Fun with Baby B!

My baby is growing up, there are times that I look at him and he doesn't look like a baby anymore, he looks like a little man, but he is mostly baby still.

My little B has been teething! He got his first tooth 2 months ago and it was a lonely tooth for a while, in the past 4 weeks he has gotten 4 more teeth and they are still coming. He hasn't been the happiest little boy at night (why is it that teething is worse at night?) but he is still one of the most perfectly sweet and cute little boys in existence, even if he is a little cranky. If you look close you can see his big and little teeth, the two top teeth are GIGANTIC and the 3 bottom teeth are very little and kind of crooked!

I decided I wanted to get some video of B, he has been shaking his head from side to side in a "No" type pattern, he gets a big smile on his face when he does it, I think he is thinking to himself "Whoooa, everything looks funny!". So I was trying to get that on video and I also got his first and so far only sign- More. Like most babies his More is very different from the actual sign, but he and I know what it means, and that's what counts. This Video and the pictures above were all taken during breakfast this morning.

My Little Linebacker

Cuteness Personified! 

Last Friday the whole family went with little B to his 12 month well child check. It was fun. We were told that B is pretty much a perfect specimen of a 12 month old AND that he had the cutest laugh that the doctor had heard all day. Here are his stats-

Weight- 26 pounds 12 oz = 92nd percentile (J was 23 pounds 2 oz 54th percentile)

Height-  31 3/4 inches = 94th percentile (J was 32 inches! 96th percentile)

Head-   18 3/4 inches = 82nd percentile 

Right around the time that J turned 1 I heard that pediatricians were not necessarily having children drink whole milk, well, J's doctor had him drink whole milk for the whole year. Not B, he has sufficient stores of baby chub, and he is going straight to 1% (that is, just as soon as he finishes the whole milk we bought him before we knew the doctor was okay with him drinking the same milk as the rest of the family). 

I took this picture yesterday night, Ken was taking care of business! Holding both the boys while they drank their pre-bed milk AND talking shop with the President of the local Special Needs Mutual.

 Some things about B, He smiles ALL THE TIME (well 95% of the time). He worships his brother (once again, 95% of the time). He has only fallen down the stairs once! He crawls super fast and tries to eat everything he can get his hands on. He can easily pull himself up next to things like couches, tables, walls and pianos. And if he is standing next to a piano, he will start to play it. He is also starting to cruise- just a little.

More? Sure! B loves fruit! Lately he has been devouring plums,  or bananas, he got his hands on a strawberry today and made quick work of it. He loves black beans and all kinds of vegetables. He prefers solid foods to milk and is more easily pacified by a bowl of oatmeal and apple sauce or some beans and tomatoes than by a sippy cup of milk. In this way he is VERY different from his brother.

J was addicted to milk, he seriously could down 30 or more ounces a day, B might drink 16- which according to the doctor is on the low side of average, he told us not to worry too much about that- because like we said earlier- B has some pretty good baby chub storage going on. J was also not the most patient baby, especially when it came to sleeping and or being awake in his crib. If he was awake in there he was complaining. B is pretty close to the opposite, I often have to check on him to see if he is still sleeping or if he is awake, and much of the time when I check after a couple hours of him napping, he is sitting or laying in his bed, just waiting quietly for someone to come get him. He is a sweet boy.

We love our little B, my sweet little bear. I can't imagine what life would be like without him, but I also feel like this first year of his life flew by much faster than J's first year did. I guess it is because J had all my attention and B has had to share it.

Baby B Vs. the Flour Bucket (and the Sippy Cup too)

Can you guess who won? B was hanging out with me in the kitchen, I left to take something to the computer desk and when I came back I found that the almost empty flour bucket had been over turned, and someone had been eating the flour! I cleaned up the flour and then got the camera, when he heard the camera turn on, Baby B raised his arms in Triumph! 

Baby B has also been working on holding his own bottle and using a sippy cup. If he is sitting straight up he can't do it. I don't know if it is an arm strength issue, I really have no idea what it is BUT I do know that if B is in his chair, slightly reclined he can do ANYTHING! For example, drink (watered down) Apple Juice. 

