William's 2 year check-up

Dwayne and I took our big boy to the pediatrician for his 2 year well visit. He was a little wild but for the most part more entertaining than anything else. He was not as cooperative this time around with the physical examination. I think he is a lot like me when it comes to people touching him, um no thanks. He only needed one shot and one toe prick to capture some blood for a hemoglobin check. That came out fine, doc wanted that done since he does not eat a lot of meat. She wanted to be sure his iron levels were up to par. Overall the doc was happy with his health and development with the exception of his weight. he has only gained 2 ounces since his last check-up. This was the same thing at his last appointment. She says he does not look healthy or overly thin but she would like to see him gain more weight. She gave me a chart of things that I can give him to increase his caloric intake. William's growth seems to be very much like me when I was little. I was 82 pounds at graduation and I did not make it above 100 (with the exception of pregnancy) until I was about 25. I really think William is just a light weight, no big deal to me. I am not going to make a fuss about giving him loads of fat. I used to have to take medicine to make me eat as a child so I could gain weight and that did not work. The doctor has asked that I bring William back in 4 months so she can monitor his weight. Hey, I should have told her to come spend a day in my house and watch him. She might then see why the boy does not gain any weight! Can you say ACTIVE??

The Un-terrible two's

Now I hope I am not shooting myself in the foot for publicly saying this but for the last 2 1/2 weeks William has become a very different child. He has not been pitching very many fits, he's calmer, he listens a little better and he is overall being a lot friendlier towards strangers. It has been a really nice change. I can even tell that I am feeling a lot more laid back and I seem to have more energy. Now don't get me wrong, he is still one active little boy and that most likely will not change a whole lot anytime soon. I am enjoying it while I can and I look forward to seeing his personality grow over this year. I know that he goes through phases but this is the best kind of phase and I am hoping it is here to stay!

Happy 2nd Birthday William!

Today is our sweet little boy's second birthday! It's so hard to believe that he is 2 already. He is a funny and happy little guy and has enriched our lives in so many ways. I am a better person because of him. Our family looks forward to all of the new things he will get into and pray that his two's won't be so terrible! We love you William!!! ♥

Birthday party photos to come....

Toddler question

So Dwayne and I have been discussing getting a toddler bed for the boy. He does just fine in the crib and surprisingly has not attempted to climb out of it. The problem is that he is so tall I fear that sooner or later he will make his way out of it and that scares me. I was wondering (since it has been forever since we had a toddler) what age a toddler should be to start sleeping in a toddler bed? Are there any specific signs I should look for to know if he is ready? I think the reason we never had problems with the girls in toddler beds was because they slept in the same room that we did. We were so young when we were first married so we lived with family for the first few years. I wonder if this is why sleep time is so different to us with William. He still goes through his phases where he will sleep through the night for 8-10 hours for weeks and then for 4 days he will wake up 3 times a night. We are almost considering setting his bed up in our room to see how he does and then send him packing back to his own room.

Please share your thoughts on this matter.

Wordless Wednesday

There is nothing this boy won't get into!

Catch and Glow Bug Jug Review

I was offered a toy to review from *Ebeanstalk for William's age. We recieved the Catch and Glow Bug Jug by Lamaze.Before I could even finish pulling the toy out from the box it was shipped in, William was grabbing for it. I had to go in another room just to be able to take it out of the packaging so he could freely play with it. The jug part of this toy has a flip open lid that has a kaleidoscope top. The little "glow bugs" flicker when they are moved around giving the effect of fireflies. William loves it! He most enjoys seeing the colors from the top of the jug as they change with the kaleidoscope feature. I was a little disappointed that one of the glow bugs did not work. It did not effect his interest in the toy one bit. I think this Catch and Glow Bug Jug would be a great baby shower gift or a good one-year birthday gift.

