Weekly Update - Happy Thanksgiving

Week of November 23, 2012

Addie's weekly photo

Cooper's weekly photo

This week was very eventful for us! On Saturday (November 17), we were in Arkansas for Grandma and Grandpa Handley's 40th wedding anniversary!  We had so much fun celebrating such a huge milestone with them.  We hired a photographer and I will be getting pictures on here within the next week or two.  After getting home from Arkansas, we were busy busy busy getting ready for Thanksgiving.  We had Turkey day at our house this year with Nana, Uncle Dillon (and family).

All about Addie

Potty training:  Addison has done really well with potty training lately considering all of the chaos and business she has been faced with.  We have had to put a diaper on her a few times because of traveling and other situations that keep us from being right near a toilet.  Despite having a diaper on, she still tells us she needs to go potty.  Sometimes the diaper is dry and other times it's not.  It's nice to know that despite having the diaper, she recognizes she needs to go.

Cup Game:  Addison learned a cup game from her cousins while we were in Arkansas.  The only way I can describe it is that you clap and flip a cup from side to side... kid of like patt-a-cake, using a cup....  Anyway, Addie picked this game up watching Lexi and her friends and now she does it every time she finds an empty cup laying around.  It's quite funny to watch her in action!

All about Cooper

First Thanksgiving:  Cooper has had solids for a while now but he was able to eat a few "new" things this week both at home and while we were in Arkansas.  He definitely isn't a picky eater either!  Anything we gave him, he was happy with.

First TOOTH!!  Cooper started cutting his first tooth this week.  The tooth is the very front bottom right (his left).  We can just barely feel the tooth when we feel his gums and it hasn't quite got the "sharp" aspect yet.

Crawling:  Cooper has been rolling around on the floor for about a week.  Thanksgiving day, we noticed a new way of crawling that he had developed.  The best way to describe it is like a swimmers crawl.  He rolls onto his side and extends the opposite arm and pushes himself with his legs.  Then he rolls onto the other side and extends the other arm, pushing himself with his legs again.  It looks like he's swimming on the floor!  So cute!!

More photos from the week

Weekly Update - Take a Bow

Week of November 16, 2012

Addie's Weekly Photo

Cooper's Weekly Photo

This week, grandma and grandpa Kuntz came to visit us.  Addie immediately warmed up to both of them and of course Cooper was thrilled to have Grandma's hugs and kisses back.

All about Addie

Take a Bow:  Addison loves to perform for us. Wether she's dancing or singing or just being goofy, she has such a good time watching our reaction.  Recently, Nana taught her how to take a bow and blow kisses to her "audience".  Now, every time someone claps for her or cheers for her she will take a bow and blow kisses.

Anger management:  I say this in all humor but sometimes I wonder if kids need anger management classes.  Addie will do this thing where she clenches her fists and her teeth and shakes her fists at me or Cooper.  I've seen my nieces and nephews do the same thing when they were about her age.  I've seen other kids do it while I was teaching school too.  I'm sure there's some physiological explanation for it.

All about Cooper

Studying faces:  I LOVE THIS!  Addie did it when she was Cooper's age too and it's the sweetest thing!  If you're holding Coop or get near his face, he will reach out to touch your face.  His favorite thing is to pull at your glasses or your mouth.  If he's got a hold of your lip or nose and you shake your head, he will start cracking up.  So cute!!

Sitting Up:  I think we're a bit behind on the sitting up because we spent SOOOOO long keeping him FROM sitting up to avoid acid reflux.  Finally, Coop is showing signs of sitting up on his own.  He gets better every day.  We still get spit-ups from time to time when his belly gets scrunched but overall, he is doing great.

Tummy time:  Cooper gets MUCH more tummy time than he ever has before.  Now that we are 100% off his meds and he has shown he's not "sick" anymore, I feel more confident putting him on the floor to play.  He seems to love this new independence too.  He will reach for ANYTHING in his reach.

More photos from the week:

Weekly Update - 8 Months!

Week of November 9, 2012

Addie's Weekly photo

Cooper's Weekly Photo

This week, my grandparents (Gma and Gpa K) came to visit for a few days.  It's been a while since the kids have been able to hang out with Gma and Gpa.  The kids definitely enjoyed themselves and all of the attention they were getting!

All about Addie

Potty Training:

Spanish speaking?:  Addison counted to 10 in Spanish this week!  I'm assuming her knowledge of Spanish is stemming from watching Dora because mommy doesn't make an effort in teaching her Spanish.

