30 Months

It's strange to have a quiet house on a Sunday morning. It's almost noon and both kids are napping. Usually they both take afternoon naps, but this morning Micah was asking to "back to bed" at 10:30. Yesterday, we spent the day in Stewartville with my parents while Kyle worked and he is worn out from all of the excitement and activity.

I've been waiting a little extra to write Micah's 30 month post, because I knew that he had an important milestone coming up....

1) Potty training - yes, we survived and Micah is doing great! We did a 3-day "Potty-Training Prison" weekend a few weeks ago, and it worked great for us. I unfortunately had to work the Friday that we initiated it, but Kyle was off and he and Micah fumbled through the first day together. By Sunday, Micah was accident free. The hardest part about the weekend was being home bound, as it was beautiful outside. But, Micah was not in the position to use a public toilet, nor did we want to revert back to using a diaper. He's had a few accidents over the past few weeks, but overall has done amazingly well during the day. At night and nap time, he wears a pull-up.

2) Since potty training, he seems so much older! He will be going up to the pre-school room at school after Labor Day.

3) Wearing size 3T-4. Shoe size is around 10.

4) Doing so much better with getting dressed in the mornings and at nights. But, he's not loving having his clothes changed after an accident.

5) I love his little high pitched voice. This is a trait that he inherited from Kyle, as Kyle's voice was really high as a kid. If he's excited or is telling a detailed story, his voice seems to get an octave higher with every sentence.

6) Sweet innocence - he believes that everything loves him. While driving yesterday, he commented that the cows in the field love him. He tells me "I love you so much Mommy" several times per day. My heart melts.

7) Still loves to sing.

8) Learning to share. Since Macey has become more mobile, she's been getting into more of his "stuff". I frequently hear him say, "No Macey, that's mine". We're trying to teach him to be more giving, but it's hard for a 2.5 year old.

9) Tantrums are less, but still present especially if tired.

10) Loves to go in the car, whether it would be only for a few minutes while Kyle puts the boat on the truck or going on long trips up to the cities. He's a great traveler.

11) His love for "Micah music" has been abandoned. In ways, it's sad. But, we also enjoy having the freedom to listen to our radio stations too.

12) Sleeping great! Goes to bed around 8:30 and will generally sleep to 6:30-7:00. He often ends up climbing in bed with us in the morning for a few minutes. I love those morning cuddles!!

13) Loves Youtube videos of construction equipment, busses, trains, "Shawn the Train", and Sesame Street.

14) Everyday after getting home from school, he asks for a Goldfish snack.

15) Over the past month, he's had the same breakfast - 2 packets of Oatmeal and milk.

16) When potty training, I bought chocolate milk, thinking that he would love it. Instead, he asked for white milk. Still does not like juice.

17) Loves to help in the kitchen, whether is would be making his oatmeal in the morning, and measuring out coffee beans for the grinder.

18) Mr Independent - wants to do EVERYTHING himself, from carrying his plate over to the table, opening/shutting doors, climbing up into his car seat, flushing the toilet, etc. At times, this can really challenge our patience, which is where tantrums occur.

19) Still has an amazing memory. Earlier this week, he was talking about spilling chocolate milk on his shirt at school, which happened well over 6 months ago. He remembers that it was on his Tiger shirt.

20) Likes to go for walks, but does not love sitting in the stroller. So much for our double BOB!! We still bring it along and use it as a time-out spot, if necessary.

21) Has a preference for men - has really bonded with Kyle and especially my dad.

22) Constantly looking for a play opportunity with Gavin, our 3 year old neighbor.

23) Loves to shop - yesterday, I brought both kids to Target and the grocery store with me. Both did great, but Micah was especially excited about the trip.

24) Favorite toys continue to be his cars and his kitchen set/grill set.

25) Lately, he's been taking a lot of Macey's toys from her. We've been talking a lot about the concept of sharing around the Raadt household.

26) Recently been very interested in the smoke detectors around the house. I'm thinking that this must be directly related to a recent discussion about fire safety at school.

