THE BLAND FAMILY: February

February was a rough month for the Blands. We had illness after illness. Two weekends straight. :( It started with Avery and stomach "issues". That went to Lucas. Then Carson came down w/ a virus - high fever. All three were out from school/work together. They were all well for about a day when Avery came down w/ a high fever. Then Lucas got that as well. It was pretty exhausting for all of us. I can't believe I managed to escape without catching anything but minor sniffles! I'm glad that the month is over. I did manage to get some pretty good snuggles with Avery though. Although not the way I'd like to get them!

Besides all of the sickness though, the kids continue growing like weeds! I can't believe my baby is going to be ONE tomorrow!

Carson Update:

Brilliant: Every mom thinks her kid is the smartest ever. I guess that I am no exception. Haha! I do think he's pretty smart though. I'm amazed by him everyday. He has picked up so much in this new class. He's soaking everything up like a little sponge. It's so fun to see! He's doing so well at number and letter recognition. He's had numbers for quite a while, but letters are newer for him. He picks out letters EVERYWHERE we go. Every shirt he sees, every sign. It's constant. :) He knows them all now! He can pick out his name and Avery's name. All of his friends' names. He can tell me what letter they all start with and he's getting really good at just naming things in general that start with certain letters (Mommy starts with M, Grandma starts with G, etc.) He gets so excited and he's so proud of himself. I just love to see that. He also now knows his left and right. I mentioned it to his teacher the other day and she said they actually don't practice that - they only went over it a couple times. He tells me all the time though which hand is left and right. He always wants Avery to sit on the left and he wants to sit on the right. So cute. He's also really getting days of the week and months.

Loves: Carson continues to LOVE the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! He loves watching the show on Nick and insists on dancing (w/ his nunchucks) to the theme song. It's pretty adorable. He also loves puzzles right now! And I love doing them with him. It's seriously so much fun. I really treasure our time together hanging out and doing them. We just got a 100-piece puzzle the other day (because we were tired of doing the same 3 over and over. And over. :) ). I thought it would be too hard, but he did such a great job! He was getting pieces without my help at all. And he can do his other puzzles completely on his own. So fun. His other big love right now is Angry Birds. I'm not even sure how he first learned of them - I think some kids at daycare play. But he quickly learned that Mommy and Daddy have it on our phones. He loves to play! It's also served as behavioral incentives, so that's worked out. :) He currently is trying to earn new Angry Bird underwear!

Avery Update:

First steps!: Avery took her first official steps (on her own) on 2/23/13! She stood up and took 3 steps to me! We were so excited. She had been standing on her own (few seconds at a time) for a week or so. She now can stand for quite a while on her own. She gets SO excited too and starts clapping her hands and shrieking! She's still only taking 3 tentative steps at a time, but I'm sure she's going to be walking officially in no time! It's so fun to see Carson's reaction too as she grows. He's such a proud big brother. She took a couple steps tonight in her room and he took off running to tell Daddy. Best big brother! You know, other than when he's asking to bonk her on the head w/ his nun-chucks or wrapping them around her head/neck "just pretending Mommy!" to hold her in jail. Haha.

Loves: Avery's loves include dancing! She loves music and loves to bounce up and down whenever she hears it! She particularly loves the Hot Dog Song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Taking after her brother, I assume. :) Pretty much any theme song that comes on, she squeals and starts dancing. So cute. Avery's other love is books! She's taking after her brother in that regard as well! She loves to have us read to her. She knows where they are in her room and when she's being a stinker and won't go to sleep, she wiggles around to get more books! She's also taken to Carson's "whites"! He's been really good at sharing them with her. She's more interested in her own blankets though and her "lovey/taggy" elephant.

Sleeping: I don't even know what to say here. :( Avery STILL is not sleeping through the night on a consistent basis. We've tried half-hearted sleep training. Every time we seems to be set to do it, she has a run of going down easily and we don't even have the chance to let her CIO. Even if she does goes down well, or if we let her cry, etc., she still tends to wake in the middle of the night. Or lately at 4:00 am every morning. There's just no pattern (that I can discern) of what makes her sleep all night. I don't know if it's illness or teeth or what. She has been really stuffy lately - still getting over the cold that took over in February. I also think she's working on some more teeth - finally! She still only has TWO! There's definitely at least one coming in on the top (either lateral incisor or canine - not the middle ones!). I guess we'll see what pops through. Her entire mouth seems swollen so I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch popped through together!

Eating: Don't know if I posted this last month or not, but Avery is completely off "baby" food. She eats all meals with us. She gets irritated if we give try to give her anything too smooth or with a spoon. She likes to just feed herself. :) We dropped her 11:00am bottle this weekend, so she's now down to two a day. She LOVES her bottles though, so I'm not sure how it's going to go getting rid of that morning and nighttime one! She definitely lets us know when she's unhappy and wants one! Maybe once we start milk, she'll take the transition better.

The month in pics!

All suited up!


Carson and Daddy enjoying snow in late Feb/March. Mommy is not a fan (of the timing), but it was fun to see his excitement. He loved making snow angels!


Avery's hair is so long now that it can fit into a full ponytail!

Poor sick baby. I hated her being sick with a high fever. She sure was cuddly though! She's not usually my snuggle bear.

Books!

Puzzles!

Mommy and Daddy were able to get out a bit this month too. We went to the Black and Blue Ball (for Easter Seals) w/ Aunt Mandy and Uncle Bob. Fun night out. :)