18 Months Old!

I haven't been very good about monthly updates for Peyton, but I was going to be good and do an update when he turned 18 months... and then we were on a spur of the moment missions trip to Chicago, so it didn't happen.... but late is better than never, right? There's no pictures yet...

Peyton is 18 months (plus a few days!) old!! He has left the baby stage and is most definitely a toddler!

Peyton loves to explore.. and climb... and check out anything he can. He's very curious about everything around him and loves to copy everything his older siblings do!

Peyton loves to eat. As long as he has a fork, he pretty much each whatever we put in front of him. We are still avoid dairy, eggs, soy, and peanuts. He also still loves to nurse! We are down to three or four times a day, but he loves his mommy cuddles and mommy milk!

Peyton doesn't really say many words, but is very good about communicating. He says "that," "dip," "mom," and "boob" and makes some other random noises. He is good about pointing and grunting to get what he wants and knows how to throw a good fit when he gets something he doesn't want or doesn't get what he wants. 

Sleep wise, I think it's safe to say he's sleeping through the night for the most part. The past couple weeks when we've been in Chicago, he slept in bed with Mommy and Daddy and nursed at least once in the middle of the night, but when we are at home and he's in his own bed, he typically nurses to sleep around 7:30 or so and then sleeps for about twelve hours! Most days he takes an afternoon nap as well. If we are home and the big kids are quiet, he'll typically sleep for two or three hours!

Peyton has six teeth that are all the way in, two that are partially in, and another two that you can kind of feel, but can't see yet.

When we got home from Chicago, we changed out his clothes and he know has 18 month clothes in his drawers, but I have a feeling they aren't going to fit him for too long.

Peyton still isn't too sure about most adults, but seems to love other kids. He loves to watch kids play..and sometimes play with them. He likes to "blow it up" and sometimes gives high fives, but some times refuses if he's not too sure about the person. 

Peyton enjoys playing with cars and doing puzzles... and playing with Kyle, Emily, and Colby and whatever they are playing with. He also LOVES to be outside and to go places. He often brings me his shoes and wants to go!

Kyle is FIVE!!

Kyle is FIVE!!!!

Kyle is my big mommy's boy!

Kyle loves to make people smile and loves to give mommy cuddles! He's also pretty good at have loud obnoxious meltdowns for crazy stuff.

Kyle seems to enjoy being around other kids and interacting with people, but tends to thrive when he has quiet time by himself. He loves to work on projects alone... or with a little help from mommy and daddy. He's discovered that if he goes into his room and closes the door, he normally can get 20 minutes or so of alone time before one of his brothers find him.

Kyle doesn't seem to enjoy some parts of school as much as his sister, but is constantly asking to "do school." He loves to work on "bear books" and other school activity books. It amazes me how much he gets done (and does right!) with very little help! When it comes to working on reading and writing, he doesn't seem to have much interest... but when rattles off words like its no big deal that he's reading. He loves to play on the computer too... but still struggles with using the mouse!

Kyle loves to do things with his hands. He loves to work on puzzles and build things. He wants to know how things work and how they are all put together. I think he's going to be the kid that tears things apart just so he can see if he can put them back together.

Kyle amazes me when it comes to his knowledge about cars. He can point out different parts and explain what they do. He got a model engine for his birthday that we've been putting together and it's crazy how much he knows! (He knows more about cars than Daddy for sure!!!)

Kyle also loves to play with dinosaurs, cars, and Paw Patrol stuff. He has a great imagination!

Kyle enjoys sleeping... and would probably sleep a lot more if he didn't share a room with Colby. When Colby lets him take a nap, Kyle will easily sleep for three hours in the afternoon and he's typically the first kid climbing in bed at night. He comes running into our room every morning at 8:00am when his "clock wakes up."

We discovered in January that Kyle has a penicillin allergy. Thankfully his reaction was only hives, but the doctor said if he gets it again that his reaction will probably come on faster and be worse. Hopefully we can just keep him away from it and won't have to worry about it!

Kyle broke part of his jaw a few weeks ago. He ran into Daddy's hip and chipped part of his jaw that helps hold teeth in place. Only one tooth was loose. Luckily, the tooth had no damage. It's currently bonded to the teeth on either side of it to hold it into place while his jaw heals. We go back to the dentist in a few days to get the bonding taken off.

13 Months Old!!

I never got around to writing a post yesterday, but I did think about it a time or two when I was working on the "Pumpkin Car" or driving home.

Peyton was thirteen months old yesterday!! It still doesn't seem possible that he's a year old. I know I saw it often, but it's crazy how quickly kids grow up!

Peyton has become very opinionated...he knows what he wants and isn't to fond of being told no. He doesn't say much, but has coming very good at letting us know what he wants and how he feels. He says "ehh" and points when he wants something. And has meltdowns when he doesn't get what he wants.

Peyton is always on the go. He doesn't sit still and play in one spot for very long. He walks around looking for new stuff to explore and other things to get into.

Peyton is still nursing, but I'm trying to start to get it to be more of a schedule and less on demand. He typically nurses in the morning, after lunch, after nap, and before bed...and whenever he wakes up at night.