27) Is scared of thunderstorms. Also, is not fond of the water. I'm hoping that with more exposure to the swimming pool, he will get over his fear of the water.

28) He really is a great eater, and is willing to try just about anything that's put in front of him. Favorite foods continue to be pasta, pizza, raspberries, toast, oatmeal, eggs, cheese, gold fish, crackers, mashed potatoes, applesauce, and my homemade mac and cheese.

29) Sweet tooth - this little man loves ice cream, cookies, cake, muffins, candy, which he likely inherits from me.

30) Is a blessing to have in our lives. We love him so much!! Yes, he can be challenging at times, but he brings so much imagination, laughter, smiles and happiness to our family.

Puppy snuggles with Brutus - these 2 love each other so much!

Cake for Uncle Auggie's Birthday/Micah becoming potty trained

What a goof!

7 AND 8 Month post

A month ago, our sweet Macey turned 7 months old and now today, she is already 8 months old! I was just reading through her 6 month post and a lot has changed over the past 2 months. I'm thankful that I've blogged about both kiddos over the past 2 years, even if I may miss a month here and there...

• Stats - Macey goes to the MD at the end of September. I'm curious to see what how much our little (or big!) girl weighs. It seems like she has packed on a few pounds, especially over the past 2 weekends while staying with Grandma and Grandpa Youdas. She now has pinchable cheeks, a belly that's starting to protrude from her shirts, and rolls on her thighs. She is adorable!

• Currently wearing size 3 diapers. She's still rocking her 6-12 month clothing sizes, but I know that it won't be too long before she's wearing 12-18 month clothing. Her 3-6 month clothes are all packed away, and it was truly hard to put them away. Therefore, I'm hoping that one of my good friends has a little girl some day, so that I can pass them along.

• Goodbye goopy, teary eye. Yes, about a month ago, Macey's left tear duct spontaneously opened. I admittedly was quite skeptical that it was going to open by itself, so thankfully I was proved wrong.

• No more sitting - this girl is on the move!! About a month ago, Macey began crawling. In the world of PT terms, this means belly on the floor pushing herself along. At first it was only a few feet to usually get into Micah's favorite toys, but over the past week she has become stronger and quicker. Today, I invested in a sturdy gait for our stairs, as she has recently taken an extreme interest in the stairs. Macey will rock on all 4's, but has yet to start creeping - aka reciprocal movement on all 4's.

• In addition to crawling, Macey loves to climb. Over the past week, she's started to pull herself up to a tall kneeling and yes, she's even been caught briefly standing. Naturally, her favorite place to do this is on Micah's bathroom stool that he uses for washing his hands, and he is still not too fond of sharing it with his little sister.

• Over the past 2 months, we've experimented with more solids. She's eating a lot of fruits and vegetables. Admittedly, most are from a can or pouch. I made most of Micah's baby food, but this time around it is simply easier to do canned baby food. She loves yogurt, bananas, her cereal/oatmeal, avocados - especially when pureed with banana, sweet potatoes, squash and carrots. We have yet to try meat, as I will make that myself. Most food is smooth pureed, and I will probably start her on some finger foods sometime soon.

• Still gets approximately 5 - 6 ounce bottles/day. Bottles continue to be a combination of breast milk and formula. I've cut back to pumping 3x/day and am proud that I have been able to give her breast milk for 8 months, considering my supply issues.

• Still only has 2 teeth, but I think more are on the way.

• Sleeping schedule has become more routine, but she still does not take too many naps during the day. She generally goes to sleep at 9:00 and wakes up between 5:30-6:00 and will find her way into our bed. We snuggle until about 7:00. She is consistent about taking a good hour morning nap around 9:00, but her afternoon nap is more sporadic and sometimes will only be a half an hour.

• Loves attention and will cry when I leave the room. Daycare drop offs are still going well, and she has really bonded with all of the wonderful staff at her daycare, especially Betty.

• Gets a bath every night, and loves splashing in the water.

