Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Growing Fast
 |
| Eli, 11 months |
Suddenly girls are coming up in conversation. Xander came home complaining to me that one of the girls in his class "kept wanting to hold my hand all day long!". I tried to explain to him that she probably just likes him but he looked at me like I had three heads. He also seems to have a little crush on a 4 year old girl at Stroller Strides and talks about her a lot on the days we've gone to class. The other morning I found him pouting against the wall in the gym after class and I asked him what was wrong. He said, "Mom, Ana said she didn't want to play with me!". So my response was, "Ok, then find someone else who wants to play, honey" which he quickly responded, "But mom! I LIKE Ana!". Oh the drama already at 3 1/2!
For Valentine's day Xander drew me this picture that he titled, "Xander Loves Mommy". Melts my heart! He drew it all by himself and the thing that looks like a cross is actually a big X for Xander.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
11 months old
Big little mister. Big bubba. Chubba chubba choo choo. Chub scout. Little brother. Booty.
We call this sweet, funny little boy many things but in just one short month we'll be able to call him a one year old. 11 months has absolutely flown by for us. I seriously feel like it was just a few months ago that I was dragging Xander out on long walks every afternoon in an attempt to get myself ready for labor. Now Eli is crawling around, pulling up on everything and starting to cruise along the furniture. Before we know it he'll be taking those first steps.
He has also started to really try and talk. As of now he says "hi" and "ball" and is trying to say sock, bear, hat, shoe, kitty, dog and just started saying making a "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...dddddddaaa" sound when he sees Xander. He also signed and said "all done" a few days ago, which amazed me. I thought he had said it the day before but until he repeated it the next day I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. I love this stage when they start talking. It's my absolute favorite time of babyhood turning into toddlerhood.
So, here's to 11 months looking forward to the big one year birthday!
Eli LOVES to wave and say "haaaa" to everyone we see! It's absolutely adorable and it makes me smile every time. It doesn't matter if we're in the line at the grocery store, at the mall, at the doctor's office, he's always smiling and greeting people. My little social butterfly :)
I had such a hard time getting Eli to sit still for pictures this month! Xander helped a little.
Doesn't Eli look like such a big kid sitting there next to Xander? I love his crazy hair wingers.
We call this sweet, funny little boy many things but in just one short month we'll be able to call him a one year old. 11 months has absolutely flown by for us. I seriously feel like it was just a few months ago that I was dragging Xander out on long walks every afternoon in an attempt to get myself ready for labor. Now Eli is crawling around, pulling up on everything and starting to cruise along the furniture. Before we know it he'll be taking those first steps.
He has also started to really try and talk. As of now he says "hi" and "ball" and is trying to say sock, bear, hat, shoe, kitty, dog and just started saying making a "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...dddddddaaa" sound when he sees Xander. He also signed and said "all done" a few days ago, which amazed me. I thought he had said it the day before but until he repeated it the next day I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. I love this stage when they start talking. It's my absolute favorite time of babyhood turning into toddlerhood.
So, here's to 11 months looking forward to the big one year birthday!
 |
| New favorite past time: using anything and everything, including his hand, as a phone |
 | ||
| Demonstrating his new trick of blowing kisses |
I had such a hard time getting Eli to sit still for pictures this month! Xander helped a little.
 |
| Love the look on his face in this one. I think he was mid yell. |
 |
| teething like a mad-man |
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Karate Begins
I've tried to get Xander interested in many things over the last year or so and it's been a struggle. We tried a tumbling class, a sports class where they tried a different sport every week, a hip hop dance class and a soccer class. It seemed like he would be semi excited about the activities after the first class or two but from there on out I would literally have to drag him to the car, occasionally even kicking and screaming, to make it to the class. I would have to beg and bribe and sometimes even call Jason to try and talk Xander into participating in class. I had become so frustrated about the entire situation that I gave up and didn't even sign him up for any classes this late winter/early spring session through the rec center.
Then we decided to try karate.....
A few months back, Jason and Xander were standing in the line at Xander's favorite restaurant, Chipotle, and they started up a conversation with a lady in line. This woman (Sensei Danni) seemed great with kids and started talking to the boys about a Little Tigers karate class that she teaches just down the street. At the time X was barely 2 1/2 so we filed it away for the future, occasionally throwing the idea of karate class around now and again.
A few weeks ago as I was driving past the area where the karate studio is located, I noticed their phone number hanging in the window in bright neon. I decided to call and we were invited to watch a class that weekend.
