34 months 7.12.13

"Take my picture!"

Most people say that Tillman looks like his daddy, and looking at the picture above I can see Nick in him. I guess him being my child and seeing them side by side, I just couldn't see it. I notice it more in pictures.  The ears, hair, chin, and lines in the face, yes, I see Nick (and I guess his Papaw too since Nick and his dad look so much alike!) Speaking of Nick, Tillman absolutely adores his daddy.  When he wakes in the morning, Daddy is the first thing he says to going to bed at night, Nick is the only person he wants to put him to bed. When Nick isn't at home at night, Tillman rushes down the next morning to see his daddy. On the weekend and at night, he wants to do everything his daddy does-cut the grass, watch him cook, blow the leave, ride in the truck, walk Graham, watch him fix things around the house and the list goes on and on.

Tunnel Time

Tillman gets really upset if Nick does things without him-particularly cut the grass. He can hear a mower from a mile away and it can wake him up from a dead sleep. He's more "obsessed" with his daddy than any cartoon character (Elmo, Thomas the Train, etc).  I have to do a ton of bribing (candy) to make him go back to sleep if Nick is mowing the grass.

On the way home from the beach, clinging
to his junk food in his sleep afraid
 we would take it away. As soon as he woke,
he just started eating again like nothing happened.

Tillman is starting to tell us more about his day at school. He can tell us what he had for lunch, who did what, and even are able to hear more about incident reports!  Tillman got bit last week. Of course, all the teacher can tell you is that Tillman got bit today.  When we left the room, I asked Tillman who bit him, and he was able to tell me.  He wouldn't divulge details (what were you doing when you got bit, etc), but he was able to tell me who.  It is funny because he told me a nickname of the person. I went to the school roster and I didn't see that person. He finally told me his full name after I started going through his class.  They all have nicknames in the class. Tillman is Till Till or Tilly or The Mayor!

Helping daddy with his tent and pool

Tilly is still 27-28 lbs.  I think he has grown a little taller. When buying Caroline the next diaper size up (3), I noticed that Tillman could wear those as well, so now we just buy one size. He used to be a 4, but down to a 3. I think he is just stretching himself!  Tillman is not a big eater...never has been. He would rather play than eat. His Papaw is the same way. He eats to live instead of lives to eat. We really have to force Tillman to eat dinner.  Don't get me wrong, he loves junk food and would eat that all day long. We really limit that stuff at home. I asked the daycare how he does, and they say he eats two helping sometimes there.  No sure about his eating habitats, but for me, I love to eat, so I can't wrap my head around not enjoying dinner....

All and all Tillman has had a great month. We are also party planning for him, as he is two months away from being 3.  Wow!

11 months 7.20.13

Sweet Smile in her Matilda Jane dress

All I can think is "I can't believe she is almost a year old!" She is moving up to the next class at school on 7.29.13, and they asked that we start working on sippy cups.  Also, I opened her last can of formula this weekend, so she will be moving to regular milk next.  Caroline is pretty much done nursing. She would rather hold the bottle, walk around while drinking, or keep her eyes on the room to make sure she isn't missing anything.  Can't believe she is growing up so fast. It is almost too much happening at once! With her turning one, the party planning has begun, the cake smash photo session booked, and the birthday attire is being planned! I'm excited about her party but not her growing up!

Kiawah Beach day!
(Daddy trying to brush off her hat)

Caroline has also started a new schedule.  She is now going to bed the same time as Tillman and is sleeping through the night.  By going to bed in the 7PM hour she now gets an extra hour of sleep at night.  She is easier to put to bed that early than I first thought.  I give her a bottle, and after she is done with that, she puts herself to sleep. I've heard that you shouldn't put your child to bed with a bottle, but for now, that is what works, so we are doing it! I think the extra hour of sleep at night will be key when she moves to the next class since they have scheduling nap time in that room.  She will go from napping anytime she wants to only once a day.  I'm glad of this. She doesn't seem to require that much sleep, so to have a scheduled nap time will help us with both kids on the weekend.

Saturday Morning fun...playing dress up in another MJ dress

Baby Caroline still does a great job with eating.  She has had all types of meat-salmon, tilapia, chicken to name a few. She loves them all.  There isn't much she won't eat.  When she wants something to eat, she wants you to put it in her mouth as soon as possible. She gets very antsy at the table if you aren't "shoveling" fast enough!  At the beach this weekend, she was at my knees begging for food. She ate watermelon, cheese, goldfish, and the list goes on.  She loves to eat!  I'm glad that she is a good eater. She has really slowed on the amount of formula she drinks. I think she will do just fine with the transition.

