Remy

Remy

Monday, May 4, 2015

2 1/2 Years Old!

 Oh boy I’ve been so bad at blogging lately!  I'm a month behind on Remy's 2 1/2 year post.  I swear I started it a month ago.  Life is a little more crazy with two little boys to keep me busy.

Remy just turned 2 ½ and so much has changed since his 2 year blog.  He is starting to grow out of his 2T clothes and working into some 3T and is currently wearing size 8 shoes.  It’s weird to think that I’ll be seeing Ivan in these same clothes in 2 years!  


Remy is learning so incredibly fast.  His vocabulary has improved so much just in the last few months.  He will repeat everything you say and remembers so much.  I really need to watch my language around him!  He’s always asking what everything is and how it works.  He likes to refer to himself in the 3rd person a lot.  “Remy go outside”  “Remy’s boots” "no, Remy do it".  He’s very into letting us know what’s his and what’s daddy’s and what’s Ivans, etc.  His imagination is starting to really come through.  He's making up stories and "pretend playing".  He can be quite funny.

Remy is not big on learning.  We've been trying to teach him his colors, numbers and alphabet but he just isn't into it.  Sometimes he'll amuse us and do some learning but he's much more interested in playing.  We always ask him what color *blank* is and his first guess is always orange then yellow - no matter what color it is.  Haha.  So we're still working on that.  And he can count to 7 currently.  He says 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-10.  Haha  Sometimes when he's playing by himself you can hear him counting his cars, fruit snacks or whatever.  AHdorable.


Remy is definitely not much of a cuddler.  Sometimes I have to beg him for a hug and a kiss.  And he thinks it’s funny to wipe my kisses away.  The only times he really wants to cuddle is when I leave him at daycare or when he’s being shy. Remy gets very shy when people he doesn’t see much come over or if we go to someone else’s house that he doesn’t go to much.  It usually doesn’t take him too long to warm up though and then it’s nonstop talk and he usually gets very hyper (probably trying to “show off”).


I swear this kid is happy one moment then tears the next.  I'd compare him to a sour patch kid...  sweet and sour.  He can be quite a challenge sometimes.  He’s usually really good and really sweet when it’s just him, Ivan and me.  Once daddy gets home he starts to get naughty and stops listening.  I find it most annoying when he doesn’t listen or even acknowledge me when I’m talking to him or when he talks back.  I’m sure this is every parent.  But with the frustrating times there is also the good times when he’s super sweet and fun.  Despite the lack of patience and mood swings I still love this boy to the moon and back.


I think I talked about him starting to potty train not long ago.  Remy is currently fully “day-time” potty trained except for nap-time.  He may be ready for undies during nap-time soon too.  But we’re definitely not ready for undies at night time.  We’ll get there.  :)  He now pees standing up and LOVES to pee outside.  I’m so proud of him.  He loves his big boy undies.  The first thing he says when he wakes up in the morning is "diaper off, undies on, momma".


Nighttime has been a challenge lately.  First of all it’s hard to get the kid to calm down.  We always have “quiet time” at night for about 30 minutes before bringing him to bed.  He either reads books or plays ABC Mouse on his tablet.  Even when you can see that he’s obviously exhausted he still wants to stay downstairs and play.  I think part of the problems is he’s scared of the dark and still scared of his bedroom.  He says there is monsters coming out of the wall.  We’ve tried everything – leaving a lamp on, lots of night lights, his stars, his light pillow, moving things out of his room, etc.  Part of me thinks that he’s just saying it to manipulate us into staying in his room longer and staying awake longer.  Who knows.  Either way, not my favorite phase.


Rem is back to being obsessed with being outside.  I swear the kid would stay outside or in the garage 24-7 if we let him.  He loves driving his car, playing with bubbles and running around the yard.  He also just loves to hang out on the lawnmower or scooter and pretend to drive.  So this summer we’ll need to get some sort of swing set and more things for him to do outside.  Our house is pretty boring atm.  


Remy’s current favorite foods seem to be mac-and-cheese, oatmeal (the fruit packet kind), hot dogs, chicken patties, fruit snacks, veggie straw chips, cheese, most fruits.  He likes a lot of unhealthy options....  Haha.  However, they are always paired with veggies or fruit of some kind.  He loves his juice and has to have his milk in the morning and before bed.

Remy loves baby brother, Ivan.  If he doesn't see Ivan he always asks where he is.  When Remy leaves the house with daddy and Ivan stays home with me he always asks if Ivan can come with too.  He likes to talk to him and give him toys.  I think he's getting more and more interested as Ivan gets older and is able to interact with him some more.  Soon enough they'll be running around together, causing trouble! 















 


Sunday, January 11, 2015

Potty Training


Potty training has commenced!  It was mostly Remy's decision.  One day he just decided he didn't want diapers anymore.  The kid kept pulling his pants off and ripping his diaper off (cloth or sposie - didn't matter). This is great timing since I am on maternity leave and all.  So the last few days Remy has spent the day running around with a bare butt.  He hasn't had any accidents under my watch so I thought it was time to pull out the undies.  Well, that didn't go over as well.  He went potty in his undies within minutes.  So we did a few more bare butt days and tried undies again yesterday.  Finally, a whole day in undies and only one accident!!  I was so proud of him!  He actually got very upset with me when it came time for nap and I had to put a diaper on him.  He wanted to keep his undies on but he usually wakes up with a wet diaper.  So we will continue diapers at night time and nap time for now.  I'm hoping this continues but I'm really nervous about our first venture out of the house without a diaper..... 



Monday, October 13, 2014

New Room & Toddler Bed



Remy moved into his new room on Friday night and slept in this toddler bed for the very first time!  He actually refers to it as his new room.  We’ll be downstairs playing and he’ll say ‘new room?’ (meaning he wants to go upstairs and play in it).  The move was a success.  He obviously likes it and actually did really well in his new toddler bed.  The first night it took a little longer to put him to sleep because he was scared.  Every time I’d leave the room and shut the door he’d start crying.  But after a few times of going back in there and assuring him that everything is fine and that I’ll be right down stairs he went to bed and actually stayed in his bed until I went and got him in the morning.  I was so incredibly proud of him and you can tell he’s proud of himself too!  We attempted nap time in his new bed on Saturday and that most definitely did not go very well.  BUT I am most likely to blame for that one.  I’m 34 weeks pregnant and have zero patience.  So I ended up busting out the pack-and-play so I could get some “me time” (aka, shower and do a million other things).  But other than nap time on Saturday everything went great!  We weren’t home on Sunday for nap time so hopefully Phil will have better luck today.  I neglected to take a picture of Remy in his new bed (besides the night time camera).  I’ll post more pictures of his new room and everything when it’s more complete.  :)



Tuesday, October 7, 2014

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.