Chance's Birthday

I didn't expect too much from Chance's birthday because it was just us and my mom and Bentley's birthday celebration went like this:

He did not like all the attention on him and refused to even try his cake. Chance, however, loves attention and inherited my love for all things sweet. He completely destroyed his cake before even trying a bite, and then decided to eat some of it. Paul is not a big fan of the "smash cake" idea and says whoever came up with it must not have had to clean up the mess. A month later I am still finding dried up frosting in random places.

He didn't understand the concept of presents, but Bentley didn't mind opening them. They both share a love of giraffes. Chance's squinty-eyed laugh makes us all smile.

My grandma always gave my sister and I a gift on the other's birthday so we wouldn't feel left out. My mom is carrying on this tradition and gave Bentley this dinosaur. It never leaves his side, day or night.

Here are Chance's monthly pictures (I didn't get the stickers until he was almost 2 months old):

May Cont.

Not that I was much of a regular blogger before, but free time is pretty much non-existent these days. This fall will mark 10 years since I took my first college class. I have been meaning to go back to school ever since I stopped taking classes 4 years ago. When I read that some credits can expire after 10 years I knew it was either now or never (or just repeating classes I already took, which I do not want to do). So, back in January I started taking classes again. Reading, studying, and homework are now consuming any free time I had.

Anyway, back to May. Paul's grandma, whom the boys and I had never met, was in LA for a few days, so we made the short trip up there to visit. My mom was still here visiting so we got a couple hotel rooms and figured it would just be a fun little getaway. The first morning we woke up and Bentley's eye was a little red. He was rubbing it so we figured it was allergies or something. It got worse and worse and worse to the point that I just knew he had pink eye. That whole afternoon and evening was spent on the phone arguing with our insurance company, then trying to find an urgent care center that accepted our insurance, and then at the pharmacy.

He did not want me to take a picture of it so that's the best I have. The next day we had to head back home so Paul could go back to work. So we only got to visit with Paul's grandma for maybe an hour total, but it was nice to meet her. Chance was his usual laid back self and didn't complain too much as long as someone snuggled with him while he slept.

Before my mom left we had to check out the Wild Animal Park. We had never been there before. We all had fun and Bentley asked to see the giraffes first thing again. Some of the animals you walk by and see them in their enclosures, but a lot of them are out in this big field. We rode the train around to look at all of them.

You could pay A LOT, A LOT of money to ride out there and feed the giraffes. How cool would that be? Bentley would absolutely love it, but you have to be 6 to do it. So, maybe someday. Or would he pass for a 6 year old? 

May Wrap-Up Part 1

The last part of April and first part of May we were in AR. I went to surprise my friend Kayla who was on bedrest, and I ended up arriving the day before baby Audrey was born.

I am so thankful I was able to meet this sweet baby and spend time with Kayla. It was a quick trip so I was rushed to spend as much time as possible with all my family. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures.

My mom traveled back with us to spend two weeks in San Diego for Chance's birthday. It was a totally different experience having someone with me while traveling. Just being able to go to the bathroom by myself is a treat. We tried to make the most of the time she was here. Our first stop was the zoo. Bentley loves the zoo, so this year we got passes. He got to pick which animal we went to see first and he chose the giraffes.

He really loves the giraffes and their "long, long necks." We watched them for a long time. His 2nd favorite thing after the giraffes was the "dino bones."

The elephants are in the enclosure behind him here, but I don't think he even noticed them. There were several of these rocks that were keeping all of his attention. Chance did great. He just rode and checked everything out and dozed off occassionally.

Next up will be a trip to LA, the beach, the wild animal park, Chance's birthday, and our camping trip. May was a very busy month.

11 Months

It's hard for me to believe Chance is almost a year old.

He has taken a couple of steps here and there, but he is a super speedy crawler so that is what he prefers. On carpet he crawls with both knees down, but on a hard surface he will crawl on one knee and one foot. It's pretty funny to watch.

