Geoffrey - Preschooler

So Geoffrey is adjusting to preschool. Drop offs can be rough - at first he would scream and one of the teachers would need to hold him - but he seems to be doing better. Lately it has been a few tears and whimpers but that's it. The teachers all say that after Grant leaves Geoff is fine within five minutes, and he seems to have a blast playing there! Grant pointed out that he likes that Geoffrey has fun after the initial drop off- that there are other students who seem to mope the whole time their parents are gone. So I am glad that Geoffrey enjoys it.

When Grant works, he says that Geoffrey follows Ms. Lynette all over the place. Sigh. I spend far too much time worrying if his behavior is "normal." I ask Grant all the time, "Is he the only kid who cries?" "He doesn't play with other kids. Is the only one who doesn't?" "Do you think he bugs the teacher following her around?" It is so funny that I wanted him at a play-based preschool yet I am constantly worried if he is "normal," while Grant was concerned about him being in a more structured program and is perfectly relaxed with Geoffrey doing his thing.

Oh - they also are starting up a fun - non-competitive soccer program caled TOt Shots. Last Tuesday was a free class so the kids could try. Geoffrey liked it so I think we are going to sign him up!

Now that Katie is more mobile, Geoffrey is very concerned about his toys. He isn't very understanding yet and he can be kind of rough with her. Fortunately, Katie just loves the attention so for now it mostly amuses her.

Geoffrey also has this fantastic excuse that he uses with Katie and Cori, "I can't because I don't know how to share." Stinker.

Other fun Geoffrey sayings:

At the pumpkin patch Geoffrey was ready to go home. "I'm ready to go home. I'm full of fun."

Geoffrey brought his blanket, pillows, and four or five stuffed animals to the bottom of the stairs after his nap. I asked im what he was doing and he said, "That way if I fall down the stairs I can be comfy cozy."

We went to the Verizon store and Geoffrey picked up a box with a car charger in it and sauid. "This costs 4G dollars." (I am also impressed by the reading!)He also said, " I need a phone. I don't have one yet. Also a car."

We had a tickle fight one morning and he named our bed, "Tickle flower garden."

Katelyn / 9 months

So, I was planning to blog after Katleyn's 9 month visit - however, due to changing insurance types, her appointment got postponed. So I am waaaay behind!

In addition, Aunt Tammy and Uncle Andy are living with us for awhile, and I just had Back to School Night - so things have been sort of crazy!

So what has Katie been up to?

Eating - she is eating solids like a champ. We've been giving her small pieces of table foods - toast, cheese, pizza - pretty much whatever we are eating except for the allergy stuff (eggs, honey, nuts...) and she is doing great! SHe seems to love to eat! She's been doing slightly better with drinking milk at home, and she seems interested in drinking water from a sippy cup, too. She's still not doing full feedings from the bottle, but she's eating so many solids that she is fine during the day. She has not yet learned how to pick up food herself, but she'll get there!

Sleep - About three weeks ago, I cur her middle of the night feeding. At first, I offered her a bottle instead of me - for about 4 night. She didn't drink it and ended up just going back to sleep. Then I spent a few nights just picking her up and rocking her and then putting her back down. She tended to fall asleep pretty quickly. She even did a few nights where she slept straight through to 5 or 5:30. (She's been going down around 8:30 - 9:00) Then she started waking up again, and a few of those nights needed me to come in a few times to pick her up and rock her before she fell asleep. I have been implementing a new step to sleep training each weekend - so I have Friday and Saturday to adjust and I can sleep in if I need to. However with Tammy moving in and back to school night, I got off a little bit.

This weekend, however, I started not picking her up when she woke up in the middle of the night - just talking to her. She does this weird thing, though, where she sits up and cries - and I get nervous that she is so tired she can't figure out how to lay back down. So on Friday, I laid her down but didn't pick her up. Grant helped too and it took er about an hour to go to sleep. (the complicated part is when she's fussy - like making noises every few minutes - but not full out crying - to go in or not to go in???) Last night (Saturday) she slept straight through to 5:30!

So this week, we will continue with not picking her up if she cries to hopefully get her to soothe herself through the night. Eventually, if I can get her to sleep until 6:00 or 6:30 (her morning feeding is usually around 5-5:30)I wouldn't mind getting her to bed a little bit earlier - she's currently waking up around 9:00 and it would be ok if she woke up around 8.

