15 Month Deagan Update!

It's been a while since I've done a Deagan update!

My baby boy is a full-fledged toddler these days. This past month he has really taken off and learned SO much! It's kind of blowing me away how he was all baby and little, then just the last few weeks he's suddenly this big kid! Who is talking! I mean, what happened?!?

We took DJ in for his 15 month checkup. Like always, he's practically perfect in every way. (Mary Poppins reference? Get it?) But really, that kid is right on track for everything.

Just a few developmets:

The kid is a climber. I'm certain he's part mountain goat. His favorite thing to do is go outside and climb up the slide, get to the top, slide down, then repeat. He could do it for hours. He climbs on anything in the house he can get to. The other day, I was doing my makeup when Savannah came in and asked for a snack. I went into the kitchen to make something when I found half the contents of the recycling bin laying on the floor, with a stool in front of the stove, and Deagan sitting triumphantly on the counter with his hands in a pan of brownies yelling "COOKIE!!!" 

I very nearly had a heart attack! I think I will be putting the stools downstairs for a little while...

He has also really taken off with his talking. He has gotten really good at repeating words. Some of his words he uses pretty consistently are:

Mom

Dad

Baby

Sissy (What he calls Savannah)

Cookie (what he calls all foods)

Bite (what he says when he's hungry, or sees you eating something)

No!

Outside (this is the cutest! He says it "ow-sigh")

Say-yee (Sagey, my sister)

Coke! (He just started saying this when I was making him a sippy cup of milk. I think his grandpa had something to do with this) 

Puppy 

Hi

Hello

Hey

Bye

Thank You

Baba (bottle)

And the other day he clearly said "high five!" and now I can't get him to do it again!

He loves to give his sister hugs and kisses. She gets more than anyone else, which makes me a bit jealous ;-) And he likes to pat her head and say "Baby!" or "sissy!"

If my Mom or Dad is in the room, he doesn't want anything to do with me. He just wants them. 

When he pouts or throws a fit, he kneels down and slams his head on the ground. This has resulted in several bumps and bruises, and one fat lip. I keep thinking one day he will hurt himself enough that he will learn not to do it anymore, but that day hasn't come yet. Usually, I just ignore it and he stops fairly quickly. He did it in the bathtub the other night. I felt bad, but at the same time it was kind of the funniest thing ever to see his look of shock when he was sputtering out water.  

We have found that, unfortunately, he has inherited my extremely sensitive skin. 10 minutes running through the grass means hives and rashes from head to toe, which he scratches, and makes worse. It's so sad to see him all scraped up from scratching!

He's getting the most fun little personality. He's just like Savannah in that he loves being around other people. He's not shy or nervous around anyone. He's very loving too. He likes to give kisses and hugs, and when his sister cries, he starts crying with her. They both hold hands while in the car, or watching TV. The first thing that Savannah does in the morning is go crawl in his crib and they snuggle and play until I get up and go get them. They are best friends and I just love watching them play together!

I love you Deagan! Please don't grow up too fast!

Happy Birthday Deagan!

My handsome little boy turned 1 last week!!!

I can't believe he is officially a toddler! It all just went by so fast.

We decided to have a small birthday party for him at a park with my family and grandparents.

 

Savannah absolutely insisted that Deagan wanted a spider-man themed party.

 

 

I thought he would tear into the cupcake, instead, he just made a mess of the frosting.

 

We had so much fun, and thanks to all my family for coming to his party!

I feel like Deagan has really grown up so much in just this last month. He started to walk about a month ago, and he cruises wobbly all over the place now. And he gets into EVERYTHING!

Example:

That's a TV remote in the toilet...

He also can say a few "sounds" (I wouldn't really consider them "words" just yet) 

He knows "Mama" and "Dada" and "Coco" (Our nickname for my brother Colter that Savannah came up with) And he tries to say "wassit?" (What is it?) And he likes to greet you with a great big "HEY!" or "HI!" when he sees you. And of course, there's always my favorite "Uh, oh!"

He's also the king of the meltdown. If he gets upset about something, he kneels on the floor and slams his head onto the ground. He's constantly got a bruise or 2 on his forehead because of this. He's also good at the "Back arch" and the "limp noodle" fits. 

Because of his ability to slam his head onto a tiled floor with no resulting consequence of pain, he also likes to head-butt people. I can't tell you how many times my glasses get knocked off my face because he suddenly thinks it would be funny to head-butt me. He is also a biter, and with 6 teeth, it HURTS! We took both kids to a movie the other day, and he bit Bryant on the arm twice, the cheek once, and my ear once. Then later that day, he bit Savannah square on the bum. I had to take him out of the grocery cart last night because he kept biting Savannah. He tends to head-butt and bite the most when he is really tired. He rarely gets fussy, just silly and belligerent. 