*Ebeanstalk is a website dedicated to selecting great toys for 1 year olds and toys for 2 year olds. They have a team of moms and a team of child experts that help them pick out toys by age, so you can be sure your child gets toys that have been specifically matched to his or her age!

Disclosure: I was provided with a toy for review and received no further compensation for this post.

What I've learned about boys

I remember for so many years watching moms and dads with their sons and seeing the struggle they would have. I thought to myself "Can't they keep that boy under control?". I thought maybe the parents weren't being assertive enough and they always said that boys have a lot of energy. I guess I can understand that to a certain extent. Now that I have a boy of my own I FULLY understand. I grew up with sisters and most of my cousins and friends had girls. William is an energy packed toddler that's for sure! He climbs everything and seems to have no fear. I don't think there is anything he won't try to do given the chance. Standing on a table is not unusual for him. He learned how to go up and down the stairs in our house on his own. Sometimes he will just stand on a step halfway and I panic! He just laughs.

It's so hard sometimes to discipline him since he smiles and laughs ALL the time. You swat him on the bottom and he "wipes" it off and smiles. *sighs* I have to hold back from laughing and some days I just can't help myself. In 19 days William will be two. Wow. I guess for all the terrible two's shenanigans we bypassed with the girls, William will more than make up for it!

Why does a baby or toddler need candy?

I have been noticing that a lot of people like to offer my son candy. He is not quite 2 and even if he was, I just don't allow him to have it. I get called mean and get accused of not letting him be a kid. Um, I am his parent thank you. If I say he can't have candy then that is final. I did not let the girls have candy until they were maybe 4 or so and even then, it was very limited. If a child is started off very young eating sugary nothing then they will grow to eat a lot of it. I feel it is so important to teach your children from babies healthy eating habits. I am not saying never give them a Krispy Kreme doughnut or an Oreo but just be careful!

This is what happens when you open the fridge

No matter how many times in a day we open the refrigerator, this is what William does. He goes straight for the yogurt. I think if you gave him his way he would eat it all day long. It has gotten to the point where I look around to be sure he is not close by when I have to go in there! He can be down the hallway and the minute he hears the fridge door crack open he runs to see if he can bulldoze you down to get to his beloved yogurt!

I suppose there are worse things he could love this much!

Is there that one food or drink that your kid can't get enough of?

Wordless Wednesday

Toddlers and music

Dwayne has introduced William to the keyboard since the boy loves to stop by the girls' piano and tap on the keys. William took to it right away and loves to play beautiful "music". You should see how his face lights up when you turn the power on. Of course Dwayne has to add a little hip-hop feel to it and play his pre-programmed drumbeats.

William loves it! I think we will put him in lessons once he is old enough to read and write. Look at that face. It is said that music and math go hand in hand so we shall see when the time comes.

Wordless Wednesday

A Hurricane Willie moment

You see this sweet, innocent face??

Well this is the what he does all day long, everywhere in our house. This is why we call him Hurricane Willie.

I try to teach him to clean up and he likes to destroy even further. When exactly do little boys learn how to clean up??

Daddy does not play! The importance of strong fathers

Today Dwayne and I took William out with us to run a few errands. One of our stops was by my father-in-law's house. Dwayne let William run around a little in the front yard (it's one of those streets that very few cars drive through). Dwayne's dad had a pile of yard debris including some old wooden boards and it was on a part of the front yard that is on a slope. This was a dangerous area for the little guy to be around so we had to keep a good eye on him. Of course William had to try running over that way and I am screaming for him to stop and he is laughing the whole way over there. Dwayne then does this simple sound like he's clearing his throat loudly and Will stops dead in his tracks. Smile is gone. He slowly walks away from the danger zone. See William knows he can sort of charm his way a bit with me and the big sisters but when it comes to daddy, no way. It ain't happening. Dwayne says that fathers have to "Put the fear of God" in a child to keep them in check. He also says there has to be a line drawn out that they should know they are not to cross. I think we have a pretty good balance between the two of us so hopefully we will have a great experience raising this little boy. I truly believe that strong fathers are such an important part in a child's development. I'm also glad that I can use Dwayne when William gets out of line. It worked like a charm with the girls so we will see what happens with William :)

