Seth's new words

Seth continues to talk so much and put 2 words together. His new favorite word right now...."mine!". Oh yes, it has begun. Oh, and No is pretty popular right now, although he likes to drag out the N in quite a dramatic fashion by pointing at you and saying, "NnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnO!" It's quite funny. The other day he was eating an apple and he dropped his last piece on the floor. Naturally he started to get upset and when the cat came over to investigate the fallen apple, Seth yelled, "nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnno, MINE!". LOL. He is also very into "anmals" (animals) ever since i showed him the animal stitching that my mom made when i was little. It has all the letters of the alphabet with an animal for each letter. Now, Seth HAS to see his "anmals" first thing in the morning and right before bed. In addition to your common animals...dog, cat, cow, horse, monkey, lion, etc, Seth has learned Owl "hoo hoo" and Kangaroo "boing boing". While he was in the tub, i decided to quiz him on a few new animals so i showed him a turtle and a crab and he actually said the right name. What really suprised me was when i showed him an aligator and he said "algator" and then said "rrarrrr". We also have puzzle peg board with about 8 different farm animals on it. We dumped the pieces on the floor last night and he matched each one to the correct animal. It was awesome!
Seth has also gotten into crayons and "color". He loves to scribble and play with "paydo" (playdoh). He has started learning his primary colors, although he doesn't always get it correct everytime yet. Again, he never ceases to amaze me and i am loving every moment!

A very unusual evening...

First I must start off by saying that Seth pooped on the potty again last night! And just like the previous time, he actually told me he had to before he did it.
With that said, last night was very strange and not like Seth at all! I put him to bed as usual around 8pm, and as usual he went straight to sleep. Well at around 10:30 he started crying and that's when i heard the cat meowing. Our cat, Simon, has been known to sneak in his room and then get locked in, so i didn't think it was a big deal so i let the cat out of Seth's room. Well the crying didn't stop and it was a pretty urgent cry. It was almost like he was scared and maybe the cat startled him. Again, no big deal, so i went in and cuddled with him for a while and then he acted like he wanted to go to bed so i put him back in his crib and walked out. He starts crying again so I repeat the process. After about the 3rd time it was almost as if he just wasn't sleepy anymore and he wanted to go watch "Elmo" and see "Dada" and go "deat" (eat). Then he started rehearsing all of the animal sounds he knows. At about 1am i laid down on the floor beside his crib and kept telling him to go to bed. He would lay down for a few minutes and then pop his head up to make sure i was still there. He would even say "hi" to me as he did this. We don't have much experience with this because Seth has always been a great sleeper and never does this sort of thing. It was almost as if he just wanted me there. I hope tonight he doesn't expect the same thing to happen...i guess we will see.

18 month checkup

Seth had his 18 month checkup this past Friday. He is doing wonderfully and is very healthy! He weighs 29lbs 13oz and is 34.5 inches long. Weight is in the 90th percentile and height is in the 95th percentile! As far as cognitive development and speech, the doc said Seth is functioning like a 2 year old, so we are pretty proud about that. The doc was also impressed that he pooped on the potty.
As many of you know, Seth had a very minor procedure done at this appointment. He is pretty sore, but is doing great and it's getting better every day!

He Pooped!

Seth pooped on the potty last night!!!! And it wasn't just good timing on my part, he actually told me he had to go "potty", so I just figured he wanted to sit on it and play as usual, but I went ahead and took off his diaper just in case. Well he sat there for a bit, and then he stood up a little and said "uh oh". I told him to sit back down and he sat there for a while and then said "all done". I wasn't sure if he had even done anything, but when he stood up, sure enough he had pooped in the potty!!! My hope now is that maybe he will be out of diapers by his 2nd bday!

Playing "catch up"

I have gotten a little behind on my blogging, so now i have a lot to catch up on...i will TRY to keep it brief:
--Seth recently turned a year and a half!! I can't believe it. With that came a few days of crabiness which i thought for certain meant he was entering his terrible two's, which interestingly i have read and been told that the terrible two's usually start around 18 months. I started reading up on discipline, but since then he has been my sweet little boy again! I think i am still going to read up on it so next time i'll be more prepared!
--This Thanksgiving was the first year that we prepared our very own Thanksgiving Feast. It was just me, Jerry, Seth, Eric and Lauren (sis in law), but it was a very nice day! Jerry and Lauren did most of the cooking and it was delicious!!
--Yesterday morning we woke up to our very first snow of the year and it continued to snow all day and into this morning.

--Seth has begun to say his ABC's and has made it all the way to E!!!! He even does it to the ABC song.
--As Jerry and I were singing "Jingle Bells" to Seth, he started getting into it and blurted out "Jingle Bells".
--Seth's new thing is right after bath at night, he runs out to the living room and sets off all of his musical dancing Christmas animals and we all dance together in a circle holding hands. I am determined to get this on video very soon!
--No longer do I do the reading at bedtime anymore. Seth now likes to "read" to me. He babbles constantly and then points to pictures asking what "this?" is or "that?".
--I am by no means officially saying that Seth is "potty trained" or even close, but as i mentioned in a previous post, he really likes his potty and enjoys sitting on it frequently. He seems to understand that the potty is somehow related to pee pee and poo poo, but i definitely don't think he is ready yet. However, while sitting on it (while wearing a diaper), he did poop, and then one morning i noticed that there was a yellowish liquid in the potty that could only be one thing, but i never noticed him do it the night before.
--Seth has 2 new obsessions: Elmo and "goys"...translation would be toys. I think he would sit and watch Elmo DVDs all day IF we would let him, and now whenever we go to any store he always is on the look out for "goys".
--Seth's daycare has informed us that he climbed the ladder and slid down the slide all by himself. This may not sound like a huge feat, but apparently he was the only one in his class that hasn't done that yet. I think he is just too busy talking to worry about the climbing!! Seth just isn't a climber, which to us isn't such a bad thing!
--Seth continues to make all sorts of animals sounds and can point out all the different animals on his see and say. He is also beginning to point out other body parts besides the eyes, nose, mouth, etc. He now knows arm, leg, hair, toes, foot, etc.
--I'm sure i have left out a lot, but i did try to make this brief. Here are a few recent pics to conclude the post:

Playing in the leaves


Playing with his new tool bench that mama just couldn't wait to give him until Christmas:


Just some of the many crib items that Seth likes to sleep with:


Helping Mama and Dada put up the tree:


Seth and Mama at his daycare Thanksgiving lunch:


Seth and his daycare pals:

The good, the bad, and the ugly!

I'll start off by saying how wonderful it is to have a son who even if he wakes up at 6am, he will still let me sleep until 7 or later. He just lays in his crib and patiently waits for me to come get him. Well, Sunday morning when i woke up, i rolled over and looked at the clock and it was 5 til 8am!! I grabbed the video monitor and Seth was just laying there in his crib...i couldn't believe it. I don't remember when the last time was that i slept until 8am! He is really starting to combine 2 words now, or at least try and he is now obsessed with his potty chair. Whenever he sees it, he runs to sit on it and says "potty" and then he points to the big potty and says "potty".
Seth had a fever last Wednesday so i had to pick him up a little early from daycare and then stay home with him on Thursday. I took him to the doctor just to be safe, but they didn't really find anything wrong with him. However since he has had some significant congestion for over a week, they put him on amoxicillin just to be safe. Now Seth has ALWAYS been a champ at taking his medicine, but this time when we gave it to him he refused and spit it everywhere. We tried everything and the only thing that works is to put it into a drinkable yogurt and have him drink it. It has been working pretty well, but we still have 5 days of 2xday left. He is probably going to be sick of yogurt!
This past weekend Seth has been VERY defiant and cranky. I hate not knowing why...is it his teeth (canines are and have been cutting "forever" it seems), does he still not feel well, is he entering this "terrible 2" stage that I so dread? I don't know! Either way, he will be perfectly happy and then immediately start crying and throwing a fit. He also has been getting very frustrated when he doesn't get his way or if he wants to do something but can't quite do it himself. For example, yesterday he was stacking blocks on top of each other and one would keep faling off so he would get so angry and throw them all down. And at nap time when I was taking him back to his room he kept slapping me, pinching my face and pulling my hair. I just don't understand what is going on with him. He definitely is trying to be more independant, but he just can't quite do what he wants and it makes him angry. Up to this point we have been spoiled with how good he is. Maybe this will pass in a few days, but daycare has also said that they have noticed him becoming more frustrated with things. I'm sure this is typical of an 18 month old, but I sure was enjoying my little "angel". I guess it's time to pull out the discipline books and time out chair!

Big boy potty

No, I don't believe Seth is ready for the big boy potty quite yet, but I couldn't resist a great deal i found on a Baby Bjorn potty. I got it for $10 and they usually cost $25 and up. This potty received awesome reviews and was especially recommended for boys since it has a nice high splash guard! I decided to go ahead and put it in Seth's bathroom so he could learn what it is. He has already sat on it a few times, although he thinks it is just a normal chair, but everytime he sits on it I explain the whole potty thing to him. Well yesterday after his bath, he pointed at it and said "potty". It was so cute and I was impressed at how quickly he learned that word.

Seth's Playroom

Here is the completed (for now) slideshow of Seth's playroom. Since it is already too cold to go outside anymore, we are down here alot! The area measures 16'x14'.

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2 words at a time

I am very excited because Seth has said a couple of "2 word" sentences this past weekend. He said "more Mama", "drink it", and "big stuff" which he repeated after his Aunt Lauren (my sis-in-law) called him that. He was also very cute when on Sunday we (mama, dada and Seth) were playing in the basement in his new playroom (that is another post i will put up very soon) and Daddy had to go upstairs for a second and Seth went running after him screaming "DADA DADA!!". He also has very good manners and is saying "peas and tank u". Another thing I have noticed is that he has begun recognizing some shapes and whether it is coincidence or not, he is putting the right shape into his shape sorter more times than not! He just impresses me more and more everyday! :)

He is not shy, just a little slow to warm up

Here is a picture of Seth at a friend's 2 year birthday party. It is so hard to get Seth to smile anymore for pictures let alone sit still for the second it takes to snap the picture! It took him a good 15-20 minutes to warm up to the whole scene, but once he did he had a blast. I don't consider him shy, but when he meets new people it does take him a little bit to warm up. It's really kind of cute and may not be such a bad thing that he is a little leary of strangers!

Hello and Bye bye!

