On developmental milestones

I recently wrote out the story of the health struggles we went through with Haddon during his first year.  My big 3 year old is now is the 60th percentile for both height and weight, which feels like a big accomplishment for both of us that needs to be recorded!!  I'm so thankful for my little boy and everything he teaches me!  He certainly has challenged me, but all of the struggles have been so good for me heart and perspective on life and parenting, so I wanted to share.

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When Haddon was born he was perfect, even the doctors agreed.  It was at his two-week well check that his pediatrician heard a heart murmur and sent us to see a pediatric cardiologist.  My sweet little baby had a ventricular septal defect (VSD) or a hole in his heart.  My heart dropped upon hearing this and true to form I was full of worries, but we were sent home with a list of symptoms to look for and the reassurance that he would likely be just fine.  He was growing well, eating well and a content little boy, but many questions lingered in my mind.  Did I do something to cause this?  Was it my fault?  The doctors said this just happens sometimes.  No reason given.  No cause.

When he was around six months old his weight gain started dropping off.  He was happy and content, but also VERY skinny. He didn’t sit up until a few months later than my first-born and wasn’t making any attempts at crawling, but I knew that all kids develop differently.  He was a great eater. I was amazed that he never refused a single food I gave him, but every time I gave him a bath and saw how skinny he was there was a pit in my stomach.  I listened to others coo over their chubby babies and my worries and questions constantly circled around in my mind.  When he was a year old, I felt that something wasn’t right and talked to his doctor about it, which was followed by countless tests and doctor’s visits.  It felt like all I did that winter was take Haddon to the pediatrician, neurologist, physical therapist, hospital for testing, etc, etc.  In the end, we were told that he had hypotonia or muscle weakness, but again no cause.  My mind again immediately went to all the questions.  Was this my fault?  Did I do this to sweet baby boy?  Did I drink too much coffee during pregnancy? Is it because I am getting older?  Should I have stopped breastfeeding?  What did I do wrong? I questioned myself on everything.

After he turned 1, a physical therapist with the AEA started coming to our house for weekly therapy.  She worked with him and gave me things to do with him to improve his strength and get him moving. I also met with a dietician who told me I was doing everything right.  He started walking at about 20 months and is now a fast and fun-loving almost 3-year-old boy.

I’m so thankful for Haddon’s doctors and physical therapist.  I’m so thankful that he is walking and running and climbing now, but all of this was a GOOD thing, a really good thing.  It made me realize that I absolutely do not care if my children meet their developmental milestones on time.  I do not care if they walk, talk, read or do any of those things when they are supposed to.  That sounds harsh and I’m so thankful we have those guidelines, but I realized that all of my focus on developmental milestones and what my friend’s babies were doing was really only me playing the mommy comparison game.  I thought I wanted my son to be physically strong, but I don’t.  I want him to be brave.  Brave enough to do the right thing when it’s hard.  I don’t even want him to be the most intelligent. I want him to be the most compassionate.  I want him to the most loving and the most wise.  Because our world doesn’t need more smart men or strong men.  We need more men of character and that is my goal for my son and I lost sight of that.

Haddon turns 3!!!

My crazy & sweet boy turned 3 on Friday!  I can hardly believe it!

I think that I will always feel a little bit bad that his birthday is so close to Christmas.  I always want to make sure that we fully celebrate our little man.  This year we had a few gifts and Thomas the Train cupcakes at home and then in the evening we went on the Santa Express Train, which was so fun!  Haddon and Amaia both fully enjoyed themselves. We rode to the "North Pole", had hot cocoa and cookies, sang Christmas carols, and met Santa Claus.

A few things I want to remember about my boy at 3 years old.

*He is FULL of hugs and kisses.  He is by far my best cuddler.

*When he is mad at me for telling him no about something he says "I'm going to put mommy in jail!"
*He often (and completely randomly) says throughout the day "mommy, you are so cute!" or "mommy, I love you".  

