Friends-Giving!

Sometimes we really feel the distance being far from home and family, especially during the holidays.  Thankfully, we have established an amazing Texas family with whom we can celebrate the milestones and holidays.  We took part in our second annual "Friends-giving" this year, and a blast was had by all!  One of the greatest joys of having holidays with others with small children is that no one expects all of the little ones to be angels all the time.  We are so thankful for friends who don't mind that your kid is running crazy and most likely making a mess, because their kid is probably doing it too!  It takes so much stress out of the holidays!  :)

Little Buddy playing with his friends!

Gathered around the kids' table!

   

The big kids (Little Sweetie and her friend, Baby J, were napping at this point).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Going to the Chapel!

It was an exciting weekend for Little Buddy; he got to be a ring bearer for his babysitter's, Ms. A's, wedding!  Ms. A is one of my former students and has babysat for Little Buddy since he was about 2 weeks old.  We were honored that she asked Little Buddy to have a part in her big day!

    

 Paying close attention during the rehearsal and meeting the flower girl!

   

All dressed up for the big day!  Ready to practice one more time!

Such a stud!

 

Posing with the happy couple!

  

Dancing the night away with the flower girl and the bride.  We love you, Ms. A!

Although we are going to miss Ms. A as she and her husband move out of state, we will always consider her family.  So lucky to have had her in Little Buddy's life!


Good night,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

November 11

Already well into November and adjusting to life as a Big Brother!  It's been an eventful time in Little Buddy's life: he's had fun with Mimi and Pop Pop, is doing great at school, dotes on his little sister (although we still have to remind him about being gentle; he just wants to play with her like he plays with his friends!), and has healed up from his coffee burn remarkably well!  We are so thankful!

Little Buddy continues to love school!  We are so thankful his teachers and school administrators send home lots of pictures for us to share in his activities. 

Having fun on fire safety day!

Chapel time!  He's in the pink shirt in the bottom middle of the picture...actually paying attention! :)

Science fun in Big Centers!  Vinegar and baking soda reactions and learning how popcorn pops!

Height and Weight 

Holding strong at 50 lbs. and has now reached 42 inches (and possibly a little beyond).  He's eating and sleeping a bit more too...possible another growth spurt coming?

Personality

In love, love, love with his sister!  He calls her "Baby Amant'a" or "Baby Sister" and wants to hold her and play with her all of the time.  We are so happy he is so in love, but we continually discuss being calm and gentle around sister...his excitement sometimes gets the best of him and he thinks he can play with her like he does with the rest of his friends! 

   

Sibling love!

Developmental Milestones

We've definitely had some potty training regression.  We expected some regression once baby sister arrived, so we weren't surprised.  Now that Momma's attention isn't exclusively on him, he has to listen more to his body and get to the potty on time.  Also, because he had to wear pull-ups in the hospital due to his IV, he's gotten a bit confused again.  Hoping to settle into routine and get back on track soon!

His speech and vocabulary continues developing and we love being able to have little conversations with us now.  He still seems naturally more quiet than some of his friends, so he may take more after his Daddy and be more thoughtful when he speaks (which is a direct opposite from his Momma!).

While never a picky eater, we are noticing he is becoming much more open to eating non-steamed vegetables without being bribed by extra bites of cheese or bread or fruit.  He's slowly starting to eat more pasta and salad, things that make us happy!  Grilled cheese and quesadillas are still lunch time staples however!

Fun Tidbits

Although he loves his sister, he has noticed that the focus and attention have shifted a bit from just him.  We are now hearing "Watch me!" more often as he asks us to focus on what he is doing. 

Also, we are thrilled that Little Buddy's burns have all healed up!  Although he felt no pain from them once we left the hospital, we were so happy to see them heal and to have the doctor's confirmation at his check-up that there should be no scarring!  We are so thankful!

      

Reading stories with Daddy in his "Get Well Soon, Super Hero!" pjs from Aunt D and Uncle C, and then modeling his nearly healed burns!

We are so grateful for a fun month with Little Buddy, but we hope next month is a little less eventful and less accident-prone!


Good night,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

"Will-or-Treat"

We have the most amazing friends in the world.