Crawling - Katie is crawling like a champ now. She can get anywhere she wants to go, much to Geoffrey's chagrin - ha ha. She is also quite proficient at pulling herself up to standing. She has a new lion that she got from Julie and Penelope Fox that she can pull herself upto play on, and she likes her musical table, too.

She has been grinding her teeth lately. It is very disconcerting - that sound.... :::shiver::: She also still has that big bump in her mouth, so that's probably my biggest concern at her upcoming dr. appointment. If they say it has to  be removed, well, that can't be pleasant. They may just say that it is fine, but I worry because It has been there for such a long time...

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Crawling

So miss Katie is crawling! It's a new skill and she is still easing into it, but she has a cute little thing she does. She does a really great "traditional" crawl with her arms, and then she does more of a hop forward with her legs (on her knees). It's really cute! She is starting to get the idea of moving her legs one at a time but she defaults to keeping then together and doing her hop thing.

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Play Time Problem

Last night, Geoffrey and Katelyn and I were up in the play room. Katelyn was using one of Geoffrey's trash trucks to practice supporting herself on while on her knees. Geoffrey said, "Katelyn I want to play with that!"

I replied, "Geoffrey, Katelyn's using that right now. Can't you use another trash truck right now?"

"Well, That's the only side loader that I want to play with right now. That's the only one."

"Hmmm..." I said. "Well, is there a back loader you could share with Katelyn?"

"Oh!" Geoffrey says looking around at his fleet of trash trucks, "Oh, Sure! She can use this one!"

So he gently takes the side loader away and then sets the front loader (which is the same size) right where Katelyn would need it.

Problem Solved!

First Week Back / Summer Thoughts

Katelyn:

Katie has been more and more mobile. She is really good at rolling over and sitting up, and she still gets up on her hands and feet. She's not crawling yet, but she will be, soon. Still, she can do some major scooting. Or sometimes she will lay down, roll over, and sit up again just to see what new place she ends up in!

She has cut all four front teeth now!

She had a generally good attitude this first week back. On Thursday and Friday, Grant had orientation for Geoff's new school, and I, of course, was  back at school as well, so on Thursday Tammy came over to babysit with Danny and on Friday Donna and Gary were here. Katelyn (both of the kids, really) did well. There were occasional bouts of fussiness, of course, but mostly she was just fine.

THis week she has really been upping her game with solids. Grant made her carrots and she seems to LOVE them. She's also had some banana and avocado this week. I think the increase in solids is really going to help withthe fact that she isn't getting much milk during the day. She doesn't drink from a bottle or a sippy cup. Grant does mix milk into her cereal and her veggies, but she gets the bulk of her breast milk from me -

Which leads to sleep. Sleep training has been going well and she goes to sleep with little problems. I do nurse her right before she goes to sleep, but at least half - if not most nights - I still put her down awake - if she is not totally zonked I sing her a song to rouse her a bit or sometimes - if she is awake - I read her a story, aqnd then sing, and she still goes to sleep with little protesting. (She does sleep on her tummy, though. I put her in her crib and she rolls right over.) Still 0 she's waking up aprx. every four hours. This week she goes down at 9 and then wakes up at 1 and 4 and then 9 again. If she wakes up after 4, I don't wake her up to eat again and that seems to work ok. (Plus I get to work a little early.) On Friday, though, she woke up every three hours.

I feel like I should cut a night feeding so she learns to sleep longer, but I am still afraid that she needs t hat extra feeding to get enough breastmilk in her diet. She - of course - LOOKS quite healthy. She has those adorable rolls on her legs and she is well into her nine month clothes (she seems to be a very long baby, too, based on how her clothes are fitting...) Well, my plan for now is to go for another week so she can really establish solids as part of her diet, and then maybe next weekend I will think about trying to reduce or cut that 1AM feeding...

Geoff:

Geoff is happy to be home - although now he keeps saying he wants to go back to walt disney world. lol. He is loves playing with Danny, and has enjoyed having Cori and Andrew come over. Sharing is still an issue, of course. I asked him if he was excited that Katelyn was getting bigger and that she's be able to play with him more, and he said, "No because I don't want to share with her."
He was also complaining that Cori was coming over because he didn't want her to play with his toys. and I said, "Fine, do you want me to call Angie and tell her not to come over and play?" Geoffrey responds, "Well, she can come over for dinner and she can swim in the jacuzzi but that's all." 

