Vintage Post: Easter Egg Decorating

**Vintage posts are entries that I am way behind in posting. :) These will be eventually refiled into the appropriate date range.**

 April 23, 2011

Last year we started the tradition of coloring Easter eggs! I learned that one dozen simply wasn't enough, so this year Caiden got to decorate 24 eggs! We also decorated on a weekend this year so that B could participate too! I stuck with the regular ol' dye set and didn't get any crazy fancy neon colors or Disney themed stuff. I also discovered that using mason jars is way cooler than mugs! Altho, getting the eggs out of the jars proved to be a little bit challenging. Next year we'll have to use the wide mouth jars! Lastly, I had the foresight to boil the eggs a few days in advance, so we didn't have to worry about taking time to cook and cool them.

Caiden had a great time picking which colors to dye his eggs and deciding how long to keep them in there. We also used the wax crayon to make special eggs for each of us. Ezra napped during the whole process, but we still made a special egg for him!

Vintage Post: Big Boy Bed

**Vintage posts are entries that I am way behind in posting. :) These will be eventually refiled into the appropriate date range.**

April 6, 2011

After our trip to Great Wolf Lodge at the end of February, we figured out that Caiden managed a big bed pretty well. I've been nervous about moving him into his own bed since it means we lose the guarantee of keeping him in bed that the crib offered. But Ezra really needs to move out of our room and into his own room (and out of the pack 'n' play), so it has become time to let go and move Caiden on to the next big step.

We've been prepping him and counting down to the big move (needed to wait until after our March and April visitors had come and gone), and the day finally arrived! B disassembled his crib, moved the former guest bed into his room and put on the Toy Story sheets we got him for his birthday. I couldn't believe how grown up his room looked with that change! But since it is a full sized bed, Caiden looked so adorably tiny in this big bed surrounded by fluffy blankets, pillows and all his stuffed animals.

I was really worried about 1) him falling out of bed and 2) him getting in and out of bed willy nilly. I asked for advice on Facebook, and our awesome friends gave me some really great ideas! One thing we did was set up strict rules about when he is allowed to get out of bed. Another thing we did was put a long body pillow along the outside edge of his bed so that he had a marker for getting to close to the edge. He did fantastically his first night as far as staying put goes. However, I think he was super excited because it took him a long time to fall asleep. The next few nights he dutifully followed the rule for staying in bed, but couldn't resist hanging out in the window that was so close to his head. One night he gave me a near heart attack when I came up to check on him only to discover him dancing on the window ledge with the window wide open (thankfully the screen was intact). This prompted a re-arrangement of the room and a search for quality window locks.

After a couple of weeks, the novelty has worn off, and he does an excellent job of going to sleep for both nap and bedtime, and he stays put. We've been fortunate that he has followed the rule for staying in bed until we come get him, and I hope he continues to do so. As for the crib, I made the mistake of forgetting to ask him if it was OK that Ezra starts sleeping there. He was a little upset at first, but after I properly asked him if he'd let Ezra sleep there, he agreed and has had no problems ever since. He's such a great little guy!! :)

What's Up on the West Coast

Blog? What's that? Oh, you mean this thing? Ohhhhh yeah! About that...

Yeah....this blog has been pretty neglected this year. It's a sad thing, and sometimes I miss making regular updates, but I seriously just haven't had the time or motivation to sit down and write. My monthly updates on Ezra are quite time intensive (they often take a good couple of hours since I am usually interrupted), and somehow I just haven't been feeling terribly inspired. I suppose I've had a fairly long list of other pursuits that have been keeping me plenty busy on top of the severe lack of sleep that Ezra has gifted us with. Thank heavens we're finally digging ourselves out of that fog (knock on wood that it lasts!).

At the very top of the Busy List is our impending move back to IL! Next weekend, Ezra and I are going back for a short trip to do some house hunting and will hopefully be coming back to WA with a signed lease. Once we secure housing, we'll be able to schedule the rest of the big items - flying the boys and me home, B and company driving the cars and cats back, and getting the movers on the calendar. Oh, and of course planning our going away shindig! I can't believe how quickly the time is coming for us to be moving back! I am VERY excited but a little nervous too. Nothing like major changes to keep you awake and thinking in the wee hours. :)

I've also been keeping busy with a few hours of contract work I've picked up. A lot of my formerly free time for the computer is now getting devoted to that work. It's really the ideal arrangement - I work when I can and I don't have to worry about compromising much of my time with the boys. I couldn't have asked for a better situation!

And of course, running a household and taking care of the boys is where I spend the most of my time. I don't often have time to myself during the day as someone is usually awake and in need of attention. I'm not complaining, but it has been a shift (and a challenge) in finding time to get things more leisurely activities done. I've also been keeping busy with baking and a new passion - couponing. Add some organizational and crafty projects to the list and you can see that doesn't leave much room for blogging and email. Like I said, I do miss it. I miss chronicling what goes on in our lives and sharing that with all of you too. I have all these pictures and videos I'd love to post, but they've been getting chucked into the backlog or squeezed into some of Ezra's regular updates. Or posted to Facebook - that's an easy one to just throw stuff up on.

Well, the whole point of my sitting down and doing a little updating was to get some of these backlogged posts up and running. So enjoy! I've missed putting up these entries, and I hope to get a little better about future updates.

Mom Prom 2011

This year I got to go to Prom! Specifically, it was the Seattle Mom Prom. My friend Ashley invited me to go along, and after I read up a little on it I thought this sounded like an incredibly fun night out! First and foremost, it is a charity event and proceeds benefit Postpartum Support International of WA. Essentially, it was a big girls' night out party. The official theme was '80s night, but both Ashley and I opted to go the more formal route.

The best part was there was no going to expensive department stores to find a fancy dress. Instead it was all about hitting up the thrift stores! I got super lucky and found the perfect dress at the first thrift store I tried. It was a gorgeous aqua and brown floor length gown complete with sparklies and a mini-train. The brown sash and sequins adorning it were what totally sold me. Oh, and the fact that it cost me $15 certainly didn't hurt either! I did get to test out my tailoring skillz on this dress too. It was just a wee bit snug, so I got some matching thread, took a deep breath and let out a couple of seams. I am thrilled to report that it was a success! And a much better fitting dress too.

I spent much of Saturday getting ready (not the WHOLE day, just bits and pieces throughout the day). I did my nails and toenails, did my own hair, did my make-up. You know, the whole shebang! I took some photos with Caiden (who will make an adorable prom date someday!), and then Ashley came over and we took some more photos together.

The Prom was in the Seattle neighborhood of Fremont at what looked like an old dance hall. The dance floor was in the main hall complete with tall ceilings, wood floor and huge windows. On the lower level, there were plenty of snacks (think slumber party snacks), the bar, a hair and make up station, professional photographer, and a table of silent auction items. We met up with some of Ashley's friends and hung out for a little while before heading upstairs to commence dancing our butts off!

To go along with the theme, they played primarily 80s music which I LOVED! I had such a blast dancing all night long! I can't remember the last time I had such a fun night out! It was just what I needed. :) Of course, it would have been an even more perfect night if Brian could have gone too, so maybe we'll just have to find a night to go out dancing together. :)

Ezra at 9 Marvelous Months

I think this has got to be one of my favorite ages. It seems that around 9 months, babies (or at least mine anyway) are suddenly more interactive, more engaging, so much fun and just plain adorable. I have such a great time playing with him, making him laugh and smile, and simply love hanging out with him! And of course it helps that he is a super smiley guy. Ezra has been busy working on so many milestones this month. He is so close to crossing them too! Somehow I didn't take many pictures this month, so I'll try and make up for that with an extra video or two.

An exciting change in our household has been the addition of our part-time nanny! Her name is Kyra (or "My-Kyra" as Caiden calls her) and she is fantastic! She is going to be a returning senior in college this year and is super passionate about kids. Both Caiden and Ezra love her, and she does such a great job with them! She comes in twice a week for a few hours on Tues and Thurs, and then every Weds night so B and I can have a regular date night. It's so great to finally have a regular sitter!

Ezra did a great job at his 9 month well baby check up! The only minor concern is his eczema. It's not too bad, but we need to treat it with some hydro-cortizone to keep it in check. Other than that, he is doing fantastically! While we were in the waiting room, a little girl was running around and very excited about "the baby" in the stroller (Ezra). Her mom and I started chatting, and she revealed that the little girl was 18 mos. She guessed Ezra was about the same age, and when I told her he was only 9 mos, her eyes widened and she exclaimed over what a big boy he is! LOL!

Here are his stats:
Weight: 20lbs, 9oz (up 2lbs even from his 6 month appt) which puts him in the 50-75%.
Height: 30in (up one inch since February) - that keeps him in the 95%!
Head: 18 inches

Now on to the highlights. I didn't do a good job "collecting" these over the month, so let's see how much I can remember.

