2-year stats

Henry had his 2-year check up last week.  It was his first time to stand on the scale and be measured standing up.  He did pretty well during the check up but got tired of waiting on the doctor and kept leaving the room.  Whose idea was it to put handles on the doors that are easy for 2-year olds to operate?!?! 

He seems to be doing well.  His speech is really starting to pick up.  His favorite sayings are "where (mommy/daddy/NoNo) go?" or "(mommy/daddy/NoNo) where are you?"  When it is dinner time he starts saying "eat eat yumm yumm".  Nap time and bed time has been a bit of a challenge over the past few weeks.  Dr. CS did say that we really need to try to get him to nap because he is too young to drop that.  I think he sleeps at school but just doesn't want to miss anything when he is at home.  He has been waking up during the night but luckily you just have to go in there, give him a hug, say everyone is still sleeping and that he needs to sleep more and he says ok and lays down. 

Below are Nolan and Henry's 2-year stats. They are pretty close!  They are the same height, but Henry's percentage was quite a bit lower.  Not sure which is correct.  I think Nolan's probably is though because they have always been in the ~50% range.

Nolan @2:
Weight:  27lbs (50%)
Height:  33 3/4" (45%)
Head 49.5cm (80%)

Henry @2:
Weight:  27.5lbs (58%)
Height:  33.75" (24% see note above)
Head: 50cm (90%)

Coming soon...Nolan's 4-year check up!

Mixed Bag

March has already been a busy month.  The month started off with me taking Nolan to a tour of the local fire station with the moms club I am part of.  He had a great time.  He got to climb on the truck and see all of the equipment that they use.

Kevin and I both took off work last week in the middle of the week to go to the livestock show and carnival at the rodeo with the boys.  We thought mid-week might be a nice quiet time to go and they have "Wacky Wednesday's" where admission and rides are discounted.  I never thought there would be so many school groups there though!  It made the livestock show a little crazy to get through.  We moved outside to the carnival for a while and these crowds were pretty light.  Nolan was excited to go on some rides.  He rode a flying elephant ride with Kevin and then did a motorcycle ride by himself.  We took a lunch break and then went back into the livestock show for a while and the crowds had died down quite a bit.  Henry loved looking at the rabbits and baby chickens.  He is our animal lover.  Nolan started begging to do more rides so we headed back out for a little while before heading home.  Nolan went down a big slide two times with Kevin and then finished with one last ride by himself.  He has no fear when it comes to these rides. He also got a new cowboy hat that is like Woody's.

Two days later Henry turned 2!  We went to dinner at La Ha in celebration.  That night he threw up all of his dinner but we think it was just due to eating so much junk that day.  Luckily that was all and it didn't ruin his party the next day.  The next morning we had a family get together for his birthday.  He was in a great mood and was running wild giving everyone hugs etc.  He wasn't super interested in opening his gifts but he did get some fun new things. 

That afternoon the boys new play set arrived!  We decided to bite the bullet and buy a play set.  Hopefully it will get many years of use.  Nolan is at an age where he can play on it with only a little supervision but Henry needs constant watching.  He loves climbing up and down the ladder.  The going up doesn't bother me, but it is a little nerve wracking when he wants to come down!  Maybe one day he will decide to climb up all the way and take the slide down!

Sadly it appears that Henry might be ending his naps soon.  Last weekend he didn't nap at all and manged to even climb out of his crib.  He has been doing a bit more crying lately too.  We think his molars are just coming in and causing him some pain.  I seem to remember Nolan going through a phase like this around the same age.  Hopefully it will pass soon.

The next two weeks should be relatively quiet.  Henry will have his 2-year check up and both boys will be going to the dentist (Henry for the first time).  At the end of the month we will be busy again with a trip to San Antonio and Sea World!

Oh Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy!

Our "big ultrasound" on January 31 confirmed what the guess at 12 weeks was.  Baby Brock #3 is a boy!  We are very excited about a third boy.  Yes, a girl would have been fun and a nice book end to the string of boys on my side of the family, but a boy will be extra fun with both Katherine and Kasey expecting boys so close to ours.

Baby boy was fairly stubborn during the u/s.  It appeared he was laying on his stomach so the tech could see the back and spine very well but was having a hard time seeing other things.  I did a lot of moving to my side and then back to my back.  In the end she said she was able to measure everything and we were told that all looks great!  We didn't come away with the best pictures but he did flash a peace sign (or a "V" for Villanova!) and we saw a few yawns. 

Like I did with Henry I will do an occassional pregnancy update.

How far along:  22 weeks

Size of baby:  I am pretty sure it is about the size of a Papaya right now.  On 1/31 we were told approx 14 oz.

Weight gain:  not positive, but I wouldn't share anyway!  My guess would be that I will gain similarly to my first two.  Not working out this time around do to minor early complications so hopefully it won't be more!

Maternity clothes:  yes, definitely.  I wear non-maternity work out clothes and PJ's but everything else is maternity

Gender:  another boy

Movement:  starting to pick up.  Usually after eating I will feel something but it isn't constant yet.

