Monday, October 31, 2011
Happy Halloween!
Check out the cutest tiger ever! We had fun tonight going to our church's Light the Night festival. So thankful for nice weather and a family-friendly, Christian atmosphere to celebrate the holiday.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Accent Vlog
Ok, dork alert! I have no idea why I decided to do this, but after watching Tami's vlog (video blog) over at Little Moments Like This, I just thought, "Why not!" I used to have a much stronger Kentucky accent, but it's changed a lot after living in Connecticut for five years.
I almost rerecorded the video for several reasons. 1.) I think my face looks fat and I should've had better posture. 2.) I completely blanked on one of the questions, so I just sit there for a minute until the answer finally comes to me. Sorry. But I just decided to leave it. So you have the unedited, first take. Please ignore the dog in the background hitting the door wanting to go out. And sorry there's no Brennan in the video, he was napping.
The instructions are to say these words:
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting Image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught
And answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated beverage called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you called the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?
I may have lost some of my accent, but I'm still a Kentucky girl at heart.
I almost rerecorded the video for several reasons. 1.) I think my face looks fat and I should've had better posture. 2.) I completely blanked on one of the questions, so I just sit there for a minute until the answer finally comes to me. Sorry. But I just decided to leave it. So you have the unedited, first take. Please ignore the dog in the background hitting the door wanting to go out. And sorry there's no Brennan in the video, he was napping.
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting Image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught
And answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated beverage called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you called the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?
I may have lost some of my accent, but I'm still a Kentucky girl at heart.
Monday, October 24, 2011
A Video Overload!
Once again I am behind on my blogging, so I thought I'd do a video post for you!
Brennan may not have walked until he was almost 20 months, but boy oh boy he is impressive at other things. He has such a keen interest in letters and numbers. I have been trying to get some of his letter sound skills on video, even though it's much more impressive to see them in person. I honestly don't know how he's picked up on this stuff. It's not like I drill him all the time. He just remembers it after I tell him once. Such a smarty pants! It does come in handy though because he stays entertained at the grocery store by looking for the aisle numbers.
How do you keep a toddler busy while you're fixing dinner?
We recently pulled his Aquadoodle out, but instead of coloring on it, he just wanted to point to the letters. This video really didn't capture him doing too many letters though.
This is currently his favorite puzzle. The letters are pretty small and he is just getting really good at putting them in by himself. In fact, this was the best I have ever seen him do. He knows where almost every letter goes; most by himself and the the rest once I tell him what picture to look for. If you listen closely, you should be able to hear him say some of the letter sounds.
In non-letter related news, Brennan has also learned to crawl! He never crawled, but since he started walking, he's picked up crawling too. He doesn't use crawling to get around, but it does help him get to something he can pull up on, so he can start walking. I think it will also help him learn how to climb. Non-crawlers often don't know how to climb and this is certainly true for B.
So there's a little update about our little guy. We just went to the doctor this morning for his gross motor update. At his 18-month check-up, she asked that we bring him back around 21 months so she could evaluate him again. I was happy to take him in there today and show her how he was walking and crawling. She was happy too. When he goes back for his two year check-up (how in the world is he almost two by the way?!?!?!) she wants him to be able to get himself to standing on his own without pulling up on something and to be able to climb. He's actually close to being able to do the standing thing, but the climbing is going to take a lot of work.
Brennan may not have walked until he was almost 20 months, but boy oh boy he is impressive at other things. He has such a keen interest in letters and numbers. I have been trying to get some of his letter sound skills on video, even though it's much more impressive to see them in person. I honestly don't know how he's picked up on this stuff. It's not like I drill him all the time. He just remembers it after I tell him once. Such a smarty pants! It does come in handy though because he stays entertained at the grocery store by looking for the aisle numbers.
How do you keep a toddler busy while you're fixing dinner?
We recently pulled his Aquadoodle out, but instead of coloring on it, he just wanted to point to the letters. This video really didn't capture him doing too many letters though.
This is currently his favorite puzzle. The letters are pretty small and he is just getting really good at putting them in by himself. In fact, this was the best I have ever seen him do. He knows where almost every letter goes; most by himself and the the rest once I tell him what picture to look for. If you listen closely, you should be able to hear him say some of the letter sounds.
In non-letter related news, Brennan has also learned to crawl! He never crawled, but since he started walking, he's picked up crawling too. He doesn't use crawling to get around, but it does help him get to something he can pull up on, so he can start walking. I think it will also help him learn how to climb. Non-crawlers often don't know how to climb and this is certainly true for B.