*He loves wheels.  Anything with wheels is his favorite thing and must be examined.
*He takes all of his toys apart or at least tries to.  Our gift to him was a car and drill set that was made to be taken apart and put back together.

*He often asks me if he can be loud and then proceeds to sing and talk as loud as possible.

Haddon 2.5

I can't believe this kid is nearly two and a half!  He has taught me so much in his young little life about life and what is important and my own faith.  He can be a challenging little two year old but he is also the sweetest, most affectionate little boy full of hugs and kisses and sweetness.  Here are some things I want to remember about Haddon at this age...

He loves trucks, trains, cars and all things with wheels.  If a car is parked he wants to know why it isn't going and he creates "garages" all over the house to park his cars in.

He is particular like his daddy.  If his pillows are not the right way, he fixes them.  If the books are backwards on the bookshelf, he fixes them.  If there are crumbs on the floor or on his highchair tray, he cleans them and he does not like to have messy hands!  I sure do hope this trait lasts into his teen years :)

He must give me a kiss on the cheek every night before bed. He insists upon it!

He loves his sisters!  He wants to do everything his big sister does and tries to tackle her all day long, though I'm not so sure she sees that as loving :)  He loves his baby Vera too and is getting good and saying her name.  He loves to lay next to her, bring her toys and lay on top of her, though again, I'm not so sure she sees that as a loving gesture. Ha.

Every time I pick him up from the nursery after church he runs into my arms with the biggest smile as if we haven't seen each other for weeks and I definitely don't want to forget that!

ONE

ONE.  Our Haddon is 1!  I can hardly believe it.  This year has gone by so quickly.  On one hand I am always a bit excited to be exiting the baby phase as it can be a bit on the stressful and tiring end of the spectrum :)  However, Haddon has been one of the absolute sweetest babies I have ever met and I can tell by his more recent demeanor that our cuddling days are numbered, so I am bit sad.  Hopefully he will still have cuddling moments with me, even as he grows older.

At ONE year Haddon is so sweet and happy, a great sleeper and really starting to interact and truly play more.  He loves dumping things out, banging things together, bouncing to music, books, playing peek a boo, being tickled and watching his big sister.  We have a long way to go on his mobility, but he is so good at manipulating things with his hands and Adam is having visions of him being a star Hawkeye basketball player in the future. :)

He weights 18 lbs and is 29.8 inches long and loves to eat.  In fact, he has still never rejected a single thing I have given him to eat which amazes me. He is also starting to sign "more" to me when I am not feeding him fast enough.  The amount to which he eats amazes me as well….maybe it's a boy thing?! We tried out whole milk yesterday and he was a big fan! Though the cup is a big change for him that is taking some getting used to.

He is a great sleeper as well.  He sleeps from about 8:30 at night until 8:30 in the morning.  His morning nap is starting to get shorter (he only needs a half hour to an hour now) and sleeps from 2-5 in the afternoon along with his sister.   He has one bottom tooth and two on top that are just starting to poke through.

Basically, he brings me immense amounts of joy and is all the best things for our family all rolled up into one sweet guy.

Happy birthday Haddon!!  Mommy loves you SO much!

Pre-school Light: Creation Day 1

I decided to a light version of pre-school with Amaia this year.  She knows almost all of her letter/colors/shapes already and soaks up so much from everyday life, but learning is always a good thing and I happen to love structure, so a plan was hatched!

I perused some curriculums and other ideas that I found online and ultimately mish-mashed some of the ideas I found along with ideas of my own.  SO, our first unit is going to be the days of creation.  Each day of creation is the theme of our week.  This week was day 1: light and darkness.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said 'Let there be light' and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God seperated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day and the darkness Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day." Genesis 1:1-5

Throughout the week we read the beginning of the creation story out of her Jesus Storybook Bible (which I love so much!!),  read the same verses out of my bible and learned a little song.

We made a light box as a way to demonstrate what the Earth was like before God created light. We painted the inside of a shoe box black.  As a side note I have to say I was so impressed with her painting skills.  I had her do this half-dressed and outside because I was pretty certain she would get paint everywhere, but she did an awesome job listening to my instructions and painting only in the box.  So proud of her! I then cut two holes in the box: one for her to look into and one for me to shine a light into.  I had her look into the hole and describe what she saw: "black" "darkness".  Then I turned the light on and explained that God created light.

I made a little "sun" out of a paper plate and clothespins to practice matching lower and uppercase letters.  You can't see if very well here, but the lowercase letters are written on the plate and the capital letters are written on the clothespins.  The coordination of opening up the clothespins and putting them on the plate was actually a bit of a challenge for her, so we will be continuing to work on this one.

She also had a lot of fun playing with the flashlight and turning a lot of lights on and off throughout the week.  Overall it was a really fun week and I think we both totally enjoyed our first week of "school"...if I can even call it that :)

AND Haddon did some learning of his own this week!  I gave him some cheerios to see how he would do with them and I was so impressed with how quick and determined he was to pick them up.  I had to assist in actually getting them in his mouth, but he definitely has that pincher grasp down.  Also, I love his sweet baby cheeks!

Haddon: 8 Months!

8 Months OLD!  Ugh, 8 months truly does sound so old to me.   Haddon continues to be the absolute best! He makes me want to have a bunch more babies just like him. Ha :)  He is so sweet and smiley and lovable.

This month we have been working on eating a wider variety of foods and he is now eating oatmeal, applesauce, carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado, peas, peaches, green beans and mixed veggies.  He actually eats anything I give him.  I do have some suspicions that applesauce is not favorite due to the sour face he makes, but he still eats it with no problems.  Haddon really only protests if I am not feeding him fast enough :)

We are still on a (mostly) 4 hour schedule with 3 solid food feedings a day.  Haddon usually wakes up around 7am at which time I feed him and he goes back to sleep until 9 when we have breakfast, lunch at 12:30 or so, dinner at 5 and another feeding at 8 before bed.  He naps from about 11-1230 and 2-5 in the afternoon.  He sometimes wakes up early from that afternoon nap, but most days he is totally cool with hanging out in his crib until 5, which totally amazes me!  He has also figured out how to push the button on the music player in his crib to turn it on, so I am pretty sure that helps :)

We have also been working on Haddon's sitting skills this month.  He still falls over (and smiles about it I might add) quite frequently but he is getting much better.  I have been working hard with him on this still because I am anxiously awaiting the day that he can sit up in the grocery cart!  I have a feeling it's going to be a life changer for the both of us!

I have strong suspicions that Haddon is going to have a very laid back personality.  It just amazes me how much things do not seem to bother him. It shocks me that he does not seem to mind when he falls over or his big sissy "hugs" him or occasionally lays on top of him.  I am so excited for him to grow into his sweet personality and participate in more and more adventures with Amaia and I.

Okoboji!

Last week my parents graciously took us on a mini-vacation to Lake Okoboji.  Sleeping with two kiddos in a hotel room is always....interesting :)  But all in all it was a truly wonderful trip!  

First off, I would just like to say that every time we visit a smaller town in Iowa I am always so impressed!  We stayed in Spencer because all the places in Okoboji were booked and it was such a lovely town!  They had an awesome fro-yo shop, awesome coffee shop and a nice shopping street and that is really all you need right?! That is all I need to have a wonderful vacation.

On our first day we rented a boat and Amaia had the time of her life.  She had already been asking me to ride on a boat a couple of weeks before our trip...little did she know it was already in the plans!  As you can see here, she had the time of her life.  She even got to "drive" the boat for a little bit, with daddy very close by of course.

Our boat ride was a lot of fun but it was a chilly day.  Haddon was my lil' trooper.  He barely protested one bit about the chill in the air or in the life jacket that was quite snug around his cheeks.  He is such a wonderful guy.

Here is at the beginning of our trip.

And here he is towards the end of the trip...starting to get a bit annoyed perhaps?? :)

The weather was so much nicer on our second day.  It was perfect out! Amaia greatly enjoyed the sand and water and destroying the sand castles her grandparents were trying to teach her to build :)

She is such a beauty.