• Is very interested in all of Micah's toys, especially his matchbox cars, parking garages, books, bathroom stool, etc. We are working on the concept of sharing around the Raadt household.

• Starting to vocalize a little more. I can make out mama and baba.

Yogurt Faces

Boat Ride with her Bro

You wouldn't tell from her smile, but she has completely blown out her diaper in this picture. Macey's with her new favorite toy - Micah's bathroom stool.

6 months

I'm about 2 weeks late with this post...

Really, it's hard to believe that 6 months have already passed?! Our baby girl is growing up too fast.  It's fun watching her develop new skills and seeing her little personality continue to emerge, but I wish it wasn't happening so quickly! So how did Macey spend her 6 month birthday - playing with friends at daycare while Kyle and I closed on our old house and worked, lots of kisses, snuggles and hugs, giggling at Micah while watching him eat Papa Murphy's pizza, and enjoying a celebratory bottle with me before bed (milk for Macey and wine for me)

• Stats - weight - 15# 14 ounces (50%); height - 27.5 inches (97%); head circumference is apparently 17.5 inches (90%), but I have a hard time believing that measurement. The nurse and MD got completely different measurements for head circumference and she has been all over the growth chart the past 6 months.
• Still fitting into a few 3-6 month pieces, but primarily wears 6-12 month clothing. I finally put away her size 1 diapers, as we had about 20 left, but she's not fitting into them anymore. Officially wearing size 2 diapers during the day, and at night now requiring an overnight diaper. This past week, I've changed the sheets 4 times, as she's woken up completely soaked.
• Sleeping in her own crib without a swaddle. Loves to sleep on her right side or her stomach. Sleeping from about 9:30-5:30. If she does wake up in the middle of the night, I have the terrible habit of bringing her into bed with us. 
• Continues to take small naps throughout the day. She generally doesn't sleep more than 2-3 hours throughout the entire day.
• Eating - we've been playing around with a few solids. She's tried rice cereal, a banana, and applesauce. I can't say that she loves her solids. She still gets really excited about her bottles, and will seriously quiver at the sight of one. She's eating 5-6 ounces, 6 times per day. Bottles continue to be a combination of formula and breast milk. 
• We have a sitter. Macey is now able to ring sit for a short period of time. She seems to love being in an upright position versus being on her stomach or back on the floor.
• She content playing with toys. Naturally, she does seem to prefer things that don't belong to her, such as Micah's favorite stuffed animals, so we're learning the concept of sharing in our household.
• Loves attention, and we love giving it to her too.
• Laid back - generally, she is a happy, content little girl.
• Macey's two bottom teeth have popped through. Overall, the teething experience has not been bad. Micah used to get a bad cold every time he was teething, but so far Macey's has been smooth sailing. I have been using a little bit of Orajel, and one night I did give her a dose of Tylenol, but overall she's done great with it.
• Does not love the car lately. Just driving between Rochester and Winona is a stretch. I don't think that she likes riding backwards without anyone to look at. On long car rides, I usually end up squished in the backseat between both kids.
• Health-wise, she still has a clogged left eye tear-duct. According to our pediatrician, it still has a 97% chance of spontaneously opening over the next 6 months. I hope that's the case.
• Has lots of nicknames - "Little Miss", "Macey Maybelle", "Macey-girl" and whatever else comes to mind as we're singing songs and playing together.

Sitting so well

First meal of rice cereal

My friend Amanda took some awesome 6 month pictures last night that I will post in the near future. Things to look forward to over the next month include lots of outside time, boat rides along the Mississippi, and an upcoming trip to the cities to hang out with my our good friends Jackie and Ryan and their beautiful family

A New Name

I'm sure that it'll take me a few weeks (or maybe even months) to update the appearance of our blog but we are officially in need of a new blog name. Our house has sold, and we closed on it this past Friday!  A few weeks ago, I started a post about our house selling, but then erased it for fear I could actually jinx the process. Since putting our house on the market precisely one year + week ago,  the following "weird" scenarios have occurred.

