Chuh-chuh-chuh-Changes

It is a season of change in this house. This "Type A" personality of mine is going crazy with all the change! It is, for the most part, good change. Each of us in this house is having something changing (or just recently changed).

-Family: We traded in my car and purchased a minivan! I'm in love. I had always said I would NEVER drive a minivan. Never say never, huh? I don't have to worry about Hunter hitting his car door into another car door, no bending down to get them in, super roomy. It's great! I'm officially "old" as Kelly says.

-Carl: Lost his job he had for 10 years, but snagged an amazing job a few weeks later. The timing couldn't have been any better. He absolutely loves it! I'm so happy for him.

-Hunter: This is his last session at GBMS. We are so, so sad. I know he will do fine going into his public kindergarten classroom, but when you've had it planned in your head even before birth that he would stay there until 1st grade, it's a hard transition (for me, not for him). Everyone Hunter has had the pleasure to be with at GBMS is so loving and caring, I'm really going to miss that.

-Gavin: Our wonderful sitter will be finished in August. I'm so sad over this. She has been amazing. Gavin has grown to love his "Lele" and even this week snuggled up to her when I told him it was time to leave! She gave us plenty of notice, so we were able to find a new lady who seems very nice and was upbeat and energetic. Gavin is a creature of habit, so I'm sure the first week will be hard, but he will warm up and get there!

-Tiffany: My last day with our local pediatric outpatient facility will be August 6. I have accepted a position with our local school system. It is very bittersweet. I'm excited for all the time I will now have with my boys, but it's going to be very hard to leave. The ladies there are like family and they have helped me grow as a therapist in so many ways.

Hunter turns 5

How did that happen?! I have no idea where 5 years went! I can't believe my first born will be starting kindergarten in the fall!

Hunter is my sweet boy. At his party, he was blowing kisses. "I'm blowing kisses to Aunt Kelly. Don't worry mom, I still have some for you!" He plays so nicely with Gavin and loves on him all the time. He does have his moments where I want to pull out my hair because of something he has said or because he is choosing to ignore me. That is the phase he's in now... I'm going to ignore you. Every year, it's something new.

Hunter loves to learn. He is always asking lots of questions because he has to know how everything works or why it is around. He is a problem solver and gets very frustrated when he can't make something work without asking for help. His teacher has complimented him on how he will look at an example of something they are working on to figure out what he's to do next instead of just asking.

He is reading sight words and sentences with sight words. He is starting to sound other words out. He can identify and write all of his letters and identify their sound. I'm very impressed with the curriculum at GMS.

He completed his last school year at GMS. He will continue there for the summer program, but will start in public school come fall. I'm a hot mess of emotions. I know the love and attention he receives at GMS and it's going to be a harder transition for me than it will be for him. We are currently looking for a place for him for after school care.

He completed another year at The Little Gym in the sports skills program. He loves it. We are taking a break this summer for the first time since we started at 3 months.

He continues to love dinosaurs and books about dinosaurs. He has also started to be interested in super heroes, Legos, and cars. Trains are starting to fade as an interest and I think we will be moving those to the attic soon.

Hunter enjoys his time with friends, but he still likes his alone time as well. Sometimes he sneaks off to his room for time to himself. He is becoming more adventurous. He is riding rides at Busch Gardens that he would not go near last year. He is becoming more comfortable in the water and his sensory issues with water on his head/in his ears are beginning to become less and less. He has even tried new foods recently.

This year, I asked him the same interview questions as I did last year. I love seeing his answers and comparing them to what he had said last year.

Favorite color: blue and red
Favorite toy: my bike
Favorite Fruit: strawberries
Favorite T.V. show: Voltron
Favorite thing to eat for lunch: A sandwich
Favorite game: PBS Kids (computer)
Favorite snack: Graham crackers
Favorite animal: Lion
Favorite book: Runny Babbit
Favorite song: Centuries
Best friend: Quinn
Favorite thing to do outside: Ride my bike
Favorite drink: Slurpee
Favorite holiday: Easter
Favorite thing to take to bed at night: My loveys
Favorite thing to eat for breakfast: Pancakes
What do you want to be when you grow up: A paleontologist
Favorite thing to do inside: Play with toys

Gavin at 15 months

Gavin is now 16 months and I'm just late writing this, but he did have his appointment on time.

