Balloon Boy

One of the things I forgot to mention on Austin's 14 month update was how much this kid loves balloons. When we're driving down the road he's able to spot them everywhere. So when he got his 2nd haircut a few months ago and they gave him a balloon for "surviving" it, he was in heaven! That balloon was his best pal for several days until it was a sad deflated blob.



Who needs toys? I should just invest in a helium tank!

14 Months (And A Week...Again!)

I know I'm very behind!! I took Austin's Pooh pics more than a week ago now, but between Christmas shopping and what-not, I'm very behind on actually posting! I have a feeling that this is going to be the story of my life though! If I have a hard enough time posting about one kid, how bad is it going to be with two?!?




New this month...

We have an official walker. On our way to a runner! About one week after I posted his last month update, he decided that walking was the way to go. Unfortunately it was the week that Daddy was out of town, so Brian got little video updates each day on his phone. Each day was a little bit steadier and a little farther. He took some good tumbles in the last three weeks but they are getting fewer and far between. I am very thankful I put up the bumpers on the tables and the fireplace though, or we'd have several more posts like my "Not Me Monday" post!

My absolute favorite part of having a "walker" is having him come running to me when he wants me. He'll come and give me hugs and kisses and then take off to play again. That's the best!!

He's getting much better at signing. Last month he was doing "More", "Milk", "All Done", and "Phone." Now he can do "Bath", "Sleep", "Please", and "Cheese." "Phone" and "Sleep" look an awful lot alike and "Please" and "Bath" do too. And often if you ask him to say "Please", he'll sign "Cheese"! But he's definitely getting more consistent and clearer. And he's done what I consider to be 2 word sentences! He often says "More fishies" (even though his "Fishy" isn't the right sign - it's a fishy face!) and he's asked for his nap by saying "Sleep Please" a few times! Such my little smarty!!

Tooth #4 finally popped through over Thanksgiving weekend.

He's starting to say more words, but they're not super clear and won't do them on command. He does a ridiculously cute "Hi" when he first sees you and occasionally will say what I'm pretty sure is "All done!" He can tell you what a kitty cat says.

Austin loves to give kisses. He even puckers up his lips...most of the time...if you're lucky! If you're not lucky, you get a big sloppy kiss instead! But they're both wonderful!!

He's recognizing an amazing number of words and phrases. I'm always surprised when he understands something I ask for, like "Bring me my wallet, please." I don't know how he knows the word "wallet" exactly but he must just be a little sponge! I think my instinct is to assume that because he can't say the words that he shouldn't understand them either.

He's started enjoying videos this month. After he wakes up from a nap and is still a little drowsy, I sometimes set him up in front of the computer and play Veggie Tales Silly Songs for him on YouTube. He is mesmerized by them and asks for "more" when each one ends. I can tell that there are some he likes and some he doesn't, because he'll sign "more" in the middle of some instead of waiting for the end.

I no longer have a kid that sleeps in! We're lucky if he makes it until 7, which we have deemed "waking up" time. That seems to be the time that he's happiest when he gets up and makes it until a decent time for a nap. Plus it's the time that Momma doesn't feel like crying when she gets out of bed! So we encourage him to go back to sleep, which he's been doing a good job of doing, or if he's completely up, he sometimes gets set up with some toys in his crib. He's such a good boy and will play and play until Momma doesn't feel like weeping at the sight of the clock anymore!

What's In A Name?

I was hoping to announce our Baby Girl's name when we announced she was a girl. But due to some indecisiveness on both Brian and my parts, we didn't have it quite figured out at the time of the ultrasound. I've always been the type to share my babies' names. Partly because I really stink at keeping secrets and know that there is no way I could not share for 3 to 4 months! And partly because I love the idea of calling her by her name from the moment it's decided. I feel like I knew Austin better when he was born because we had always called him by his name. It probably sounds silly, but it makes sense to me and that's all that matters.

So today I'm happy to announce that we won't have to go through the next 3 months calling Baby Girl "Baby Girl" anymore. From now on she is McKenna Rose Crowley!

McKenna is a name I've loved since high school. I went to school with an awful, awful girl named Makenna, but I really loved the name. I'm just choosing to ignore how awful she was (Seriously, she was just awful!!) by spelling my daughter's name differently. Makenna/Makena is the Hawaiian version. McKenna is the Gaelic version and since Brian is 1/2 Irish, we like that spelling better.

Also, in the midst of our indecision, we looked up the meanings of the names we were considering and discovered that McKenna means "Son of Kenneth" in Gaelic. Now while she's not a son, it is a fun tie to my family cuz my dad's name is Kenneth. The significance of being linked to my family put us over the edge for the name.

Her middle name, Rose, is in honor of Brian's mom, Grandma Judy. Judy's maiden name is DeRose and we've known for a while that we'd love to use Rose as the middle name because of that! I love that she will carry a little bit of each of our families' heritage with her forever!

Now we just have to wait another 112 days or so to call her McKenna in person!

How's Your Day Going?

This pretty much sums up my day.






How's your day going?

Not Me Monday

Not Me! Monday was born out of MckMama's desire to admit some of her imperfections and reveal a few moments she'd rather forget. She invited her readers to also post things that they couldn't possibly have done. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!

I've never joined in Not Me! Monday because I've never done anything that would warrant such a post! After all I'm such an attentive Momma!

For example, it certainly wasn't me that turned her back on a one year old on a changing table to retrieve a sock, allowing him just enough time to tumble off and land on the floor. Not me! I would never do something like that!

And I'd never leave said one year old downstairs alone at my parents' house so I could just grab a few things from upstairs, only to find him, not 30 seconds later, rounding the top stair of their two flights of stairs! I know that it's dangerous to leave a child alone by himself! So that couldn't have been me!

And of course, I'd never take my eyes of my child near the bathtub while the water was heating up, even if it is just to flush a dead bee. Not Me! That's just asking for him to attempt to climb over the side, whack his head on the faucet and get caught under the down turrant of running HOT (but thankfully not scalding!) water! Nope, I always have 2 hands on my child at all times near the bathtub.

Oh and I'm sure it wasn't me that said "My child is soooo cautious, I don't need to wrap my furniture in baby proofing cushions! He's not going to fall hard." So it certainly can't be me that has a poor little boy with a huge red line down his forehead where he took a header into the side of the sharp-edged computer desk. If I did have a kid like that, he might look something like this...



And all of this wouldn't be in the span of just one week, cuz if I were to make such atrocious mistakes, I'd at least spread them out over the course of several months!

But once again. That can't be me. I'm such an attentive Momma!