Color Me Rad

Serene organized a group to run the Color Me Rad 5K on February 10th - we ran in honor of B, and Color Me Rad turned into a family affair.

Here's the before pic of our team, dubbed the Running of the Belles

So white and fresh and clean.

Ashley came up with that awesome team name. And please notice our fun team shirts that we made the morning before - it was so fun to be creative (and a little neurotic...okay, that was just me) together as a fam :)

At packet pick-up we got our race shirts, sunglasses, and well, I couldn't resist this $4 headband. (And as it turned out, neither could any of the other Running of the Belles teammates either!)  I mean, the headband is huge (wide enough to tuck my bangs into!). And it says RAD. And there was a pink one, which means it matches my soccer socks, so I am now a little radder on the soccer field. 

Definitely the coolest race SWAG I've ever gotten.

And now, I will let the colors do the talking.

 

Pre-race (That pose on the right is BB's newest thing - he does it in every picture lately)

Me, Serene, and Ashley (my half-marathon partner) ran the 5K (leisurely) - this is midway on the course

Our cheering squad

Ashley, K, and Serene after crossing the finish line (the first time - we caught up with the kiddos and finished with them too! :)  )

Celebrating the finish of a relaxing, happy, colorful frun

 

Aunt Shawna and Nacky walked (and apparently did quite a bit of piggy-backing) with B and Tada and BB

BB taking a lil rest on his Nacky mid-race

 

Tough (and rad) lil runners

 

Colorful little ladies, right after a pink color bomb

BB getting color-bombed

We caught up with Nacky, Aunt Shawna, and the kids after we finished. Apparently BB would run his little heart out, and then periodically would find a spot that suited him and have a little R&R. Nevermind the fact that everyone else was still walking or running.

Coming closer to the finish, running together

I love this picture through the color bomb of Serene, Nacky, B and Tada

And this one of Mama and BB

Coming through the Finish line, clutching our color packets

Nacky at the finish

Kiddos at the Finish, BB releasing his color packet

Colorful and rad at the Finish line

Here's that before again, just for contrast

My colorful cutie

It brings tears to my eyes when I think about how much he loved his very first race. That night when I put him to bed he asked, "Do I have another race tomorrow?"

 

Before and After

 

 

Rites of Torture-Slash-First Dentist Visit

My boys had their first ever dentist appointments in January.

Despite SS's young age and mere eight teeth, I decided to make both boys an appointment at once, since once I remembered to finally make the appointment and then get the boys brushed and fed and dressed and in the carseats and out of the carseats and into the office in one piece and on time, it just made the most sense. 

I found a pediatric dentist on Google. While there are many things I get recommendations from other parents and do extensive research on, I decided that the dentist was not going to be one of them. I mean, we only see the dentist once in a great while, so it just wasn't worth the stress. And it worked out great - the dentists are a husband and wife team with kids of their own, which made me feel really comfortable (I had checked out their website beforehand, so I knew that when I picked this office). The office had an awesome play treehouse in the waiting room and the exam room is one big room with several dental chairs, so that siblings and families stick together. Loved it.

And here is my brave little BB, slapping on a smile for the camera despite being quite wary about his surroundings and the impending exam. (Who can blame him? Despite my positive build-up and breezy attitude when explaining the appointment to the boys, I am terrified of the dentist. During cleanings, I grip those armrests like my life depends on it, and I have to remind myself to relax my shoulders every 2 minutes).

 

SS played while I snapped photos

This photo is a little more reflective of how BB was actually feeling. (The sunglasses are for the bright light they shine during the cleaning - isn't that smart and sweet?)

Once again, slapping on a brave smile for mama.

Here the hygienist showed BB all of her tools and let him feel the brush. She had cute names for everything like the Lightning McQueen spinner brush and her Nemo squirter (or whatever that water squirter thing was called - point is, she clearly tailored her work to kiddos).  I was snapping all these photos while holding SS, and he moved right as I took this one - so think of the blur as SS's way of saying Hi!

BB mid-cleaning.

BB was a courageous trooper through the whole experience and I am so very proud of him, especially because I could see how nervous he was. 

And here is where I would love to show you photos of SS's first dental exam, except a. he sat on my lap for it and b. he totally cried the whole time (he inherited his mama's fear of the dentist).

SS's teeth are adorably crooked, but that's no big surprise, we have always anticipated braces were in our future. BB has a large underbite - so much so that the dentist kind of freaked out and exclaimed "Is that his bite?!?" and I had to come over and try to figure out if that is, in fact, how his mouth closes. Which is kind of a weird thing to pay that much attention to when you think about it, since it doesn't cause him any problems or anything. I told her that I didn't know (which obviously made me feel like Super Mom, especially since SS was crying in my arms while I mock-examined BB's disbelief-inducing bite). The dentist thought BB was exaggerating the under bite, but I have been watching since the appointment and yes, he does have a very pronounced under bite. So we'll see what she says in 6 months. BB also has sensitive enamel (so does J), which means he is extra sensitive to sugar, so now we know to be extra careful and really only have sweets as a once-in-a-while treat (which was pretty much our routine already).