So there's a little update about our little guy. We just went to the doctor this morning for his gross motor update. At his 18-month check-up, she asked that we bring him back around 21 months so she could evaluate him again. I was happy to take him in there today and show her how he was walking and crawling. She was happy too. When he goes back for his two year check-up (how in the world is he almost two by the way?!?!?!) she wants him to be able to get himself to standing on his own without pulling up on something and to be able to climb. He's actually close to being able to do the standing thing, but the climbing is going to take a lot of work.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Another New Wreath
I am definitely on a wreath-making kick right now. My goal is to have a different homemade wreath for every month. So far I have made them for August-December, so that's a pretty good start. I wanted to share my newly created December wreath.
I found my inspiration here on Pinterest. When I clicked on the Pinterest link, I was hoping to find a tutorial, but instead it took me to an Etsy page. I love Etsy, but I was not ready to pay over $40 for something I could make myself. I then googled "burlap wreath tutorial" and found this one. I basically followed those directions, but just didn't do so many "bubbles".
Here were my supplies (minus the cat):
I bought 2 yards of burlap, a styrofoam wreath foam, 100 greening pins, red ribbon, and a red flower. I first cut long strips of burlap and wrapped the entire wreath with that. That's optional, but I feel like it hid the green styrofoam better by doing that. I then cut out squares of burlap. I didn't measure them, but they were probably around 5 inches by 5 inches. I made the "bubbles" like the tutorial said; I folded the squares into triangles and then brought the left and right points to meet the center point. I simply pinned those "bubbles" all around the wreath.
Here's the finished product. I LOVE it! You could do any color ribbon and make it a fall wreath instead of just Christmas.
I found my inspiration here on Pinterest. When I clicked on the Pinterest link, I was hoping to find a tutorial, but instead it took me to an Etsy page. I love Etsy, but I was not ready to pay over $40 for something I could make myself. I then googled "burlap wreath tutorial" and found this one. I basically followed those directions, but just didn't do so many "bubbles".
Here were my supplies (minus the cat):
Here's the finished product. I LOVE it! You could do any color ribbon and make it a fall wreath instead of just Christmas.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Dear Brennan,
Oh me oh my, you're 20 months old! I didn't think it was possible to keep loving each stage better than the one before, but it has happened again. I am absolutely loving this stage! You are wearing 18-24 months and 2T clothes. 2T pants are a little too long on you, but it works ok. You are still wearing size 4 diapers.
I am so excited that you are now a walker! Even before you started walking on October 2nd, you had some big increases in your mobility. You learned how to stand still unassisted. You learned how to cruise from room to room. With those changes, we were hoping walking was close behind and we are so happy it was! You are much happier being able to get to what you want. I am much less exhausted because you don't need my help to get to what you want. You haven't quite figured out how to get up when you fall down and I think it's going to take a while for you to learn that, but I know you'll figure it out! Thankfully you're very steady and don't fall very often.
You are extremely loud. You "talk" all the time. Not everything is understandable. You have lots of grunts and happy screeches. When you do say words, you tend to shout them. You still love airplanes and flags, but you have some new obsessions too. You now love traffic lights and stop signs. You have learned that green lights mean go and will say, "Go" when you see them. You are also completely obsessed with letters and numbers. I am in complete awe at how smart you are. You don't say any letter names, but know almost every letter sound. It blows my mind. I guess it's from using your Leapfrog Phonics magnets so much. It also amazes me how you recognize familiar places. When we get off the highway to go to the aquarium, before you can even see the aquarium, you start signing "fish". You recognize Target and start saying, "Ball, ball" because it has red balls in front of the store. You know where your friend Parker lives and start saying his name when we get close.
Most of the time you have such a good temperament. You smile and laugh the majority of the day. I am so thankful the "Terrible 2s" haven't shown up yet. You do get frustrated sometimes. You're great at puzzles, but if one is too challenging for you will get angry and throw pieces sometimes. Learning to walk has helped with your frustration because now you don't get angry if I put you down. You'll just walk and get where you want to go. If you're mad while we are holding you, then you have started pinching us; especially our faces. Now that we know this though, we can usually catch it before it happens. We are usually able to avoid tantrums because I give you plenty of warning before changing activities. Since you love numbers so much, I will usually give you a certain number that we will count to before we make a transition. For example, we will press ten more buttons on your laptop before closing it and taking a bath. Just having me count out loud makes you happy, so almost always you'll stop playing right away. Almost always. You do know how to throw a pretty good fit every now and then.
You now have sixteen teeth. In the past month, you got all four of your canine teeth. Actually, you got three of them three days ago.
