13 Months!

Below are some milestones and happenings of Patrick and Payden around the 13 month mark.

Also, don't miss the milestone for me too!

Patrick

• Recovering from his first ever ear infection. Let me tell you, not a fun one for parents. About 1 week of sleepless nights, we originally thought it was teeth but when a fever came on day 5 and stayed, we thought we'd better have it checked out. Saturday, he was diagnosed with an ear infection. The next night (Saturday) was by far the worst and his fever was 103.8 which was so high. I'm so glad I took him in the day before because I know for sure we'd be in the ER. Last night was our first night of true sleep in a week! Thank goodness for antibiotics!
• becoming lightening fast crawling.
  
• absolutely LOVES any kind of door to open and close. The front door outside is by far his favorite and you can't open and close it without him making a beeline for it and crying when it shuts.
  
• becoming a very good eater and will eat just about everything (except medicine of course).
• Shows that he will be the leader of him and his brother in that everything Patrick does, Payden has to now follow whether into the kitchen or bathroom.
  
• Discovered last week that the lid of the toilet comes up and it's awfully fun to drop bath toys in the water. Thank goodness I cleaned the toilet the same day!
  
• Getting very good standing for extended periods but has yet to "pull himself to stand."
  

Payden

• Also a lightening fast crawler, I'm amazed how quick he can get to where he wants to go.
• absolutely LOVES books and will just sit and look at books, one by one, out of his box of books.
  
• Discovered the stairs yesterday. I was sitting on the couch and looked up to see where he went and he was sitting on the 2nd stair, quite proud of himself. I used to be able to run upstairs real quick to do something but now, he starts to follow me. He is still unsteady but we can tell he LOVES the challenge!
  
• very quickly cruising along any surface. Just as Maddie thinks she is safe, tucked in a corner of the couch, Payden come walking down the couch to pounce. We're working on "being gentle" and "pet softly."
  
• will take a step toward something in order to get to his activity table. I am working on bringing it out farther and farther so he'll have to take more steps. So far he's quick at side steps but not as well forward. I did get him to go 5 steps with his push toy.
  
• Saturday night, I sat down with him to play with his ball. I hadn't played with him for awhile with his ball and thought he'd just roll the ball back. Nope, he picked it up and threw it overhand to me. I was surprsed! Christian was outside with Maddie and I told him to take my place and see what Payden could do. They played "catch" for some time and it was priceless to watch!
  
• Unfortunately all this standing and coming down and standing again has presented quite the number of head bonks. Just as it seems the one is fading, another appears.

Me (Valerie)

• Saturday, Feb 19th, was the last time that I pumped. For me, this is quite the milestone for me. I pumped for an entire year and a couple weeks so that my boys would have breast milk for a year. As much as I wanted to produce enough so that they would never know the taste of formula, it was not to be but I'm okay with it. I'm so happy to be done and not tied to it any longer. I'm glad that I was able to quit gradually because it has made a world of difference.
  

The Birthday Party! (12 months)

Here is a recap of how our boys celebrated their 1 year old birthday. Plus some pictures!

The Decorations!
(side note: when we brought the boys down after their nap, their eyes went wide when they saw all the decorations and balloons. It was super cute!)

We planned their birthday party with family for the Sunday before their actual birthday (Monday). Due to another winter storm that was supposed to hit Sunday, we moved it to Saturday, January 23rd.

Christian's family arrived at 4:00 which was good as the boys were just up from naps and happy. Christian's mom had wrapped her gifts in little bags with tissue paper. She thought that this would be easier than wrapped gifts and it was! It was so neat to watch Patrick and Payden pick out the tissue from the bags and then reach inside to find their gifts. They got a couple of toys, some outfits and lots of books! About 5pm, we served Pulled Pork Sandwiches that were delicious and a variety of salads while the boys played with their toys. It was fun because Payden had just mastered crawling and we were trying to get him to crawl places to showcase his new talent. Hard to believe, but Patrick would start crawling, the very next day!

After I fed them around 5:30, it was time for cake! I made a Chocolate-Texas Sheet Cake that was so moist and good! Then I made white cupcakes for the boys to eat and mash. I wish I could say they loved their cupcakes and ate them and smashed them everywhere. They did not. Patrick wasn't even interested which we know now that he was suffering from the stomach flu that weekend and we didn't realize it. Payden, however, picked up the cupcake, mashed it between his fingers and promptly dropped it off his tray. It was still cute, though. We had fun and were glad that they had a day of fun to remember for their birthday.

Pictures! (All credit goes again to Lindsay, as it was too crazy for me).

Payden reaching in for a birthday surprise!

Patrick and Daddy finding new 12m pajamas! Camouflage!!