At his 12 month check up, he is, like always, right on track for everything. He is now 21 lbs, (about 52% if I remember right) and is 31 1/2 inches tall. He's in the 98% for height! And he's only 5 1/2 inches shorter than Savannah!

Deagan was walking around the room while the doctor was talking to us, and he told us that kids Deagan's age start getting a sense of stranger danger, and not to worry if he won't go to other people. Right at that moment, Deagan walked over to the doctor and lifted his arms up wanting him to pick him up, so he did, and DJ immediately started playing with his name badge and stethoscope. The doctor started to laugh and said "Well, I guess you're not going to have to worry about him being shy!"

Deagan has been such an amazing addition to our family. He is so funny, and he keeps me laughing all day long. He had me nearly in tears from laughing yesterday when he was chasing me around with a plastic pirate sword. He picks up on things, especially things his sister does, so quickly that it amazes me. He's a little trickster, who likes to play and tease. And even at only a year old, he has so much determination in him. I watched him a couple of weeks ago attempt to crawl down the stairs. He was terrified, shaking like a leaf, and quietly whining, but he did NOT want my help, and he was trying to put his feet down the first step, despite how scared he was. If he wants to accomplish something, he will do it!

I love you Deagan, thank you for allowing me to be your Mom, you are going to keep all of us on our toes!

Disneyland 2014! Part 1!

Yay for Disneyland! 

So as you all know, we went on a Disneyland trip at the end of March with both kids, My parents, siblings, and my sister-in-law, and my in-laws all surprised us by coming and spending the last day there with us! If you missed the exciting post about that (and the earthquakes!) then click HERE.

I was really excited for this trip. It was Savanna's 3rd trip to Disneyland, but this time, she was finally old enough to ride a lot of the attractions, and she was able to recognize almost all of the characters (Disney channel is pretty much all we watch at this house!)

Savannah has the Disneyland app on the ipad, and we talked a LOT about Disneyland for months before we went so I think she had a pretty good idea what it was. The night before we left, she wouldn't go to bed and I told her that when she woke up, we would go to Disneyland. The next morning, we drove to California and had dinner with my Dad's cousins and that night, I told Savannah we had to get ready to go to bed, and that when she woke up, we would go to Disneyland, and she said "But I already woke up today! You said when I woke up today we would be going to Disneyland!" She wasn't very happy that she had to wait one more night!

Both kids did AMAZING on the drive there. I've said it before and I'll say it again, my kids are traveling rockstars! They were made for road tripping!  My kids eat 10 hour drives for breakfast!

^^Stopping for gas outside of Las Vegas^^

Back to dinner. So our first day we got to California, we checked in and and unloaded our stuff at a house we rented about a half hour away from the parks. I tell you what, if you have more people than will fit into 1 hotel room, renting a house is definitely the way to go! It cost us about the same as getting 2 hotel rooms, which we would have all been really cramped in, and Bryant and I got our own room with the kids, we brought DJ's pack and play, and we made a bed on the floor of spare blankets for Savannah, and my parents, and Sawyer and Kenna both had their own rooms too. Colter and Sage slept on the couches downstairs.

^^The cute house we stayed at!^^

It was nice having a full kitchen, and laundry room too. I didn't have to worry about packing "extra" sets of cloths for the kids (I usually pack enough for 2 outfits a day plus jammies when traveling) because if I got down to the last day or 2 worth of clothes, I could toss more in the wash. We stayed a bit further out from the park, like I said it was probably a half hour drive, but it really wasn't bad at all.

After we unpacked, we drove to an Asian buffet restaurant to meet my dad's cousins Lisa and Cory. It was really great to see them and catch up! I wasn't there when everyone was in Arizona together last year, so it had been a long time since I had seen either of them! Thank you Lisa and Cory for coming out to see us!

Sorry, that's all for tonight! I have a TON of photos from our trip, so I'll probably split up our days at the parks up a bit, and I'll write a separate post about our trip to the beach. 

Goodnight everyone!

 

9 Month Update!

I can't believe my handsome boy is already 9 months old! He's officially been out as long as he was in!

We had his check-up earlier this month and he's doing so good! He's right on track with everything, and is ahead of the walking schedule. While we were waiting for the doctor to come in, he was getting fussy and wiggly, so I set him down on the ground and let him crawl around. He doesn't crawl a whole lot, he just likes to crawl to the nearest object and pull himself up to stand, then hangs onto stuff to walk around. At the office, he pulled himself up to the stool, then walked himself around the drawers. As soon as the doctor walked in, he said "How long has he been doing that?" When I asked if he meant pulling himself up to stand, he said "No, I mean walking while hanging onto things. I never see babies his age do that! I usually see that more in 12 month olds who are just about ready to walk." He told me that he was really impressed about 5 different times during the appointment, and he told me he thinks he will most likely be an early walker. At first I thought "nooo, he's too young, the doctor is just making me feel like I have the smartest baby ever." But these last 2 weeks, DJ has been standing on his own, without holding on to anything for a few seconds! Then, we were on the floor in his room playing and he was holding onto the rocking chair, looked at me and let go, then took 2 full steps towards me! I was so proud, and so excited I started screaming and Savannah freaked out because she thought I was hurt. Do I sound like I'm bragging? Because I think I am. Sorry. ;-)

