15 months...Exhausted!!

   My little walker is now a little runner and I am one tired mommy. Do not mistake this for complaining because I get a much needed workout out of this. This time of year is normally when I start packing on my "winter coat". That is what I refer to the ten pounds I tend to gain EVERY winter. This year, so far, I have not gained a single one and I owe it all to my wild child. We have also been extremely busy this fall and we are just now getting to slow down a bit. I normally hate the winter time but this year I am welcoming it with open arms. With the Holidays, football games, birthday parties, and etc. there is not a lot of down time. Again,I am not complaining. I enjoy getting out and doing things I am just very excited for a little R&R. One more month of craziness and then the Faile family will go into hibernation.
  
  What's Easton been up to this month? Well I am glad you asked. He is growing and learning and making messes faster than I can blink. I am so surprised at the rate in which he is learning. I went back and read my previous blogs before I wrote this one and it was just two months ago that I said he could identify around twenty words. There is no telling how many he can identify now, it seems that he understands just about everything we are saying. I also posted that he had taken an interest in books. Before he would sit, look, and flip through them but now he is starting to let me read them to him. He is not much for sitting still but we can make it about halfway through a book before he is bored. Also, he went from climbing into things to climbing on top of them. I am really praying that he at least has some walking around sense after all the blows he has taken to the head lately. He is not the most graceful child, half of the time he walks around like a drunk man.

  OK I know I have told most of my friends this but I am certain that my child is addicted to soap, shampoo, and lotion. He will get the bottles and bar of soap and suck on them without even making a face. I joke and say that we will see him on that show My Strange Addiction. You know the one where the people eat chalk and corn starch. I am really worried about this. Someone please tell me this is normal and that your child is as weird as mine :)

Milestones:

• Pointing- I have to say I was worried about this one,He was late reaching this milestone.
• Can identify feet and belly.
• Can point out certain things/objects in a book. For ex: where is the dog?
• Gives Eskimo kisses-my new favorite
• Uses bye-bye regularly. 
• New words: down, Nonna(Granna), paw paw, tractor, sh(fish) does that count? bite bite (also signs this regularly), hat, and ball.
• blows kisses
• He is starting to put things back and clean up after himself.
• Let's me know what he wants. When he wants a drink he will go to the refridgerator or when he is hungry he will get his snack bag.

  He starting to cut his fourth tooth. Luckily this one hasn't been as bad. I also forgot to mention that he had croup and an ear infection this month. I hate when he is sick it breaks my heart. Luckily we are all better now and hopefully we can make it through the winter without getting sick again.

1st Corinthians 13 for Moms

***I borrowed this from another blog. I needed to hear this so I thought it would be an injustice not to share with other mommies!! God is good all the time,all the time God is good.


1st Corinthians 13 for Moms

If my child speaks in the tongues of men or of angels, masters sign language at six months and Spanish and Mandrin Chinese by six years, but does not learn to love, she is only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If he has the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge-ABCs at a year, reading by two, writing chapter books in Kindergarten-but does not have love, he is nothing. If I volunteer for every mommy ministry-MOPS, AWANA, Sunday School, and if I give all I possess to the poor (or at least bring loads of groceries to the foodbank), but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy other mother's lifestyle choices or possessions, it does not boast in the areas of my children’s natural strengths (while covering for their faults), it is not proud of the way my child potty trained before your child. It does not dishonor others by insisting that my method of parenting is the best, it is not self-seeking-hoping that you’ll notice how smart, talented or well rounded I am raising my child to be. It is not easily angered by perceived slights or misjudgments, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth that all of parenting is fueled and driven by God’s grace. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails-even where I have fallen painfully short of God’s best for my children. But where there are competitions to see whose body bounces back best after childbirth, they will cease; where there are verbal fights over the correct methods of discipline, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge about the best way to feed and clothe and nurture a child, it will pass away. For we know in part and we parent incompletely, but when they are fully grown, what we thought we knew about raising our children will disappear. When I was a new parent, I thought, spoke and reasoned with immaturity and without grace. As my children grew, I asked God to give me the wisdom to put these childish ways behind me. For now we see our children’s future as only a reflection as in a mirror; one day we will behold their adults selves face to face. Now I know in part; then we shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

14 months....Word Explosion

Wow this month my little babbler has had a word explosion. Easton has learned a plethora of new words. Some of these words he uses on a regular basis, others he will throw out there only every once and a while. Here is what the little man has been saying:

dg (Dog)- he will only say this when he sees a dog. There is no getting him to say it on command.
Bye bye- only says occasionally
dat (that)
nanna (Banana)- one of his new favorite words.
Maw maw- for his great grandmother which he just adores
Mae Mae- his cousin
Grandad
And of course his old favorites: Hi, Momma, da da, mine.

Now there are a million other words he says that sound like something but of course it is probably just baby talk, so I will not get ahead of myself and start making up words ;)


Other Milestones:

• Can give five
• Shakes his head yes and no
• Waves
• Grabs his feet when I ask him where they are.

His new favorite game is "this little piggy". He is so funny. He will take my hand and put it on his foot so I will do this with him. Easton also does this new thing where if he is playing with something he is not supposed to i.e. the remote, he will act like he is bringing it to me so that he won't get it in trouble.

He is also working on cutting his third tooth. Now he will have both top fangs and one bottom tooth. We will have a little vampire on our hands just in time for Halloween :) I think I might have been crazy to think I wanted him to go ahead and get them all in at once. This will be his third tooth in six weeks and it has been a little rough. He is whiny, runs a fever, and we can not get rid of his runny nose.

We also went to the pumpkin patch this month and the entire time we were there he could not take his eyes off the tractor. While he was riding the horse and in the petting zoo he stared at the tractors the entire time and said mmmm(that's his tractor/lawn mower/gator noise). Typically his favorite was the wagon ride, although he did have fun picking pumpkins. Josh and I really enjoyed this too. This is our first family outing that we feel like Easton was old enough to really enjoy. Minus the teething, I am really enjoying this age.

He is happy daddy is home!

The only picture I could get of his tooth.

Oh Noooo!!!

   Uh oh I have started catching myself looking at babies and thinking "oh, I might could do that again". Don't get me wrong, I do not have baby fever. I repeat I DO NOT have baby fever. It's just this past year I almost had myself convinced that I did not want another child. All of my friends were starting to get baby fever and I thought they were just downright crazy. There is something about your child turning one and becoming a little man(or woman) that makes you miss those days when they just laid there and cuddled. I mean they had that new car baby smell and everything!!
    I am an only child and I hated it. Still to this day, I hate it. I would loved to had a sibling and I swore that I would not make my child an only child. Don't get me wrong, if you only want one kid or no kids,to each his own or in this case to each her own. Some kids that are only children love it, that was just not the case with me. After having Easton it has been very hard imagining how it is possible to take care of more than one child. Even though Easton was a very good baby, parenting is the hardest job in the world. Not to mention I did not want to get fat again :) So I guess what I'm saying is I can see it now. I can actually imagine having more than one child. It will be several years until we are even in a place to try again but it is foreseeable
     Now that I have said all of that my husband is likely to have a heart attack when he reads this. He says he is never having another one but I know that he secretly wants a little girl. He gets shafted when it comes to all the hugs and kisses. It seems Easton has reserved those for just his momma.

P.S This post is thanks to all the cute maternity and baby stuff on pinterest. So thanks pinterest for my excessive eating, blowing the budget with new crafts, and wanting to have another child. Come to think of it pinterest almost makes me want to get married again ;)

Do As I Do

This month Easton has started talking alot. The other day he was climbing up the stairs and he turned around and looked at me and said c'mon momma.  I laughed and thought where did he hear that. Everyday I talk to him and isolate words to try to teach him but as it turns out he picks up on alot more than just the words I try to drill in his head. Of course, since that day I have noticed that I say c'mon Easton quite often. Forgive me for bouncing around but I will get to my point soon. This morning I was watching a video someone had shared on facebook.  Long story short;  A news reporter had received a letter from a viewer saying that she was overweight and shouldn't be on tv setting such an example. In her segment she addressed the guy who wrote the letter and all of us watching. She spoke about bullying among other things. This really touched me and made me think. Since Easton has been born I have really tried to be the best role model I can be. We go to church every week, we don't say ugly words, we try not to argue in front of him, and etc. Those are things I believe every parent should do for their child, but until I watched that video it never occurred to me that the simplest act I should show my child is how to be kind. Kind to your family, friends, and strangers. I know there has been times that I have said something not so nice about someone. Whether it is someone on the tv, in a magazine, or even someone we know. As a person and a Christian I try to resist the urge to say negative things but too often I lose that battle. I know that this is wrong and a sin, but for the life of me I can't imagine why I have never thought about the example this is setting for my child. He is just as easily mimicking our actions as he is our words and we often wonder why our children do and act the way they do. I hate to break it to you(and me) but everything they are learning comes from the example we are setting. I mean really, I am so sad that this epiphany has just occurred. So I guess what I am saying is that everyone should be thoughtful with their words. The next time you get in your car and another driver is doing something you think is wrong, think about what you say and the example you are setting, lord knows we have all said some mean things behind the wheel. So with the post I pledge that I will set the example of kindness for myself, others, and my child. I will be a "do as I do" mom, not a "do as I say" mom. As Ellen DeGeneres ends every one of her shows I will leave you with,

BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER!!!!

13 Months..... I Have a Toddler!!!

I am not sure I will keep up with the monthly updates from now on. In my head, I have thought that I would  start blogging more often(as things happen) and about other things. Wait... who am I kidding I barely get the monthly blog finished and my world revolves around Easton ; it's the thought that counts. Moving on to that baby who occupies my whole life, in a good way of course!

Easton's 12 month checkup was several weeks after his birthday but here are his stats:

Weight-22lbs 11oz- 50th percentile

Heightt- 31 and 1/2 inches- 90th percentile

The doctor said he is a very happy, healthy, spoiled baby boy (I added that last part).

Milestones:

• He is walking everywhere now. So far it hasn't been too bad . The only difference in walking than crawling is that he can reach higher, which means he can get into more things. We finally got a gate for our steps so that has helped a ton. I know it will get worse when he learns to run.

• He has learned two new words which puts him at 5 total, well he has said bye bye once or twice but not enough for me to count. His new favorite word is mine but it comes out my. I will credit either his uncle Jason  or the kids at his babysitter for this word. Probably the latter but his uncle Jason is still a bad influence ;). The other word I haven't quite deciphered but I believe it is That or There. There is an app on my phone that shows animals and they make animal sounds. I have noticed the past couple of days that every time they show the horse and cow he says that mystery word. It has me baffled but maybe soon I will figure it out.

• He has learned to dance and this is by far the funniest thing I have ever seen him do. The poor baby has no rhythm what so ever. It is more of a head bang than anything. He does take after both his parents on this one.

• I have tried to figure up how many words he can recognize and I know it's at least 20 but it is probably alot more than that.

All in all he is doing wonderfully. It still amazes me how fast he is growing but I am enjoying every step of the process.

His new favorite thing is climbing. Especially into things as
 you can see in the two previous pictures.

Here he is climbing under the table at the doctors office. 
 I think he was trying to hide so he wouldn't have
 to get shots.

He is reading!!! Well not actually reading but I am so
 excited that he is showing interest in books now.
I was worried for a while.

12 months/1 year/ 365 days...



Getting a bath on his birthday. His Granna said she made a 1 out of his hair .



...Well I guess it doesn't matter how I try to spin it, my baby is growing up:( I did tear up a little today and yesterday if I am being honest. I hear people saying things like "don't blink or you will miss it" and " I don't remember my life before my kids" well I am jumping on that bandwagon because those people know what their talking about. Easton had a great birthday. Unfortunately I had to work but his Granna took off work and stayed with him. When we got home we had a birthday supper and he had a cupcake. I will post pics of that mess! His party will be Saturday and that will have to be a blog all by itself. That's about all I can handle of the birthday talk, I may actually cry again. Let's discuss what Mr. E has been up to this month.

     I will begin by asking, who took my sweet, cuddly, angel baby and replaced him with -baby with an attitude-? This little guy has been a total mess since mommy and daddy got back from our trip to the beach. I think he is teaching us a lesson. That lesson being "leave me again and you will pay!" No, but really, he has become SUPER clingy to me, he pitches temper tantrums, and along with all the hair pulling he has started biting (I'm glad now he doesn't have teeth).Now I have went and broke the cardinal rule in teaching. When talking to parents you are always supposed to tell them three positive things about their child before a negative. I suppose since I am talking about my own child I can say what I want. Now onto the positives....

Milestones

• He has learned to stand up without using anything to pull up on.
• He is drinking from straw.
• Following simple directions. Ex: understands no, will hand me something if I ask.
• Signs "more" on command.
• He is no longer taking formula. He switched to whole milk like a champ.
• No bottle for this big boy. Again we had no problem at all taking the bottle away.
• We are weaning off the paci. I tried to do it cold turkey but that only lasted a day. I decided to cut it down to just nap times and bed time. That went so well that for the past 3 nights he has not even taken it at bed time. Now we just have to pull it at nap time. I am waiting on that one since he is still adjusting to napping at the babysitters house but I am proud of my little guy.

p.s I think I just realized why he is not the same sweet baby anymore. MAYBE it's because his cruel parents have taken away everything that comforts him ;)

  I am going to end by saying that this has been the most amazing month thus far. I have watched him learn and grow so much over the past year but this month feels like a switch went on and he suddenly understands everything. I am sure he understood alot more than I gave him credit for before this month but  now I can see it. It is a great feeling to ask your child something and he is able to answer you, not necessarily by words but by actions. Maybe I am crazy but this is so exciting to me.

   Oh my goodness I must be exhausted because I almost forgot one of the most important milestones. Easton is WALKING. Right after he turned 11 months he took his first steps. Around 11 and a half months he was taking 4 or 5 steps at a time. Now he is taking 10 or more! I am so happy that I was still home to see him start walking. I was so afraid that he would do it at the babysitters and I would miss it. I guess that confirms it. Easton is a big boy. Sniff sniff.


His pre-birthday supper at McDonalds



My first day of work. He was saying "mommy don't cry, I will be fine." :)

11 Months......Short & Sweet

This month has been so hectic that I haven't even taken that many pictures of my sweet little guy. Between two vacations, planning a birthday party, Easton starting the babysitter, and getting prepared to go back to work it has been hard to find a moment to sit down and write this blog. That is why the title of this one is short & sweet, because that is exactly what this blog is going to be.

Milestones:

• Learned to clap and also recognizes the word clap. For example I can tell Easton to clap(without showing him) and he does it.
• Has mastered standing on his own.
• He says mama, dada, and hi all the time now and no longer favors one word over the other. I also believe he is starting to identify me as mama and Josh as dada. Before he would interchange them.
• Easton has become super lovey this month. He will just give you hugs and lay his head on your shoulder. It is the sweetest thing ever!!
• Had his second hair cut and this time we got it cut much shorter. He looks like a little man :(

It is so hard to believe that E will be a year old next month. He is ready to walk, we are just waiting on him to get brave enough to take his first steps. He has went to the babysitter about 3 times and has done great. Well, not so great during nap time but I'm sure that will come in time. I am so sad to be leaving him in a few weeks but I am very excited to get back to work. I am also excited for Easton to be able to spend time with other kids. I know he will learn so much from being around other kids his age. Josh and I also went on our first weekend away from Easton. We were gone for three nights. We had a good time and I know Easton did too but I believe that's all I can handle for at least another six months. So there it is 11 months short & sweet!!!

Faile out!

The Salt Life = The Good Life

Well it happened, Josh and I reproduced a little beach bum. We spent the Fourth of July week at the beach(7 nights) and I have to say it was probably one of the best beach trips I have had. I didn't know what to expect from Easton but he was absolutely wonderful. He loved the sand(he ate lots of it), he did not make a peep in the car on the way down there and back, and we stayed out in the sun all day every day and he still hung in there with us at night time. I am one happy momma. We also had professional family pictures and Easton's one year old pictures made while we were there. I have seen a sneak peek but I can't wait until we get them all (plug for Cherish Walker, she did these fabulous pictures). I bet I can count on one hand how many pictures that we have of the three of us so these were desperately needed. OK OK enough talk, it's picture time!!!

p.s one day I plan on getting a nice camera and never using my IPhone for pictures again :)

This is the first time he was on the sand.                                                                 Nap time on the beach.

                                               

With Mommy and Daddy in the Kiddie Pool

                                                                

                                                                   Play Time!!

 

 

As you can see we

had a lot of little helpers with us. Haley(left) is our future babysitter, she is so good with Easton. Wesley(right) is practicing his big brother skills since he has a baby brother due next month!!

10 Months.. Fun in the Sun

Oh my! Easton Graham is on the move and enjoying his summer.

This is actually 10 months and 1 week old. Now that we are mobile it is absolutly impossible to get him to sit still for pictures.

Milestones:

• Cruising on the furniture.
• Starting to stand without holding on to anything.
• His babbling had kicked up about 10 notches in the last few weeks. He has always been a talker but now even more so.
• He signed dog.
• He says da da all the time now and only says mama when crying or needing something.

We have been doing all sorts of fun things this summer. We have went swimming several times and now Easton has a better tan than me. Easton also went to the zoo for the first time. He didn't really care anything about it, maybe he will like it better in another year or so. We are headed to the beach next week I am excited to see how he likes it. I just hope he doesn't hate the sand. We have also had many play dates, he loves when other kids are around he just sits and watches them forever.

Riding the carosel with mommy




Riding the train with daddy.







Ok so I am going to tell off on myself. I broke a cardinal rule. I had Easton's hair cut a few weeks ago. I really contemplated waiting until he was a year old but I just couldn't do it. It was all in his eyes and I was afraid he was going to go cross eyed ;) I felt like I was breaking the law but then I started to think, who makes these rules that we all work so hard to abide by? I mean it's my kid and if he needs a hair cut before one, well I'm going to give him one(well not me that would be a disaster). Anyways as you can tell this is how I made myself feel better about breaking an invisible law :) So here it is, pics of his first haircut. Oh and he was a very good boy!!!



Being such a good boy during his first hair cut



All smiles after his hair cut!

Ok here goes random picture time!!!



Father 's Day



Tractor Time!



Helping Paw paw on the farm

Man of the house



Eating at Cracker Barrell with his Great Grandmother for her birthday



9 Months......And We're Off!!!

I remembered right before bedtime that I had not take his 9 month picture and somebody was not very happy.

Weight: 20lbs 3oz
Height: 29 1/2 inch.
At this weeks visit we had to fill out his 9 month questionnaire. E seemed to be on par with all of his milestones. I have a happy, healthy baby. The Dr. gave us the go ahead to eat any table foods (mushy or chewable of course) except for honey. My poor baby got 1 shot and I thought this was a no shot visit but since he was given the flu shot at 6 months they skipped out on giving him his Hep B shot. He was a champ though, only cried for a second.

Milestones:

• This month there has been so many milestones and it seems like they all happened at once. Within one week, Easton has learned to pull up, crawl, and stand up in his crib.  I am so proud of my little man but at the same time I know that life will never be the same :).

He actually started pulling up a week before he started to crawl. We also had to move his bed down this week because somebody figured out how to pull up in it and in the process he broke his crib mobile.

• Easton also pretty much eats what we eat now. He has tried all sort of things. He still eats baby food often but if I have cooked something that he can eat that's what I feed him. Here are a few new things he has tried:                                                                                                                          Macaroni and Cheese
  Meatballs
  Pasta
  Green Beans
  Bread
• He signed milk!! He also signed "more" while watching his sign language video but I can't get him to do it again. My child will do nothing on command.
• He is starting to follow simple instructions. If I tell him to come here, he will crawl to me(most of the time). If I tell him to get his ball or his Mickey he will pick it up.
• Changing diapers has become a nightmare. He pitches a fit every time I lay him down and he will not lay still.

All About Easton:
Easton seems to be expressing his own little personality more and more these days. He let's us know when he likes or dislikes something. When we get onto him now it hurts his feelings, of course in return hurts my feelings. He also doesn't laugh at every little thing like he used to, it takes something that is ACTUALLY funny to make him laugh.
Favorite things: rolling a ball, playing peek a boo, and he loves anything with a motor or steering wheel.
Favorite Songs: Jesus Loves Me, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Old MacDonald. He will not let you sing anything else, if you try he has a fit.
Favorite Show: Mickey Mouse
Favorite Word: "Hi" is all this child says, all the time.
E also loves to give love (mostly to women) and he is the most passionate kisser I know. By passionate I mean he grabs handfuls of hair and pulls while sucking your face off. This mommy loves her kisses but it is a good thing the good Lord gave me such thick hair or I am certain I would be bald.




Eating Meatballs

Easton's first time on the lake and in a boat. I have got to say that I think this is the cutest picture ever!

Celebrating my first Mother's Day!

I found this little rascal standing in his crib while he was supposed to be taking a nap.



E giving Mickey love.

E watching mommy fix her hair. This child has a strange obsession with hair.

 



8 Month Picture Walk

Ok, the teacher in me is coming out in this blog. This month instead of typing, I have decided we will just take a picture walk. E has been up to lots of no good good stuff this month:)

First Easter

 

Teething has been a nightmare! I would have to say this has been a pretty bad month in the fussy baby category. So here is teething at it's finest. FYI we still have no teeth ahhh!

**Fun fact for other mommies- for us, a frozen washcloth has worked the best.

This month we have tried all sorts of table foods. Everything from peaches, bananas, steamed broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots. He is not very good at feeding himself yet but practice makes perfect.

 



Saving these for later!



                                        Standing while holding onto something.

My favorite new thing he is doing is giving love!!

His first Popsicle. He also tried ice cream this month.

Some milestones that were not captured on camera are scooting around on his bottom(backwards only). He can go in a mean circle, but still no crawling, he is trying hard though. He will go over on his knees and as soon as he gets there he goes straight to the floor. He also loves to play peek-a-boo. His favorite word this month is Hi, that's all he says. The rest of the pictures are just random pics taken throughout the month.

Hope you enjoyed our picture walk!!!!