You still sleep well. Our bedtime routine is pretty much the same. Just now you can walk everywhere I need you to. It's so sweet to watch you toddle back to brush your teeth. Sometimes you play a little more either in the living room or you room before bed. It's just so much fun to play with you right now, so sometimes I don't want you to go to bed. You go to bed between 7-7:30 and wake between 7:30-8 usually. Sometimes you'll wake earlier, but I rarely come and get you before 7:30 because you're always just in your crib talking in the morning. This past week, you've been napping really well again, so that's been great. Momma loves it when you take three hour naps!
I'm sure I'm leaving things out. You are just such a sweet baby. I love to hear you laugh. I love that you love music. I love that you love to read books and learn your letters and numbers. Basically I just love everything about you! A few weeks ago we were at the library and you were being all loud and happy and this lady laughed at you and said, "I think he has too much personality for his little body!" It made me laugh. I love you and all your personality!
Love,
Momma
Brennan back at 19 months
Brennan today at 20 months
He wasn't very cooperative for his picture. I think we waited too late to do it and he was getting tired.
We might have to start taking them standing up.
I am so excited that you are now a walker! Even before you started walking on October 2nd, you had some big increases in your mobility. You learned how to stand still unassisted. You learned how to cruise from room to room. With those changes, we were hoping walking was close behind and we are so happy it was! You are much happier being able to get to what you want. I am much less exhausted because you don't need my help to get to what you want. You haven't quite figured out how to get up when you fall down and I think it's going to take a while for you to learn that, but I know you'll figure it out! Thankfully you're very steady and don't fall very often.
You are extremely loud. You "talk" all the time. Not everything is understandable. You have lots of grunts and happy screeches. When you do say words, you tend to shout them. You still love airplanes and flags, but you have some new obsessions too. You now love traffic lights and stop signs. You have learned that green lights mean go and will say, "Go" when you see them. You are also completely obsessed with letters and numbers. I am in complete awe at how smart you are. You don't say any letter names, but know almost every letter sound. It blows my mind. I guess it's from using your Leapfrog Phonics magnets so much. It also amazes me how you recognize familiar places. When we get off the highway to go to the aquarium, before you can even see the aquarium, you start signing "fish". You recognize Target and start saying, "Ball, ball" because it has red balls in front of the store. You know where your friend Parker lives and start saying his name when we get close.
Most of the time you have such a good temperament. You smile and laugh the majority of the day. I am so thankful the "Terrible 2s" haven't shown up yet. You do get frustrated sometimes. You're great at puzzles, but if one is too challenging for you will get angry and throw pieces sometimes. Learning to walk has helped with your frustration because now you don't get angry if I put you down. You'll just walk and get where you want to go. If you're mad while we are holding you, then you have started pinching us; especially our faces. Now that we know this though, we can usually catch it before it happens. We are usually able to avoid tantrums because I give you plenty of warning before changing activities. Since you love numbers so much, I will usually give you a certain number that we will count to before we make a transition. For example, we will press ten more buttons on your laptop before closing it and taking a bath. Just having me count out loud makes you happy, so almost always you'll stop playing right away. Almost always. You do know how to throw a pretty good fit every now and then.
You now have sixteen teeth. In the past month, you got all four of your canine teeth. Actually, you got three of them three days ago.
You still sleep well. Our bedtime routine is pretty much the same. Just now you can walk everywhere I need you to. It's so sweet to watch you toddle back to brush your teeth. Sometimes you play a little more either in the living room or you room before bed. It's just so much fun to play with you right now, so sometimes I don't want you to go to bed. You go to bed between 7-7:30 and wake between 7:30-8 usually. Sometimes you'll wake earlier, but I rarely come and get you before 7:30 because you're always just in your crib talking in the morning. This past week, you've been napping really well again, so that's been great. Momma loves it when you take three hour naps!
I'm sure I'm leaving things out. You are just such a sweet baby. I love to hear you laugh. I love that you love music. I love that you love to read books and learn your letters and numbers. Basically I just love everything about you! A few weeks ago we were at the library and you were being all loud and happy and this lady laughed at you and said, "I think he has too much personality for his little body!" It made me laugh. I love you and all your personality!
Love,
Momma
Brennan back at 19 months
Brennan today at 20 months
He wasn't very cooperative for his picture. I think we waited too late to do it and he was getting tired.
We might have to start taking them standing up.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Like Mother Like Son
I have mentioned several times on this blog that I didn't walk until I was 19 months old. With Brennan's 20-month birthday quickly looming (Oct. 11th) I was beginning to think he was going to be an even later walker than me.
BUT...
THAT'S NOT THE CASE!
BRENNAN HAS STARTED WALKING!!!
