21 months

This little man is such a joy.  The "goofiness" in his personality is getting stronger each week and it is fun to watch.  His latest antic is to scream as LOUD as he can in the grocery store and then laugh hysterically when I say "no".  This is then repeated over and over again.  If I ignore him, he just keeps screaming.  He thinks it is hilarious.  Me?  Not so much.  :)

He has decided that he is no longer a baby.  He refuses to sit in a highchair, so he is now sitting at a regular chair at the table.  He does not like sippy cups, so he is drinking from a regular cup.  He prefers to walk instead of being placed in the stroller.  Basically, he does everything and anything that the big kids do.

He loves to help me in the garden as I am weeding and planting.  He has his own little set of gloves and tools and he digs and pulls weeds right alongside me.  It is so sweet.

New words keeps coming.  He actually put his first 2-word sentence together this week.  I asked him where Daddy was and he replied "Daddy up".  He was right...Daddy was upstairs!  If I ask the kids "who wants _____?", he raises his hand and yells "me!".  Doesn't matter what the item is, he just usually thinks he wants it.  :)

He is not such a big fan of swimming anymore.  Not sure what changed there, since he used to love it.  He does love sitting in the hot tub though.  His parents are both OK with taking baby duty at that point.

He has finally discovered the television.  Not sure I'm too happy with that discovery, but he likes to sit on the couch between his sisters and watch cartoons.  He doesn't have a favorite show yet, but his face lights up when the TV is turned on.

He currently weighs about 25 pounds, wears size 24 months for clothes and size 6 for shoes.  He is full of joy and is very active all the time.  We think he looks like Johnny out of all the kids and seems to have his personality too.  I love this kid!

Spring

Spring has finally arrived in Vancouver and here are a few of our highlights so far....

Ashlyn lost her first (and second a few days later) tooth in March!

 

 

Shaylah turned 8 years old!  She had a home party this year with 8 of her friends.  It was the last day of school before Spring Break and the girls ate pizza and sushi for dinner and then watched "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" in their pyjamas.  Easy party for me to plan!  We always do "no present" parties for her friends, so after the movie they danced and played limbo until the parents showed up.  Her big request for a present this year was a pogo stick and she has gotten really good at it.

 

 

 

Visits with Great Gran and having a tea party.  Great Gran turned 96 years old this year and she is amazing.  She is my mom's mom and I so appreciate having her in my life.  She gives the best tea parties for the kids (with real tea and homemade oatcakes) and they LOVE going to visit her.

 

 

 

Spring has also brought a start to a whole new set of activities.  We have given up soccer for t-ball (Ashlyn and Caelan), softball (Shaylah) and swimming lessons.  The kids continue to do basketball, piano lessons, GEMS (girls) and Beavers (Caelan).  Life is busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

 



 

 

 



 

 

 



20 months

Once again, I am really late with this post.  Micah will be 21 months in less than a week!

(the newest softball player in our family)

I am understanding his language more every day.  New words include "more", "wow", "milk", "up". There are probably more I can't think of right now.  He finally says "do-og", instead of "doda".  His gestures and ability to get his needs met have increased significantly.  He constantly has a runny nose, and with his delayed speech, I wonder if he has the same ear fluid issues that his big brother had.  Only time will tell!

(he loves bubbles!)

 

He is just as happy with Dad as he is with Mom, which is a first for my kids.  The others wouldn't let Daddy do anything for them and only wanted Mama (still do!).  He officially sleeps through the night consistently now and still takes 2-3 hour naps each day, usually starting at noon.  He is cuddly and so sweet.  He loves to move, sing, dance, climb....anything active.  He rarely sits in a highchair anymore, but would rather sit at the table like a big boy.  He can drink from a normal cup and use a fork/spoon very proficiently.

(discovering chocolate at Easter)

We are currently battling his first flu bug, which is not fun, especially when I have it too.  I think we brought it back from Disneyland.

