Sunday, February 22, 2009

Happy Birthday, Uncle Nate!


Hope you have a great day! Wish we could be there to celebrate with you!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Talking

Xavier knows and says more and more words all the time! He gets a little shy around others, so I think we are the only ones who hear a lot of those words...so you'll have to take our word for it :)

I've been telling him that I have a baby in my tummy for a while now and letting him pat my tummy...probably a little confusing since I just look chubbier, not that much pregnant yet. He can say "baby" really clearly now and today he lifted up his own shirt, patted his tummy, and said "baby." I think Matt was a little disturbed by this.

We were out and about today and on the way home, Xavier started muttering "humby, humby" over and over back in his carseat. Then he did his own sign language for eating (picking pretend food out of his palm and putting it in his mouth), so I'm fairly certain that was his version of "hungry!"

He's been telling people "die, die" and waving for a while now, but he's finally started to say "bye" some of the time. A needed change!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Opinions Needed: Children on leashes...


We were given one of these in a gift basket before Xavier was born. Back then, I would have never thought I would use it. I thought people who put their child on a leash were crazy. And now I have an active, rambunctious toddler who does not like to stay in a stroller for extended periods of time. And we are going on vacation to California for a few days over our long weekend. I can see it being very helpful in the airport and busy places like the zoo.

What do you think? Abusive and controlling? Safe and smart? Leave me a comment below!

Monday, February 2, 2009

Xavier--sixteen months

At sixteen months, Xavier definitely seems like a little boy and not a baby anymore. Good thing we have another baby on the way so that doesn’t make me too sad. Here’s what he’s been up to:

Xavier loves to pray. He folds his hands multiple times per meal and at other random times during the day. We find ourselves praying in the parking lot before story time at the library fairly often. He also occasionally claps after prayers and I’m worried that “Yay, Jesus!” (ala Schmerber family) could become a regular occurrence at our house.
Xavier still plays with his various types of balls the majority of the day. There are at least 15 different balls in his bin and he likes them to all be in use at once. He also enjoys giving Mommy the little baseball bat and pitching at her (baseballs, footballs, basketballs all included). When Matt took him to an indoor playplace and spent $7 for him to have a whole playground to explore, what did Xavier do? He played basketball. He loves to go to the park and play at the basketball hoops there. He goes under the basket, pounds it on the ground 3 times, holds the ball above his head, and grunts to indicate that he is ready for Mommy or DA DEE to pick him up and let him monster jam.
Speaking of DA DEE, Xavier loves to hang out with his dad. All day long, he says, “DA DEE” (two words—DA pitch rising, pause, DEE pitch falling), wondering why he is stuck playing with just Mommy at home. He loves to cuddle on DA DEE’s lap and eat his breakfast (and Mommy makes him sit in his chair). When either of us leave the house, he waves and blows kisses and runs to the window to wave some more.
Xavier frequently brings us books off the shelf to read to him. Even though he has a whole bookshelf full of books, but he continues to love his Eric Carle books. The original Brown Bear, Brown Bear now contains approximately three yards of Scotch tape to hold it all together and we have wisely invested in the board book version. His other favorite is From Head to Toe. In this book, he is asked “Can you do it?” when the animals make various movements. Xavier has the movements memorized and demonstrated to us when we went to the zoo recently that he knows that elephants stomp their feet, penguins turn their heads, and giraffes bend their necks. It’s almost scary sometimes to realize how much is going on in that little head of his!

He knows that he is “X,” that the letter on the wall in his room is “X,” and that the boy in the pictures on the wall is “X.” We rarely call him “X,” but I think this is what they call him at his babysitter’s house. Speaking of his babysitter, he loves that whole family! Last week, he missed a couple of days due to sickness and when he went back without being there for a week, he giggled out loud when he realized where he was.

At this point, he still remembers who his grandparents are and especially who “Ca” (Aunt Erica) is when he looks at pictures. Hopefully, we will see them again soon enough that he won’t forget! He loves talking to his Grandma Mueller on the phone, but tends to spend more time pressing buttons than actually talking. He does smile or laugh every time he hears her voice though.

Our little boy had a bout with the flu last week and I think we both realized how blessed he has been to be healthy the majority of the time. This was the first time we had seen him with such a high fever, just lying there helplessly. We were so happy to see his energetic self return a few days later!
Xavier has been finicky with eating lately, probably partly due to being sick and teething. When he decides he doesn’t want something, he promptly throws it on the floor. My question is who thought it was a good idea to carpet dining room areas? I hope any future homes we have do not have that feature! When I take him out of his seat and make him help me pick up the food, he usually decided it is pretty tasty straight from the floor. He continues to want to eat whatever we eat, no matter how spicy.

Xavier loves to color and often produces multiple masterpieces a day. If I let him sit on a kitchen chair, he loves to test the boundaries and stand up. He usually warns me by saying, “Dit, dit.” I guess he is informing me that I should be telling him to “Dit”? How thoughtful of him.

We love our little boy more and more each day, even on those days when we have to read these lines out of another one of his favorite books How Do I Love You multiple times:

I love you on your very best and very worst of days. I’m happy when you’re happy. I’m sorry when you’re sad. And even though it may not show, I love you when you’re bad.