Seth for months now has been picking up our phone or any object that resembles a phone and says "hi". Well now, he will pick up the phone or object and say "Hello, bye bye!" It is so cute!

The cow says "moo"

I have been meaning to add this to our blog since it is just too cute not to share, but I kept forgetting to until now. A few weeks ago Seth's teacher shared with us that earlier in the day as she was reading a book about animals and the sounds they make to a few of the kids in Seth's class, she asked what sound a cow makes. She said that Seth, who was playing contently by himself elsewhere, ran over to the group and in a very matter of fact way said, "Moo!" and then ran off to play.

Our trip to Georgia

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I'm a little behind on my blogging, so here is a quick recap of our trip to Georgia:
--Again Seth was a great little traveler and was so good on both the flight there and back. He also settled right in to his unfamiliar surroundings and never complained a bit. He really is such a good little boy!
--Seth had such a wonderful time and was so happy to see his Nonna and Nonno! He also got to meet his Great Aunt Jane and Uncle Len who he liked very much!
--Eric and Lauren couldn't have picked a more perfect day to have an outdoor wedding. It reminded me alot about our wedding day...The temp was about 71 degrees with bright blue skies. VERY nice and as you can tell from the videos, Seth really enjoyed himself and danced the night away!
--I feel like I am constantly repeating myself, but Seth's vocabulary continues to grow and grow. Even though he has been saying "all done" and "uh oh" for a while now, our Parent as Teachers volunteer said that those aren't true 2 word phrases, but just the other day Seth said "Hi Dada". It was so sweet. He also yells at the cat to "get down", but that is another one he has been saying for quite a while. He also has this little rocking chair where his stuffed monkey sits. He walked over to it and started rocking it back and forth and said "Rock".
--I'm sure I have left a lot out, but it was really a nice time. We have been traveling quite a bit lately so we are going to stay put for a while now because I don't have anymore vacation days. Unfortunately for me though, that means I won't be able to make it to my niece, Kate's, 1st birthday party. I hate that we live so far apart, Lauren!

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Parent's as Teachers

Last night Cindy, our Parent's as Teachers volunteer, came over to work with Seth for the first time. This is an awesome program in our school distrcit and is absolutely free! I believe this program is all over the US and I only wish I discovered it a little sooner. Basically a volunteer comes over to assess your child and let's you know what type of things they should be working on in this stage of development and what things, if any, are lacking. She also shows you wonderful, creative things to do with your child that you would probably never think of. There are also workshops you can attend for free like music class, daddy/mommy and me, drawing, etc. Cindy said that it was a good time (last night) to brag about Seth and tell her everything he is doing. After we finished our brag session she was actually quite impressed and didn't expect him to be doing quite so much yet. Here is their website: http://www.parentsasteachers.org/site/pp.asp?c=ekIRLcMZJxE&b=272091
It's definitely worth checking out and as I mentioned before, it's totally free and someone will come to your house on your schedule.

Our busy yet super fun weekend!

Here is a somewhat brief recap of the weekend:
--Friday night we left Seth with a baby sitter and went out with Eric and Lauren (my to be sis in law). We went to a STL Blues Hockey game and watched Sarah Palin drop the puck, although we were so high in the pent house we could barely see anything. It was still a lot of fun!
--Saturday we went to our friend's house for lunch and let Seth play with their 2 kids. He had a blast and completely wore himself out!
--Sunday we took him to his first Pumpkin Patch and we had such a great time. There was so much to do...a farm with cows, pigs and goats. There was a big slide and mazes and so much more. Seth loved it and was one dirty, muddy boy after we were done. Copy and paste this link for pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/steindler1/PumpkinPatch2008?authkey=eWXsAi9ifm8#
--Seth continues to say more and more everyday! Now everytime he sees a picture of me or Jerry, he says Mama or Dada. Jerry was mowing the grass yesterday, and everytime he passed by the window Seth would scream with excitement, "DADA"!

MAJOR separation anxiety!

I knew that Seth has been going thru separation anxiety, but oh my is it bad! Daddy usually drops him off at daycare in the mornings and Seth is usually upset when Daddy leaves, but when I dropped him off this morning, he clung to me for dear life. At first he wouldn't let go of me so i just knelt down and held him for a while, finally when his grasp loosened up some, I tried to step away maybe 5 feet to sign him in and he immediately started crying and tackled my leg. Then when I tried to put his jacket in his cubby he began crying real tears! Once breakfast came I sat him at the table and sat with him for a few minutes. I then leaned in to kiss him bye bye and i told him that I had to go. He had to have understood me because he immediately started screaming mama mama as he held his arms out to me. I kissed him and said bye bye and as hard as it was to leave, I knew that I just had to walk out otherwise i would just be prolonging his misery and mine. Just writing this makes me tear up and miss my little guy! Okay, gotta get back to work now and make sure my mascara isn't running down my face!

Seth loves his cousin!

Yesterday I was sitting at the computer looking at my sister, Lauren's blog about Kate and the pumpkin patch. Seth was playing and I asked him if he wanted to see his cousin Kate. He immediately looked at me and smiled and ran over to where I was sitting and said "up!". So i picked him up and we looked at the pictures together and he never stopped smiling. I asked him to say "Kate" and he said something very similar. It was very sweet!