Sleep:  Doing pretty well. 

What I miss:  I kind of miss going to the gym during lunch.  It gave me something to do.  Now I spend obscene amounts of time at Target.  I could go back to working out again, but I canceled my gym membership when my office moved.  I will join a new one after he arrives.

Cravings:  nothing specific.  Spicy and sweet call my name though! 

Symptoms:  nothing right now really...possibly just hunger, I feel it is pretty constant.

Best moment of the week:  feeling more movement and knowing that all is going well.

 

Peace!

Poor Blog

Poor blog has been so neglected!  Here we are almost finished with the month of January and I haven't even updated how our Christmas went.

A few days before Christmas we did our annual cookie making for Santa.  Nolan was a big help and did really well.  He measured out the flour and was a great dough roller.  Henry also helped cut out a few cookies.  He tried to eat some flour so we made a bit of a mess.   

Christmas was a great day.  Nolan was excited about Santa coming and had his list of what he was hoping for.  Santa brought him everything he asked for, Buzz Lightyear, a cape, and chocolate.  He also got a Leapster computer which he has mastered using so quickly.  Henry also got some fun things.  He got a backpack with his name on it, an Elmo shirt, a few books, and some candy.  I am sure they both got more but since it was already a month ago I can't remember.

The rest of the day was spent with family.  First the entire Brock clan came over to our house for brunch and more gifts and that night it was over to the Neville side for dinner and more gifts!

New Years Eve we went to our neighbors house for a little party.  There were quite a few older kids there so the boys had fun chasing them around.  We didn't stay all that late because Henry was going up and down the stairs and we couldn't really trust him to leave him alone.

Since the new year we have just been doing the daily grind.  We had a pretty good cold snap so that meant a lot of time indoors with probably too much TV.  The past week has been warmer though so we have been back outside in the evening. 

Nolan has been able to attend 2 gymnastics parties.  The first was for Julia and then for Sophie.  Sophie also had a Spiderman come to her party so Nolan was pretty excited to meet him.

Henry is still super smiley guy and is talking up a storm.  He has more and more words everyday.  He still speaks a lot of gibberish but you can tell he is trying so hard.  He still loves his Elmo too.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

December has been a fun month filled with lots of parties and trips to see Santa!  Now we are in the final countdown until the man in red comes.  Nolan is excited and asks questions about how he will get in the house, how the reindeer fly, etc.  Henry doesn't really care for Santa.  He will grab onto us when we get close.  He does say Ho! Ho! Ho! though which is cute.

We started out December 1 by having the annual picture taken with Santa at the local real estate office.  That evening we had a little cocktail party for Kevin's work group.  Nolan had fun playing with Faith, who is just 3 weeks older than he is.

The next weekend we went to a Santa party at the house of Kevin's coworker.  This was a lot of fun with a big bounce house, a gift from Santa, and lots of cupcakes and cookies.  Nolan did well with Santa once again but it took a little convincing to get him to go see him because he kept saying that he had just seen him the week before and already told him what he wanted :)

Finally we had the boys Christmas program at school this week.  Henry was supposed to have a little performance but he wanted no part in it!  Nolan's class had a snowman craft that he had fun with and then his performance.  He did really well!  The school also had Santa come so Nolan told him one more time what he wants just so he won't forget.  Henry clung close to us!

Here are some pictures from the festivities.  They aren't the clearest because I have reached my photo limit for the blog so I have had to find a way to get around it without paying for more. 

 

Happy Thanksgiving and other things

I meant to write a post about Halloween but here we are almost a month later.  Thanksgiving has come and gone and now we are starting to pull out the Christmas decorations. Where has 2012 gone?

For Halloween we went to a little neighborhood block party before TOT.  They do a little costume parade and prizes are given out for each age group.  Nolan won for his age group!  He was a boxer.  When we left the house he was wearing his Spiderman mask and said that he was a Spiderman boxer but when we got to the party he was just a plain boxer.  He won a $2 gift certificate to Baskin Robbins.  Henry was dressed as a skeleton.  It is really just a pair of PJ's but it is super easy for his age.  We only did about 2 1/2 blocks of TOT but Nolan had a blast.  He was so good about saying "Trick or treat!" and at the end he knew to say "thank you!"  Henry had no interest and stayed in the wagon.

The month of November has been pretty quiet.  With the time change we don't play outside quite as long in the evening but the boys both still love being out there and playing sports.  We have been playing a lot of blocks and cars inside.  Nolan is obsessed with Spiderman and the Avengers and constantly asks to watch them on TV.  Henry has become obsessed with Elmo and will say Elmo and over again when the TV is on hoping that he can watch and episode of Sesame Street.  Just like Nolan he really doesn't care about most of the show and only wants to see the Elmo's World portion.

Nolan has started playing so well by himself.  It is so nice that he can do some independent play!