In the past few weeks, Peyton has started to finally really get the hang of eating table food. This is both good and bad... It's good because he's eating more and exploring new foods. It's bad because he always wants what everyone else is having...which he gets.. unless it has something in it he's allergic too. Meals around here are going to start becoming meals that can be allergy free so Peyton can eat what everyone else is having with just a little modification.

We had a follow up appointment last week with the allergist. I have tried eggs baked into things, and he seems to do fine with that. So was told to continue doing that, but still not to give him plain eggs. Was also told we could continue to give him small amounts of soy as tolerated, but it was recommended not to give him lots of it. As far as dairy goes, we still are to keep it all completely away from him. I told her about the incident a while ago when Peyton got a hold of Colby's milk cup and started having breathing issues and she said it sounds likes he started to have an anaphylactic reaction and giving him the benadryl right away slowed down the processes and allowed his body to recover. Luckily though, he still doesn't react to anything I eat, so that gives us hope that he isn't very sensitive to his allergens and that he'll out grow them!

Peyton also had his one year well visit not too long ago. He was 29 inches, 19lbs 12 oz, and his head is 46 cm around. He's growing!! All checked out well for this appointment.

Peyton loves to play with whatever his siblings are playing with, but he's also starting to enjoy playing by himself too. He likes cars...and drives them around making car noises! He has started coloring when the big kids are. He really like to eat the crayons, but he also likes to make marks on the paper.

Peyton is still very attached to mommy, but is slowly getting better. He is starting to like grandparents, aunts, and uncles more often then not. He has also started interacting a little more with some of the teens when he goes to youth group with us.

Sleeping is not one of Peyton's favorite things. He does take a decent nap in his crib most days, he still is struggling to sleep through the night most of the time. It seems like most nights he's awake at least twice and wanting to nurse. Hopefully now that he's finally starting to eat more table food, he won't be so hungry at night and will sleep a little better.

Peyton is an amazing little man. It's fun watching him grow and seeing his personality start to shine through more and more!

Colby is Three!!!

Colby turned three a few days ago! He's growing up way to fast!

Some of Colby's favorite things are the color yellow, Spiderman, Tow Mater, and noodles. Colby loves to play with his brothers and sister and do whatever they are doing. He's shown a real interest lately in playing games.. and actually plays right and takes turns!

Colby has been doing some school stuff. We've worked a lot on numbers, letters, shapes, and colors. He knows all the basic shapes and colors. He can recognize most upper case letters and can sing the ABCs. He can count to ten most of the time.

Two wees ago, we found out that Colby is officially food allergy free!! We went for his yearly appointment with the allergist and they did repeat allergy testing for all of the food that he was allergic too and he didn't have any reactions! Colby has been enjoying trying things like peanut butter and snickers!! The only medical explanation the doctors can give is extended breastfeeding... he was only given a 5% chance of out growing his food allergies when they were diagnosed shortly before his first birthday. Colby still does have several environmental allergies and asthma, but those seem easier to deal with than food allergies.

As of his birthday, Colby is done breastfeeding. I am kind of sad that he's done, but excited at the same time!

Colby had his well visit with the doctor the day after his birthday. He is 35 inches tall and weights 27.5 lbs. He's still small for his age, but growing at this own rate. They doctor is pretty sure his tubes are gone from his ears, but it's typical for them to fall out after a year or so and not be noticed. Hopefully he won't get any more ear infections. Other than some dry skin and asthma issues, Colby is healthy!

Colby isn't a big fan of sleeping. We struggle to get him to take afternoon rests and he struggles to stay quiet in the morning until his clock wakes up. Most evenings, he's pretty crabby and its obvious that he isn't getting as much sleep as he needs... but the kid just won't rest.

Colby is out sticker boy and tries to live up to his nickname every day! He is a very strong willed child and likes things done his way and only wants to do what he wants to do! He's also very sweet and loves all of us so much. He loves cuddles, and hugs and kisses! He is a pretty amazing little man and we are excited to see what awesome things God has in store for him!

Here are Colby's answers to the questions we've been asking every six months...

	Colby
What is your name?	Polby
How old are you?	Don’t Know… I'm Four
What is your favorite color?	Yellow
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?	O's
What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?	Taco Noodles
What is your favorite thing to eat for dinner?	Taco Noodles
What is your favorite snack to eat?	Fruit Snacks
What is your favorite fruit?	Strawberries
What is your favorite vegetable?	Carrots
What is your favorite thing to drink?	Pop
What is your favorite animal?	Lion
What is your favorite toy to play with?	All toys
What is your favorite book to read?	All of them
Where do you like to go?	Froggie Place (Catch Air)
What is your favorite song?	Twinkle Twinkle
Who is your best friend?	Megan
What is your favorite thing to watch on tv?	All of them
What do you want to be when you grow up?	Nobody
What is your favorite thing to do outside?	Chalk
What is your favorite thing to wear?	Lots of things
Who is your favorite person?	Mommy

Here are some pictures from his birthday party.

Peyton is One!!!