He LOVED it!

Strangers with Knives

A week and a half ago we took Baby B up to Primary Children's Medical Center for his first surgery. He was the Perfect Patient! We were in and out in under 4 hours (closer to 3, If I am remembering right) and all in all it was a pretty good experience, even though I did have to hand my precious baby over to strangers with knives.

So, here's the rundown. We arrived at the hospital and checked in at Same Day Surgery at 7:30 AM. This is because Baby B is little and they didn't want to make him fast for too long. It was interesting to me to see who was there at 7:30, B was the first Baby on the schedule, but there were 4 or 5 other children there prior to him, all of whom seemed to be physically or mentally impaired in some way, it made me happy to know that the hospital considered not only age, but other factors as well, when they schedule surgeries. After waiting for a little while B was Weighed and Measured- would it surprise you to know that we have a healthy, big and tall boy? We were given some hospital jammies to put on him, which he enjoyed.

I call this "Preparing to be Superman", he looks like he can fly, doesn't he?

"Mom, I need to do my crunches!" He kept doing crunches during his pre-surgical physical, the Nurse Practitioner was quite impressed.

I got to dress J in his hospital jammies before his surgery 2 years ago, so Ken got to dress B. He did a good job, don't you think?

So, B was declared healthy enough for surgery, and after a little more waiting he was taken away from us and we went to sit in the parents waiting room. Dr. Hill, the ENT, told us that he would put the tubes in first, then he would take a look at B's adenoids and if they were abnormally large- as he suspected they would be- he would take them out. He believed the whole process would take 30 minutes. He was right. Within 30 minutes he was consulting with us in the waiting room, and we were told that Yes, the adenoids had been taken out. Not much more than 15 minutes later I was ushered into the Post Anesthesia Care Unit where I sat for 5 or 10 minutes with B while he came out from under the anesthesia. He did very well. Compared to my experience with J at this point, B did 1Million times better. He was able to keep his Oxygen levels stable and was sent to Post Op quite Quickly.

We had to stay in Post Op for about an hour, because B had been given Lortab and they wanted to make sure he didn't react badly to it. He was given some clear liquids to drink and he kept them down. In comparison- J threw up 2 or 3 times and we had to keep waiting and trying again. Ken and I came prepared to be vomited on- we had extra clothes for us packed out in the car just in case. B was kind, what a good boy he is. And so after the appropriate amount of time B was released from the hospital and we headed home (via Aunt Deb's house and a party which we attended there while B napped)

Does this look like a boy who has just had surgery? Well, he did!

Thanks to Aunt Deb and Grandma Turner for taking care of J while we were at the hospital. And a special thanks to everyone for all your prayers and support. As I said a little earlier, it is very hard to hand your baby over to strangers with knives, but I feel like I was blessed with comfort and a feeling that everything would work out. And it has.

Their Back!

You know you've missed them, those pesky little Wheeler Boys. We've been gone, on a fun trip to Idaho, where we had lots of fun and visited with lots of people we love. I will tell you more about our trip another time, but for now, here are some cute pictures of the boys.

J-first he builds things, then he showers love on the things he builds (he will be such a good parent some day) Here he is hugging his tower.

Baby B, he just loves life. He has yet to build anything but a reputation. A reputation for being the cutest and happiest Baby EVER! He takes joy in the simplest things, like holding a block.

So, now you will just have to wait anxiously for another post about the boys. Hint, the next one is going to be about their parents. Don't worry, it will be a good one too.

"For Sale" by Little J!

"For Sale-My Mother's Sanity"

A Blog Post by Little J

So, I don't know if you have noticed, but things have changed around here in the past few weeks. This little guy moved in. I have been working hard to make sure he understands how things work around here. This is a picture of my hand, showing the new guy how to make music come out of the ladybug. He must not like music because he never, EVER, pulls on the lady bug. He is weird.