The other thing that we did a lot of on our trip was eat!  Ha. Going out to eat has the potential to be a bit stressful with the kiddos, but that were both superb restaurant-goers.  Amaia learned the ropes and began immediately asked the waiter "I need chocolate milk please" first thing :)

It was a wonderful first trip with my family of 4!  It just reinforced my sentiment that these three and simply the greatest!

Happy 6 months to my blue-eyed boy!

Haddon is officially 6 months old! I know that I say this every month, but he is seriously the sweetest little guy.  So full of smiles and such a happy boy.  He brings so much joy to our family and oozes cuteness all day long! The past couple of months have been crazy at times as we have been selling our current home and looking for a new one, but holding him and seeing his sweet smiles make me calm down just like that.

Haddon continues to take after his sister by being long and lean as well as having a big head :)  Here are his current stats from our doctor visit this morning:

Weight: 15 lbs. 13 oz. (18%)

Height: 27.75 Inches (91%)

Head: 17 1/2 Inches (82%)

Haddon adores his sister!  He is happiest when she is around and surprisingly doesn't seem to mind when she pokes at him, lays on top of him or drops things on him :)  You can't tell from this picture (Amaia isn't the best at smiling for the camera at this point in her life) but she adores him too.  She is beyond sweet to him and it makes my heart melt.  She greets him the in the morning, sings him lots of songs, always gets his toys out for him and gives many hugs and kisses throughout the day.

She loves to do tummy time with him too!

Haddon is quite proficient at rolling over nowadays!  Though he still does not enjoy being on his tummy for very long.  We are making progress on sitting up but aren't quite there yet. He mostly likes to roll around on the floor and check out what is going on.  He loves shaking his rattle around and playing peek-a-boo with him is a sure way to get him to giggle.  He is starting to become more easily startled lately.  His lower lip comes out and it is so cute and sad at the same time.  He typically recovers pretty quickly but he doesn't like anything too loud or to much in his face.

We started on the some rice cereal a couple of days ago.  He is doing well and opening his mouth for food, but I don't know if he has actually swallowed anything yet.  I plan on making some peas and carrots for him in the upcoming weeks, so that he start his journey into the world of big people food!  He looks so tiny in that chair!  And yes....I need to get him some non-girly bibs :)

Haddon is sleeping wonderfully.  He goes to bed between 8 and 8:30 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7 in the morning, eats and then back to sleep until 9.  After that he is still eating every 3 hours during the day and taking 3 naps a day.  I do think he is ready to go a bit longer between feedings so we need to try that soon as well.  He is so easy going that I often go in his room to get him up and he is awake just patiently waiting for mommy.  

Aaahhh!  I just love my Haddon.  It is simply a privilege to be his mommy and spend my days with him. 

Haddon at 5 months

Haddon is 5 months old!  This milestone totally caught me by surprise.  I really do feel like he just turned 4 months old, but alas these kiddos keep getting older.

I absolutely love my Haddon.  He such a blessing and a joy to me.  He has the sweetest little personality.  Life can be a bit crazy at times for me right now, but Haddon's smiles are a calming force in my life and such a blessing to me.  That sounds awfully cheesy, but it's true.    

Haddon had a bit of sleep regression right after he turned 4 months old.  I have heard that this is really common, but I couldn't seem to figure out why.  He started waking up earlier or even in the middle of the night for a few nights there, but I think we are back on track with sleeping well at night and for naps.  He is still on a 3 hour schedule during the day and sleeping 9 or 10 hours at night.  He usually has a longer wake time in the morning, mostly because we are often out doing things at that time of the day and then has a couple longer naps in the afternoon. 

