This month Devin has had a lot of ups (getting closer to walking) and downs (eye surgery). He is still growing so fast, and he has started to say a lot more sounds, including "mama," "dada," "baba," "ssss," "gaga," and a word for Duncan that sounds like "shash." He still has his top two canine teeth coming in, but we have battled a lot of sickness too, including a terrible cold followed by a double ear infection and eye surgery. There have been some great snuggles and some very long days with very short naps. Hopefully we continue to have more healthy days and longer naps in our future.
I often find him standing up in his crib in the morning, smiling at me while bouncing up and down.
He often holds up his hands to be picked up.
He learned to drink from a sippy cup on his own.
At the ophthalmologist, he took a spill in the waiting room and hit his forehead on a piece of furniture. A bruise and goose egg formed almost immediately. We later went to the pediatrician to get it checked out, and she said that he just earned his #1 on his forehead. Pretty normal, kiddo.
He started to cough a lot and was up a lot at night, but during those long nights, I heard my first "mama."
Our furnace stopped working for a bit, and Devin still refused to keep his socks on. He loves to take his clothes off.
When anyone has the bathroom light on and the door shut, he reaches under the door with his little fingers.
He finally started to feel better, but when he went for his 15-month appointment, he had a double ear infection. He was also 31 3/4 inches tall (68%), weighed 24 lbs 3 oz (45%), and still has a large head at 19.5 inches (96%).
We went sledding in the backyard, and he loved to go down the hill as fast as possible.
During BSF, he is sometimes fussy, so he takes a "quiet time" in the pack and play with his bottle and then is happy as a clam.
He loves to eat his brother's fish sticks, and later Kyler helped feed him his bottle.
He does not like donuts, just like his brother at this age.
He hates elevators! He cries every time we are in them, even if I am holding him.
He has begun to play with doors and cabinets, often trying to get into so many new things.
He had eye surgery on the January 28 to clear out his tear duct. He handled everything really well, until he woke up from the anesthesia really angry. Daddy was finally able to get him to calm down and sleep.
When we got back from the surgery, he threw up all over me, and then napped on my chest just like when he was a baby.
Devin started to say "dada" when asked to do it.
We went to the pet store with Duncan, and Devin loved having the dog with him in the back seat. Of all that pets at the store, he seemed to love the birds the most.
Kyler is potty trained! I cannot believe how fast it went, but we got home from the holidays and literally within a few days, he peed in the tub and put it together that this is what he has to do in the potty. We went from pull-ups to underwear in a matter of a week without many accidents, and even learning to pee while standing up. I cannot believe how easy it was. Once Kyler was ready, he just got it, and there was not much we had to do. He even wakes up from his naps with dry pull-ups, so even then he has been wearing underwear. We had a lot of other big adventures this month, but saying goodbye to diapers was the big one!
He has been more adventurous about trying foods again, so he's had honey and avocado.
He came down with a really bad cough and had a super scratchy voice for a while
He is working on his "L" noises, slowly getting a bit better.
He loves to do yoga on the Wii.
All of us got sick, and when I was in bed trying to get some extra sleep, he came in to check on me. I asked him if he could be my doctor, and he said, "I no doctor, Mommy. I get you water though." He had a great bedside manner.
Ryan and I had an argument, so Kyler kept saying, "Apologize please."
He tried chipotle dip at store: "So spicy!"
He loves to play "volleyball" with a large orange ball in the living room. He likes to head it!
He has been having a lot of temper tantrums, and one day when I asked if he wanted to nap at 11:00am, he said that he did...and slept until almost 3:00pm!
He loves the taste of fondant.
He said, "Love you, Mommy," out of nowhere...makes my heart happy!
While watching a slideshow with family, he said, "Look at that!" for every picture.
He gave me a "spa day" by brushing my hair and wanting to use the entire contents of my bathroom drawer on my face.
He loves to give Devin a hug at night and gets great big smiles from his brother.
He has become obsessed with eating tortillas (plain) and nuts of any kind, but especially cashews.
When Ryan woke up from a long night with a migraine, Kyler said, "You should go back to bed, Daddy."
We went to Hudsonville Christian's early childhood open house and signed him up for 3-school!
He threw such a huge fit that I did not even get out of the parking lot at the grocery store (and he never throws a fit at the store).
When he pees standing up, he always says, "It's yellow every time."
He sang, "I am toot-toot-toot-tooting on an adventure," while watching the Cat in the Hat with Daddy.
He did very well getting his hair cut, but he always wants the "black one," not the fishy cape at the hairdresser's.
He had a great time at the pet store and really wants to get more pets.
The holidays are always so much fun, but children seem to make it all the more special. Although Devin is really too young to get what the holiday season means, it is still fun to take him places and expose him to all kinds of fun traditions. He continues to grow and change, but this month he has finally figured out crawling and now pulls up and cruises on the couch too! There is no place on the ground that is safe from this kid--great timing with the Christmas tree up! We had a lot of fun experiences, and this little boy brings so much to our lives.
Before this kid could crawl, he just wanted to stand up by the couch all the time. Now he is steady enough to be there without supervision all the time.
His "eye teeth" are coming in on the bottom (teeth #13 and 14 respectively).
Devin cannot get enough breakfast food. He loves scrambled eggs, grapefruit, and pineapple, as well as macaroni and cheese. But he is still not sure about blueberries and does not really enjoy beets.
His crawling speed has increased every day.
He continues to figure out how to pull up on his own, using the toy boxes and couch to help.
Most things are "emptied" as soon as Devin gets a hold of them.
Just like his brother, he loves to tear up pages, so magazines and books with paper pages are now hidden from his little hands.
He met Santa at Home and Company and did not seem to mind. He smiled a little bit, but showed no fear or crying.
Devin will go to most anyone, even reaching for them, but he will only stay a short time. Within seconds, he will turn around and want Mommy or Daddy.
We have fun playing "ball," rolling it back and forth to each other.
He tried a sippy cup, and after some help, he figured out how to tip it on his own. (When we would start to tip it, he would just let go, so we had to have him figure it out on his own.)
He continues to have a very healthy appetite and still surprises us with the volume he consumes on some days.
He loved to sit in "big church" at BSF and just smiled and looked around while singing.
We had a fun day outside in the Burley for a walk, and later I put a kiddie pool out to play in so his butt would not get wet. Kyler brought him all the balls he could find so we had a miniature ball pit in our front yard.
He likes to move around in the tub, even switching places with Kyler sometimes.
Duncan's water dish has become a favorite toy to empty, so we have to be quick to move it when Devin gets close!
He enjoyed going to the Frederik Meijer Gardens and looking at the all of the lights and plants.
He giggles and smiles when his brother gives him a kiss and an "ugga mugga"
While standing by the couch, he will "bounce" and shake his butt which we call "the butt dance."
He enjoyed Christmas, but he really was not interested in opening presents this year.
He likes to walk holding onto your fingertips.
He enjoyed the family visit in Illinois, but he cried and fussed the last 40 minutes on the drive home.
He giggled every time a puppet got near him in the car seat.
He learned to stand up in his crib, giving me such a great smile in the morning when I get him up.
The holidays are always fun, but kids just seem to make it even more memorable. Kyler is always so funny these days, and it is great to hear what his little mind comes up with when it comes to experiencing Christmas this year. We visited lots of family and friends, attended lots of parties, and made it out the Frederik Meijer Gardens again. With Kyler being older this year, he got to help with more decorating, baking, and other holiday activities. One of the best things has been going through the nativity story with him, talking about counting down to Jesus's birthday and seeing how thankful he is for everything he experiences. Oh, to be a child again at Christmas--it almost makes up for the lack of snow!
Kyler started out the month sick, saying, "Lovey sick too, Mommy. He has a bug."
He loves to help me "correct" behavior when Devin and the little girl I babysit throw things from their high chairs at lunch time. "No, that was a bad choice _____!" My little disciplinarian...
He started pooping in the potty! Once he figured it out, he never seemed to have an accident again.
I made a felt tree for him to decorate and redecorate until his heart was content. Each morning, he got a new decoration. He kept insisting he needed a star, but we saved that for Christmas Day!
We developed a new game called "ball shield," in which he deflects balls with a large lid (we got him a Captain American shield for Christmas because of this game).
He helped Daddy set up outdoor decorations and "swept" the driveway for us.
He had fun going to his first Calvin women's basketball game, even though he could barely sit still. He loved the popcorn (Daddy forgot his water, so he said it was too salty) and wanted to take his picture in the Cheese.
He loves watching Monsters, Inc. and started to assign us all names from the movie and remembers them all.
He had a great time having Uncle Darrel and Aunt Lynsey babysit, but he was a little OCD about where his books are placed after story time... Poor Uncle Darrel!
He had a tough time leaving both BSF and Coffee Break, crying and throwing meltdowns at both places. I guess the upside is that he likes learning about God, right?
He loved walking around the neighborhood with me to "deliver letters" to our neighbors.
After I ran, I gave him a big hug and told him that I probably stink. This made Kyler laugh, and he said, "Mommy, you smell like poopies." Thanks, kiddo. :-)
Kyler helped to make the dough, cut out shapes, and decorate cookies this year!
During church, there was a moment of silence. After a while, Kyler said, "What happened?"
He tried tacos and banket and seemed to like both--especially the banket.
He has started to spell words on his own without seeing them, such as "dog" and his name.
Has become OBSESSED with PAW Patrol on television and assigned us all new names to go with the characters.
We went to visit friends and meet their new baby. When their dog got a little excited and knocked Kyler over, he got put outside. So Kyler went up to the slider where the dog was waiting and told him, "You made a bad choice, so now you have to have a timeout."
We went to his first dentist visit, and he did SO WELL! The only thing that bothered him were the sunglasses for the bright light. The dentist could not believe it was his first time.
He had a great Daddy date to the mall for shopping and lunch with lots of mini corn dogs.
He had a great time visiting Meijer Gardens for the Christmas trees, trains, and the outdoor tree house. He even got to meet some reindeer!
After a bad choice, Kyler said, "Mommy, I make you happy. I give you a big hug."
"I pee in the tub!" He was really excited about this revelation.
He had a fun time visiting Santa and could not wait to meet him. As soon as we were inside, he ran straight over to him and said, "Hi, Santa!" He never wanted to leave, had no fear, and barely stopped talking to him. Poor Santa.
When asked what his favorite Christmas songs were, he would say, "'This Christmas,' 'Feliz Navidad,' and the 'Rum-pa-pum-pum song'."
He was very thankful for his gifts, but also very eager. He was soon distracted by loving to help clean up the used wrapping paper."
He had some great phrases for when he would open a gift, including, "That's perfect!" and "How neat!"
We enjoyed "tickle juice" (sparkling grape juice) for Christmas Day dinner.
We had so much fun visiting friends and playing with their daughters and dogs.
He loved seeing all the windmills in the Illinois countryside.
He enjoyed story time at the library with Grammy, made a craft, and enjoyed a Candy Land adventure.
We had "puppet shows" in the car, and he loved to have them dance to "Shake It Off"
When Devin was crying in the car and I kept telling him that there was nothing I could do, Kyler quipped, "Mommy, maybe a hug would make him feel better."
Hanging out with Daddy on a sleigh ride at the Gardens