• It's been shown well over 50 times between private showings and open houses. We'd receive the same feedback after nearly every open house/showing. "They love the house, but hate the main floor bathroom and lack of closet space. 
• One person, alone, looked at our house 5 times. She brought a contractor in to see if she could expand the half bathroom on the second floor. And, she even apparently talked to the bank. Last summer, she was supposed to list her house on the market, before buying ours. No offer was ever made.
• We've had at least 2 other "interested" parties who were supposedly making offers, only to not follow through. One couple had an RV that was worth well over $100,000 and was going to ask us if we'd be willing to trade the house for the RV, per our realtor....
• When we briefly took our house off the market this past winter around Macey's birth, we had a crazy realtor tell us that an offer was being placed on the house, only to find out that no offer existed.  As it turns out, her primary intentions were to get us to sign her on as our realtor. 
• We've been close to renting it twice. 

So, when an offer came in on the house in mid-May, Kyle and I decided that we had to make it work. Since August we've been paying two mortgages, combined with 2 large student loan payments, now two daycare payments...you get the point. Plus, the offer came from a couple with 3 young children who have a "small space" philosophy, so the house couldn't be more perfect for them. Thankfully, the inspection came back without any problems - the roof was not even mentioned in the inspection. Aside from our lawyer being over 45 minutes late for the closing, everything went smoothly.

Kyle and I did a quick walk-through of the house on Friday morning prior to the closing, and reflected on some of the best times we've had over the past 5 years in that house. We will certainly miss it! Our plans now - to stay put for a long time. I'm looking forward to making this house our home. We have so many projects that we want to start, but we're going to wait a little while. We want to get back into the habit of saving and investing and just enjoy the house in its current state. But, I know that I will be frequently driving back in our "old" neighborhood to check on 328.

5 months

Happy 5 month Macey Joy! I acknowledge that I'm a few days overdue with posting this update, but these days it seems typical. It seems like most times when I sit down it's to do a feeding or read a book with Micah. Today I'm having an oil change, which is allowing me to sit for an hour and catch up on blogging.

• Continues to grow! I don't have specific stats, as we don't go back to the doctor for another month, but I would have to assume she's 14-15#. She's wearing size 1 diapers, although she could easily transition up to size 2 or even 3. Her cute little bottom is busting out of her current diapers, but we still have about 50 left in the super economy pack that we bought last month and I fully intend to use every one of them : )

• Wearing size 3-6 months clothing. I love her clothes, and I will admit that I love shopping for girls clothes. Sorry Micah, the selection of girls clothes is much more abundant than the boys! I told Kyle not to allow me to buy anymore kids clothes the rest of the summer, because both kids are set.

• Eating 5-6 ounces every 3 hours. Food continues to be formula and breast milk. She's starting to show an interest in what we're eating, and we will plan to start solids with her at the end of the month.

• She loves her bottles and gets so excited at the first sight of them.

• Our house is filled with laughter and smiles, as Macey now belly laughs. Micah thinks it's great to get her to laugh, so he frequently can be seen laughing at her. I love it!

• We reached a new level of mobility on May 9th. Macey has begun to roll, and she goes between her stomach and back quite easily. She can roll across the room quickly! Once this girl gets crawling and walking, we are in for trouble. I think she's going to be just as active, if not more, than her big brother. She will sit for a few seconds before collapsing. Pivots on her stomach now too.

• Everything within her reach goes into her mouth. She's getting better at holding toys and assisting with holding her bottles.

• She's been showing a definite interest in toys. She likes rattles, the toys had hang from her playmat, rings, balls, and Micah's stuffed animals - when he shares.

• Sleeping has been okay. Our pediatrician warned us that her sleep pattern would change and it has. She generally goes to sleep around 9:30, sleeps until 6:00 and then comes into our bed and eats and falls back asleep until 7:30ish.