Haddon still enjoys his playmat, LOVES playing peekaboo and being talked to and he really likes being held to stand up.  One of the biggest things going in Haddon's life right now is the roll over.  He has totally perfected rolling from his back to tummy.  He does it over and over again, but can't seem to figure it out the other way around (although he has done that before too), so he just cries until we come rescue him.  Silly guy :)

Haddon also really loves his big sister Amaia (as do I!).  He smiles and smiles when she comes around and doesn't complain too much about her poking.  Amaia is really great big sister too.  She sings Haddon songs when he needs cheering up, she tells him sweet dreams with me before naptime, she loves to bring him his toys and she tells him "it's okay buddy" when he cries :)

Amaia even offered to take a picture of Haddon and I and I took her up on it.  Not bad for a two year old.

We haven't tried any solid foods yet, mostly because I don't want to :)  He is doing really well breastfeeding and I want to keep my little guy little, but soon I won't have a choice and he will get to venture into the world of solid foods.

Haddon is our sweet, sweet lil' joy.  I love him so. 

Haddon at 4 months

My little guy is 4 months old!!  Haddon is just the sweetest little guy. He is smiley and adorable and so very wonderful.  As Amaia gets older and little crazier every day I am soaking up the sweetness and peacefulness of my little baby boy.  I know he will grow and join in on the craziness and that will be fun too, but I am really enjoying the way he is right now :)

At 4 months old Haddon is on the same 3 hour schedule that he has been on for a while now.  We start our day officially at 9 and he eats every 3 hours until bedtime at about 8:30.  He usually wakes up between 4 and 6 in the morning, eats again and then he goes back to sleep until 9.  He naps and sleeps at night like a champ.  He only cries for a minute or so if he is a little over tired going down for his naps.  I think he is getting a little bit faster at nursing and he has become more social in his fourth month.  He likes to take a break from eating and just look up at me and flash me a big gummy grin, which is pretty much the most adorable thing ever!

We had a doctor's visit this month so I have updated stats on my favorite little boy:

Weight: 14 lbs. (20%)
Length: 25.5 inches (66%)
Head: 17 inches (90%)

Haddon is starting to enjoy toys.  He hangs on for dear life to the toys on his playmat or anything else he can get his hands on, which also includes my hair.  He really likes playing peek a boo and looking at himself in the mirror!  He also likes music and being sung to.  He has started laughing on occasion. Last week at church he was laughing and laughing as I held him during the worship music.  I hope it was not an expression of his opinion of my singing voice ;)  He unfourtunately still hates bathtime, but he is hating tummy time less and less and holds his head up quite well and rolls over often now too.

I think he must take often his daddy in the looks and personality department  becuase he is quite the go with the flow guy.  He cries very little for a baby in my opinion.  And he doesn't reserve his smiles for only me.  He enjoys his grandparents and Aunt Ashley and from what I hear he is just as sweet to them when I am not around.  Such a chill, great guy!

Haddon at 3 months

Our big (not little!) guy is 3 months old as of yesterday!!!  I don't know his exact stats this month, but we know that he is not all that little anymore.  I am still squeezing him into some 3 month clothes, but last week I had to go stock up on some 6 month things last week for our tall guy.

Check out his wing span!

If I had to describe Haddon in a word right now it would be "sweet".  Maybe he won't appreciate this when he is older, but he is just such a little sweetheart.  He is very generous with smiles and coos.  He is making lots of sweet noises these days and he is so very patient and laid back as far as babies go.  Of course he is a baby so crying happens, but if he wakes up early or if I need to put his big sister to bed before feeding and putting him to bed he is most often totally fine with chilling on his playmat or bouncy seat and waiting until I am ready for him. He is so very chill for a baby and so smiley.  He just makes me so happy.  We love him a lot.

I have been hearing that he looks like his daddy a lot lately.  I agree!

