16 Month Blog

We have a 16 month old now?! Amazing.

It's been another incredible month full of learning and growing.

The biggest change for me has been all the hugging and kissing and cuddling . . . on us and on other babies (willing or un). I guess that's what happens when a baby gets hugged and kissed all day every day by 4+ people. He's such a sweet lovie. {:

He's also becoming more inquisitive, determined, and dexterous. He insists on helping you buckle his car seat and booster chair buckles. I realized recently that he'd gotten the hang of putting his cars down his ramps. Before, he needed help. When he puts the cars down, he says, "weeeee!"

. . . just like he does on the slide. And speaking of slide, we picked up this awesome baby play structure that was posted on craigslist. Of course, when we got there, I recognized the seller from high school (only vaugely, but it made me feel even better about the transaction).

He likes the play structure, but he's yet to learn how to used the ladder part. So far, he climbs up the slide to go down it.

He's learned to turn on all his toys that make noises. Of course, they're designed so if you pull the button all the way over it's on LOUD. So this morning at 6:00, he was playing with a very LOUD train. Woo woo!!

He's such a silly guy. He's gotten used to baths after dinner, so of course he translated that into baths after every meal. Whenever he eats a meal in his booster seat, and he's finished, he'll say, "duh, ba," meaning "done, bath." And so many times I have to say "no" because it's breakfast or afternoon snack. But sometimes I give in. Especially if it was a messy breakfast or afternoon snack. {:

He knows a lot of parts of his body. He even knows "belly" (although he sometimes touches his chest for "belly," good enough). But he doesn't quite get "bottom." If you say, "where's your bottom?" he'll do this weird pelvic thrust thing and make this grunting noise. It's really funny. We think it has something to do with how we tell him to sit on his bottom in the bath. Not sure how it's related, though.

He's peed on the potty!! It's not a big victory, because he's done it accidentally every time. But we got him a potty seat for over the big potty (he even picked it out! There were two "melmo" potty seats, and he studied both for a few minutes before picking the green one with the muppets in picture frames over the muppets swimming with snorkel gear). He was just saying "poop" a lot and seeming to know when it was happening, so we wanted to let the seat be an option if he wanted it. So far it's just a novelty.

The last post I listed all his words. Some of his new words since last month are: banana, down, melmo (Elmo), deer, bot (robot), nose, go, boat, juice, bus, bath, eat, kirk (gurk), (grrr . . . I'm sure there are more).

His "banana" is so cute! It involves his tongue, kind of like his "fish face." Imagine saying banana while sticking your tongue out and moving it around.

He also has some sounds. "Uh oh" is really common. Too common. "Weeee" like I said before. "Pop pop pop" when he's playing with this popper toy.

He also says "papa" and "baba" for mostly his grandfathers. My dad is usually "baba," and Brian's dad is usually "papa." But he sort of interchanges them. And sometimes grandmas are "papa" or "baba" too. I guess he's still working on that.

He's getting good at this signs too. He was already good at "milk" and "all done," but now he's much better with "more," using his finger tips. And he really understands the concept of "food/eat," fingertips to the mouth. He usually combines that with saying "eat," which is an adorable word.

He can not only stomp his feet and clap his hands, but he's started "twirling." These are all things from Sandra Boynton's Barnyard Dance book.

We've been trying to establish a weekly routine now that we're settled in our house. So far we have Wednesday dinners at Phil and Gion's, which has been delicious! We were going to do Sunday dinners with my parents, but Brian decided he wants to cook on the weekends, so we might do a day during the week. Sounds great to me!

Phil and Gion have been taking Everett once a week for breakfast and playtime after that. He loves it!

I've moved from doing Kidz Club at Kennedy on Thursdays to Tuesdays. I did this mostly so Everett and I could attend playdates with a group of my good friends and their kids. It's been really fun for us!


Things we did this "month"?


Well, we had our house warming party, and it was amazing! So many people came. I was overwhelmed, really. I knew I had invited all these people, but I'd never imagined having 30 people in my living room. It was a trip. But really great.

We were so lucky to have Aunt Sue up during the party. She was out seeing Grandpa Chuck, and was nice enough to join us for the party!

Dixie and Jason also visited the next week. Sorry, I don't have any pictures, but it was really nice to see them.

Earlier this month (September 4th?), Brian and I went out for drinks with another couple, and we left Everett home! This is the first time we'd done anything like this. My mom came over after Everett went down and just stayed here reading until we came home. It was fun! And Everett slept the whole time.

