Summer 2015 birthdays

We had a family birthday party to celebrate Bradley's 4th birthday. We also lumped Sean's birthday in there since we had both grandparents over and Sean's birthday was the following week.
It was dinosaur themed, which has been Bradley's obsession for the last year or two. He had a wonderful time and loved eating cake and punch!

Sean's party was at Bounce U. We had so many friends show up, considering it was in the middle of summer. Sean's Star Wars cake was a hit and everyone had a great time jumping around and seeing each other after a month off from school. Sean's Hugo and camp friends were in the mix.

From the doc
Bradley's stats: 39.5 inches
Sean's stats: 44.5 inches

Bradley loves tagging along with his brother, loves dinosaurs and still loves giving mommy kisses.
Sean loves Star Wars, tball, swimming and playing video games.

Preschool Graduation

I am so proud of my Sean-bear (what I called him when he was a baby - and sometimes still do!). He has grown so much this past year and his school is mostly to be credited. He had amazing teachers and a wonderful class. He made friends and has learned so much. I feel very confident in his abilities to be a great student in kindergarten and beyond.
We celebrated his preschool graduation and we are now off for the summer! Here is he looking very dapper in his shirt and tie.

Bradley needed to go on stage and have his picture taken. He will be standing there in 2 years, following his brother's footsteps.

Sean's class performed a few end of year songs including, If all the Raindrops, Do you know the Muffin Man, This Little Light of Mine, and Six Little Ducks. Here is an excerpt from the Raindrop song.

Sean's wonderful teachers Mrs. Stinebaugh and Mrs. Geraghty. And their ice cream gifts that Sean and I made for them:

 

Preschool Graduation

Sean graduated from 3 year old preschool. He is going into Pre-K in the fall and then will be in Kindergarten. The kids in his class put together a very cute play called "Going on a Bear Hunt". Sean has grown up so much this past year and you can really tell in this picture below juxtaposing his first and last day of school.

After the presentation the kids played with each other and the parents on the playground. We were able to find Ms. Sally, one of his three teachers, albeit his main one. 

The proud parents and brother Bradley with the graduate

Bradley's firsts

Brad has been babbling for months, but I can now make out specific words. His best word, and first that I officially would count a word besides dada and mama, is duck. He gets excited when he sees ducks, swans, geese or anything that resembles a duck. His favorite game is to repeat words that I point out in his books and on his B. squishy blocks. We do this for a LONG time. He is pretty good at turtle, and of course mommy and daddy (mama and dada). He is getting better at Sean but still says "ja".
Yesterday, Bradley started "school". I was pretty nervous, but handled it better than the first day Sean went to school. Bradley goes to an in-home daycare center. It was highly recommended and the owner has been doing this for over 30 years. She teaches everything from cooking, history, and art to potty training! And the best thing is that Brad can play with other kids his age. He will only go one day a week until next year. I was going to wait a few more months but my babysitter who I have used since Sean was 1, took a new job and I couldn't get anything done between Brads naps and driving Sean to and from preschool!
Bradley cried on drop off and pick up but apparently was fine in between. He will hopefully be more adjusted as the weeks go by.

Is naptime over?

Sean's naps may be over. He has gone through phases where he may not take a nap and then resumes taking a nap again. However, as he gets closer to 4, the age when naps pretty much vanish, I am thinking that the days of afternoon naps from my oldest are out the window. Unfortunately this does not mean that we can actually go anywhere in the afternoon. We are both stuck at home while Bradley dozes from 1-4pm. Although Sean still gets "quiet time" in his room every day, I miss when both boys napped and I would get a few hours to myself. And as winter approaches, I find that I have to get creative to keep Sean happily busy indoors. We have been going to the library every few weeks to rent dvds and find new books. Once a week, Sean helps me bake cookies, brownies, etc. We color, play pirates, and do art projects. I have been getting ideas on pinterest and from other moms for activity ideas, plus buying a few toys a month to rotate into our already large selection has kept the boys very entertained. I am hoping the winter passes by quickly because nothing beats playing outside when we are cooped up at home.

 Painting

One of Sean's rare naps

Sean starts preschool

Sean started preschool the first week of September. He was pretty excited before we left the house. See pic below. We went to the same school he had been attending for toddler school, but to a different classroom, so it wasn't that big of a change for him. Matt was able to come too, which was even more fun for Sean. On the first day, they let us stay a little longer. The 3 teachers took pictures of each family and by the time I picked him up, the picture of our family was taped to his cubby. So cute! He loves his preschool and his teachers. I asked him if he wanted to invite a friend over from school and he said yes! I asked him which friend, and he said Ms. Sally! Haha. Cutest preschooler ever.

Bradley's First Birthday

Bradleys first birthday party came and went. It was such a blur with the stress of the move that putting it together was easy, it was bumblebee themed complete with a 3-D beehive cupcake tower. Brad was happy and very good at his party. Here are some pics below. On his actual birthday, we decided to go out as a family of four for a laid back dinner at Original Pancake House. The boys enjoyed this more than the party, hehe.

Here is the beehive cupcake display! The beehive was from Party Cakes.

Bradley happy after eating his cupcake!

Sean with his cupcake!



Bradley Pre-Walking

We brought this toy up from the basement and Bradley took to it like a champ in about an hour! He is so ready to walk, but I think it may take a month or two until he's completely physically ready. But who knows? I heard that second children are a bit earlier because they're trying to run after their older siblings.

Potty Training

We potty trained Sean the last weekend of April. I had been dreading this milestone, but know we had to eventually teach him. It actually wasn't as bad as I thought. We did the 3 day potty training method which has Sean only in underwear. No pullups or diapers at naps or nighttime. We only had a few accidents and for Sean, it clicked! It took an extra week for him to become confident to go at school (probably because he only goes twice a week), but even that has been mastered! I am so proud of Sean and still can't believe I don't have to change his diapers anymore. I am still anticipating accidents here and there, but I think the main idea of going to the bathroom and realizing that he is never wearing diapers has been instilled in Sean's routine.

And we're mobile!

Brad turned 8 months on Leap Day! This past month he learned to crawl and started saying mama (besides baba and some other sounds that aren't as important, hehe). Brad crawls best when it's something he is not supposed to have like a laptop wire or anything Sean is playing with at the moment. Sean also has taken a liking to some baby toys so I have to remind him not to take the rattle out of Brad's hands!
These past few weeks we've been sicky poos in our house (including me on my and Matt's 6th anniversary!) so I hope we kick this cold bug soon before our vacation to Mississippi.
I can't believe March is already here. 6 more months and we will get to say bye to our house! I will be sad to leave the house we've had so many memories in, but I will mostly be HAPPY to have more space!

Here's a video of Brad crawling over to Sean. I love how Sean still calls Brad "baby" or "baby Bradley".

Rolling Over and Sitting, Sean's Art Class

Brad has become more animated. He talks and makes funny noises all the time. He has also been rolling over and tripod sitting. He first rolled over, intentionally, on December 4th from back to front. He has rolled front to back before, but now has decided he is stuck when he rolls back to front so we have to rescue him every so often. He can also tripod sit, but eventually leans too far forward to try and get whatever is in front of him. Sadly, he also had his first cold this past week, but he is on the mend and is almost back to his loud, active self. Above is Brad in his Santa hat, which is the picture we used for our Christmas cards this year.
Sean and I completed his art class last week. We could only go to half the classes because we were pretty busy this month, but they were very fun classes. Sean painted a clay snowman, painted a plate with his hand-print that was then glazed later, and lastly, decorated a gingerbread house. He wanted to eat the candy afterward, but had enough self control to wait for the teacher to give him a lollipop (sucker) after class.

Weekend Up North

We went up north this past weekend. It was great to get out of the house for a few days for a change of scenery. Sean had a blast playing with Grandma and Grandpa Herstein. He was the center of attention for a change while Mom and Dad could attend to Bradley. We decided to unswaddle Brad at night and he is sleeping through the night like that now. It's been 3 days and the night wakings and feedings have virtually stopped again. I guess he was done with the swaddle. I've also been putting him down for naps awake instead of asleep and that has cut down my rocking time by A LOT. I think being a mom is much easier the second time around.
I can't wait to go up north again, hopefully sometime this winter. Perhaps Sean will have a blast again and Brad will get through another milestone!

The big 3-0

I turned 30 on October 17th. On October 16th, my parents came over to watch the kids so Matt and I could go out to eat. I had been craving Mongolian BBQ throughout my pregnancy so I finally got to go. The food and sauces are completely different from the last time I went. I think I did a pretty good job with my dish. Matt bought me pajama jeans for my birthday gift. I have been wanting a pair and can't wait to try them out.
The day of my birthday was a Monday so I took the kids to our weekly playgroup. My friends are so sweet; they all sang Happy Birthday as we walked in to Julie's house. What a nice surprise! Later that afternoon, I got another surprise! Flowers were delivered to me from Matt and were waiting on the doorstep! That evening, Matt brought home a purple cake. Sean liked that gift the best =)

Ready to go out

That night, Brad gave us the best present. He slept through the night with no feedings. What is really strange about that is Sean did the exact same thing on my birthday two years ago. I blogged about it here: Reena En Vie: Birthday Weekend

Bradley's Baptism

Bradley had his baptism last weekend. We invited our families to brunch at Kruse and Muer and then went on to Holy Name Parish in Birmingham for the ceremony. The day went quite smoothly and Brad's godparents, Ashwin and Jenny, did a great job. I was surprised to see the 5 other "babies" were almost a year or older. Brad was definitely the youngest baby there.

Bradley's First Tub Bath

It was last week and he did not cry at all! He was pretty curious and alert the whole time. After I scooped him out of the tub, he had the saddest pout and then became upset until I wrapped him up in a towel. Such a sweet boy.



All clean!

And we are moving on to 3 word phrases!

Today Sean said "baby drink bottle". Wow, that came out of nowhere. He has said "bye bye daddy" and "I see ___" which is technically 3 words, but I feel this new phrase is a little more advanced.

Sean's first haircut

Well, Sean has had a ton of haircuts at home since he was born with a full head of hair. However, yesterday, I took Sean for his first professional haircut at the Great Clips down the street. I felt it was time because Matt and I are not so great with the scissors and Sean's hair was becoming really thick and very unmanageable.
Some places don't let the child sit on the mom's lap, but this place let me do whatever I wanted. I had Sean on my lap and had to hug him the entire time since he was terrified. After a while he stopped clinging so much and just silently cried the rest of the time. I feel like it was a major milestone for us and now we don't have to worry about giving him a haircut for a few months, phew! Hopefully he becomes a bit more comfortable every time we go.

School

Sean has been going to school (Toddler Program) since March 22nd. The teachers tell me he loves to play outside, build with blocks and is a very good boy. I was very hesitant to start Sean in school, but with his shy demeanor and clingy-ness, I thought some socialization would be good for him. Plus, my siblings and I all started school around this time and we are very smart people =)

I would not call this daycare at all. The ratio of teachers to students is 1 to 3 and the subjects that they learn include reading, art, math, communication (sign language and speaking), physical fitness (outside or gym), and social learning (potty training and self-feeding). They also spend time with the "older" kids (preschool) and infants every week. I've only heard wonderful things about this school and feel better knowing that Sean is at a top-notch institution.

The first day was rough. However, after meeting the teachers and speaking to the director again I knew Sean would be okay, even though I was not. I left the toddler room in tears as I headed to my car. The director stopped me, handed me a kleenex, and sat with me for a few minutes. I truly appreciate how comfortable they made me feel and felt a little embarrassed about the tears, lol. She went back to check on him and reported that he was eating breakfast in his high chair and had picked a little dog figurine to keep him company on his tray. I felt much better leaving knowing that!

A few weeks later- Sean cries everytime I leave him, yet he stops completely and plays happily the second he doesn't see me anymore. Today, he actually went right to his favorite teacher, Miss Nicky, and hugged her while I put his things away. The teachers tell me that I am very lucky to have a boy with his temperament since he is very mild-mannered and wonderfully behaved. I DO feel lucky to have Sean and think that every day.

My first gingerbread house

My friend had a gingerbread house party a few weeks ago. We decorated our own houses while listening to Christmas music and eating pizza and candy. I have never decorated a house before (and my friend made these from scratch!) and with everyone bringing an assortment of candy, there were so many options to choose from. I decided to go with a pink theme and am happy with my first house. I made the tree from an upside ice cream cone and also made a penguin skating rink! Sean ate the two pretzels that would have been the front part of my fence, lol.


Click on the picture to get a better look!

Walking!

Sean walked more than a few steps on Thursday night! I was in the kitchen and he decided to try and walk from the living room to where I was. He got about 3/4 of the way! Now he walks whenever we say "walk to mommy/daddy" or just whenever he feels like it! I need to get a video of him in action!