Change of mind and Seth update

I am sooooo far behind on this blogging. So much has been happening and i just know that i can't possibly remember everything.

Seth is getting so big...he is definitely in the midst of the "terrible twos", but Jerry and i are still having a blast with him. We have learned that some of his frustration is that he doesn't want to just sit and observe anymore...he wants to be involved and help. Soooo, we are now involving him in so much more like choosing what to wear, he helps us cook a little and grocery shop. Another thing i have done that makes him feel independent is that i have set him up his very own drawer in the kitchen that is at his height, so for meals he picks out his own cup, straw, fork, etc. He really loves it! His vocabulary is really just amazing to me and some of the phrases that he says just crack me up. For instance he was pretending to make me and daddy a drink, and daddy said, "mmmmmm, that's goood...can i have some more". Seth looks at him and says matter-of-factly, "I tell you what, it's mommy's turn!". There is so much more, but sadly my memory is not so great these days, hence the need to stay up with my blogging. He is also getting much better at going up and down stairs. He even alternates feet walking upstairs, which apparently is a big deal.

Now, on to Sophie. Well, i had a slight change of mind and heart recently about her middle name. We had agreed on Eden, and Sophie and Seth would have the same initials, however i really wanted to do something in honor of my "nana" who passed away this past January. Sophie is Jerry's grandma's name, so since my grandma's name was Mary Jane (she went by Jane), i was thinking of going with Jane or perhaps Jayne...the spelling is still to be decided, but i really feel like this is "it"...this is the name for our daughter. My nana always thought Seth was so cute and she told my mom not long before she died that she really hoped Jerry and i would have another baby, so i just think this is fitting. Plus, in English Jane means "God is Gracious" and in Hebrew it means "Gift from God", which ironically is what my nephew, Jonathan's, name means who passed away in October. I just think it's meant to be! :)

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween

Halloween was such a blast this year. We weren't sure if he would quite understand, but after going to a few houses he really got into saying "trick or treat" and "thank you". He even got so comfortable with receiving candy that i overheard him ask someone if he could have some more. He went with 2 of his little neighbor friends and they were all so cute. I'm not sure who had more fun, me or Seth. He LOVED his costume and kept telling everyone he was a "skelton" and he was "scary". He was just adorable!
Here a some pics from the Pumpking patch where we went with our neighbors and their little girl, Lauren, and also are the pictures from Halloween.

My visit to Florida

Recently Seth and I went to Florida so we could be there for Jonathan's funeral. Our precious nephew lived for 40 wonderful minutes and left this world peacefully and is now in the arms of Jesus.
Emotionally the visit was a difficult one, but we did share some good times. Kate and Seth in particular had a blast together and played so well together. Here are some pics from our trip:

Ice Cream!

A hug among cousins



They really love each other!

Gulfarium with Nanny and Papa

Meet Sophie

Here are a few pics of our baby girl.


profile pic


It's a girl!

It's a girl!!

Jerry and i just found out yesterday that we are having a beautiful and healthy baby girl! The ultrasound tech was amazing and spent nearly an hour looking at every specific detail of our baby. I must admit that i believe we were both slightly in shock that it was a girl, especially because we both thought we saw "something" there, but turns out it is definitely a girl and we couldn't be happier. One great thing about having a girl is that we don't have to argue about the name! We both agreed on the name "Sophie" nearly 4 years ago before Seth was even born and now we finally get to use it. Not only do we love the name, but it was also Jerry's Grandmother's name so it has very special meaning. And no, her name is not Sophia, just Sophie and her middle name will be Eden so Seth and Sophie will have the same initials (not planned, we just liked the names). I will post the ultrasound pictures very soon! We just feel so blessed to have a healthy child and couldn't be happier. I'm still not so sure how Seth is taking the news and how much he really understands, but before we knew we were having a girl, Seth would almost always say he wanted a "boy". Well today as i was taking him to school, i told him that Mommy was going to have a girl and he was going to have a baby sister and he replied, "NO! I want a boy!". Maybe he does understand more than i thought, but i think he will love having a little sister and will be an awesome big brother!

a few updates

Seth continues to impress me daily with his vocabulary and new phrases and questions. A few cute things he has done lately:

--He can now sing the entire ABC song...sure he may miss a few here and there, but overall it is pretty darn good.
--He can easily count to 10 and has even gone as far as 13.
--He has figured out mine and daddy's name and if you ask him, he will tell you that my name is "wendy" and daddy is "jerry".
--One day Seth was acting, well...BAD, so i sent him to his room, which by the way, he actually likes going to his room when he is mad or upset. If he gets in trouble he will say, "i want to go to my room" and then he will run in there and lay in his bed until he cools off. Anyway, while he was in his room, Daddy was standing in the living room but in a place where he could still see Seth's bedroom door. Seth then cracked the door open and saw Jerry and said, "Hi Daddy!". Jerry said, "what are you doing?" Seth said, "i'm in my room because i was bad.". It was so cute.
--One not so cute thing that has suprised me is that Seth is saying, "i don't like you." Not sure where he picked that one up, but i'm sure it was from daycare. I wasn't expecting to hear that for another year or so.
--Seth continues to LOVE fruit and vegetables. He will eat ANY kind of fruit and it has to be fresh which is great by us! He also loves broccoli. One night he ate 3 big servings...Jerry and i were amazed by this.
--One night we were eating pizza and i asked Seth if i could have an apple. He is very possesive about his fruit, but he gladly gave me one. I then asked him if he would give daddy one, but daddy said, "that's okay, let me finish my pizza first". Seth then acted like he was going to give Daddy an apple, but then quickly drew his hand back and said, "you eat your pizza first!".
--The other day Seth and i were outside playing and he did something to me (can't remember exactly what), but i acted like i was sad about it. He then said, "are you sad mommy?" I said, "yes". He then said, "do you want some ice?".
--He is really a sweet and compassionate little boy. He does not like to see you upset and will give you hugs and kisses to make it "all better". I love this boy! I feel like a broken record, but i absolutely am having a blast with him...i love this age!
Here are a few recent pics that i took with my phone:

so many questions

Over the past week or so Seth has begun asking so many questions..."where were you, mommy?", "what are you doing?", "where are we going", and of course "WHY?". It is so amazing to hear his vocabulary go to the next level. I really love this age...it can definitely be trying at times, but so much fun!

Sandwich Kiss

I think Seth has been watching too much Dora and Diego because one of his new phrases is "awwww man"!. It's so cute. He is also saying "oh my goodness" a lot...i think he got that from me.

I don't really know how it started, but Seth LOVES sandwich kisses from me and Jerry. We both get on either side of him and kiss his cheeks at the same time. Seth will sometimes ask us for "sandwich kisses". So anyways, last night we gave him a sandwich kiss and after we were done he excitedly said, "thanks guys!".

Counting and manners

Seth has gotten very good at counting and loves to count everything and anything he can, especially in books. He can count to 10 perfectly and even points at the objects he is counting.

Seth is just your typical 2 year old...there is still the occasional biting, hitting, pinching and pushing at daycare. All the kids have gotten a lot better, but it still happens. Lately we have been going over all of the things NOT to do and now everytime we drop him off at school he starts going over his list of what not to do. We will kiss him goodbye and he will say, "no hitting, no pushing, no pinching, no biting." Sometimes he even rehearses it in the car on his way to daycare. The other day his teacher told us that he pushed a friend and then he immediately stepped back and said "no pushing" and then gave his friend a hug. He knows it's wrong, but now he just has to control those impulses!

Busy Weekend

We had a very busy but very fun weekend. We spent the majority of it hanging out with friends and Seth's friends. On Sunday Seth got to hang out with a gal pal that he has been in daycare with him since before they could even crawl. They grew to be fast friends and virtually inseparable. Unfortunately she had to go to a different daycare and he misses her so much and asks about her every day. Yesterday we finally got them together but silly me forgot my camera. They had a great time! He also got to hang out with another "girl friend" who lives a few houses down. As you can see in the picture, they kept holding hands...it was soooooo cute! We also visited some very good friends who have 2 kids that Seth absolutely loves. Needless to say he was exhausted and at one point he passed out on the couch and rolled onto the floor (which we predicted hence the pillows) and didn't even wake up!

A lot of stuff....

Here i am playing catch up again so i know i am forgetting so much! I really have to stay on top of this better.

Seth is using the potty so much more but he is very inconsistent still. One day he went 3 times at daycare, but then the next day he didn't go at all. At least he is showing interest and is getting the hang of it.

Seth's vocabulary has gone up another notch and he is really talking like a little person using, i and you and yours and me. It's so much fun!

A few cute Seth sayings: I hurt my foot the other day and kept saying, "ow ow". He walked over to me and gently stroked me face and said, "it's okay, it's okay". He does this now everytime i get a boo boo. Also, the other day me, daddy and seth were tickling each other and seth and i really got to laughing pretty hard and then all of the sudden he said, "oh my goodness!".

Nanny just left from her 10 day visit and we miss her very much. Seth had so much fun with her playing hide and go seek and searching for animals around the house. The day Nanny had to leave she explained to Seth that she was going back home on an airplane. Seth said, "i want to go on hairpane with you...mommy come with me." Later that day after nanny left Seth heard an airplane and said, "nanny on hairpane up in the sky".

11.5 weeks

It is official...i am pregnant! I am almost in my 2nd trimester so finally the nausea and tiredness are wearing off some. I am not use to the nausea as i did not have that with Seth...because of this i am convinced it's a girl! :)

Zoo part 2

I'm a little behind on blogging, but here is part 2 of our zoo trip. We went 2 weekends in a row because the zoo is so big and we still didn't see everything!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

3 times!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday when i picked Seth up from daycare he was in the bathroom with his pants down. I asked the teacher if he just went pee pee on the potty and she said that this was his third time today!!!! I couldn't believe it and was so happy. Seth was pretty proud of himself to and kept showing me his 3 stickers that he got for going on the potty. I guess we are definitely going to have to start some formal training...like soon! I think he is ready. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to potty train (books, etc)?

Big Boy!

I have been posting about how Seth will sometimes go poo poo on the potty, but he has yet to go pee pee, well last night after he got out of his bath, i was drying him off and he said he had to go potty. So i put him on the potty and he immediately started going pee pee. He was so excited and kept laughing and talked about being a big boy. Yay...i don't think it will be too much longer now!

Colors and Potty

Within the past 2 weeks or so, Seth has suddenly been able to identify his colors. He knew some, but he liked to call everything orange since that seems to be his favorite color. Well now, he has got it down and can tell you what color something is if you ask him and will also point it out to you. He knows blue, red, yellow, green, orange, purple, pink, brown, black and white.

Yesterday morning when i went into Seth's room to get him ready for school, he suprised me because he was standing right by the door when i walked in. He looked at me as he crouched down and said, "I have to go potty". He then ran to the bathroom and instructed me to put his potty seat onto the big potty. He has pooped on his little potty quite a few times before, but not on the big potty yet. As he was sitting on the potty he looked at me and said, "where's daddy, mommy?". We talked for about a minute and then he went potty! After he was done he said, "okay, all done. I need wipe now." He then kept talking about how he was a "big boy". We are so proud of him. We still haven't officially started any type of training, but he seems to be getting the hang of pooping, he just won't pee pee on the potty yet. Usually that comes first, but hey, i'd rather change pee pee diapers than poopy ones! I am still not in a rush to train him yet...i feel he is really starting to understand the whole concept but i think he needs a little more time. I'm confident he will get the hang of it very soon and then we will start a more formal training.

Seth update

Seth has been so imaginative lately. Whenever we go outside, Seth will ask me every time we pass a bush or a tree, "hey mommy, what kind of animal is that?" And then he'll tell me what kind of animal he sees, porcupine, eagle, ducks, elephant, you name it, he sees it! Especially since our recent trip to the zoo, he is really imagining animals everywhere...even in the grocery store. We were outside the other day, and he said "look mommy, a tiger!" You would have thought for sure that a real tiger was chasing him because he turned around and took off running faster than i have ever seen him. Before i could even react, he tripped and fell onto the sidewalk and scraped up his knees pretty good. The next day when Jerry dropped him off at school, Jerry said that Seth was telling his friends about how he got his owies because a tiger was chasing him. A few months ago he would have just told you that he fell down, but now he is describing things in so much more detail, for example he will say, "i fell down on the sidewalk", and when he hears a noise instead of saying "what was that?" like he always use to, he now says, "what was that sound?". We can have actual conversations with him now and he will even tell us all about his day at school. We are having so much fun with him!

Trip to the Zoo

It started to rain, so our closest shelter was the carousel. Seth was scared of it at first, but then he LOVED it!


He loved the big elephants!





The hippos were also a favorite!


Seth and Daddy checking out all the fishes!

4th of July weekend

We had a great 4th of July weekend. That Friday both Jerry and i had off work, and i just assumed that Seth's daycare was closed, but i found out the day before that it wasn't, so we sent Seth to Daycare and Me and Jerry got a whole day to relax! That never happens. Saturday we went over to our friends house, Jeff and Krissy, to eat dinner and watch the fireworks...or as Seth likes to call it, the "boom boom". Last year Seth was too young to stay up and watch the fireworks, but this year i thought i'd let him stay up to see them. Well....he HATED them. He kept saying "no more boom boom" and "i want to go home and go night night". Days later he was still talking about the fireworks and kept saying, "boom boom scared Sethie". Maybe next year! Seth did however have a wonderful time with Jeff and Krissy's kids, Cole and Gabbie and hasn't stopped talking about them since!

Diego and Dora

Diego and Dora have surely become Seth's favorite TV programs. Although the character voices are beyond annoying, it is actually a very interactive and educational program. They ask all sorts of questions like, "do you see the _____?" Seth will jump up from his chair and run to the TV saying, "right there, it's right there!". Thanks to these shows, Seth also one night just started counting in Spanish to 3! I couldn't believe it.

Our boy can dance!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Time out

From the very first time i put Seth in "time out", he responded very well to it. That was probably 3 months ago and i thought surely he won't continue to be that good about it...well, 3 months later and he is. It is so wonderful...he will sit there and not get up at all and once the timer goes off and the timeout is over, i briefly tell him what he did wrong, he says sorry and we hug and kiss and he is a wonderful little boy again! I haven't had to use timeout for over a month because he has been so good, but lately he has been extra whiney and throwing lots of tantrums. I suspect he is cutting his 2 year molars, but it could also just be that he is a 2 year old acting his age. This weekend he had a few timeouts and sometimes it wasn't that he did something wrong, but it was really just to calm down. It is like a miracle worker because he is a brand new little boy after it. Yesterday he was whining A LOT so i asked him if he needed a timeout (i didn't tell him to go there, i just asked if he needed it). He yelled "NO" and took off running out of the kitchen. A minute later i didn't hear him so i walked into the living room and saw that he put himself in timeout. It was so cute and funny, but i guess he realized he needed one after all. And now, i don't even have to put him there myself, i just tell him to go there and he does. I know it doesn't work for all kids, but this is a great thing for Seth.

Seth's 2nd Birthday party

This past Saturday we had a birthday party for Seth. A few neighborhood friends and his best "girl friend" from school came over. One of my neighbors even brought real baby ducks that she had found abandoned a few days ago. Needless to say, these feathered guests were the hit of the party! I was concerned about the weather because that morning we had a torrential rain and loud thunder, but by the time the party started it was a gorgeous day so the kids were able to get out in the pool. The water was freezing, but Seth was the first one to jump right in. As you can see in the very last video, Seth even blew out his candle all by himself! If you click on the slideshow you can view the videos...they are at the very end after the pictures.

Big boy bed, take 2!

Last night was the second night Seth slept in his big boy bed. This time when i left his room he didn't cry at all or get out of his bed. He just went straight to sleep! We have a video camera monitor, so after about an hour i checked to see how he was doing and saw that he was right on the edge and about to fall out. I kept watching and sure enough after a few minutes he fell onto the floor. I thought for sure he would start crying but he just rolled over onto his stomach and slept on the floor. I decided it would be a good time for me to go to bed in case he woke up in the middle of the night crying so i started to get ready for bed. About 45 minutes had passed and as i was getting into bed i checked the moniter again and he had crawled back into his bed all by himself. All in all i think the transition was a great success. We are so proud of our big boy!

2 year well visit

Last Friday Seth went to his 2 year well doctor visit. We have been spreading out his shots, so this time he got his last polio shot so that means he now only has his Varicella left and then he is done until Kindergarten...YAY! He handled it very well and only whimpered for a few short seconds and then said, "owie, Sethie hurt." He then got a cookie and all was well. Seth weighs 32 pounds (89th percentile) and is 36 and 3/4in tall (95th percentile). According to height predictors, he will be 6 foot 4! Yikes, we shall see! Seth put on quite the show for Dr. Killian and talked the entire time. Dr. Killian was very impressed by his verbal skills. Nowadays Jerry and i can almost have a complete conversation with Seth. It is so much fun!

Big boy bed

Yesterday we decided that Seth was ready to transition to his big boy bed, so after church we made a big deal about him sleeping in the big boy bed and he even helped us convert the crib. We tried it out first during nap time and he did great, but at nighttime as soon as i walked out of the room he got a little upset and crawled out of his bed and gathered all of his stuffed animals around the room and threw them in the bed. He then just stood next to his bed and cried so i went in there to help him back into the bed, i turned on the light and his bed was completely covered in stuffed animals. I had to hide most of them in his closet and then i got him back into bed and read him another story. Again when i walked out of the room he started crying, but it only lasted a few minutes and he eventually laid down and slept peacefully the whole night! He even woke up this morning and just waited until i came in to get him before he got out of his bed. Here a some pics of him yesterday during his nap:

My baby is 2!

