7 months

Drew is now 7 months old...I know I can't believe it too! He is a big bundle of giggles and is always happy and laid back. I think you would have to be living under the same roof as Matthew (with all the noise of a three year old) and two crazy dogs. He loves to be on his belly and will move as fast as he can to get to any toys he sees, especially if they are Matthew's. He loves to be tossed in the air and is very, very ticklish.

As you can see from this picture (one of his favorite things to do is fly through the air), Drew is not shy when it comes to eating and is now eating three meals a day plus his bottles. He had peas tonight for the first time and surprisingly liked them, unlike Matthew. I think his favorite so far is butternut squash, nectarines, pears, and sweet potato and his Yo Baby yogurt. Those are the foods that he will gobble up the quickest. Matthew has joined in the feeding routines and will hold Drew's bottle for him as he washes down his solids. That seems to be Matthew's favorite time of the day!


He has been teething a lot lately and cut his two top teeth about two weeks ago. Now he is starting to cut another tooth on the top, next to his top ones. We found this hat in his bedroom today and decided to see if it fit. It was a gift given to Matthew at Christmas from our Aunt Lyn, but was way too small for Matthew, so we saved it for Drew and it fits him already. So, thank you Aunt Lyn!


Bath time is fun now that the boys can take a bath together. Less water and more fun for Matthew. He was hanging up the foam letters for Drew today and learning to share by letting Drew chew on the letter 'D'. This was a major step for Matthew because he is very territorial over his toys at home and doesn't want Drew to break them...so he says.


Ryan and I booked a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge in late October to take Matthew as a special surprise. Heck, we are super stoked to go there too. I love water slides and the lazy river. Matthew will also get to go to his first MSU game in a few weeks. They are playing a game at Ford Field and we got him tickets for his birthday. As Drew gets bigger, Matthew likes him more and more. I look forward to the days where they are running around and playing together, though I don't want to wish away their childhood, because it has already gone by way too fast! Enjoy the newest pictures :)

Cousins, crawling, teeth and more

Sorry for the long delay in posts, turns out having two kids at home is much harder to keep up with this as I thought. Anyway, we first wanted to say a BIG congratulations to Uncle Brian, Aunt Cara and cousin Maia as they welcomed new baby Eli to our family last weekend (August 7th). He was a big boy (8 pounds, 6 ounces) with lots of that Genisio black hair. Big sister Maia is pretty proud. Matthew was pretty excited to have a new cousin in the family too. We took a short trip to Ann Arbor last weekend to meet him and let Matthew and Maia play together. It will be nice having the kids so close in age growing up together. Congratulations again!


The biggest news in our house now is that Drew is crawling (he started on August 1st). Granted it is an army crawl, but he is getting pretty darned fast and making Matthew a little territorial over his toys. More lessons on sharing are needed for the big brother I think. When Drew gets to one of Matthew's toys, he quickly runs over, says "No toys, Drew", rips it out of his hands (which usually turns into Drew crying), but then gives Drew one of his toys. Silly Matthew doesn't even realize that the baby toys were once his too :)


Drew is cutting his top two teeth now, making four total! Now he will have more tools for his new favorite thing, eating! He has done amazingly well in this adventure only having a few meals that he didn't care for. He isn't too fond of avocado or green beans (which both resulted in the 'gag' if any of you remember the pea video from Matthew's eating adventures). Drew really likes nectarines, peaches, sweet potatoes and apricots. I am making all of Drew's baby food, just as I did for Matthew, and it is so nice to take advantage of the farmer's market on the weekends for fresh fruits and veggies.


Matthew's potty training took a little relapse a few weeks ago when he decided he didn't want to poop on the potty anymore. This took us by surprise because he was using it great for a week, all on his own, then one day he just started screaming and would poop in his underwear...everyday! Luckily this only lasted about a week or so until we were able to catch him in the act and get him to the bathroom and have him do his business on the toilet. That is when it clicked with him again and he hasn't had an accident since. He is so comfortable with it now that he will go at friend's houses and even went at speech yesterday. Sorry for the in depth accounts of his poop, but it is a big milestone for us.