Congrats to Kelly and David

Well my BF Kelly just got married this past Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding and it was an honor to be her matron of honor. I wish them the very best!
And I want to thank my sister for doing my hair and makeup...I need you to live a lot closer!

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Where do I even begin?

It feels like it has been so long since I have posted anything that I don't even know where to start! We had such a wonderful time visiting Nanny, Papa, great Nana, Aunt Lauren and Kate. Seth had a blast with Kate, even though he smacked her around a little! :) He and Kate and a cage fight (see Lauren's blog), wagon rides, all sorts of toys to play with and they even took a bath together. It was so neat to watch them play together. So here are a few highlights from our trip:
--Let me begin by saying that Seth was AMAZING on the plane (all 5 times!) He never cried and barely complained. He slept for maybe 1 1/2 of the plane trips, but the rest he was wide awake for. Our portable DVD was what saved us. He really enjoyed watching Elmo. He also snacked way more than we would have liked, but desperate times do call for desperate measures. I believe that after every one of the plane trips several people commented on how well Seth did! He is so wonderful!
--Seth immediately took to Nanny and Grandpa. You can tell that he loves them very much and has a special bond with them. Grandpa taught Seth the Chicken Dance and made Seth laugh almost non stop. Seth was attached to Nanny's hip, litterally. He clung to her and when it was time to say our goodbyes at the airport, Seth was devastated to see Nanny leave. He cried as she walked away and we had to calm him down. Poor little guy and poor Nanny!
--Poor Jerry became a little ill right before our flight home on Sunday, so we actually missed our flight and came home the next day which was fine with me because we got to spend another day and night with the grandparents and Aunt Lauren and Kate. Also, Grandpa prepared a delicious dinner of grilled scallops, pompano and mullet. Seth loved the fish and ate an entire piece! We also had shrimp....mmmmmm, my favorite!
--Over the course of this trip, Seth's vocabulary seemed to explode! That was nice because Nanny and grandpa were able to experience it. It used to be that we would point out things to Seth and say the word and then ask him to say it. Well now, he initiates it and actually points and labels everything. He even saw a picture of me and Jerry and pointed at me and said "mama" and then "dada" for Jerry. It was really neat to see him recognize us through pictures. He is also saying things much more clearly and is now distinguishing between up and down where he used to say up for both meanings. Also, now when our cat jumps on the table, Seth very clearly yells at him to "get down!". It is so funny!

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So much to do, so little time

Okay, so here is a quick recap of what's been going on in our crazy lives...
Seth seems to be saying more and more words these days that I can't even keep track anymore. He loves saying Hi and bye bye to everyone he sees. Yesterday he saw a truck go by and he yelled out "truck!" He says "up" when he wants up, down, or to open something. Outside is "ice" and my favorite (since he is sooooooo attached to his PJ's) he says "di di's" for PJ's. All done and "mik" for milk and "wa wa" for water. It's so cool because I can pretty much ask him want he wants and I actually understand him. I can ask him if he pooped (when I suspect he in fact did), and he will point to the back of his pants and nod his head and say "yes". He says eggs, please and thank you, duck...okay, again I'm just going to stop here because he pretty much will say anything you ask him to. I LOVE that he actually TRIES to say every word we ask. He may not always be close to saying it the correct way, but he certainly tries. Oh, and he now says "Elmo" when he sees elmo on TV and he actually attempted to say his name the other day, although Seth is very hard for kid's to say i think.
Yesterday I stayed home with Seth because daycare called me on Monday and said he had a fever. Well I knew he had a fever on Friday and Saturday, but he was back to himself on Sunday. Funny thing is, it was just a low grade fever with absolutely no other symptoms. I took him to the doctor yesterday just to be safe since we are traveling to FWB tomorrow by plane. The doctor couldn't find a thing wrong with him and said it was just a "fever virus" and he should be fine. Well fine he is and in fact he didn't even have a slight fever yesterday, but I still took off from work and stayed home with him. Now again, I'm not a huge advocate for kid's and TV, but I do allow him to watch about 30 minutes of Sesame STreet a day. We record it and he usually watches it right before his bath at night. Well yesterday I turned it on for him and "elmo's world" part of the show came on which is definitely his favorite. Usually he will just get excited to see Elmo and watch a few minutes and then walk away to do something else. Well that day he actually sat there and watched it almost as if he was understanding it. And he actually caught the humor in a section where Elmo did something silly and Seth just started cracking up. He then continued to say "more more" and I probably rewinded it about 30 times.
Well we leave tomorrow for a long flight to FWB. Since we used our airline miles, our flight isn't exactly what we would have chosen. We have to leave our house at 5 am which means i have to wake Seth up at about 4:45 am. Yikes! We then fly to PA, then to NC and then to FWB. I don't think Seth is going to be very happy. Karen, do you have any ideas on how to keep a toddler somewhat happy on a plane? Any advice is greatly appreciated. We flew once for his 1 year birthday, and he was great, but it was also a direct flight and he wasn't as mobile then. It will be so nice to see family, but it just won't be as long as I would like. I am in a wedding as the Matron of Honor, so I still have to memorize a speech by Saturday, I still haven't gotten my dress (long story, don't ask. I am not happy about it but will get the dress tonight), and we still have to pack and be ready to wake up at 4am. Wish us luck!

