Lots of Steps!

Kyle is definitely starting to catch on to this whole walking thing! He provided our entertainment last night, walking back and forth between his toy box and the ottoman, over and over again (while playing "fetch" with a coaster). Such a cute and exciting milestone, and he seems so proud of himself! And this morning, he's been doing some unprovoked walking, without us encouraging him...fun!!

A Few Steps!

Kyle was taking a bunch of steps by himself tonight, as you'll see in the video!

Getting Close!

As you can see in the video, Kyle is (finally!) close to walking! He will now walk around the house with us holding just our finger. And he seems to like it! And for the last few weeks, he'll take a step or two when cruising from one piece of furniture to another. But I couldn't really say when he took his milestone "first step"...it just blended in with his cruising. The big "first step" milestone in my mind will be when he takes a step or two out into the open, with no foreseeable "landing zone". My thought all along has been that he'll be walking by Valentines Day, and it now looks like that's a pretty safe bet.

And yes, he is wearing a sweater vest in the video! There were a couple random days where he took VERY long naps while wearing that sweater vest. While I'm sure this was just coincidence, I will periodically put him in it when I'm hoping for a good nap. My wishful thinking failed me today...he just took his usual 2 one hour naps.

And I'm sure that you're all on the edge of your seats waiting for a diaper update! Well, Pampers Overnights were the answer...he hasn't woken up wet since we switched! And I've discovered that pulling up a Baby Einstein video on YouTube is a GREAT distraction for him when changing his diaper...he's MUCH happier which makes it MUCH easier!

And today was a big day (I'm being sarcastic)...Kyle actually drank a whopping 6oz of milk from his sippy cup over the course of his 12 waking hours (with me shoving the cup in his face at every opportunity). I literally think this is the most he's ever drank in a day (he does take 8 oz of milk at night mixed with his cereal). He clearly likes milk but must be part cactus because he is just NEVER thirsty!

Diaper Update

As you know, I was looking forward to my break from diaper duty today. But of course Kyle woke up dry and without a poop this morning for Jared. Of course!! The dry may (hopefully) have been because of the overnight diapers that we bought. But no poop? I'm not exaggerating that he has literally woken up EVERY single weekday morning for the last couple weeks wet and with a poop. And Jared's luck continued through the day...no poops, which is just soooo rare! He typically has one each time he wakes up, meaning I do 3 nightmarish poopy diapers before Jared gets home from work (morning wake-up and two naps). Anyway, enough about poop. But it just supports my favorite expression..."it must be fun to be Jared" :)

And I forgot to report that Kyle had a great 15 month check-up last Monday. He weighs 26 lbs 8 oz (75th percentile) and was 90 something percentile for height (I don't remember the actual measurement). So he's doing great, although he has a slight runny nose (might be from his shots). Hopefully it doesn't turn into a full-fledged cold!

Down in the Diaper Dumps

Over the last couple weeks, I have come to dread the first 30 minutes of the day. Despite the fact that Kyle barely drinks anything, he produces an INSANE amount of pee at night. So every morning, he wakes up SOAKING wet. I'm not talking the diaper leaked a little. I'm talking the diaper is COMPLETELY saturated with visible droplets of pee on the outside. I could literally wring out his onesie, that's how wet it is. And of course he wakes up with a poop every morning too.

Now pair all of this with the fact that changing his diaper has become a near impossible task over the last month, with him using all his strength to fight it (rolling, kicking, screaming hysterically). In addition, he has an itchy rash on his bum, so while I'm wrestling with him trying to change the diaper, he is clawing ferociously at his butt, and REALLY digging his fingernails in so that the rash can't heal. So that first diaper/change of clothes in the morning is just an absolute nightmare. The diapers the rest of the day are no picnic either, but at least they don't also involve a change of clothes. Hopefully this will be a short-lived phase. In the meantime, I am thrilled that it's Friday, so that I can get a break from diapers for a couple days!

Happy 2010!!