He took a look at both of the kids and diagnosed them with eczema. Poor kiddos inherited my skin. But I've been doing everything I can think of to help it and they both seem to be clearing up. The doctor told me that if it flares up again and gets to be too much to handle, that he would prescribe them something stronger.

I'm loving this 9 month old stage! He's getting so active and fun! The other day I was having a blast "wrestling" with him. He kept head-butting me in the stomach while I was sitting on the floor, and I would fall over and he would laugh and laugh and laugh. Then I would sit up and he'd do it again!

One of my favorite times during the day is after his afternoon nap, and both kids play in Savannah's room. He's so active and curious, and loves to pull everything out. He especially loves playing with the play kitchen because he likes all the drawers and play-food.

He's finally starting to sleep through the night! I think asking the boys downstairs not to get up and play video games loudly at 4 or 5 in the morning has really helped a ton. Every great once in a while, he will wake up and cry for a bit, and I just let him cry it out for 5 minutes. I finally decided that it was worth dealing with the renters downstairs complaints about him crying for 5 minutes than getting up with him and making us both grumpy and tired the next day. Also, remember how they are up in the early hours of the morning playing video games loudly? Yeah I don't feel bad anymore.

I've lost DJ's paper with his stats for this month, but I do remember that he was 19 1/2lbs and around 50% for everything. The doctor was impressed with how much he's chunked up in the last 3 months, and I contribute it to him not spitting up every single meal he had, and he eats solids like a champ!

He's got 5 teeth now. 3 on top all came in within this last month, but all of them are different sizes because they all came through at different times, so when he smiles, he looks like a hillbilly. It's adorable.

He can say "mama" and "dada" now too, and he waves and climbs up stairs.

He is just the sweetest little boy ever! Can I order 3 more of him please?

7 Months

My little DJ is 7 months old already! And this past month he seems to have changed and grown so much, that I kind of want to find the "pause" button on him and press it. 

He finally cut his first 2 teeth, on the bottom. Two days before Christmas, he was grumpy, clingy and fussy, and then Christmas Day, he was an angel! And sure enough, Deagan had gotten his first tooth for Christmas. Then just after New Years, in popped the other! Now he constantly has his tongue hanging out, rubbing his teeth with it, and you have to be careful, because he likes to bite. Twice just today, he bit Savannah. Once on the finger, and once on the leg.

He is a full-fledged crawler now too. His favorite place to crawl to is underneath the coffee table, where he likes to just sit and chill. Savannah hangs out down there too, often times taking a pillow and a blanket down there. I'm not quite sure what it is about that coffee table, but they both love it. He can crawl on his hands and knees, but he prefers to army crawl if he needs to get somewhere fast. He will crawl on his hands and knees on the carpet, but army crawl once he hits the hardwood floor because he slides faster. I need to get a baby gate ASAP for the stairs. Savannah was too scared of the stairs to ever go down, but DJ is pretty fearless. 

Now that he crawls, he isn't as clingy as he was before. He used to whine and cry as soon as I set him down, but now, I can sit him on the ground, and he will play with toys, or crawl and go explore. 

He can pull himself up too! He now likes to stand in his crib or on the couch. And he especially loves to climb up and stand while hugging my legs. I think he is most proud of this accomplishment, because he's usually beaming with 7 month old pride when he does it.

He's learning how to copy sounds that we make. And he's learning how to show frustration. Savannah took a toy away from him and he yelled angrily instead of just crying. And if I'm not paying attention to him, he yells too.  

 ^^He doesn't seem to mind our costco trips, in which he nearly gets buried every time^^

He's also learned how to give big wet kisses! I LOVE it!

His spitting up problem is virtually gone. Today, he was crawling in the hallway while I was painting his room, and Savannah started yelling that he had spilled some milk. When I went out, he had spit up quite a bit, and that was the first time in weeks he had done that. 

He still doesn't sleep through the night, but It's not really his fault. He gets up around 5 or 6am, which is when the boys downstairs wake up to play video games. (What teenaged boy gets up earlier than is necessary, just to play video games? It makes zero sense) and they are pretty noisy. I get up, change his diaper and give him a bottle and he goes back to sleep pretty easily and stays asleep until 8. I think I'm going to start heading to the gym after I get up with him, since he goes back to sleep, and Savannah and Bryant are still asleep until 8, and I feel more tired throughout the day if I get up and go back to sleep. 

