Three's A Crowd

With a January birthday so soon after New Year's, you rang in 2020 with three seperate celebrations. Fitting, given your age this year. The day before your birthday, you celebrated at daycare and then we went to dinner at McDonald's. Much to your father's horror, you wore your new Llama slippers from Grammy. It's what you wanted.  Then on your actual birthday we had a family get together filled with pizza and presents.  The following weekend we celebrated with your first off-site kiddie party at Noah's World. It was a huge hit and required minimal cooking and cleaning on our part. In the adult world we call that a win win, aka #winning. 

Over the past 12 months your little personality has really started to blossom. Your speech has improved right along with your temper and your stubbornness.  "I'll do it me-self" and screaming "Jayson!" at the top of your lungs have become your calling card. You were old enough this year to use Santa and Buddy the Elf as behavior incentives, so that was a plus.  

You're also getting easier to travel with thanks to potty training and less baby gear. This year we spent a week in the Bahamas on a family cruise, a week in PA and a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge with cousins, and a week in Georgia with Daddy's side of the family. You've traversed via land, air and sea.  You're not spoiled... and somewhere in the mix of all that you said goodbye to your binky!

You've always strived to be your brother's shadow. When he was learning to ride his bike this year without training wheels, you were learning to zip around with training wheels like Ricky Bobby.  Other firsts you experienced alongside your brother included a kidz bop concert, attending a race at Fonda Speedway, and an 80s party on Long Island.  You long for the day you get to go to school "like a big girl." It kills you that he gets to ride the bus to school and you don't. A lunch time visit to see him ends in tears when you realize you can't stay and I end up looking like a kidnapper smuggling an unhappy child out of the building.  

Let's see... what else?  You love crafts, cooking shows on your tablet, round cheese, and chocolate coins.  Your favorite vegetable is broccoli and you pretend to make hot coffee in the bath tub.  You hate being told no, when you're asked to change out of your pajamas, and when you're forced to eat supper without your tablet streaming Blippi or Peppa Pig right in front of you. You refuse to let me do anything with your hair which most days makes you look homeless.  You refuse to go to bed without socks. You're pretty good at your ABCs and counting to ten. Your favorite songs are by Arianna Grande (7 Rings), Lizzo (Good as Hell) and Lisa Loeb (Hush Little Baby.) 

Height/weight: 34lbs, 3ft 2in (~80th percentile)

Clothing: mostly 4T items, size 10 shoes

Every day I set out with the intention to be the very best mom you know and deserve. After tantrum #657 and the start of WWW III with your brother, I'm aftaid I'm a little short of the mark. At the end of the day, it is important to me that you know just how much you are loved. ♡

Turning Six Summary

Much like the rest of our lives right now, turning six for Jayson seemed to occur in fast forward.  He started Kindergarten in September and continued to play soccer and tee ball, so on evenings and weekends we shuttled from practice to game and back home to devour quick bites and shower up to do it all again the next day. The day of Jayson's 6th Birthday Party was no different.  We had cousins arrive the night before, we hustled off to his tee ball game in the morning, and then we rushed to Get Hooked Kickboxing for his Ninja themed party, where he did a quick change in the car and we were *this close* to being late. 

Turning Two

Alexis Turns Turns Two 

Last night I put you to bed as a one year old for the last time.  This morning, well technically around 1:30 this afternoon, you've become a vibrant little two year old.  True to form our morning was not complete without a melt down.  Tantrums at this age are common and exhausting.  I will myself to remember that it's only because you have a limited vocabulary to express yourself and that this too shall pass.  Although in reality I don't blame you for having a melt down over cupcakes this morning.  I'd much rather have a cupcake for breakfast as well, but the cupcakes were for your party at daycare this afternoon.

Fun-loving FIVE!

Wait...what?!  Jayson's FIVE??!!

Oh. My. Gosh.  I have a five year old.  He's the spitting image of his father at this age and acts just like him too!  I'm in for it when he hits his teens.  Heck, I'm in for it now.   You've converted to the dark side, you're a daddy's boy.  I get it though, mommy is frequently busy with Alexis but that doesn't mean that I don't still crave cuddles with my little dude.  I'm also the "disciplinarian" while daddy's your bff, so I get that too.  I cannot begin to describe how immensely proud I am of you though at this point in your little life.  You are a dynamite big brother (I just love how sweet you are to Lexi) and you are rocking pre-k.  This year has been a big one for you.  You started school like a champ, you ride the bus (complete with transfers!), and now you're playing tee ball.  We completed Kindergarten registration (so surreal) and now we're counting down to summer after a month of birthday activities.  Yes, a month.  You had your kiddie party on the 6th with your closest friends at the local roller rink and our family party is the 20th.  So when it's all said and done, let's recap what five looks like for you Jayson:

Look who's ONE!

Alexis is ONE!

It feels nearly impossible that Alexis is a full year old already, but here she is rocking it!  Our lives have become a whirlwind as of lately with all of our separate (and combined) activities, that I need to just take a moment to reflect on the fact that my baby girl is ONE.  We celebrated at our house.  Unfortunately the weather was less than conducive for some party goers, but we made the best of a lousy wintery day. We had 6ft subs, pasta salads, and of course a one-of-a-kind cake by Aunt Michele.  You were thoroughly impressed with the mini Kitchen we got you, the Paw Patrol ride on toy gifted to you by Nanny, the Cinderella carriage with sound effects and lights from the Gentiles, and of course anything baby doll related which your Aunts and cousins spoiled you with.  Thankfully I've been jotting down little things here and there to help commemorate the milestones and eventually I'll transpose them into your baby book.  You may be five by the time I do it, but at least I've got these posts to refer back to.  So here's what a year looks like for you my sweet Alexis:

Hollowbone, crackabone, ten and eleven

Alexis: Months Ten & Eleven

"Hickery, dickery, six and seven, hollowbone, crackabone, ten and eleven..."

Gotta love a good google search when trying to come up with a title for a blog post about months ten and eleven.  The above is an snippet from "Nursery Jingles" by Clara Doty Bates.  They say you learn something new every day, and for that you're welcome. I'm compiling another two-fer blog post for Alexis because I'm way behind in getting this out there and I'm afraid I'm going to lose the little piece of paper I have with scribblings about each month.  

Number Nine... Take Two

Number Nine... Take Two

So... I'm backdating this post to October 4, 2017.  The actual date Alexis turned nine months.  Why?  Because life got in the way of posting in a timely fashion.  So let's get down to business before I forget anything:

Months Seven & Eight

Months seven and eight have been an absolute blur!  Every time I sat down to create a post, something else took precedence.  Sorry Alexis, but you're getting a combo post to catch everyone up on your continued development.  #workingmomproblems #secondchildsyndrome #notenoughtimeintheday.

Six Months

So this little beauty turned six months about a month ago and what a busy month it's been.  We mosied on down the state of New York into Pennsylvania over the course of a week and did some site seeing along the way. The kids seemed to enjoy it. I took a jilllion photos. That's a whole separate post in the making.

Alexis @ 5 Months

Alexis turned five months!

And in typical working mommy fashion, I  am late announcing it.  It's a good thing she's so chill.  One day she'll be reading this and in a fit of sibling rivalry she'll bring up that we slighted her in some way shape or form.  For now we'll have to enjoy that she doesn't seem to mind and hasn't yet been able to form sentences stating otherwise.

A month of fours

May 2017 was truly a month of fours.  Alexis turned four months on 5/4/17 and Jayson turned four years on 5/9/14.  I will say that turning thirty never bothered me nor did the subsequent years thereafter, however, Jayson turning four has hit me hard.  I think it's the fact that I've submitted his application for pre-k that has really solidified he's no longer a baby.  He's transitioned out of toddlerhood so-to-speak and into school aged oblivion.  With that being said, let's get on to the updates.  They'll have a shared blog post this month only because mama's behind on both of them.  #workingmomproblems

101 Days

101 Days

Alexis was three months old back on the 4th of April, but mama has been slacking on the blog.  I returned to work on the 6th, so in all fairness I have been a little busy.  So we'll post today when she's 101 days old.  We don't have another check up until towards the end of May, so right now I'm guesstimating she's 14 or 15lbs now.  She's moved on from her 0-3 month clothes and into her 3 months and 3-6 months. Even some of her 6 month hand-me-downs already fit. 