William update

For those of you who read Momfiles regularly you might recall this post where I talked about joining the local Community Center. One of my big goals was to get William put in babysitting a few times a week to help him socialize with other kids his age and hopefully encourage him to speak. I took him on Friday and stayed in the room with him and watched him stay as far away from the other kids and babysitter. He played independently and occasionally made his way over to me to cling to me. The lady that was on that particular babysitting shift noticed that he was playing nicely alone and asked for me to walk out of the room until she gave me the heads up to return. I watched him from the slim door window and at first I saw him looking around the room for me. The babysitter (older lady) told him, "I'm here William. Let's play ball." From there he was fine, no panic or crying. He still did not quite play with the other kids but he did sit at a table voluntarily with the others. This was a great step for him and I really feel confident about leaving him perhaps starting this week. Even though you can have 2 hours of free babysitting at one time I think I will start out with 20-30 minutes. Honestly, I don't see myself working out for 2 hours! I will update more on how he does once he is completely solo.

I'm not ready give it up yet

There are some items that parents believe to be a must with babies. Granted William is no longer a baby but now a toddler, there is still use for certain thing right? For instance, you still use the carseat, stroller, playpen and several other things. The one thing I still use is the changing table. Most people think it's a waste but I LOVE it. I had one that I used for both girls and bought one when I was expecting William. I love being able to store and organize his diapers, wipes, powder and all kinds of bath related and miscellaneous items. It has been the most useful piece of equipment we purchased.

Now what do you do when it gets to this point?

Man, I just don't want to get rid of this just yet! Will has outgrown this changing table by a couple inches. Y'all better not be making fun of me :P

Wordless Wednesday- Hide-and-Seek with Will

Look at big boy Will! He is really looking so grown up and has just about lost his baby looks.

He loves to hide. Look at this face. This is one of those rare times he will smile for the camera because he is not expecting to have his photo taken. He thinks I am trying to find him instead!

Here is one of those silly shots after we ran all through the house playing hide-and -seek.

This little guy keeps his mommy on the go ALL day long!

Wordless Wednesday

On the way to getting fit

Well we have officially joined the Community Center/gym and we are all excited about it. One part that I am most looking forward to is getting William to socialize. They offer free babysitting (up to 2 hours) for exercising parents (you must stay on the campus) and we are hoping he will learn to be nicer to people. He is used to being around mom all day so he is very shy towards strangers. Actually he gets a little bonkers when people approach him. We plan to introduce him to the big room and slowly get to the point that we leave him in there. We are hopeful this might inadvertently spark his speech. He shows he really wants to speak but can't quite get the words out. I sure hope this works!! Wish us luck! Now I have to run out and get some workout attire... can't wait to ditch the extra fluff :)

Let's talk diapers

I have been encountering a big problem with William's diapers during the overnight hours. Leaks. Not nice at all. This requires me to wash sheets, blankets and mattress covers daily and it is getting old. I have tried all of the most expensive and premium diapers including Huggies, Pampers and Luvs. They all failed me. Even the ones made for overnight protection just would not cut it. I have even refrained from giving the boy any liquids past 6:30 to see if that would help and nope, same thing.

I knew I had to figure something out. I decided to give the Kroger brand of diapers a try and I had nothing to lose at this point. Would you believe that a store brand diaper actually held up overnight? Seriously, it costs me an average of $3 less per convenience sized pack and it does the trick. I am thrilled and I really hope it lasts! I just thought I would share this information with you and please don't tell Dwayne, I did not receive any compensation for this post. Y'all know how Mr. Cheapie is about his endorsement dollars!! I would recommend these diapers to even the pickiest of moms :)