Caleb @ 9 months

I completely forgot to write Caleb's 9 months post and only just realized it yesterday when we were at the doctor for his checkup. I swear the days are just flying by here and he is growing up so much faster than I remember Kylie doing.

Caleb now weighs 18 lbs 2 oz. making him in the 10th percentile. He is 28 in tall. The doctor says he is doing great, probably getting ready for a growth spurt and he's just going to be a skinny guy like his sister.

He is very mobile now. He crawls on all fours and also will walk across the room holding onto anything he can for balance. He can independently stand for a few seconds but now walking quite yet. Reflux is still an issue for him but not as bad as it once was. We have decreased the amount of medicine he takes daily and he is doing good. He has finally master sleeping in his crib at night. He sleeps from 7ish to 6ish (only waking up once in a few days). Naps are another story but we'll get there. The other night, he awoke at 1 am and cried. Kylie heard him and got up, went into his room and gave him his pacifier and turned on his music for him and went back into bed. I was chuckling when I watched it on the monitor.

Well he is still eating the pureed food, we are beginning the transition to table food. He is so interested in what we are eating and most days would rather have that than his own food. He is not a picky eater at all and even has begun to love his veggies. Yeah! He drinks great from his sippy cup but still hates bottles. Making date days/nights very far and few between.

We have been working on some sign language and he can sign more, all done, change me, and wave bye. He can also clap his hands together. He jabbers all day long but so far we haven't noticed any repeated syllables. Kylie said dada first and I am determined to make sure he says mama; I'm working on it :)

He is much more independent than I remember Kylie to be and will crawl off on his own to play in the playroom or explore. He also loves to do whatever Kylie is doing and will crawl at hyper speed to get over to here and 'help' her play. Annoying his big sister very much. Oh well, it's part of have a little brother :)

We have lots of fun with Caleb and just continue to count our blessings everyday that we have such a wonderful, happy, and healthy family.

Finger painting

This winter weather has been leaving me feeling very unmotivated and lazy. I decided that I need to try to get over the hump and start getting creative in doing things with the kids. Today, while Mike was working, I decided to try to do a homemade craft. I let Kylie choose between making playdough or finger paints. Surprise, surprise, she choose the paints. It was actually very easy and after I got past my need to control the mess, very fun. I posted the recipe below!

I decided to take the paints up to the shower tub, in order to control some of the mess. So Kylie put on her suit and I set Caleb in his diaper and they both enjoyed it. Once they were done, it was easy to rinse clean both of them and the mess! The great thing is that if it goes into the mouth (as Caleb tried) there is no harm, just a colored tongue :)

Homemade Finger Paint:

3 Tbs Sugar

1/2 C Cornstarch

2 C cold water

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a a saucepan, add water and mix until incorporated. Heat over medium heat constantly stirring until mixture thickens (To a pudding like consistency). Take off heat and let cool. Add coloring if desired and have fun!

Sledding and Skating

We have been getting a lot of snow this winter. Recently that has been accompanied with a bitter cold, but before it got too cold we were able to get out and enjoy that wonderful white snow. We took Kylie down the street to our neighborhood park where they have a monster hill to sled on. Now, it's not as big as the one I grew up going too, but for a three year old, she was amazed. Some kids had built a jump at the bottom and no matter how hard I tried, I kept hitting it and flying through the air with Kylie. She loved it! Mike tried to hit it and was unsuccessful, we are thinking weight proportion and curvature, but Kylie was so mad at him! It was a wonderful trip and it reminded me of being a kid.

Kylie has been asking for a over a month now to go ice skating. I have no idea where she got it from because we have never talked about or seen anyone else ice skate. Mike and I found that there is an ice rink not too far from our house so we drove over to check it out. We took Kylie to open skate a few times and she is a natural. The first time she was nervous and I had to hold onto her (while she was holding the ice walker)... the second time, she wanted nothing to do with any help and proceeded to skate with the walker for a good 30 min. on her own! She has been continuously asking to go again, so we signed her up for lessons and she starts Friday. I am excited to see how she does.