And that was our first trip to the dentist! I didn't really plan to blog all about their actual teeth issues but well, there they are anyway. Now you know. And the boys each got a new toothbrush, so major score there. I am so proud of how brave BB remained through the whole appointment, and SS was a little trooper too, especially since the appointment overlapped with nap time (and I mean, strangers were sticking weird objects in his mouth, what could we expect? I want to cry at the dentist too).

And we all lived happily ever after.

18 Months

At the end of January SS became 18 months old. My baby boy.

SS has curls. When he gets out of the bath at night, his wet locks ringlet - by morning, they have mostly turned to fuzz, except for the hairs above his ears. Those half-circle up into the air, defying gravity and testifying to his curls.

Curls turned to fuzz - I need to try another curl photoshoot

SS speaks. His words include "Mah mik" (more milk), "Naa" (Nacky), "lie/luh" (with point) (light), "Nuh" (Jonah), "Bow" (Belle), "Bah" (ball), "Baah" (bath), - yes, all of these b-words are distinguishable - "Boo" (book - another b!), "ka-kuh" (cracker), "nana" (banana), "tee" (teeth), recently he added the "bruh/buh" for "Bruh tee" (brush teeth), "aawl/ah duh" (all done), "die-psadkjfka" (diaper - this one is a little less consistent), "Papa", "naa" (nap - sounds like Nacky, but context people). And of course Dada and Mama.

SS walks. J and I had started to get concerned. SS had taken his first steps around 14 months. He would toddle a single step or two, but he wasn't interested - crawling was much more efficient. Then SS added a couple more steps, so he would take three or four in a row, but SS only wanted to walk if he was really, really encouraged, or silly-tired. Otherwise, he would cruise on furniture, stand independently, and then steadily squat down and resume the speedy-crawl, which he had more than perfected. So J and I started talking about how at SS's upcoming 18 month appointment next week, I would (once again) bring up the lack of walking to Dr. Bean, and see if Dr. Bean would recommend something more drastic, like Physical Therapy, now that SS was 18 months old and still not really walking much.

A day or two after that conversation, suddenly, out of the corner of our eyes, J and I both started spotting SS scaling across entire rooms. It was like SS overheard J and I and understood he needed to do some cramming for the big exam next week.

First, SS would only attempt walking if J or I wasn't looking - if we so much as glanced his way, he would just sit down. Forget it, Mama - you saw nothing. And if we asked or encouraged him to walk? Not a chance. But then SS gained confidence, and within the week he was walking as an actual mode of transportation. Sure, he was still a little wobbly-bobbly, but we went to SS's 18-month appointment with a bonafide walker (not the Walking Dead kind, just a toddler). And he is getting steadier each week.



SS eats. Oh, how he eats. His favorite foods? A banana every day at breakfast. Milk. Bread. Peanut butter and jelly. Crackers. He loves himself a bowl of oatmeal. Most fruit. Greens are exiled (usually to the floor :/ ) but he does like steamed carrots - and peas! SS loves peas in spite of their greenness.
(Facebook Status Update: "So we gave SS some bites of cherry cobbler and homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert - he has been sitting in his crib since Justin put him down for bed, squealing and screeching as loud as he can, for the past 20 minutes. :)" )


I hope he's putting food and not wood chips in his mouth in this picture

SS is such a good eater that he is now weighing in at 23 lbs 10 oz  which lands him in the 50th percentile. Remember when he dropped down to the 3rd percentile? And remember when, at his one-year check up I was overjoyed he was 10th percentile? And the 25th percentile at his 15-month checkup? Dr. Bean's exact words were, "What are you feeding him?"
"He just likes to eat!"

And he is 32 inches long, also 50th percentile.

SS teeths. Unpleasant. Waking up multiple times a night for a couple weeks :/ (Haven't done that since he was a newborn!) Thankfully he is sleeping through the night again, but he has 3 molars that have already cut, and I can feel a couple more teeth that are on their way in. His mouth is a little drool faucet right now.
(Facebook Status Update:  "Great news! I figured out how to get SS to nap in the afternoon - turns out if he fusses and wakes up 5-6 times at night, he will totally take a nice long afternoon nap. #notworthit " )


You can see some of his teeth here. The tops are adorably crooked.

SS naps. Just once a day usually. Now that BB has quit napping (oh, the humanity), SS likes to nap around 11 until 1-2. And that is that. Fuss buckets around 5 when he gets hungry, but trying to nap him then proves futile, so it's snackies until dinnertime.

Which brings us to SS's very favorite part of any day - the "baah". SS giggles and points and kicks his legs and shouts "Baah! Baah!" from the moment you start wiping his hands after dinner until he is plunged into the lukewarm tub next to his brother. There, the boys proceed to bathe and play and systematically transfer every drop of bath water from the tub to the bathroom floor, at which point bathtime is over and it's time for SS's other favorite activity. "Tee! Tee! Tee!" SS cries until he is clasping his toothbrush and sucking all of the toothpaste off the bristles, giggling and watching Nuh in the mirror.

 SS plays. His favorite game involves transferring items from one container to another. He is also a fan of throwing toys under or behind couches. This weekend Tada found a pizza crust SS had been chewing on hidden in her slipper. Sneaky little thing. And he loves to stick his hands in water - running faucets and water fountains make him wiggle and exclaim until he gets to plunge his hands in.