Kelvin is 15 months old!

Kelvin is 15 months old! This boy's skills have exploded in the last 3 months! He can not only walk but run. His vocabulary is pretty impressive too, expanding from hi/hello, uh oh, and woof to Mama, Dada, Ada, Ella, hot, hat, mittens, up, again, shh, Daniel, and yellow. He also repeats a lot of words and uses sign language for more and please. He loves to eat but is becoming a little more picky. He absolutely loves grapes and berries...and cookies! He still likes music and dancing. He also enjoys knocking over Ada's block towers, his bunny, and greeting people. He's not so fond of going to bed before Ada, shots, being told no, and oranges/orange juice.

He's definitely becoming his own little person. He'll shake his head when he doesn't like/want something and if you push it, he'll swat it away. He cries when we walk by a park without stopping to play (and today I did it to him twice...poor guy).

He's not too into books just yet but Ada got a couple of new Daniel Tiger books recently and he'll sit and listen to those sometimes. He knows who Daniel is and says Daniel too. It's pretty cute! He doesn't really sit and watch the show but he likes the songs.

Kelvin adores his big sister. He says Ada when he sees her shoes. When I picked him up from school yesterday and put him in the stroller he patted the seat next to him and said Ada. Ada is still a little rough with him sometimes...but he also pulls her hair pretty often so I guess he's getting her back.

He also transitioned to the toddler room at daycare the week he turned 15 months. I was a little worried about him because he really loved his teachers in the infant room but he's done really, really well. Yesterday one of his teachers from the infant room was in the toddler room and she expressed how surprised she was at how much he had changed already. It's truly incredible.

Mr. Kelvin, you're growing so very fast. I love you more every day. I'm excited to see what you learn in the coming months.

9.10.2019

10.22.2019

10.30.2019

11.10.2019

3 years

Ada is 3 years old! In the last 6 months, she has grown so much. She's quite tall, pretty much skipping size 3T and going right from 2T to 4T, especially in pants. She loves babies right now. She met John's cousin Samia's daughter in October and fell in love with her. Her doll was immediately renamed Baby Kennedy. Additional likes right now include apples, pears, Potbelly, reading books, watching Daniel Tiger (and reading Daniel Tiger books), and riding her bike and scooter. Grandma Jul got her a strider bike as an early birthday gift. It took her awhile to get the hang of it but now she's pretty good at it.

She really doesn't have that many dislikes. She's not a fan of spinach. She definitely doesn't like when Grandma leaves. And she gets upset when Kelvin knocks over her block towers...but sometimes she builds them just for Kelvin to knock over. 

Ada moved to the 3s classroom at school in September. I was a little nervous for her to move up so soon but she moved with three of her friends and she's doing great! We had two of her friends over for her birthday party and it was really fun. They played really well together and it was fun to visit with the other parents too.

Ada Jo, you're smart, sweet, and determined. You challenge me to be the best mom I can be and reward me with your smiles, hugs, and kisses. Keep growing, baby girl. I love you.

6.4.2019

7.6.2019

8.20.2019

9.28.2019

10.14.2019

11.5.2019

Kelvin is 1 year old!

Kelvin is 1 year old! I can't believe it's already been a year since this amazing little boy was born. He is such a smart, sweet, and easy going guy. As his board says, he loves to eat, play music and dance along, his bunny, our soft carpeting, sharing a room with his big sister, baths, walking with help (and, as of his birthday, taking 2-3 steps by himself)! He's still not a fan of Ada pushing him over, being tired, loud noises like the vacuum, and his smash cake. He is getting more verbal, perfectly timing his "hi" and saying hello when he answers his toy phone, and definitely lets us know when he doesn't like something. He also waves or blows kisses to say goodbye. The other day when I picked him up at daycare he was crying and gesturing toward the computer because he wanted the music turned on. He can sit and play by himself for quite a while and loves figuring out how things work. I'm continually impressed by how much he knows. I can tell him it's time to brush his teeth and he will walk, holding both my hands, into the bathroom. He's trying to get more mobile too, pulling up to stand, getting up onto all fours but then flopping onto his tummy, and using his old standby, the seated scoot, to get around.

7.28.19 - On the run family selfie

We had a pretty fun month, with trips to Montrose Beach, the splash pad at Margaret Donahue Park, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Grandma and Grandpa Kathy and Natalie visited for a weekend in mid-July and then came down again for Kelvin's birthday party. Grandma Jul came down for a night on her way to Cedar Point with her friend Vicky and then for a longer visit in the days before Kelvin's party.

7.14.19 - Montrose Beach

8.4.19 - Margaret Donahue Park

We had quite the turnout for Kelvin's 1st birthday party...over 20 family members and friends helped us celebrate! It was a full house but we had more than enough cake, especially since Kelvin wouldn't eat any.

8.4.2019 - Ada, Kelvin, and Ella

Grandma Jul helping Kelvin and Marcela helping Elias

Oh, Mr. Kelvin, we love you so much. Keep growing, baby boy. We're right here with you!

8.6.2019 - Family selfie

Kelvin is 11 months old!

Kelvin is 11 months old! (And this time, I'm writing less than two weeks from the big day!) A lot has happened in the last month...we moved to a new house and we spent a week in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Kelvin seems to enjoy our new house. He especially loves the new carpet we had put in downstairs. He scoots over to the hallway and then rolls around on the carpet. It's pretty funny. He and Ada are sharing a room and he has slept through the night since the second night here which has been really easy to get used to. We put them in the same room while we were traveling too and he slept all night. Woohoo, Kelvin!