SuperSETH

Here are a few pics of Seth in his Halloween costume. He just won't stand/sit still long enough to take good pics, but here are a couple that turned out pretty good. Below the Superman pics are pics from his very first Halloween when he was a little monkey. Oh how he has grown!

Go NOLES!!!

What a great weekend...Florida State won, Miami and UF LOST (HA!). It doesn't get much better than that!
Here are a few pics of Seth in his new FSU hat that Nanny gave him.

Seth's new "thing"

Here is a video of Seth's new thing. He absolutely loves books and loves for us to read them to him, but now, he will sometimes grab a book and open it and start "pretending" to read all by himself. So cute.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Garage Sale Jackpot!

I forgot to mention that not this weekend but the weekend before, I hit the jackpot at a garage sale! This kind of thing never happens to me, but lady luck was shining on me that day! I knew that there were some neighborhood garage sales going on, so I packed Seth up in the car and we headed out. The very first house we arrived at I could tell had a bunch of toddler toys. I can't even begin to remember how many items I got that day, but I saw a kangaroo climber sitting there, so out of curiosity i ask how much. The guy says to me that they just want to get rid of stuff so I could have it for $2! I wasn't sure if I heard right because those things brand new are nearly $150 and this one was in nice shape. I also got a brand new infant swing, a laugh and learn chair (which Seth LOVES!), another table toy (in pic), little people farm, a musical ball popper toy thingie, tickle me elmo, another huge box full of random toys, and bed rail, some nice name brand clothes...and so much more all for only $25!!!!! Brand new that stuff easily was over $500. I had to call Jerry to come help me load it in his truck! It was like Christmas in September for Seth! Here are just a few pics of what I got:

Another weekend recap

We had such a wonderful weekend! I feel like a broken record, but again, Seth continues to do and say so many wonderful and exciting things. Apparently, he has been saying Please at daycare, or "pease". His teachers say that they love it when he does that! I hate to say, but I wasn't even aware that he did say that, so the other day when he asked for milk, I said, "say please" and he said "pease". I also asked him to say "thank you" and he said "tank ooh". This boy will honestly repeat almost everything I ask him to now and he even says it very clearly! Yesterday we were visiting Jerry's brother, Eric, his fiance, Lauren and Seth's grand father. We were all sitting down to lunch and Seth started throwing his cup on the floor. I said "Seth, don't throw it!". He then looked me right in the eyes and said, "don't throw it!" I'm pretty sure my jaw dropped to the ground in disbelief and so did every body else's. I thought maybe I was just imagining it, but everyone else then busted out laughing and then Seth thought he was so cool and started cracking up also! A little later I wanted to see if he would do it again, so when he was eating his snack I said, "don't throw it!". He looked at me and again said, "don't throw!". He's so funny!
Also, Seth's Nonno (grandfather) stayed the weekend in STL and got to visit with Seth some. Seth immediately loved him and ran up to him with arms wide open.
Here are a few pics from the weekend.

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Goodnight Moon

Last night me, Jerry and Seth were outside and it was still light out, but Jerry said, "hey Seth, where's the moon?". Seth then said "moo" and looked up. Okay, that may not sound all that impressive, but I was completely amazed that he actually looked up into the sky trying to find the moon! Where did he learn that? Jerry then told me that the moon was out the other morning when he dropped Seth off at daycare and he showed it to Seth. The are like little sponges these kids! They just absorb so much. It's just so amazing to me!

Weekend recap and Craig's list confession

Seth was a little grumpy this weekend and extremely clingy to momma, but as always, we had a great time together. He is still trying to get over his stomach bug and I also think he may be cutting his canine teeth. I'm not sure when babies usually get these teeth in, but I feel like he might be. He has all of his baby teeth except for the canines and 2 year molars. He also has not been eating much...I have heard that is normal for toddlers, but you haven't seen my son's ravenous appetite, so it kinda worries me a bit. Maybe it's just from the stomach bug.
So I have a confession to make...I'm a totally and completely addicted to Craig's List. I only wish i had discovered it sooner! I have purchased alot of things lately as well as sold some items. I got tons of play things for seth such as a climber, slide, tunnels, play roller coaster and all sorts of toys. I then cleared out a big corner in our basement and turned it into a play area for rainy days and cold days. Today's high is only 66, so we may be down there sooner than i hoped! Anyways, he loves it and it will be a nice change of scenery. I also bought him a little table and chairs set as you can see in the pics. He loves it and he looks like such a big boy sitting there!
He continues to say alot of words and now not only can he point at body parts when asked, he also says them by name. As i have mentioned before, he has mastered the words and signs for more, all done, and milk, and now he know eat, so when he's hungry, he runs to his chair and does the sign for eat. I love being able to communicate with him now!

I guess some good things must come to an end...