At his 15 month check-up:
-Weight: 25 pounds, 12 ounces (65%ile)
-Height: 31 inches (45%ile)
-Head Circumference: 50 cm (off the chart)

It's so interesting to see how percentiles change over the years. Hunter was .5 inches taller than Gavin at his 15 month check-up and was in the 75%ile for height and weighed 8 ounces less but was in the 90%ile for weight.

Gavin wasn't having any part of this visit. As soon as I put him on the table to undress him the screaming started. "Up! Up! Noooo!" He pushed the nurse away, fought when she tried to measure his head, push Dr. Scott away. I'm not used to this. He is the total opposite of Hunter. Hunter was always one to go with the flow, not fight you, even if he didn't care for what was happening. Not Gavin. If he doesn't want to do it, he's putting up a fight. He's been like that since day 1. He wants what he wants and he lets you know!

We have to take him to a pediatric dentist. There are some spots on the bottom of his teeth that I noticed so I brought it up. Dr. Scott would like him to be seen and our dentist does not see kids this young.

A week after his appointment, I noticed his eye doing weird things. It's so hard to explain, but it is like it is delayed in tracking. It becomes very noticeable when he is tired. Of course, I didn't have him on my dental or vision plans, so I'm waiting for the new plan to kick in come July so he can be seen.

He is taking a few steps, but not full out walking. He has very controlled movement when standing up or sitting back down and he can bend his knees to squat and then come back up.

He has over 50 words in his expressive vocabulary and is combining two words together. He loves to read, he loves his "Buhbuh" (Hunter), and is the biggest Daddy's boy ever!

Spring Time Update

I've been slacking with the blogging (go figure). It's hard to find time to sit down and blog after working until 5, coming home, eating dinner, getting the boys ready and in bed, then trying to spend a little time with Carl before we head to bed. Blogging just doesn't always fit into that schedule.

Carl's job recently downsized. After 10 years with the company, he lost his job. It was a blessing in disguise. He hit the ground running looking for a job and landed one with a large, commercial real estate company. He is one of 5 (or maybe even 4) IT people for this company. They have locations in Richmond, Roanoke, Virginia Beach, Newport News, a few offices in North Carolina and South Carolina. The benefits he will be receiving are amazing. He is currently in a week long training and is enjoying what he is learning and the people he will be working for. I'm so excited for him.

Hunter has almost completed his last preschool year at GBMS. I'm so, so sad! My plan (when he was first born) was to have him go there through kindergarten, but life happens. He will go to our public school for kindergarten and an after school program until we can pick him up. He has really enjoyed his teachers and the school and I'm just a nervous wreck. I know he will be fine and this will be harder on me than him. I'm very comfortable with the staff, we know everyone, and I know he is very much loved there. Sigh. Academically he is doing great! He is in Reader 4, just finished his first math book (he is adding on his own without having to use the counter cubes now), and is in his second phonics book. I'm positive he is ready for kindergarten. I am so proud of that little boy. I had an awesome parent/teacher conference with his teacher earlier this month. I almost cried when we were talking about what he would be doing next school year. He will remain there in the summer though, so I'm very excited about that.

Gavin is still his crazy self. He has the biggest attitude I have ever seen on a 15 month old! I didn't know they knew to hit when they were mad or to throw something that has hurt/upset them! We don't hit Hunter nor does Hunter hit anyone, so I have no clue where he has learned this (maybe they are born with this and I just don't remember Hunter doing that). He is standing independently and can go from a crawl position to a stand independently. He is still not walking. I'm pretty sure he could, I think he just has to build the confidence. Once he does, I'm sure we are in all kinds of trouble! He is up to 50 spontaneous words and imitates just about anything you ask him to (and ones you don't). I'm very impressed with his language skills. Today he asked, "Buhbuh (Hunter) go?" when Hunter went into the play area at Chickfila. Yesterday it was, "My dada!" and "Dada kisses!" with /s/ in both places.