Xander was pretty shy when we watched that first class and refused to even go out on the mat with the other kids. I was frustrated and figured karate was going to turn out like the other activities we had tried. Then later that afternoon he started bringing up karate in our conversations and even started quoting some of the Karate Creed that is said at the beginning and ending of each class. He said something along the lines of, "bringing out the best in myself".
After a little talking we convinced him to actually go out on the mat and try to do the next class. Luckily, Jason came home very early from work to help me with Xander. (He always seems so much more adventurous when daddy is around. Which is both wonderful and frustrating at the same time.) He gave it a try and just a few days later he broke his first board with a heel strike and earned his white belt! Now two weeks later he is begging to go to karate on a daily basis and seems to be loving it. I even heard him telling one of the four year old girls at Stroller Strides, "I go to karate, you know" hands on his hips nodding and an adorable smirk on his face.
So, I think we've found his "thing" for the time being. He really seems excited about all of it and we really like the entire package that karate offers. There is a lot of talk about being the best you can be, self confidence, healthy lifestyle, respect, etc....the list goes on and on.
Here is Xander with Sensei Bryce just after he broke his board and earned his belt!
Then we decided to try karate.....
A few months back, Jason and Xander were standing in the line at Xander's favorite restaurant, Chipotle, and they started up a conversation with a lady in line. This woman (Sensei Danni) seemed great with kids and started talking to the boys about a Little Tigers karate class that she teaches just down the street. At the time X was barely 2 1/2 so we filed it away for the future, occasionally throwing the idea of karate class around now and again.
A few weeks ago as I was driving past the area where the karate studio is located, I noticed their phone number hanging in the window in bright neon. I decided to call and we were invited to watch a class that weekend.
Xander was pretty shy when we watched that first class and refused to even go out on the mat with the other kids. I was frustrated and figured karate was going to turn out like the other activities we had tried. Then later that afternoon he started bringing up karate in our conversations and even started quoting some of the Karate Creed that is said at the beginning and ending of each class. He said something along the lines of, "bringing out the best in myself".
After a little talking we convinced him to actually go out on the mat and try to do the next class. Luckily, Jason came home very early from work to help me with Xander. (He always seems so much more adventurous when daddy is around. Which is both wonderful and frustrating at the same time.) He gave it a try and just a few days later he broke his first board with a heel strike and earned his white belt! Now two weeks later he is begging to go to karate on a daily basis and seems to be loving it. I even heard him telling one of the four year old girls at Stroller Strides, "I go to karate, you know" hands on his hips nodding and an adorable smirk on his face.
So, I think we've found his "thing" for the time being. He really seems excited about all of it and we really like the entire package that karate offers. There is a lot of talk about being the best you can be, self confidence, healthy lifestyle, respect, etc....the list goes on and on.
Here is Xander with Sensei Bryce just after he broke his board and earned his belt!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Jason's 31st birthday
We celebrated Jason's 31st birthday a couple weeks ago and due to the crazy life of managing two kids, I'm just now getting around to blogging about it.
Xander was very excited that daddy's birthday was coming and he'd been asking for weeks if he could help making his birthday cupcakes. He was insistent that there would be cupcakes instead of a cake. So we let Xander design whatever flavor/color cupcakes he wanted to pick out from the store. His choice: rainbow cake mix with "camo" frosting. We did the best we could to make "camo" frosting which ended up just being cream cheese chocolate frosting with brown and green sprinkles. X was happy with them so I was happy, too.
Our little baker
We spent the day as a family and had a great time, although Xander kept asking, "Dad, when is your birthday party going to start?". We went on a family run, had cupcakes round #1 after lunch, dinner at our favorite Thai place and then cupcakes round #2 after dinner.
Daddy with his big boys
Xander was very excited that daddy's birthday was coming and he'd been asking for weeks if he could help making his birthday cupcakes. He was insistent that there would be cupcakes instead of a cake. So we let Xander design whatever flavor/color cupcakes he wanted to pick out from the store. His choice: rainbow cake mix with "camo" frosting. We did the best we could to make "camo" frosting which ended up just being cream cheese chocolate frosting with brown and green sprinkles. X was happy with them so I was happy, too.
Our little baker
We spent the day as a family and had a great time, although Xander kept asking, "Dad, when is your birthday party going to start?". We went on a family run, had cupcakes round #1 after lunch, dinner at our favorite Thai place and then cupcakes round #2 after dinner.
Daddy with his big boys
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)