It has been about 4 months now that Seth has avoided illness, well yesterday it came to an end. Most of you know that starting this past January, he was sick at least 1 day a week and I have exhausted ALL of my sick days. I even had to call in on my very first day of work because he was sick. Well finally in May, the sickness began to slow down and we all finally got a break from it. Anyway, when i picked him up yesterday from daycare, they said he had just thrown up and he just wasn't acting himself. When i brought him home, he fell asleep in the car which is unusual and when I took him inside, all he wanted to do was snuggle, which is also unusual since he can't sit still for a minute. I took his temp and it was 101. I made him some dinner and he took one bite of banana and started throwing up. He then refused all food, but luckily, he loves water so much that by the end of the night he had chugged down 3 sippy cups FULL of water. After a few rounds of puking, i gave him a bath and then we snuggled together on the couch and watched sesame street. Usually after a bath he goes straight to bed, but i noticed he was acting alot better, so i figured he might be hungry. Sure enough, while we snuggled on the couch, he ate 2 pieces of toast and chugged down another sippy of water. I then put him to bed and he went to sleep pretty easily, so i thought he was going to be okay. Around 11:30 he started whimpering a little and sat up and played his music for a while. I couldn't tell if he had thrown up because he coughed a little, but then he went back to sleep. This morning when I walked in to wake him up, he and his bed were covered in throw up. My poor baby!!!! I felt awful, but he greeted me with a big smile and hug. I cleaned him up and since he didn't have a fever and acted himself again, we decided to send him to daycare. Turns out 3 other kids in his class are out sick too. I hope he is over it! Oh, and he was bitten 2 times yesterday...once on the arm and once on the butt!

NOT AGAIN!!!!

As I picked Seth up from daycare yesterday, his teacher said, "Seth has a few accident reports for you to sign." One was that he was behind a door and a teacher didn't see him and when she opened it, she knocked him in the head. He's okay and only has a small bruise. The second one was that he accidentally fell on top of another child and became frustrated when he could not get up and bit the little girl. The teacher said it wasn't hard, but he has also been trying to bite me some when he gets frustrated. Anyone have any ideas how to stop this??? I know it's probably a phase and his pediatrician said that most kids bite around this age, but I still don't like it.

Weekend recap

Seth and I had a wonderful weekend together, just me and him! Daddy has been gone since last Tuesday on a sales meeting trip. I can tell that Seth misses him very much! We have a picture of Daddy and Seth as a screen saver on the computer and a few times Seth saw it and started smiling and laughing and said Dada. It was very sweet! Seth and I went to the Magic House again for the second weekend in a row. He really likes it there and the older he gets the more he will be able to do. I discovered something about Seth this weekend...he has turned into quite the little biter!! yikes! He has only bitten one kid at daycare so far, but I find him trying to bite me often when he doesn't get his way. However, I found that if I act like I'm sad and hurt about it, he immediately stops what he's doing and runs over to hug me. He will then look straight into my eyes and give me a kiss on the lips and then smile at me. It is the sweetest thing ever and he does this every time! He is also talking so much and labeling just about everything he sees. I am giving up on his word list because i just can't keep track anymore! It is so much fun and I feel like i can have mini conversations with him now. Overall it was a fun filled weekend, but we can't wait to see daddy today! YAY! Oh, and I almost had a breakdown at daycare today when I dropped him off this morning because he was crying and reaching out for me when I told him bye bye. He really didn't want me to leave and I didn't want to leave him. Monday's are the worst for him because we have 2 whole days together and then Monday I have to leave him. I'm sure he got over it very quickly, but I'm still sad! :(

Diaper baby

How cool is this? We have all seen those diaper cakes, but these are called diaper babies. I'm not necessarily the creative type, but next time a friend has a baby, I might just try this! You can put it in an outfit of your choice, stuff it with diapers, put it in a basket with a blanket, binkies and toys or anything else you want. Just thought i would share.

Sesame Street

Can you tell me how to get how to get to Sesame Street? Seth sure would like to know! He is not a TV kid, in fact, I've tried some to get him to watch a cartoon, but he would rather run around outside...which don't get me wrong is great! However, there is one TV show that when the theme song comes on he will stop dead in his tracks to watch.

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The Magic House

We took Seth to The Magic House in Kirkwood, Mo yesterday. I have heard so much about this place so we decided to go check it out. It was voted the number 1 children's museum in the US by a magazine. There are 3 levels and even a level just for toddlers. He had so much fun that we splurged and bought a 1 year pass. Check out our slide show below. In one of the pics, I was holding Seth and touching this huge ball that makes your hair stand up. Seth's hair stood up better than mine. As you can see, after 2 hours of hard playing, Seth wore himself out!

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15 month checkup

Well Seth had his 15 month well visit this past Friday. He is doing great and is right on schedule or as his Dr. put it, he is "by the book". His doctor did say he was ahead of schedule with his vocabulary and was functioning at an 18 month old's level. He said that the typical 15 month old says about 5 words, and Seth says about 20 and does some sign language. In fact, Seth decided to show off his skills to the doc and did the sign for more and also said a few words and gave him a high five. We are so proud of him! He has also gotten the sign for "all done", "milk" and "eat" down. It is all very exciting. He weighs 27lbs 12 oz and is in the 85th percentile for weight. The nurse measured him at 32 1/4 " which puts him in the 80th percentile when he has been in the 97th percentile since birth. We think she might have made a mistake because she did it so fast and it didn't look precise. The doctor even commented on it and said he didn't grow much in height and it could be that he may go thru a big 2" growth spurt soon. I think I am going to measure him myself to be sure. Here is a video of Seth signing more...he now does the sign perfectly and also says more. At the end of the video you can hear him say "more mama". So cute!

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Possible Pink Eye?

