10 months old!

Wow - Andrew is 10 months old! I think I say every month but time really flies. It is hard to believe that this sweet little guy is so close to 1 year. Now that he is crawling SO well life has really changed for us in the Dyer household. He is EVERYWHERE. A couple of days ago I heard him doing something and laughing and I went to investigate and he had crawled into the hall bathroom, pulled up to standing on the potty (thankfully lid was down) and was hitting the trashcan lid (one of those that swings back and forth from open to closed) over and over and just laughing. He is a mess but at such a fun stage. We got these pictures (and the ones of Caleigh and I have some of them together) on April 8th just before I left for the beach and a couple of days before his 10 month birthday - they were intended to be his 9 month pictures but this was the best I could do.

It was hard to get him to sit still for the pictures and often he would be slightly amused and then his face would change into an 'I don't know who you are and I am kind of worried' face.

Now that Andrew can get around so well he is such a content little guy. I can leave him in his and Caleigh's room playing by himself forever and he just entertains himself so well - playing with different toys, pulling up, cruising, pulling all the toys out of their bins and all the books off of the bookshelf. One of his favorite 'discoveries' are doors - he loves to spend minutes opening and closing them and often getting trapped in a room with a closed door.

• Routine: He is still basically on his same routine - napping twice a day (845-10 and 1-3) and sleeps at night from 6 pm until 6:45 am - what!?! - he has been waking up so early these days - probably because he sleeps in the same room as Caleigh now and despite black out shades and blinds it just isn't as dark as a windowless bathroom with the door closed.
• The wiggleworm: Andrew is doing some funny things - we have been trying to get him to sign for a long time - all done and more especially but that really isn't catching on yet. We joked for a while that while some kids can do useful things on command like wave bye-bye or sign, the first thing Andrew did on command (starting around 8.5 to 9 months - how have I not blogged this yet) was 'the wiggleworm.' It started because sometimes when he was drinking a bottle or nursing he would start moving his body back and forth like a little snake or worm and just give this huge grin and we would say, "Look at the wiggleworm." I think he started associating wiggleworm with the actually moving and then we would say, "Andrew do the wiggleworm" and he would give us a huge drooly grin and start moving his upper body from side to side. Hilarious. We laugh at it all the time. Now he is doing more commands... He will wave bye-bye from time to time on command, he loves to clap his hands when he hears someone say 'yay' or when Caleigh or Adam or I start clapping. When we say, "How big is Andrew?" he will give us a huge grin and throw both of his arms up in the air. Cutest thing I've ever seen. Clearly I am enamored with this little guy. He seems to be able to do so much more at this age than Caleigh did but then again my memory is a little fuzzy these days.
• Andrew really has such a great little personality. We love it! He seems to be fun-loving and out-going and just a content little guy that is definitely all boy. Placing his dirty food filled hands in his hair is a frequent occurrence at our house (you would never see Caleigh do that!).
• After Andrew started crawling everything else just took off - he started pulling up to stand almost as soon as he started crawling. He now pulls up on anything he can and we often see him trying to stand on his own without holding on to anything (looks like feet on the floor, one hand on the floor, one hand reaching in the air wishing he could get his whole body up there). He is also often trying to crawl like a crab - feet flat on the floor and walking with hands and feet with body off the ground. He is pretty controlled in his standing and sitting down and will easily sit back down after standing. He seems to have great balance. He is walking well while holding on to our hands and while previously I thought there was no way he would walk by 12 months I am now thinking that there is a chance.
• Rolling his tongue - Andrew has discovered he can roll his tongue - I don't know how he got that gene - I definitely cannot roll my tongue (which is probably why I took German instead of Spanish) and I'm not sure if Adam can. Caleigh can't either. But Andrew spends lots of his time awake rolling his tongue and making different noises with it. He is a loudmouth.

Now that Andrew is more mobile and more interactive him and Caleigh are playing SO well together. They will play together in their room for so long together and they interact so well together. I am thrilled to see their relationship blossoming and I think we are seeing the fruit of 18 months apart at a young age. I love it!

peanut is potty trained!

I am thrilled to report that this beautiful big girl is now potty trained and wearing big girl panties! We did a one day potty training thing (Potty Training in a Day) where basically my dad kept Andrew (thanks PopPop) and I loaded Caleigh up with juice and tons of treats - salty and sweet - and all we did all day was potty. Seriously she must have peed over thirty times that day... at least. April 14th was the day and in the weeks prior we talked it up big time about how soon she was going to be all done with diapers and she was only going to tee tee on the potty like Mommy and Daddy.

