Big Boy Bed

For the last few months Pennington has been climbing out of his crib. Recently he has been climbing out of his crib at bedtime, after naps and in the morning when he wakes up. So we decided that it was about time to move to him to a big boy bed. When I was pregnant with Piper we realized we would need two cribs. We purchased a new crib for Pennington that converted into a full size bed. Some family friends of ours just moved out of the country and gifted us a full size mattress and box spring so it was good timing to change Pennington into his big boy bed. We talked to Pennington about sleeping in a big boy bed for about a week so he would be prepared for it. He was super excited about it. We slowly transitioned him into the bed by first having him sleep on his crib mattress on the floor one night and then moved him to the full size bed. Below is a picture of Pennington and Daddy on his big boy bed.

I thought I might also tell you a little bit about our bedtime routine now. After bath time the kids all go into Pennington's room to put their pajamas on, get Pacifiers (aka Pacies), read stories and sing songs before we turn the lights out. We have been working on only allowing Pennington to have a pacifier when he is sleeping. Nonnie had an idea that we would put the Pacies in the little red wagon and have Pinocchio watch them. We have coined it "Pinocchio Keeper of the Pacies". About half the time Pennington is totally fine with Pinocchio watching the Pacies and the other half of the time he has a mini temper tantrum about having to give up his Paci. Below is a picture of Pinocchio Keeper of the Pacies.

One other thing I would like to mention is that Piper thinks Pacies are cool when Pennington has one. So when we read bedtime stories Piper likes to pick out a Paci as well. Below are pictures of the kids picking out their Pacies.

One final thing I wanted to mention about Pennington's room is that we have hung up some our favorite paintings that he has made over the last year or so. Below is a picture of his paintings.

Good Little Daddy

For Piper's birthday GG and Papa got her a baby doll and Johnny and I got her a baby doll stroller. Of course Pennington would be more into the baby doll and her stroller than Piper. A few weeks ago Pennington, Piper and I went to the grocery store. Pennington insisted on taking baby doll and her stroller. He pushed baby doll around the whole store while I pushed Piper in the shopping cart. It was super sweet. I was very impressed that he stayed right by me the whole time. Pennington is going to be such a good Daddy someday.

Two Year Old Birthday Card

At my baby shower for Pennington we had the guests write birthday cards for Pennington for the first 21 years of his life. Below is the second year birthday card.

Very well written. It is exactly what my little 2 year old is up to these days.

Yearly Checkups

Piper and Pennington had their one year and two year checkups today. It is pretty awesome that we can do them together.

Our biggest concern related to Piper was the fact she doesn't sleep. Dr. Booth gave us some ideas on how to get her to sleep. Nothing that we haven't already heard but hopefully hearing it again will help.

Our biggest concern related to Pennington was the fact that he isn't talking much. As I expect Dr. Booth isn't concerned at all. He said we can worry about it when he is three or f0ur if he doesn't make any progress over the next year or so.

Overall Dr. Booth thought they both looked great.

Below are the stats:

Pennington

Height: 34 1/4 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 26 pounds (30th percentile)

Piper

Height: 29 1/2 inches (70th percentile)

Weight: 19 pounds (20th percentile)

The stats about Pennington didn't surprise me much. Pretty exactly where he has always been.

The stats about Piper did surprise me some. I can't believe she is in the 70th percentile for height. I guess my little girl is taller than I thought. I also really thought her weight was already 20 pounds. I guess I can't turn her car seat around yet. By the way, they are recommending now that you don't turn the car seat around until they are 2. It isn't law but rather a recommendation based on statistics. I have to be honest that I don't know if that is really going to work for us. Piper is close to not fitting into her infant car seat anymore which we use in Johnny's car (Element). She hardly still fits in it right now. The Element is really hard to use a rear facing car seat in. Basically instead of putting the child in from the side like you would in a normal car in the Element (due to the placement of the doors) you would have to put the child in over the top of the car seat which is really tricky and frankly probably would hurt the child since you would just have to hope they landed in the right spot. So the moral of the story is that when Piper hits 20 pounds we are going to put her in a forward facing car seat in the Element. I think in my car (Volvo) we will probably try to keep her rear facing for a while longer. If there is anything I have learned as a mom it is that recommendations change all the time (tummy or back to sleep, no bummers in cribs, rear facing car seats until they turn 2, ect.) At the end of the day if it isn't illegal you just have to do what works best for you and your child.

Fair 2011

On Tuesday the whole family went to the Western Idaho Fair. We spent time looking at all the animals which included bunnies, goats, ducks, cows, sheep, chickens, ect. Pennington got to feed the animals and even milk a cow. See picture below.

Most of the kid rides at the fair are meant for kids taller than 36 inches. Pennington is around 34 inches tall so there were only two rides that he could go on. We decided to let him ride the boat ride. He rang the bell the whole time. See picture below.

You can't go to the fair without eating fair food. We got a delicious hamburger, fries, a salad from the "Saladman", lemonade, corn on the cob, and homemade ice cream from Delsa's. Below are two pictures of Piper eating corn on the cob and salad.

We finished off the night listening to Eric Church (Country Singer) at Les Bois Park. We hung out to the side of the concert so the kids could run around and dance. Overall it was a ton of fun and a quite a beautiful summer night in Boise.

Piper One Year Old

Piper is One Year Old today! Wow was that the hardest year of my life. Looking back over the last year I have to say that it was EXHAUSTING. I got hardly any sleep, I only had time to shower very other day, and I had baby food, spit up, ect. all over myself all the time. But was it all worth it ????. . . TOTALLY. I don't regret having two little ones only one year and one week apart. It has been very rewarding and I know that it is only going to get better.