I can't believe Seth is already 2! I still clearly remember everything from the day i found out i was pregnant, to the day he FINALLY made his appearance. It just goes so fast and i am trying to remind myself everyday to enjoy every single moment!
Here is my baby yesterday morning. I wrapped his presents the night before and set them on the table so he would see them when he got up in the morning. When he saw them he said, "what's that?". We told him they were his and he opened them like he knew exactly what he was doing. Nanny and Papa got him the stuffed duck and some books too. He just loves that duck and now has to sleep with it in his crib along with 5 other bedmates!




As i am sure i mentioned before, Seth is into George of the Jungle and Tarzan. Well he has a favorite George of the Jungle episode that shows a nest with eggs in it. He has always had a fascination with eggs and "baby ducks". In fact, one day we were eating hard boiled eggs and Seth pointed at it and said, "baby duck". It was funny, but i also kinda lost my appetite. Anyways, so the other day Seth walks up to me and said, "i wanna see george of jungle baby eggs in nest". I couldn't believe it...he actually put 10 words together in one sentence.
Also, lately Seth has really been so good and obeying me much better. When i ask him to do something he'll say "okay" and then do it. We are really working on getting him to come to us when we ask. For instance if he starts running from us and we tell him to stop and come here. Yesterday i told him to come here and he started to smile and pretended to ignore me. WEll i changed my tone a little and he knew i was serious, so he said "okay" and came right to me.
Seth is quite the fruit lover and would probably eat it all day if he could. We have to give him his fruit at meals a little later than his other food, because if the fruit is in front of him then that is all he will eat. I can usually negotiate with him and give him a small piece of fruit and when he finishes i tell him he can have more if he takes a few bites of his other foods. He says okay and takes a few bites and then says, "okay, more watermelon". And this repeats throughout dinner. Well the other night i started to eat some fruit and Seth pointed at my meat and said, "eat that first". It was so funny.
Seth is all about choices these days, so i have been giving him 2 choices that i am comfortable with, yet he feels he has a say in it, so we are all happy!
So far i have to say that the terrible 2's began early for Seth, maybe around 19 months, but also went away pretty fast. He does have his meltdowns and tantrums from time to time, but so far it really hasn't been that bad. I just hope it stays that way!

Nemo

Seth LOVES monsters in cartoons, movies, whatever, he loves them. In fact that is going to be his birthday party theme this year. Anyways, he likes dragons and dinosaurs and Shrek and other scary looking things, so what scares him??? Well, i put in Nemo the other day and at the part where the humans take Nemo away, yeah, well that sent Seth into a major tear-filled breakdown!!! I don't know if it was the humans that scared him or if it was because Nemo was taken away, but whatever it was, Seth was very upset about it. Now for the past 2 days he keeps saying, "Nemo scare sethie!". Awwwww.

Almost 2!

Now that Seth is almost 2 and after reading my sister's blog, i have been thinking some about potty training. I think Seth is ready to begin training because he has gone poopoo on the potty a good number of times now. Just last night he actually told me he had to go, so i took him to the potty and he sat down and went!! That easy! He always tells me now when he has to go #2, but he has only gone #1 on the potty so far. Once he moves to the 2 year old classroom at daycare, they are going to start taking them to the potty once an hour. I haven't been in a rush and i just wanted to wait until he was ready, but i definitely think he is showing positive signs for training.

Florida Fun and my 30th Bday

For my 30th birthday, we went down to stay at my grandmother's beach condo in Navarre. I had a wonderful time just hanging out with friends and family and taking in that salty air. Jerry had to meet us the following day, so i flew alone with Seth for the first time. I was very nervous, but as always, my little man suprised me and was wonderful! He had his very own seat and stayed buckled in the entire time. Portable DVD players are a blessing, it's just when you are instructed to turn them off during descent when things can get a little tough, but that's where lollipops and gummy bears came in handy!

Right before our trip, Seth was taking antibiotics for his 4th round of Strep. Well as we landed in Florida i noticed that Seth had a fever, so instead of going directly to the condo, we went straight to urgent care. Turned out he had an ear infection, so the doc changed his antibiotics and all was good again.

The next day, i had a few friends and family over to celebrate me and my mom's bdays. My friend Jamie made a beautiful cake, and i got to hang out with some friends i haven't seen in quite a while. It was a great day!

Seth had a great time and to my suprise LOVED the pool and the beach right away. The pool water was a little chilly, but Seth didn't care and had the best time. He loved the sand and spent most of his time rolling around in it. Even though he had a great time, he was also not himself during this trip. Everything was a fight...he didn't want to wear shoes, or he didn't like the shirt you picked out...typical 2 year old, only very exaggerated! The minute we arrived back home in St. Louis, he was his little angel self again. I think it was just the change in environment and routine that threw him off.