We've had a fun, busy week celebrating Christmas with family and friends! We wrapped up the celebrations yesterday with a trip up to Maine to see Nonnie (after visiting Kyle's great grandparents in Tewksbury). We had a great visit and Kyle did really well considering he hadn't napped. Unfortunately, Kyle's new car DVD player didn't prove to be the miracle that we had hoped. But I don't think that we should draw any conclusions yet, because it was his first time watching the Baby Einstein videos and he was soooo overtired that I don't think anything would have made him happy (except for sleep, which for some reason he refuses to do in the car!). We'll try again, on a shorter trip when he's not overtired. Like everything else, I think he'll like it once he gets used to it. Or maybe he took my advice (which I whispered in his ear before bed last night) and made a new year's resolution to nap in the car, or at least be reasonably content!

Feeding Frustrations

Boy do I miss the easy days of feeding Kyle jarred food...he would eat any and every flavor that we gave him and was very quick and tidy about it. Feeding him now is one big frustrating, long and drawn out challenge/game! If I don't sit right there with him, everything on his tray ends up on the floor (even if I just turn my back for a minute to wash my hands), and when I do sit there with him, he "threatens" me with every bite, as you'll see in the video...

Fun, Busy Weekend!

Saturday night, we had a great visit with the Stango family. We finally got to meet adorable little Andrew and see their GORGEOUS house! As you'll see from the following sequence of photos, Andrew gave Kyle one of his goldfish. Kyle had never had goldfish before but apparently really liked it because he snuck another when Andrew wasn't looking! Then they just hung out, snacking on goldfish and drinking some beers :) Andrew was so good at sharing (and he's only 19 months!). In addition to the goldfish, he also shared all his toys and kept bringing Kyle cars to play with, even "flower power"! Very cute and sweet little fellow, that Andrew.


Then Sunday, after spending most of the day finishing my various Shutterfly projects, we got our Christmas tree. We went to the same farm as last year and continue to be very impressed with their operation, as well as their tree selection. We took a tractor ride up to the highest field (gorgeous view of the sunset up there!) and had lots of great trees to choose from. And it was perfect timing..right after we (Jared) cut the tree down, the tractor circled back and brought us and our tree down the "mountain", where they put the tree on a mechanical "shaker" to get rid of any dead needles/leaves and then put it in netting. Kyle seemed to enjoy the whole experience, especially the tractor ride!

But then it was a very tense 20 minute ride home. I drove while Jared nervously watched our tree through the moonroof the entire time, afraid that he hadn't tied it well and worried it would blow off (like it did on the I-84 overpass a few years ago!). But his knots held and we put it up after Kyle went to bed, and decorated it when Jared got home from work today. Kyle likes looking at it but so far hasn't tried to grab the branches/ornaments...hopefully that continues (for both Kyle and Benson)!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! Grammy put on a wonderful spread for us and Nonnie, complete with a delicious turkey from the Jordan Farm! Kyle enjoyed visiting with his grandmothers but wasn't overly interested in the turkey dinner (kind of like his mommy!). He was a very good little boy as usual though, and even took a nap during the meal so we were able to eat (and check out the progress on our new house) uninterrupted.

Then before heading home, we stopped at Jared's cousin's house in Sudbury, so that Kyle could meet some of the extended Berube family. Despite the crowd of new faces, Kyle just happily went about his business, with no signs of "stranger anxiety" (although he did crawl over to Mommy for frequent, but very brief, reassuring hugs).

As usual, Kyle fussed/cried/whined for most of the car rides, although we discovered that if Jared says "Woof Woof" in a loud, deep voice, Kyle totally snaps out of his funk and thinks it's absolutely hysterical! But that only buys us a few seconds of peace, and listening to Jared's "woof woof" isn't much better than listening to Kyle's fussing!

Being parents just gives a whole new meaning to Thanksgiving...we are just so incredibly thankful for our happy, healthy little boy, as well as our wonderful family, friends and life in general. We are truly blessed and are reminded of that every day (not just on Thanksgiving!).

14 Months!

Okay, I've been staring at the screen for a few minutes now and don't have anything exciting to report on the Kyle front, other than that he's the easiest, happiest, BEST little guy in the world and we love him so incredibly much. I think I'll leave it at that and get back to watching the Pats game...