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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Discipline and what worked for us

After speaking with my sister, Lauren and reading her blog, I decided to write a little bit about what has worked for us in regards to disciplining Seth. One thing my sister wrote about was how her daughter Kate does not lay still for diaper changes. Well, Seth used to be awful about this. I used to get so frustrated and yell "no" at him. It never worked and he just laughed at me and wiggled away with poop residue still on his hiney. In an attempt to minimize my use of the word "no", I knew that I had to try something else! When he started his tantrum during diaper changes, I just physically held him down and told him to "wait". I didn't attempt to change him, I just held him until he eventually gave in and knew he wasn't going to win this fight. It took a while, but he now understands the word "wait". I did have to move him off his changing table and change him on the floor now instead. Not only did I have to do this because he was so wiggly, but he also exceeded the weight limit already! Okay, so another discipline approach that has worked sooooo well for us is positive reinforcement. I know...duh, that's a no brainer, but seriously, I am talking about over the top enthusiam for the things Seth does right. I have learned to pick my battles and now understand that it is the attention that he is looking for even if I am saying no to him...that's what he wants! Kinda an off note, but I now use the word no only for dangerous situations, at least I'm trying! For example, Seth has learned to push the buttons on the TV. At first it was frustrating and we kept telling him no, but he would just laugh and do it again. Well now, we just ignore him and since he is not getting any attention from doing it, he just walks away and finds something else to do. So ignoring certain behaviors has been working for us. Okay, so back to the positive reinforcement...here is an example where it has worked wonders for us. Seth used to throw his sippy cup off of his tray at every meal. Now, he hasn't done it honestly in months! What we do is everytime he takes a sip and puts it back on his table without throwing it, we make a huge, over the top deal about it. By doing this, he gets the attention he has been craving and now he knows that if he puts his cup back on the tray then he will get that attention where if he throws it he gets no attention at all. So of course he is going to choose to put it on his tray for now on. Also, even with diaper changes. When he is really good and sits still thru the whole diaper change, I really praise him and tell him specifically what he did right. I will say "oh Seth, thank you so much for sitting still and letting mama change your diaper. What a GOOD boy!". This approach is definitely working wonders for us!

a biter among us

I know that this is a stage that alot of babies go thru, but Seth was bitten 3 times last week at daycare! Seth has never bitten yet, but i'm scared he is going to pick it up from the biter! Daycare cannot say who the Perp is, but I have a pretty good idea who it is. Seth is the only boy amongst 3 other girls at daycare and 1 of the girls is particularly feisty! Daycare doesn't seem to worried about it and they always tell me "well...Seth did take a toy from her". Don't all babies take toys from each other? I don't think sharing is a concept that they really understand until about age 3. They all take toys from each other, but they make it sound like because he did this then it's okay that she bit him. Well it's not and him coming home with bite marks almost every day is not okay with us! I have been looking into other daycares but everything is soooooo expensive. Ours is the cheapest in the area. I guess you have to pay for quality! Okay, I'm done with my venting now!

So many things...

Every day Seth discovers something new or does something new. This is such a fun stage! This weekend alot has happened...where do i begin?
1. Now when I ask Seth if he wants to go outside, he will go get his shoes and bring them to me. Sometimes when he can't find his shoes he brings me mine or daddy's instead. I then ask him to sit so I can put them on and he sits right down!
2. Most of you know that Seth is very much into dancing. He finds rhythm in pretty much anything that makes noise. Of course he loves music, but he also dances to the washing machine, sprinklers and yesterday he started dancing when our neighbor started his car up and drove off!
3. Along with dancing, Seth has discovered how to spin around in circles. He loves it when daddy picks him up and spins him around, but now he has figured out how to make himself dizzy without daddy's help.
4. Seth is fascinated with dogs now. Everytime he sees one he says "bow wow wow wow".
5. He now has a vocabulary of about 20 words. He doesn't say them all the time but every now and then a few words come out. Seth really studies your mouth when you talk and tries to mimic what you say. For example, we said pajamas to him the other day and he made the P sound but he couldn't say the word. He will sometimes repeat easy words that you say also. Yesterday when I took him outside, I pointed to a tree and kept saying "tree" and all of the sudden he repeated it back to me. He is catching on so fast.
6. In addition to the words, Jerry and I honestly feel that Seth understands just about everything we say to him. He knows all of his stuffed animals by name and if we ask him to bring us a specific one, he gets the exact one we asked for. Same with anything else...if we ask for his shoes, pajamas, blankie, dinosaur toy, he knows exactly which one to get. Now when we say "are you ready to eat?", he runs to his highchair and starts pushing it around the kitchen.
7. A couple of his newest accomplishments that he likes to practice over and over is to put things back exactly where he found them and I mean exactly! He found this little stuffed bear that I had given Jerry one valentine's day on Jerry's nightstand. Well he took it out of the bedroom and brought it to the family room and played with it a bit. After about 30 minutes, he took off down the hall with it and I followed him to see what he was doing. I found him in our bedroom putting the bear back on Jerry's nightstand. He has also done this with our shoes that he finds on the shoe rack in the utility room and he even took a magnetic picture off of our fridge yesterday, walked around with it for a few minutes and then put it back onto the fridge!
8. Seth is definitely turning into a mama's boy. Although I don't think cutting molars helps his cause, but he has been especially clingy to me. He plays for a little while and then comes running to me saying "mama mama" and throws his arms around me. Although the cuddling only last maybe 1 second, 2 if I'm lucky, I'll take anything I can get!
Here are a few recent pictures of Seth: