Sleep makes me tired

Declan's quote from last week...sleep makes me tired. Happy birthday Declan-man! You are a very independent boy but at the same time don't want to miss anything Keegan is doing. Keegan and you get along...most of the time. It all depends what kind of moods you are both in. You don't eat a lot but LOVE "grandpa B's chocolate milk." You like eating pepperoni slices and salsa. :) You are 33"-unofficially, and weigh 26 lbs. You are just starting to wear 3T shirts and can still fit in 18 month pants but they are getting too short. The waist is huge in 24 month pants!!! You love to line up your dinosaurs and Skylanders and keep repeating what Skylanders we don't have, which now is only 2 after Easter and your birthday today. You are very vocal and use your hands to talk and always seem to "justify" everything. 

Cullan at eight months old. You are wearing 18 month shirts but still fit in some 12 month onesies. You are a very solid boy compared to Declan! You are wearing 12 month pants. Unofficially you weigh about 19 lbs. I still have yet to measure your length. :) You don't like baby food anymore and are eating a lot of what we eat, when it's very soft food, ie, noodles, bread, crackers, lots of Gerber based finger foods, and have tried holding onto pears but they are very slippery! You are rolling to get to things and starting to move your legs like you could start crawling soon. We are happy with you just sitting where you are. :) You are full of smiles and you just started to shake your head "no" when we do and mimic that motion. When you see one of the boys' sippy cups across the room, you HAVE to have it and have had some funny faces when getting your first taste of apple juice or some chocolate milk.

Seven months!

Declan, Cullan and I went to the zoo last Tuesday. We sure picked the wrong day to go. It was world language day there, which means a TON of high schoolers and booths set up that make it nearly impossible to get through anywhere. I am going to check the website before we go again to make sure that doesn't happen! The thing is I remember going last year on accident and it was horrible! We were in and out of there in about an hour. Even volunteers were coming up to us saying "what a day to be here."

 

 

 Cullan turned seven months on February 13. Here is a picture of him on that day. He is still 17 pounds, wearing 18 month sleepers, 12 month onesies, and 9 or 12 month pants. He hasn't popped a tooth yet, which is making him not want to eat his solid foods. He still loves veggies over fruits and is eating 6oz bottles still every three hours. He is sitting totally unassisted and only falls every now and then. He uses a pacifier for falling asleep and still does at least one nap in the swing a day. He is getting more and more aware of what's around him so if I'm in the kitchen, I have to hide from him otherwise he will start to whine while in the swing.

 Valentine's Day! All the boys wore red today, which is truly an accomplishment as normally they each have their own thought of what they want to wear. Cullan, of course, doesn't have his say...yet.

 Cullan and Declan exchanging a few "words." :)

 He's SO happy!

 On Sunday we went to the Children's Museum. Diego and Dora are the featured room. Here they are climbing the wall to get to the jaguar.

 Keegan feeding the treasure chest.

 Cullan getting his picture with Alicia! I had less than cooperative children when I asked them to get their pictures taken with Diego and Baby Jaguar, which is weird because Declan decided on having a Diego birthday theme.

 Another very excited Cullan. He's such a happy baby...most of the time!

What a week!

This past week has just flown! I'm not really sure why it got so busy but before I knew it, here we are at Wednesday again!

Keegan is enjoying his "new school" and doesn't seem to mind going, which really helps in the mornings. Dan has been bringing him on the days he works and when Keegan wakes up, he has been getting dressed and will wait for Dan to get home. He did this even on Saturday morning. :)

We were looking for something to do on Sunday so I took the boys to Jumps and Downs in Shakopee and my parents came along as well. They had a lot of fun and asked to go everyday.

I have been playing tennis on Wednesday mornings in a league coached by one of my college coaches at Winona State. I have found a love for the game again and it's a great social activity too!

Photos for Carolyn

 

LOVE this photo. Both of them are affected by the flash on the camera.

 

The first attempt at a sippy cup. He LOVES to chew on it! Cullan's teeth haven't broken through yet but they have to be getting close with how crabby he is, which is very rare, and how much he is chewing on everything in sight!