Payden loving his books!

Patrick cuddling with Grandma

Payden enjoying time with Aunt Lindsay and Brooke

You can hear it now! "We're supposed to do what!" They didn't know what to do with their cupcakes.

Payden grabbed his and smashed the frosting but WOULD not taste it. Then promptly threw it on the ground. Patrick wouldn't even touch it, as we found out later was because he was sick.

The Big Cake! (I ate WAY too much of this the next week after).

Playing Together

This afternoon, I took Patrick and Payden upstairs around 2pm like I always do. I like to give them time to wind down (ie ..crawl around and tire themselves out) before their afternoon nap. Some days it works, other days.. it doesn't seem to.

It was the cutest thing to see them playing and interacting with one another. Payden had found a pacifier on the ground and was contently sucking. Patrick saw him and started crawling at him. There was a wrestle with some arms and legs and finally Patrick got it. Then Payden came after Patrick and Patrick got a MAJOR case of the giggles as Payden did everything in his power to get the pacifier back. Payden even grabbed Patrick's shirt and pulled him to the ground (Patrick just laughed harder) and finally got it. They would do this 2 more times together over a silly pacifier.

I just hope that Patrick's giggle remains. Typically when there is "stealing" involved; there is crying too. It was so cute to see them play together like that.

Last of all - I've taken some cute pictures on my phone lately.


Here are a couple of Patrick... Lately he has been into EVERYTHING.

I had opened the fridge, to prepare dinner and Patrick immediately crawled over to "help." I think this face says, "Not squash again, Mom."

Last Saturday, we put the boys coats on to go to the library. As I was packing a few things, we lost sight of Patrick. He had found that his suit goes very fast on tile and he had sneaked off into the kitchen.

And here are a couple of Payden - He likes to just sit and play with toys and dance to the music at the activity table. He loves to smile. I love how you just see those teeth.

This is a post-nap picture. He woke up early and was super happy. Notice his hair. We probably need to get it cut; it's over his ears. Also someone at church thought he was a girl (in blue snowsuit mind you).

Waxing Domestic -

From the time I was a little girl, I have always wanted to be a mother and be at home with my children. I remember telling my mom that I didn't need to go to college to be a mom but my mom reminded me that I needed an education just in case I needed to support my family or even to help my children with their homework. I wanted to be the type of mom that made everything from scratch and doctored her family when they were sick. Well today I was that mom; the mom that I've always wanted to be. I need to remember to make better attempts to do this more often.

My morning was rare, actually. Both Patrick and Payden slept through the night. This morning about 3:30 though I woke up to Christian getting back in bed telling me he can't sleep and not feeling too well. I cuddle closer to him and hug him until he falls asleep. About 4:30, an hour later, I'm not sure if I've slept, but he is horribly hot. He wakes at 5:30 to take Maddie out and get ready for work. He has to open at work and has patients at 7 and 7:30. He tells me that he'll be home after as he has already called his boss to let her know.

So I give boys their bottles, pump and change them from pajamas into clothes. They start playing with their toys on the floor. I know it is a little early for breakfast for them so the thought crosses my mind that I should make something. I look through one of my many cookbooks and find a homemade chicken noodle soup. It looks super easy and boys are happily playing. In the end though, I finished the soup while they ate their breakfasts. Payden had started to get restless and Patrick was tearing apart the DVD shelf first and then the kitchen. It amazes me that while one boy is content to play with his toys and activity table; the other would rather crawl around kitchen playing with drawers, pans, dog's water bowl and the fridge. To his each his own, I guess.

Here's the yummy recipe.

• 1 3-1/2- to 4-pound chicken, cut up, or 2-1/2 pounds meaty chicken pieces
  
• (I did 3 chicken breasts)
  
• 8 cups water
• 1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium) - (2 TB dried minced onion)
  
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup chopped carrot (2 medium)
• 1 cup chopped celery (2 stalks)
• 1-1/2 cups dried egg noodles
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

Directions

1. In a 6- to 8-quart Dutch oven combine chicken, water, onion, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, about 1-1/2 hours or until chicken is very tender. (Because I did 3 chicken breasts without the bone, I let simmer for only 30 min until chicken was cooked)

2. Remove chicken from broth. When cool enough to handle, remove meat from bones. Discard bones and skin. Cut meat into bite-size pieces; set aside. Discard bay leaf.

3. Bring broth to boiling. Stir in carrot and celery. Simmer, covered, about 5 minutes. Stir in noodles. Simmer, covered, 5 minutes more or until noodles are tender but still firm. Stir in chicken and parsley; heat through.

4. Makes 8 servings (10-1/2 cups)