• She's sleeping in her crib - it was a necessary transition as she was outgrowing the bassinet in our bedroom. Still, the first few nights were admittedly a little difficult, even though her room is right across the hall from ours.

• She seems to know her name and turns her head in response to it.

• No teeth yet ( Micah got his bottom teeth at 4 months) so I'm expecting her to get them soon. She's definitely more drooley and everything seems to go in her mouth.

• She still has a clogged tear duct. According to her MD, no treatment is done until she's 12 months. She's otherwise been healthy this month and we are thankful for that!

• Thrives on attention - loves to be held, talk to, looked at, etc. Doesn't always love it when she's left alone in a room.

We love her and big brother Micah so much!! It's so much fun watching her grow, yet it's happening too quickly as well. It's hard to believe that 5 months have gone by.

Micah is 28 Months Old

Happy 28 months, or 2 years and 4 months birthday Micah. Earlier today, he and I were looking at a photo album of his first year. It's amazing how much this little guy has turned from a baby into a little kid in such a short period of time. Here's what we've been up to the past few months.

1) Big kiddo! I don't have specific weight or height measurements, but I would continue to assume that Micah is within the 90 percentile. It seems like he's the biggest kid in his class at school, even though some of his classmates are older than him.

2) Wearing 3T pants and shirts. Shoes are a size 9. Diapers are size 6.

3) Speaking of diapers, we're still rocking them. I'm thinking that Micah will be closer to 3 years old before he's potty trained, which is fine. He goes in spurts where he has interest and then he loses it. So, we move on...

4) Uses a lot of adjectives in his vocabulary. For example - "whose's that cute girl", as he was looking at the cover of my Pediatric's PT book a few nights ago. "Those are pretty flowers".

5) Asks a lot of questions - I love it. Dinner and bath time conversation is "where's ....(insert friend's name) at?"

6) Has an amazing memory -seriously. And, he remembers small details. A few days ago, he pointed to a Lexus while we were driving and said "that's Paige's mom's car". Paige is a friend from school, and yes, her mom drives a Lexus.

7) He's our neighborhood watch. He loves to keep us informed when the older couple across the street comes or leaves their house. He points out when the neighbor's dog is outside.

8) Favorite food is my homemade Mac and Cheese. He also loves pizza and hotdogs (Nathan's or Hebrew National), blueberries, bagels, oatmeal, cheese, goldfish.

9) Not picky - he continues to eat what we eat every night.

10) Loves to grocery shop with me because he knows that it usually involves getting a cookie.

11) Loves to go in general. He gets excited about small car rides, such as trips to the gas station, church, or even to go shopping.

12) New favorite toy is his grill.

13) Loves his Gosig (Ikea golden retriever) and stuffed duck.

14) PBS is our favorite TV station. Sesame Street keeps him occupied for a good hour in the morning to allow me to get a shower and get Macey ready. Thomas and Friends and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood are other loves.

15) Loves his daddy. He and Kyle have really bonded and it's fun to see how much Micah looks up to Kyle.

16) Loves running down hills. We're trying to teach him that he can't go up in people's driveways on our evening walks, but he loves running down the driveway hills so much!

17) Slowly learning to be patient, which is hard for him. He doesn't like waiting in line. He doesn't like waiting for all of us to sit down to eat supper. I know that this is going to be a hard skill to learn. I too am trying to work on being more patient myself!

18) Enjoys going on trips to the park. I love the park that's close to our house - the equipment in new, and it's not heavily utilized. We try to get there as often as possible, or as often as the weather allows.

19) Is hitting us less - I'm happy that we've made progress with that behavior!

20) Is learning to slow down and listen. Lately he's been doing some running when he gets out of the car. This usually occurs in the parking lot at daycare and has happened at a restaurant, but we're quickly trying to stop this behavior.

21) Loves to sing. It's great hearing him sing his school songs when he's independently playing. Some mornings, he comes in to our bedroom and serenades Kyle and I while we're still sleeping.

22) Easily embarrassed - he won't sing, repeat something, or do something physical when asked.

