Friday, April 10, 2020

Everett Matthew is Two and a Half Years Old

Everett Matthew is two and a half years old!

Everett is a kind, thoughtful, gentle, fun, athletic, helpful, silly boy! He loves his sisters - though he insists he has one sister (Emery, whom he calls "girl") and one baby (Delaney, whom he calls "Waney" or "Waney Cutie" or "Waney Cutie Ba Ba Bo.") He often wants to hold Delaney's hand. When Everett gets in trouble or gets hurt, he's quick to ask for a cuddly hug and for his tears to be wiped off.

Everett knows all his letters and can sing the alphabet. He knows his numbers and can count to 10. He can draw a circle (or at least a shape that connects back to where he started - sometimes more like an oval or a trapezoid). He likes putting stickers on paper and sometimes sitting long enough to color a picture.

He can dress (though he's better at undressing) himself. He has a very strong opinion about what he wears and will also pick out what Delaney wears. He most often wants to choose a shirt with Mickey on it. And once we described his mesh shorts as "basketball shorts," he has requested those regardless of the cool weather.

He's learning to catch the ball and he is doing really well. He gives great advice to Blake - "Watch the ball, not me!" Everett can do a great somersault and jump off the last step and land on his feet.

Generally, Everett speaks very well and we typically understand what he's saying and he speaks in complete sentences. However, some sounds are adorably swapped out just like Emery did at this age. Everett replaces the "L" sound with "W" so he says things like "wook [look]," "wet's [let's]," "Waney [Laney]." He also replaces the "F" sound with "B" so he says things like "burt [foot]," "bire [fire]," "brute [fruit]," and "binger [finger]." He doesn't blend some sounds yet, so "green" is "reen," "three" is "ree," and "snack" is "nack."

Everett can spell Emery's name (E-M-E-R-Y), though he tells you it spells "girl." He can spell his own name if you start him with "E-V" and he'll finish with "E-R-T-T-T." He also knows his full name, Everett Matthew Johnson.

Everett is pretty close to being potty trained. We have been very lax on our "training" - some days we do, some days we don't. He isn't great at knowing and announcing when he has to go, so it requires taking him to the bathroom regularly and sometimes that's met with resistance. He likes M&Ms or Skittles.

Everett is a fan of all sports. He loves basketball and football especially, he will watch golf and gymnastics with great attention. We were really excited to introduce him to the Olympics this summer, but that will have to wait a while.

This little guy is a delight and we're excited to see him continue to grow!









Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Delaney Alina is Eight Months Old - 03.31.2020

Delaney Alina is eight months old!

Delaney sure can travel. She rolls or pivots on her belly to get anywhere she wants to go. She hasn't pushed up on her knees or started to push herself forward yet, but it doesn't seem to bother her. We often look back at her and say to each other - how'd she get over there; that's not where I put her down? She can sit up only if she's facing forward, otherwise she topples. She doesn't seem to enjoy putting weight on her legs yet, though she will for a few seconds, which she wouldn't even do a few weeks ago.

We have a family wager going. Which will happen first: Laney learns to crawl or gets a tooth? Everett and Tiffanie were Team Tooth and Blake and Emery were Team Crawl, but I believe Everett may have switched teams. We'll see which comes first! She seems to be somewhat far from both.

Delaney's skin issues (eczema) have cleared up substantially. She doesn't seem to be reacting to any food right now. We settled on a brand of formula that she likes and switching seems to make her sleep worse - which none of us wants! Her sleep is not great, but when she's eating what agrees with her, she tends to settle better and stay asleep longer. We switched her back to the Woombie sleeper (sleep sack with no arm holes) and she tends to fall deeper asleep this way (vs. waking up often and struggling to settle back to sleep).

Delaney has started really enjoying table food. She loves bananas and teether snacks (puffs, rice rusks, other mushy teether cookies). She's had chicken and beef, cucumber, yogurt, quinoa, rice, applesauce, and she seems to love everything we've given her so far.

Right after turning 7 months, Laney started babbling dada and baba and added mama and nana last week. It sounded like she repeated "boo" when I said it to her. She likes to make spitting and kissing sounds and can click her tongue. We think she may talk before she can walk!

We love this sweet little girl!













Sunday, March 1, 2020

Delaney Alina is Seven Months Old - 02.29.2020

Delaney Alina is seven months old!

This girl can roll all over! She can travel by rolling or by rotating on her belly, and she is starting to pull her knees under, though that pushes her head down. When toys are out of reach, it's clear she's frustrated and wants to be able to move forward!

It sounds like Delaney is saying, "up" when she babbles, otherwise she's squealing or crying. She still loves being in the center of the action and does not like when she is on the floor without a friend.

Lots of things make her laugh, including pulling Emery's hair and being kissed and basically anything Emery does.

We have slowed down on new foods because of some eczema - we're not sure what's causing it and how to make it feel better. We don't want to make her feel worse. She's tried banana (sorta liked it) and peaches (thumbs down).

We switched Delaney to a sleep sack with sleeves that have cuffs over her hands. It turns out she likes sleeping on her belly and it's led to a few nights where she slept SO much better than usual.

We're over the moon for this sweet girl!

















Saturday, February 1, 2020

Delaney Alina is Six Months Old - 01.31.2020

Delaney Alina is six months old!

Delaney can roll over from her tummy to her back and from her back to her tummy. She can push up onto her hands while she's on her tummy. This month, she tried sweet potatoes (didn't like them), peas (didn't like them), green beans (didn't like them), apple-blueberry yogurt squeezie (didn't like it), and avocado (tolerated it). We'll keep trying new foods.

Delaney squeals a lot and likes to "talk" with her brother and sister. She lights up when they play with her. She loves to be face-to-face with everyone and does NOT like it when you're not looking at her. She is getting great at grabbing objects including hair, noses, faces, and glasses!

We often call her Laney, but Everett can't pronouce the "L" sound, so he calls her Waney. Now we all call her Waney.

At her six month check-up, Delaney was 13lbs 10.5oz and 25.75 inches.

Happy half birthday, sweet girl!


Eyelashes for days!







Emery, Everett, and Delaney at six months.

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Delaney Alina is Five Months Old - 12.31.2019

Delaney Alina is five months old!

Delaney can almost roll from her back to her tummy, but giving her space to practice actually proves dangerous - today Everett landed on her! I guess we need to clear more floor space! She likes to sit in the corner of the couch, but has started lunging forward, so it's no longer a safe place to put her. When she's lying on the floor, she'll wiggle and squirm, making a full rotation on her back.

Delaney is still not sleeping as long or as soundly as we'd hope at this point, but occasionally she goes for longer stretches.

She is getting better at grabbing toys and playing with them (putting them in her mouth).

Delaney loves face-to-face time and will often get upset if she can't see us. She loves diaper changes particularly for the direct face-to-face attention :)

We look forward to all the fun things she'll learn to do in the new year!

(I got a new camera!)