He really is just the happiest baby you have ever met. I'm not ready for him to be so active. I miss the sleepy snuggly stage! But I think it will be nice when he's big enough to keep up with Savannah, so they can keep each other entertained.

Christmas!

*Note* I started this post daaaayyysss ago. I really need to figure out a schedule to keep on track...

This Christmas was really wonderful. It was the first Christmas morning that Bryant, the kids and I have had just as our own little family. The first 3 years, Bryant and I were living in my parents basement apartment, so we would just go upstairs to open presents with my family. Then last year we were in Mt. Shasta for Christmas with Bryant's family. This year, it was just us at our house. I think this year Savannah really "got it". She understood who Santa Claus was, and knew that he was going to come to our house to leave presents. All day long on Christmas Eve, she kept telling me that we needed to go to bed so Santa could sneak into our house.

 Christmas Jammies!

 Santa came through our neighborhood on a firetruck. Savy asked if he was going to save kids.

When bedtime came, and both kids were nestled all snug in their beds, I had everything wrapped and ready to go, so Bryant and I were in bed at a decent hour. 

The next morning, I had to actually wake up everyone. My mom called and asked if she could come borrow something, so she came over before Bryant and the kids were even up. By 9:00, I figured I had better get Christmas going since we were supposed to be at my parents house by 10 for breakfast. 

When Bryant and I went to wake Savannah up, we said "Savannah! Guess who came last night!" And she sleepily asked "Sagey Pagey?" (My sister Sage). When we reminded her is was Christmas, she bolted out of bed and ran into the living room. The first thing she saw was the train that Santa had set up on the coffee table. She was so excited, she just stood there with her hands over her mouth silently while she watched it go around in circles. Then she saw all the other presents and started giggling and asked if she could open them.

Deagan mostly hid under the coffee table, and he'd come out to munch on wrapping paper, then crawl back under. I can't tell you how many times
I fished paper out of that kids mouth!

This year, we went easy on the gifts. Savannah got a train set, a tin tea set, a princess dress, and a doctor kit from Bryant and I, and Deagan got some clothes and a teething toy. I gave Bryant an audio book (which we returned because he had already read it. Oops) some slippers, and a star wars lego kit (which we also returned because I got the wrong one. Oops again!) and my dad, brother and I went in together to by him a gun!

Bryant's gift to me was a double stroller (Hallelujah!) and a date night out! Which we had a few nights later. Dinner, a movie, and shopping for some clothes for me. Perfect!

I felt a little bad not getting more gifts for the kids, but between both sets of grandparents, and aunts and uncles, they both made out like bandits!

After we opened gifts, we went to my parent's house where my brothers, sister and sister-in-law, and my grandparents were all there to exchange gifts and eat our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of biscuits and gravy.

 Bryant got another little lego thing from my parents, which he instantly took into a quiet corner and promptly put together. He's like a 10 year old boy sometimes.

That afternoon, we all went to my grandparents house for dinner. After dinner, we did a "mug exchange" where everyone brought a mug and we had a game and passed them around. However, as all holidays in the Peacock clan need a little drama, my grandma broke her shoulder. I had brought DJ's car seat in and as it got more crowded, my cousin asked me if she could move it into my grandparents room to keep it out of the way. As we were exchanging mugs, my grandma had gone in and tripped over the car seat and broke her shoulder and arm. She came in with a make-shift sling and said she wasn't going to the hospital until everyone was done opening gifts, and asked for a coke. We quickly finished opening gifts, and then Bryant and I lent them my van to take to the hospital because it's easier to get in and out of. She's a really tough cookie! She ended up needing 12 pins in her shoulder! Ouch! So if you're reading this, just think of a nice little thought for my grandma please.

 I'm almost 100% sure my aunts husband was doing the old "pretending to scratch my nose to flip off the camera" thing while I was taking this picture to photobomb it. Stay classy.

 Bryant reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" Also, my cousins wife also did the "scratching my nose but really I'm flipping everyone off" thing too when Bryant read the part that says "and the jolly old elf with a finger to the side of his nose" or something like that. So I did not post that photo. Guys, really...

That night, we headed home, and put our exhausted but very happy kids to bed, and Bryant and I curled up on the couch and watched a Christmas movie under the glow of the Christmas tree.

It was a great Christmas, and I'm glad Savannah is finally at that stage where she believes in Santa Clause. It makes being his helper really fun! Savannah told me yesterday that she wanted to go to the north pole and go fishing with Santa. I told her it was too cold, but she told me it was fine because she had a jacket. Well, I can't argue with that logic...

I hope everyone had a really wonderful Christmas, surrounded by friends and family!

Hopefully I'll get around to writing about New Years before Valentines Day, no promises though.