May 2010

May 7th
The Little Man is four months old today. The doctor is on vacation this week, so we won't know his stats until the 17th. We will definitely post the information once we go in for the visit. Hopefully all will be well. He still has quite a flat head, so it will be interesting to hear what we have to do in order to correct it.

Other than that, Easton is growing like a weed. He smiles a ton and loves to talk. Sometimes, he will talk for ten minutes or more at a time. It is super cute to watch and hear. He enjoys talking to us, as well as the animals hanging down from his swing.

Easton does not like tummy time much yet. When he's on his belly, he either cries or goes to sleep. He does not make a ton of effort to push himself up on his hands. He did rock himself from side to side pretty well one day, but that was only the one day.

We started Easton on rice cereal last week. At first, he wasn't sure what to make of it, but by the end of the meal, he seemed to be enjoying himself and the cereal. He really loves to put his hands in his mouth while we feed him, so that is a ton of fun. He gets all kind of messy! Sometimes we put the tray over his hands so he can't divert the food from his mouth. Feedings go much faster that way.

Kyla is doing well. She really does love being a big sister. She showers Easton with hugs and kisses as much as she can. Now that he is getting bigger and doing a bit more, she is having trouble sharing things. Everything Easton touches or uses is suddenly hers. We put cereal in a baby bowl, and she whines and says it's hers. If we use a baby spoon, she claims it's hers also. We know it will only get worse with time, but we didn't expect it to start quite so soon. If only learning to share was an easier concept to grasp.

Kyla's been enjoying the warmer weather. She's been able to spend more time outdoors blowing bubbles, flying her kite, playing at the park, looking for rocks, etcetera. She is getting more daring too. Just this week we were at a park, and she climbed up a rope wall all on her own. She needed some help getting down, but it was great to see her climb up all on her own without asking for any help. She also climbed up the steps to Grace's swing set and went down the slide on her own. It's exciting to see her try new things and move a bit outside of her comfort zone. Of course, we do not mind in the least that she is cautious. It never hurts to think things through before trying them.

She had a blast while Gramps was in town visiting us. She can't wait for him to come back at the end of the month for her (and Easton's) baptism. She wants Granny and Gramps to take her to Babies R'Us so she can ride the Dumbo there and buy a BIG Winnie the Pooh. She also wants to take Gramps to the park so he can play park games with her. She'll be in seventh heaven when everyone is in town for the baptism. She will have tons of people to play with and entertain.

Scott started softball this week. They won both games, so they are off to a great start. It would be awesome to see them take first place again in the summer league. It's been a while since the team had a first place finish.

April 2010

April 7th

The Little Man is three months old today. He weighs eleven pounds now. He is sure growing fast. Faster than Kyla did, that's for sure. Easton is staying awake for longer periods of time too. When he is awake and alert, he likes looking at himself in mirrors and at his mobiles. He tries to reach for objects now, which is fun to watch. He tries and tries, but never quite comes into contact with the toys. It won't be long though.

Easton is also great at cooing and babbling. He will talk to all of us, along with some of his favorite toys. There are bears that hang above his bassinet, so he talks to them a lot. He also coos at the toys that hang from his play mat. He seems to have a lot to say. If only we knew what he was saying and thinking.

He is sleeping for longer stretches now. He can go anywhere from six to eight hours in between feedings. The eight hour nights are few and far between at the moment, but he can easily go six hours when he wants to do so.

Kyla is having fun with play dates, being a big sister and getting the dogs to chase her around the house whenever she is carrying food. She just loves how Harley will follow her for as long as it takes for her to finish her food.

We all had a great Easter. For once, the weather was sunny and warm. It usually rains or snows on Easter day, so it was nice to get outdoors for egg hunting and to play. The Easter Bunny was good to both Easton and Kyla. Easton got a book and some toys. Kyla got some movies, new sippy cups, bubbles, candy, a ball and a kite. It was touch and go there for a while whether the Easter Bunny would be stopping at our house or hopping by to the neighbor's home. Thankfully, Kyla behaved well enough for him to pay us all a visit.

Kyla was in love with the bunny this year. She sat with him at church for their Easter Fun Day and at the mall. She was very affectionate and gave him lots of hugs. Easton sat with him too. Hopefully they will both be this happy to see him next year.

March 2010

March 8th
Easton had his doctor visit this afternoon. He now weighs 9 pounds, 5 ounces and is 22" long. He is finally on the charts for all of his measurements. He's only at the fifth percentile, but he is making headway.

The doctor did say his head is a bit flat on the right side, so we have to make sure to give him plenty of tummy and floor time. We are also trying to feed him on our right sides and put him to sleep on the opposite side of his bassinet. The doctor gave us an easy exercise to do that will help strengthen the muscles on the other side of Easton's neck. Although he has a pretty strong head, this exercise should help make him more confident in turning and looking left, as well as right. We are hoping all of these things will help to cosmetically even things out for the little man.

Other than that, Easton seems to be doing well. He is still playing catch-up, but the doctor is optimistic he will be reach all his developmental milestones for the two month mark in a few short weeks.

Kyla wasn't too thrilled to go to the doctor with us, but when she learned Easton was going to be the one getting poked and prodded, she was quite thankful. She was sure to let both the nurse and doctor know she was not the one who was sick. What a little ham!

Grandpa will be visiting us in a week, so we are all looking forward to spending some time with him. Easton is excited to meet him since Kyla's been filling him in on how good "Gramps" is at playing car games.

March 7th
Easton is two months old already. The time seems to be flying by even faster with two children, and it was going by pretty darn fast with just Kyla. Easton still spends the bulk of his days sleeping. He gets a bit fussy around dinner time and wants to be held, but we don't complain too much. We enjoy having a little one to snuggle with. Soon he will be off and running, so we are trying to enjoy these moments while they last.

Kyla has been working on potty training for the past several weeks. She is great at going pee-pee on the potty, but has no desire to poop there. She knows she has to poop, and will eagerly point out when she has pooped in her pull-ups or undies, but does not care to do the deed on her potty chair. She has only pooped on her potty once. We wish we knew some magic trick or secret to get her fully potty trained. It would be great to have her in big girl underwear from here on out. Hopefully, she will have this mastered by September so she can attend pre-school.

Speaking of pre-school, Kyla was accepted into Christ Lutheran's pre-school program last month. Starting September, she will attend pre-school three days a week in the mornings. She seems excited to go, but only time will tell. As of now, she is under the impression Mom, Dad, Easton, Ryder and Harley will be going to school with her. Despite the numerous conversations we've had telling her she will be going by herself, she keeps insisting school is for the whole family.

Not to over share, but there is a funny story to be told regarding potty training. Maybe this is the reason Kyla is unwilling to poop on her potty?? Every time we have to change what we've termed "poopy pants," Kyla has to look at the poop. This is probably not too uncommon for toddlers, but she also has to see if the poop is big or small. And lately, she has to say "hi" to her poop. There is a reasonable amount of frustration on our end because Kyla won't poop on the potty, but it sure is entertaining hearing her say "hi" to the poop in her pull-up or undies.

Easton goes in to the doctor tomorrow for his two month visit, so we will let you know how that goes.
We put our house on the market on the third, so we also have that going on right now. We are really hoping some great family wants to buy it while there is still a tax credit for first-time home buyers. We've only had one showing, but we hope to have an open house this weekend. Our realtor is confident we can sell this house, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will indeed sell for an amount that allows us to purchase a slightly bigger home. We've loved being in this house for the past five years, but we are starting to outgrow it. We'd love a home with a three car garage for all of the kids' stuff. Plus, we lost our guest bedroom when Easton arrived. It would be nice to have that extra bedroom since our families live out of state.

February 2010

February 14th
Happy Valentine's Day!! We hope everyone had a love-filled day.

Kyla really liked the holiday. She had donuts for breakfast, which was a special treat in and of itself. She also got a new movie, a cookie bake set and some balloons. She also had fun wishing everyone a "Happy Day."

Easton spent the day in his usual way - eating and sleeping. It was a great day for him too.

Kyla seems to be enjoying the Olympics so far. She has fun clapping and rooting for every Olympian.