Brian's uncle Kirk (yes, we both have Uncle Kirks, weird I know) has come to visit from Thailand! Gion, Everett, and I went to the SLO airport to meet him. Everett got to see planes big and small take off and land. It was very exciting. Everett was shy around Kirk at first. But he soon warmed up and now he LOVES his Great Uncle Kirk! He calls him "gurk," and almost immediately started asking for "gurk" when I would tell him he was going to see Grandma Gion. Silly boy.

On the 5th we went to Everett's friend Eli's first birthday. Eli's mom is my friend Denise. Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures of Everett and Eli together (maybe somebody did). It was a HUGE fun party, and lots of good friends were there.

This is a long blog already, so I won't write much about the most significant thing that's happened recently (most significant thing of the year, most likely). My grandfather Charles Butterfield passed away on Tuesday at 11:00 p.m.. It wasn't a complete surprise, but it's put me in a bit of a daze this week. I intend to write about him and the passing soon. He was a wonderful man who led an amazing life. He will be fondly remembered by all who knew him.

Check Up

the morning before the check-up,
waiting for Target to open

So Everett had his check up yesterday (was it his 15 month or 16 month? I don't know. Probably 15th, since it's between a year and 18 months. I'm getting it!!). Anyway, it was quite uneventful since we have no real concerns, and in interacting with him, Doctor Patterson could see he's a wonderful, beautiful, healthy, brilliant boy-child. {:

He even said to me, "this stays within these four walls (oops!), but he's a really pretty baby! He could have been a girl he's so pretty (uh, ok)." But I agreed with him and told him we called him beautiful all the time, so it doesn't bother me. Yeah, I have a pretty, beautiful, handsome baby. I don't get hung-up on gender-specific language. (;

He said he's abnormally social for a 15-month-old. And all his motor skills are great. Everett wouldn't let him put the tongue depressor in his mouth, but his teeth (all 16 of them!) look fine.

We talked about weening a little, since I'd love to have him weened (just decide you don't want it anymore, ok buddy), but Doctor Patterson thinks I don't really want it badly enough, and when I really really do want him to stop nursing, I'll be able to deny him with more commitment. He thinks my words need to match my actions/body language, because babies believe body language. And when we get to the stage when we're finally ready to give up the final nighttime nurse, I'll have to leave the house for a while while Brian puts him to bed.

He got 4 shots, one of which was flu. And I got the flu nasal spray, which meant we both took naps when we came home.

Last visit (6/8/11): 31 in (77%) 20 lb. 15 oz. (18%)
This visit (9/6/11): 32.5 in (81%) 22 lb. 10 oz. (21%!!!)

Everett was doing his signature babbling, and Doctor Patterson said, "is he saying whole sentences?!?" I said, "well, he does put words together like 'that's mama'." He told me that's a 2 year milestone. Blows my mind to think what he'll be saying at two years!!

Yeah, I guess he's a little advanced with language. Jessica, the nurse, asked if he was saying 4 to 5 words. Uh, yeah, a few more than that actually.


I thought I would list his words for you (I hope I'm not forgetting any):

These are words he says super clearly:

bye
baby (babies and kids are 'baby')
no
go
bee
eat
mommy

daddy

These words are less clear (kind of need to know what he's saying to understand. He usually leaves off the last consonant or forms part of the word strangely):

nose
car
truck
fire truck
melmo (Elmo)
poop
water/agua
juice
banana
moon
bot (robot)
shoes
boot
ball
done
bath
boat
hat
hot
deer
bus
Dan
Barbara
Rachel (I didn't hear it, but she swears) {:

Then he makes these sounds to indicate animals:

baa
moo
quack
woof
meow (sounds like 'now')
rawr (for lions, tigers, bears, dinosaurs, etc.)
elephant (how to spell that sound?)
monkey (oo oo ah ah)
hoo hoo (owl -- this one is great!)
neigh
caw (for birds)
hissss (for snakes)
And he makes the fish face with this tongue (which sort of has a sound)

signs:

food/eat
more
all done
milk

Misc sounds:

uh-oh
weeeee (for ramps or slides)
pop pop pop (when he pushes his popper toy)
mmmmmm (for food)
beep (what the car says)
papa/baba (for his grandmas and grandpas)


Smarty pants! I'll add to this if I think of anything.