As for me, nothing new. Still at the outpatient center for the children's hospital. Love my coworkers and my kids on caseload. I have a good variety of disorders and have a couple of feeders now (for a while I had none). I also just earned another ASHA ACE. This means I've earned 70 hours of continuing education within 36 months. I was pretty shocked when I checked the mail yesterday and discovered that. I don't remember all those hours, but I apparently completed them!

And 10 years ago this month, Carl and I started dating. I cannot believe it's been 10 years! I can't wait to see what the future holds!

Gavin's 12 month check up

I was a little worried that the snowmageddon we got hit with this past week was going to close our pediatrician's office (this happened to us on Hunter's 6 month check-up). Thankfully, his appointment was scheduled for 9:30 and they had a delayed opening at 9. It is very hard to get an appointment with my favorite pediatrician, so I always schedule their check-ups as soon as the schedule comes out.

Gavin weighed 25 pounds, 3 ounces (80%ile) and was 30.31 inches long (65%ile). Short and chubby like his mama. He has a 95%ile head circumference. This is why hats that are made for his age do not fit.

I discussed with Dr. Scott Gavin's crazy tantrums. It is like the exorcist- he throws himself backwards so hard I'm afraid he has suffered multiple concussions. If he's in your lap, he will arch so far backwards and keep himself like that. According to Dr. Scott, he has not hurt himself badly enough to learn not to do that. He assured me he would one day. I'm sure we will be making a trip to the ED for that one.

He did say, "Even though you tell me about these tantrums, every time I see him he is just a happy kid. Very social." This is while Gavin is bear walking around the room because the floor is too cold to put his knees down. Gavin was good and let Dr. Scott listen to his lungs and look in his ears without a fight this time.

Gavin had his hemoglobin checked and his vaccines. The nurse came in to do his hemoglobin first, without the vaccine tray. I assumed she would prick his toe like they did with Hunter. Nope, they did his finger. Poor buddy, that stuff hurts! This child does not clot well. It looked like a murder scene in that office! He would not let her put a band-aid on, so he was flinging blood everywhere as I tried to keep pressure on his finger. She left, then came back with another nurse to administer his vaccines. Meanwhile, Gavin is still screaming and fighting me while I try to put him on his back on the table. He was not happy with those nurses when it was all over. His finger finally stopped bleeding and he was able to get dressed. Good news- he's not anemic!

Since his last update, Gavin has been working hard on new skills. He is consistently using the signs for "eat", "more", and "milk". We are working on "all done". He has added two new words: apple and owl. Today, he was able to climb stairs all by himself (I was spotting him). He also pushed from his bear walk up to a stand and held it for 1-2 seconds before sitting back down (all controlled movements).

Here's Hunter's 12 month stats as a comparison.

1 whole year!

I cannot believe I am writing this! I am excited and sad all at the same time. You are no longer a "baby", even though you will always be "the baby".

Months 1-6

Months 7-12

You arrived 10 days past your due date. You do things on your own time. Crawling? Eh, I'll wait until I'm almost a year. You want me to walk? Talk to me when I'm about 15 months old. Rolling over? I'll do it once at 3 months, then not again until I'm 7 months.

Those first few months were rough, buddy. We had colic, reflux, milk/soy allergy, eczema, frequent night time wakings. Daddy and I were EXHAUSTED! Those months feel like a big blur. I'm not exactly sure how we got here. Once separation anxiety hit, it was so hard to get anything accomplished. If you even thought we might be leaving (you know, we changed the position of our legs as we sat on the floor), you started to scream.

But then you started crawling. Oh, glorious crawling! You were able to follow us where we went. Sometimes throwing yourself out Superman style once you got to us and felt you should be picked up. Your whole attitude changed once you were on the go. Even Miss Kimberly said you were a totally different child. Now you just chased her into the kitchen when she left a room you were in. Her son even made the comment to Daddy today, "I can't remember the last time I heard Gavin cry." Music to my ears.