Well, Seth has possible pink eye, so the doctor called in some eye drops for him yesterday. Not that I have had that much experience with children before Seth, but from what I have seen and heard, I have never in my life experienced a child so willing to take meds! He is ALWAYS snotty and congested due to the "Daycare Drips", so on the days where he is very snotty, I give him a decongestant medicine that his doc prescribes for him. I swear, he thinks it's candy! It's never a struggle and he just opens wide and swallows and many times wants more. Well last night I was to give him his first dose of eyedrops and I dreaded it so much because I was sure he would put up a big fight. Actually, I held him in my arms and said, "Look Seth!". He would look up at the eye drops and I would squeeze a drop in his eye for a total of 2 drops per eye. Everytime the medicine hit his eye he started laughing! I then laughed with him so he would think it was a game, so he just kept laughing every time. After we were done giving him the drops, he kept doing the sign for "more" and saying "more" over and over. How easy was that! He loves water and recently discovered the sprinklers (which he had a ball playing in the other night). He loves to splash, so I think he thought the eye drops were just water. I can only hope it will always be this easy.

Feeding frenzy

I always heard and my doctor even told me that toddlers around Seth's age usually slow down on eating and sometimes refuse meals. Not my little guy! I don't think there is anything that boy doesn't like and sometimes he eats more than me! The other night Jerry made some fresh bruschetta (tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, italian parsley....mmmmmm so good). Well as Seth was eating his meal, he kept pointing at the buschetta and saying "more more". We decided to let him try it and he could not get enough of that stuff! I am thrilled that he is not a picky eater and even loves his veggies, but my fear is that we will go broke trying to feed that boy as he gets older and bigger.

N-O

I've always heard that NO is a favorite word among toddlers and I knew it was just a matter of time before Seth picked it up, but he is now saying it. I really don't even say it that often, but it's such an easy word to say. I bought him this drum set toy and he was banging on it with the drumsticks and then he decided it would be funny to hit mommy with the drumsticks so I grabbed them away from him and told him "NO, don't hit mommy". I gave them back to him and he ran off with them and then he came back toward me and acted like he was going to hit me again, but then he yelled "NO" and ran off again. It was actually pretty darn funny, but I tried not to laugh so I don't reinforce his behavior.

Choking scare

Last night at dinner, Seth was enjoying a delicious meal of grilled chicken and rosemary and garlic potatoes that daddy had prepared. Yes, Jerry cooks probably 95% of the time in our house, so I am very thankful for that and Seth really loves his daddy's cooking. Anyways, Seth was stuffing his mouth full of food when he either bit his finger or his tongue, but whatever it was, he got real red in the face and started that cry...you know, the one where his mouth is wide open but no sound is coming out...yet! I knew he was about to start some serious crying and I could see that his mouth was completely full of food, so Jerry and I started to panic a little. It was just a matter of time that he would inhale and start choking. Sure enough, he then starting choking and the more he cried the more he kept inhaling his food. I then had to perform the handy "finger sweep". By the time I finished, I swept out 3 big globs of food. Poor little guy! Needless to say, I lost my apetite after that, but he is okay.

15 months today

Seth turns 15 months today and he has suddenly started talking away. He is using so many real words now and will actually point at something and call it by name. Yesterday we were in Walmart and as we were walking down the toy aisle, I would let him push a few toys to make music. When the toy stopped playing, he would yell "more more" and do the sign for it as well. He also saw a huge bin full of balls and pointed and said "ball". Also, while i was looking at something, Seth started saying "oooh ahh ahh", I looked up and realized that he saw a bib with a monkey on it. It is so amazing to me that he is actually talking now. Sure he would spit out a few words here and there, but now he has purpose and instead of pointing and whining for more food, he can actually tell me what he wants. This is such an exciting time! He just started doing all of this over the weekend, so I'm sure he is going to impress his daycare teachers today.
He has also gotten the hang of drinking out of those sippy cups that have soft straws. He loves them so much and I think he is drinking not because he is thirsty, but because he thinks it's so cool. He drank so much water yesterday that when I got him up this morning his diaper was so full and swollen and he was completely soaked.
He got to meet the neighbor kids who are 10 and 12 years old yesterday. He enjoyed playing with them some last night and kept running over to them and giving them high fives. He was so proud of himself every time he did it and would laugh and start clapping.

His poor knees

I don't think Seth's knees are going to ever heal! He scraped them up just a little bit the other day and they scabbed over. Well, yesterday I took him outside and although he is getting really good at walking, he still isn't great at running! So he started running down the sidewalk and he tripped and fell right on one of his knees and opened up the scab a bit, but not too bad. So he got up and kept playing and seconds later he tripped again and fell on the same knee and this time there was a good amount of blood. He only whimpered a little bit and then when I saw the blood, I picked him up and brought him inside so I could clean him up. Well that's when the crying started. That boy was crying not because his knee was scraped up and bleeding, but because i brought him inside when he wanted to be outside. I cleaned him up, put on a band aid, and then put these knee pad things on him that I bought at Babies R Us. I guess he will be wearing these for now on until he gets a little better on his feet!

Coffee...oh how i've missed you!

Finally, 4 days after my food poisoning incident, I feel somewhat normal again! I do not recommend going to the Applebees in Eureka, MO and ordering the 7oz sirloin! Just a thought if you ever come through our neck of the woods! Anyways, I just had my first cup of coffee since Saturday and I just have to say that it is delicious!

