Sarah's 3-year-old Stats

It's a long story about why Sarah just went in for her 3-year-old appointment - out of town, COBRA, switching doctors, not getting records in time - but it's done. Checked off. OK.

Sarah was such a good patient, the doctor wants to see her again in 10 days. Oh wait, that's because she had a double ear infection. Did I know this? Nope. She never complained about her ears hurting except at bedtime - when all the usual excuses come out. I need water. I want milk. I need my blanket "backsides" (flipped over). I need a story. Sing another song ... Anyway, we'll just say she's doesn't complain specifically because of an owie. She does tend to whine a little more, but I don't realize it until after the fact. She's 3. Whining is part of the job description. I guess the only real clue I had was that she was waking up in the middle of the night crying and wanting to be in my room. Sarah's usually a great sleeper so I didn't know what was up. Anyway, she loves the pink medicine and is very good about reminding me to give it to her. Hopefully, everything will be A-OK next week when we go back to see the doctor.

And now for the important numbers. Her stats:

Height: 37 inches 50%
Weight: 31 lbs. 50%

Yep. She's average for size. However, personality is another thing entirely.



Sarah is quite the independent, happy, mischievous, I-want-to-do-it, fort-building, fast-running, hyper dancing, seriously following, giggling 3-year-old drama queen. We sure love her and are so glad she's part of our family :)

Little Man is 17 Months

Did another month just zoom by? I guess it's time to post another month of William.

* Will has another tooth poking up on the bottom - making 11 teeth in his mouth.

* William runs super fast now. One of his favorite past times is to run though the open doors in our apartment over and over and over. He also loves to kick balls, roll cans, push cars, build blocks, and play peek-a-boo with my curtains and his hands. He likes to practice "walking" stairs. He loves to throw stuff. I often find blocks and other toys in my bathtub. At least it's not in the toilet - yet.


* He doesn't like to be left out of anything. He is DYING to go to nursery. When I dropped Sarah off last week he gave his siren scream as I walked away with him from the room full of toys.

* He LOVES chocolate - especially M&Ms and chocolate chip cookies. He LOVES Daddy's juice, which keeps him nice and regular. (We call him our little stinker)

* Will loves to play tackle-mommy-while-mommy-attempts-to-do-sit-ups. It's a funny game.

* Sarah can get Will to laugh better than anyone. I have a feeling that William will be the kid that always encourages the class clown. He's so easily entertained - especially by silly stuff.

* I love that he LOVES doing anything with Sarah. He watches her every move and wants to be big and do what she's doing. He definitely loves his big sister.

William's stats are in

Weight: 25 lbs - 60th percentile
Height: 32 inches - 75th percentile
Head Circumference: 47.2 cm - 50th percentile

I love Photoshop!

I'm just getting started on Sarah's princess book. I found out how to take a signature and do the overlay here. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Photoshop!


PS Thanks for the Magic Eraser advice. I'll be going out in the rain to get one today.

Will is 14 Months

William has definitely done some growing up this past month. As soon as he turned 13 Months, he was all about the walking thing. And now he's quite the toddling boy. Note to self, I should probably get him walking on video ...

Will's favorite things these days are to unload, walk, eat, jabber, and anything outside. He likes other things too, but mostly those five.

He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to eat. This week, we discovered he likes to eat cucumbers. It's nice to know he'll eat veggies in addition to all the fruit he devours. (Roger calls him our bear cub). Actually, William isn't too picky on food and most of the time he's happy to eat Sarah's untouched plate in addition to his own. His favorite foods hands down are blueberries.

William tends to unload the play food basket several times a day. And sometimes he even puts some of the food back in. He LOVES "playing" with his big sister - or at least be right in the middle of whatever she's doing. Sometimes Sarah is even OK with her little brother "getting her stuff." I believe her exact phrase is, "She get my stuff." We're still working on pronouns. They do love to laugh together and "get" each other. William has figured out how to pull Sarah's hair. Mostly, it's just accidental, but sometimes I wonder ...

William has also discovered his voice this past month. At his 1-year appointment the doctor asked me if he was starting to say words. Um that would be no. William barely mumbled consonants and did his fair share of girly screaming. He now says, "uh-oh" and "Da-Da." He refuses to say "ma ma" but we get a lot of jabbering besides. He definitely has stories to tell.

This kid LOVES anything outside. Will can be quite content to stand at the window and watch the buses, cars, and trucks whiz by. Anytime the front door opens, he is now RUNNING to escape. He heads straight for the stairs. He used to start climbing up them, but now that he knows how to go down the stairs, that is his favorite thing to do. He loves toddling around in our lobby with Sarah. If they weren't so LOUD in their running around (and screaming at the top of their lungs) I'd probably even do it more often. At least our lobby and stairs gives us a little more "space."

Well, that's all for this month. We sure love our growing boy. His belly gets bigger and bigger each day. The only thing stopping him from eating more is his lack of teeth. He still just has the four.

OK really that's all folks. Until next time.

PT update

I still don't believe it myself, but we just got back from Costco and Sarah came back dry! She insisted on wearing her panties when to the store - despite my pleas for her to wear a pull-up. She did request that we bring her potty in the back of the van. (Good compromise). She used the potty before and after we went in the store. I'm still in utter shock, but happily surprised. Maybe I should return the pull-ups I just bought?

PS She earned her Cinderella polly-pocket doll for keeping dry. She was pretty excited.

Knuckles

I've been meaning to post William's knuckle crawl for months. Now that he's walking, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he completely gives up his knuckle crawl. I'm definitely going to miss it.

Here he is in all his glory:

Potty Training Diary

We've been potty training Sarah this week. Here's how it's gone:

Tuesday:
Four puppy puddles. Awesome. I almost threw in the towel, but Roger is a little more motivated than I am. The quest to remove the $40 Sarah diapers from our monthly bill starts today. We are using the bare-bottom method. Sarah went on her potty 3 times, including one poop! Wahoo. She got go-gurts and got to watch a show as rewards. While William was napping, Sarah and I went to Colma to pick up some potty incentives. (She wore a pull up). We picked out Pots and Pans for her new kitchen and a Belle tea set. (She calls them pee cups. Fitting, I know).

Wednesday:
Starts out pretty good. She LOVED picking out a pot or cup every time she goes to the potty. She did great - only a couple of accidents. One came at the end of the day when we tried panties (we had company over). She peed in them almost immediately. But really, she did great for the day.

Thursday:
I put together a sticker chart for going to the potty. (We're running out of teacups.) She gets a sticker every time she goes on the potty. And for every 5 stickers she gets to watch a 1/2 hour show. I did a grid where there are 5 empty spaces and a picture of one of her favorite "movies" in the 6th square. Sarah does great. She was accident free all morning and then she wore a pull up to the Academy of Sciences. I think we only had one accident all day. And she pooped in the potty again. I definitely can get used to this.

Friday:
No accidents today! Used a pullup when we went to playgroup. All other times, Sarah went pee-pee in the potty. Love, Love, Love it.

Saturday:
Tried panties again. Sarah peed in them almost immediately. Went back to the bare-bottom routine. She's doing so well with it. Even when we were doing baths this morning, she hopped out of the tub and went to the bathroom. And while she watched Tinkerbell she transferred from her chair to her potty to go pee-pee (This is even more HUGE than the bathtub potty time.) Sarah gets completely sucked into movies and forgets about all other needs. I am super proud of my little girl!

11 Months by William

Hey, look at me! I'm 11 months old. Do you notice anything different?


Well, to add to my 4-teeth grin, I've got something exciting to enhance my boyish looks.


Still can't decide?


That's right, I got my hair cut!


Here I am right before I got it cut. As you can tell I was a little nervous.


But Mom says I didn't even notice when Kari-Lynn started cutting. I was much too interested in the Pirate's Booty on the tray. See.



But then Mom was too busy taking pictures to notice that I had scarfed up all my treats so I decided not to cooperate.



Mom recovered by giving me fish crackers, but I was too upset to eat them - and there was too much hair on my tray.


Come on Mom. Hair in my food. I don't think so.


And just in case you wanted to see how much hair was taken off - here it is. Mom said she wasn't keeping any of it for posterity. A picture is enough.


In the end, I was a good sport. I quickly forgave both Kari-Lynn and Mom for the whole experience and happily played with the train table.


Aren't I handsome?

First Dentist Visit

Sarah reached another milestone with her first dentist visit. We have seen quite a few dentists come and go through the University of the Pacific dental program in the past five years. Lucky us, one of them just happens to be the daddy of Max and Jack - two of Sarah's favorite boy friends. Blake graduated a few years ago and works in a practice near Roger's office at nights while finishing his orthodontic program by day. I never know what's going to happen with Sarah with her "firsts" and this time she completely surprised me. Here's how it went down.

We met Rog at the dentist office after work. I scheduled him to go first so he could be ready to help with the kids by the time I got there. Rog brought Sarah and Will back with me so Sarah could watch Dr. Blake check my teeth. (Side note - isn't it amazing what invisilign has done for my bottom teeth?! I love having straight teeth. Oh and the Sonicare is worth EVERY PENNY. Dr. Blake said he didn't see any plaque on my teeth and best of all NO CAVITIES! I love that thing.)


Sarah had her concerned look on her face as Blake checked my teeth, but when it was her turn she hopped right up in the chair. Blake started by showing her the mirror.


Then the counting tools: She was all in to the counting.


And to my absolute surprise, she LOVED LOVED LOVED the cleaning part. Although the photos don't quite show it, Sarah kept trying to taste the mint paste with her tongue. The buzzing brush didn't bother her at all. I guess buying that Cinderella electric toothbrush was worth it. She seemed to be in her comfort zone.



See you in another 6 months Dr. Blake!

Made it to the Valley

He did it. As far as we know, he was the first in my family to make it to the Salt Lake Valley on our exercise trek. Way to go Rog!!

Now he needs to heed Brother Brigham's rescue call and rescue me along the trail. I stopped keeping track back in April. I definitely need to hitch up the wagon. Carry on!

Take Me Out to the Giants Game!

On Monday night, Rog and I were flipping through our 2007 blog book and it hit us ... Will hasn't been to a baseball game yet. On Tuesday I looked up the schedule and found that the Giants had a home game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday and we could get bleacher tickets for $10. Perfect!

Thankfully, Sarah took a nap from 1:30 to 5. (A small miracle since she hadn't taken a nap the four days before.) We packed up, picked up Daddy and Cyndi, and off to the park we went.

Since it was William's first game we stopped by Guest Services to get his certificate. We didn't know about the certificates before tonight, so we got one for Sarah since it was her first ticketed game. (Those younger than 2 get in free.)


We got tickets in the outfield near the Coca-Cola slide and miniature ballpark area - definitely a fun place to be.


Sarah got a base hit and eventually made it back to home plate. Of course she loved it.




Sarah then got to go down the twist-off slide all by herself. Daddy cheered her on from the bottom and I followed her down from the top.


We had bratwurst, hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, pizza and french fries. Pass the TUMS, please.

Did I mention it was FREEZING at the ballpark? Having a stadium right next to the bay is beautiful, but when it's cold, it's really, really cold. Good thing Sarah was dressed in her parka Cassandre sent her. Next time I'll bring a blanket for EVERYBODY, not just the one I brought. Oh and I can't forget to mention Roger's new orange coat. Perfect for cheering on the Giants.


Near the end of our time at the park (we left after the 7th inning stretch) we headed over to the Ghiradelli cable car to play and take some pictures.




As for the game, we did watch some of it, but it was pretty uneventful. Cyndi, Sarah and I were in getting food when the first run (Diamondbacks) was scored. Two more runs (Diamondbacks) were scored while we were "watching the game" and we saw a home run for the Giants on our way out. I just checked the final score and the Diamondbacks won 3-1. I guess we didn't miss much leaving early.


I definitely recommend parking in the Borders/Safeway parking lot across from the stadium. It's $5 cheaper and I think it's easier to get in/out of.

Mommy ...

"I want to watch a movie, Mommy."

Great. Sarah's first real complete, grammatically-correct, perfectly enunciated sentence. Awesome.

Milestones

I really tried to post last week for Will's 9 months and Sarah's 2 1/2 years milestones. I even tried taking pictures, but as you can see that didn't work out so well ...




On top of that, I forgot to ask the doctor about William's height/weight/head circumference percentages when I went in on Monday. I had to wait 3 days for a nurse to call me back with those. Now that Will is napping and Sarah is watching Care Bears (not in Spanish) I will give some updates and some pictures.

William 9 Months (August 11, 2009)


Weight: 20 lbs 4 oz. - 50th percentile
Height: 29.5 inches - 75th percentile
Head Circumference: 45.5 centimeters - 50th percentile

It appears William is leveling out. He's pretty tall but fairly evenly dispersed. And lucky him, his head is average.


Other milestones - things to note:

* Eats pretty much everything in sight. He is LOVING the freedom of feeding himself. His favorites are bits of fruit - particularly blueberries and peaches - bits of bread - pizza bread is sooo good - and noodles. He still insists on pureed veggies to fill him up. And of course there's nothing better than cream. He loves it so much he thinks he needs to have it in the.middle.of.the.night. ugh.

