Cameron (almost) 20 months old

Our little man is growing up!  

Schedule:
8am- Wake up, get dressed, drink smoothie (milk, banana, yogurt, and spinach)
8:30/8:45- Out the door to daily activity Monday/Wednesday- Parents Day Out (School),Tuesday- YMCA, Thursday- Bible study, Friday- YMCA, Sunday-Church
12pm- Lunch
12:30-Sibling Room time.  Alexis and Cameron play upstairs in one of their rooms.  After they scream at each other for a while I will find them either playing "go to sleep"  where they drag all the pillows and blankets to the floor to pretend sleep (it's really cute to hear Cameron pretend snore), or they are "reading" books.
1-3pm- Nap
3pm- Ipad in mommy's bed while Alexis gets up,  Cameron loves the Starfall ABC app.
3:15-3:45- Watch a show- Super Why, Daniel Tiger, or Curious George.
3:45-5:15- Play in the basement playroom or out on the deck. 
5:15-5:45- Dinner
5:45-7:30- Family Time- park, YMCA swimming, stroller ride, play in the basement or in the backyard, get a cookie at the store.
7:30- Bedtime Routine.  Bath, read/drink milk, sing, and pray.

Sleeping: Cameron is still in a crib.  He sleeps very well at night 8pm-8am.  Occasionally he will wake up a little earlier, but he stays in the crib until 8am.  This is a time boundary that I have set in stone (unless the kids are sick).  
I am thankful that night time sleep is going well!  However; nap time has recently become a disaster.  I am in the process of figuring out what the problem is.  Cameron used to sleep 1-3:30/4pm.  He is now waking up at 2:30 ON THE DOT  most days.  He wakes up screaming at the top of his lungs and can not settle down to go back to sleep.  I know that he needs a longer nap because the rest of the day he is grouchy and fussy at the slightest irritation.  It might be teeth.  It might be developmental.  I don't care what it is...just want it fixed :)

Eating: O my! Cameron is an eater!! He eats and he eats FAST.  It is hard to pick a favorite food for him because he scarfs most things down.  Broccoli and carrots may be the fav and go to vegetables.  He loves pasta with red sauce-what a mess!.  Favorite fruit is blueberries these days.  He would eat our entire grocery budget in blueberries if I would let him.  He does not love black beans, lentils, or quinoa.

Talking/signing: God, Amen, Jesus, Bible, book, All Done, No, Cookie, Cracker, Mommy, Daddy, Lexie, down, please, thank you, truck, dog, school, shoes...I'm sure there are a few more, that's all I can think of right now.  Josh and I are working on making Cameron talk more.  He is often frustrated because he lacks the skills to say what he wants.  He will repeat words.

Playing:  Cameron loves to mimic!   Especially his big sister.  Yesterday they were twirling in the yard like ballerinas.  He likes to do real things.  For example: sweep, clean things with a rag, "help" put the silverware away.  He is into stacking blocks and zipping/unzipping. Balls, balloons, bats, and anything with wheels are the favorite toys. 

Four Year Old Alexis

Favorite Color- Red and Blue
Favorite Animal- Lion and Giraffe 
Favorite Food- Banana
Favorite thing to do- Spend time with just Mommy or just Daddy
Favorite thing to wear- Monkey Swim Suit
Favorite Game- Zingo!  (thanks Gutz family)
What do you want to be when you grow up?- A Chef Doctor
Favorite TV show- Monkey George, Daniel Tiger, and Super Why Too!
Favorite Book- The Cinderella at the doctor office
What do you like the best?- Playing with all my friends
What do you like the least?- Going to bedtime
How do you feel in the mornings?- Sleepy
What is the best thing about Pre-school?- Playing with Addison in the dress up corner
What are you proud of?  I can do more things than when I was 3 1/2.  I can leap further!
What is your favorite thing about Cameron- He's always sweet.

A Name Change Request

"I want Ogalatia (O-ga-la-tay-ah) to be my name.  I don't love Alexis or Lexie or Alexis Kate Riser.  Ogalatia is Spanish for Alexis"

-Alexis Kate Riser on November 2, 2013

Sibling Rivalry

This is new territory for me.  I find myself torn between stepping in to teach and letting them work it out for themselves.   How do you deal with sibling rivalry in your house and why do you do it that way? 

Costume Conversation

Alexis-  I don't want to be a bunny for Halloween, I want to be a LION.
Jenn-  We don't have a Lion costume, you can be a Lion next year

Pause

Alexis-  HEY!!  I'm thinking about we could buy a Lion costume.  I want to be a Lion for Christmas.  I want to be a Christmas Lion.

8 Month Birthday

8 Months

This month has passed too quickly!  We are settling down in the back-to-school/almost Fall routine.  Cameron has made great physical strides this month.  He is a full time crawler in proper crawling form.  September 1st he began to pull up.  He had it mastered by September 2nd.  Pulling up and sitting down over and over again.  So happy with himself, too!

 Cameron still sleeps from 8pm-8am.  On occasion I put him down a bit early.  He naps from 10/10:15-12pm and 1:45-4pm. Later last week it was a bit rough with the naps.  He decided he'd try to strike.  For two days during the afternoon nap he cried for about an hour.  Thankfully he is not the strong willed one.  He caught on quickly and has resumed napping peacefully. 

I dropped his before nap feeding this month, so he nurses four times a day.  8am, 12pm, 4pm and 8pm.  He eats solids three times a day.  8:30am- Oatmeal, 12:30pm a fruit or vegetable and rice or oatmeal, 5pm a vegetable and rice or oatmeal.  This month we added cheerios, chunks of bananas (instead of puree), and whole milk yogurt.  It has taken his system 2 weeks to get used to the yogurt.  He loves yogurt!  His only consistent sign right now is "more" and of course it is because he wants more food and FASTER!

My baby is growing up and I'm not sure how I feel about that.  We have begun to discipline regularly at the table.  Cameron loves to bang on his tray and watch the cheerios or puffs fly around.   I have to get stern with him and it is hard sometimes.  He just sits there and smiles back. 

Blue eyes

Insisted on bringing a bat to the nursing session

Family Shot at the last "Sounds of Summer"  Aug. 2013

AWANA

Alexis started AWANA at a local church two weeks ago.  Last week she received her Cubbie vest, bag, and book.  She's a little unfocused in the video above, but overall is doing very well.  We are so proud of her!
This weeks verse is Romans 3:23  "All have sinned"  We talked about how "all" means everybody.  She was especially interested in how her Mommy and Daddy have sinned.