And we have been busy! Hard to believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve already. We’re heading to my parent’s house in the morning, so we made special arrangements with the “man in red” to stop by our house tonight. Nolan has been trying very hard to be a good boy so he can get his blue present!
Last week we had both boys to the doctor. Nolan LOVES going to see Dr. Deb (our NP)! Kale’s 15 month check up went well – 24 lbs 15 oz. (56%), 32.75 inches long (90%), and a head circumference of 18.75 inches (27%). I did check the box next to hyperactive on the assessment form, because I feel like Kale does not stop moving, unless he’s sleeping. He is an extremely active child who shows his displeasure with being told no or not getting what he wants by throwing tantrums. Deb said it seems normal, given his busyness and age Deb noticed a slight drifting of his left eye, so we made an appointment with a specialist. We got in the next day, which was great, and found that other than a very slight droop in his left eyelid his eyes are great. We have a follow up with both he and Nolan in 6 months. The best part of the appointment was when the specialist introduced himself to us by shaking our hands. Kale watched us do it, then proceeded to walk up to him, extend his little hand to the dr. and shake it. He is an observant little bugger! Nolan was checked out for a few things with Deb, too, and is overall really healthy. He’s having a procedure done in mid January, so hopefully that will go well.
A few days after the appointments we heard a funny story from Jane. She was letting the kids dip bugles in chocolate, then place an M&M on them. Kale and another 1 year old were “helping”, when the helping went south and they both stuck their grubby little paws in the chocolate. Jane made them sit in the living room and play with other things while the older kids finished. Shortly after finishing she had to run upstairs to let a repair man in the house. Upon her return about 30 seconds later she found Kale had crawled up on the stool and was helping himself to the bugles. She said his name, he turned to look at her with a big grin, and sticking out of his mouth were 4 bugles! He is a sneaky one!
Last Saturday we were busy celebrating Christmas with the Bleck family. We had a lot of fun. Nolan’s favorite gift is the train table and train set from Grandma and Grandpa. He literally can play with it for hours! Kale likes his awesome little man hat, and pretty much anything Nolan is playing with. Up until recently they have played so well together, and for the most part they still do; however, Kale is starting to assert himself more and it’s causing toy sharing heartbreak for both of them. We try and redirect as much as possible, but it’s getting a lot more difficult.
On Sunday we started our day at Lord Fletcher’s for breakfast with Santa, with all of the families from daycare. The food was amazing, and overall the kids did well. Kale did not like being strapped in to the high chair for very long, so we spent a lot of time chasing him around. Nolan loved the buffet (especially the strawberries and marshmallows dipped in the chocolate fountain!), but his favorite parts were seeing his friends and getting to finally see Santa. Neither he nor Kale were scared – they walked right up to him and sat on his lap. Nolan asked for a blue present and answered all of Santa’s questions. Kale stared at Santa and cracked a few smiles. The each got a candy cane when they were done. Kale broke his right away and we had to take it away (which resulted in a minor melt down). Nolan saved his so he could eat it in the car on the way to Build a Bear. We met all the families and Jane again at noon at Build a Bear. Nolan walked right in and selected his bear – Adam was so proud, because he picked the camo bear. It’s certainly not the cutest bear, but Nolan was thrilled with his choice. He also picked out the outfit for his bear, a lovely Woody from Toy Story get up. He calls him Cowboy Woody, and he sleeps in bed with him every night.
Kale initially picked out this super cute puppy, but changed his mind and went with the monkey. Luckily we got to pick out the outfit, so he’s cute.
We were the first family to have to leave, because both kids were melting down – lots of tears and crying. They both fell asleep on the way home, so we made a pit stop at Adam’s parent’s house and let them sleep in the car. Two hours later when we were finally a few minutes from home they both woke up. Being out of routine is exhausting for them!
The weather has been amazing, which means no snow. We played outside with the kids last Sunday, and the pictures make it look like fall. We did get a slight dusting of snow today, but not enough to make it look like Christmas. I’m thankful for good driving conditions, as the last 2 years when we’ve gone up to my parent’s house the roads have been awful, and we’ve been snowed in for 4-5 days.
We received some sad news earlier this week. Adam’s aunt Audrey passed away, quite unexpectedly. Thankfully she was surrounded by her immediate family in her last days. We’ll be joining the family for the funeral next week. She lived a great life, but it’s always hard to say goodbye.
