Eastman Rex is ONE!

 

March 20th, 2014 Eastman Rex is ONE!!!

A year has gone by already?!  That just doesn’t seem real.  My baby boy is already one?!  Well, he sure he!  He is still my baby but he sure does think that he is a big boy.  He thinks he can do anything that sister can do.  He wants what we eat.  He gets upset if I tell him he cannot have what I am eating.  Sure, I can feed myself French fries and chocolate malts, but I am not ready to give that to my one year old!  Eastman thinks this is unfair, especially if Andi gets to have it and he doesn’t.  He is not afraid to let us know what he wants.  He is walking and trying to talk more and more.  He is very curious and wants to learn.  He points to thinks as if to say, “What’s that?”   

*You sleep from about 7:30 PM to about 6:30 am. You have become an excellent sleeper at night! For a while there, we did not think that you would ever sleep through the night.  I think you are just a hungry, growing boy who really did need that 3 am bottle.  You would eat and then go right back to sleep.  You still want to be rocked to sleep. I do love this!  You would much rather be rocked and held than put in your crib.    You still often cry out in protest when we put you in your crib, but you are so tired that you then lay down and fall asleep (as long as we get out of your room quickly).  You can be asleep in our arms and then cry out when we put you in your crib.  If you see me, you really want me to hold you.  I love holding you!  You go to bed with a pacifier in your mouth, but it usually falls out soon after placing you in your crib.  We put an extra pacifier or two in the crib in case you want one when you wake up, but you are able to put yourself back to sleep without one.  You started sleeping with a pillow a few months ago.  This started when you were really congested and we thought it would help to elevate your head.  You seemed to like having a pillow in your bed, so we have just left it.  I put a stuffed animal in your crib too, but I don’t think you care if it is in there or not.  When you wake up crying, it is usually because you are starving for a bottle and not done sleeping yet.  You will drink the bottle and go back to sleep for an hour or two.  When you wake up in the morning (and are ready to be awake for the day), you usually do not cry.  You may whimper a little.  Many mornings you wake up and have your daily dirty diaper.  

*Most days you take two naps a day.  Your napping schedule is not very consistent. No set time, just when you are sleepy.  I would say you get sleepy about 9:00 am and then again at 2 pm.  At home you will nap in your crib (most of the time), although we will still hold you and let you rest in our arms on the couch if not doing anything.  At Nana’s house, you let her know that you want to sleep in her arms and not in your crib.

*You love a bottle.  We have not introduced cow’s milk yet.  You still want a bottle before bed, which I am happy to give you. You have been drinking strictly formula bottles for a couple months now. You weaned yourself off of Momma and this was an easy transition.  You for sure get a bottle before bed.  If I were to count, I bet you still take four 8 ounce bottles a day.  I am hoping that we can soon get you to enjoy cow’s milk from your bottle and then from a sippy cup.  Right now you love to drink water from your sippy cup.  You prefer a cup with a straw or to drink from a big cup with no lid.

*You wear mostly 12 to 18 month clothes.  You have been walking like a pro.  In fact you would much rather walk now than crawl.  You are wearing size 5 or 5.5 shoes.

*You are a pretty even-keel baby.  Pretty stoic expression on your face, even when trying to get you to smile for a pic.  But when you do get excited about something, your laugh is so infectious that it makes the rest of us laugh too.  Your big smile melts my heart and you give me the biggest, slobbery kisses-I love it!

* You are able to say a few words.  Sometimes it seems like you saying a whole sentence but in your own language.  Words that you can say: Mama, Dada, Bottle, Milk, Ball, Book, Diaper, Dog, Bubbles, Balloon, Ball, Bubba, Nana, Go-Go-Go, Cere (Cereal), Bath, Agua or Wa (for water).  You understand lots of words: night-night, outside, downstairs, play, carseat, Nana’s house, don’t do that (you shake your head when we say this to you), light, splash-splash, hungry, pacifier, walk, jump, and I am sure there are more that I am leaving off (or haven’t realized yet).

*You sometimes wave and say bye-bye when we say it to you.  Not always.  When I leave for work, you sometimes wave and tell me bye.  But more importantly, you smile at me.  This makes my heart happy because I know that you are happy at Nana’s house.  Whew!  Nana takes good care of my boy (and Andi too).  When I leave I give you kisses and you always give me a big, open-mouthed, slobbery kiss.  When I leave Nana’s house, you are usually in your highchair busy eating breakfast which most days consists of Cheerios and a mash up.  I blow you kisses when I walk out of the door and look forward to the day you will blow kisses back to me. 

*Your new favorite thing to say is “blub-blub-blub.”  When you see a fish, a picture of a fih, or I ask you, What does a fish say?” you smile and say “blub-blub-blub.”  It is too cute.  I will say that may be your favorite animal right now.  There is a large fish tank at the library (Andi loved getting to check out new books, DVDs, and CDs) and you always point to the fish tank and want to see it first.  You do love dogs.  Love Pearl and Maverick.  You already love animals.  You also like to imitate an elephant.  You will raise up your arm and make a noise.  You will say ru-ru (ruff-ruff) for a dog.  You will say “qua-qua” (quack-quack) for a duck and “clu-clu (cluck-cluck) for a chicken.  You can Roar like a tiger or dinosaur too.  We went to a zoo/aquarium in Arizona last week and you loved it.  You really liked the fish!  I think you liked all of the animals (after you woke up from your nap.  You slept in the stroller the first 30 minutes or so).  I think you also liked looking at the giraffes and birds.  You love seeing the animals at Uncle Crazy and Aunt Crystal’s house. (chickens, horses, duck, sheep)

*You are a curious little boy.  Just recently you have been pointing at things, wanting to know what it is or what it is called.  I love that you want to learn. 