• He is getting super close to crawling! He has been getting up on his hands and knees for the last several weeks and rocking back and forth. Recently, he pops a knee forward a little bit, but I don't think he quite realizes that he's doing it.

• Ezra's current method of getting around is "helicoptering" (to borrow a term from the Shaffers). He'll be on his belly and can do a full 360 to reach any toys in his radius. Sometimes he combines this with rolling and can cover a surprising distance!

 

• He has totally mastered sitting up and even occasionally figures out how to get to his belly from a sitting up position. Sometimes he takes a shortcut and flops on his back. :)
• There is a good chance he is working on a tooth. He has been drooling more and chewing a lot more on his thumb and pointer fingers. I don't feel anything yet, but Caiden popped his first tooth at this age, so we'll see if Ezra follows suit.
• Of course I can't resist talking about sleep, but this time it is mostly good news to report! Ezra is FINALLY consistently sleeping thru the night. I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks (feels like much longer), but it has been such a huge relief to know fairly reliably that he will stay asleep for the night. Now, some mornings he has woken abnormally early (4am) and sometimes gets himself back to sleep. Bedtime is around 6:15pm and he'll generally wake up around 6am (if all has gone well). Lately his naps have been a little off kilter in that they've been shorter than usual, but I am hoping that will resolve itself. I dislike getting up so early, but it does allow for some time in the late morning/early afternoon for Caiden, Ezra and me to get out of the house before someone needs lunch or the next nap. The one major downer with his sleep remains the issue of getting him to actually FALL asleep. He fights naps and bedtime quite a bit which still just breaks my heart some nights. The other night he took 90 minutes to finally go to bed for the night and that included 30 minutes of me trying to soothe and rock him. Even the doctor is at a loss for how to help him adjust. So I keep hoping he'll eventually grow out of it, or else we'll figure out a way to get him to happily go to sleep.
• This kid continues to eat like a horse. I swear, he's going to eat us out of house and home when he gets older. He's happy with oatmeal and applesauce at breakfast. Lunch is rye bread with an avocado & cream cheese spread, and two kinds of fruit. Dinner has been rice or noodles with chicken and veggies. And these aren't small portions either! I need to figure out some other recipes to feed him. He does also sometimes share our dinners as long as it is something that he can safely eat.
• He's been making lots of new vocalizations. Most recently he's making a "t" sound. Nothing clear just yet tho. I also thought for a little while that he was doing the sign for water. I got him to repeat the motion a few times at lunch one day, but he hasn't done it since. I keep practicing lots of signs with him tho!
• He really enjoys reading books. He likes to look at them on his own, and he'll get really excited when we sit down and read to him. I feel like I don't do as good a job reading to him as I did with Caiden, so I am trying to be more conscious of building time into our day for reading together.

 

• He's discovered he can clap toys, like his stacking cups, together and loves it! He also likes playing with his soft blocks and the little shapes that are nested inside of them.
• I'm thrilled that he still loves to cuddle and snuggle. He is super happy to sit on a lap and chew on a toy. I love spending mornings in bed with him and just snuggling. He's also got this super cute maneuver where he'll act all shy. I'll be holding him and someone will interact with him. He'll smile at them and then bury his head in my shoulder for a few seconds and then look at them and smile again. It is just the cutest thing!
  
  
  
  
• Ezra and Caiden are still getting along pretty well. Caiden likes to try and make him laugh, and Ezra adores watching Caiden do anything. A few days ago, Caiden wasn't feeling too good and getting sporadic stomach cramps. The cramps would make him cry, and one hit him while he was standing by Ezra and B. Caiden started crying, and Ezra immediately responded in kind with a huge boo boo lip and then his face crumbled into tears. I don't think I'd ever seen him react like that before! (On a side note, Caiden finally passed a big BM later that evening and felt much better, poor kid!)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We finally got some nice enough weather to spend some time outdoors in the morning and afternoon. I set Ezra up on a blanket with some toys, and he seemed to really like it! We've also taken a couple walks to go see the horses just outside of our neighborhood. We also got a great deal on a Radio Flyer two seater wagon (which Caiden ADORES) and took the boys for a couple walks in it. Ezra has also gotten to spend some time in the swing we have hanging in the garage which he really likes!

I *think* that about covers it for the month. I wish I had done a better job of keeping track throughout the month, but I seemed to have remembered a good amount of what I wanted to share. We are looking forward to seeing lots of family next weekend when Ezra and I are in town for our house hunting trip! Updated pictures of Caiden are here and pictures of Ezra are here.