Piper was very challenging at first. She cried a lot and only wanted to be with her Mommy. I loved the fact that she was attached to me. Pennington wasn't ever really attached to me so it felt really nice to know that one of my children was. I am very happy to say that I made it a whole year breastfeeding. Part of the reason Piper was so challenging was the fact that I wanted breastfeeding to work so bad that I would let her leave my side for more than a hour for the first four months of her life. While I wasn't able to exclusively breastfeed her, I was able to breastfeed her as much as I could. We just ran out of formula today and I don't plan on buying any more. We are going to start her on Soy milk just like her brother.

Did you know that Soy milk is actually a lot better for you than cows milk? Now I know not everyone will agree with me but I am 100% okay with the fact I have been giving my children soy milk rather than cows milk. Here is the reason why. . . soy milk has no cholesterol, same amount of calcium, about 10 times more Omega-3s, 1.5g less fat (that is the only draw back as kids need fat), basically no saturated fat compared to cows milk, and best of all 33% less sugar. That's right folks LESS SUGAR. Compare the facts people soy milk is good for you. As an auditor I would like you to know that I have audited the facts on the side of the Silk soy milk containers and their facts are true. I would also like you to know that not all soy milk or cows milk is created equal. Make sure you read the labels.

Here are some fun facts about Piper:

* She likes to do pretty much everything her big brother does.

* She likes listening to bedtime stories with Pennington. The other day she brought me a book to read to her which is HUGE for Piper. She has never really enjoyed being read to until now.

* She likes to pretend to cook and clean.

* She will eat pretty much anything you put in front of her

* She currently has 5 pearly white teeth

* She makes you work for a smile

* She is just starting to consistently wave hello and goodbye. She is even starting to say goodbye.

* She knows how to sign more which looks more like clapping.

* She loves going to "Kids Club" at Golds Gym

* She can climb up the stairs at a playground and go down the slide all by herself

One other thing I just have to mention is that she has never slept through the night. Yes people I have gone an entire year sleeping less than six hours at a time. I just keep hoping at some point she will start sleeping. I tried to sleep train her but then I just gave up. I realized that she is going to be my last child and I wanted to cherish these moments of waking up with her 3 times a night and sleeping with her half the night. I know it sounds crazy but at some point I just decided it wasn't worth listening to her cry anymore. I just wanted to snuggle with her.

Little Miss Piper Mommy loves you very much. You are turning into a very special little girl. Below are a few recent pictures of my little princess.

Soccer Goal

For Pennington's birthday he got a soccer goal. Below is a video of Pennington playing soccer. This kids as some skills.

Happy Birthday Song

Below is a video of the kids blowing out their birthday candles.

No New Baby, No More Diapers Bash!

The past two years we have held the first and second annual Diaper Bash. This year since we are not expecting another child we decided to still have a Bash but changed the name to "No New Baby, No More Diapers Bash!" The bash also doubled as the kids birthday party. Since Pennington and Piper's birthday days are only 7 days apart we decided to have a joint birthday.

We invited friends and family to attend. It was a swim party in our backyard. As usually Johnny made fabulous food for everyone to enjoy. Below are a few pictures from the Birthday Bash!

Birthday Cake for Pennington, Piper and Uncle Rocky.
Pennington and Piper eating cake.

Birthday candles on the kids cakes.

Yummy food.

MK Nature Center

Last weekend I took the kids to the MK Nature Center. It was the perfect day to go. It rained a bit right before we went so when we got there all the animals were out. Pennington loved standing on the bridge watching the fish and ducks swim. Piper enjoyed looking and listening to the waterfall. One of the coolest things we did there was watch the birds eat. There is a bird viewing area that is very intimate. You feel like you are right there with the birds. We saw several different varieties of birds and ducks eating breakfast. The kids loved watching and listening to the birds. Below are some pictures of the kids watching the fish through the glass viewing area. After we went to the Nature Center we spent some time at one of our favorite parks Municipal.

Pennington TWO YEARS OLD

Pennington is officially TWO YEARS OLD today. We didn't have any big celebration today since we are having a party for both Pennington and Piper on Sunday. We talked to Pennington about how it was his birthday today but I am not 100% sure he really understood besides the fact he knows you are suppose to blowout candles on birthdays.

Pennington is turning into a real little boy who is adventurous, eager to learn and gets frustrated when he doesn't get his way. Over the last month he has started to figure out how to ride his balance bike. This kids is super athletic. He is very interested in learning what new things are and imitating what others do. He is also getting really frustrated when he doesn't get what he wants. Part of this has to do with the fact he is still not really talking. He definitely can communicate with us by using signs, pointing to things and speaking a handful of words but he isn't speaking as much as other children his age. I am very interested to see what Dr. Booth is going to say about his verbal skills at his two year checkup in a few weeks. I am not overly concerned about it since I was a later talker myself. I am sure he will start talking within the next few months.

Below are some recent photos taken of my now two year old.

Best Buds

Pennington and Piper are starting to play with each other. It is so fun to watch how they interact with each other through talking and share toys. Pennington is always making sure that Piper is included. He wants to make sure she gets food when he does and that she is coming when we leave the house. What a nice big brother. Piper is constantly trying to do whatever Pennington does. We find her imitating Pennington a lot. Below are pictures of the kiddos playing in the water table and painting.