(enjoying popsicles in our favorite snack location...on our new deck)

Life is so much more fun with this little man.  I cherish every day with him at home.  My work is currently undergoing some changes, where I may be asked to work more hours.  I am not so sure that I want to miss out on more time with him while he is little.  Prayer would be greatly appreciated as I may have to make an important decision very soon with regard to working more or not working at all.  I am still not sure what the right answer is!

Disneyland 2014

We just got back last night from our trip to Disneyland. I wanted to post a few pictures and thoughts while things were still fresh in my mind.

Our trip was fantastic.  We actually hit California during a heat wave, so it was HOT (low to mid-30's the whole trip).  It was so wonderful.  We came home every afternoon for a quick swim and some dinner before heading back for more rides.  We stayed at a Residence Inn Marriott and had breakfast and dinner included each day.  It was perfect for the kids and the shuttle ride to and from the park was quick and easy.  We brought our own lunches into the park, since Target was right across the street from our hotel.

We thought we would have fewer crowds because it is currently off-season at Disneyland, but we were wrong.  I think the combination of shorter park hours, rides under re-furbishment (and therefor closed) and the hot weather, made the park feel extra busy.  I have been a couple of times in the late fall and I would always recommend that time of year.  The weather is still warm, it is way less crowded and all the rides are open. 

We got really good at the FastPass system though, which I have never had to use before (the last time we went to Disney we just walked on rides without having any wait times).  We also discovered the Rider Swap system, which was pretty much the only benefit of having a little one that could not go on the rides with us.  Here is how it worked:  the majority of our group would use a FastPass to get into the ride.  At the entrance of the ride, one person would stay behind with the baby and request a Rider Swap card.  That person could then use their unused FastPass and take 3 guests (usually the 3 kids) on another ride without waiting in the regular line.  The kids got double the amount of riding in without the long waits.  It was great.  I should say though, that even with the FastPass, we were often waiting 20-30 minutes for each ride.  It was better than the 2 hour waits for the regular lines though!

Doing Disneyland with a baby is not easy.  It would probably be better if you had other little ones with you or no other kids at all.  It was hard having one baby trying to keep up with 3 older kids.  Micah could not go on most of the rides that they wanted to go on.  Alternatively, the big kids did not want to go on the baby rides.  There was always one person who had to stay behind with Micah and not go on a ride with the group.  If we go to Disneyland again, we will wait until everyone is 48 inches so that everyone can stay together.  It was a good experience for him though and he loved the rides he was allowed to go on.  It was fun to watch his excitement.  I was also surprised at how much he loved the Disney characters.  He was not afraid of them at all and was happy to meet them.  He is such an easy-going baby and travelled so well for both flights and during the week, despite missing naps and getting to bed really late.

We were thankful that Grammy and Grampy could come with us.  Although Ashlyn and Caelan were allowed on most rides, they were not allowed to ride by themselves.  We needed the extra adults just to get everybody on the rides.

Shaylah had no fear on rides.  Her 3 favorite rides included California Screamin, Tower of Terror and Space Mountain.  I was pretty happy to go with her each time.  :)  Ashlyn loved the MatterHorn and Caelan loved Star Tours and learning how to fight Darth Vader.  His favorite souvenir was his light saber.  Micah liked anything that moved, including the shuttle ride to and from the park.  He did not care!  His favorite souvenir was a Goofy doll that he picked out himself.  The girls each bought a pair of hoop earrings with Mickey Mouse shaped birthstones.

 
We did not meet any of the princesses this trip.  Anna and Elsa from Frozen had 4.5 hour waits to meet them.  Crazy that people actually stood in line that long to get a picture and autograph!  Our last visit to Disneyland centred all around meeting the princesses, so it was interesting to see how the kids had changed.  This time it was all about the rides.  I made them meet and get autographs from the main Disney characters, but they would have been happy without it. 

We are all happy to be home in the rain today.  The rain means our 2 baseball games have been cancelled today and we all kind of need the day at home to recover.  Shaylah ended up getting the flu on our last Disney day and did not even come to the park.  Poor girl.  At least the rest of us stayed healthy!

Happy Star Wars Day!  May the Fourth be with you!