For hours of fun, all we have to do is give Max the fly swatter. He will attempt to get things off the counter, swat the walls, chase his brother and more recently:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1J19sWPVK0
Sincerely,
The Buffs
Friday, November 19, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
October Fun
In October, the weather finally starts to get cooler in Georgia, well sort of... Some parts of the U.S., are already receiving temperatures of 32 degrees and even snow. Here, you might have to wear a sweater when you leave the house in the morning and by afternoon, it's time for short sleeves! Still I love Georgia, and October is a good month because the days start getting shorter (ew) and the weather starts getting cooler (yay!)
Thadeus and Max having fun riding the "big green tractor" as Thadeus calls it.
Max's first ear of corn....and I had a hard time prying it from his hands!
Yes, there's Jerime and Thadeus in a FERRIS WHEEL. I could not believe it. This was the very first time Jerime and I had taken a trip to the Georgia National Fair. It's kinda funny to me because our Health District (Houston County Environmental Health is included) regulates all the food booths among other sanitary requirements for the event. In the almost six years I've worked for the North Central Health District, I've been invited to assist or observe the food booth permitting and inspections, and always opted out. This year I did not visit as an inspector either. Since Thadeus was finally old enough to handle a long HOT day, we decided to go. It was a LOT of fun. We did, in fact, dress Thadeus in a long sleeved shirt and before we got into the park all the way, had to roll his sleeves up. It was so hot. He saw the Ferris Wheel and was ready to go. Jerime and I took turns riding rides with Thadeus. I could handle that--as I really never liked all the adult rides....
There they are...my goodness.
Here we are waiting on the "roller coaster." P.S. I never rode a real roller coaster until I met Jerime. The summer of 2005 was the first time I ever rode a roller coaster. I really don't care for them...but this one, I could handle.
An exotic petting zoo was at the Georgia National Fair. He loved the giraffes!
The next weekend, GeeGee and I took the kids to The Rock Ranch. It was pretty awesome. The best time to go is when they have the balloon glow. During the day you can ride the hot air balloons. Don't worry, they are tethered to the ground. At night they have the balloon glow--I can't wait to experience that. This is a great place for children. Ages 3 and under get in free. For $14 per person, it really can be an all day event. There are a lot of fun things to do...a must see. Here is a photo of Thadeus and Maximillion at The Rock Ranch pumpkin patch!
Pony Rides!
Time for snacks.
At 3pm the balloons were up. No rides for us this year...
GeeGee and the kids.
Pretty.
This weekend mama and I visited Twin Oaks. It's off Johnsonville Road. A little less exciting than the Rock Ranch but there is a stellar play ground there. Here are the long stemmed pumpkins they picked out for themselves....
The baby pumpkin patch.
Max can pick these up!
Meme and the kids.Tomorrow we hope to carve our pumpkins....then next weekend we get to play dress up in our costumes as we go trick or treating at family homes ....a blast. A great way to enjoy family and be thankful.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Another tooth
Max got a third tooth today! A top one! (top left) or the left maxillary central incisor, to be exact. Anyway, it is awesome!
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Prayer
So, our routine right before bed with Thadeus is to read a book, then a bible story and then we pray.
Tonight, I started prayer as usual with, "Dear Jesus, Thank you for..."
I didn't even get to finish the sentence...as Thadeus completed it with "...sandwiches."
I thought that was the cutest thing ever.
Oh, and I might add that...just because we tell him it is bed time and have this routine--bedtime may actually be two hours later. So, even though I tuck him in at 8 or 8:30--some nights he fights and fights it...up and down...can I go pee-pee mama.....up again down again...and by 10:30 we are nodding off and are awaken by his clunking around in his room....but never the less--he does go to sleep eventually.
There is a really good article on this subject from Baby Center:
Why preschoolers resist bedtime:
If you're like most parents, you're all too familiar with this scenario: You put your preschooler to bed at 8:30 at night, hugging and kissing her and wishing her sweet dreams. It's been a long day, but still the dinner dishes await, you have bills to pay, the dog needs to be walked and the cat fed, and you haven't had a spare moment to put your feet up. But instead of spending the rest of the evening catching up on your chores and clocking some precious time with your partner, you're in and out of your child's room, cajoling her to sleep. She finally nods off — about three hours after she first went to bed.Take heart: Bedtime can be rough for a preschooler. On the one hand, she's learning to assert herself and her newfound independence (hence the jack-in-the-box action on her bed). On the other hand, she's fearful of what it means to be on her own. "Fighting sleep is a way to take control, but it's also a way to stave off fears that come with the night," says Jodi A. Mindell, associate professor of psychology at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and the author of Sleeping Through the Night. Monsters under the bed, boogiemen in the closet, thunderstorms, bugs — those are pretty scary things to deal with when you're all alone in the dark!
What you can do about bedtime battles
Set aside some time to talk to your child about her day. Your preschooler may be fighting sleep simply because she needs time to check in with you at the end of her day. Especially if you work long hours yourself, allot some time before bed to chat with her about goings-on at preschool and to get the scoop on the latest dramas in her social life. You may find that she's more amenable to sleep if she's had a chance to unburden herself.Stick to a bedtime routine. Make a pictorial chart for your preschooler to follow — including her bath, teeth brushing, bedtime story, and goodnight kiss. Also include her usual (and reasonable) requests — like that second sip of water or a peek at the moon. Give her some notice before it's time to start the routine each night ("Sophie, five minutes before bath time!"). Try not to let her dawdle, or drag things out with activities that aren't part of the ritual — no third glass of water or round of "Baby Beluga," for instance.Motivate her. When your preschooler goes to bed on time, the rewards for you are obvious. Make it clear what's in it for her too. The morning after she sticks with the routine, praise her and give her a sticker to put on a special chart. Offer her a reward — like a new book or a visit to her favorite playground — once she stays in bed three nights in a row. (Start small — for a preschooler, a few days is a long time to hang in there!)Offer choices. Refusing to go to bed is a powerful way for your child to assert herself. So it might help to find an acceptable means of allowing her to be assertive. Let her decide whether she wants to hear Silverstein poems or a Ranger Rick story before lights-out, for instance, or ask her if she'd like a sip of water before or after she climbs into bed. Be careful to offer only choices you can live with; if you ask "Want to go to bed now?" you probably won't like the answer you get.Be calm but firm. Even if your preschooler cries or pleads for an exception to the going-to-bed rule, stand your ground. If you're frustrated, don't engage in a power struggle. Speak calmly and quietly but insist that when time's up, time's up. If you give in to her request for "five more minutes, please," you'll only hear it again tomorrow night.Teach your preschooler to fall asleep alone. If your child depends on you to stay with her while she falls asleep, now's a good time to encourage her to doze off on her own. You might give her some incentive by promising to check on her in five minutes. Reassure her that she's safe and that you're nearby.Take the stepladder to success. You can't expect your child to learn, in one fell swoop, how to go to bed and sleep all night according to your perfect scenario. Take it one step at a time: If your preschooler's used to falling asleep in your bed, maybe her first step is to fall asleep in her own. Her second step could be learning to limit her nocturnal "escapes" to one per night, or calling for you only once without actually getting up. Build your way to the ultimate goal (sleeping through the night without a peep) in successive, successful steps.Problem solve. Figure out why your preschooler finds it tough to keep her head on the pillow at night. Ask about her specific objections to bedtime — is it because she's not tired? Scared? It's too quiet? Offer her a flashlight if she's afraid of the dark. Eliminate nighttime TV if the shows make her jumpy. Let her drift off to recorded lullabies if the quiet is too much. And be sure to listen to her ideas about what might be helpful. After all, a plan that she helps devise has a better chance of succeeding.Make sure your preschooler's getting lots of fresh air and exercise during the day too. If she still has a very early bedtime, it might be contributing to her lack of sleepiness at night (at this age, kids need a total of 10 to 12 hours of sleep), so you might consider moving bedtime back an hour. Some physical activity and a slight schedule change may be all it takes to ensure that your child is good and tired when bedtime rolls around.
Tonight, I started prayer as usual with, "Dear Jesus, Thank you for..."
I didn't even get to finish the sentence...as Thadeus completed it with "...sandwiches."
I thought that was the cutest thing ever.
Oh, and I might add that...just because we tell him it is bed time and have this routine--bedtime may actually be two hours later. So, even though I tuck him in at 8 or 8:30--some nights he fights and fights it...up and down...can I go pee-pee mama.....up again down again...and by 10:30 we are nodding off and are awaken by his clunking around in his room....but never the less--he does go to sleep eventually.
There is a really good article on this subject from Baby Center:
Why preschoolers resist bedtime:
If you're like most parents, you're all too familiar with this scenario: You put your preschooler to bed at 8:30 at night, hugging and kissing her and wishing her sweet dreams. It's been a long day, but still the dinner dishes await, you have bills to pay, the dog needs to be walked and the cat fed, and you haven't had a spare moment to put your feet up. But instead of spending the rest of the evening catching up on your chores and clocking some precious time with your partner, you're in and out of your child's room, cajoling her to sleep. She finally nods off — about three hours after she first went to bed.Take heart: Bedtime can be rough for a preschooler. On the one hand, she's learning to assert herself and her newfound independence (hence the jack-in-the-box action on her bed). On the other hand, she's fearful of what it means to be on her own. "Fighting sleep is a way to take control, but it's also a way to stave off fears that come with the night," says Jodi A. Mindell, associate professor of psychology at St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia and the author of Sleeping Through the Night. Monsters under the bed, boogiemen in the closet, thunderstorms, bugs — those are pretty scary things to deal with when you're all alone in the dark!
What you can do about bedtime battles
Set aside some time to talk to your child about her day. Your preschooler may be fighting sleep simply because she needs time to check in with you at the end of her day. Especially if you work long hours yourself, allot some time before bed to chat with her about goings-on at preschool and to get the scoop on the latest dramas in her social life. You may find that she's more amenable to sleep if she's had a chance to unburden herself.Stick to a bedtime routine. Make a pictorial chart for your preschooler to follow — including her bath, teeth brushing, bedtime story, and goodnight kiss. Also include her usual (and reasonable) requests — like that second sip of water or a peek at the moon. Give her some notice before it's time to start the routine each night ("Sophie, five minutes before bath time!"). Try not to let her dawdle, or drag things out with activities that aren't part of the ritual — no third glass of water or round of "Baby Beluga," for instance.Motivate her. When your preschooler goes to bed on time, the rewards for you are obvious. Make it clear what's in it for her too. The morning after she sticks with the routine, praise her and give her a sticker to put on a special chart. Offer her a reward — like a new book or a visit to her favorite playground — once she stays in bed three nights in a row. (Start small — for a preschooler, a few days is a long time to hang in there!)Offer choices. Refusing to go to bed is a powerful way for your child to assert herself. So it might help to find an acceptable means of allowing her to be assertive. Let her decide whether she wants to hear Silverstein poems or a Ranger Rick story before lights-out, for instance, or ask her if she'd like a sip of water before or after she climbs into bed. Be careful to offer only choices you can live with; if you ask "Want to go to bed now?" you probably won't like the answer you get.Be calm but firm. Even if your preschooler cries or pleads for an exception to the going-to-bed rule, stand your ground. If you're frustrated, don't engage in a power struggle. Speak calmly and quietly but insist that when time's up, time's up. If you give in to her request for "five more minutes, please," you'll only hear it again tomorrow night.Teach your preschooler to fall asleep alone. If your child depends on you to stay with her while she falls asleep, now's a good time to encourage her to doze off on her own. You might give her some incentive by promising to check on her in five minutes. Reassure her that she's safe and that you're nearby.Take the stepladder to success. You can't expect your child to learn, in one fell swoop, how to go to bed and sleep all night according to your perfect scenario. Take it one step at a time: If your preschooler's used to falling asleep in your bed, maybe her first step is to fall asleep in her own. Her second step could be learning to limit her nocturnal "escapes" to one per night, or calling for you only once without actually getting up. Build your way to the ultimate goal (sleeping through the night without a peep) in successive, successful steps.Problem solve. Figure out why your preschooler finds it tough to keep her head on the pillow at night. Ask about her specific objections to bedtime — is it because she's not tired? Scared? It's too quiet? Offer her a flashlight if she's afraid of the dark. Eliminate nighttime TV if the shows make her jumpy. Let her drift off to recorded lullabies if the quiet is too much. And be sure to listen to her ideas about what might be helpful. After all, a plan that she helps devise has a better chance of succeeding.Make sure your preschooler's getting lots of fresh air and exercise during the day too. If she still has a very early bedtime, it might be contributing to her lack of sleepiness at night (at this age, kids need a total of 10 to 12 hours of sleep), so you might consider moving bedtime back an hour. Some physical activity and a slight schedule change may be all it takes to ensure that your child is good and tired when bedtime rolls around.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Maximillion-one year checkup
You can see his first bottom two teeth...love this. 
Look at me....here I come.
Thadeus love his books.This past Friday was Max's one year checkup...yes, the pediatrician was soooo booked it took over a month to see him. Apparantly, July marks a very busy time of year for school vaccinations so we were put off...I'll remember that in another three years!!!! I hope.
All and all Max did very well. Found out that his little man area had to be tackled a little bit and that was not comfortable for him...but he is doing well now. I feel so horrible. I had let his "mushroom" close up a little bit. I guess Jerime never noticed it either. Now I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate this post but I just felt so bad. I mean, the first thing I thought when I was told I was having a boy the first time was...what in the heck am I going to do with that extra part? And it is funny looking back because when Thadeus was born, my mama looked at Thadeus all naked and said, "what in the world are we going to do with that little thing?" And hey, she had a point...she had had three girls. My sister had a girl. My cousin had a girl so we had no clue. But you definitely get schooled before you leave the hospital. Thanks goodness. But how in the world did I let this happen to poor Max? I dunno. But it is all fixed now. Geez, that nurse did her thing to fix it and I was like, "wow, what a woman!" I told her that I was sooo sorry and I didn't know how I let that happen. She explained that it is very common and not to worry and just to make sure he always has that mushroom and the mushroom has a top! LOL
He had four shots, two in each leg. It was so hard to have him happy one minute and then the next, looking at me like, "mama, what in the world did you let her do that for?" Poor baby. But once all in and out, he was fine. He is a whopping 21 lbs 11 oz; but I think he lost weight since he's been walking. I thought they would tell me he was average weight and height but come to find out he is a little below average in height at 30 inches and in the 17 percentile for weight... Now, I looked at the doc and said, "what, how can it be that he is in the 17th percentile? What does this mean?" My first pediatricain never talked percentile terms so these statistics have baffled me. It means he is way below average, duh, for weight. AND I thought he was a CHUNK myself. I mean, if Max is in the 17th percentile then Thadeus must have been in the 2nd percentile!! I love Uncle Kirby's description of Thadeus. One day he was watching Thadeus run around the room like crazy and Thadeus came up to Uncle Kirby wanting to wrestle and he was a tough little two and a half year old then. Kirby said, "man, this kid is a piece of grissle. I would be a nervous wreck and need anxiety medicine if I had to take care of him!!! You see, they have a girl. She is just a sweet little petite princess. Calm and cool. Anyway, the doc categorized my Max a lean baby??? What??? He is healthy and doing well. EXCEPT...
Well, except that at his one year "well-check" visit, he was not well. He had been cranky for three or four days and when I say cranky, I mean, lay-himself-in-the-kitchen-floor-screaming-the-whole-time-I-made-dinner cranky. I mean you really should not cook and hold a baby even if you are tempted when he is flinging about on the floor like crazy, wanting you to hold him...just not safe. And because I know this, I let him twitch on the floor--I mean, Mama has to do what mama has to do. Which brings me to this funny story...
When Max was born, well several weeks afterward, I found myself wanting to hold this precious thing ALL the time. My sister, Heather, and I rode to Target in hopes to find a nice baby sling. I found one and just loved it. It was cloth and very comfortable for mama. Baby fits in and lays almost like in mommy's tummy--they sleep so well in them while you go shopping or clean house or whatever. Well, the first thing my sister says to me is--"now Christine, you cannot wear this while cooking." "What," I said, "what do you mean??? I would never do that!!!!" Well she knew me all too well....but I didn't wear it while cooking...I was good.
Anyway, so yes, he had been cranky. I said, "can you look in his throat to make sure he looks alright...I mean, since he has been cranky and all." I thought it was related to the fact that he was teething. I mean he is trying to get four of them boogers at one time... and come to find out the poor thing has TWO EAR INFECTIONS. Now, wierd. I mean I bet I took Thadeus to the pediatrician at least once per month the whole first year of his life, and Max...almost never. I had no idea that he had that dang ear infection, or should I say ear infectionS. Ugh. No mother award for me this month. So, left the pediatrician with four shots, antibiotic for ten days, decongestant, and ear drops for pain. So much for the well-visit! Oh, and thank you, Tylenol, for RECALLING ALL OF THE INFANTS TYLENOL AND MOTRIN. Ok, glad I got that off my chest. There are some things you just don't want to buy generic and infant tylenol is one of them. I have no reason, it's just for some reason I feel like a better mom for spending the extra money on medicine if I don't buy off brand. EXCEPT that all of the infant's tylenol and motrin has been on recall. And, you are required to give them the meds every four hours for the first 24 hours after shots to reduce fever...so I had to buy, ugh, yes, generic. I bought the Little Fevers brand. It has worked great and I may buy it from now on...lol.
We are officially moving the baby seats out now. Max is too heavy for the infant travel seat so Max is getting Thadeus' seat and now Thadeus gets an awesome booster seat. He is such a big boy!!! He just smiles everytime you put him in that seat. The thing is, with two working parents, you buy two...yep, two infant seats, and two booster seats. Totally worth it but just a thought.
Wow, you know, my car used to be big. Now, I look at it and it is soooo weird. In a matter of only 34 months, I went from big clean car to unclean non-roomy-mommy car. We waited five years before having children and we went from it is all about me (us) to.....
BETTER.
And I must say this. There is nothing in the world better than the love of these little people. I thought I loved until I had my children and now I know how much my mama loves me.
Monday, July 26, 2010
More teething, really?
Can it be possible that more teeth are coming??? Well probably so when you are one year old and only have two teeth...
The nights have been rough lately..then come to find out all the Infant's Motrin and Infant's Tylenol have been recalled!
Maybe he will sleep through the night tonight.
Mama be so tired!
The nights have been rough lately..then come to find out all the Infant's Motrin and Infant's Tylenol have been recalled!
Maybe he will sleep through the night tonight.
Mama be so tired!
Monday, July 19, 2010
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