Our crew could not get a break from sick bugs this February! Otto started out with a bad cold that lasted well over a week, then Milo got it. Of course, Huxey was next. Two straight weeks of sick boys, with coughing, sneezing, major runny noses and just plain, old tired. We cocooned ourselves so as not to spread to others and somehow we got lucky and stayed healthy, even though we still had our boys for daycare. The Airborne lozenges, Zicam swabs and essential Thieves oils running continuously may have saved us. I am now a firm believer of bathing oneself in thieves essential oils to help avoid getting sick!
We finally got a breather from the cold and BAM here comes the stomach flu. Once again, Otto got it first, then Milo, and now Luke. Fortunately Huxey has avoided it so far, which may be because his Dad had his week off during flu week, so we didn't have him at Grammy Daycare. I hope Hux continues to stay lucky! Meanwhile, Momma Anna is exhausted from all the sick bugs attacking her home.
During this flu bug, Milo turned 1. Our poor Boomer who is usually the most smiley baby in the entire world, was not his normal self to celebrate his birthday. We had a tired, snuggly, non-smiley, sick little boy for several days, which was so sad to see. Boomer had a cute cake, cousins, and family and lots of love to celebrate him, even though he didn't feel very well. Poor Bub.
I"m still a bit nostalgic about Milo being a baby. Turning one is exciting, but leaves Grammy without a baby. I will now be embracing the rough and tumble craziness of THREE boys who are at the age of climbing, diving, wrestling, throwing, and just being the most lovable beings there are.
Our Milo has been such a joy, always happy and smiling and going 100 miles an hour, curious about everything and ready for anything. He keeps us on our toes and puts a smile on our faces everyday. I don't know why we got so lucky, but I'm forever grateful.
Grammy went on a little vacation to Mexico the first of January and missed the freezing cold temps that blasted Northern Minnesota. When we arrived back, the weather quickly changed to a balmy 25-35 degrees! This was the perfect weather to take the Grammy Daycare crew out for some snow fun.
The logistics of pulling 3 boys under 3 meant each child needed their own sled and one of the two (Grandpa or Grammy) got to pull 2 sleds. We switched off, but mostly Grandpa took the brunt of 2 sleds around the block to the sliding hill.
We went sliding a few times and ventured out onto the lake and found out quickly that toddlers don't stand so well on ice. Off we went back to the snow and hills tugging the crew behind. By the time we headed back home, Hux was ready to walk. You wouldn't think 25-30 pounds a boy would be heavy to pull, but it felt like a workout.
When we got back to Grammy and Grandpa's we decided to make snow angels. Otty quickly decided that Gram was the perfect sitting (laying) duck for a snow fight since I was down on my back. In no time I was covered in snow, running down my back and neck. Otty and Hux got quite a kick out of that. As Gram was the victim, Grandpa was available in the wings to videotape the fun...
It was great to be back playing with the boys! They are all growing so fast, I hate to miss even a week. Here's some pics of the crew playing and giving Gram "the face" when I try to get a pic of them.
This week we had a big celebrate because Olivia received her Master's Degree. Since the graduation was in Duluth and would be a long day, Anna willingly took the troops for the day.
Throughout the ceremony I received videos and photos of the cousins that were just too cute not to share. Love that the boys live in the same town and that they are able to spend so much time together.
When Anna and Olivia were little I used to be entertained by their differing personalities. Now that Otto and Huxon are learning to play together I am seeing similarities. It's quite fun for this Grammy to watch:)
Otto is certainly his mother's child and Huxey is certainly his mother's child. Our sweet baby Milo is just going with the flow, happy as can be. I imagine Milo will be the super chill kiddo of our three, but only time will tell. Just love them all to pieces:)
These cold days are challenging Gram in finding new and exciting things to do with the boys. We really, really miss being able to spend time outside. Not only does it tire them out, but they are just so happy when they are outside.