Carolyn requested some chubby leg photos of Cullan. The camera really doesn't do justice. :)

Six month stats

We have been busy since the last post. Cullan got his six month photos taken and his six month check up. His stats are length-28.2" (93%), weight-17.11 lbs (50%), and head- 17.5" (66.4%).  His total BMI is at 22%. I feel like his weight has leveled off, which is good. He is pushing out of his 12 month jammies and 9 month onesies. He is in 9 month pants for length but his waist is still skinny. His legs are so chubby so I'm thinking he is carrying 13 pounds just in his legs. :)

I left for work Saturday morning and by the time I got home Keegan had a fever and was coughing really bad. Dan took him to Children's Hospital ER on Sunday night as he was having trouble breathing. Since he was 13 months old he developed a cough every winter and we wanted to get the best care possible since a lot of times when we take him in they just give him a band aid solution just to get him through the night. He ended up with croup but they gave him a steroid to stop the infection in his throat..yes his throat. Apparently croup has nothing to do with the lungs and since he has such a small throat anyways (anyone at 5 would), the cough was horrible due to the small airway. He didn't have school on Monday being MLK Day, which couldn't have been better timing. 

Now about me...I had an interview last Wednesday for a therapy center in Burnsville. I got called back for a second interview and to meet more staff members but after much consideration and weighing the costs of full time daycare, I decided to call and tell them that I wasn't going to be meeting with them on Tuesday. They ended up calling me back saying they were really close to offering me the job but once I explained the situation, they understood and said they might consider me in the future if it's the right timing for the both of us. I have decided to stay working at Lifetime Fitness for at least the next year. This way I will be available to drive Declan to preschool next year and help out as needed with Keegan's Kindergarten. I am stepping back and realizing that right now I need to be mom and not advance my career. And who knows, there may be a great opportunity that presents itself at Lifetime! One never knows what the future holds!

Tomorrow night we go to Keegan's Kindergarten meeting. Wow....

Six months...I can sit!

Cullan turned six months old on Sunday, January 13. Man...time flies. Seems like just yesterday it was 100 degrees in July and I was mega pregnant. I'm happy that I'm not pregnant anymore but not happy about the cold weather we are about to experience, again.

Cullan is doing a lot better sitting by himself. He still tips over but he is better at righting himself back to the center when he starts to tip. He is now eating two containers of Stage 1 baby food. He does not like fruit. He is a big fan of any type of veggie...silly boy. We will have to try giving him fruit again once he eats some of the veggie packs we have for him.

I have yet to get him on the scale for his unofficial weight. And that reminds me...I have to make a doctor's appointment for him! Things are just getting away from me lately. Ever since the sickness it seems like I lost a week in there. I need to schedule his six month photos too!

Feet, feet

Cullan LOVES his feet. I have been trying to get a good picture and this is the best I can come up with. As soon as I grab the camera, he stops chewing on his feet.

So far Dan, Cullan, and I have caught the flu bug. Dan was out of work for three days. New Year's Day my parents came to get the boys as I couldn't get off the couch. Keegan came back Wednesday so he could go to school and I got the other two Thursday morning. Within 45 minutes on Friday morning, Cullan was showing signs of having a fever and being lethargic. I took him to urgent care and we ended up at Children's Hospital ER to monitor his oxygen. By the time we got to Children's, Cullan was a totally different baby. They gave him Tylenol when we were in Apple Valley being seen and once it kicked in, his breathing was back to normal and only had a minor temp of 101. The docs at Children's figured it wasn't worth it to do blood tests and ultrasounds so we headed home. In the meantime, the older boys headed to Dan's parent's house so they wouldn't get the virus. Dan was in no condition to take care of Cullan either. The older boys came home late Sunday morning in time for lunch. So far so good on Declan and Keegan not catching it!

Last Wednesday Keegan started a before and after school daycare program. We drop him off anytime in the morning and then they walk him down to his preschool class at 12:30. They pick him up once it's done at 3 and we have until 6 to pick him up. Keegan is really enjoying it, other than being a little more tired at night. I think Declan enjoys the time one-on-one with me or grandparents once Cullan is napping. It's certainly less stressful for me having Keegan there during the day! Tomorrow we are going to take advantage of our zoo membership. This will be the first time I'm going with Cullan and Declan with no Keegan. Easy-peasy. :)

Starting 2013 off with illness

I ended up catching some sort of illness the past few days. I'm thinking it's the flu. The boys and I got our shots so I'm wondering why I caught the "bug" still. My parents took the boys yesterday overnight so I could spend the day on the couch, for the third straight day, and try to kick this.

Cullan is almost sitting without assistance. He sits really well with assistance of the boppy pillow. Cullan loves to eat his feet. :)

The boys love to talk to Cullan in baby talk and Keegan is an especially good big brother. He helps out when I ask him to watch Cullan while I run to do something. He will talk to Cullan and play toys with him. When Cullan talks, Keegan will interpret what he is saying. It's funny some of the things he comes up with, like "Cullan said he wants to buy Skylanders." Skylanders is a videogame that Keegan and Declan love. Declan says "he's so cute."