During that week at the beach, i noticed Seth's vocabulary again had stepped up a notch. He will tell you exactly what he wants and what he doesn't want, and when you ask him what dvd he wants to watch, the response is usually..."ummmm, i want to watch...Tarzan!" Also, our condo was on the 8th floor and i already knew that Seth could count to 3, but what i didn't know is that he can actually count to 9!! We would always count when going up and down the elevator and he counted every time. I also realized that he knows the concept behind the number 2. While watching fraggle rock, he saw a monster with 2 heads and proudly exclaimed, "two monsters!".

It was a great trip and Seth had the best time with Kate, Nanny, Papa and Aunt Lauren. He asks about them almost every day since we returned to St. Louis. I sure do miss them. Anyways, here is a slideshow of some pictures from our trip.

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Bless you

Yesterday as i was changing Seth's diaper, i sneezed. Seth looked at me and said, "Bless you Mommy". It was very sweet.

Trying to keep up

Seth's vocabulary has exploded and i am having a very hard time trying to keep up with all the cute things he says. He now uses 4 even 5 words at a time sometimes and has said a few full sentences. If he can't find me he will say "Mommy, where are you?" and when he sees me and daddy together he will say "hi mommy and daddy". I love that he is now using mommy and daddy instead of mama and dada. it sounds so cute!
He has also started having strong opinions about which video to watch or what shirt to wear. Yesterday he told me he didn't like the shirt he was wearing and he was trying to take it off and kept saying "i don't like this". He then grabbed a different shirt and demanded me to put it "on". Yesterday i was playing around with him during his bath and i took a squirt toy and squirted water at him. After he had enough he said "stop it mommy!".
I now proudly carry the title of "Sethie's mommy". I think that Seth thinks his name is Sethie and not Seth. One of his teacher's has even told me that when they called him Seth, he said "no, Sethie". Anyways, lately when i pick him up from daycare, a lot of the kids will say mommy to me and Seth will say "no, Sethie's mommy". Also, when i picked him up last week, he had a piece of mulch from outside in his hand. He showed it to me and i commented on his "stick". He then looked at the "stick" and corrected me by saying "mulch". I thought "stick" would be easier to understand, but apparently i need to give him more credit. He just picks up on words so easily now!
I'm trying not to let him watch too much TV, but he is in love with jungle movies! His favorite is Tarzan and the Jungle book. In Tarzan, there is a villain named "zoogor". He loves to run around the house growling and yelling "zoooooogor". Yesterday i pretended to be "zoogor" and chased him around the house. When i sat down to catch my breath, Seth said "mommy, more zoogor get you". He was telling me he wanted me to chase him some more because i would say "zoogor's gonna get you". We are having so much fun with him!

Nanny, Lauren, Greg and Kate visit STL

My mom, sister, brother in law and neice all recently came up to STL to visit. We had a great time and the kids had a blast. Even though a few days have passed since they left, Seth still wakes up every morning asking for "kate" and "nanny". We kept very busy by taking the kids on an Easter egg hunt, the Magic House and a huge park. They had so much fun and absolutely LOVED each other. Me, Lauren and Greg even got to take a trip to see the Arch. Below is a slide show, and if you scroll your mouse over the little yellow person on the bottom left, you can then click on the link (nanny, lauren,) and it will take you to my picassa photo album where you can view the videos. The last few Easter pics are videos of Seth and Kate.

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Biting

The biting at Seth's school has slowed down a little, but he usually gets bit about once a week still! Sometimes he even does the biting. I know it's just a stage, but i cannot wait till this stage is over. Yesterday Seth came home with a big bite mark on his arm. I asked him who bit him and he said "Destiny". I didn't really expect an answer, but i also never even heard of a child in his class named Destiny, so i wasn't sure if i just didn't understand him correctly or maybe there really was a kid in his class by that name. So this morning when Daddy dropped Seth off at daycare he asked the teachers and sure enough there is a girl in Seth's class by that name. So then Daddy said, "oh, so that's who bit Seth yesterday." The teachers looked at each other and asked how he knew that being that this was a confidential matter and they never share the names of who bit who. Daddy just answered, "oh, well we asked Seth last night and he told us." They just couldn't believe it. I guess there is no keeping secrets from Seth anymore because he will come home and tell us!

Nanny

My mom, Seth's nanny, is here to visit and he couldn't be happier! However, a couple nights ago at dinner, Nanny accidentally knocked over her glass of ice cold water and it went all in Seth's lap. His first reaction was shock because it was so cold, and then he began to cry because i think he thought she did it on purpose and it hurt his feelings! Nanny and i couldn't help ourselves from laughing, but at the same time i was trying to console Seth. After a few seconds he calmed down and started giggling too because Nanny and I couldn't stop laughing. And that's when Seth said..."What did Nanny do?". And then he kept repeating it. It was so funny and also quite shocking to hear such a perfectly clear and full sentence come out of his mouth. He eventually forgave Nanny!