He is still eating on a 3 hour schedule during the day.  We start our day at 9 and he usually eats, stays up for about an hour and then naps for 2 hours.  He is still a little inconsistent at night but usually sleeps from 6 all the way up to 10 hours at night!  If he wakes up early from a nap or at night he will usually go back to sleep if I give him his binkie.  He also gave the swaddle up as of yesterday.  I had been thinking that it was about time to wean from the swaddle and a couple days ago every time he would wake up from a nap his arms were out and stretched above his head, so I took the hint :)

He is still not a fan of bathtime or being in the carseat, which is unfourtunate.  I hope he sees that it really isn't that bad soon :)  He really likes his playmat and bouncy seat right now.  He loves to kick to his heart's content!  I often have to scoot him back up on his bouncy seat - he kicks so much that he is practically falling off sometimes!

I broke out the bumbo seat yesterday to see how he would do and as you can see we have some work to do!  But in true Haddon form he was not unhappy about it.

I have to admit that I was nervous about having a boy, but this guy....he is quickly stealing my heart!

Haddon: 2 months!

My little guy is 2 months old!!  He is growing, growing, growing just as little babies should.  I can barely keep the correct sized swaddling blankets around!  AND he is just barely fitting into his 3 month sleepers.  I am going to have to go out and get some 6 month sized clothes for him very soon.  I can tell that he a long and lean baby like his big sister and that was confirmed at the doctor this week.  Here are his current stats:

Weight: 12 lbs. 4 oz. (68%)
Length: 24 Inches (89%)
Head: 16 1/4 Inches (96%)

Apparently I have babies with large heads :)

The first couple months of his life have gone by so fast! And yet so much has changed over the past few months.  I know what I am his mom and would think this no matter what, but I think he is so very handsome!  He is looking more and more like his daddy all the time he is such a cutie! He has also started smiling a lot lately.  He has the cutest big, gummy grin.  It melts my heart.  As long as he is fed and well-rested he will smile every time I bring him up to my face and smile or talk to him.  I can tell that he recognizes Adam and I and it's such a sweet reward for weeks of hard work to see his sweet smile.

He is on a very consistent eat/sleep/play schedule during the day.  He eats every 3 hours during the day and then stays up for 45 minutes to an hour and then goes down for a nap.  The evening and nightime is unfourtunately not so consistent YET!   Sometimes he goes down great at bedtime and sleeps for 5-7 hours, and then there are some rough nights where its more like every 3 to 4 hours and he is just has a hard time settling down from about 9 to midnight.  But I know we will get there in time.

Haddon's doctor did NOT hear a heart murmur today either!!!!  This means that there is a very good likelihood that hole in his heart has closed on it's own.  We won't know for sure until going back to the cardiologist after he is year old, but this was such great news!  Praise God!  So thankful for my little guy.

Cha Cha Cha Changes!

Lots of changes are going on in our little nest lately!

Sweet Mr. Haddon has added more craziness, cuteness, and fun to our lives.  He is changing all of time.  It seems like he is growing so much faster than miss Amaia did at his age.  He is starting to be more awake, he does not scream through every diaper change anymore (such a tough guy!) and he is starting to sleep a bit longer stretches at night.  It's amazing how an extra hour of sleep can make me feel like a new woman!  He is also starting to smile up at me after feedings, which just makes my heart happy :)

My sweet Amaia though....she is the real changer lately.  This girl is growing up so fast and will be two in less than a month!  I'm already getting sad about the ways that she does not need me anymore.  She is talking up a storm and showing her independent side lately.  I love seeing her grow up and seeing her silliness and personality.  I love that I am starting to be able to have actual conversations with my daughter!  However, this increasing independence is making me a bit stressed about her safety!! 

On Saturday afternoon, I was sitting downstairs feeding Haddon and heard a loud thump from upstairs. Adam ran up the stairs and the next thing I heard was lots and lots of tears.  My baby somehow figured out how to climb out of her crib.  Thankfully, she only had a bit of a blood in her mouth and a fat lip and I am hoping that she learned from that experience.  Pain is a wonderful teacher, right?!  But, I have never wanted a video monitor so badly! Clearly, Amaia is not taking after her very cautious mother :)  Now, I just run to her room the moment I hear that she is awake, remind her over and over again that she should NOT try to climb out of her crib, and pray a lot!  Ready or not it seems that it is big girl bed time.  Wish us luck!