We have taken a few trips these past few weeks to some local zoos (John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids and Binder Park in Battle Creek). Highlights of the trips were the alligators, lions, bears and stingrays at John Ball and feeding the giraffes (both adult and baby) and seeing the snow leopard actually awake at Binder Park. I have uploaded lots of pictures on our photo site of our recent happenings.

The BIG boy and his 6 month brother

I will start with the Big boy in our house, Matthew. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments with potty training. We are successfully out of diapers!! I was pumping him full of fluids, setting a timer and then sitting on the toilet until "it" happened. That was not working and just causing more headache and tears. So I just gave up on that after a week and decided that he was going to go naked. I figured that we have a new carpet cleaner and it will get a lot of use. I started last Monday when he woke up and took off his diaper and showed him where his little potty was and the seat on the big toilet. To my amazement he just went on his own! He must have drank five bottles of water that day and only had one accident the whole day (after peeing about every fifteen minutes for the entire day). Since that day he has only had a couple of accidents. He is waking up from nap dry as well as his night sleep (he still wears a pull up as a precaution at night, but really doesn't need it) . Also as a precaution I still, sometimes, have him wear a pull-up to the grocery store or if we are out and about for a long time, but he won't go in them. The reason I do this is because he still won't tell us when he needs to go. He likes to sneak away and do his business and then come and tell us.

Speech is going good too and Matthew is now going back with Ken without Ryan and I. Matthew threw quite a fit about it last week and there were a lot of tears, but once he was back in his room he was fine. He is telling us longer sentences like "I want crackers, Mommy" or "I see the gross drain" (an all time favorite game for Matthew is to find every "gross" drain in the street) or "Look Daddy, a John Deere tractor" as he points at the tractor in the field. He always has to state the person's name after everything and if you don't respond right away he will talk a little louder until he is yelling and you finally answer him.

We just finished our first week of swimming lessons and will have the rest of the class next week. Since the class is the same three boys from last year we are able to do more things. Matthew LOVES kicking in the water and is starting to get the arm movements down and learned how to pull himself in the water (with me holding him of course). He loves going underwater and riding the water noodles like a horse. Ryan and I are going to take him ( and leave Andrew home) on a special trip next month of Great Wolf Lodge up in Traverse City to celebrate all of his accomplishments and have a special "Big brother" weekend.



Now our sweet, little Drew. He doesn't have a bad bone in his body and seriously is never mad or crabby. He is always smiling and laughing at things and just goes with the flow of things. He is sleeping for 13 hours at night and a few naps during the day. We are starting him on solid food tonight and weening him off breastmilk and onto formula. I have been nursing five times a day this whole summer and not producing anything close to what he needs. This is the same time that my body stopped with Matthew and I am more than fine with it. He has lost all interest in nursing and it is difficult for him to stay eating for more than one or two minutes. He just likes looking around at everything instead. I just took Drew to his 6 month checkup and he is much bigger than Matthew was. Here are his stats:

Weight: #16.15 (50th percentile)

Length: 27" (50th percentile)

He is shaping up the be the bigger, little brother. He got five immunizations at his last visit; one oral and two shots. Luckily the combine some of the vaccinations into single shots for less pokes to the chubby little legs. Remember that happy boy I was talking about...well he screamed when they poked him in each leg and then within ten seconds was laughing at himself in the mirror and back to being happy. He did get a little crabby that night when Norm stepped on his legs, but wouldn't you?!

He is sitting up amazing well and doesn't need supports of any kind. The part that we are going to have to get ready for is his crawling! He has mastered the belly spin to get to ab object, but now he is getting up on his knees and starting to push himself forward. He is all over this house and he is getting quick! Still only two teeth, but he has been gnawing on just about everything, so I think a few more will appear in no time. I think that is it for now, but will post some new pictures of Drew's eating adventures soon. In the meantime, enjoy the most recent albums on picasa.

Busy as a Bee

The past month has just flown by in our house! Ryan has been working a ton (about 70-80 hours a week!) so I have been getting some quality time with my boys. Originally we thought Ryan would have a four day weekend over the 4th of July holiday, but things changed with the current job they are working on. Instead he worked twelve hour days, with the exception of only eight hours on Sunday and had Monday off (Monday was his second day off of work since Memorial Day). Unfortunately that seems to be the trend lately with his type of work. Either they are laid off with no work for months or they are working twelve hour days, seven days a week. Because he only worked eight hours on the 4th of July, we were able to spend some time at the lake at our Aunt and Uncle's house, which was nice and relaxing. Matthew loves boats and was asking for a ride from the moment he woke up that day.

Speaking of Matthew, he is testing my every ounce of patience right now, especially when I am feeding or giving Andrew any kind of attention. He is going through some hard times right now and doesn't know how to express himself yet. In addition of being jealous of Andrew, he really misses Ryan while he is at work. The days get hard when Ryan is gone when Matthew wakes up for the day and Ryan is not home yet when Matthew goes to bed. We are planning on taking Matthew to Great Wolf Lodge in August, just the three of us, for some "Matthew time". Swimming lessons (same place and class as last year) also start in a few weeks, which he is very excited for! The weather has been great for us this summer (with the exception of this recent heat wave) and we have been spending a lot of time outside playing in the backyard. Matthew is fascinated with sports in general. He likes watching World Cup soccer, baseball, basketball and football on ESPN. He has quite the arm when throwing a ball, loves kicking the soccer ball in the net and shooting hoops on his basketball hoop. Soccer for his age is only indoors at this point, so he will start it in November.

Andrew is doing great and will start eating solid foods in a few weeks. It has FLOWN by! He goes to the pediatrician in two weeks for his 6 month check up and then we will start solids. I am eager to get to the farmers market to buy fresh fruits and veggies to make his homemade baby food (which is SUPER easy and much, much cheaper than buying it at the grocery store). When Matthew started eating solids it was winter so we missed out on the freshness at first with him. Andrew also continues to grow like a week and is much longer than Matthew was at this age (about 2 inches). His six month clothes have fit since he was four months old where Matthew didn't wear six months until he was about nine months old! He may have gotten the Chenery gene and be tall like the rest of the Chenery guys.

Teeth!

Andrew is shaping up to be a very active boy, just like his big brother. He is on the move, in some sort, all the time. If he is on his back or in his car seat then he is kicking his legs like he is swimming. He also loves to roll around the house and end up in odd places, like under the coffee table or piano bench. You just can't let him out of your sight or he will be gone. He is starting to get his butt up in the air and scoot forward, but not using his knees yet. He has mastered the straight arm push-up and seems to enjoy looking out at everyone. All this activity really wears him out and he sleeps for 13 hours a night now. I think he could have slept like that earlier, but I always had to wake him up for school. Now he has the freedom to sleep in!

In the past month or so we have noticed that Andrew was drooling a bit more and always had his hands in his mouth. We could see the start of teeth and the white buds under his gums. He wasn't fussy at all these past few days so it was a surprise to me when I felt his gums yesterday and discovered two bottom teeth had cut the surface. I just can't believe that my baby boy is growing up so fast. He is truly growing up faster than Matthew and I thought that was fast!

Matthew's speech continues to improve and he is putting more words together. At speech, we are working on simple sentences and more articulation of words. He is asking and answering more questions and able to identify more things. He loves to count (he can count to 20 by himself) and name off his letters and is starting to identify his colors correctly.

I started potty training the other day and I feel that he is just not ready for it, yet. He is the master of holding it. He will sit on the potty for hours at a time, if you let him, but he just won't relax and go. He held it for about six hours the other day until he finally had an accident, well three right after each other including a massive bout of diarrhea all over the family room floor. He is curious about the potty and will tell us when he went, but he is just not ready to "let go". I think his accident scared him enough so we will try again in a few more weeks. My goal is to have him trained by the time I go back to work in September!

I'm "free"

As Matthew would put it he is "free" today on his "dirthday". I still can't believe that my little boys is three years old. He has grown up way too fast before our eyes. We celebrated the day by trying the potty again, going out to eat, having ice cream and playing outside. He celebrated at daycare with his buddies too with chocolate cupcakes...yum! We are having his family party this weekend and we will post more pictures then.

As for potty training, we are going to hit it really hard starting Monday. Matthew has gotten up every morning completely dry so we have been sitting on the potty. I can tell he really needs to go, but he won't go in the potty (with the exception of one day). He will just sit there and when he really has to go he asks for a diaper. I won't give it to him and instead distract him with some books. Unfortunately we have been running out of time in the morning and need to get to Deah's house, so I eventually have to put one on him. I was done with kids today and my last day for packing and report cards is tomorrow. Our building will start the demo process on Saturday. So now that I am home it is perfect timing for training. We have vowed not to buy another pack of diapers for Matthew so we'll see how that goes. Wish us luck :)

It's been a while

Sorry it has been such a long time since our last post, we have been overly busy this past month. We took Andrew to his four month check-up yesterday and he is growing like a weed, like we thought! His stats are as follows:

Weight: 14 pounds, 2 ounces (50th percentile)
Height: 25.25 inches (50-75th percentile)
Head circumference: 16.5" (50-75th percentile)

Looking back at Matthew's stats for this age, they are about the same in weight, but Andrew has 1.25 inches on Matthew in the area of height. He is strong little guy too. He tries really hard to stand and enjoys pushing off with his legs. He has been rolling from his tummy to back for over a month now. He started rolling from his back to belly about three weeks ago. Since being able to flip that way and sleep on his tummy, he has become an even better sleeper. On the weekends he will go 11 or more hours. I still wake him up on work days to get an early morning feeding in before I go to work. I am still nursing and pumping three times a day at work. I'm surprised that my supply has stayed pretty constant and he is getting all he needs. In the area of teething, Andrew is just about ready to cut the two bottom teeth. You can see his swollen gums and little white bumps. I stuck my finger in there today and can feel a little sharp edge. This is quite a bit earlier than Matthew (he cut the first one at 6 months). We have decided to keep Andrew on milk for another two months and will start solids at 6 months. I plan on making our food again and stock freezing this summer.

Matthew is doing wonderful as well. He loves that Andrew is at daycare with him and really enjoys having him around now. His speech classes are going very good. He is talking more and more everyday and his attention span is getting longer with each session. This past week he was able to sit on the floor and interact with Ken for 45 minutes without getting anxious and off task. When we started therapy he couldn't sit for longer than 5 minutes. He has bonded well with Ken and will easily go with him when it is time for speech. Matthew is able to express himself more easily now and we have not seen any temper tantrums in a while. Both Matthew and Andrew participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. This was the third year Matthew and I have done it and Andrew's first (though I was pregnant with him last year at this time). We walked in memory of Nancy VanDam (Heidi's mother-in-law and my former co-worker), Judi Schutte (Ann's mom), and Rene Carson (my mom's friend). Not only were we walking in memory of them, but walking for the people I know that have beat this. This year was the largest turnout I have ever seen with over 10,000 people!

I am in the process of moving my classroom to the new school (after school of course) and it has been a very timely process. Tomorrow is our last day to get in before the end of the year and then we can't get in until August. Whatever I don't move tomorrow will get moved by the moving company on the last day of school. It's been a difficult process because we are still in session and I have to figure out what I may need before the last day of school (which is only in 8 days!). Ryan has been a huge help taking care of Andrew and Matthew while I stay at work until 8:00 or later most nights. I am really looking forward to spending my summer with Matthew and Andrew.

Ryan is getting eager to get the boat in the water and start tournaments. He had it out last week just to run the motor and get the kinks out. He leaves on Thursday for his annual trip up North with the guys. Check out the photo site to see more pictures of the boys.