4.20.13 8 months

8 months comes with a lot of "firsts."  Caroline has gone from sitting on her own to crawling, pulling up, and standing for a few seconds without holding on.  She is growing up way too fast and is becoming a hand-full fast!  Now that she is on the move, she is getting into the dog bowls (and making a mess)! She loves Grahams water bowl. As soon as you put her down on the floor, she is on a mission to get to that bowl. You know she is getting close when Tillman starts stay "no no Caroline." She even went over to the bowl when Graham was eating. Graham looked at her like "what are you doing?" He even backed up from his food because she was splashing water everywhere.
She is also clapping her hands and saying MaMa, DaDa, Uh Oh!

One thing is for sure, she is passed the "luggage" stage, the stage where you just carry them around and put them down (and they stay in one spot). Now that Caroline can move, she is crawling every chance she gets...even in the bathtub. You have to watch her like a hawk in the water.
Another favorite spot that Caroline likes to crawl is to the bar stool. She loves to pull up to stand and then bend over to gnaw on the foot rest (gross is right). It is metal and she is teething, so I'm sure the cold of it feels good. Speaking of teething, she still has two teeth (lower fronts). She has been sticking out her tongue a lot lately and she chews on it. I think she is feeling her teeth with it.

She is also starting to figure out who is familiar and who is a "stranger."  She is particularly leery of men....apparently. Anytime a dad comes to pick up another child in her class, she starts to cry. She has just started that this week.  It is only with men. The teachers can't figure her out, but she really gets cranked up and they have to cuddle her to get her to calm down. She seems scared and freaked out. She did this to my dad, and I didn't think much of it, but I think she is already having boy drama!
Caroline's eating this month has really changed as well. She is now on mostly formula. It breaks my heart. I was hospitalized on Good Friday for kidney stones and infection for several days. I was trying to pump while in the hospital, but I was dehydrated and on a lot of meds. Unfortunately, my body read that as no demand, so I only make about 8 oz a day now.  It still works out that she gets a bottle of mommy milk in the morning and nurses before bed. I feel fortunate to still be able to do that for her. She is also eating a lot more food.  She gets oatmeal each night and is eating twice at school. Her little chunky legs are so cute!

Caroline did have a virus this month, and she had to stay home from school last Friday. Her fever was 102. With the second child, we are starting to learn what is viral and what the doctor would actually give meds for. This was viral, so we managed her with Ibuprofen and Tylenol. I wasn't dosing her appropriately for the first part of the day, as I didn't think she had changed her weight too much, but she now weighs 18.6 lbs, so she now gets the same dose of medicine as Tillman!  Seems crazy, but as soon as I gave her the right amount, she seem to be able to manage her fever.  The fever went away in 24 hours.  She slept extra late on Saturday morning, so that was good for us both!

She had a rough week this week too. Started off the week not going to school due to a fever. Went to school on Tuesday, just to start throwing up and having the stomach bug. She was home Wednesday and Thursday and back to school today.  The stomach bug was the pits. She went through 7 outfits before going to bed on Tuesday. She was in the stroller watching Tillman play outside. Tillman came to me and said "Caroline made a mess!"  I knew exactly what he meant. Poor thing was a mess!  She slept long and hard on Tuesday night and most of the morning on Wednesday. I would have sent her back to school on Thursday, but I visited her room at the daycare, and all the children were sick, so we kept her home.

She is on the mend and Nick and I really enjoyed keeping her and having some one-on-one time with her. Nick really enjoyed his time since his time is often geared towards Tillman.  She got to sleep in daddy's arms and go to work with him on Wednesday.  Ironically, it was "take your daughter to work day" according to the radio, so it was meant to be!

4.12.13 31 months

Tillman has been extremely active this month. With the weather getting warmer, all he wants to do is be outside.  He went to work with Nick for the first time last weekend. He LOVED it!  He wore his khaki pants and boots just like his daddy.  All he needs now is a Sunburst Landscaping shirt, and he'll be set. Tillman got to ride on the tractor, help put out landscaping flags, meet a few clients, and finally meet Roberto.  Roberto has worked for Sunburst even before Nick and his dad purchased the company.  He often will call Nick when we are all getting ready in the morning to get out of the house.  Tillman hears the phone ring, and insist on talking to him.  Roberto is a good sport and talk to Tillman.  When Tillman says "bye" to Roberto, Tillman also says"I love you!"

Tillman's speech is coming along. He's also great a "bossing" Caroline around and telling her "no no."  It used to be that he would just say single words or simple sentences, but he is now developing sentences.  Yesterday I asked he he went to Church.  He said "yes, I went to church. I sang Jesus Loves Me."  This was while he was getting his hair cut, and he turned around to the lady cutting his hair and said "I go to church" while nodding his head.  When he nods his head when talking it is like he is extra sure of himself.
Tillman eating has improved...drum roll please.....He now eats meat (besides Chick Fil A)!  He is requesting it. Before he wouldn't have anything to do with meat.  We'd try to put it in food/hide it, but he'd find it while chewing and spit it out.  He is eating grilled chicken, sausage, and hot dogs.  He is also starting to request things for dinner. When Nick went to the store, he asked Tillman what he wanted to eat, and he said "hot dogs." Nick and I both looked at each other like "what?" Sure enough he ate the whole thing for dinner. He love "dips/sauces." He enjoys dipping his meat in a little ketchup. No dunking for Tillman, he only gets a speck of ketchup on his food.

I think Tillman is at a good point in development. He can express what he wants and is less frustrated with us trying to figure out his needs.  I am glad to be over the hump of frustration and a screaming child because he wants something and we have no idea what he is saying or pointing.
Many toddlers are in a toddler bed at this point, but we still have Tillman in the crib. He doesn't try to get out and he likes it.  I don't know how the child sleeps, as he has 5 blankets, 4 stuffed animals, some books and other things in the crib. When I go in to check on him at night after he is asleep, I often have to hunt for him. The crazy kid insist on having all of those items in the bed.  The other night I checked on him, and he had pulled this huge dog (like the size you win at the fair) into the crib with him. The dog was on top, and Tillman was under a blanket. The dog is bigger than him. I guess he pulled the dog by the ear to hoist him into the crib.
Health wise, Tillman has had a great spring. We continue to have runny noses at our house, but we just consider that the norm.  He knows to get a tissue and he can even wipe it himself now (mister independent). We take him back to the ENT to get his tubes evaluated. I hope to get the tubes removed soon, and hope that he will be cleared for ear infections!