Last Saturday, Mommy took Kyla to see her babysitter, Lexie, swim in her league meet. Lexie did great and qualified for State. Kyla had a lot of fun clapping and yelling, "Go Lexie, Go!" Kyla made quite the cheerleader. Everyone around her thought she was super cute.

February 7th
Easton is a month old today. It's almost hard to believe since he wasn't due to arrive until yesterday, but we are all happy he is here. He makes our family complete.

He is a great baby. He loves being held, looking at everyone and getting hugs and kisses from his big sister. He can be a difficult eater at times by turning his head repeatedly so the bottle won't stay in his mouth or by trying to eat his hands. We think he might be going through a growth spurt too, as he seems to want to eat every two hours or so, and he can't seem to get enough food in him once evening rolls around.

Kyla is doing well. Since we aren't able to take Easton out in public yet, she has been forced to spend her days playing in the house with Mom. At times, it is trying on both of us, but she is making the best of it. Well...as best as a two year old can.

She is looking forward to Valentine's Day. She doesn't really know or understand what the holiday means, but we've told her she will get presents and a treat, so that will make it a great day nonetheless.

January 2010

January 30th
Easton is doing well. He spends his days eating, sleeping, peeing through (many) outfits and cuddling with his big sister, mom and dad.

Kyla is entertaining; as always. About a month ago, Daddy told her monkeys fling their poop. Why Daddy volunteered that random piece of trivia is still a mystery, but thankfully that was pretty much all there was to the conversation. Kyla never really said anything in response to the topic, so we were hoping we were in the clear. However, about three or four days ago, Daddy found her with her hands down the back of her poopy diaper. When he asked her what she was doing and why, her response was "Monkeys do it!" We were thrilled (please note the sarcasm) she did indeed process that tiny comment. Kids do say the darndest things.

Yesterday, around 2:30, Kyla asked for a cookie. Mommy told her she couldn't have one until after nap time. Kyla then insisted it was nap time. She ran upstairs, turned on her music and closed her bedroom door. Mommy gave her about ten minutes before going up there herself (since Kyla wasn't due for a nap for another hour). When Mom get up there, she found Kyla in bed, under her blanket, with her pacifier in her mouth. Kyla had also turned on her space heater and sound machine. She also slept for three hours, which is rare anymore. Upon waking up, she marched downstairs and asked for a cookie. When Mommy looked at her sort of puzzled, Kyla reminded her it was now after nap time. All of that for one little cookie. How smart is she!?!

January 20th
Wow, so much has transpired since the beginning of last month. First off, Kyla just LOVED Christmas! She spent every day talking about Santa Claus. She was anxious to leave him treats, visit with him and open some presents. She even had fun wishing everyone a "Merry Kiss-Kiss." That was her own special way of saying "Christmas."

When Christmas day arrived, she was overwhelmed with all the presents. At first, it was fun to open them. However, it became less fun since Mom and Dad made her wait to actually play with any toys until everything was unwrapped. She pooped out towards the end and had to have some help opening the last several gifts. Kyla perked right up once she was able to start playing with everything though.

The new year came upon us quickly. It seems hard to believe a new decade has started already. We hope 2010 will be a great year for everyone. We wish you all peace, love, joy, happiness and great health.

Since the 32 week mark, I have been seeing the OB twice a week. One day for a non-stress test and a doctor visit, the other for a non-stress test, an ultrasound and a doctor visit. I was beginning to feel like I should pay rent for all the time spent there. The reason for all the visits was to monitor my gestational diabetes and keep an eye on my amniotic fluid levels. They were low, around seven to eight, since that 32 week mark.

Towards the end of my 35th week, the fluid levels fell too low. I was down to 4.5 on January 7th. That being said, the doctor sent me straight to the hospital to deliver. I was four weeks early, but everything went well. I was in labor for less than five hours. Easton Scott was born at 4:55 PM that day and weighed 5 pounds, 5 ounces. He was 18" long. He did SUPER! He didn't even need to go into the NICU, which was a huge relief for both myself and Scott. Easton lost about 10% of his body weight over the first week, but is doing fine now. He is steadily gaining weight, and he eats a little more every day. He's up to two ounces per feeding now, which is great for his size.

