Tate 4 Months

This is a little late because Tate got his first cold and had to be put on antibiotics…he is still taking them and wakes up with his eyes crusted shut and coughs up mucus…Riley and I had the same thing, and we just can't get rid of it.

Here are some things Tate has been doing this last month:

-Rolls over both ways
-Grabs for things he wants
-Very interested in watching people eat, I was eating popcorn the other night and Tate kept grabbing the pieces out of my hand.  I haven't started cereal yet, I have tried a couple times and Tate gets really fussy that night, plus I just can't figure out how to feed him the cereal without interfering with nursing... (any suggestions?)
-sucks his thumb when he is tired and when he sleeps
-grabs his toes ALL.THE.TIME
-sits up, if you can keep his attention away from his toes
-likes the jumper
-sleeps from 10pm-7am, with a 2-3 hour nap in the morning and afternoon
-still nursing exclusively
-like to be "tossed" around and tickled
-developed a birthmark under his left eye
-16 pounds (I'll let you know on Tuesday how long)
-9 month clothing - size 2 diaper (not for long though)
-ticklish on his neck and armpits
-LOVES his big brother…and the feeling is slowly becoming mutual.  Tate will be fussy but when he hears Riley's voice he stops and smiles.

Here are some 4 month pictures

Our Visit With Dr. OZ

Amongst all the exciting changes this year-one is Riley going to preschool!  He had his physical yesterday and I had been preparing him for it in the days prior.  His 2 year check up was HORRIBLE!  We drove to Des Moines, sat in the lobby FOREVER, I couldn't hear-nor understand what the doctor was saying and Riley threw a fit and cried the whole time.  Plus, ever since he was 9 months, Riley has never liked the doctor, he caught on to the whole "needle/shot" thing and having surgery at 17 months really set the stone for his opinion on doctors.  So I was going to "play" up this doctor's visit and talk about it a couple days before, saying how much fun it was going to be…we were going to see how BIG Riley was…that this was for preschool…that he would get ice cream afterwards {if he was good}  his response " Oh! Okay Mommy….I go and see the doctor!"  I had him like putty in my hands *muhahaha*  Tuesday morning we woke up, brushed our teeth, washed our face, ate our breakfast and got dressed…then I reminded Riley that today we get to see the doctor to see how big of a boy he is!  His response... "Oh no mommy, my tummy not hurt…I don't go see Dr. Oz."
Great, this is going to be just great…I foresee the fits and the crying (especially since he is grumpy from being sick with a cold/cough)  I mentally prepare myself and pray to God for patience…

We get to the doctor, check in and wait.  I explain to Riley, that a lady will come out and say his name when the doctor is ready for us.  As we sat and waited Riley told everyone in the waiting room "I see doctor Oz!"
The nurse came out "Riley Lafrenz…?"  "Mommy, That's Me!!!!"  Riley hopped out of his seat and marched his little rear passed the nurse and down the hall…I grabbed my purse and tried to keep up.  The nurse asked him to step on the scale, so Riley kicked off his sandals down the hall (true Riley fashion) and stood on the scale: 37.5 pounds…"WOW, I so BIG!"  Then the nurse asked him to stand against the wall to measure his height: 39 1/2 inches tall… "WOW, I so BIG!"
I was so impressed so far, he was being very independent and complying to all the nurses requests.  She led him back to the exam room, and I thought -this is where it will all fall apart- as soon as he sees that exam table.  Riley walked in, climbed on the table and waited patiently while she took his blood pressure and listened to his heart.

While we waited for the doctor we covered the paper on the exam table with stickers.  Finally the doctor came in
Doc: "Hello Riley, how are you today!?"
Riley: "Hi…I go see Dr. Oz!"
The doctor looked at me and said "what did he just say?"
Mom "ummm, he thinks we are seeing Dr. Oz today"
Doc:  "oh!  No buddy, Dr. Oz has more hair than me, I am Dr. Gable"
Riley: "No, it's Dr. Oz"

Whatever! :)

They tested his
eye sight: 20/30  coordination, speech and cognitive development…perfectly perfect!  The only thing preschool has to look out for is Riley lining all the toys up or bunching all the toys together by colors.

Here are some things Riley is doing these days!

Dressing and undressing himself
going to the potty (without reminder, wiping and flushing on his own)
Brushes his own teeth, washes and dries himself
Has a vast vocabulary-uses nouns, verb & adjectives  
Recognizes and recites the ABC's
Knows what words start with and visa versa: "D is for dog" and "Dog starts with D"
Knows colors and shapes
Draws a circle, vertical and horizontal line
Basically he does everything he should be doing physically and some.
 
Here are things Riley LOVES:

America's Got Talent…he likes all the music
He loves to dance and sing and pretend to play instruments
Dragons
Pirates
Cars
Fishing and Boats
Treasure Hunts
Fire Trucks
Stickers
Cooking
Watering Plants

I can read-sotra

Parade

Tate In Jumper

Fireworks

Riley what are we doing tonight? FISHING!

Last year during the parade Riley wasn't sure what to do…he didn't quite get the concept of fetching the thrown candy and was WAY to tired to care after about 45 minutes and spent the rest of the parade hugging daddy.  

This year he was so excited about the parade, I thought he was going to be a ravenous maniac about the candy, but he cared more about the parade.  

It really was the perfect day…85 degrees, no humidity.  Mom, Steve, Jesse and Shannon did a great job of Hoarding parking spots and reserving Parade seats, to make it easy on the kids! Because apparently the Clear Lake Parade is kind of a big deal?


This year is was Tate who didn't give a lick about the parade and of coarse fell asleep in Daddy's arms, I have a feeling this will happen again next year!  Both boys were so good!

 Chase on Uncle Jesse's shoulders

Snuggling on the couch watching Shrek

Last year during the fireworks it rained and Riley spent the night on uncle Jesse's shoulders under a blanket.

  

This year, Riley was so excited for Fireworks, he kept poking Jamie saying "LOOK JAMIE LOOK LOOK LOOK!"

Ava being a "good mommy"  For only being 3, she is so good with young children.  Except she kept calling Tate a "her".  We kept correcting "her" but then she would say "Baby Tate's a boy and when he grows up he'll be a girl!"  Well, close enough :)

Battle of the sexes…These two would get along great if they weren't total opposites!  Ava is ALL girl and Riley is ALL boy.  Ava would set up the farm animals, name them, feed them…and Riley would come along and stomp on them, run them over, throw them.  Ava would put her crackers down to feed the ants and Riley would crush the ants with his feet.  Riley would sit on Ava's lap nicely, then when Ava would get ready to sit on Riley's lap he would get up at the last minute so she would fall down.  Ahhh, takes me back to when my brother would pick on me.  I found myself saying "do we need to separate you two!!!"

Dancin' In The Streets...

For the 4th of July we went to Clear Lake.  My brother just moved back from Florida and my sister was visiting from Colorado, so it was an EXTRA special holiday!  Here is a video of the monsters shaking it up in the street during the parade!

Like the blog says…

Like the blog title says…."a few of my favorite things…"  One of my favorite things  {person, place or…} is Ava.  Ava was the first grandchild on my side and she has always been a little firecracker!  I took some pictures of our little princess Aurora this weekend, she is looking very chic in her princess skirt and cowgirl boots!  She was a VERY GOOD listener, but a little bit of a diva.  We first went out with no shoes and Ava informed me she doesn't walk in dirt and then claimed she couldn't sit in the grass because there were bugs.  Despite both those obstacles, she was a true professional and did everything I asked of her.  I kept telling her NOT to smile, which made her giggle…it was so cute!