Hey guys, don't leave me in here...
Caroline staying out of the mosquitos
while we work on the pool

Caroline is pretty much a full-time walker now.  She will crawl to get to something under a table or in a corner, but other than that, she is on the go on her feet. She does walk "bow-legged." I've had 3 people say this.  Of course, being her mom, I get a little offended by those remarks.  Her legs do bow out, but I think that is how a baby maintains balance. However, I'm going to talk to the doctor about it just to make sure everything is normal! :-) (Like the good mom should...right?) Bow-legged or not, she can get those little chunky legs going pretty fast. She is almost to the point of running.  We've even noticed her legs have really thinned out since she has started to walk.  I hate to see those chunky thighs disappear, but I'm sure she wouldn't want those when she is a teenage!

Passed out before 8PM! Wow, we are finally at that stage!

11 month stats:
Diapers: size 3
Shoes: still not yet!  Not rushing this one.
Weight: I think she is maintaining at 20 lbs!
Sleep: 7:30PM!!  Sleeps until Tillman wakes up the whole house!
Things to work on: sippy cup (just didn't get to that last month...busy working on bedtime)
Naps: 3 times a day at school, but going down to 1 time a day starting 7.29.13
Clothing: 9-12 mo; although, she does were some 18 mo clothing!
Teeth: 4 upper teeth fully in. 4 lower teeth-2 middle ones completely in but on each side of the middle teeth there are one on each side that are coming in.

Playtime with Tillman in the tunnel
(she loves it although she looks
less than impressed in this pic!)

4th of July Weekend

Sharing grapes before the big beach day!

4th of July at Seabrook

Bottle Break at Papaw's house

Watching Papaw build a deck

Potty Break for Tillman in Papaw's yard...
Nice!

Girls on the way to Andrea's Luncheon

St Mark's for Andrea's wedding...
Tillman's First Wedding

The Strehle 4 at Andrea and David's reception

Cousin love

Watching the first dance

Bustin' a move with the cousins

Sunday recovery...Julie and Caroline napping

What Tillman got into while we were
 unpacking from the weekend.

Our two little ones

A rare moment! 

Water Babies

Can Caroline play in my bed? Love to play together.

At Cici and JRS's house...Tillman push Caroline in the dump truck..
Oh and Tillman's new way of saying "Cheese!"

Memorial Day

Bath Buddies

Publix and a cookie...a weekend must!

10 months 6.20.13

Gardening buddies

Sweet Caroline is WALKING!  She can walk, swat down to pick up things, and even multitask while walking. She has caught on quick.  In her mind she still wants to go a lot faster than she is currently able, so we have had some spills.  She has conquered going up steps crawling, but going down is still a challenge.  She gets herself in quit the "pickle" when she navigates down steps.
She began walking while I was in the bath. I had to take a double take and then I got out the camera to capture the moment. She took it real slow, but it look like she had been doing it for a while once she got going. It is amazing to watch it for the first time. She was concentrating hard on getting her feet going while maintaining balance.

Sandy Caroline

She is also on full table food now.  She also enjoys sand at the beach!  She can feed herself a good bit, but we are a little mess.  Good thing for Graham. He is the clean up crew.  Graham and Caroline are buddies.  I think if Graham had to pick who his favorite was, it would be Caroline (behind Nick of course). He really doesn't mind her. Will go right up to her face and smell.  He will let her step on him, tug and pull too.  It is really fun to see, as we just really didn't think it was possible for him to like kids.

I want Puffs!

Caroline now has 7 teeth. Hard to believe.  She had 3 come in on the top all at one time. She ran a fever while those were coming in and was a little fussy. That is a lot of teeth at once. She still has one tooth that is still coming in on the bottom. I hope she gets a break for a little while before more teeth. So far there are 4 on top and 3 on the bottom. When feeding her, I've tried to stick things in to force her to bite them. She is getting the hang of it, but still swallows a lot of things whole. She also still grits her teeth. The noise is awful! I don't think she has figured out what she is to use those teeth for yet, but I'm sure she will get the hang of the soon.  It certainly isn't slowing her down from trying all kinds of food.  This little one is a great eater!

Beach Baby

She has a few words she likes to say: Bye Bye (with the motions),Uh Oh, Yay, Ummm, MaMa, DaDa.  She is known as the classroom greeter. She welcomes everyone in the morning and tells everyone bye bye in the afternoons.  She is very social. She loves to be right at the door. When Tillman and I drop her off in the mornings, she has started to cry a little or grabs to my clothes and won't let go. She just cries for a little and then she is on her way. Tillman usually gives her a hug and then we go to his room for drop off. 

Running to the water

Caroline also loves to clap. When she gets really excited she will clap away. She'll do it while watching Tillman play, while dancing, in the car while listening to music. She is a pretty happy baby, so we have lots of clapping.

Playing in the sand

10 month stats:

Diaper: size 2 but moving into size 3

Shoes: not yet a 1, but needing shoes soon

Weight: 20 lbs with all her clothes on

Sleeping-through the night in her crib. Usually goes down about 8:30

Things to start working on: sippy cups

Eating: Table food, 5 bottles a day, and mommy milk before bed and when waking (good quality time)

Naps: Not much of a napper if she is going to sleep at night. At daycare she does great, but at home, it is normally in the AM or during car rides

Clothing: 6-9 months

Teeth: 4 upper teeth in with the right incisor coming first. Bottom is two middle with one coming in on the left.

33 Months 6.12.13

First Beach Day of the Summer at Seabrook!

Just have a few words of excitement to share....

Potty Trained!
In Toddler Bed!

Tillman with buddy, Cole

Those two milestones of month were huge for all of us!  Like with anything, he had to make up his mind when he was ready.  He doesn't fight to go to the potty and no more yucky pants!  I must admit I was getting  a weak-stomach with all of those messes in his pants! He knows all the tricks of the potty too-standing up, sitting down, flushing, and like any man, needing his privacy and shutting the door!

Making a "pool!"

Toddler bed started this weekend.  We've been without air upstairs for a few weeks, so he'd been in a pack 'n play downstairs.  When he went upstairs this week, we decided to take the plunge to the toddler conversion of his crib.  He did just fine.  He woke up around 12:30AM his first night in the crib.  We could hear him fumbling down the steps. He came to Nick's side of the bed and started to "fake" cry.  Nick said what is wrong, but he continued to whimper. We asked him to use his words if he wanted help.  Tillman said in a serious/matter-of-fact way after pausing for a second "I FELL ON MY FACE!" He was not happy about it either.  I just wanted to die laughing. Nick got up with him to potty and get a drink of milk, and he was back off to bed for the rest of the night. He is certainly at that stage of life that you never know what is going to come out his mouth!

Don't try this at home...
Daddy brought the stand up mower home.
Tillman wanted a ride.

Speaking of what comes out the child's mouth....we have to be careful what comes out of our mouths as he is always listening.  The other day I was "scolding" him.  He responded to me "Don't you cut your eyes at me!" Of course, I laughed.  I'd never said that to him.  I guess he got that from school.  He also says very sweet things too-"Mommy, you pretty!"

Swimming buddies

Tillman is extremely tasked oriented when he gets home.  As we walk to the front door, he'll say "we need to blow the leave, again." He is so serious when he says it.  He nods his head while he says it.  He loves to work outside in the yard.  If a mower, blower, ladder, or any tool is in sight he is ready to get to work.
On our way home everyday we pass an AME church. It has a tarp on the room right now, and they are doing some major work to it. Tillman gets all excited and say what tools are needed to fix it-ladder, hammer, screw driver, and nails. I asked him who was going to help him fix the roof, and he thought for a minute.  While nodding his head he said "Cheryl!" (That's his teacher's name).  I think it is so funny how his mind works.  All this thoughts are pure and innocent with not a care in the world.  Ahh, to be a kid!

Pretend Mower Ride before School

In other news, Tillman is out of school today and working with daddy. I'm sure he is having the time of his life. He sure loves going to work with Nick.  He came home yesterday with a fever but acts completely fine...buck wild! While it may seem to be inconvenient in the moment for Tillman to be sick at times, as it takes us away from plans, these are the days (sick days) that he'll remember the most.  Nick still remembers being sick from school, and his granddad taking him to the Air Force Museum.  Memories are made when we have one-on-one time. Can't wait to hear about Tillman's day with daddy when they get home this afternoon.

Waiting on daddy at Doctor's Care