He drinks all his milk from sippy cups and refuses to eat baby food most of the time. He will eat a few bites of whatever we are eating and could eat his weight in cheerios, puffs, and graham crackers.

We are in AR visiting now so I can't really comment on his sleep. He has been spending the second half of the night in the bed with Bentley and me. Before we left though he was sleeping great, waking up once for some milk, and taking two 1.5 hour naps.

He weighs about 22 pounds and wears 12-18 month clothes. His 8th little tooth just poked through. My sister gave him his first haircut and it makes him look so much older.

He is a very easy going baby. He goes with me pretty much everywhere and is content to sit in the stroller or on my lap munching on cheerios. He likes to make silly faces that make us laugh. He is also very sensitive and doesn't like it when Bentley tries to play with him (which usually means taking the toy he has). He loves his brother though and tries to copy everything he does.

Paci Free Zone

Chance was a paci-addict, but the pacis were starting to cause some trouble. At night he would stand up in his crib and throw his paci as far as he could across the room. Then he would stare at it and cry. I would give it back to him and this process would repeat over and over until he finally fell asleep. I tried putting 3 or 4 pacis in his bed and he would throw them out one at time.

A couple weeks ago he started waking up 3-5 times in the night and needing my help to go back to sleep. The "paci game" as we called it was not very much fun at 2 a.m. After a couple days of this I had an idea: He is already sleeping horribly, why don't I just take his paci away. Brilliant! I kept this bowl of pacis handy knowing I would give in very easily, especially in the middle of the night.

It has now been 2 weeks and I think it's safe to say he is done with pacis. He wakes up once or twice at night, but I'm ok with that. The only real difference I've noticed is he puts anything and everything into his mouth with no paci there to block. I'm so happy this worked out because Bentley's sleep still hasn't recovered from taking his paci away.

Last picture with paci:



9 Months

Chance is a very busy 9 month old. This is what he is up to:

• He is 20 lbs. 14 oz. as of today. He is wearing mostly 12 month clothes and some 18 month clothes and size 4 diaper.
• He eats a lot, but hates veggies. I have to mix one part veggie with 3 parts oatmeal to tone down the taste to where he will eat it. He loves all pureed fruits and does well with feeding himself table foods. He can drink from a sippy cup, but prefers not to.
• He is finally crawling!! One day Bentley spilled some Cheerios on the floor and the next thing we knew he was crawling towards them. Apparently he is motivated by food (something Bentley was never and still isn't). This made it hard to get him to sit still for pictures. He kept coming after the camera. He is also pulling up on anything and everything.

• He is sleeping quite a bit better. He still has trouble getting to sleep between bedtime (7:30) and 10, but the last couple nights he has slept from 10 to 7 without waking up. That is a huge improvement from last month. He takes two naps and those are no problem thankfully.
• He had his first ambulance ride (and hopefully last). Long story short, he choked on a sticker. It makes me sick to my stomach thinking back to how I felt. I had to call 911. The paramedics came to our house. They could not get it out of his throat, but on the way to the hospital he was able to swallow it. It's hard to baby proof with a 3 year old around, but you can bet I am going to be so much more careful now.
• He still loves to be held and would sit on your lap forever if you let him. He gives kisses and will whack you in the face if he gets excited.
• He "talks" all the time and mainly says dadadada. When I tell him to say mama he just laughs. Stinker.
  
  
  

February in California

I grew up having four seasons, fall and spring being my equal favorites, then winter, and summer my least favorite. Here in Southern California we only have two seasons: summer and a sort of springy time. By springy time I mean you may need a jacket after dark. Of course I am exaggerating here, but I'm one who doesn't really like being hot.

So anyway, it's February and this is what we did today.

We had an afternoon of hunting sea shells, building sand castles, eating sand (Chance was the only one brave enough to try it), and walking along the shore. This will probably be our last summer here so I will try not to complain... too much.