We bought the supplies - little potty (which we had for quite a while so she could get used to seeing it and actually used it several times before potty day), tons of treats, big girl panties (elmo!), and a new doll. The premise of this potty training method is that basically in one day you put them straight into panties and then you spend a little time in the morning letting the child 'teach' a baby doll how to use the potty. Caleigh did so good and was thrilled to teach her baby Abby how to be a big girl and go potty (and especially thrilled when she got to eat her treats). I was discouraged early on by 2 accidents before 8:30 am and by her saying a couple of times, "Yaya no tee tee in potty, Yaya tee tee in diaper." But the diapers were all gone - she helped me give them all to Andrew in the morning. But after that she caught on super fast and didn't have any accidents the rest of the day. (*disclaimer: she was SO ready to potty train - in the days before potty day she would tell us she needed to tee tee and ask us to take off her diaper so she could use the potty - several times a day). She has really done so well with it and for the first 5-7 days we put her in pull ups at nap time but we have now transitioned off of that because she kept her pull ups dry at nap time every day except the first day of potty training. So now she sleeps in panties for naps and is still in pull ups for bedtime (though we are thinking of transitioning to panties at night soon because she has been keeping those dry as well). She has seriously done so well with the tee tee. The other business is a whole other story through that I won't go into here. In almost 2 weeks we have had maybe 4 or 5 accidents total, including 2 on that first day. I was so worried about this transition because I really didn't mind having her in diapers - I mean Andrew is in them too so changing 1 or 2 kids diapers wasn't a big deal to me... and I loved the convenience of diapers. But just as in all of the transitions she has gone I have been pleasantly surprised (I shouldn't be - as we serve such a good God that abundantly lavishes us with His grace) that it never is actually as bad as I think it is going to be. It is so funny and cute to see her running around in panties all time time and to hear her say, "Uh-oh Mommy, I need to tee tee." I can't believe we have already achieved this milestone - she is growing up so fast!

bachelorette weekend!

The weekend after Shaynah's wedding (April 2nd) and Easter (April 4th) we headed down to Litchfield Beach, SC to Kim's family's condo to spend the weekend celebrating this sweet friend...

I joined Kim and Marcy there on Thursday evening (April 8th) and the rest of the girls joined us on Friday afternoon. It was SO relaxing - I was done nursing/pumping and totally free - this was my first trip away alone leaving both kids. It was great to have no agenda all weekend, to lay out at the pool in silence (well not silence - we had music - but much better than parenting little ones at the pool), to eat whenever and not have to fix 2 little people 3 meals a day, and to take long leisurely walks on the beach. Clearly we all got a little sun on Friday and Saturday... On Saturday afternoon we got ready and drove to the next little town south of Litchfield to Georgetown, SC for a fun evening of seafood and hanging out. We went to a great little restaurant on the river and then grabbed some ice cream and some photo opportunities. Though this shot was my idea and somewhat cute - the insane biting gnats that were flying in our faces during the pic were not so cute... Marcy was so good about bringing her camera - I have to take more pictures! This cute shot of us has inspired me. Pretty Georgetown: We had such a great time celebrating Jessica and our friendships - I am so thankful to God even as I write this for such great friends. What a good God we serve! One who satisfies our desires with good things - and I am thinking of how God satisfied Jessica's desires for companionship with a husband who is so perfect for her. We are thrilled to be celebrating with them on May 8th!

the first wedding of the season

Our friends Andrea (doesn't she look beautiful!) and David got married back in March and we loved celebrating with them!

This is definitely the beginning of wedding season round 2 (the first being just after we graduated from college - I think all we did that summer - of 2004 - was get married and go see everyone else get married). David and Andrea Johnson started us off on March 21st and then we toasted to Michael and Shaynah Jerrell on April 4th. Adam and I are headed to Chapel Hill the weekend of May 1st for Chad and Kristy's wedding, followed the next weekend by (YAY!) Jessica getting married to Beau. Then one in June and another in July. What a busy season but we are so excited to enjoy this exciting time with friends.

Easter!