I have been playing nice, I explained to the new guy all about how Mommy is MY MOMMY and he can borrow her sometimes. But he must not have understood, because he is borrowing her much much MUCH too often. I will admit that he smells really good, which is probably why Mommy likes to hold him, and he is really kissable. But still, he really needs to stop monopolizing My Mommy.
I decided recently that the new guy needs to be put in his place, and so I set about to make sure that Mommy, and Daddy too, pay much more attention to me! So I took over the baby's bouncy chair. I figured this would get some attention. Mommy told me that she bought this particular chair because it was also a Toddler Rocker that can hold up to 40 pounds. She was really happy that the new guy and I were willing to share the chair. PLAN FOILED! On to the next plan.
I decided that at bedtime and nap-time I wouldn't stay in bed, rather, I would lay by my bedroom door and whine until they let me stay up later or not nap at all. Plan Foiled, I fell asleep.
I decided I would send myself to China! I hear they love little boys in China. Dad Found me before the FedEx guy got here to pick me up. Plan, once again, FOILED!

I upped my game yesterday though. I found a way to get an AMAZING amount of attention. In fact my Mommy and Daddy were so impressed with what I did that they forgot to take pictures of me, and spent the whole rest of the day in my room admiring what I had done.

Here is what I did, feel free to copy me if you need some attention- At nap time, when they put me in bed I happened to notice that Mommy left the cabinet under the changing table UNLOCKED! Now I am smart, I know that Mommy locks up all the fun stuff, so I didn't point it out.

I waited until Mommy and Daddy were good and tired and then I opened the cabinet and saw my swim diapers, so I pulled off my pants and took off my normal everyday diaper and attempted to get that brightly colored swim diaper on. Sadly I did not succeed. This meant that I was pretty much naked, I mean I still had my shirt on but that is about it. A funny feeling came over me, I felt like I needed to mark my territory, you know, so that new guy wouldn't think everything in the house was his. Now the room is MINE! ALL MINE!

I got curious about the cabinet again and so I took another look inside, brightly colored liquids, couldn't get those open. But don't worry, I looked again and found some Vaseline! YES! I love that stuff! It feels so gooey in my hands and it rubs onto furniture, bedding and carpeting very nicely. I put it everywhere I could think of. Then I started to dance around and sing my favorite song "OH OH" (otherwise known as the chorus of "Single Ladies" by Beyonce) and that is when Dad came into my room.

He told me that I had earned a bath! I love Baths! Then he got Mom and she spent some time in my room admiring my work. Mom and Dad were still admiring my work at bedtime, they must have really liked what I had done.

Today I decided to try some more attention getting activities. I am BIG, much bigger than the new guy, I figured I could get some more attention by pointing out all the BIG things I could do. I realized that I had a stinky diaper and I figured I would change it. I did have a problem though, I got the diaper off just fine, but I didn't have a new diaper to put on! Silly me, I was not prepared. So I went to Mom and handed her my old stinky diaper, she called for Daddy and he took me upstairs, but he wouldn't let me in my room. He said the new guy was sleeping in there and he told me to wait for him. So I sat down in front of the door, for some reason this displeased Daddy. I don't know why, I mean I waited right were he asked me too, and I even tired to wipe my bum with my hand before I sat down. Daddy cleaned me, and the carpet, up as best he could and then he put a new diaper on me. Then he grumbled something about already planning on getting the carpet cleaner from Grandma T, blah blah blah....

Mom asked Dad if he thought it would be bad for her next blog post to be titled "Toddler For Sale", I figured I would beat her too it.

For Sale, My Mother's Sanity! It's going cheap and I am sure it won't last long.....What's that Dad? You want to take me out for some Daddy and J time, Just you and me? YEAH!!!!!!

Talk to you all later Peeps, I'm going to Costco! I hope they are having lots of Samples today!

Similar?

I have told you about J's Swirl Belly Button. I love it because it is unique. Or at least it was....

What do you think, does this belly button look like it might turn into a similar swirl? Only time will tell.