Conversations with Daddy

Last night i overheard Seth and Daddy talking...
Daddy: "Seth, do you love daddy?"
Seth: "I do" (he says this everytime we ask him that)
A few seconds go by...
Seth: "mama too".

New phrases and other things

Seth has begun saying a few new phrases lately. Won't be long and he will be talking in complete sentences! Here are a few of his phrases (i'm sure i have forgotten a few):
--"i don't like this" or "i like this"
--"hold this"...he says this when he wants me to hold something that he no longer wants to hold, like a sippy cup.
--"i watch this"...he says this when he looks through his DVD book and finds something he wants to watch.
--"help me"
--"Where mama/dada go?"
--"sethie want juice/milk" and "mama get milk/juice"
--"i be back"...he says this when he asks for something and i tell him i will go get it and will be right back.
--"i get it"...he says this when he drops something
--"kitty eat it"...he says this when he drops food on the floor because he knows the cat will eat it.

A few other things he does lately is he is labeling everything as Mama's or Dada's or Sethie's. (i love when he calls himself Sethie). We even have assigned seats at the dinner table, and when he knows he is not supposed to touch something he says "it's mama's/dadda's". He also suprised me the other day and named 3 shapes and put them in the correct hole on the shape sorter. He was able to identify a circle, square and triangle and even said their correct names. He also has gotten better at identifying colors. He still doesn't always get them correct, but at least not everything is "lellow" anymore. He now knows red, yellow, blue, green and orange. Another fun thing he is learning about is what has tails and what doesn't. He was very fascinated with all of his stuffed animals' tails and he kept trying to look behind him to see if he too had a tail. Now when we ask him if he or mama or dada has a tail, he says "NO", but ask him if a monkey, tiger or elephant has a tell and he excitedly says "YES!". He is also an excellent little helper. He likes to help me vaccuum and sweep, and the other night he got to help mom and dad cook! He really enjoyed scrambling an egg. I just love this stage. So much is happening and he is so eager to learn new things.

Our boy

Seth has turned into such a little boy! No more babies in our house...at least for now. However, with him becoming a little boy he is also acting like a little boy and is enjoying rough housing maybe a little too much. He will run full speed and tackle you usually resulting in mama, dada or Seth getting an "owie". All weekend he wanted to tackle us and wrestle. It's a little too much and we now have to find a way to tone it down without taking away the fun. We also did a video conference on the computer with Nonna and Nonno. Seth really got into it and kept "showing off" by dancing and growling at the camera. He also sang his ABC's for them. He was so funny and we all had a good laugh. Along with his recent aggressiveness, Seth was a little difficult this past weekend with frequent tantrums. However in all fairness to him, he was diagnosed with Strep on Thursday and is also starting to cut his 2 year molars, sooooooo i think he has a good excuse to be a little moody!

Easter Egg hunt trial run

I bought Seth some plastic Easter Eggs and decided to practice finding them and putting them in his basket so he will be in tip top shape for his first Easter Egg hunt. He did absolutely great on the 1st trial run and then by the 2nd run he was holding his own basket and running around the living room finding the eggs and putting them in his basket. I think he's ready and i can't wait!

Problem Solving

I love to sit back sometimes and just watch Seth at play. He is at that stage where things are very frustrating to him, like if he can't open something or do something that he wants to he gets very mad, but when he figures it out on his own he is very pleased with himself. A lot of times he will give up and ask for help, but last night he figured out a solution to a problem he had with absolutely no help from me. Every night before bath i will help Seth take off a piece of clothing one by one and he will put it in his clothes hamper. Well last night we took his shoes and socks off. He was trying to carry both pairs of socks and both pairs of shoes at the same time, but he couldn't quite do it. He tried a few times with no success, and finally he figured out a solution...he stuffed one sock into one shoe and the other sock into the other shoe and then was able to carry them all off to the hamper. He was so proud of himself!

