Stephens' Stories

Monday, October 26, 2015

Campbell at 18 months

Campbell turned 18 months on October 7th. We visited Dr. Pielop on the 14th and Campbell weighed in 21 lbs 9 oz, which is 15th percentile. He was 33 3/4 inches, which is 88th percentile. His head grew to 18 3/4 inches which is 86th percentile.

At 18 months, Campbell is running everywhere, climbing everything, and always on the lookout for mischief. It's like he walks into a room and looks for something to open, tear, climb, hide in, put in his mouth, etc, etc. He copy anything Austin does, which is not usually a good idea. At the same time, he gets very mad at Austin for constantly trying to tackle him and knock him down. I don't blame him at all. He has bitten and pinched Austin multiple times for continuing to do this after repetitive screaming bouts. He is learning to stand up for himself.

His favorite foods are waffles, sausage, pizza, hot dogs, turkey meatballs with pasta and red sauce, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, animal crackers, graham crackers, and of course, ice cream. He has learned to share Austin's unhealthy obsession with ice cream and anytime the word is said, Campbell immediately screams "I- SEEM". Other new words he says are uh-oh, apple, "oh-oh" for what a monkey says, "e-ouw" for what a cat says, "ouch", "wad-e" for water, "affel" for waffle, doggie, "bodin" for pumpkin, "seep seep", for sweep and when he sees a broom, and "Jees" for Jesus. He still doesn't say Yes or No, which is crazy. I thought toddlers usually say "NO" very early. Campbell nods his head for both yes and no. I am sure he will say them, especially No, soon. He is very good at expressing what he wants and insisting on things. When I tell him no, or not now, he will arch his back and throw his head back with a fake whine/yell. Sometimes it turns into a real tantrum and he lays on the floor screaming. Terrible 2's here we come....

He is wearing all size 18 month clothes. Some of the pants and shorts are still a little loose around the waist but he is tall so needs the length. He is still in size 3 diapers. He sleeps with his bunny and elephant lovies at night and I still put him in a sleep sack hoping that it may prevent him from trying to climb out of his crib. He still cries some when in our church nursery, at Mothers' Day Out, or when he stays in the babysitting room at Austin's school when I am volunteering. He just doesn't like to be away from me....how special! He loves singing - I can begin to make out "ABC's" and "Happy Birthday". He likes Itsy Bitsy Spider, 5 Little Monkeys, Wheels on the Bus, and Jesus Loves Me. He is growing up too fast - wanting to do all the preschool things already - color with crayons, lay on Austin's twin bed (yes, he can climb on it by himself), play the iPad, do puzzles, eat ice cream, brush his own teeth, and sit in Austin's car seat (he can climb in the car by himself and goes straight to Austin's seat). He had his first haircut on 10/5. He didn't cry and wasn't nervous at all. I think he has watched Austin get one so many times and was ready for his own!

Campbell - you are hilarious and always on the move. You keep us on our toes. Your smile lights up a room. We love you little guy!

Checking out the fire trick at BGP Fall Family night

Cutie

Enjoying a view of Austin's soccer game on Uncle Stephen's shoulders

Covered in blue soggy cupcake icing at Meredith's 5th birthday

Swinging smiles

Just before the haircut...I think he was ready!

The curls are gone now....tear

Feeding the Lakeside ducks some crackers. He is a little too fearless of them. ...

Quack Quack

First Haircut. driving the car

Chopping off the curls

So handsome

All grown up

looking good!

So serious

Riding a dog at a new indoor trampoline place....fun!

Ha! Batting helmet might be a little too big!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

First Days of School - 2015

As I mentioned before, Austin started Pre-K on September 8th at Christ Memorial Lutheran Early Childhood Learning Center. On the first day, he refused to take a picture before school and he went to school with red eyes from crying and throwing a tantrum. Oh Austin! After I picked him up, we went to Jason's Deli for lunch and free ice cream. Before I would let him go in the restaurant, I made him pose for a picture....so I did get one. He is in the Dalmatian class and his teachers are Mrs Karen, Ms Becky and Ms Mary Ann. There are about 13 kids in his class, which is great that it is so small. He goes M-F from 8:45-12. I have the option for him to stay until 2:30 but am not in a rush to do this since we plan to hold him back and have him do a "bridge" year before starting kindergarten. The bridge class is until 2:30 every day. He has been practicing writing his name every day and has improved greatly since the start of the year. His favorite part of each day is the playground, ha! His friends are Ben, Parks, Jay, and Price. We have played outside of school with all of them and they are crazy boys together. Teachers are amazing - they can get even those crazy boys to listen and obey. I am impressed! They are learning a letter and number each week- they practice tracing, recognizing and learning the sound of each. Ms. Ako, the science teacher, told me in carpool one day "Austin is so smart!" :)