Grandma Magic, Part 2

Over 2 years ago I discovered a rare form of magic, Grandma Magic. It is a very simple magic, but it makes the world a better place. You see, Grandma's can use their magic to get their grandchildren to do whatever they want. And luckily for me, Grandma Wheeler was willing to share her Magic with us this past week.

We knew this baby was not going to come on his due date, in fact at my last Doctors Appointment on Aug 3rd I had been scheduled for an induction on Aug 11th. That day, Aug 11th was going to work just fine for our family, Ken would be able to finish out his busy time at work while the baby and I were in the Hospital. Little J could spend some time with his Turner Grandparents and Cousins, it was as if everything was falling into place just as it should be. We would come home on Friday and Ken would then start his 3 WEEKS of Paternity Leave!!!! That is not what the Baby (and I guess the storm that rolled into town that night, August 3rd) had in mind. Baby B wanted to see his Grandma Wheeler. And I am so grateful that he did.

There was no way for Ken to not go into work this last week, he wasn't quite done with everything that needed to get done before his leave could start, and when he told me that he had to work all week, I almost cried. In fact I may have cried a little. And then I told him that I thought we should put out the "Grandma Signal" (like the bat signal only much more powerful since Grandma Wheeler lives 2 states away). Well, Grandma saw the signal and immediately found a way out to Utah to help us.

Here she is with Grandchildren #20 -J and #27- Baby B.

We, Ken and I both, were very very grateful for Grandma Wheelers magic this last week. She could get Baby B to sleep when neither Ken or I could. I told her that she was Stealthy, because she had the amazing ability to get J up in the morning, or down for naps in the afternoon, without him making so much as a peep, allowing baby b and me to sleep and or nap quite easily. This stealthiness, I believe, can be attributed to Grandma Magic. I know little J, and he is not a quiet child. He sings, he yells, he tells you exactly what is on his mind, he is a happy little kid, but he is a loud boy. Grandma Magic was able to keep him calm. MIRACULOUS!

Thank you for saving us Grandma Wheeler, we would not have been able to do it without you this past week. You took great care of us, fed us very very well, and taught us quite a few things about being the parents of 2 boys. Little J misses his Aamama. We are glad that we will see you again in October.

See how happy you made us! I hardly look tired at all!

Soak up the Sun!

I guess, these days, most babies are a little jaundiced. I think I read that somewhere at least. Little J had bilirubin levels high enough that we had to take him in to be checked several times after we left the hospital, and he ended up using his very own Tanning Bed! Well it was Bililights, but it looked like an infant tanning bed.

I thought that Baby B was going to avoid most of that kind of stuff, his bilirubin levels in the hospital were half what little J's were. In fact he was considered Low Risk. On Monday I took baby B in to the doctor for a weight check, because I had been attempting, once again, to breastfeed my baby. (If you were around for Baby J, then you know I had some odd issues, basically no milk production, this time I have produced just a tiny tiny bit more, I thought it was tons more, but I was quite wrong. Baby B told me about it at length and after quite a bit of crying I decided that Formula worked great for J and it would work great for Baby B too. As it turns out, babies who aren't getting enough milk are more likely to be jaundiced....oops. Sorry baby B. So on with the story) I was thinking that Baby B looked a little yellower than he had a few days earlier when we left the hospital and the Doctor apparently thought so too because she wanted to retest his bilirubin levels. They were higher, he went from an 8 to an 11, still not horrible, no need for any medical intervention, but she did want him to sit in front of a window for 10 minutes per day, until he looked less yellow. We started this yesterday and last night he was looking pretty good, this morning we repeated the process. Strip baby down to his diaper, put on his cute Giraffe Slippers that Grandma Wheeler gave him, and sit him in some sunlight, as indirect as I could get it, don't want to give the poor baby a sunburn after all.

Here he is! In all his cute sunbathing glory!