15 Month Blog

Well, this has been a BIG month for us! And I wanted this to be a BIG blog. But unfortunately, with moving, unpacking, continuing to work on the house, preparing for a house warming party, not having consistent internet, and . . . well . . . caring for a 14-month-old (newly 15-month-old), not much typing has happened.

I wanted to go on and on about all the amazing help Brian's parents have given, about living with them for EXACTLY a year, and what that meant to us. About the work my parents have done. And how wonderful it is to live in our OWN HOME, thanks to the aforementioned people and others. But I'll have to elaborate in another blog. (:

I will, however, try to keep up with what Everett has been doing.

He's just been improving in all his areas. Walking and running, saying words and making animal sounds and really comprehending what he's seeing and doing.

He's started saying "baby," which is just so cute! He'll either say "bay-bee," kinda southern-y, or "bee-bee." And what I like is he acknowledges himself as a baby. It's not just those people in the books and on the diaper box, he's a baby too. Mama's baby.

He's been doing some pretty "big boy" stuff lately though. TWICE this week he's gone to bed without nursing! The first night I asked him a few times, and he never responded (he usually asks to nurse by doing the sign for milk). I didn't push it, and he just cuddled in my arms and fell asleep. And slept the whole night!!

The other night was when I went to Bunco, and Brian fed him dinner, bathed him, and put him to bed alone. He kind of fussed for me the whole time, though.

And he's been kind of a nurse-y boy the last few days, so I'm wondering if the move didn't throw him off.

I'm not actively trying to wean him at this point. After about a year (maybe a little earlier), I definitely didn't treat any daytime feeding as a necessity, and many times he skipped them in favor of a snack. I didn't want to be weaning when we were moving, and then moving ended up taking a little longer than we imagined. So I think, when we all start feeling more comfortable with our surroundings, I'll begin the weaning process with more determination.

We have a "big boy" twin bed for him now. So a twin bed and a crib in that tiny room! He isn't that interested in it yet, but he has taken one afternoon nap on it. And it was an unusually short nap, which is one reason I'm not pushing the bed for more naps. (;

What else? He says "bee." His sign for "more" is really good now, used to be clapping, now his fingertips are together. He can eat quite well with a fork

He learned that "poop" is what he does in his diaper, but he thinks that pee and poop are both "poop," so he'll be peeing in his diaper (or in the tub or on the floor) and say, "poop!" I'm thinking about getting him a potty. Just in case he's interested in using it. No pressure.

hmm . . . going on Facebook to remember what things are new (I'll post them as my status as they happen). I just can't believe how much has happened in 30 days!

A couple weeks ago, Brian showed Everett the Fire Truck song/video by Ivan Ulz. He LOVES it. He sings a long. Knows words, sounds, and motions. And the biggest tantrum he throws is when you won't let him watch his "ca-ah caw!"--imagine those sounds but in the rhythm of the word "fire truck"

He says "hat" also "hot," and they sound the same.

Brian taught him that Buster Poindexter song. Brian will say, "my mind on fire, my soul on fire, feelin' . . . " and Everett will say, "hot hot hot."

actually taken today, so technically after the 15th

Oh! He's also started putting words together like "that's mama" and "mama and dada." It's so hard to tell when he's actually saying words together because he jibber jabbers all the time like he's actually saying paragraphs of words. But those are real, I promise!

I'm sure there's more. He's just an amazing little guy. Sweet and hugs and kisses. Awww . . .


Here are a couple things we did this month:

Went to the Santa Barbara Zoo with the Hunter family. SO MUCH FUN!! We will surely be going again as soon as possible. We went on the 18th of July, and I CAN NOT BELIEVE that was within the last "month."

Phil, Gion, Brian, Everett, and I went to the Mid State Fair on the 25th. We mostly went to see the animals. The "mooooos."

And the "baaaaaaas."

No Mutton Busting for him, though. {:

Gotta go to bed now. Looking forward to the post about our housewarming party (which is on Saturday!).

14 Month Blog

This is the first time I've been so late with the blog. Days and days later than any time before! But we've been busy working at the house, and I haven't had much computer time.

I was considering calling this month's blog "Lions and Tigers and Ducks Quack Quack!" Because this month has been so full of communication, and especially animal sounds.

It's been such an amazing month in so many ways. Not only is he saying all sorts of animal sounds and words, but he's become a great walker and sometimes runner.

He just blows my mind. I probably say that every month, but it's true. Babies are incredible. He learns things so quickly, but he's more creative and flexible than I ever could have imagined.

