Monday, January 16, 2017

Blake Olivia: 3 years old

**Better late than never.  Her b-day was September 8th.**


Well, we now have a "threenager."  Three is going to be a fun but tough year.  Blake is too smart for her own good.  She genetically has been gifted with a stubborn streak. She can do so much now which makes things really fun but oh man is she tough on us.  She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to let us know .

Yes I know that I will one day, when she's about 13, be wishing for these days of toddler battles and potty struggles. I truly do love every moment with these kids and can (mostly) laugh off all the drama. You have to just laugh at the logic of a 3 year old or you will go crazy.

She wanted a Tangled themed birthday party and we wanted something easy so we did it at Pump It Up. I highly recommend a bounce place for a party.  They did everything for us, including packing up my car at the end. And the kids love it and are exhausted by the end.












Rapunzel stopped by and sang all the songs from the movie.








And we bounced.






  And then ate pizza and cake.









And in two hours we were out the door with no mess to clean up :)

 Also, we all had a Rapunzel themed t-shirt. Special thanks to the best dad ever for being a good sport about that. 



Then, the morning of her actual birthday we had a special donut cake and I took the morning off of work to celebrate :)



Here's an update on what's going on with Blake:

  • He eyes are now greenish and change color all the time. I love when they are kind of grayish.
  • She's tall, like mom. (95th percentile)
  • She's stubborn/strong willed.  I'm told this is a really good quality to have and can lead to more success in life.  Let's hope so because it's challenging right now. 
  • She is still the pickiest eater. It's a daily struggle to get her to eat.
  • She needs to but refuses to nap and hasn't had regular naps in over a year.
  • She is testing boundaries and experimenting with some new attitude but all in all she is really very sweet natured.
  • She is starting to come out of her shell but still can be really shy with new people.
  • Her language skills are a little too good.  She says hilarious stuff though.
  • She loves playing with older kids.  I was so worried this summer when she would just run up to the big kids at the concerts in the park. I was terrified they would be mean to her but the kids welcomed her right in and because her language is so strong, she does fine with them.  Gross motor skills, on the other hand, are still a bit slow.
  • We did My Gym for most of the year but finally gave it up when she kept getting sick after her classes.  It's such a germy place and people always bring their sicks kids to class.
  • We are currently deciding what activity to do next. 
  • We have talked about and tried to encourage potty training but we are getting a lot of push back from her.
  • She gets so much attention for her curly hair.  People can not help themselves. Some actually reach out and touch her head.  SO weird!
  • She is excited about going to school soon. 
  • Her current loves: gummy snacks, swimming, Disney, Fashems and Mashems toys, dressing up, pretending, anything girly, doing make up, baby dolls, Barbies.

Taco 'Bout a Party! Tanner is ONE!








































And for my last monthly post of Tanner's 1st year...

Here's what's been happening this month:
  • Tanner is basically running now (or at least speed walking) and he is still into everything.  He is getting really steady now and can maneuver around things and step over things easily.
  • Sleep is a little more tricky these days and he is getting a little bit clingy to me.  
  • He is tough to take out places lately, especially by myself.  He will not sit in a high chair for very long and will not tolerate the Ergo Baby for as long as he used to.  Not to mention, he loves to experiment with his volume :)
  • We still hit up Disneyland as much as possible (every other week or so).  Blake is pretty darn good when we are there considering her "threenager, I do whatever I want" stage.  Tanner needs more of my attention and Blake is pretty patient and helpful.
  • Blake still really loves her baby brother. She is always kissing him and trying to help take care of him.
  • He now has 6 teeth. Four on top and 2 on the bottom.  That's 2 less than Blake at this age. I am brushing his teeth with the finger brush and he loves to bite my fingers. Hard!
  • He loves music and both kids are super into the music from the new Disney movie Moana. 
  • He is now drinking cow's milk along with his breast milk.  He has also started water and is using a sippy cup.  He does really well with both the straw cup and the traditional sippy.
  • He still nurses on demand and is probably waking more at night to make up for missing out all day when I'm at work.  So for that reason, I'm not too mad about the constant wake ups.
  • His current loves: baths, music, running, climbing, stopping to lay his head down on anything soft (blanket or pillow etc) that he comes across, high 5s, giving kisses, smacking the spoon out of my hand to see what happens to the food, walks in the stroller, kicking off all shoes and socks, and all types of food.
  • His receptive language skills are strong. He is following directions and identifying common objects really accurately. 
  • It feels like he is changing by the day.
  • No real words yet but lots of different babble sounds now.
  • His stats are: 21 lbs, 30.25 inches tall. His head is still really large.  I hope that doesn't mean anything to be concerned about.  The doctor doesn't seem to mind it.