He spent 5 minutes on his back and 5 minutes on his tummy. Baby B is one strong and mobile kid, very much like Little J was. I put him on his tummy and he wiggled a little and ended up on his side, the sun was still on his back so I let him stay there.
Anyone else have kids that can move around in their crib at 7 days old? Both of mine can/could. I don't know how they do it, but J did it all the time and I have already found baby B half way out of his little sleep positioner twice. My boys are strong, and strong willed. Luckily they are also sweethearts.

Hopefully, a few days more of sunbathing and Baby B will get all that bilirubin out of his system. Wish us Luck!

Now Hear This.....Baby B has Arrived!

I saw my doctor for a routine OB visit last Tuesday, August 3rd, I was 36 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Every thing was looking good, she praised me for my control over my blood sugars over the previous 4 weeks and told me that she wanted to induce me the following Wednesday, August 11th. I had an odd thought several times that day, that I could go into labor, I ignored it of course, all women who are 36 weeks + pregnant want to go into labor, I knew for sure I would have a baby in just over a week and I tried not to focus on the long week ahead of me.

That night, after putting J to bed, Ken and I went downstairs and started to watch a movie. About a half hour later, around 8:30 I felt a weird pain and then I heard a "Pop". I had been reading a lot of books, trying to prepare myself for the natural delivery that I felt I should have. I had read something about hearing a Pop when your water breaks and so I asked Ken if he heard it, and then I stood up, and felt just the tiniest of gushes.

"I think my water broke" I said. Ken's response was for me to quickly get onto the tile and off the carpet, he was smart. Within seconds of reaching the tile I was standing in a large puddle, a little bewildered and a little excited, We were going to have a baby, and we were having it that night.

We called our Doula (Morgan Hagey "Simply Beautiful Birthing Services" simplybeautifulbirthing.com ) and then we called our Doctor. I wanted to stay at home at least until the contractions started, but my Doctor wanted me to go into the hospital and start on the Antibiotics that I needed to take during the delivery. I agreed to go in to the hospital and after some quick juggling of Jared (Thanks to the Hatches for taking care of Jared for us, on super extreme short notice) and some quick packing (I had "Pack Hospital Bags" on the to do list for the next day, oops) we left to have our baby, by this time I had started having contractions and each one was getting stronger.

Since it was after 10 pm when we were finally settled into our room (at which point I was almost dilated to a 4), Morgan convinced Ken that he should get some rest, so he would be ready to support me through the later stages of labor, and then she and I went out to walk the halls. After about 30 or 45 minutes the contractions were getting much stronger and I was ready to try something else. I was feeling good, breathing with the contractions and trying my very best to relax, we hadn't been timing them so I had no idea how far apart they were or how long they were. I sat on a birthing ball for 15 minutes, it took that long to figure out that the contractions were coming at regular 5 minute intervals and were about 1 minute long. "This is when most people are told to come to the hospital" I thought and then I thought "I want to get in the whirlpool!" I had a bit of a back ache and I thought the whirlpool would help I liked the whirlpool and though it often will slow down labor, I think it sped mine up.

After a few minutes in the tub I realized that I couldn't talk during contractions anymore, I had to focus so that I could stay relaxed. A little while later I had to grab onto the bar at the side of the tub...this didn't really help me relax but it was all I could do, because those contractions were getting very very strong. Then I felt like I needed to use the restroom. The urge to go was very very very strong and I didn't feel like I could control it. Morgan realized what was happening, I didn't need the toilet, I needed to push. She ran out and got the nurse, the nurse checked me (I was sure I was at a 5 and I was sure I was not going to make it through this delivery without anesthesia.....after all I was only at a five) but the nurse agreed with Morgan, I didn't need to use the restroom, I think I remember her saying "Yep, that's his head, you have got to get back to the bed" and so I did. I climbed up onto the bed on my hands and knees and though I had not intended to deliver a baby in that position.....I did. It was 12:52 AM, 4 and 1/2 hours after my water broke, 3 and 1/2 hours after the contractions started. I did it! I made it through labor and delivery without any medications, and my sweet little baby who just had to be born as fast as possible, he had a perfect head! (I on the other hand was not so perfect, I am still suffering from a pretty bad tear.) The baby was 6 pounds 10 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long (we were told that is pretty good for 37 weeks)

Here he is, less than 24 hours after he was born.