However, I will say that he is, in his own way, trying. He will come over and take toys away from Katie, and then seem to second guess and give her another toy to replace the one he has taken. (Sometimes she cries when he takes toys away and sometimes she laughs - but if he thinks about is, he will replace her toy no matter what - as in, he doesn't just do it if she cries.) It is a start!

Geoffrey is still pushing boundaries at times, and whining/crying has become an issue - and it really irritates me, I must say! - but he doesn't seem to be nearly as bad as he was at the beginning of the summer. So hopefully he will grow out of that phase. 

Geoffrey starts preschool at Hilltop next week. It will certainly be interesting to see how he does there being left alone, how he enjoys it, and how it will affect him at home! Angie is coming over on Monday so that Grant has the option to stay with Geoffrey all day if needed so he can have at least one day to get used to the new place and the new schedule. He will be going on Mondays and Tuesdays. I am also planning to meet them at the end of his day on Monday so i can see how his first day goes! (I am so glad Hilltop is so close to Allen!)

4th tooth

Katie's fourth tooth - top, her right - is out. That is four teeth in three weeks. Really, she has been such a trooper! We haven't noticed any unusual fussiness or change in sleep habits! She's a tough girl! That's why we were so surprised every time a new tooth came in - because we didn't have any warnings to precede it.

Katelyn's third tooth

bottom - her left...

On our way home from the airport..

Geoffrey just said, "you and mommy can go on a date. Ok? Here is the plan. Take me to my house and I will play with uncle danny and then you and mommy go on a date. "

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2nd tooth

Oh wow! I have been so focused on Katelyn's 2nd bottom tooth coming out - because it feels like it will come out any day - that I didn't even notice that her top tooth came out! Top, her left. Not sure exactly when it came out, but the whole tooth is out all the way across - not just a corner - but just barely out. I actually saw it while she was laughing today!

Monday - Magic Kingdom

On Monday, we awoke to heavy rain and wind as the northern bands of Tropical Storm Isaac hit us here in Orlando. Still, in the afternoon, we headed out to Magic Kingdom...

What a great decision! The rain had all but stopped by the time we arrived - and it stayed overcast, (relatively) cool, but very humid for the rest of the day... However, the park had very light crowds - apparently the rain overnight and into the mid morning kept people away. We arrived at around 1:00 and we were on Main Street heading out at ten as the fireworks were going off - having done everything we wanted to!

We started by riding the train. Then we got off at Fantasyland and rode the Dumbos twice. Next we headed to Tomorrowland where we road Buzz Lightyear and the People Mover. Then Geoff, Kate, and I rode Buzz two or three more times while Graham, Grant, Mom, and Bobby did Stitch's Great Escape. THen Graham, Grant, and I rode Space Mountain twice (walk on - no fast pass or child swap) whole Grandma, Grandpa, Geoff, and Kate rode the People Mover and the rockets (because Geoffrey spotted the elevator!) THen we all saw Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor.

We headed over to Liberty Square and had lunch at Harbor House, followed by a trip on the Haunted Mansion. I love the hitchhiking ghosts here - they do different tricks - like taking pictures of our faces and then "switching our heads...' Fun! They are digital projections and it is much cooler then home - good update!

Then we did Fantasyland - we rode Small World, which Kately LOVES - such a visual ride -  used our group fast pass (Graham's pass needed to be activated so we got a "sorry for the delay" fast pass for our whole party) on Peter Pan, then saw Mickey's Philharmagic and road the carousel. We used fast passes to ride WInnie the Pooh and then headed over to the train in Fantasy Land. Just before getting on the train, they took Geoff on Goofy's Barnstormer. He didn't like it much - but he tried!

We rode the Train to Frontierland and took turns riding Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. We finished the evening in Adventureland by riding Pirates of the Caribbean, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin - three times without getting off! - and The Jungle Cruise.

Bck on Main Street, Graham did some shopping and we watched the fireworks. Poor Geoffrey was so tired he fell asleep before they ended! We took the monorail back to the Polynesian and visited Captain Cooke's - where they have dole whip on tap! Yes! What a perfect treat to end the day!

katelyn - Little miss Mobile

Katelyn has gotten very mobile!

Starting in Hawaii, as I mentioned, she was getting up on her hands on feet - like a plank position - and then naturally scoorting backwards. The movement wasn't intentional - but it was a start. Mostly, she's happy when someone sits her up. But she's been more and more interested in reaching for things out of her arm reach - so she's been reaching for toys more often. At first, she would often fall onto her belly, reach for the toy,  and then get frustrated until someone picked her back up.