Happy Easter from the Dyers! Easter is about so much more than eggs and we had a fun time trying to explain the meaning of it to Caleigh this year (Jesus is alive!). But we also enjoyed the more pagan holiday rituals. Including the annual Uptown Easter Egg Hunt. It is put on as an outreach at a local park and it is always a blast. The weather was beautiful and Caleigh knew what to do when her time came.

We had been practicing for and hunting Easter eggs for the last week or so. She loves searching for them and also hiding them for us. Several times this week I have put my feet in my tennis shoes only to find eggs hidden in there... they have also been hidden behind doors, in drawers, in the couch cushions, etc. Big boy tried to get in on some of the action. And ate a bunch of grass in the process. He looks pretty thrilled about the prospect of what might be in his egg. They had other fun things like face/arm painting, balloon animals, a My Gym obstacle course, and my personal favorite: bagels and coffee. When it was Caleigh's turn she chose a pink butterfly and she wanted it to be painted on her arm. She sat very still of course (as she did for her recent haircut - what a cute shot of her bob). And when Daddy said to smile this is the look he got. She looks like, "Dad, seriously, why are you going to take a lame picture of me in front of all my friends... I am way too cool for this." Because she is obviously so much older than 2. Enjoying her juice box. One of the umpteenth sugar filled snacks of the day. And time with friends - while I don't have a picture of our Woodstock like blanket arrangement - I do have this sweet picture of Maggie and Caleigh giving each other a hug. I think they look so similar - Maggie is 8 months older than Caleigh and the same percentiles so basically that is what Caleigh will look like when she turns three (but with maybe a little more fluff).

shaynah's wedding and Good Friday

On Good Friday we had more than one reason to celebrate. The anticipation of Easter and all that the resurrection of Jesus means for us in our everyday lives... the excitement of Easter egg hunts the next day.. and also Shaynah got married! After an amazing Good Friday church service and the afternoon off Adam and I headed up to North Charlotte to see a dear friend get hitched. It was great to see a few college friends again -

Kim, Jess, Marcy, and I had a great time hanging out at the wedding and anticipating the next wedding we will be attending (Jessica's!).

Their reception was at an awesome place in downtown Charlotte called Room with a View. And what an amazing view it was. My stinky little camera does not do justice to this crystal clear sky. (It was seriously HOT! Almost 90 degrees already. Seriously April - what have you done with Spring?) Marcy and I enjoyed the outdoors. And I had this hot date. We did have a great time - granted we were totally exhausted. We are in the midst of such a busy season - often going 7 days or more switching off parenting responsibilities and not seeing each other more than literally 5 to 15 minutes a day... between me working, Adam working, Adam's school, lifegroup, prayer triads, weddings, families, friends, etc. we seriously never see each other. We are looking forward to May when hopefully things will slow down just a little bit (as Adam has a 2 week semester break, we will take a trip to the beach, and I will work a little less). Right now our prayer is for endurance!

Andrew is crawling!

(warning - pictureless post ahead)

On Thursday (Maundy Thursday - April 1st - exactly 9.5 months) - Andrew started crawling! For the last week or so he has been frequency going from a sitting position onto all fours and then just staying there, pushing back up into a sitting position, or plopping down onto his tummy to begin his floor cleaning duties. On Thursday morning he started by going onto all fours and then taking a shaky hang forward, then a knee forward, and then collapsing and lunging himself forward. After that it happened so fast! By the end of the day he would go forward on all fours a couple of feet. Yay! He has gotten so much better since then and is crawling everywhere now. He seems so mobile now as he goes from sitting to crawling for a bit, and then finding a toy and sitting again. It is so fun to have entered this new stage.

We hit a second milestone on Thursday too. As of Thursday Andrew is weaned - I am done nursing him. This is both extremely liberating and exciting but at the same time a little bit sad. It was like in one day Andrew went from being a sweet little nursing baby to being a big boy - holding his own bottle (which he has been doing for a couple months) and crawling around. I seriously loved nursing him and will miss that stage but am excited to be free again - after more than 3 years of pregnancy and nursing I finally have my body to myself... what a great feeling.

washing potatoes

buddy boy is 9 months!

A blog post is long overdue and we have so many updates to post. These pictures look so old to me though they were taken in the month or so. Baby boy is 9 months. Time flies. Absolutely flies. Andrew's 9 month stats:

• Weight: 18 lb 12 oz (22nd%)
• Length: 28 and 3/4 inches (68th%)
• Head circumference: 17.5 inches (26th%)

As of Andrew being 9 months (things have changed!) - he was not yet crawling. He was a pro at army crawling backwards and pivoting to such a degree that he could basically get wherever he wanted to go. Including cabinets.

And toy boxes. He is not actually pulling up. He tries to - but he is not very patient to see the process through. He will try once or twice, not be able to haul that 18 pounds off the ground and plop back into place. If you stand him up he will stand for a little bit while holding on to something. And he is eating - as of 9 months he said bye-bye to baby food. He still wishes I would feed it to him of course (I mean - all the satisfaction and none of the work - he would take it any day). But we decided he was done and just before he turned 9 months transitioned him to all real person food. Including this spaghetti... Now we just give him whatever we eat (including one instance of spicy black and kidney beans out of a chicken taco soup I had made... that didn't go over to well judging by his bright red face, excessive salivation, and abundant thirst). Wow... what else was the boy doing at 9 months? Seriously 6-9 months is my favorite baby age ever - they are so sweet and cuddly and holdable but also able to sit and entertain themselves for quite some time. I love it.

Oh - also at 9 months Andrew still sleeps from 6 pm until 7:30 am with no interruptions. He was nursing 4 times a day and I was pumping at night before bed. Starting the week after he turned 9 months I began the process of weaning him. He naps twice a day still - from 9-10:15 (we have had to start waking him up at 10:15 in order to protect and preserve the second nap) and then again from 1 until 3ish (sometimes 3:30).

Andrew is babbling all the time - mama, dada, baba - not specifically knowing the meaning behind them but babbling away.

And he is great at fine motor skills - his pincer grasp is working in overtime these days to find any smidgen of dirt or trash anywhere on the floor to put immediately into his mouth.

Our boy is such a blessing from the Lord - he is a delight to all of us!

funny exchange

Caleigh and I had this exchange yesterday while Caleigh was sitting in the rocking chair reading a book to herself.

Caleigh: "Another book?"

me: "If you want another book you need to climb down and get another book."

Caleigh: "Mama get another book?"

me: "Mama is busy right now Caleigh, if you want another book you can climb down and get another book."

Caleigh: "Dada get another book?"

me: "No Caleigh, Dada is busy right now, if you want another book you can get it by yourself."

Thankfully that was the end of it but it is just funny to me. She has been doing this lately when she asks for silky we will tell her it is on her bed, she can go get it and she will ask, Mama get it, Dada get it, etc.

sweet little girl (27.5-ish month update)

It is amazing to me how kids really do pick up so much stuff and say SO many things. Caleigh is at a really fun age right now - her language is exploding and every day she says so many new things. It seems like there is nothing she doesn't know. We sang the ABCs maybe once or twice and I caught her singing it while painting the other day -

Here are some of the fun things she has been saying a lot lately:

• "I want Ya-ya" - Ya-ya is how she pronounces her name Caleigh. If you repeat it back to her as Ya-ya she has no clue what you are talking about because she thinks of it in her mind as Caleigh. We hear this phrase several several times a day, often in a slightly pre-tantrum voice. It is her way of voicing her independence (which we are seeing a lot of) and telling us that she can do it herself.
• "Adam" instead of Dada or Daddy - and she says it in a way that she probably hears a lot from me - like she is calling from the other room to get this attention. It is hilarious.
• "Mom" instead of Mommy (which I love) or Mama - she thinks Mom is my other name just like Daddy's other name is Adam - she must think that all my friends call me Mom... so glad they don't. But I mean "Mom" - what is she like 14 already?
• "Mama, I wanna watch Elbo's world when we get home." I have to applaud her for good sentence structure on this one. The first time she said it (was because she heard me tell her we could watch it when we get home) I died laughing - it sounded so funny coming from a tiny little 2 year old. Now she says it basically every time we get in the car. And also in keeping with the Elmo's World theme - she also loves to sing the song, "Duh-duh, duh-duh, Elbo's world" in an adorable little sing song voice.
• Monkey = Curious George = "Oh oh ah ah" Because this is obviously what they say.
• "Too hot" as in the bath water or her food.
• "Too loud" as in her noise machine when she turns it on herself and accidentally turns the knob all the way, or recently in getting in the car and hearing the music (which really made me laugh out loud), or when she is helping me grind the coffee in the morning.
• "Andrew's stuck" because Andrew really is stuck. All the time. Because he can only make himself crawl backwards and is therefore often wedged under her bed or the crib or a chair.
• "Tummy hurts (sounds like tummy huks)" usually when she needs to potty or when she is full.
• "Ya-ya all done night-night" when she is getting tired and knows she is about to go to bed but doesn't really want to. Or when she wakes up (pre-time change) super early. Not something you want to hear at 6 am from your 2 year old... especially because she says it in such a cute chipper voice.
• And this is an exchange that we have multiple multiple times a day: Caleigh will say "silky (or apple juice or crackers or something else in an extremely grouchy demanding tone)" and I will say, "Caleigh, how do you ask?" and immediately in a very sweet and sing song tone she will say, "May I please have apple juice Mama?" but I almost never get that first without the one word demand preceding it.