Campbell started Mothers' Day Out at Tallowood Baptist on Monday September 14. He is in the Caterpillar class with Ms Marian and Ms Leticia. He goes Mondays 9:30-2:30. The first day he was so excited to go! He dragged his backpack and lunch box down the sidewalk. I think he was used to seeing Austin get out each day and wondered "what is so great about this school thing"? He was happy his first day but did not nap AT ALL. His teachers said he wasn't upset but just wanted to talk in his bed and was loud of the other toddlers. Ha, sounds just like Campbell. He is supposed to sleep on a nap mat on the floor but they bring in a crib on wheels for those that need it. He definitely needs it!! Haha. Silly guy would much rather socialize. After 4 times, he still cries when I drop him off and cries some throughout the day. Poor little guy! I keep telling myself it is good for him, and good for me. :)

First day pictures

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Lake Tahoe 2015

We spent August 29-September 5 at Lake Tahoe!! It was a wonderful trip and we are thankful that MiMi and Big Deal have a condo there for us to escape to. We flew on Southwest on Saturday and had to make a stop in Phoenix to change planes. Austin enjoyed being plugged into headphones and watching Monsters Inc or Planes on the Kindle the whole time, over and over. Talk about tunnel vision. He also enjoyed all of the snacks he wanted. Anything goes on an airplane with kids, right? Too bad Campbell is never that entertained or interested in snacks....but he sure loves to walk the airplane aisles! He is not much for sitting still AT ALL. Oh well, at least there wasn't any turbulence so the time that the seat belt sign was on was the minimal. Campbell did not nap on the plane even after much trying to get him to fall asleep.

MiMi picked us up at the Reno airport and Campbell finally napped for about 40 minutes on the way to Incline Village, Nevada. We unpacked and set up all 4 of us in the master room - Austin on a pallet on the floor and Campbell in a pac n play. It actually worked out well and much better than last year considering Campbell doesn't wake up at night anymore and wake us all up. The boys even napped in the same room at the same time. The weather was PERFECT the whole week, with a little wind added in. The temperatures were in the low 70's for highs and low 40's for lows. My morning runs with Campbell were so refreshing (opposite of the Houston summer mornings which feel like a rainforest). David and Austin walked around the Hyatt property and threw rocks in the creek each morning while I ran with Campbell.

We played mini golf three times during the week - twice in Kings Beach which is about 15 minutes from the condo and once in South Lake Tahoe which is about 30-40 minutes away. We also went to the Northstar ski resort where they had some summer activities - the bungee jumping and a thing called the spider web (see picture below). Austin did both of these and had a blast! David tried the bungee jumping and climbed the spider web once with Austin and did NOT have a blast. Let's just say both were uncomfortable. Guess that's why they are made for kids.... Another thing we did this year was try a family hike. Since we didn't have a hiking backpack with us and we also wanted Austin to try hiking the whole way, we chose a hike that was flat around Spooner Lake. It was a two mile loop around the lake that was compatible for the BOB stroller. It was fun to get out and try something different. Austin kept asking "where are we going?" as we tried to explain that we are out to hike and look at God's creation with no real destination but following the trail back to our car. He struggled with that one but did make it most of the way with only a short break to ride on daddy's shoulders. I had hoped to try a gentle white water rafting trip with Austin and leave Campbell in MiMi's care but the river was too dry! Apparently the rafting season was very short this year due to not enough snow melt. Bummer! Maybe next time...

David and MiMi fit in their gambling during nap time each day or after the kids were in bed. We swam most afternoons in the heated pool or hot tubs. Campbell was not such a fan of the pool and the hot tub was too hot so I mostly walked around with him looking for bunnies in the bushes near the pool or visited the playground. We also visited the Incline Village beach twice where the boys got wet in the cold water in their clothes and also played on the playground. We watched a kite sailor in the strong wind - pretty cool! One night David and I even went out to eat alone at the Big Water Grille. It was excellent and we will definitely go back in future visits - a great view and good food. The smores ice cream dessert was delicious as was the fish and steak! We ate lunches and dinners out and we also cooked at home some. We discovered that Campbell is not at a good age to eat out after his behavior at Mofo's pizza place. He was not in the mood to eat and the straps on their high chairs were broken so he wanted down and wanted to run around the restaurant. That was no fun.... We hadn't eaten out with him all summer basically because we would just go to Lakeside and eat by the pool instead.

We returned back to hot and humid Houston on Saturday 9/5. Campbell did not nap the whole day of travel (had to change plans in Vegas) and then immediately fell asleep before we got out of the parking garage at Hobby at 10:30 Houston time. He was one tired little guy after walking the airplane aisles and running around the airports. It was a super trip once again and we can't wait until next time!! Thanks MiMi and Big Deal for such fun time in a beautiful place!