When J arrived to see me that day we made sure that the baby was at the nursery. That way he got to see his Mommy and be with her for just a little while all on his own, AND THEN baby brother came back and he brought J a present, a Toy Story bedding set! This is a picture of J's reaction, he said something like "Baby Buba.....Oh BUZZ"
Here are my Three Sweet Boys!
And here is Baby B, I just took this picture, he is 6 days old today, he is a wonderful baby, still very sleepy, he eats and sleeps and eats and looks around for a few minutes then he sleeps some more. Unfortunately he has his days and nights mixed up and his one LONG sleep period each day comes at 10 AM. Oh Well.

He looks almost exactly like J did, his hair is a little lighter and a little thinner, but other than that they are clones, right down to the facial expressions and the way they both put their hands up to their faces, like they are thinking really hard.
I am one BLESSED woman!

House!

Little J has a new addiction, watching vocabulary videos. His favorite is "House", he asks for it by name. The fact that it has the same name as a TV Show that isn't really appropriate for a 2 year old has not escaped a few visitors to our home recently. Rest assured, J is not watching a show about a prescription drug addicted doctor who solves medical mysteries just in time to save lives. No this show is all about homes and houses, doors, windows, furniture and my favorite, Cleaning. My not so favorite part of this addiction, I don't really get to watch the news much anymore, instead I find myself watching one of the Baby's first-word stories with my boy. My favorite part is that they are working wonders, he is using more and more words each day, and they aren't even the words on the videos. My favorite new word this week is "Flower"!

Self Portrait of the Day

I think J wants to start a blog, he wants to call it "Self Portrait of the Day". If I allowed him computer time, this is what today's post would have looked like.

Someday he might figure out that he needs to smile and get his entire face in the frame, but his photographic skills are improving (you can barely see his fingers!) and, in the end, these pictures made me smile.

Our New Puppy

Check out our New Puppy!

He did not understand my need to have a full body photo of him

My photo needs conflicted with his needs for CANDY

But at least I figured out how to get him to wear the hood on the costume. (don't cover his ears and he won't try to pull it off)

After eating so much candy- it took an hour for this puppy to realize that it really was nap time....sleep little puppy, sleep.

There's a Vampire in My House!

Over the past few weeks I have been finding a red "Stampin' Dot" in odd locations around the house. I never found any ink spots anywhere- and especially never on Baby J. I figured he thought the ink was his toy, but that he didn't know how to get it open......that was a foolish thing to figure. Here is why.

This morning after breakfast, Baby J wanted to stay in kitchen and yell at the trees and leaves in the back yard. I went into the front room....after a while there was no more yelling....then there was no sound at all. I went to investigate.

And found this Vampire!

Doesn't he look Scary! you can almost see remnants of blood running down his chin, and that scowl! OHHHHH it sent chills down my spine. But then I realized it wasn't a Vampire at all, it was just Baby J, after he sucked on a small red ink pad.

Since taking these pictures I have scrubbed his face, hands and teeth. I got a lot of ink off- at least the wipes turned pink, but he still has beautiful red lips, a slight tinge of pink to his teeth and blood red thumbs......

Any tips for getting ink off skin?

My Little Comedian

Baby J has been very entertaining the past few days. On Sunday we had the Sister Missionaries over to watch a session of Conference. Baby J felt that it would be a good time to preform, and so after he showed us; how he can dance on top of the coffee table, his great ability to be charitable and share at least one toy with each guest, how he can hit people in the face with a fly swatter (yeah, that one made me feel like a good mother), Ken took him over to his toy area and helped him play. Pretty soon he was emptying off shelves and doing this.......

Later at my Mothers house he showed us how he truly will be some lucky girls "Knight in blue plaid short-alls" someday. Isn't he handsome!
Yesterday I discovered jumping on the new couches. Lot's of static on those couches.