6.9.19 

6.18.19

Kelvin loves to eat, especially meat and fruit! He still enjoys breastfeeding too but just for a few quick minutes in the morning and before naps/bedtime. He also loves standing and walking with help. He still scoots on his butt but also arm crawls. Sometimes he does pushups too but hasn't figured out how to stay on his hands and knees to crawl just yet. He still loves swinging and sliding at the park. Kelvin loves music and has learned how to push the right button to get his favorite song on a little scooter we have. So cute!!

6.23.19 - Rare stroller run with both kids!

He still does not like when Ada pushes him over, being tired, or being around new people (though he warms up pretty fast). He really is a pretty easygoing little guy. His nickname at daycare is "happy pappy."

7.4.19 - Watching the Buffalo City 4th of July parade

7.5.19 - Swimming in the Cochrane pool

7.6.19 - Family selfie with Grandma and Grandpa Rohrer

Mr. Kelvin, I can't believe you're going to be one in less than 3 weeks! You are such a sweet little boy. I love watching you learn. I can't wait to learn more about you. Keep growing, little man! We love you!!

Kelvin is 10 months old!

Kelvin is 10 months old! (And has been for just over 2 weeks already but I've been tardy in writing this.) His 10 month birthday was the day before we closed on our new home so we've been rather busy since then!

Now, I need to think back to Kelvin's 10th month because he's doing a lot of new things since turning 10 months old...

Kelvin went to Wiggleworms for the first time and loved it! He hasn't been back since though because it starts just before his morning nap. The day we went, he napped afterwards but we haven't tried it again. He's enjoying music class at school more now too.

5.14.19 - Kelvin at Wiggleworms at Gallagher Way

Grandma Jul visited twice! She came down for a long weekend in the middle of May just to spend time with us (and to take us to visit Marce and Elias for lunch) and then again the very end of May/beginning of June to help John with the kids at the end of my work trip and to help us get ready to move (kinda).

We went up to Oshkosh for Memorial Day Weekend and to belatedly celebrate Mother's Day with Grandma Kathy. The whole family went out to eat one night which was quite the ordeal with three kids under two (though there were seven adults). It's always a challenge when naps and bedtimes aren't quite right...but it was still a fun weekend!

5.26.19 - Playing at Grandma and Grandpa Lenzes' house

Bubbles with Grandma Kathy

I spent the Tuesday through Saturday after Memorial Day in Denver for a conference for work. Kelvin did great at home with Dada, even sleeping through the night most nights (including the first two nights I was home...but then he went back to waking up once or twice a night).

5.27.19 - Stroller run

Stretching with me

Kelvin really didn't seem to change a whole lot between 9 months and 10 months except that he has more teeth. He's already changed a whole lot since turning 10 months old though!

6.6.19 - 10 months old!

2.5 years

Ada is 2.5 years old! Once again, her vocabulary has exploded recently. She often speaks in full sentences and uses new words every day. She knows that she's two and a half years old. She knows Starbucks. She knows I take the red train to work and she takes the red train to "Kickers" and it goes in the tunnel and it gets dark. It blows my mind.

She still loves reading books, the color purple (and pink, so she said on May 10th, at least), and going to the park. She loves to eat, especially chicken fried rice, tacos, and fruit. Oh, and m&ms. m&ms are definitely her favorite! She's getting pretty good at riding her scooter and can't wait to get a bike. We're moving next month and have been telling her we'll get her a bike after we move to our new place. 

Ada isn't always a fan of sharing me with her brother but overall, she's a great big sister. She likes to entertain and comfort him...and occasionally pushes him over too. It's been fun to see them interact as Kelvin has grown. It's going to be really fun once he can get around on his own!

Recently, Ada has become afraid of some things, like her shadow and thunder. She noticed her shadow on the way to the park one day and seemed to think it was cool but then that night, she wouldn't lie down in her bed because there were "two Adas." I had to put a dark blanket down first so she couldn't see the shadow before she would go to sleep! John immediately looked up books about shadows on Amazon and found a really cool one that shows you how to make shadows. We looked at it with her a few times and since then, she's mostly been okay with the shadows.

My grandma died in April and I was so worried about how to explain it to Ada and what she would think of the funeral. I looked up a lot of advice online and we ordered a few books. She handled it really well but I'm not 100% sure how much she understands. She likes to sing "Happy birthday" to "all the family" each night that I put her to bed. After Grandma's funeral I stopped including her in the song. For awhile, our conversation would go like this:

Ada: You not say Great Grandma.
Me: No, I didn't. Do you remember why?
Ada: Great Grandma died.
Me: That's right. Great Grandma won't have any more birthdays. But she had 90 birthdays!
Ada: Wow, that's a lot of birthdays! 

A few other random things...she called John "John" instead of "Dada" for awhile but hasn't in the last few days...today she told me I was her best friend (I didn't even know she knew those words went together)...she loves trains and will put any variety of things together to make trains (books, toys, flashcards, hair ties)...she can recite the alphabet pretty well, recognize most of her letters, and almost correctly count to 20...she loves school...her favorite TV show is Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood...and we're trying to get her into movies but she's not quite there yet.

Ada Jo, you are such a smart, sweet, determined little girl. Some days you drive me crazy but every day you make me love you even more than I did the day before. I love you so very much! Thanks for choosing me to be your mama.

My favorite pics from each of the last 6 months:

11.11.18

12.25.18

1.29.19

2.5.19

3.30.19

4.21.19