* Still wakes up at 2 am or 4 am. I know. I know. He doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night. I really just need to tough it out and listen to him cry himself back to sleep. That's my goal this next month. Hopefully when I do his 10-months-old post I can happily say he's accomplished that.


* Babbles. I love to hear him say dadadadadadada and mmamamammmmmamamama in addition to his pterodactyl squeals.


* Loves to crawl, climb and pull himself up - especially up over Sarah. It's fun to see him able to interact more with her. They really are so fun together.

* Wears size 3 diapers and size 12-18 month clothes.

* Eyes are getting darker. He may be a brown-eye boy after all. Mommy's genes are pulling through.


* Loves blocks, little people and anything with wheels. He loves to make the wheels spin. Will also plays a game where he knocks a toy in front of him, crawls after it, and then knocks it again. Just like a puppy. So so so cute.


* Has got his first tooth! You can see the little glint in the above photo. Sorry, it was the best I had. Will's bottom-right-middle tooth broke through just after we got back from the family reunion. I am definitely not complaining that my kids are later in the teething department. I'm glad the little bugger has come in and hope that the following ones are a little less painful.

Sarah 2 1/2 Years - August 13, 2009


Weight: 29.6 lbs - 25th to 50th percentile*
Height: 35.5 inches - 25th to 50th percentile*
Head Circumference: 51 centimeters - 95th percentile*
Percentages calculated on baby center.

These pics just typify my little princess:




Now about Sarah:

* Loves to do anything princess and fairies.

* Loves "Belle Song" and "Aurora Song." I had a request for "Snow White song" the other night and couldn't think of anything but the chorus from "Heigh-Ho." Luckily, it worked. She loved it. Apparently, the platinum edition of Snow White comes out this November. It's in our Netflix queue.

* Would watch Sleeping Beauty all day every day if I let her. However, sad for her, she won't be watching it for a while. I think it's making her too scared. I may bring it out again down the road, but for now, we're sticking to more light movies, such as Care Bears and Word Factory.

* Loves Makeit (make up). Her glistening self in the above photos is a direct result in her putting her make up on her neck. I'm not sure why the neck, but whatever makes her happy, right?

* Is talking up a storm. Most of the time, she talks just to make sure I know she's independent. Here are a few of the phrases I've heard lately:
** It's my turn. My Turn! (When she doesn't want any help with her prayer, singing a song, or any other activity.)
** Sarah dos it. (ditto)
** Sarah's a friend. (when I put her on time out and she wants to come out.)
** No YOU TIME OUT! (also, when I put her on time out.)
** No Sarah's awake (typically when she doesn't want to take a nap or go to bed.)
** Sarah helps.
** I want more Mommy. I want more.
** That one.
** Daddy's work.
She also is quite the parrot. We need to be a little more careful with our vocabulary these days. On the last day of our reunion, I heard Sarah say, "Oh Shoot!" (Which I am guilty of saying from time to time.) But when we turned to my sister Kim and asked where Sarah learned that, Kim said, "I don't say that. I say, 'Oh Crap!'" (A favorite Gubler phrase I'm sheepish to admit.) Instantly, Sarah chimed in, "Oh Crap!" We all gave her such a great reaction, she repeated it 8 more times. Awesome.

* Loves to be a helper. She is really good at helping me put in different ingredients in whatever I'm making.

* Loves the pool. She often pulls out her swimsuit from her drawer and ask to go to the pool. Someday we'll have a backyard with a baby pool for you to play in Sarah.

* Loves to turn on music. She often turns on my clock radio to find a fun dance-music station. She loves to dance.

* Loves to play dress up. I love that she can't get enough of necklaces, bracelets, high heels, make up, ruffly dresses, etc.

* Is a great runner and jumper. She absolutely LOVES to run. run. run.

* She can't get enough of playing with the kids. She loved hanging out with her cousins and looks forward to playgroup and nursery.

* Loves to give Mommy, Daddy and Brother kisses. She even uses her arm to wrap it around her kisser's neck and pull them in. Love it.

* Sleeps without a sleep sack. She gave up her sleep sack this last month. She's been doing great without it.

* She's hit or miss with her naptime. If she does have a nap it's usually closer to 2-2:30 before she's out, making a later bedtime. I'm still deciding whether it's worth having her have a nap and go to bed at 8 or 8:30... or not having a nap and go to bed between 7 and 7:30. hmmmm.

I'm sure there's more, but Care Bears is over and William is up. To end, here are some fun pics of our two munchkins together: