12 month appointment

Loclann had his 12 month appointment yesterday. It went very well. He's still nursing 4-5 times a day. He's not so much a day nurser (only before his nap and before bed) but still loves it at night. He loves food although his appetite has been less the past week or two. I couldn't figure out why until the other day when I got him laughing and saw the 4 teeth he's cutting at once on the top! That'll do it! He didn't get any shots--we decided several months ago to hold off for a while. He'll get them eventually, just not now. We feel there's no reason to pump these little babies bodies full of medication like they do. We'll do it on our own schedule. His head circumference is 19 inches (92nd percetile)--he's always had a huge noggin! He's 30 1/2 inches tall (70th percentile). He weighs 20 pounds even (10th percentile). Of course the growth charts are tailored to formula fed babies so it makes my kids look sickly but he's actually very healthy. He has several new words (up to at least 15 now). His favorites are: "jew, jew"--juice, "cacker"--cracker, "go", "no", "shoo"--shoes, "kitty", "doggy", "mama", "daddy" (and several others). He follows simple directions well without needing a gesture and has great problem solving skills. He's a great runner and climber and all around doing great!

Happy Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Lochlann!!!
My little Lochy-Doodle turned one this past Thursday. I can't believe how fast this past year has gone. He went from my tiny little baby to this walking, talking, climbing, getting into trouble, bundle of love and energy.
(This is his new favorite place to be which is why the train table is in their room now.)

Lochlann has grown up so much and it astounds me every day how much he has learned and accomplished in such a short amount of time. He is definitely my climber and it's really hard to keep him off of anything. He runs around like such a big boy and is saying more words everyday. I can't even keep track of all the new words he's been saying. He loves the cats and runs after them trying to pet them while squealing "kitty!" He's such an inquisitive little mind as well and really likes to problem solve. He's also quite the Thomas the train fan like his brother and loves to make track and drive the trains along it. I think they're going to have a blast when we go to the Strasburg Railroad to see Thomas next month! Another huge favorite of Lochy's is books. He absolutely adores to be read to--over and over and over again. I love reading to him but sometimes I wish he'd branch out a little with the books he wants me to read--the same 5 over and over can get a bit tedious. He pulls the bin of books out and will bring me one after the other all day long. And when he really likes the story he'll tell me "Again!"
I don't know what else to say about my little Doodle. He just continues to amaze me every day. I can't imagine my life without him. He and Liam are our light and our strength. They are the true meaning of constant and unconditional love.
Here he was then:

And now:

We had Lochlann's Christening and first birthday party this Saturday. Hopefully I'll have the time to upload the pictures before we leave for Florida on Thursday!

11 Months!

Well, my little Doodle is 11 months old now. The time is going by way to quickly and he's getting so big too fast.

He is running all over the place and loving every minute of it. He's been itching to keep up with Liam for months and he's so happy he finally can. The two of them just run back and forth together through the house cracking each other up when they pass by.

Lochy loves to play with anything where he can use his body. He loves to throw and kick balls. And he can stoop down to pick up a toy and stand back up again without holding on to anything. He loves playing with blocks and stacking them--his record is 4 blocks high! He loves to color too. We let him color with the color wonder markers and coloring books--best invention ever! Ian recently found Liam's old shape sorter and busy box and Lochy has been having the best time with them. He can maneuver the shapes in if you show him where they go and can make some of the animals pop up in the busy box. He also loves the electronic drum Uncle Mike gave Liam for Christmas. The only way he gets to play with it is if Liam's sleeping because Liam loves it too!

He's getting a ton more vocal as well. He "talks" all the time and has full on conversations with you. It would be a lot more interesting if I knew what he was saying! He does have some words--"Dada", "Mama", "Me-na" (Grandma), "woof woof", "kitty", and some more I can't think of right now. He repeats just about anything you tell him. He also immitates any kind of hand gestures and signs and waves bye-bye and hello. He gave up his morning nap a few weeks ago (unless he's unusually tired) and he and Liam sleep at the same time. He'll nap anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 hours. We're still working on night time sleeping but I'm in no real hurry for that. We are still breastfeeding and still co-sleeping most of the night. He naps in his crib and starts out the night in his crib. We both love the snuggle time together during the night and it makes it easy for him to grab a middle of the night snack.

Lochy loves playing with his big brother (when Liam will let him anyway) too. He really likes the Thomas trains and "drives" them all over the tracks. He especially loves to play peek-a-boo with Liam.

They may fight some but they really love being brothers.


He's just the best little love and I am so blessed to have him in my life. Both boys have just been the best little boys I could ever hope for.

The Lake

Yesterday we took the boys to the lake. It's a state park not too far from us and it was so nice! They of course have the lake and beach but they also have a nice grassy area shaded with trees right off the beach and a couple playgrouds, campgrounds, picnic tables with grills, bathrooms with showers, and concession stand. We all had a lot of fun. Liam loved burying his trains in the sand and swimming in the water with us. He also loves the swings and slide, of course. This was Lochy's first time in the sand and he had a blast. It was a little hard for him to walk in it but he loved sitting there letting it sift through his fingers. He only tried to eat it once. They're both little water babies and love being in the water. Lochy especially loved being at the water's edge where it wasn't too deep and walk around and splash. We were all worn out by the time we came home and all three of my guys took a late nap. Needless to say we all had late bedtimes last night.



He did not want his picture taken

Fun in the water with Daddy

And here's some pics of the boys playing nice this morning:


And Lochy coloring yesterday:

Success!!!

We have potty training success!!! It took us a little over a week but Liam is potty trained! He only needs a diaper for overnight. He keeps his underwear dry all day, during his nap, and when we go out and about. I can't remember the last time he had an accident. He tells us whenever he has to go and is even getting more comfortable with pooping on the potty (he cried the first couple times he did that). I'm so proud of my little man, he is growing up way too fast. He's super proud of himself too!

And Lochy has progressed to full on running now! He's so thrilled to be able to run back and forth through the house with Liam. He's been itching to do that for a while. When did my babies get so big?

I don't have pictures to post since the camera batteries took a crap and I've yet to replace them. Pics to come soon though.

So Proud!

Well, it's been an eventful week. Last Friday was Ian's 31st birthday. We just kind of stayed around the house since it wasn't a nice day. I made him a nice dinner and the boys and I made him a couple birthday cards. We also had ice cream cake for dessert! For his present from his parents he asked for cloth diapers for the boys to help save us money. He's just the best Daddy ever! Can't say I'm a huge fan of cloth but it's saving us a ton and we do what we have to do. Plus, Lochy does look very cute with his "fluffy" butt.


And wearing his "I'm a birth center baby" t-shirt he got when he was born.

Liam turned 2 1/2 on Monday so after his nap we officially started the hard core potty training. He's had his potty since this time last year and he's sat on it and peed in it numerous times but he was so against using it all the time. He loved his diapers and wouldn't give them up. So on Monday afternoon we told him that he is a big boy and big boys don't wear diapers. He wasn't happy about it but we held firm and no diapers (except for sleep times). To my surprise he has done amazing!!! He tells us when he has to pee (he does a little dance and says, "ooh, ooh, ooh"), we sit him on it and within a minute or so he goes! Since Monday we've only had 2 accidents!!!! I'm so proud of my little man! He feels like such a big boy and loves to flush his pee-pee in the big potty when he's done. He also loves his big boy Thomas underwear. You can tell he's really proud of himself! And I'm so proud of him, he's getting so big!

And Lochy is walking everywhere now. He used to just walk from one thing to another but now he's walking across the house to get to things he wants! When did my little boys get so big!?! I miss my babies! Lochy also has a new word--"kitty." He loves the cats around here and says it so clearly. He points to everything and wants me to tell him what things are. He's also pointing to things when I ask where they are. He's such a little sponge and is learning more every day. They are such great little boys. Can you tell I'm just bursting with pride? I couldn't be any luckier!

10 Months

My little Doodle turned 10 months this weekend. He got ahold of a piece of Liam's cookie and as you can see he enjoyed himself thoroughly.

He's growing up so fast. I have to pack away his 9 month clothes, well most of them, some still fit. He's gaining back the weight he lost when he was sick. At his 9 month check up he went from the 50th percentile for weight down to the 15th because he lost so much being sick. I'm glad to see he's getting back on track. He is such a little ball of energy. He's constantly moving. He crawls at the speed of light and walks well now. The only trouble is he thinks he can run so we still have falls. He loves to climb and will climb on anything. We have to keep the gates closed at all times because if he gets out he scales the flight of steps in seconds! He's getting so much more communicative too. He has tons of new sounds and really sounds like he's holding a conversation with you. I love baby babble! He tries to repeat just about everything too. He loves the phone and will hold it to his ear (or close to it anyway) and say his version of hello, which is "he-ooooo." It's so cute. He's also started shushing us--he'll put his figer to his lips and blow out. He learned that one from Liam. He says "Daddy" and has turned into quite the Daddy's boy these days. He gives great hugs and the best sloppy, open mouthed kisses if you ask for one. He is such a cuddlebug and always happy. He loves going to the playground and swing on the swings and climb on the equipment.

He makes me so nervous climbing on the equipment because he has no sense of caution--he's a little dare devil. So I follow closely behind him to make sure he doesn't decide to make a leap for the ground.

Lochy and Liam play so great together most of the time too. Liam's still working on sharing but he's doing well. Lochy loves to play with anything Liam likes to play with and is a huge Thomas fan like his big brother.

Here he is taking a play break. Don't mind the goofy face he's making, he was being silly and trying to make us laugh.

Updates

It's been such a long time since I've been able to do any kind of update on the boys. Our internet connection has been sketchy at best so it's been making it close to impossible to do anything online.
Well, not a whole lot has been going on. The boys are getting bigger. Liam talks non stop. Lochy is doing great with his walking (and has the bumps and bruises to show for it.) He's even saying some words now. Of course he'll say Dada but just laughs at me when I try to get him to say Mama (little punk!). He'll be 10 months old on Saturday, where did the time go?
I celebrated my 30th birthday this past Friday. We spent the day waiting for the Sears guy to come repair the new refrigerator that was just delivered the day before--it's still not fixed by the way. I officially hate Sears and will never buy an appliance from them. The day after my birthday we went shopping with my mother in law, Ian and the boys. They were good after we got a little food in them. We hit the outlets in Tannersville (Poconos). I was able to buy some bras that actually fit me with the money my parents gave me for my birthday. Woo Hoo!!! And my mother in law got me some nice summer stuff as my birthday present! It was a really nice day.
We finally have Lochy's baptism all set. I found a non denominational minister that will come to the house to the the baptism. I am so happy we'll finally be able to do this without the crap the Catholic Church was giving us. This minister is much more in line with my and Ian's spiritual beliefs anyway. I'm really glad we're getting her to do it, and we'll be able to do it the same day as his first birthday party.
Here's a few pictures of the boys:
These are from Grammy and Aunt Jackie's visit a couple weeks ago:


Lochy loves the Fox in Socks Aunt Pat and Uncle Lou gave him a while back. Liam calls him Foxy Socks. LOL

These are from the reservoir a few minutes from our house. We go for walks on the trails and Liam loves to throw rocks in the water (so does Daddy!).



Isn't it pretty?

And the inevitable fighting

Last Week

Well, this past week has been a real doozy. Lochy turned 9 months old on the 21st, Ian and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary on the 20th, and Lochy was sick all last week. Once he started feeling better Liam started not feeling well. Now both boys have colds and they're not too happy about it.
First our anniversary. We didn't do anything special on the day and decided instead to go out to dinner on Friday if Lochy was feeling better. We had originally planned to go to the Chart House in Weehawkin, NJ. It's right on the river across from New York. One whole side of the restaurant is nothing but windows so the view of the water and the New York City skyline is just beautiful. Plus the food is amazing. We ended up just going to Olive Garden though--with Lochy not feeling 100% we wanted to stay close and keep the evening short. We had a nice time being out just the two of us. It was the first time in almost a year we were able to get out without any children--it was long overdue. Hopefully we can do our Chart House plan some other time.
Lochy woke up from his morning nap last Monday with a fever and the vomitting and diarrhea started from there. He had no interest in food and only wanted to nurse and sleep. But he would only sleep if he was laying on either Ian or myself. By Thursday night he was kicking the fever but we found out he reacts to viruses the same way Liam does--head to toe hives. The poor baby was just miserable and just kept scratching at his little body. I gave him a nice oatmeal bath and washed him with oatmeal body wash and by the next morning his hives were almost completely gone. He still didn't have the best appetite but he ate a decent dinner for Grandma while Ian and I were out to dinner. Yesterday he started getting a cold though so now he's back to not feeling too great.
He is 9 months old now! He's getting braver taking steps but is still very cautious. He much prefers to crawl since he's so fast at that and just climbs up on everything. We really have to make sure all the gates are shut because he loves to climb stairs. The other day I found him standing on Liam's Thomas the Train couch trying to push the buttons on the TV. He mastered the sippy cup a few weeks ago and just loves it. I put a little bit of juice in with his water to flavor it a little and he thinks its just great. I'm glad both boys love the V8 Fusion because that's the only juice we buy them. It's the only way we can get any fruits and veggies into Liam. I hope Lochy doesn't turn into the picky eater Liam turned into. Little Lochy is just a happy little ball of energy. He loves to be outside and really loves to be pushed on the swing. He's also quite content to be pushed in the stroller or ride in the sling for a walk around the reservoir or up and down the street. He's just the happiest little baby; full of smiles and squeals of delight. He has his 9 month check up on Wednesday so we'll get to see how much our little Doodle has grown. His hair still has red in it, I wonder if it'll stay or turn blond?
Liam has been really testing the limits lately. He has a cold too so I think he's not feeling well on top of everything else. We have a no screaming and no whining rule in this house but he's been breaking it a lot lately. He rarely needs time outs but has been frequenting the time out spot a lot recently. He's just being his two year old self and can get in a great mood just as fast as he can turn sour. We've started working on the potty a bit more. We've had his potty since last summer and he's gone on it quite a bit. He's always so proud of himself when he does pee-pee and we make a huge deal of it. So we know he can go on it, he just doesn't want to. I had him in his big boy underwear yesterday and he stood there and peed and then told me he needed clean underwear. Little punk! This kid's going to be a tough nut to crack! He'll be 2 1/2 at the end of June so I'm not going to really push it til then.
Here's a couple 9 months pics of Lochy Doodle:
He tried so hard to be happy despite being sick

New toys...sort of

The past several days here have just been miserable--cold, rainy, and no time to go outside. So yesterday Ian and I took a little trip out to our storage unit to grab a couple toys we put away a few months ago. We thought Loch would get a kick out of something new. Turns out both Liam and Lochy are having a great time playing with them! We brought back Liam's Leapfrog table and his house. As soon as Liam saw his house he squealed "MY HOUSE!!!" He was so excited! He's doing very good sharing with Lochy too.
Here they are playing with the "new" toys:




And here's Lochy "reading" a book. I'm so thankful that both boys love to look at books and be read to. They are both just fascinated by stories and I could literally read for hours to them.

Hopefully it will start to get nice again and we can resume our outside fun. They both just love to be outside and Liam even more so since we got him a tricycle. Lochy loves the swings at the park and is also quite content to sit and playin the grass or have me carry him around in the sling while we walk. The reservoir is one of our favorite places to walk with them. It's so pretty there and Liam loves to stop and throw rocks in the water. We even saw a bear once!

Space Farms

Yesterday we took the boys to Space Farms. It's a little zoo not too far from us. It was a beautiful day for it. It was really more like a park with animals in it. They had a playground and picnic tables all over so you could eat right next to the animals. The boys had a blast! Lochy loved the animals you could get right up to the fence and feed; Liam not so much. Liam also didn't care for the ducks and geese that would walk right up to you expecting feed either. He much preferred the lions and tigers and those kind of animals.



He had enough of these animals getting too close!

Lochy instigated the wrestling after bath time last night...

...so he must be ridden like a pony

He's getting much braver with standing a taking some steps. We have a lot of falls but he's learning. Here his is about to step out!

His innocent look:

Lochy decided to make a huge mess of things in our bedroom the other day. And he had a grand time doing it!
The beginning:

The end:

And Liam being a happy boy this morning: