s had the 8 teeth for quite some time now (4 top, 4 bottom) but the others are popping in and out left and right.  One day one will have shown its ugly head and then go back down.  He doesn’t let me get a good enough look usually so I can only look when he’s screaming or something.  Yesterday I saw one of the back molars and OUCH is all I can say.  That thing is huge.  Poor little buddy.  I’m guessing at this point he has about 11-12 teeth.  

Remy is getting to be such a chatter-bug.  His vocabulary is getting larger and larger.  He seems to understand what we're saying lots of the time but obviously can't tell us what he wants yet.

We had to establish a bedtime routine because Remy was wanting to stay up late every night and “party”.  We usually start “quite time” around 7-7:30.  We have to turn off the lights, read a few books and then get gets his bottle and goes to bed.  This routine is definitely making things easier for him to calm down and realize he’s super tired and need to sleep.  We really need some more book though because I'm getting so tired of reading the same ones over and over and over again!  Good thing his birthday is coming up.

Remy still loves to watch Sesame Street.  I usually put it on in the morning while I’m finishing getting ready, etc.  His favorite part is Elmo’s World and he hears the theme song for that and drops what he’s playing with and watches.  He just seems too young to be doing that!  I never give kids enough credit for what they can learn and do.  But, I guess Netflix is getting rid of Sesame Street this month so we’ll have to find a new show to watch on instant.  :(

Remy is finally too big for the bumbo.  He can now get out of it quite easily.  I’ve barely used it these last few months but when I need to sit him somewhere for 2 minutes and not let him run around it was nice.  Not anymore!