Sorry for the all caps. I am just so excited. We will see how long it takes my excitement to turn to extreme exhaustion, but for now we couldn't be happier. Here's a little recap so I have everything all in one place.
Brennan has never crawled. Not even to this date. At his 15-month check-up, his pediatrician recommended he start PT to work on his core strength. She recommended this because he not only wasn't walking or crawling, but had never pulled himself to stranding, and couldn't go from laying down to sitting. At the end of May he had his PT evaluation and then started eight weeks of physical therapy.
On June 15, at physical therapy, Brennan started cruising. From that point until today, he has become a professional cruiser. He can even get from room to room by cruising. During his time at PT, he also learned how to go from laying down to sitting up and would occasionally pull himself to standing.
On June 20, again at physical therapy, Brennan took his first steps. He walked three steps from Ms. Jen to me. I thought that full-time walking was just around the corner at that point. Brennan, however, had different plans. For awhile he was doing well with taking some steps. He loved walking back and forth between Kyle and me. He would walk to me if I stood him with his back against a wall. One time at the playground he even took around 50 steps in a row. Recently, however, he has pretty much refused to walk. He has only been willing to walk while holding onto Momma's or Dada's finger. If we wanted him to walk between us, we literally had to give him a shove to get him to go.
Within the past week, Kyle and I had noticed a big improvement in B's ability to stand unassisted. I have said all along that I thought he needed to improve his balance and be able to stand independently in order to walk. At church on Sunday, Brennan was in the nursery. After the service, I noticed that he was taking some steps on his own. He would hold onto a chair and then let go and walk to a different chair. I was surprised because this was not like him at all. Kyle got to see him do it too. We grabbed lunch, came home to eat, and B took a long nap. His friend Parker was here to play when he woke up and B took a few more steps while playing outside with him. After Parker left, Kyle, Brennan, and I were all in the basement playing and Brennan started doing great with his walking. He was walking from support pole to support pole in the basement. He would let go of a pole and walk to us. And it was good, quality walking. Not I'm basically falling and taking a few steps kind of walking. True walking. We were shocked!
Kyle and I were laughing last night because we were afraid it might have been a fluke. We wondered if he'd still be able to do it today when he got up. It certainly wasn't a fluke. He's been walking up a storm today. We took him to the mall play place this morning and he walked there. He would go down the slide and then walk all the way back to the top of the slide by himself. A walk that required him to turn a corner. He walked some through the mall, although completely open spaces do seem to still make him slightly nervous.
So, it does seem like he takes after his Momma. He's a walker 19 months! I think he just didn't want to do it until he was confident enough to do it really well. I'm so proud of our little B-Nugget. Since he never crawled, he doesn't know how to climb, so we need to work on that. We also have to work more on pulling to standing, because he continues to struggle with that. Oh and I'll work on getting a good video of his walking. I have one, but I think I can get a better one for the blog!
Okay enough talking. Picture time! We took B too BF Clyde's Cider Mill tonight. We wanted to get some pics of him with the pumpkins. We did it last year and were excited to compare them and see how much he's changed.
BF Clyde's almost exactly one year ago:
BF Clyde's tonight:
Wow! What a difference a year makes!
BUT...
THAT'S NOT THE CASE!
BRENNAN HAS STARTED WALKING!!!
Sorry for the all caps. I am just so excited. We will see how long it takes my excitement to turn to extreme exhaustion, but for now we couldn't be happier. Here's a little recap so I have everything all in one place.
Brennan has never crawled. Not even to this date. At his 15-month check-up, his pediatrician recommended he start PT to work on his core strength. She recommended this because he not only wasn't walking or crawling, but had never pulled himself to stranding, and couldn't go from laying down to sitting. At the end of May he had his PT evaluation and then started eight weeks of physical therapy.
On June 15, at physical therapy, Brennan started cruising. From that point until today, he has become a professional cruiser. He can even get from room to room by cruising. During his time at PT, he also learned how to go from laying down to sitting up and would occasionally pull himself to standing.
On June 20, again at physical therapy, Brennan took his first steps. He walked three steps from Ms. Jen to me. I thought that full-time walking was just around the corner at that point. Brennan, however, had different plans. For awhile he was doing well with taking some steps. He loved walking back and forth between Kyle and me. He would walk to me if I stood him with his back against a wall. One time at the playground he even took around 50 steps in a row. Recently, however, he has pretty much refused to walk. He has only been willing to walk while holding onto Momma's or Dada's finger. If we wanted him to walk between us, we literally had to give him a shove to get him to go.