The pictures do his "Tesla coil" hairstyle no justice. I assure you, there was no product of ratting of this hair, just lots of jumping on and rubbing his head near the microfiber.
And Finally, the Coup d'Cupcake! Ken had a great idea for a Family Home Evening activity. We would make some treats and take them out to members of our Stake. He had 3 families in mind and thought that 24 cupcakes be just enough. I made the cupcakes on Sunday and then he frosted them after work on Monday put together 4 plates of 6 cupcakes each, covered them with plastic wrap and left them on the kitchen table. When I started dinner I saw them, 24 yummy cup cakes. I must have been really busy with dinner because I didn't even notice what happened next until I started to set the table.
My silly little boy turned stealthy and used his Ninja-like skills to score himself, not one, but TWO chocolate cupcakes with triple chocolate chunk icing. He somehow came into the kitchen, grabbed the treats and left the kitchen with out me noticing- this is an amazing feat because he is usually babbling to himself and saying "Ta Da" when he does something amazing. He then proceeded into the room where Ken was and was able to cross the room to his corner full of toys, climb up onto the old TV cabinet that is now his toy table and start to eat his treasures.

When I noticed the missing cupcakes I asked Ken if he had taken some out of the packages and set them aside. He asked if there were 2 missing, I said yes, he said that he hadn't taken them but he knew where they were. Cupcakes for dinner, what more could a little comedian ask for. My little stealthy ninja also did something quite miraculous, he didn't get a crumb of cupcake on the carpet, there were crumbs all around him where he sat eating, but no trail leading to him.

Maestro

A few months ago I showed you some video of Baby J playing the piano and now I want to show you his more recent talent.....Conducting! I think one of the cutest parts of the whole thing is that he likes to hold a book when he conducts music and just like with the piano, every few seconds he will change pages and start a new song.

He started doing this just this week. I had no idea that they taught the nursery kids how to lead music, but they must. Baby J has always loved music, singing songs calmed him down as an infant, on our first major car trip we discovered that he didn't want to hear us talking, preferring to hear what was on the radio. He does the little bouncy dance that most kids his age seem to know. Our Neighbor is the Ward Nursery Leader and she also leads singing time for the 3 or 4 nursery classes we have. On Sunday she told us that not only did Baby J participate in singing time but he clapped after every song!

18 Months of Bliss

My Boy is growing up! He is 18 months old. He has been to nursery at church, and LOVED it. He has been to the doctor for his 18 month check up and was pronounced, "Smart, Curious and Healthy".

Here are his stats-

Height- 34 inches 90% (Average height for his age is 32.3 inches)

Weight- 26.5 Pounds 60 % (Average weight for his age is 25.9 pounds)

Head- 18.9 inches 57% (he is getting a big head- at 2 weeks old his head was only 20%)

I found out that he is a normal 18 month old.

He uses 8-10 words regularly, though some of those words are not full words like Ba for Ball and Bu for Book, he knows what they mean and that is what counts. I am also counting "Ta Daaaa" which his dad taught him how to say and I hear several times a day- when do I hear "Ta Daaaa"? 1-when changing a diaper- it is always nice to hear "Ta Daaaa" right after you pull back a diaper and discover a stinky mess. 2- when Baby J has climbed onto something high like the back of the couch, the kitchen table or the piano, at least he announces it so that if I am in the other room I can go get him down. 3. Whenever he feel like it, "Ta Daaaa" is usually accompanied by his winning smile. It is pretty cute.

He is also become a picky little eater on occasion, which I have been assured is perfectly normal for a kid his age.

Baby J's doctor encouraged us to start using Time Outs on a regular basis. He said that we should pick two or three "Behaviors" that we would like to change, like Throwing food, Biting or

digging in the Trash, and enforce a time out when these behaviors occur. Time out should last 1 minute for every year of life, the child's life not the parents and he recommended using the child's bedroom as the time out location. I saw a flaw in this, mainly the loft. Yes I could take the ladder to the loft down, but where would I put it? There really wasn't a good place, so I decided to buy a Super Yard, basically a free standing pen, it comes with 6 panels, I removed one and Voila! A perfect Gate to keep a very monkey like boy off the ladder to the loft when he is alone.