Twerking

Yes, you read that correctly. Today's blog post is entitled "Twerking."  My son has some serious toddler dance skills, but he's a little late to the game with twerking.  It is his latest move he's perfected along side this singing and dancing monkey his grandparents gifted him.  I seriously need to capture the two of them on video, but that will have to be another day's post.  Today's will focus on this book and how he believes it relates to twerking.  Then we'll brainstorm where I took a wrong turn in this journey called parenting.

THE BOOK:
The Berenstain Bears' Moving Day

THE PAGE:

Do you see the little cub with the yellow shirt seemingly bent over in an innocent game of leap frog?  My son informed me last night, as we read this for his bedtime story, that this very bear cub was twerking just like him.  "Like a stripper."  His words, not mine.

I admit I laughed despite being slightly concerned.  I'm not sure where or how he learned twerking or that twerking could be related to strippers.  I'll have to ask his father, his aunts, or daycare, but you cannot make this stuff up.

I call this "A day in the life of parenting."  If you got a chuckle out of this, you're welcome.  

2 Months @ 2 A.M.

What better time to write about a two month old than at two a.m.?  It's quiet. She's just nursed and is snuggling on my shoulder.  I know it's moments like this that I'll be nostalgic for when she's her brother's age. Not necessarily the getting up in the wee hours, but the snuggles.  At two months, she is starting to hold on to me.  Right now I'm her person.  There's no playful debate as to who her favorite is because hands down it's mommy.  At two months there is no nagging, no arguing to eat her supper... Mommy is still the "nice guy."  In a few short years, that will all change and I will be the "bad guy" who disciplines for jumping on the couch, pulling on the dog, and any other trouble a toddler finds oneself in.  Daddy will be the fun one who let's her get away with murder because truth be told he's not really watching.  Anywho... I digress.

One Month Alexis Style

One Month Baby Update

Weight & Length:  at her one month doctor appointment she weighed in at 9lb 15oz.  Just shy of 10lb.  She's growing like a weed.  I love her chubby little cheeks and legs. She also put on over an inch and a quarter in length.  She's now in her size 1 diapers and 0-3 clothes.

She's here!!!

It's taken me a couple weeks to post, but little miss has arrived.  Alexis Jayde Krueger was born 1/4/17 at 1:29pm.  She weighed in at 7lb 5oz and 18.5 inches in length. She was five days early, and much like when I was pregnant with her brother, I worked right up to the day of delivery.  More literally with her.

35 Weeks

 

Let's just say at 35 weeks, this mama is slowing down.  There's still so many "nesting" things I want to do when I get home, plus all the Amazon.com goodies arriving at my house to go through for Christmas, but there's never enough time (or energy) in the day.  Plus, I'm caffeine free for three weeks now.  It sucks.

It's a... GIRL!!!

Can't say I saw this coming.  At our 21 week appointment on 8/30 we were scheduled for our anatomy scan.  We brought Jayson with us thinking it was going to be a good experience for him to see the ultrasound and hear first hand whether his sibling was a boy or a girl.  We were fully prepared to make the announcement that day following the appointment, except our little peanut (much like her older brother) had other ideas and refused to cooperate.  So we left that day a little disappointed and were scheduled to come back on 9/14 to get some additional measurements and help our awesome ultrasound tech Leslie hone in her new machine. Within the first five minutes, despite criss-crossed little legs, we were able to determine the gender and it was a girl.  Justin and I were actually shocked.  I felt like I was carrying very similar to our prior pregnancy, but hey, one of each is not bad.

Tantrums, TMJ, and Pregnancy

Ok - so the title should have been three items that start with "T' and it could have been really catchy, but I couldn't come up with a way to refer to pregnancy with a T.  Trimester is a t-word related to pregnancy, but this is my second trimester not third...so no T.  Anywho, T or no T, as I already mentioned this pregnancy has been different than the first go around with Jayson.  Chalk it up to my age or the fact that I've already got a contentious child at home to deal with, it's all different and I can say I'd be appreciative of some better days.

Eating for two