Caiden's First Day of School

We've created a new motto, posted on our masthead here at the Batavia Duchette. It's your news, delivered better late than never. :) So then, on with last month's highlight. :)

Caiden started preschool on September 8th! He is in the 3 year old morning class at Batavia Nursery School at the Congregational Church. He goes each week on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-11am. We often walk to and from school on the nice days which I LOVE! He is in one of the smaller classes with 9 other kids. His teacher's name is Mrs. Stuttle. After the first week or so, he seemed to really settle in to the routine, and I think he likes going to school. They are learning about letters and numbers, learning how to recognize their first and last names, about the seasons, how to use scissors (which I think he learned how to use those at The Nest) and cut on lines, singing songs and rhymes. They have snacks each day, and I signed up to bring in Easter treats next year. (I was too late to sign up for Christmas or Halloween!)

Caiden talks most often about playing with the (construction) site trucks and snack time. Sometimes he tells me about playing with the other boys and/or girls. I don't think he's made a "best friend" yet, but there is still plenty of time for that. Our neighbor is also in his school, but enrolled in a different class. Maybe they'll be in the same class next year!

So far, I really like his teacher. I got to meet her during the orientation, and she seems great! Her classroom is decorated very cute, and I loved getting the chance to spend a little time in it during the orientation. I had a few emotional moments looking around his classroom and thinking back on the few memories I have of my own days in preschool. I wasn't at all sad, just amazed that now my own child is going to school.

Each morning I walk Caiden close to the front door and then turn him loose to head down the stairs and into the classroom on his own. After school the policy is for the teacher to release the child physically to whomever is picking him or her up. So the kids are all lined up behind the teacher, and they call out the child's name for pick up. It's such a wonderful feeling to see Caiden's eyes light up when he sees me and have him run up to me and give me a huge hug!! It's my favorite part of the day. :)

I look forward to seeing him continue to learn and enjoy school. So many families send their kids to this school, so we know it is a good one! :)

First Day of School on Our Front Steps

Mrs. Stuttle's Classroom

 

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Huge HUGE Milestone for Caiden

Today is a VERY exciting day in our household. Caiden has successfully started potty training! I will confess, I really wanted to give up on it this morning because it just didn't seem to be going well. But I'm glad we didn't quit, because Caiden wound up using the potty FOUR times today! I knew to expect accidents and that it's going to be a "process," but I'm not the most patient person, so it was a hard morning for me too. I'm just so done changing his dirty diapers, plus he starts preschool next week so both of those were excellent motivation to get moving.

We started the day with underwear and no pants. Caiden wasn't too thrilled with that idea at first, but he eventually got over it. We were asking him if he had to go potty every few minutes, but he still wound up running to the potty AFTER he already went in his underwear. This happened twice, and after the second time I told him no more underwear - he'd have to go naked from the waist down. He really didn't like that idea either, but he also got over it pretty quickly. He had two or three more small accidents, but then suddenly, he got the hang of it! No more accidents the rest of the day. He had a diaper on for his nap, but he woke up dry and used the potty pretty soon after. He got rewarded with a piece of candy each time, and we danced in celebration. :)

We'll do the same thing again tomorrow, and then try the underwear again on Saturday. Fingers crossed that he keeps up the good work!!!!!

My First Wordless Wednesday

Headbanger in Training

Ezra had me cracking up over this! So glad I could capture this on video! Now you can enjoy it too! :)

My Goodness - My Baby Ezra is 12 Months Old

Wow. Just wow. My baby is one year old already. It was nice in the middle there for awhile when it didn't seem like time was flying quite so fast. Then we moved to IL and suddenly time warped and here I am writing up Ezra's last monthly update. (Yes, this will be the last of the monthly updates. The next big update will be 18mos.) It hardly seems possible that he is already one. I want to share a comment one of my friends in Seattle made at her 2nd son's one year birthday party. She noticed that with child number two, you really see that they're still really babies at age one. At the time I was still pregnant with Ezra, so I didn't really understand. Now I totally get it. When your first child hits that milestone they seem like such a big kid. But really, you don't truly understand that isn't the case at all until you can see how young they really are at the tender age of one. It's kind of mind blowing and a little comforting all at the same time.

We had a little family celebration on Ezra's birthday. Ezra enjoyed his first cupcake. (Although he didn't eat nearly as much of it as I thought he would, and he really didn't seem to like the lemon butter cream frosting at first.) He didn't make a huge mess of himself, but he sure did like squeezing the cupcake in his hands! After that, we moved into the family room for presents. Big brother was a little overly helpful in the present opening, but Ezra kind of figured out how it all worked. Caiden "gave" Ezra some Matchbox cars (which C has since attempted several times to adopt as his own), and he got a water table (outdoor toy) and puzzle (which I was pleasantly surprised at how interested he was in it!) from Mom and Dad. He'll have a few more things to open from us at his party on Saturday. Grandma and Grandpa got him a cute outdoor water toy that attaches to the sprinkler. I can't wait for him to try both that toy and the water table this week!

We are looking forward to the big birthday party with family this weekend. We are especially excited that Ezra gets to meet his great-grandparents for the first time! It was a little strange celebrating his birthday with just us first and then having to wait for the party. With Caiden, we were able to celebrate with the big family party on his actual birthday and then we did our own little family thing a few days later. I hope he has fun on his big party day!

Unfortunately, Ezra's birthday also falls right around the start of school So that means getting him a doctor appointment for his one year checkup had to be delayed. So I don't have any official stats to post yet. I can tell you he is bigger and taller tho! LOL! He has been wearing 12 month clothes for awhile now and he is growing out of the shoes I bought him earlier this summer. (Why I bought him 3 pair of shoes all in the same size at this big sale is beyond me.)

ETA: As of 8.31.11
Weight: 23lbs, 2 oz (50-75%)
Height: 31.75in (95%)
Head: 18.75in (75-90%)

And now, let's get on with what Ezra's been up to this month!

• He'll routinely turn himself around in a full circle spinning on his bottom using his heels to propel himself. Makes me laugh every time!
• He loves to give kisses! Granted, they're presently open mouthed slobbery licks for the most part, but I still love that he will give kisses when asked. In fact, on his birthday I was playing with him on the floor, and he just kept on leaning over, taking out his paci and giving me kiss after kiss after kiss! Without my even asking for them! Melted my heart, it did.
• He suddenly adores books (YAY!). I've been concerned that I haven't been reading to him enough, and when I did, he wouldn't sit for long. Up to this point he'd be content looking thru some books and did generally like to be read to, but he didn't seem overly interested. But now that has all changed! His current favorites are Gossie & Gertie, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See, You & Me, Baby and pretty much anything with pictures of babies in it. He will find his favorites, bring them over to you, and sign for "more" after handing you the book. After you finish a book, he will request that you read these over and over and over. I love it!
  
  

  

  I love my  book!

  
  

  

  Will you read to me?

  
  

  

  More Gossie & Gertie please!

  
  

  

  I'm hungry for books!

  
  

  

  I am concentrating very hard

• Speaking of signing, He pretty much signs "more" for just about everything. I've been working on teaching him other signs, so we'll see how that goes.
  
  
  
• Ah sleep. My ever obsessive topic of discussion. His overnight sleep is great; he generally sleeps from 6pm to about 7am. His morning nap has been mostly good, but the afternoon nap has been a fight for the last 3-4 weeks. He'll take the afternoon nap about once a week, but otherwise he just skips it. He is pretty happy up in his crib while he is fighting his nap, but as a result of skipping it, he is exhausted by bedtime. We already had to move his bedtime up by 60-90 min to accommodate his lack of nap, but some days that gap is very long. He makes a game out of chucking his turtle, blanket and pacifier out of the crib and then complaining for them. No matter what we've tried, we can't seem to recover this nap. I am preparing to move him to one nap a day in the afternoons. It has quite honestly been driving me crazy, and I wind up feeling very defeated day after day of losing the nap battle. (I also don't get a break from the kids during the day as a result of him skipping that 2nd nap.)
• He still eats like a horse. I can hardly believe the amount of food he puts away. I think he eats about 2x as much as Caiden. He almost always cleans his plate, but he can be particular about eating food in a certain order if he sees something on the plate that he really likes. If you aren't fast enough with adding food to his tray after he signs for more, he lets you know just how impatient he feels about waiting with a loud shriek. Over the last couple of weeks, we've been feeding him the same dinner we're having. Up to this point, we'd occasionally share with him, but often we'd have to make something separate because of all the frustrating dietary restrictions that lift at the one year mark (e.g. tomatoes, and we have A LOT of tomato based dishes). So far of all the meals he's shared with us, he hasn't rejected much of anything! Some newer items he's enjoyed are: spaghetti and tomato sauce, taco casserole, salsa chicken, and some of our beef crock pot meals. It's been so nice not having to worry about preparing separate items for him! One thing I haven't been talking about for some reason is nursing. I am still breastfeeding him, tho his feedings are down to 2x a day. Once in the morning and again right before bedtime. He was nursing 3x a day up until about a week ago when we dropped the mid-day session. We'll be starting him on whole milk this week, but I'll keep nursing him as long as he wants to continue.
• He seems to have figured out the grass outside isn't so weird after all. Maybe it feels nice after crawling around on all the hardwood floors here. :P
• He has made quite a few strides (heh) in the walking dept. No independent steps yet, but he is much more confident in walking while holding on to the furniture or someone's hands. It's been fun walking him around the room or down the hall.
• He has become positively attached to his paci. It strikes me as so odd since he wanted nothing to do with one the first several months! It really has been a lifesaver at bed/nap time tho! I also made a very wise investment in a mesh bumper for his crib. He would often knock the paci out of his crib by accident and then wake up and cry when he couldn't find it. The bumper has totally solved that issue and has made for more restful night's sleep for baby and mom & dad!!

I think that covers most of the major highlights from the month. In case you were wondering, the first tooth remains elusive. I swear, at this rate we're going to wake up one morning and he'll have sprouted a full set of teeth!