Reminiscing

I was looking back at some older pics of Seth and came across some videos. Although I love them all, this one really made me smile (and cry). My little guy is growing up too fast!

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Aunt Hillary

Aunt Hillary also came to visit us from NC. Unfortunately it wasn't a very long visit, but we definitely enjoyed hanging out with her. We love you Hilly!

Recent pics of Seth

Boo Boos and belly buttons

My poor little boy. He constantly has some sort of "boo boo" on him whether it is from bumping his head on the same spot over and over (i think he might have permanent bruising), bumping his chin and biting his tongue over and over, or falling a scraping his knees. And boy is he messy. Maybe it's a boy thing because when i pick him up from daycare, none of the little girls look like that! And this is just the beginning! Recently Seth fell and scraped up his knees. He barely even whimpered and just got up and kept going. When i ask him about his "boo boo", he points at his knees. Seth has also gotten really good at pointing at his eye, nose, mouth or ear when you ask him to. He has also discovered his and mama's belly buttons and likes to show his off.
Here's Seth showing off one of his boo boos:

And here he his pointing to his belly button:

Spinning

Here is Seth's newest dance move...

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Nanny's visit

We had a wonderful visit with Nanny this past week. I hate that it went so fast and I'm sorry it ended with food poisoning, but overall it was so nice. Seth immediately latched on to her and you could tell that there was a bond between them. It was so sweet. Of course Nanny spoiled Seth with toys and love! She got him a old school jack-in-the-box. Now when Seth brings it to me to turn the crank, he says "Pop", as in "pop" goes the weasel. Nanny also bought him a huge stuffed dog that he loves to lay on. It is the first thing he goes to when he wakes up in the morning and the first thing he runs to when he comes home from daycare. He will point at it and say "bow wow wow". Here are a few pics from Nanny's visit:

Nanny reading to Seth:

Nanny and Seth laying on his new dog:

Happy Belated Birthday Sis!

So I really wanted to wish my sis a happy birthday on her blog, but turns out her special day wasn't so special for me since i was so sick! So anyway, I just want to wish Lauren a very happy birthday. I miss you and wish we lived closer so we could celebrate all these special days together! I love you.

food poisoning?

This is my 3rd day now of not feeling well. Granted I feel tons better then I did on Sunday, but I am still not great. My mom got sick the day after me on Monday, so I don't know if we picked up a virus from Seth because he was a little sick but no where near as bad as we were. We did go to Applebees Saturday night and my mom and I had the same exact steak. Just typing this makes me want to vomit! I can't help but think that the steak is what did it. Whatever it is I can't wait to feel normal again! I have been meaning to put a few posts up about my mom's visit and other "Seth" things, but I haven't been feeling up to it. I will try to post some tonight or tommorrow.

The tables have turned...

Well, i was scared the day would come and I told Karen that she did not owe me an apology! :) When I picked up Seth from daycare yesterday, the teacher told me he had bitten someone. And the scenario??? Another kid took something from him and he bit in defense, but thankfully it wasn't very hard. That is exactly what was happening to him in his old classroom...he would take a toy and a kid would bite him. I was a little shocked and even the teacher said he was so sweet and didn't "seem like the aggressive type." Hopefully it won't happen again, but they assured me it was a normal part of development.

Girls day out

My mom is visiting from Florida, so I called in to work yesterday and had a fun filled day of shopping with my mom! It was such a gorgeous day...it started out at 60 degrees in the morning and only reached about 82 and the skies were so blue. It was a PERFECT day. For lunch we sat outside at the cheesecake factory and shared our favorite salad and split a chocolate raspberry truffle cheesecake slice. We had so much fun and not once did i ever feel rushed which is pretty much how I feel the rest of the days. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being with my son and every time i saw a little boy at the mall i thought about Seth and how much I miss him, but it was so nice not to have to worry about poopy diapers, or snack time, lunch time or getting back in time for nap!
Speaking of Seth, he really took to my mom immediately! He is usually shy around new people or people he hasn't seen in a while, but you would have never known that he hadn't seen her since May! He immediately went to her and now he constantly runs to her with arms wide open for her to hold him. It is very cute and Nanny is just eating it up! I will post pics of Seth and Nanny at the end of her visit.

not a duckling anymore!

It is official...Seth is no longer in the Duckling room at daycare any longer! He has now graduated to the big toddler room and FINALLY there is another little boy in his class. Not that there is anything wrong with little girls, but he has been surrounded by all girls since he started daycare in January. I do like that they moved one of his bestest girl friends, Athena, with him to the toddler room so that they would have each other. They have always been great friends and get so excited when they see each other. This morning when I dropped Seth off in his new room, he was like the "new kid" in the class. When we walked in about 6 other toddlers were already sitting at the breakfast table and they all whipped around and stared at Seth as he clung to me. They then separated the group into fours and I sat him next to Athena at the table. They immediately started giggling at each other and reaching out and gently touching each other's faces. It was so sweet! As I sat him down, I realized that my little boy was growing up...the chair I was about to sit him in didn't have a strap to buckle him in. GASP!!!! A part of me was concerned and then I realized that my baby wasn't a baby anymore and I have to let go a little. He's growing up way too fast!

more

Here is a video of Seth signing "more":

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