words, words and more words

Every day Seth suprises me with new words. Last night he was playing with a little monkey that if you push it's belly it plays a song. Well he couldn't get it to work, so he handed it to me and clearly said "help". Also, last night we were playing in the basement, and he has one of those pop up tunnels that was folded up and put in a corner. He saw it and ran over to it yelling "tunnel!" We hardly play with that thing, but i did notice him playing in one exactly like it at daycare a few days ago, so that must be where he picked up that word.
The other night at dinner, as usual i gave him a sippy cup without a lid, but on that particular night he decided he wanted a lid and actually shouted "LID!" at me. It really amazes me that he picks up all these words. I really am not trying to come off like i'm bragging, it's just that i am so amazed by him. He really seems to know the word for almost every object he sees. He never really went through that frustration stage where he wanted something but didn't know how to say it, he just says it! If he does start whining and just repeating "more, more" over and over, i will and ask him to please tell me what he wants more of, and usually he will tell me. It's so great to have that communication. In fact, yesterday at dinner, he said "poop...potty". So i took him to his potty and after a few minutes he pooped AND peed. He was so proud and he even got to flush the potty and said "bye bye" to it. I really am hoping to have him potty trained by 2, but we'll see.

moments

There is a country song that goes..."i never knew love, no i mean real love, i never knew that kind of love, til this moment with you." There are so many special moments that Seth and i share where my heart feels so overwhelmed with love that I think it just might explode. I was thinking about some of those moments, and here are a few:
--when i'm sorta dazed or down, and suddenly i realize that Seth is staring at me with a serious look on his face and he sweetly says, "hi mama" and then smiles. That makes all the bad stuff immediately disappear.
--when he is contently playing and suddenly jumps up and runs over to me and hugs my leg.
--when i pick him up from daycare and see the look of excitement on his face when i walk through the door and then when he stops immediately what he was doing and runs as fast as he can to me yelling "mama!"
--when i am holding him and he softly rubs my arm or strokes his fingers through my hair.
--the way he cuddles with me and only me. He will let me hold him for 45 minutes or more sometimes and just cuddle as we watch Sesame Street together. He won't do that with anyone else!
--just the way he looks at me. you know that look where he stops what he is doing and just looks you straight in the eyes and without saying it, you just know he loves you with all his heart.

I find myself in awe of this sweet little boy on a daily basis. Sometimes just looking at him brings tears to my eyes. As Psalm 127:3 says, Children truly are "a gift from God".

Update

I have gotten so far behind on my blogging and haven't written anything since returning from my Nana's funeral in Florida. As i mentioned in my previous post, i flew to Florida and was without Seth for 4 days. I have never once been without him. I missed him like crazy, but Daddy did a wonderful job with him and everything was fine. He has been very clingy to me ever since though, and i can't even walk out of the room for a second without him running after me saying "mama!".
So much has been going on that i just can't write down everything, but i will try to write about some of the things i can remember. Seth has been talking nonstop and is really starting to talk in sentences although some of the words you still can't understand. For example, last night in one breath he said: "allgator getchu, elmo getchu...tub!" Now i don't think anyone would have understood that except for me, but we play a game in the tub where when holding his alligator toy or his elmo toy, i will say "the alligator is going to get you" or "elmo is going to get you". So he was telling me that he wanted to take a bath and get in the tub and play...so we did! :) He also will say "hi mama or hi dada" in such a sweet voice, and then follow it up with "how doing?". He even said "ciao" the other night, so Nonna will be happy to hear that! I just recently purchased Seth the Elmo's restaurant toy. He LOVES pretending to make "hambugas" and pour milk into a cup. We honestly don't get fast food very much, but as a special treat we will sometimes go to burger king down the street and get him a hamburger happy meal. Burger King just happens to be on the way to daycare, so now every morning and afternoon when we pass it, Seth screams out "HAMBUGA"! It's so funny. Seth went through a tough stage for about a week. I read up on discipline and we have been practicing a few things with Seth that seem to really work. For example, he hates to see me sad, so i use that to my advantage! When he is acting up, i will say something like "that makes mommy really sad when you _____ (insert action)." I will then put my head down and he will immediately stop acting up and come over to me asking for a kiss. This has worked so well, and also talking to him in a firm and calm way has really helped. We were having an issue with him refusing to put on his PJ's, so one night i had enough and i scooped him up and sat him on my knee and asked him to look at me. I then said "Seth, i really need you to put on your PJ's. If you put on your PJ's, then i will read you a story, okay?" His response was "okay" and he immediately laid down and let us put on his PJ's. It has been like this ever since. We can really reason with him and tell him he can do this once he does this, and he seems to understand. It's truly amazing to me. We have also been offering him choices, like which pair of PJ's to wear or what book he wants to read. This gives him a sense of control and has cut down his tantrums. At any rate, it seems to be working and he has been so good and well behaved lately...i hope it continues! :) Okay, i will stop my babbling, but below are a few recent pics. As you can see, he loves brushing his teeth on the potty!