Jack had a big week back in early September - he had his first dentist visit AND had his three year check-up. His dentist visit went pretty well. He's lucky because his grandma is a dental assistant, so she was the one cleaning his teeth. He was excited leading up to the appointment and wanted to play with all the tools when we got there. But when it was go time, he clammed up a little. I got him to lay on top of me after I sat in the chair, which was kind of odd, but it worked. He opened wide while grandma cleaned, polished and flossed his teeth. He was not interested in letting the dentist look in his mouth, so that minute was a little rough, but all in all he did great!
Charlie had gone to a pediatric dentist the week before after he took a tumble in the Cozy Coupe and I was nervous about his teeth. Everything checked out fine, but Charlie got a blow-up sword from his visit, so Jack expected something similar from his first appointment. Since I knew our dentist's treasure chest consisted of stickers and erasers and other small trinkets, I made a quick stop at the dollar store and got him a sword as his reward. He earned it and he was pleased.
A couple days later we did a joint check-up at the pediatrician for Charlie and Jack. Luckily Grandma Lang came with us - not sure I could have had any meaningful conversations with the doctor without her there helping with the boys!
Jack passed his check-up with flying colors. The doctor told me a few of the things he's doing are 4 year old skills, so he's cruising right along.
At three years old, Jack weighs 37 lbs (90th%) and is 40" tall (91.5%). He didn't have to get any shots this time (off the hook until age 5) so he was a happy camper.
I already posted about Charlie's big birthday bash, but I wanted to give some highlights about our little man at the one-year mark...
The big highlight is his refined walking skills - the guy is moving around great now! At his first birthday he has stopped crawling altogether for the most part. He thinks he's a big shot too, that's for sure!
He sprouted several new teeth in his twelfth month - he now has all four on top and bottom, along with two of his molars. Those puppies were a little painful when they were coming in, so we're not looking forward to the arrival of the remaining molars.
Charlie had his one-year check-up and the doctor said he was right on track with his development except for one thing: pointing. He should be pointing by now but so far I've only witnessed him pointing with a fist. Something to work on, I suppose. He's still on high end of the chart for size: 24 lbs, 12 oz (89.7%), 31.5" long (95%) and still has a large head at 19.76" (off the charts). He had to get two shots and also got blood drawn to test for anemia (routine at one year), which was not fun.
Within a couple weeks of his birthday we cut out the bottles completely and Charlie now drinks his whole milk out of a sippy cup. He likes it, but not nearly as much as Jack, who would drink a gallon of milk a day if we allowed it.
Charlie loves to dance when he hears music:
Here is the completed collage of monthly pictures. Sigh...
I've been MIA from the blogging world because life is just plain crazy right now. I recently took a new job - same company, different role - and it has taken over all of my spare time. It's not going to be a crazy-demanding job once I get up to speed, but right now I'm in the learning phase and I feel like I can't keep up. Therefore, all of my spare waking moments have been spent working, not blogging (or doing laundry, or watching TV or or or).
My goal is to catch up over the next couple of days with the following posts so I'll be ready to go for a Halloween post:
Charlie at 1 Year
Jack's 1st Dentist Visit & 3 Year Check-Up
Professional Photos
Trip to Rochester
OK, so I realize I'm WAY behind on many posts, but for now all I can do is an awesome quote from Jack the other day...
Jack: Did you just hear me toot?
Mommy: Was that a toot? What do you say?
Jack: Well, when you burp you say 'excuse me,' when you toot someone asks you if you need to go poop.
Our little man turned one on September 9th and we had a BIG party to celebrate! Consistent with Jack's first birthday we invited our aunts, uncles and cousins along with the usual family and friends. Also consistent with Jack's first birthday, we had special guests all the way from Rochester: Aunt Kelly, Uncle Greg and Parker made the trip to celebrate with us! We were lucky to have perfect weather that day, so we were able to spend most of the party out on the patio.
We decided to do a balloon theme for Charlie's party, and I stuck with primary colors. It was an easy theme and I think the decorations turned out pretty cute.
Balloon wreath - I plan to copy my friend Rebecca's tradition and hang this puppy each time one of us is celebrating a birthday
Balloon display of Charlie's monthly pictures
Balloon banner (idea courtesy of pinterest, specifically: this blog)
The favors: lollipop balloon bouquets from Party City for the big kids;
bags with punching balloons for the 1 and under crowd
I hung these all around the house too: Charlie
cut-outs "holding" foam balloons
The cake(s) - I used a Wilton balloon shaped cake pan
and used licorice for the strings
The highlight of the party was the awesome balloon artist from Premier Entertainment that we hired. We saw him at a Rascals game earlier this summer and I snagged his card because his ballons are really cool. The kids each got at least one balloon and they got a kick out of them. Here are some examples of the creations:
Left to right, from top: Jack's octopus, Reghan's Nemo, Austin and Zoey's frog and turtle, Lily and Mia's ladybug bracelet and Repunzel, Parker's frog, Charlie's rattle, Nathan's octopus, Ethan's Elmo, Allison's lion, Gabe & Garrett's Hulk and Alien hats, Alyssa's personalized creation based on her drawing and Sloan's zebra
Charlie got lots of cool gifts, including lots of Little People sets (farm, garage, airplane, etc), a new trike, a wooden puzzle stool with his name like his brother has, a trailer for our Cozy Coupe car and a really special personalized book from Aunt Kelly et al.
He also put on quite a show with the cake eating. It turns out the small balloon cakes were perfect size for him to pick up and takes bites, which made for quite a mess. It was great!
Love the hand prints on the bathtub wall
Here are some other shots from the party.
Our attempt at a family picture
Playing in the ball-filled pool: Aunt Kelly, Parker, Addison, Charlie and Jack
We had some other out-of-towners there too: Ryan from Florida and Kory from Wisconsin!
Greg, Ryan, Jason and Kory
Addi and Jack (with blue lips from the cake icing)
Parker received some presents for her upcoming birthday too -
she kissed each princess as she opened it. Too cute!
Kelly, Mom and me
This child LOVES watermelon on the rind!
Playing in the yard!
Wrestle mania with Kory
End of the night, playing peacefully in Jack's room: Addi, Jack, Lily and Mia
Mia reading to Jack and Addi
Thank you to all of our friends and family that made Charlie's 1st birthday party so special!!
When I asked Jack a few months back what theme he wanted for his birthday party this year, I reminded him that his 2nd birthday was a choo choo party to help him understand what a theme was. Of course, then he said he wanted a choo choo party. SO, I took the liberty of deciding on a theme on my own (while I still can!!). Fireman theme it is!
(Shirt purchased on etsy.com from seller: SweetThingsforBaby)
We had a great party with our immediate families and some of our closest friends. We got fire hats and fire safety coloring books for all the kids courtesy of Grandma Clayton, who works at a fire house. We also gave each kiddo a fire-themed book in their goody bag: a board book for the babies, Curious George and the Firefighters for the preschoolers and The Fire Cat or Little Critter: Going to the Firehouse for the big 1st and 2nd graders.
Austin Kuehler a.k.a. Ozzie
Charlie the Fireman
We also were inspired by some ideas we saw on pinterest and made cardboard fire trucks to play in. I had the idea and planned to make just a handful of them, but my crafty husband was having none of my planned half-hearted attempt and took the project and ran with it. He ended up making 10 fire trucks - one for each of the kids (excluding the babies). They were a hit and were an extra favor for the kids to take home with them.
A fire truck race (I use this term loosely):
The highlight was the real fire truck that came to visit!! Grandma Clayton arranged for the guys to come make a visit and let us check out their truck for the small price of to go plates for the three firemen (and Jason smoked them each a slab of ribs the following week as a thank you). Side note: I'm told most fire stations will do this for you if you ask, so it might be a good idea even for those that don't have the awesome hook-up we had. ANYway, this part was a surprise to Jack because if the fire house gets a call during that time, they obviously have to back out. We didn't want a disappointed birthday boy!!
Jack was pretty shy, especially at first. He eventually warmed up and explored the truck a little bit, but only with one of his parents or grandparents very close by. Some of his friends were really into it.
Grandma Clayton & Jack
Connor Neu
Paige (our niece) & Sloan Schneider
Sweet Lily Bug (our niece)
Grandpa Lang, Lily, and Jack helping Charlie with his hat
Nathan Mincher
Kate & Zoey Kuehler
Aidan Neu
All the kids EXCEPT the birthday boy, who refused to be in the picture. Of course.
I'd say the Kuehler kids enjoyed it the most. Here is Zoey spraying water with Austin nearby
Charlie & Grandpa Lang
Charlie & Austin checking it out
Grandpa and his boys
When it was time for the truck to leave, they asked Jack if he wanted to blow the big horn. He agreed, and climbed in to step on the pedal. He was impressed by how loud the horn was and was then very excited about the truck and firemen (too late!!). They pulled away and he wanted to stay and watch until they drove by again after turning around, when he very enthusiastically waved at them and yelled thank you. Fun.
I also attempted to make this cake from Betty Crocker's website
My version is not nearly as pretty, but at least you can tell what it's supposed to be. That's a success in my book. I used Oreos for wheels, rolled black licorice for hoses and gumdrops for lights.
We also had a pull-string pinata (perfect for the three year-old crowd!) shaped like a dalmation with a fire hat on. It was fun. I had to post the video below because my mom was the very inexperienced videographer and It. Is. Priceless. I seriously laughed out loud. Sorry Mom, this is just too good bad not to share.
Jack received lots of great presents, many of which were Toy Story-themed, so he was a happy camper. His favorite was the big Buzz Lightyear he got from Grandma and Grandpa Clayton, but he also received a Leap Frog Leapster (handheld learning/games), a TAG Reader, a Buzz sleeping bag, baseball bases (heavy duty, I might add), an adorable ball cap that says "jclay II" (thanks Aunt Kelly!) and lots of other fun toys.
All in all, the party was a success and everyone, most importantly the birthday boy, had a nice time!! Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us and spoiled our little three year old with gifts!
