Taking Over the Booster Seat

On Sunday, we realized that Michelle was probably big enough to sit in Steven's booster seat, so we had her try it out. At first she wasn't too sure of it, but once we gave her some toys, she had a bit more fun. However, Steven wasn't too happy when he saw her sitting in his seat.

Hey, that's MY seat!

You close your eyes for one second, and he tries to steal the toy!

Ha! I won!

"Helping" Daddy

Steven, Michelle, and I spent a couple hours outside after he woke up from his nap. We played with the wagon, learned about the wind chime, rode around in his car, and Michelle enjoyed her bouncy seat. Steven once again surprised me with his knowledge when he pointed to the tree leaves and said "leaves." I'm amazed at how much he picks up on his own. Just the other day, he pointed to something I was holding and told me it was blue (and it was)!

Anyway, after taking a walk around the neighborhood (where we saw someone using a leaf blower that Steven thought was a vacuum), we saw Mark getting ready to take out the trash. Steven decided to "help" him out. Actually, Steven wanted to do it himself, but we didn't let him since we knew it was way too heavy.

I got some cute pictures of them taking the can to the curb. (And isn't that one of the cutest outfits you've ever seen?!)

It is such a blessing to have Steven in our life, and I love how much he loves his daddy!

Vacuum!

Steven's all-time favorite word is vacuum. I have even heard him saying it while playing in his crib before getting up in the morning. Several times a day he goes into the coat closet to visit the vacuum cleaner. He pulls it as far out as he can and carries the attachments around with him while he plays. He blows it kisses and even kisses the vacuum cleaner itself. I think you get the idea of how much he LOVES the vacuum!

So while we were waiting for Aunt Katie to get off work after Bible study on Tuesday, I let Steven play in the church's walker nursery. (I left him in the infant nursery since he wasn't walking when Bible study started, so he'd never been in there before.) You can imagine his excitement when I showed him the toy vacuum. I think I need to find one for our house!

The pictures aren't the greatest because my hand tremors were acting up (and no, nothing is wrong--I just have them), and the pictures are all blurred as a result.

Checking it out.

Testing it to see how well it works.

Looks good!

Even a little boy needs a break from vacuuming!

That's what happens. . .

when you insist on pulling your hair and screaming non-stop!

Michelle began pulling her hair and getting her fingers knotted in it and then screaming as if I were the one doing it. Needless to say, it gets old very fast, so I came up with a solution--hats. However, that didn't always work. She'd pull them off or they'd be too big and would fall off.

One day, in desperation, I pulled out Steven's swim diaper from last summer (clean!) that I was packing up and put it on her head. It actually worked perfectly because the elastic was tight enough to keep it on her head without being too tight and giving her a headache. An added bonus are the leg holes that doubled as vent holes!

This is what I found when I came back a little bit later. She was out cold, and I left her this way until she woke up. It wasn't covering her nose, and I was afraid that she'd wake up if I tried to fix it. You have to admit, it is quite the look!

A few more "normal" pictures of the peanut on her playmat. She smiles all the time now, even when she's just looking at the couch. However, it's still hard to capture those smiles at times!

Normal??

Is it normal for a 17 month old to eat three eggs, a container of yogurt, pineapple, green beans, and graham crackers for breakfast and still be hungry? Or does my boy just have a bottomless belly??

P.S. Does anyone know if there's a limit on how many eggs a kid can have a day? Since he couldn't even have egg whites until 12 months because of the amount of protein in them, I can't help but wonder. I told the nurse yesterday when I called to find out that he would easily eat half a dozen eggs a day. When she asks how often he eats three eggs a day, I told her everyday (now that I think about it though, a lot of days I only let him have two, but still!). Yep, my boy LOVES his eggs :)

UPDATE: I just heard back from the doctor, and the recommendation is 6-9 per WEEK. Poor little boy :(

Pray for Kayleigh!

Please visit Kayleigh's blog and pray for their precious little girl who desperately needs a miracle if she's going to recover and survive. What a privilege it is to serve a God who cares, who listens to our prayers, and who answers them, even if it's not the way we want him to. I cannot imagine living without Him!

A Tooth, a Sentence. . .and a Lie??

Yesterday, Mark discovered another tooth in Steven's mouth. We've been watching for one since he's been chewing on his fingers constantly. We checked occasionally, but it's not really safe to stick your finger in his mouth. He liked to clamp down with all seven of his sharp little teeth. Mark must have been feeling brave yesterday while I was at work, and sure enough, a tooth has popped through. He now has four teeth on the top and four more on the bottom.

This morning before church, Steven was in his highchair eating his breakfast, and when I went over to hurry him along, I asked him where his spoon was. He looked right at me and said, "I don't know." I was surprised that he said a complete sentence, but I was also a bit disturbed because I'm pretty sure it was a lie :( The spoon was in his highchair wedged between his leg and the side of the chair. Interestingly enough, that's the same place his hand was. Hmmm. . .

That's What Grandparents Are For!

Not to sure about this--can you tell he never gets sugar??

Hmm. . .this is pretty tasty!

It's hard to eat a marshmallow bunny with only seven teeth!

If you want to see what that amount of sugar does to a 16 month old, check out the video of him making owl sounds that I have on my Facebook page. My sister recorded it, so I don't yet have a way to post it here. Needless to say, it's hilarious.

The "Hunt"

After church on Sunday, we went over to my parents' house for dinner. My mom set up a little Easter egg/peeps hunt for Steven, and it was quite interesting watching him try to figure out what was going on. He finally got the idea, but after he picked up an egg, he wanted it opened right away since he knew that there were animal crackers in them. We had to continually encourage him to keep going (and put peeps in the basket for him!). I'm sure next year's hunt will be a bit more exciting :)

P.S. This is post #450! How in the world have I found that much to talk about??

Lovin' Daddy!

How is it. . .

That a little boy who is headed straight to bed after almost escaping his high chair and over turning the tray can melt your heart seconds later when he starts singing his own version of "Jesus Loves Me" with you in his bedroom.

The poor boy also has a very bad yeast infection. At first we thought it was a diaper rash (he's only had 2-3 mild ones ever) and then thought that it was because of the fresh pineapple he ate at Grandma and Grandpa's house, but when it continued to get worse, I got scared. The poor kid had HUGE blisters, and they were spreading.

By the time we made it to the doctor's office, the blisters had burst. Steven must have a very high pain tolerance (we usually don't even know he's teething until a tooth pops through!) because he wasn't too fussy. He was very tense during diaper changes, and he was up a lot more in the night, but he was still his usual happy self.

The doctor prescribed two creams for him. One goes on 4-5 times a day and the other one 2 times a day, but not at the same time as the other one. I think we're going to be going through a lot of diapers this week!

We also had another first this week--first split lip on Tuesday :( I didn't see how he did it, but I think he tripped and hit his mouth on the laundry basket. Poor Little Buddy has had a rough week!

Better Luck Next Time, Little Buddy.

Very Serious

A Boy, a Dog, and a Window

The recipe for a fun time at Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Katie, and Auntie L's house. (The ducks out the window were just an added bonus!)

Michelle

Steven