I still can't believe I'm writing his 12 month entry. It hardly seems like that much time has already passed. I do look forward to seeing what kind of person he is going to be, I just don't want it to happen too quickly. :) So far he has such a lovable and cuddly personality. He's pretty laid back and often content to play on his own. He loves to be carried around and gives great snuggles. I love the huge grin he gives me whenever he sees me walk into his room. He is such a sweet little boy and I love him to pieces! :)

Here are the links to the latest photos for both Caiden & Ezra. (Sorry for so many blurry pictures. I'm learning how to use a new lens and it's been a little challenging.) And here are a few favorite shots. :)

SIP

Ahhhh....refreshing!

Happy 1st Birthday Ezra!!!!!

Happy Birthday to our sweet sweet little boy! It's been such a fun first year with you!! We love you very much!

Ezra at 11 Months

I can't believe my baby is 11 months old already. I felt like time was slowing down for a wee little bit awhile back, and then suddenly it just up and went warp speed on me! *sigh*

He's been a real trooper with the move back to IL. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well he adjusted to the new time zone. There were a few hiccups in the first week, but he transitioned very well. He had plenty of fun finding his way around Grandma & Grandpa Duchek's house, and of course what kid wouldn't love all the extra attention?! :) There has been no shortage of hugs and smooches for our little mister from all his adoring grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

One more month until I have updated stats on his height and weight, but suffice to say he is quite comfortable in 12 month clothes.

And no big surprise that I didn't keep much of a running log this month of his changes what with the move and all. So I'll have to wing it again to try and remember all the things he's up to these days!

• I'd say his biggest accomplishment this month has been pulling up and standing while holding on to something or someone. He is getting more and more confident in these skills, and I can hardly believe he is already at this stage!
  
  
  
• He is starting to do just a little bit of furniture walking or "cruising." He is still pretty hesitant here, but he has done a few steps here and there.
• He is positively zipping along on all fours! It's funny to see him kick it into high gear when he sees something (or someone) he wants!
• He knows how to wave bye bye or night night.
• He finally figured out how to sign for "more" and "all done," although his "more" sign is basically clapping.
• Ezra has started sharing his baths with Caiden. Some nights this goes better than others, but overall, they seem to enjoy each other's company.
  
  
  
• Ezra is definitely playing and interacting more with Caiden. Often times, Caiden is taking toys away from him, or somehow whacking him, but Ezra is very interested in what his big brother is up to. Some days Caiden seems to rather enjoy playing with him. One game he likes is to crawl around the house with Ezra.
  
  
  
  
  
• One of my favorite things is listening to Ezra and Caiden blow raspberries at each other in the car. What I like most about it is seeing (or hearing) Ezra respond to Caiden initiate this game.
• He has adjusted real well sleep-wise to the new house. He didn't sleep so well when he was away from Daddy tho! Most days he naps well, and bedtime has been real smooth. The only issue has been trying to deal with Caiden inadvertently waking him up in the morning.
• Ezra loves playing with Caiden's matchbox cars. I think he is so cute clutching a car in each hand. He also still likes emptying boxes and bins of their contents one by one.
  
  
  
• He likes to "share" his pacifier by trying to stuff it in your mouth. And he loves the game where you pretend to stick his pacifier in the wrong spot - on his cheeks, his nose, in his ear, etc.
• One thing he has discovered is trying to explore your teeth and mouth with his hands. When his nails are too long it hurts!!
• He really loves being outside and going for walks. He has been positively lighting up when we get outside. However, this nasty heat wave we've been stuck in has made this quite a challenge, so the poor kid has been stuck in doors most days.
• Often time, Ezra really wants to be held and see what's going on from the "big person's" perspective. I enjoy holding him and carrying him around, but sometimes it proves to be quite the challenge when I'm trying to do something like cook dinner!
  
  
  
• Ezra continues to be the black hole at mealtime. Such a voracious appetite! He devours his sweet potato along with just about anything else you put down in front of him. Things he doesn't like so much wind up tossed on the floor.
  
  
  
• He totally cracks us up when he's working on a poop. He makes the funniest expressions and sounds ever!
• There are times where he can be super squirmy. He just tries to crawl and flip all over you while being held and then complains when set on the ground. I'm not sure what he wants during those times, and it can be excessively frustrating if you are the one he is making into a jungle gym.
• Like his brother at the same age, he is not thrilled with being set on the grass, but has learned to occupy himself with pulling up clumps.
• Also like his brother, he absolutely loves to swing at the playground. I swear he could spend hours in the swing!

I wish this could have been a more thorough and thoughtful entry, but it is already 13 days past due and I'm afraid if I put it off any longer, it would wind up being even more terse! I also can't believe that the next update will be marking his 1st birthday! Yikes!!!! My baby is growing up too fast already!!!

And here are the links to the rest of the photos for Caiden & Ezra. (Make sure you are looking at the prior month's photos too, since those get updated thru the 22nd of each month. For example, June has more photos added of both boys.)

Welcome to The Batavia Duchette!

Welcome to The Batavia Duchette! At long last we've made the move back home to IL. :) We landed in Batavia, so naturally we needed to launch a new publication! Please be sure to update your bookmarks, readers/feeds, and email filters accordingly! :)