*You are a picky eater!  People would not think that looking at you, big boy.  But you know what you want.  Your favorite snacks are Gerber Little Crunchies (like cheese puffs for babies).  I imagine you could go through an entire container in one day if we let you.  Your teachers have even said that all you want to eat are the cheese puffs or veggie straws.  Right now we are out, but I have a container that looks the same but has wagon wheels (a different snack) in them.  You point to the container, I open it, and you cry in protest.  I know what you want-guess I better get to the store and buy more little crunchies.  You don’t want to be spoon fed anymore.  Occasionally you will let me give you baby food (stage 2.  You do not like stage 3 that is partially pureed but has chunks in it) or yogurt, but most of the time you want to try what we are eating.  Your diet most of the time consists of Cheerios, mash ups, mozzarella cheese sticks, bottles! and bites of what we are eating-that is if you like it.  You do like pizza!  Always wanting a piece or bite of my pizza.  When you need a drink of water, you let us know!  You wait for us to realize that you are asking for water before even thinking about taking another bite of anything. 

*You have eight teeth!  Six teeth are all the way in and two more started coming in last week.  One is a molar. You like it when we brush your teeth.  You will even point to your toothbrush in the bathroom and I will hand it to you and you will brush your teeth by yourself (or chew on the bristles).

*You love bath time (the majority of the time).  Sometimes you are so tired that you just want to get in and get out.  When I go to get the bath ready for you, you watch in anticipation and smile in excitement. You love to Splash-Splash! When you splash, your whole face lights up and you smile ear to ear.  This is fun!  You don’t’ get a bath every night but probably about every other night.  Andi usually bathes with you unless you just got really messy at dinner and she doesn’t need a bath.

*Your favorite game is “I’m gonna get you!”  I can say it or Daddy or Sissy.  When we say it, you smile, look at us, and then crawl off in the other direction.  You often pause, look back at us, and smile as if you are wanting us to get you.  You then want to get tickled.  You like being tickled and sometimes try to tickle us back.  I think you have tried saying “tickle-tickle.”  Or at least I heard it and knew that you were trying to tickle me. 

*You have just recently decided that you like books.  When rocking you in your room, you will point to your bookshelf and say “boo” and you point to your books.  You then walk over and pull several off the shelf and then decide you want to bring me one.  You want to hold it or turn the pages-often faster than I can read the words.  You really like open-flap, peek-a-boo books.  The other day Crystal was reading you a peek-a-boo book and you would say “pa” and jump back and get startled every time the flaps were opened to reveal the face and say peek-a-boo.  It was too cute!

* You like to play.  A ball is still you favorite, go-to toy.  You can throw the ball well.  Right and left handed but seem to throw more with your left hand.  You drag Andi’s pink baseball bat around, so I am thinking that you already like baseball and may need a bat of your own.  You like to put objects in containers.  This can be toys or balls in the appropriate slots in the activity or it can be clothes in the laundry basket (or anything else that you find that you think needs to be put “away.”  You like to help with unloading the dishwasher-even if I am trying to load, not unload it.  You like shoes.  Your shoes, my shoes, anyone’s shoes.  You really like to go to the laundry room, which is Pearl’s room, and play in her water and food bowls.  You will walk back there (or crawl very, very quickly) and try to play for as long as you can with her kennel or the bowls until we catch you.  When then say, “Don’t do that.” and you shake your head.  But that doesn’t always stop you.  You often go right back in there if we don’t close the door. 

*You really like other kids.  If you see anther little kid, you smile and walk straight over to him or her.  It is pretty cute to watch.

*You are always happy when we are outside on a walk in the stroller. You love being outside.  Sometimes when we are home, you will go over to the back door and pull on the blinds so you can look out.  I will open the backdoor and let you go outside.  You usually stay on the back porch and play at the splash table or find the chalk or bubbles. 

*We have a picture hanging in the hallway of the four of us and you always want to look at it.  You will say, “Dada” and point to the picture.  If we walk past the picture holding you, you reach back and say, “Dada” until we take you back to look at it more closely. 

*I will say that you love your Momma.  Makes me happy!  When I go to pick you up from Nana’s house after work you reach for me and cry if I pass you by and give Andi a kiss first.  If you see me, you want me to hold you.  If you are tired, you want your Momma.  You then pull up on my legs and reach up, while whimpering, so I will pick you up and hold you. You do not like to be left out.  You want to know what is going on at all times and don’t want to miss out on the action.  You like to see what is going on too.  If Andi and I are in the kitchen baking and you cannot see what we are doing you pull on my legs and beg for me to hold you.  I will say that you love your Daddy (maybe even as much as Momma).  You say “Dada” a lot!  And give him big smiles!  Andi loves you and you really love your Sissy.  She can always get a big smile out of you.  You want to be by her side all the time and think that you can do anything she can do.

*You are so much fun to watch!  I love just sitting back and watching you discover something new or try to do something you haven’t done before.  I can see your brain at work and see the wheels turning as you try to figure it out.  You are a happy boy!  You go with the flow and are a good boy.  You can still fall asleep in our arms and will often nap during church or baseball games.  There are times that you do not want to miss out, so you stay awake when I know you are tired.  I am thankful that we can take you anywhere and know that it will not be an issue. 

***I LOVE YOU!   I love you more than I ever dreamed.  Before you were here, I wondered how I could love two babies.  It is amazing how God works and that he can grow our love.  I love you will all my heart and all that I am.  I look forward to each day, watching you grow (although I would love for you to stay my baby boy-I know you will continue to grow) and learn.  I cannot imagine our family without you in it.  We all love you!  You bring joy, laughter, and sunshine to our lives.  I love you, Eastman Rex!