Somehow a year(and two days) has passed since Peyton was born!

Peyton is into everything and anything. His preferred method of transportation is walking and he is really interested in playing with toys.. specially the ones his siblings are playing with!

Peyton's favorite toys are ones that move and make noise. If the noise is music that he can dance to, he will play with it for long periods of time. He also seems to really like cars. He drives them around making vroom noises.

Peyton's preferred food is mommy milk! He's finally starting to get the hang of puffs and pancakes... but for the most part, it its not baby food or mommy milk, he's not all that interested. He normally eats at meal times with the rest of the family and nurses whenever he wants (most days 6 or 7 times a day).

We are still working on sleeping. Peyton normally nurses to sleep around 7pm and then is up sometime between 11pm and Midnight to nurse again. And most times he also nurses around 3am, and then again between 7am and 8am, then he's up for the day. Lately he's been taking a short nap in the morning around 10, and then takes a long nap in the afternoon while the big kids are resting.

Peyton has learned when we go places, we all put on our shoes. We left a shoe at Grandma's house over Christmas and he was not a fan of not wearing shoes for a few days. He gets very excited to put his shoes on like everyone else!

Peyton likes to look outside. He loves that he's tall enough to look out most of the windows in our house and I often find him playing with blinds or curtains so that he can see outside.

Peyton still doesn't say much, but he does squeal.... mad squeals, happy squeals sad squeals, excited squeals. Sometimes it's cute...

On Peyton's birthday, he had ice cream (coconut ice cream because he's allergic to dairy!).  He seemed enjoy a couple bites of it!

We had a small birthday part today... was supposed to be bigger, but the big three kids have strep, so more than half of our guests ended up not coming. Peyton enjoyed opening his presents, but really didn't care too much about his cupcake!

11 Months Old!

In one short month this little man will be a year old! It's crazy how fast time can seem to move!

Peyton has becoming proficient at walking! It's his preferred way to get around... other than mommy carrying him! He's also gotten good at climbing and getting around things in his way. I'm pretty sure if I allowed him to have enough time and didn't stop him in the process, he could get over the gates blocking the kitchen! Luckily though, he hasn't tried climbing out of his crib yet!

Peyton is still a boob boy! He loves to cuddle mommy and nurse! Today, when I was getting ready, he knew it was time and started clapping and said "Yay!" He still nurses on demand... some days that means every few hours and other days it means three times during the day.

Peyton still isn't a fan of much food besides baby food.... and sometimes he doesn't even like that. He's finally gotten to the point where he will suck on crackers until they are soggy and eat a little bit of them, but for the most part, anything with any sort of texture makes him gag and puke.

We had allergy testing done a few weeks ago. Peyton is allergic to cow's milk, goat's milk, eggs, and soy as far as foods go. He's also allergic to lots of environmental stuff, just like Colby. He was put on a few allergy meds and they seem to be helping. The allergist told me to keep eating everything Peyton is allergic too since it doesn't seem to be bothering him through my milk....and he encouraged me to keep on nursing him as long as he will nurse in hopes that it will help "heal" some of his allergies like it has Colby! (I was already planning on "extended breastfeeding"... but now I have a "doctor's note" to do so!)

Peyton still isn't the best sleeper. If I time things right, I can normally get a two hour naps from him after lunch time. At night, he normally goes to bed around 8. Sometimes he sleep until 4 or 5 am, nurse and goes back to sleep. Sometimes he wakes up every few hours to nurse. One of these days I'm sure he'll consistently sleep through the night.. I'm just not counting on it being any time soon!

Peyton is into everything and curious about everything! He loves to watch his brothers and sister play and then try to imitate them... or mess up whatever they are playing with! He's a big fan of cars. He pushes them around on the ground and plays with them just like the big boys do!

Peyton has two teeth! I can't feel or see anymore. The first one came in without any issues... the second was caused a crazy high fever and crabby boy!

Peyton is not fan of bathtime! He screams and screams and screams... but if he's on the outside of the tub while the other three are in it, he does everything he can to climb in.. and when he gets in, he SCREAMS!

Peyton doesn't really say a whole lot yet! He'll gab if the other kids are being quiet or aren't around... and he'll let you know when he's not happy about something... but he really doesn't say too much yet. He does know how to shake his head "no" though...and does often! He also waves bye bye to people!

Brent says that Peyton loves Daddy more than mommy... I think it's true most of the time... when he wants to eat or in the middle of the night, he loves mommy more!

Peyton loves to be worn! He gets very excited when he sees me getting the wrap or carrier out. He recently has started being worn on my back during the day when I need to do things...like make lunch! He also loves to ride on daddy's shoulders!

Peyton is a pretty good listener when he's told no or not to do something. (He's even left the Christmas tree alone so far!)

Peyton is getting to be a little more social. He does okay hanging out with Grandma Franks is mommy is out of sight. He's also gotten over his fear of Aunt Kara. But, when there are lots of people around, he still likes to be close to mommy or daddy and isn't a fan of strangers!

Peyton is growing into such an amazing little boy. I am so thankful that God has given him to us and am excited to see what is in store for him!