When you move across the country and away from family, it can be especially hard to be on your own during times of stress (such as when your toddler pulls coffee down on himself). If you’re lucky, though, you’ll find yourself part of a new extended family.

Today I am thankful for my Texas family, who put together a “Will-or-Treat” Halloween redo for Little Buddy. He was thrilled to be able to dress up as Charlie Brown and trick or treat at the park with his friends after thinking he missed out due to the craziness of the past week. Thank you to all of you that were there and all those who were there in spirit. You made my boy’s day and made my heart full!

My sweet Charlie Brown!

The gang is ready to go trick-or-treat! 

And they're off!

Trick-or-treating with Snoopy!

Candy time! 

Enjoying the spoils!

Little Buddy also had a lot of fun with his friend, E, who was so thoughtful to make him a get well card.  They were absolutely adorable together as they walked around the park, picking flowers.  Little Buddy would get so excited each time he picked a flower for E and she would accept it.  Ah, young love.  ;)

    

Little Buddy and E

So happy that Little Buddy and The Great Pumpkin (as well as Lucy and Linus) got to celebrate Halloween together with their amazing friends!  Thank you all!

With gratitude,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Our Truly Scary Halloween

We had Halloween all planned out as part of the Peanuts gang.  Little Buddy was eager to wear his Charlie Brown costume, Little Sister was going to be dressed as the Great Pumpkin, Daddy was going to be Linus, and I was going to be Lucy.  We were nearly ready to head out to a Halloween party with Little Buddy's friends and do some trick-or-treating when Little Buddy sprinted into the kitchen and managed to pull a pot of hot coffee down on himself.  It was just as terrible as you can imagine and I'll spare you the trail of anguished thoughts that went through my head and my heart.  Suffice it to say, we did not make trick-or-treating that night.   

With second degree burns on the left side of Little Buddy's chest we were sent to the burn unit of Texas Children's Pediatrics downtown and were admitted for the night.  Daddy rode in the ambulance with Little Buddy and I drove down with Little Sister.  Uncle C, who lives close to the hospital, met us there, while Mimi and Pop-Pop went back to our house to take care of Chesney and to ready our things should we have to stay in the hospital for awhile.  

My poor, sweet boy.

  

 Finally getting some rest.  The dressing and the IV were the worst parts of the experience for him.

Spending Halloween night in the hospital with your scalded three-year-old and your newborn not even two weeks after her delivery is rough.  Really rough.  Like Momma cries her eyes out every time she looks at her boy rough.  Thankfully, the hospital is truly in tune with kids' needs.  We received excellent care and Little Buddy definitely felt better following visits from the therapy dogs, playing in the play room, lots of PBS viewing, and pancakes.  He also charmed all the hospital staff by greeting them and thanking them for everything, even the things he didn't like, such as tearfully thanking one of the nurses for his dressing change.  I have to say even I was impressed with his manners and charm under such circumstances!

Enjoying pancakes while kicking back and watching Daniel Tiger.

Feeling good enough to visit the play room and work some of the toddler energy out!

Although we did find out Little Buddy cannot handle Tylenol with codeine, it didn't seem to matter as he wasn't showing any signs of pain or discomfort, except during dressing changes.  Because of this, once Daddy and I mastered the art of dressing changes, we were cleared to leave!  It took forever, of course, to actually get released, but we were thrilled to head home on Friday evening.  We were even more thrilled that Little Buddy seemed to be feeling just like his old self.

Thank God for his smiles and giggles!

We are so thankful to be home and for him to continue his recovery.  Although he will be wearing burn dressings over the next few weeks, he is doing great and is expected to recover completely (in fact, he is now just more upset he missed trick-or-treat!)!  We are so blessed by the family and friends who have supported us over the last few days.

Counting our blessings, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Big Brother!

It was a very exciting few days for our family!  Little Buddy became officially became a Big Brother! 

Saturday was the big day.  That morning, before breakfast, we followed our routine of asking Little Buddy if the baby was coming that day.  Normally, Little Buddy either ignores the question or answers, "Not yet."  On Saturday, however, he flipped up his response and told us, "Baby come today!"  Although Daddy and I weren't convinced he was right, I was mindful of how he had confidently picked the gender of his sibling several months ago.  I wondered if maybe...