Thanksgiving was nice.  Thursday we did the Neville side of the family.  We didn't go over there until 4 so we had a really lazy day up until that point.  Nolan and I watched the Macy's parade and then after that the exciting Texans game.  After that the craziness of all the cousins together got started.  Nolan kept up with being a bum choosing to watch a movie with Margaret and Julia instead of running around with Kyle and Wade.  Finally we forced him outside and he had fun with them.

Friday we went over to Kasey and Brian's house for Thanksgiving #2 with the Brock Brood.  We had a nice time here as well.  The boys played football outside for a while and then we had another big feast.  Nolan got to play with an old Wolverine figurine of Brian's that he loved.

Finally, on a sad note, our Molly cat died unexpectedly on Saturday morning.  I found her "sleeping" under the bassinet in our room.  She was a good, sweet cat.  She put up with the boys laying on her etc.  She was relatively young...probably about 8 years old.  Kevin and I decided to get her around Christmas time 5 years ago before there were any kids in the picture.  She was a few years old already when we got her.  Not sure if she and Seamus were friends or not.  They loved to chase each other around the house and growl at each other.  Seamus does seem a little sad that she is not around.  We explained to Nolan that she was gone.  He probably doesn't really understand but he has brought her up a few times. 

Fall is in the air

Ah Fall!  That wonderful time of the year when temperatures drop into the mid 80's instead of mid 90's.  I do love Fall.  I wish we had the leaves changing colors etc. but I love all of the fun activities that come up with the change of the season.  We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  Henry had fun picking up pumpkins and throwing them.  Nolan did a lot of saying "cheese" but that resulted in a lot of funny faces when it came to pictures.   



Funny face by Nolan



I will throw you pumpkin!



The Brock Boys



Henry enjoyed playing in some puddles.

We made a trip to the zoo. Zoo Boo is going on right now. Many kids go in costume and there are candy and craft stations set up throughout the zoo. We didn't bother with costumes (too warm out!) but the boys did like getting some candy.



An orangutan eating a pumpkin at Zoo Boo

We also went to the SJV annual bazaar. Unfortunately it rained again this year! Luckily it didn't really rain while we were there. Nolan got his face painted and spent about an hour in the bounce house. Henry went in the bounce house for a little while too but he was a little unsure about the whole thing. We also played a few rounds of Bingo.  

Nolan's longhorn



enjoying a sucker

This past weekend Jersey Village had their annual open house of the police and fire station.  Nolan went all decked out in his fireman costume. He got a lot of compliments on how cute he was. He kept calling his axe a taxi which was pretty funny. There were so many cool things to see and do!  We were able to take a ride in a real fire truck with lights and sirens (2x's!).  Nolan was able to try on some of the gear that firemen wear.  We saw a police robot; sat in a holding cell; had fun with a police line-up; sat in a SWAT team truck; sat in a helicopter; saw a life flight helicopter take off (so much wind!); got a lot of freebies and so much more!  Pegby and AB both came out too so it was a fun morning!



Henry liked the Dalmatians they had.



Brock family in a holding cell!



Hopefully this is the only time they will be in a police line-up!

 Mr. Henry is doing well.  He is learning to say a lot more words.  His new favorites are "mine" and "no"!  He is silly and knows ways that he can make us laugh.  Going to bed at night has been pretty easy, knock on wood, he likes to read a few books in his crib and then I just turn out the light and leave.  He might cry a little but for the most part he puts himself to sleep.  Most nights he is sleeping soundly without a peep but if he does wake up he likes to go downstairs for a little bit of milk.  After his milk he will just lay back down and go back to sleep. 

After we got back from FL he went to the doctor for his 18 month check up.  A few days later he had a cough and was running a fever. We initially thought the fever, which was low grade at the time, was a result of his shots that he received.  Within a day or so his fevers were running really high.  Just like he was a few weeks before he was running fevers close to 105.  First trip to the doctor just said it was probably a virus, we did a breathing treatment there and were sent on our way.  The fever continued the rest of the weekend and his cough was bad.  Back to the doctor we went where he was diagnosed with pneumonia.  A prescription for antibiotics and instructions to do breathing treatments from here to kingdom come got him back to himself again.  Poor little guy! 


Wearing daddy's shoes.

 Nolan is doing well too!  He is still in love with all things sports.  He is also getting into superheros now and really likes spiderman.  We have made a couple of trips to the library and he loves reading the books we checked out as his bedtime stories.  Over the past two weeks or so we noticed that he was having a hard time hearing.  He would even ask us to say some things louder.  At first we kind of laughed it off thinking that he was too engrossed in other things to hear us but then we started to become a little worried.  Kevin brought him to the doctor and we found out that he has some fluid in his ears from a recent cold so that was hurting his hearing some.  We were told to do Nasonex for a few weeks and that should clear everything up.  If he still seems to be having issues we need to bring him to the ENT.  I think his hearing is already improving though.


Spiderman face paint from a birthday party.



Henry doing his breathing treatment.