Other fun things Caleigh is doing now:

• Sometime in February one day Caleigh started pretending really well - not just pretending her doll was a baby but pretending to feed her doll pretend food with a pretend spoon, etc. It is adorable to see her imagination start to develop.
• Is really starting to verbally understand cause and effect - for example when we say, "Caleigh, Bampa and Gammy are going to be here when you wake up tomorrow." Caleigh will then say, "Where Mama go?" Knowing that if they are going to be there then that means I am going to be gone. And also if I say, "Caleigh, let's put on your shirt" she will take her bow out and say, "Take off bow, Mama" because it has to come out before the shirt goes on.
• She is beginning the phase of asking many many many questions, ie, "Mama, where Bampa go?" and I tell her, "Mama, where Gammy go?", "Where Daddy go?", "Where Gigi go?", "Where Poppop go?", "Where KK (Aunt KK) go?" and once I get done answer all of those she will start over. It is exhausting!
• She is so excited about going to school - after praying much about this and doing a bunch of research we decided that Caleigh is going to go to preschool next year - she will go 2 days a week on Tuesday and Thursdays from 930-1. She talks about it all the time and I know she will really love it.
• She thinks all boys are Daddy's and all girls are Mommy's. So when we read a story she will say, "Look Mom, another Mommy."
• She loves to read. To herself. To Andrew. And for us to read to her.
• She has a normal voice that she talks in and then she has a sweet really high affectionate voice that she uses when she is saying "I love you" or "Thank you" or talking baby talk to Andrew.

We are really enjoying our sweet girl right now!

at the park

Any day the temperature is 50 or more we head over to the park to play - thankfully those days are increasing and temps have been in the high 50s for the past week or two. We love the park. Look at the smile on that little boy!!! I could just eat him up!

My baby boy is SO big! Caleigh loves when Andrew can do what she is doing and today she talked over and over about how Andrew was swinging with her. We are looking forward to the warmer days ahead!

let me help you brother...

Caleigh really loves her brother and it is so sweet to see her interact with him. She is a huge helper and loves to assist us in doing any and all things for Andrew. Recently see loves to 'help' him when we are trying to get him to crawl - we will put Cheerios on the floor just out of his reach to try to convince him to crawl to get them and Andrew will fuss and fuss because he just can't do it (and he is easily frustrated and not very patient) and so Caleigh (always seeing the problem and looking for a solution) will take the Cheerios and move them within his reach. Such a sweet little helper...

rejuvenation weekend

The weekend after we came back from Ohio Adam and I left the following Friday morning and headed to Fairhaven - some cabins in the mountains about 30 minutes west of Blowing Rock, NC. We love to go there at least once or twice a year and this time we had the privilege of going without our kids. It was a great weekend for us to get away and reconnect as a couple (and our kids had a blast with the grandparents). On Friday we went skiing for the afternoon at Sugar Mountain. We had a blast and I was reminded that I really do love to ski.

Saturday we spend the day in Blowing Rock and Boone and really had a great time. Unfortunately on Saturday night I was struck with a 24 hour stomach bug that has been going around in Charlotte so that was pretty terrible, but otherwise we really did have a great time! Thanks grandparents for making this possible!

dinner with friends

Several weeks ago we had the Dirks over for dinner. Somehow we acquired this odd tradition where we always have random cookie cake for dessert and that night was no different -

It has a funny quote on it from one of our favorite TV shows - The Office... I'm glad I wasn't there when Tyler told them what to put on it. Caleigh and Maggie enjoyed playing in Caleigh's princess tent, dressing up, and loving on each other -