You continue to be my sensitive boy. Loud noises frighten you and anything louder than an inside voice has you "Uhhh, uhh!!" looking me in the eyes, needing to know what that noise was and who made it. If I don't say, "It's okay, it was just....." you continue to look at me and make distress noises. You do not like when we raise our voice at the dog (or yell at him because he is trying to get something he isn't supposed to have) or if Hunter gets into trouble. This typically causes you to cry, big, sad tears.

Books, balls, bubbles and putting things in/out of containers are currently your favorite activities. When we are in your rocking chair you constantly request "boo(k)", even after we've read 5 and the lights are now out. If you even see the bubble container or wand "bubble! bubble!" (this makes for a fun first 40 minutes at The Little Gym because you see the bubble container the whole time and constantly ask for them).

Transitioning to a hard top, small spout sippy cup is not going well. You will take the soft nipple sippy cups no problem. Bottles will not be hard to throw out, but those sippy cups are basically bottles, just flatter nipples.

Your word count/environmental-animal noises is: ball, book, bubble, mama, dada, buhbuh, Hunter, woof, roar, uh oh, hat, on, night-night, bye, hi, hello, nana, bank (blankie), door, duck, baba, tree, that. You will imitate words (the other day you imitated "summer" during a Frozen song in the car that you hear a billion times a week). You can follow simple commands with and without gestural cues, you respond to "come up/come here/sit down", you look for things when asked, "Where's ____". You will sign more/eat occasionally. If I wait for you to do one after modeling it for you, you will quickly sign it.

You still suffer from eczema. It can get so bad. Reflux is gone. It appears you milk allergy may be gone, but I'm not 100% sure.

Gross motor wise, you will get in and play in high knees, can pull to a stand (but your feet are facing out when you stand up), and can walk with max assistance. You are crawling and are super fast.

You are sleeping through the night, to about 4/4:30 (occasionally later, usually when it's Daddy's turn to get up with you), but then you go back to sleep after your milk until at least 6. Sometimes around 2:30/3, you begin to cry/whine in your crib, but it's usually because you have wedged yourself in a weird angle and can't roll out of it without hitting the side of the crib. You work it our yourself. You love sleeping with your lovey blanket.

We've also made it a year in cloth diapers! Woohoo!

How can you not think a booty like that is cute?

Your birthday party was a blast! We missed a lot of our friends because they fell victim to illness, but we still had a bunch of our other friends! You hate the parachute, even with Hunter sitting on it with you. The cake wasn't a big hit; you weren't a fan of how sweet it was (or the fact that your hands were messy). But overall, it was great and you loved being with family and friends!

First broken bone

If I had to place bets, I would have bet Gavin would be the first one to break a bone. I would have lost money. Hunter broke his arm last Friday, doing what he does best, tripping over his own feet. I've never claimed he is my most graceful child. He is clumsy and runs into walls and door frames on an hourly basis.

He was in his The Little Gym class doing extreme sports, running into the mats on the wall, trying to run up them, doing backwards rolls off of the donut, etc. No injuries. He goes to run to the wall as instructed, trips over his own feet, and with a straight arm tried to catch himself. He told me, "I landed with my arm straight, then it bent. Then I made it straight to stand up, but when I pushed on it, it bent again." This came as we were in the pediatrician's office. When he first came out (I didn't see the fall, the 11 month old loves my attention during Hunter's class), he was crying and holding his arm. He had been in class about 50 minutes and had had preschool right before class. He is usually pretty tired by this point. I thought he was hurt, but also being tired made him cry a little more. So I asked him if he was ready to go home or go back into class. He walked back into class holding his arm (read: mommy fail). By the time class was over (maybe 10 minutes or less later), he came out still holding his arm and was crying again. He was also shaking and chattering his teeth.

