AUGUST(end)- We celebrated my 32nd bday with some friends (josh surprised me!) and good wine!
SEPTEMBER- Labor Day, we traveled to my mom's to celebrate my 32nd bday. The kids did great traveling even though Keegan slept maybe 1 hour each way. I finally felt comfy with traveling with him since he did so well. :) Then Mia and I went to Cali to visit our good friends from the 4th to the 9th. She did well on the flights despite the tantrums she took in cali and Den airports. Then the following weekend they stayed with the Carrolls while Josh and I went camping with some PSU friends. It was the first time we left them alone and they (and we!) did very well!
OCTOBER- Josh and I celebrated our 7th year anniversary and went out to a very good Sushi place in Wilmington while the Carrolls watched the kids (they were sleeping). Josh got me a very nice wool sweater and I got him a copper wine enhancer (copper and wool are 7 year anniversary gift themes). We had a great time! We also went to a few pumpkin patches with the kids and bought some cute pumpkins, two of which we picked ourselves. Josh then flew to Italy on the 13th and I drove up to my parents (the kids did great traveling!) this past weekend and spent some time with them. We got Mia's and Keegan's pics taken at Sears and grandpa came along which helped a ton! I also went to my cousin's wedding while the kids stayed with Grandpa...they had a good time! We had a great time visiting with my parents, playing in the leaves and at the playground with grandpa. Can't wait to visit again. :) And now that Josh is home, I'm much less stressed out. :) We can't wait for Halloween when Mia will dress as Minnie Mouse and Keegan Mickey Mouse! Should be fun!
MY KIDS
KEEGAN
Keegan is almost 14 months old (tomorrow)
and is one happy baby! He loves to babble and mock what we say. He loves to point at things and loves to turn light switches on and off. He is obsessed with them!!!! Keegan likes to also play in Mia's playroom...well now I guess it's his playroom too! He also still sucks his thumb when he is sleepy and lovessss to lay his head on us and snuggle. We have our little ritual before naptime and bedtime when we rock together on the glider and sing. He snuggles with me and it's just priceless! Keegan also likes to "shake it" when he hears music. It's cute to see!Weight
He weighs about 24 lbs now and had his 1 year baby well appt over a month ago (see blog below). Our doc said Keegan is developing well and is right on track for his weight and height (50% tile for each).
Words
Keegan can say Mama, Dada, ba for ball ite and laaaa for light and nana (on 9-22) whenever he sees a banana. Keegan hasn't done any signs yet but we are still teaching him them.
Mobility
Well Mr. Keegan is one walking pro! As of about a month ago, he just started taking like 15 steps at a time and now he is walking a ton! I guess I can stop counting! haha! He still crawls but really loves to walk! It is just too cute to see him waddle....then plop down on his butt.
Eating
Keegan eats just about anything except for veggies. He is not too fond of eating vegetables and knows when we try to give him something green, orange or yellow. He's too smart! He did eat soup for Josh which had veggies in it so I'm going to try to give him that more often. Keegan also eats meat, bread, pasta, cheerios, applesauce, cheese, yogurt, star puffs, wagon wheels...almost anything! He just starting getting better at eating since his front teeth have come through three weeks ago along with a bottom and top side as of this past week.
Teeth
Keegan now has 7 teeth and one coming in, the top left side one. He's cranky today and has a running nose so it's prob that tooth. He also got up close to 4am today and didn't go back down for me even after he took some milk. Keegan just wasn't happy. He finally went down at 6am after taking some Motrin. Anywho, he isn't as cranky as Mia was when she got teeth but he does get up in the early morning hours (at least once) which Mia did not. I remember Mia having a running nose and temp and just being a crankster. Keegan's nose is running but not bad like hers was and he did get a high temp with two of the top front/side teeth. It got to about 102 for a couple days and he just didn't nap very well although he slept ok at night. We gave him Motrin which seemed to work better than Tylenol. Poor guy!
Sleep
Keegan is a good sleeper at night and during naps except for when he's teething. He started getting back up around 5am just this past weekend due to this bottom and top left side teeth which started coming in on Tuesday. He didn't have a high temp like he did last time he got teeth (3 weeks ago) but he was cranky when he'd wake up early and I had to give him a milk (from a straw sippy at my mom's) so he wouldn't wake up Mia (who was asleep in the pullout couch). He then went back down after that but he was pretty antsy and screamish until I gave him some milk. Other than that, he goes to bed b/t 7-8pm and sleeps until 7am as of lately. Keegan slept 12 hours two nights this week (Sun and Tues) which is a record. I can't complain b/c he goes right down and is one happy baby at 7am! He is always smiling!
MISS MIA
Well Mia is one busy 3 year old is all I can say! She is always playing with her animals or in her playroom. She likes to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse along with Dora and Pooh. Mia also likes to dress up with her shoes from Nana and push her stroller with an animal in it. It's cute to see! She just started having me count to 20 with her and loves it when I snuggle with her at night and sing You Are My Sunshine. She'll ask me to snuggle with her animals too. :)
Mia also loves to go to preschool with her boyfriend (haha) Noah...they are too cute together! She loves her teacher and does very well with the 3 other kids who are in her class. I'll drop her off and she gives me a hug/kiss and says bye. She doesn't cry or anything and takes right to it. I love it too b/c the school is pretty close to my house relative to the schools I looked at.
Miss Mia is a great big sis! She really loves Keegan and likes to lay in his crib with him. :)
There are times when she doesn't want him to have her toys so we have to work on that. She does try to feed him like I caught her doing today. She tried to feed him yogurt while I was rinsing off the dinner dishes. It was cute and messy! Mia does very well with Keegan and is a big help if I need her to get something for me or to make Keegan laugh. I love it!Mia is excited for Halloween and will tell you that she is going to be Minnie Mouse. I had her try it on the other day and it is so stinken cute. She loved it! It's going to be cut to see her with Mickey Mouse (Keegan). :) Nana and Pop Pop Carroll are coming trick or treating with us so it should be fun!
Mia is so much fun at 3 yet she can be handful at times. Those temper tantrums she takes...not sure where they come from! It all happened right when she turned 3!! It is the terrible 3s isn't it! I try my best to reprimand her by putting her in time out and explaining why she is there. Usually she'll kick and scream but after a few minutes (at least 3 mins b/c she's 3), she calms down and then says sorry. I hope the 4s are better! :)
Josh and I are doing well and enjoying our little kiddies. They are so much fun to be around and to see them interact with each other is priceless. It has gotten a lot easier to travel with the kids now that they are older (well now that Keegan is older and can sit still in the car seat). I feel a ton more comfy traveling with them up to Scranton more so now than I did 3 or 4 months ago. He will usually sleep a bit in the car if I don't let him nap before we go. It's def not as long as he would nap in the crib (maybe an hour to 1 1/2 hours) but I'll take it.
Josh has been
traveling a bit lately and just got back from Italy tonight. He missed the kids a ton...and me too! It was his 2nd visit in 6 months. It was def tough doing everything by myself but it was easier than it was when he left for 3 weeks in April. I just hope he doesn't have to travel any time soon!As for me,
I am trying to tone up some muscle and was running here and there for a bit but that kind of came to a stop once it got darker at like 6. I am waiting (STILL) for the clubhouse exercise room to open up...been waiting since the spring! It's awful. Lately I've been too busy to exercise but I do have to find the time since I feel it is very important.Things here in DE are going well and I like it a lot more than I did 6 months ago. I have some good friends I hang out with daily and Mia has her little friends she plays with. DE may be growing on me but I still want to migrate West. There's just something about the west! We're going to be visiting the Lasasters in CO in two weeks and can't wait!
Anywho, the winter weather is springing upon us (ugh!). It hasn't gotten to the 30s yet but it's right around the corner. I hate having to bundle up to go outside but oh well. :) I'm so used to the cali "winter" weather...50s and sunny!!! We didn't have a bad winter last year so hopefully it's the same this year...although I'd love to get "hit" with snow! It is pretty here when it snows as it is everywhere I'm sure.
Well we hope you all are doing as well as we are. Be sure to check out our family pics when you have a chance (on the left side of this page). Happy Halloween!!!
Love,
Cathy, Josh, Mia and Keegan