Lately here at Disney World, she's been able to reach things out of reach, keep her balance better, and sort of scoot towards things or rotate towards them a little bit.

And just the other night (Tuesday - Aug. 28th) she figured out - all of a sudden, how to sit up on her own from laying on her stomach! It was late and she only did it a few times, but on Wednesday, she really honed the skill and she really has it down now! A new frontier! Now if she falls, she can get herself back up! Yeah, Katelyn!

Today, she is not only sitting herself up, she's using the same movement to scoot herself closer to new toys by rotating and moving her butt. SHe's really learning how to use this new skill of sitting up to help her get to where she wants to go (at a very preliminary level) and at the very least, to rotate towards things she wants to see.

She also spends a lot of time rocking from a sitting position into a crawling position and then pushing back into sitting.
This motion - coupled with all of the planking and scooting backwards - just makes me think she is going to take off crawling any day now! SHe's got the lunging forward motion, and she has the muscular strength, all she needs is to figure out how to keep moving forward!

Then - look at Geoffrey - she LOVES those train tracks of yours!

Sunday - Fun Day

On Sunday, we headed out to the Outlet center. we were on a quest to find Geoffrey some Doc McStuffins characters - Particularly Stuffy, but Chilly and Lambie would be cool, too. No one seems to have them, so we may just end up getting them online. We did get Geoffrey some cool green sandal crocs, and we got some pillow pals from the character warehouse.

We also spent some time watching the weather channel - Tropical Storm isaac was expected to hit the tip of Florida tonight and into tomorrow so we spent time watching it form, as well as playing games like Scattegories and Mario Party.

Graham flew in late Sunday night!

Haunted mansion

Geoffrey sees madam leota and asks, "daddy? Where's her legs and toes and stuff?"



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Saturday - Animal Kingdom

Saturday was a great day at the Animal Kingdom! We arrived in the early afternoon and saw "It's Tough to be a Bug."

We enjoyed an awesome safari - the giraffes were SO CLOSE to the vehicles - in fact, we were stopped on the savannah for some time as the giraffes were blocking the jeep in front of ours! We saw the Legend of the Lion King and then had lunch at flame tree bbq (I actually met them there and got a roast beef pita with cucumber mint sauce from a small "snack" window at the edge of Africa - yum!). We saw Nemo, the musical, and then split up - Grandpa Bobby took Geoffrey to ride Triceratop Spin and play inthe bone yard while Grant, Mom, KAtelyn and I went to Expedition Everest. We had figured we would do child swap, but the line was a walk on - so swapping ride partners while one waited with Katelyn, we each rode four times!

We met up at Kilaminjaro Safari to do one more evening ride. As it was one of the last jeeps to leave our tour was a bit more leisurely. We had great luck with the animals - the white rhino was quite near the vehicle, we got to see the leopards running around, and we saw the female lion grooming and the male lion pacing!

What a perfect day! We came home and swam for a bit before having dinner and going to bed!

Thursday & Friday Animal Kingdom Lodge to Indian Creek

We decided to spend our last full day at Animal Kingdom Lodge enjoying the resort. We did the cookie decorating, and then spent the afternoon swimming - going down the slide, splashing, and having fun! We had skyline chili in our room, played Indiana Jones life and scatagories, and just hung out together.

We checked out on Friday. Grant and Bobby took all of our stuff to our new house while we hung out in the community hall playing and doing some art projects.

Then the boys picked us up and we all headed over to our rental house in the Indian Creek neighborhood. The house is very nice - a tract home. It was recently redone. It is four bedrooms on one floor. The garage has a pool table and a kinect set up in it. Geoffrey's room is decorated with Lightning McQueen and the other kids bedroom, is decorated with princesses. Grant and I have a room with a queen bed, and Katie is sleeping in our bathroom. The master bath, where mom and bobby are, has a nice big soaking tub. There is a pool in the back, and our house backs up to a nature reserve so it has a nicer view then, say, another house.

We had lunch at Cracker Barrel, and then we unpacked, swam, napped, and played at the park. We had dinner at Texas Road House, and then used a groupon to go mini golfing and feed alligators that they kept at the course. It was a late night but fun!