Within the past week, Kyle and I had noticed a big improvement in B's ability to stand unassisted. I have said all along that I thought he needed to improve his balance and be able to stand independently in order to walk. At church on Sunday, Brennan was in the nursery. After the service, I noticed that he was taking some steps on his own. He would hold onto a chair and then let go and walk to a different chair. I was surprised because this was not like him at all. Kyle got to see him do it too. We grabbed lunch, came home to eat, and B took a long nap. His friend Parker was here to play when he woke up and B took a few more steps while playing outside with him. After Parker left, Kyle, Brennan, and I were all in the basement playing and Brennan started doing great with his walking. He was walking from support pole to support pole in the basement. He would let go of a pole and walk to us. And it was good, quality walking. Not I'm basically falling and taking a few steps kind of walking. True walking. We were shocked!
Kyle and I were laughing last night because we were afraid it might have been a fluke. We wondered if he'd still be able to do it today when he got up. It certainly wasn't a fluke. He's been walking up a storm today. We took him to the mall play place this morning and he walked there. He would go down the slide and then walk all the way back to the top of the slide by himself. A walk that required him to turn a corner. He walked some through the mall, although completely open spaces do seem to still make him slightly nervous.
So, it does seem like he takes after his Momma. He's a walker 19 months! I think he just didn't want to do it until he was confident enough to do it really well. I'm so proud of our little B-Nugget. Since he never crawled, he doesn't know how to climb, so we need to work on that. We also have to work more on pulling to standing, because he continues to struggle with that. Oh and I'll work on getting a good video of his walking. I have one, but I think I can get a better one for the blog!
Okay enough talking. Picture time! We took B too BF Clyde's Cider Mill tonight. We wanted to get some pics of him with the pumpkins. We did it last year and were excited to compare them and see how much he's changed.
BF Clyde's almost exactly one year ago:
BF Clyde's tonight:
Wow! What a difference a year makes!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Tot School - 19 . 5 Months - Alphabet Box Letter G
I seem to go through good and bad periods of Tot School. Right now is a bad one. However, it is very apparent that B is learning a bazilion new things everyday whether we do "formal" Tot School or not. I did still want to share our alphabet box from this past week with you. It was for the letter 'G'.
- Leapfrog 'G' magnet
- Baby Einstein "Gg' book
- A Day on Safari (it has a pop up giraffe, so that's why I included it)
- Goodnight Moon
- Grover Learns to Read
- Grover Goes to School
- guitar
- giraffe stuffed animal
- giraffe puzzle piece
- giraffe trash can
Here are some pictures of the first day he used his 'G' box.
You can see some real "Tot School" ideas by heading over to Carisa's blog!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Halloween Wreath
Check out my latest nap time craft! I spotted a Halloween tulle on Pinterest several months ago and have been wanting to make one since. I finally got around to getting my supplies and worked on it a little last night and finished it up today during B's nap.
I didn't take any pictures of my progress along the way, but I did follow this tutorial. I bought an 18-inch straw wreath, two rolls of black ribbon, three rolls of black tulle, and a small roll of orange ribbon. I also used a few greening pins I had left over from a previous wreath.
I left the plastic wrapping on the wreath and then wrapped the whole thing in black ribbon. I then cut the tulle into strips that were approximately 18-inches long. I didn't measure them. I did find that it worked better to have a piece to use as a template and only cut one more at a time. When I started cutting a bunch in a row, even though I was using the template, many ended up too short. I was still able to incorporate the too short ones into the wreath. I just spread them out to add a little more fluff. I tied the tulle strips around the wreath.
I'm not sure if the orange ribbon is exactly what I want, but I really do like the wreath. It did look a little "goth" as Kyle said while I was making it, but I'm really happy with the finished product! I think I need to fluff it a little more based on the picture, but what do you think???
I didn't take any pictures of my progress along the way, but I did follow this tutorial. I bought an 18-inch straw wreath, two rolls of black ribbon, three rolls of black tulle, and a small roll of orange ribbon. I also used a few greening pins I had left over from a previous wreath.
I left the plastic wrapping on the wreath and then wrapped the whole thing in black ribbon. I then cut the tulle into strips that were approximately 18-inches long. I didn't measure them. I did find that it worked better to have a piece to use as a template and only cut one more at a time. When I started cutting a bunch in a row, even though I was using the template, many ended up too short. I was still able to incorporate the too short ones into the wreath. I just spread them out to add a little more fluff. I tied the tulle strips around the wreath.
I'm not sure if the orange ribbon is exactly what I want, but I really do like the wreath. It did look a little "goth" as Kyle said while I was making it, but I'm really happy with the finished product! I think I need to fluff it a little more based on the picture, but what do you think???
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