This week I racked my brain for something that would entice them. We've made forts with blankets downtstairs before and Otto did enjoy them for a few minutes, but I knew I had to step up my game.
I looked in the playroom at that treadmill that has been taking up space waiting for someone to use it, and thought aha! It made the perfect frame for a cool crawl up fort with xmas lights. The boys loved it and we could fit all of them plus one adult in the fort comfortably so that was a big win:)
Add some bears and lots of pillows, blankets and some padding for protection and we have a new play place for the winter.
I tried to get a photo of all boys in the fort together looking at me, but of course that didn't happen. I have better success with videos for Milo, since he is non-stop on the move. Otto is finally at the age where he will actually pose for me for a picture:) Huxey, we are still working on those smiles when the phone is in sight. Giggles and smiles come from action, not from sitting and looking at Gram and her silly phone!
All of my boys💙
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Grammy went on vacation in October and forgot to get back into the blog world. To be honest, with three little munchkins I am finding it more difficult to keep things updated. There are so many fun moments to document but I rarely have my phone at the ready anymore. I feel it's better to be present then take a photo or video of what cuteness is happening at the moment. This is not to say that I am not capturing some pretty darling moments. Some are being documented, but few and far between with 3 at the ready, moving at a rapid pace.
Big news this month is that our sweet baby Milo is 9 months old! I have no idea how this happened and it needs to slow down! Milo is our only baby and I cherish those sweet baby snuggles and his soft, round little head in the nook of my neck. At Milo's recent checkup we learned that he is 21.5 lb, which is 78th percentile for his wt. and 28.75" which is 67th percentile for his ht. He is both taller and heavier then Otto was at 9 months. Milo is babbling constantly and still giving us those beautiful, delicious smiles all the time. He is the happiest teething baby I have ever been around.
Although Milo is 8 months younger then Hux and 22 months younger then Otto, he is working his darnedest to keep up with those two.
Milo is also copying as much as possible from his big brother Otto. I am constantly reminded of moments of Anna and Olivia. Otto is so sweet to his baby brother, it is just the most endearing thing to watch.
Our Huxon is growing into a toddler. Huxey is giving us lots of smiles and laughs now. It's the best:) He is becoming much more social, walking around restaurants checking out things, following kids around at Book Time and just being a typical curious little boy. He will also pretend laugh with us and has discovered he is quite funny and gets a lot of attention for it. Huxey is experimenting with new words. Today he said, "mitt" for his mitten, "dog," "light," "Lily," and "hello," when he put the play telephone up to his ear. There are different words each time I take care of Hux. Sometimes new and sometimes the old words. Others he says are of course, mom, dad, door, Nor for Norm, ball, wow, woah, and he tries to say "dryer," because he is infatuated with the dryer when it is going.
One of the funniest (to me anyway) things Huxey does is throw a tantrum every time his Mom takes him home from Grammy's house. He arches his back, kicks his legs and screams. This is funny because his Mommy did this every time I took her from Grandma LaVonne's house and I feel like this full circle is a little bit of justice in the scheme of parenthood;)
Otto is 2 1/2 going on 5. His vocabulary is so fun! Otty sings the ABC's and also can identify most of the letters as the first letter of someone's name. A is for Anna, B is for Grammy (Brenda), C is for cat, D is for Daddy and Declan, E is for Emily, F is for Fiona, G is for Grandma and Grandpa, H is for Huxey and Halloween, L is for Luke, M is for Mom and Milo and N is for Nanna. This continues throughout the alphabet. He loves learning, singing finger plays and going to story time at the library and putting the felt board pieces on the board that go with the story. This boy is going to love preschool next year. Otto is counting to 14 then comes, 19, 19, 19. I am loving this stage of course from all the years of teaching preschool. We both enjoy projects with shapes, colors, letters, numbers and experimenting with science stuff. So much fun!
Grammys going to try to do better in the blog world next month, but in the meantime, here are some photos that should have been posted in the past few months because they are just too cute!