We got all his stuff on, Miss Mindy carried Gavin to the car so I could carry Hunter. As I was heading to his pediatrician's office (this building has x-ray and ortho in it) I called to make sure they could fit us in. The office was able to and my favorite pediatrician was doing all the same day "sick" appointments. By the time Dr. Scott was walking in, Carl had arrived from work. Dr. Scott said it could either be a fracture or a nurse's maid arm. He was not comfortable doing the maneuver until he knew for sure there was not a break. We were sent to x-ray and Dr. Scott instructed the radiologist to do a wet read (they read the x-ray right away). We went back up to the ped's office. As we were sitting in the room, I could hear Dr. Scott on the phone calling down to ortho saying there was a four year old with a broken arm. Sigh.

Dr. Scott was able to get ortho to fit us in before they left for the day (it was almost 4:30 and their last patient is usually 4). Since it was a fresh break, we couldn't get a cast as they had to account for the swelling. They splinted his arm and had us come back a week later for the cast. While they were splinting his arm, Dr. Scott came down to check on Hunter and speak with the ortho about his plan for Hunter. Did I mention how much I love Dr. Scott and his practice?!

We went back a week later to get his cast on. The did another x-ray to make sure how they had his arm set in the splint was working. His little elbow had a bruise and was still pretty swollen. He picked white for his cast (which glows in the dark) because he wants to make an Ironman arm out of his cast.

Gavin at 11 months

Ahhh! This chunkamonk will turn 1 next month! How did this happen? The saying is so true, "The days are long, but the years are short." Guess I need to start getting the invitations for his party ready!

At 11 months....
-Your words are: dada, bubu (our nickname for Hunter), Hunter, baba (bottle), bubble, hi, hello, tree (approximation), book, ball, mama, nana (banana), night-night (approximation). You make a dinosaur noise, a dog noise, and continue to use "uh oh" appropriately. You yell for dada and sometimes mama when you are in your crib. You are also imitating a lot of words, but will not use them on your own. You imitated "Keykey" (Kaylee's nickname), heater, hat, and some others that I can't remember.
-You were put on a diet by one of the nurse practitioners at our pediatrician's office. You were throwing up what appeared to be randomly, then were your happy self. No fever, no diarrhea, just vomit. Carl took you in and she said you were getting entirely too much formula with how much table food you eat. She wanted three, 4 ounces bottles a day. 4 ounces doesn't cut it for you in the morning and before bed, so we do 6 ounces at those feedings and a 4 ounce bottle at lunch. This has worked amazingly! No more vomiting, no more reflux. They had filled a prescription for Zyntac, but since it cleared up on its own, we never gave you the medicine.
-You are crawling! Slow and steady. You are still working on the muscle movement memory, but you can. You also can get back into a sitting position from your belly.
-We had to move your crib down. You were fighting your nap and were rolling all over your bed. You sat up in the corner and realized you could reach the top rail. You pulled yourself up! I watched the whole thing on the monitor. You were so proud of yourself when I walked in. Stinker!
-You are so dramatic! The other morning, you had pooped, so we had to go get your wipes out of the dryer. You were so mad that I wasn't taking you into our room to snuggle, you threw a fit. You kept reaching towards the door and yelling, "Dada!" You love to throw your head and body backwards when you are angry. We have to tell you "no" very sternly to try to teach you that it's not okay (one day you are going to crack your head open!).
-We are in the thick of separation anxiety! We can't walk an inch from you without you crying.
-You continue to love Hunter, but get jealous if he sits in our lap. You will come over to us and try to push Hunter out or climb over top of him to get in our lap.
-You had your first hair cut this week. Your hair was a hot mess; it is very thin and you have two cowlicks. There was nothing we could do (except maybe put gel in your hair) to tame the wildness! So, we cut it. You look more like a little boy now.

His hair actually isn't that bad in these pictures

-You are cutting your two bottom molars. That will put your teeth count to 10. Hopefully the top two cut soon so we can just get it all over with, ha.

My next post in your development will be me saying good-bye to a baby and hello to a toddler. Wahhh!