23) Still loves the word "no". I'm more than ready for us to get through that phase...

24) Responds well to timeouts, which are 2 minutes. He generally stays in time out until told he can come out. He's able to recall the reasoning for the timeout too.

25) Asks to read his Bible every night before bed. Some of his favorite stories are Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Whale, Daniel and the Tigers.

26) Seeking as much independence as possible. Wants to undress himself before bath, turn on sink to wash his hands, climb up into his car seat by himself.

27) Loves going out in the boat - last night we took the boat out on Lake Winona, and Micah had a great time watching Kyle catch weeds (and fish too). I don't think it'll be too long before he gets his own fishing pole.

28) Is a wonderful addition to our family! We love him so much and are thankful for all of the laughter and smiles that he brings to our lives. A challenge at times - yes, but we've grown as parents and a family through those difficult moments of parenting.

New set of Wheels

Pals

4 Months

Happy 4 month birthday to our sweet, sweet baby girl. It is such a joy to have Macey in our lives. She fills our days with lots of smiles, snuggles, and sweet Macey sounds. Macey celebrated her 4 month birthday with Papa and Grandma Carol who decided to come over for a visit, since 2 weeks is too long to go without seeing the grandkids. Micah was able to enjoy some park time with Papa, while Macey, my mom and I did some yard work at our 328 house. We grilled out and also went a walk in the beautiful weather before winter reared its head one last time this past week. Macey unfortunately had to get a few shots the day after her birthday.

Here's what our sweet girl has been up to over the past month -

• Stats - I thought our little girl was packing on some pounds, until starting daycare and being surrounded by a lot of cute, chunky friends. She now seems long and lean and her stats certainly support it. Macey topped the scales at 12# 13 ounces (25%), height 25 1/2 inches (90%), and head circumference 16" (50%) at her 4 month appointment.

• Wearing 3-6 month clothing, although daddy still tries to sneak some newborn clothing on her when given the opportunity. Kyle seems to gravitate towards this purple sweatsuit, which she has well outgrown. It's turned more into a summer capri outfit! She's wearing size 1 diapers, but is soon to outgrow them.

• Eating - Macey loves her bottles. She eats about 4-5 ounces every 3 hours. She hates when the bottle is finished or when she needs to take a burp break, and will scream like we're trying to starve her. I'm still pumping or breast feeding 4-5 times/day. At daycare, she generally gets formula though. I'm thankful to have made it 4 months of pumping, as that's when I stopped with Micah. I've actually even managed to freeze some milk which is a big accomplishment for me. A few people, including Kyle have asked me how much longer I plan to pump, and my next goal is 6 months. We have no plans to start solids anytime soon.

• Sleeping - Macey continues to sleep in a bassinet in our bedroom. My goal this month is to transition her into her crib, as she's starting to outgrow her bassinet. She continues to use a sleep sack. She generally goes to sleep around 10:00 and wakes up between 7-8:00.

• She's been playing with her feet a lot and rolling side to side. When on her stomach, she's clsose to rolling over to her back. Head control is awesome and she bears weight through her legs in standing. She loves her bouncer. She's clasping her hands together and bringing them to her mouth. She also is starting to assist with holding her bottles.

• She is super smiley. Kyle and I joke that she easily becomes embarrassed, as she will turn her head and burry it into your shirt or put her fist in her mouth if you smile at her too long.

• Health - over the past week Macey has been projectile vomiting approximately 45 minutes after  eating. Her pediatrician does not feel that it's related to acid reflux, as she's generally a happy baby, even while vomiting. I'm hoping that it's just a bug, as my washing machine and dryer have been getting a lot of use this week. Macey has also been out of daycare, and Kyle and I are juggling our work schedules to avoid having to take PTO.

• Likes - snuggling, being talked to, stroller rides, faces, eating, and watching Micah or her friends at daycare.

• Dislikes - being tired, hungry, or having a dirty diaper. Being placed in her car seat or put down when she wants to snuggle.