It wasn't too much later that we heard some rustling in the kitchen and found this.

Yes, he had gotten into the flour, apparently flour is yummy..............and fun to spread all over the floor. I have said before, his cuteness is only equaled by his naughtiness, this picture is proof.

So to his room for 90 seconds of time out he went! We quickly discovered that his room is not quite baby proof.

Yes, that is Vaseline, he would grab a hand full of Vaseline and then try to get it off his hand, the only thing that worked was throwing it. Yeah, Vaseline on the Carpet.......... we decided that we were not quite ready for more time outs. I knew he could open cabinet doors, but he had never opened that one before- it was totally off my radar. Baby J has better Radar than me.

The next day I heard him playing with the silverware, pretty common, I don't have issues with it, but this day he added to his routine- apparently the silverware (or plastic spoons in this case) needed a little Salt. You can't really see it, but about 1/4 of the shaker is now on the spoons.

He is my Boy, and I love him. In the week since the first Time Out I have moved the Vaseline from the cabinet beneath his changing table. I am now in the process of completing the baby proofing for the kitchen/bathrooms/and his bedroom. How we made it this long without having child locks on everything, I don't know.

New Crib

It was just by chance that I saw the Notices pinned to the Announcement Board at the Local Wal-Mart. By Chance because the Announcement board is in the very back of the store- in a place that I am sure not to many people ever see. We happened to be back there picking up something from "Site to Store" and it was taking FOREVER because after they had checked it in and emailed me to let me know I could pick it up, they lost it.....that is right they told us they couldn't remember where they put it. So for 20 minutes we let Baby J run around in a very boring room, after about 10 minutes I started to read everything that was pinned to the Board on the wall. And to my Horror, there was our Crib. Recalled. Not just a part that you could have replaced but the entire crib. After doing an Internet search I discovered that all of the companies cribs had been recalled and it looked as if the company itself "Simplicity" had gone out of business.

We had never had a problem with the crib, but I worry, I worry all the time and I knew that if I ignored the recall I would have plenty of sleepless nights, wondering if the drop side was going to come loose, and if it ever did, and if the worse happened, I would never be able to forgive myself. So Ken took the crib apart and I returned it to the store. I decided that since most of the crib recalls I had seen had been related to the Drop Side, and since we had used the drop side only 3 or 4 times in the past 18 months, I would buy a crib that didn't have a drop side. For some reason those cribs cost more, but that really wasn't too much of a problem since I am working a little more these days. Baby J could sleep in his pack n'play for a week or two until I saved up enough money and found him a new crib.

Well, on Friday I found a crib that I liked the look of and amazingly enough I also liked the price, just $20 more than the crib we returned. The store had 2 on hand. I went home and looked up reviews, they were all quite good and so I went back later that evening and bought a new crib.

Ken had a stake meeting on Saturday Afternoon and Baby J and I took that opportunity to put he new crib together. It only took about an hour and a half (I think it would have only taken an hour if Baby J hadn't been helping). These are the Results.

He looks pretty happy doesn't he. He was begging to get in the crib and when I put him in he started to jump up and down. I was a little scared that he wouldn't think it was a bed, but rather a place to play, but he slept great last night, 12+ hours!

This next picture is of him checking out the baby that lives on the other side of the room. There are some mirrored closet doors directly across form the crib and I often find him talking to the baby that lives over there. I think if we could see Baby J's thoughts in Bubble captions this pictures would have a bubble that said something like this- " Wow, That baby CUTE, and he has a pretty nice bed too!"

And, on a side note, this is a 4 in 1 crib, in a year or so (or whenever he starts climbing out) it will turn into a toddler bed, then a day bed and finally a beautiful full size Sleigh Bed.