For example, I used to think a one-year-old wouldn't be able to correctly associate silly cartoon-y animals in strange colors with the actual animals, but he can! He can make the sounds for many of his toy animals, but I was surprised the first time he made the elephant sound (and motion) for his blue elephant toy. Besides having four legs, big ears, and a trunk (that doesn't look like a real trunk), it doesn't look like an elephant.

Yeah, so he's jibber jabbering jibber jabbering all day long. My favorite noise he makes is something like "tickle tickle boo," but if he's jabbering, and you repeat something that he said earlier, he looks at you like you've said something really important. "What were you saying about the tickle tickle boo momma?"

But he's saying a lot of real words too. I feel like I need to make a list of every word he can say. But here are a few (which he drops consonants off the end of, and changes the vowels of, but they're real!): moon, Dan (our neighbor), Barbara (another neighbor), hat, shoe, water (or agua),  (beyond the car, ball, mamma, daddy, etc. that he was doing before).

And of course, he knows a lot of animal sounds: elephant, lion, tiger, bear, dog, cat, sheep, duck, bee, monkey, horse, owl. He also makes a "fish face" where he moves his tongue up and down. It's after the 15th now, but in the last few days he's started hissing like a snake, and just today I taught him to move his tongue like a giraffe, which looks a lot like his "fish face."

A lot of these sounds are in the video I posted on Facebook, and if you've seen this video, you may think we're grilling him on these words and sounds, but he enjoys it! He loves "reading," and he loves telling you what he's seeing in the books.

I realize I didn't get it in the video, but he's also been singing his animal sounds! He has that Six Little Ducks book, and he started "singing" the "quack quack quack" part all the time. We all got it stuck in our heads!

He also likes pointing at things in the world when you ask where things are. I was so surprised one day when I said, "where's mommy's bike?" and he pointed right at it, even though I had only told him what it was once a few days before, and we're often talking about "grandpa's bike." But he pointed at the correct bike!

He can also point to his nose, tongue/mouth, hair, and toes.

Everything's good on the sleeping and eating fronts. He's been waking in the middle of the night more in the last few days, but since this blog's late, before 14 months, he was doing great! He's been teething a bit, and that might be waking him up.

He's started calling "mamma mamma" when he wakes, which is so adorable, but usually means he cannot be satisfied until he sees his momma.

I've made a momma saying, milk signing monster! But it's so cute!! {:

He has an idea of what breakfast, lunch, and dinner are, but if we really want him to understand what we're saying (and maybe get excited about eating), we'll say "mmmm" and do the sign for "eat," which is five fingers together at the mouth. He'll then say "mmmm,"do the sign, and usually stumble toward the kitchen.

What else does he do? Blows kisses (better than waving), brushes his teeth, smells the flowers (he's been doing that for a while now).

Here are some things we've done lately:

We went to Guadalupe to see Stanley and Ramona and some other Cisneros fam (Helen, Randy, and Sammy).

We went to the 4th of July parade in Santa Margarita with the Hunters and fam.

We had an awesome 4th of July BBQ with our families and Rachel, John and the kids, Ann, Nemiha and Avi. Phil and Gion did a great job of planning this fun/beautiful party.

We also got to see Laurel, her parents, her sister Sarah and her kids Caroline and Jebb.

It's been an amazing month. Sorry I was so late posting!!

Mid-Renovation

So much has been happening at our house lately. But we just took some excellent photos today, and I wanted to share. 

Our whole family has been putting in so much time (especially Brian) to get us into our house before the end of the summer. 

The kitchen is our big project, and as dramatic as the difference is now, it's going to be even more dramatic in the next few weeks, as the cabinets and appliances go in. 

But here are the photos. The change is so drastic, it's hard to understand the before and "after." 

These two photos (above) were taken from the kitchen door toward the living room. 

These two photos (above) were taken from the living room side wall toward the kitchen door. 

 These two (above) are the pantry turned laundry nook.

Here (above) you can see part of the living room and the post to the kitchen.  

This will eventually be a bar. Looking from the living room into the kitchen. 

Brian, Everett, and I are going shopping tomorrow for tile for the backsplash, new trim for the entire living room, and towel racks etc. for the bathroom. Very exciting! I'm also excited to show you the bathroom Phil's been working on and the built-ins Gion's been working on. 

BUT the most exciting thing that happened today is . . . we found out Rachel's having a girl!!!