Easton is a great sleeper and cuddler. He is only unhappy when he has to get fully undressed or take a bath.

Kyla seems to be enjoying being a big sister. She likes to give Easton, Eas-ee as she calls him, hugs and kisses. Sometimes she also likes to help us burb him. She doesn't like to hear him cry, so she tries her best to cheer him up right away. All in all, the transition has not been as tough on her as we originally expected. It is hard for her to have to wait for us if we are busy with the baby, but she is doing as well as a two year old can be doing.

Scott received two weeks of paternity time, so that has been nice. He goes back to work tomorrow though. He will definitely be missed by all of us throughout the day.

December 2009

December 6th
Only two more months until Baby Boy Anderson will be here. Time sure has flown by fast since we learned we were pregnant again. We are all very excited for the baby to make his appearance and join the family.

November went by so fast, we hardly had time to fill you in on our happenings. Kyla joined the Little Partners tumbling class at the rec center, and she also participated again in Two Times the Fun. She really enjoyed the toddler class. It was fun for her to bring home her projects and show them off to Daddy when he got home from work. She proudly displayed her artwork around the house and on the fridge.

Thanksgiving was nice. We spent time at home as a family. We cooked a nice meal and had leftovers for the entire weekend. It had been a long time since we cooked a Thanksgiving meal at home allowing us to have leftovers. We usually spend the holiday with our friends, The Lewis'. We would have gone to their house again this year, but both Kyla and Mommy were sick with colds. Hopefully next year we will all be healthy and able to taste the yummy food.

We took Kyla to a golf course to have breakfast with Santa yesterday afternoon. She did GREAT!! She ate a good brunch and even got excited when Santa arrived. Daddy and her stood in line and waited for their turn to visit with Santa. When she got up there, she hopped right into his lap and did not shed one, single tear. She wouldn't look directly at him, but she didn't cry either. That was a major improvement from last year. Maybe this means Mommy and Daddy can take her to the mall to see Santa and get her picture taken with him??

Ever since October, Kyla has been looking forward to Christmas. She was more than thrilled when we finally put up all of our decorations. She loves to hug the stuffed decorations (snowmen, Santa, gingerbread people) and show them all of her toys. She's been teaching them how to draw, color, cook and play golf. Kyla also enjoys looking at the ornaments on the tree and turning on the lights. Thank heaven for super glue, so Mommy and Daddy can mend the ornaments that "accidentally" fall off the tree. She's more interested in the ornaments and lights than the presents.

Scott is having a good quarter at work, so that is a nice blessing for all of us. We hope 2010 and will start off the same way.

November 2009

November 9th
Kyla sure had a fun Halloween. The morning of, she went to Trick or Treat Street at the rec center. They had a lot of vendors there, so she received a lot of candy. Her favorite part was seeing the Lions Club Lion. She could not get enough of him. Later that day, we had a potluck dinner with our playgroup and their families. The guys took the kids Trick-or-Treating, while us ladies stayed in the house to pass out candy. All in all, it was a great day for everyone.

Over the past few weeks, we've been working on Kyla's "big girl" room. We moved all of her new furniture and bedding into what was once known as our guest bedroom. Now, it is Kyla's room. She really loves the bigger bedroom and playing in it. Her most favorite thing to do is jump on the bed. She has a harder time being put down for a nap or bedtime, but hopefully that will get easier as she gets used to her new surroundings. We can only imagine what she is going through. New room, new furniture, new set-up, etcetera. It's gotta be tough, but she is being a trooper.

Christmas cannot come soon enough. Since October, all Kyla can talk about is "Ho-Ho" - A.K.A. Santa. We are sure she will be loving life once the tree and decorations are put up. If all goes well, we can do that over Thanksgiving weekend.

Scott and I both have birthdays this month. We are starting to wonder if it is too soon to start counting backwards?? :-)

Kyla's best friend, Grace, welcomed a baby sister on November 6th. Kyla has spent a lot of time talking about the baby. She seems pretty excited for Grace and the rest of her family. Hopefully she will show as much enthusiasm for her own baby brother when he makes his appearance into our lives.