Wednesday- Disney's Hollywood Studios

On Wednesday we went to Disney's Hollywood Studios. It was a nice, overcast day and never got too hot! Wwe saw a lot of the shows - Beauty and the Beast, Lights, Motors Action! Indiana Jones, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We also rode Star Tours, Thr Great Movie Ride, and TOwer of Terror. Geo even got some play time in the Honey I shrunk the audience play area!.

Geoff was so cute when we saw lights motors action - when Lightning McQueen came out he said, "but, but this is only a show for real cars!"

He was also very brave and went on Star Tours again!

katelyn's first tooth

Came up on Tuesday Aug. 21 at EPCOT. Literally during the day. It wasn't there in the morning - it was stretched tight but not quite out - and there it was at night! She wasn't TOO fussy - but she did have an off day where she wasn't quite as happy as she normally is. Way to go, Katelyn!

Tuesday - EPCOT

The weather has been really unusual while we are here. For the most part not too hot. Lots of drizzly, overcast weather that really brings the temperature down. Last night at EPCOT was a good example. When we first arrived, it POURED for about 30 minutes. We went to innoventions and did our character meet (Mickey and Pluto today! Katelyn played with Pluto while Geoffrey got some Mickey time at the end. He is warming up to the characters - but he wants to play cat and mouse first and we don't always have time for that!) before heading out to Living with the Land. We got a child swap so Mom and Bobby and Grant could ride Soarin. WE all rode Living with the Land and then Geo, Kate, and I rode the land again, and the elevator and the escalators, while they did SOarin.

We met up at the Imagination Pavillion and rode Figment and then Captain EO (Geoffrey now "gets" 3-d glasses and he cringed whenever the empress came on with her creepy fingernails.

We headed over to the world showcase and did the Phineas and Ferb Adventure in Mexico and rode the Mexico boat ride. "This is like Small WOrld!" Geoffrey said. We ate dinner at the Mexico pavilion - yum!

WE headed to Norway and rode Maelstrom, and then to CHina to watch the Circle Vision. As we looked for a spot to watch Illuminations, Geoffrey fell asleep. As we waited for the show, I discovered Katelyn's little tooth had finally popped out! I had noticed earlier that it felt REALLY close - I mean it was pushing against that gum like no one's business. She was fussy - not horribly - but you could tell she wasn't feeling well - and now there her tooth is here! It is the bottom one on her right. I think the other one will be out soon, too.

After Illuminations, we went to see the American Adventure. THen we stopped at the Patisserie for some treats before heading out. Grnat and I decided to do a "quick" ride on Mission Space - but it turned out longer because the ride we were in line for broke down so we had to move to the other ready room and it ended up taking a LONG time. sigh.

I love EPCOT!

Monday - Typhoon Lagoon

On Monday, Mom and Bobby took a break while Grant, Geoff, Katelyn and I headed to Typhoon Lagoon. We had fun playing in the kid area - they had a little raft ride that Geoffrey did a few times. Then we rode in the Lazy River. Typhoon Lagoon is awesome because most of the slides don't have height limits and Geoffrey was able to go down them with his vest on. He went on one of the big tube rides (keelhaul falls?) with no problems!

Geoffrey's favorite - which surprised me - was when we spent time in the wave pool during the big huge waves. Along the side of the wave pool there are too body slides. I distinctly remember on our last visit saying that Geoffrey would probably enjoy these slides on his next visit, and he did! He rode them several times. THen the big waves started and we headed into the lagoon. Geoffrey LOVED getting bowled over by the big waves! Katelyn and I found a shady spot on the side of the wave pool. We would sit and splash and then stand up when the big wave came in. So fun!

Next, we rode the lazy river to the other side of the park and decided to check out the storm slides, which are the three body slides. With no height limit - we decided to give it a try and Geoffrey LOVED it. Grant and I took turns waiting with Katelyn and taking Geoffrey on the slides. SO FUN. Grant and I each got to go twice - and Geoffrey four times - before they closed the park due to a thunder storm - It was five and the park closed at 6. The storm moved in REALLY QUICKLY - and we ended up taking shelter rather far from our stuff. It moved out pretty quickly, too, but not fast enough for the park to reopen.

We headed back to our hotel where Grandpa Bobby had dinner ready. We ate, and then went down to look at the Savannah with night vision goggles. I checked out some board games from the community hall and played Yahtzee Jr. with Geoffrey and then Grant, Bobby, Mom, and I played Taboo.