Potty training:  We are still holding onto the diapers because we use them in the night and at naptime for accidents but there have been several occasions (mainly nap) that Addie has woken up with a dry diaper.  We have had only 2 accidents in the entire week!  I'm so proud of how quickly she caught onto potty training. :)

Cat Keyboard:  I have to post on this because I never want it to escape my memory.  Addison has a keyboard that is in the shape of a cat's face.  The keyboard has ALWAYS annoyed me... you have to hear it to understand.  Luckily, Addison never really became attached to the keyboard and I rarely hear it...... until this week!  Addison has played with this toy on average about 2 hours every day this week.  In fact, Addie now has EVERY song in the keyboard memorized!  However annoying the sound of the keyboard is, it's never annoying to hear Addie sing along.  It was quite entertaining to see Addie put on a "show" for grandma and grandpa with this keyboard while they were visiting.

All about Cooper

8 Months:  Cooper turned 8 months old this week!

Head shaker:  Cooper has started shaking his head back and forth for no reason.  It's hilarious! Sometimes he will do it in response to us being goofy and other times he will just be playing and start shaking his head.  Cracks us up!

Prevacid:  On Friday morning, we decided to further wean Coop off of his Prevacid.  We didn't see any extra spitting up or crankiness.  We went from 1/2 a pill twice a day down to 1/2 a pill once a day and now we are going to try 1/2 a pill every other day.  Fingers crossed that we are able to completely get him off his meds and on his way to being free of acid reflux!

Sleeping:  Up until Friday night (the 9th), we've had NO problems with Cooper's sleeping habits.  The only thing I haven't been thrilled about is that he usually wakes up around 6am each morning but at least he has been sleeping through the night!  Friday night though, Cooper woke up almost every hour through the night.  I'm hoping it's just a coincidence that we started weaning him further off his meds the same day that he had problems sleeping through the night.

More photos from the week:

Weekly Update - Happy Halloween!

Week of November 2, 2012

Addie's Weekly Photo

Cooper's Weekly Photo

Halloween fun!  On Saturday, we had our Halloween party the following Wednesday we went trick or treating.  The party was a hit and the kids had a blast!  I think Cooper enjoyed all of the attention and Addison most surely enjoyed all of the extra kids around to play with!  Trick-or-treating started at the Outlet Mall and ended at a nearby neighborhood where we went door-to-door.  The outlet mall wasn't too crowded and the weather was nice enough that we didn't need extra coats/hats.  By the time we arrived at the neighborhood, it was dark and perfect weather for door-to-door trick-or-treating.  It was exciting to experience "traditional" halloween fun with the kids.

All about Addie

Potty Training:  I've been posting about potty training weekly now because it seems like things can change in a matter of days when you're potty training your toddler.  This week, Addison was very consistent about coming to us and telling us when she needed to go potty.  We also learned this week that when Addison says "my belly hurts", it means she needs to poop!  I feel like we've come such a long way in the last month with Addie and "accidents".  Hoping we stay on a good track and can eliminate diapers completely within the next few weeks.

Gymnastics:  Addison showed a new little gymnast this week.  Even Miss Megan commented on how great Addison did at this weeks session.  Addison went across the balance beam by herself, she was able to jump forward the entire length of the trampoline, and a few of the "obastacle course" activities were done to perfection!  I'm so proud of her!

Halloween:  It was a really exciting Halloween for us to watch Addie experience and react to all of the fun.  She had her "trick-or-treat's" and "thank-you's" down to a T!  Walking around the outlet mall, I wasn't sure if she would get spooked by all of the crazy and scary masks that some kids wore but she didn't react at all!

All about Cooper

First Halloween:  Cooper is obviously a little too young to really enjoy the festivities, but he sure did look adorable in his little lion costume!  In effort to include him a bit more in the festivities, I let him taste one of Addie's suckers for a few minutes.  Lets just say, he didn't want me to take the sucker away!! LOL

Smacking Lips:  Coop's newest thing is smacking/popping his lips.  He will just sit around and making popping sounds sometimes babbling between pops.  Super cute!

Easy Burper:  For whatever reason, Cooper was very difficult to burp even since birth.  I'm assuming it had something to do with the acid reflux.  In the last week, I've noticed he is much easier to burp.  Sometimes it's just a matter of picking him up after he is done eating and a huge burp will immediately come out!

More Photos from the week:

Playing Peekaboo

Hanging with her favorite "bear" 

Feeding the chickens 

At gymnastics 

Getting ready for trick-or-treating

Our halloween party.  Kids

lined up to hit the piniata  

 Addie found the best way to get apples 

was to use her hands!

Lions and their lion tamers  

 

Winding down from trick-or-treating

at the outlet mall

My favorite witch and my other favorite lion 

Checking out her lion head