Flash forward an hour later and we're headed to the hospital!  I was having some contractions and, since I was pretty dilated already, decided we should just go to the hospital to get checked out.  You see, when Little Buddy was born three years ago, I didn't know I was in labor, so our doctor told us to just get checked out anytime we though my Braxton Hicks became too regular, just to be safe.  Thank goodness we heeded her advice!

     

 Daddy and Momma on the drive to the hospital...

...with Little Buddy on what turned out to be his last morning as an only child!

At the hospital, I was checked and admitted.  Today was the day, Little Buddy was right!  I'm still trying to get the lottery numbers from him!  Little Buddy went to stay with Ms. J and her two boys, K & K.  He had a great time with his friends, but I missed him a lot.

Hanging out with friends while Momma does all the work in helping...

...Little Sister arrive in the world!  She arrived on Sweetest Day, so we've been referring to her as our Little Sweetie.

Our new family of four!

  

Checking out Little Sister!

So far, Little Buddy has been an exemplary big brother!  He loves his sister SO much, but we just have to work on controlling his joy a bit and being a little more gentle with her.  It's pretty amazing to watch him dote on her though.  I'm going to love watching them grow together!

Good night,

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

October 11

This month has included meeting new babies, working on his first homework assignments, and lots of fun with Mr. Bones! 

Little Buddy is ready to meet his baby sister, but until she arrives, he's been keeping himself busy with lots of baby activities, including...

...checking out baby's toys to make sure they are up to snuff and...

...hanging out with babies!  We went with Ms. A and Baby E to go see Ms. B and brand new baby C!  Little Buddy just loves playing with his baby friends!

He's also been very busy at school.  He really enjoys going to school, which makes me very happy.  He even likes doing his homework!  Hoping his love of school and learning continues forever!

Evening Open House at school.  Please excuse his little plumber's crack...I thought it was adorable!

Working on his homework!  So proud of him!

His favorite president of the moment?  Eisenhower!

We've had lots of other adventures this month, many of which include Mr. Bones, the Halloween skeleton we put out on our porch.  Little Buddy has many long chats and picnics with his skeletal friend!

Telling Bones about his day.

Picnic time with Bones!  Have an orange!

I think they are writing a murder mystery together!

Just being silly!

Donating peanut butter at the food drive at Daddy's work for our monthly community service project!

Trying on his tux to be the ring bearer in Ms. A's (his babysitter) wedding in November!

Height and Weight 

Currently he is 50 lbs. and almost 42 inches.  Pretty sure he's nearly the size of a first grader now!

Personality

Definitely getting more sure of himself and wants more attention.  This could be an issue when sister arrives, but we'll see how it goes.  Still very loving and sweet but also wants his way or no way (Sorry kid!  Not happening!)

Developmental Milestones

He is about 90% potty trained now, although he has started the bad habit of holding it a bit too long while at school.  No accidents there, but Momma has to run him to the potty as soon as she picks him up so we don't have one in the parking lot!  Mostly, if he has an accident, it occurs in the evening during playtime or while playing outside.  The distractions of play time are still tough for him to pull away from in order to listen to his body.  I am very proud of him and feel so much more confident taking him out in undies than I did even a month ago!

Little Buddy is working on handwriting at school, and as he learns to write his letters, he's taking an interest in how to spell certain words.  We've been working on his name, Momma, Daddy, Baby, and dog.  It is so much fun to watch his interests grow!

Fun Tidbits

He's also doing a Spanish class at school which has been a lot of fun for him.  I'm hoping that he keeps up his language skills and that I can refresh my own.   Would love for all of us to have some foreign language ability!

Also, he's still a rock star at Jason's Deli!  Not only do they all know his name and express order his grilled cheese, they are also spoiling him with free cookies.  This month, he actually got a bag of free cookies!  Oh my little charmer!

 

Cookie time!

Such a fun month so far...can't believe we'll be adding to the fun with Little Sister by the end of the month!

Good night, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma