Monday, August 22, 2011

First Paint Project

I've been trying to find something to do with Jewell that's actually different than reading during Jefferson's nap. I've tried coloring, but she's just not into it right now. So this morning I introduced paints. Jewell LOVED IT. She was a bit more into the water cup than the paints, and every time I tried to get her to finger paint she would say, "messy". She is just so cute! Here are the pictures from our very first paint project :).










I'm really glad I decided to use the basic watercolor paint instead of Color Wonder. I'm sure it's a great product. But this worked so well and it was only a 99 cent project!

Monday, August 15, 2011

23 Months...1 to go!

Jewell is now 23 months old. I can't believe she's going to be 2 next month! I think this birthday is actually a bit more special than her 1 year. Jewell wasn't really moving around at 1, this year she is! And maybe this time, she'll actually touch the frosting on her cake :). We soon shall see.

Jewell is becoming a great big sister. But she's also a typical sister. She's beginning to realize that Jefferson is playing with her stuff and she reacts very protectively. We think it's hilarious. She lights up when she sees her little brother, and she loves it when she is allowed to hold him.

Jewell is still sleeping 12 hours a night and taking 1, 3 hour nap. She really needs her nap too! She suddenly has a new need/desire for holding a specific type of blanket all the time. I'm not sure where that came from? We'll see how long that lasts.

Our girl runs around, and acts like typical little girl of 2. She loves pushing her stroller around with her baby in it, loves the little scooter we borrowed, and LOVES helping me in the kitchen.

Overall, we love our little girl, we are so proud of her, and we couldn't have been blessed with anything better.

Here are some recent pics from the last few weeks.

I bought Jefferson a little coat rack for his room. Jewell thought it was a skateboard.





Jewell played dress up with Daddy's hat and her beads.


Daddy's boots looked way too interesting not to try on. I think we have a future snowboarder!



Jewell loved playing with Uncle Mike when he was here.




Sunday, August 14, 2011

6 Months

Jefferson had his FIRST doctor's appointment (since his 10 day appointment in G'ville) here in Medford this week. We met with Dr. Newman (who happens to be from Toledo where I grew up) and he gave Jefferson a great report.

Here are the stats...
Weight: 19 lbs 1 oz (75th percentile)
Length: 26.25"
Head circumference: 17.3"

The doctor decided that Jefferson should be able to catch up on his vaccines fairly quickly. The only vaccine he can't have is the Rotavirus now. That's okay since he's not in daycare and Jewell has already had the vaccine. Jeffers didn't really like the vaccines. I have never had to watch my kids get poked like that because my old doctor used to take me into the other room. This doctor doesn't do that so it was a bit sad for me. Jefferson didn't get a fever or anything from the vaccines, but he did lose his appetite for a few days. The appointment was on Wednesday and it took until today (Sunday) for him to eat more than 4 oz at a time.

I am slowly moving Jefferson to formula. I'm really proud of myself for making it this long with the nursing thing. I gave up at 4 months with Jewell. As of right now he's nursing twice a day and taking 2 bottles of formula a day. He also eats cereal at breakfast and dinner. And at lunch he eats a vegetable and fruit. He isn't too much of a fan of green veggies, but he's a trooper and keeps trying them. I encourage him to eat them every other day because I don't want him to turn orange.

Jefferson can now sit up. I must say, it was a huge breath of fresh air to hear the doctor say the phrase, "Your child is doing exactly what he should be doing at this age" for the very first time. He's also rolling around and I've found him on his knees in his crib a few times now. Jefferson walks around in the walker downstairs and his new favorite thing is following Jewell around in it.

As for sleeping, we are still working on dropping the 3rd nap. It's been a bit difficult for us actually. Jefferson can get a bit cranky during dinner if he hasn't had it, but then wants to be awake a little longer if he does. He is currently taking 2, 2 hour naps each day though. And he's also sleeping about 12 hours at night.

Jewell and Jefferson are quickly becoming great friends. They light up when they see each other and start laughing hysterically. I'm so glad to see them becoming buddies.







The Mount Shasta Climb

Matt's brother, Michael, came to visit us last weekend. Matt and Mike had a dream of climbing a 14,000 foot mountain. So the two of them decided they would climb Mt. Shasta together.

On Friday night they left the house around 9:30 PM. They slept in the Jeep for about 2 hours outside of the trail. At 3:15 AM they were officially on their way! 12 hours later, they made it to the top. It only took them 5 hours to get down the mountain because they slid down :). Silly guys! They told me that was the best part of the trip though. They took their snowboards but only used them for a few minutes.

Here are some pictures...