My climbing monkey

Joel's climbing has gone beyond out of control!  The actual climbing doesn't bother me very much but the places and things he chooses to climb on aren't always the safest.  Plus it isn't that he is just climbing to climb.  There is usually something he is after that he really isn't allowed to have.  His favorite place is the kitchen island, under the pot rack.  Then he can take apart the soap dispenser and wave it around.  He also enjoys turning the faucet on and off several times.  Now this is slightly better than climbing up to play with the Keurig and attempting to figure out how it works.  Joel used to enjoy climbing on the dining room table and still does from time to time, but I started ignoring him when he climbed on it and he has slowed down quite a bit (only 1-2 times a week vs. 5 times a day).  When you catch him in the act he gets a cute little look on his face and gives a little laugh like "I am cute enough to get away with this right?"

As far as the kitchen climbing goes I was keeping the baby gates closed all the time but then Vince can't get to the bathroom quickly and that creates a bigger mess.  Plus as soon as I opened them Joel would immediately take off for the counter.  I have been so sick of Joel climbing on the counter since Cecilia's arrival that I have been keeping the stools on the counter.  They take up most of the counter and it is a little inconvenient but it has made my life so much easier.

The office chair living on the dining room table...holding down our blankets for the tent

Joel likes playing in our office area and it has been worse the last few weeks.  We have two chairs between our desks and they have been Joel's perching place.  He likes to find a colored pencil and draw on the back of the computer monitor.  He doesn't hurt anything but I just can't let him draw on random items that aren't paper.  I have tried moving the chairs and he moves them or another object back to the desk.  I tried turning them so it would be hard to climb onto them, but he is very determined and it didn't take him long to figure it out.  The chairs are now on top of the treadmill.  The regular desk chairs ended up on top of the dining room table.  I should probably just put away the pens/pencils/etc but I am guessing Joel would find something else he "has" to have.  Right now our eating situation consists of Vince at his little table, Joel in his highchair and either Brad or I joining Vince at his little table while the other either stands or takes a stool down to sit on.  It is ridiculous, but oh well!

Office chairs living on top of the treadmill...no it hasn't been used much lately

I thought I had all the climbing taken care of and was feeling pretty good about myself.  Then Joel found something else to climb.  Joel was cranky one day last week (probably because I took away most of his climbing spots) and he went in the bathroom and started playing in the sink.  I turned the water on and he was having a blast.  I ran upstairs real quick to get towels.  When I came back downstairs, no more than 1 minute later, this is what I found.....

Joel very proud of himself

 I thought maybe while I was upstairs something would fall in the toilet, more water would be on the floor or Joel would be wet and running around the house.  Climbing into the sink never occurred to me!

I have to admit that the look he gives when he gets to the top of whatever he is climbing is absolutely adorable and melts my heart.  The laugh he gives when he knows he has been caught is just too cute and it takes everything I have not to laugh or smile at him!

I wrote this last week and never posted it and then this week Joel was sick and hardly moved from the couch for a day and a half.  The break from his climbing was nice but after 1 day I was wishing he would go back to climbing!

Conversations with Vince Feb edition

Here are some of Vincent's latest quotes:

A few weeks ago we went to sign Vince up for preschool.  On the form it asked what name the child likes to be called.  I said to Vince "Would you like your teacher to call you Vincent or Vince?"  He responded "Vincent Craig Stewart" like it was a silly question to even ask.  I wrote down Vincent or Vince.  If he wants them to use his full name he can ask his teacher to do so on his own this fall.

A few days before Cecilia was born I was trying to explain to Vince how small babies are.  I showed him the diapers his sister would be wearing and how much smaller they were than Joel's diapers.  Vince was quiet for a second and then said "I am big now and my butt is too big for those diapers.  Mommy you are big and your butt is too big for the diapers too."

In trying to prepare Vince for his new baby sister I explained to him that a lot of babies look kind of funny after they are born.  That is sister might be kind of funny looking or ugly at first but she would get cuter as she got bigger.  When Grandma Pat was at our house and said to Vince "Aren't you excited to see your baby sister?  She is going to be so cute!"  Vince quickly said "No she is going to be ugly.  Babies are ugly when they are born!"  When we were at the hospital I was surprised when Vince saw Cecilia and told me how cute she was.

When I was picking Vince up from Awana club a couple weeks ago I told him to say goodbye to everyone.  I was thinking he would just wave to everyone and say bye, which he did.  We were at the door of the classroom and he turned and ran back into the classroom up to his friend Aubrey, said goodbye, gave her a hug, told her he loved her and gave her a kiss.  It all happened in a matter of seconds and there was nothing I could do to stop him!  His teachers were all in shock!  The good new is Aubrey is my friend's daughter and when I sent her a text telling her what happened she thought it was cute.  My little Italian boy just can't help but give hugs and kisses, and tell everyone that he loves them.  He does it to his aunts, cousins, grandparents, friends, etc.  We are going to have to keep reminding him that hugs and kisses are just for family, but I know he will argue about it!


Vince was helping me look at something on my laptop on the couch.  I was holding Cecilia and he kept getting closer and closer and I was afraid he was going to hit Cecilia in the head accidentally.  I said something to him about watching where his hand went and he said "Mommy, you know why I have 2 hands?  So, I can hug both of you at the same time." And he gently gave Cecilia and I a big hug.

Church Performance

On the way to church on Sunday we told Vince that he was going to sing during church with the other kids.  He was not excited and said "I sleep when they sing."  Which resulted in another conversation how sleeping in school is not good to do and how important it is to stay awake and participate.  Followed by us saying "you aren't just practicing today, you are going to sing upstairs for all the adults."  Vince still wasn't acting like he was actually going to sing.  I didn't have high expectations.  I figured he would either go up front at church and sing and have fun or refuse to go up front to sing and just sit in a pew and watch.  We would just have to wait and see what happened.

I was in the nursery with Joel and Cecilia on Sunday and since there were no other kids in the nursery we went upstairs at the end of the service to hear the Sunday School kids sing.  All the kids did a great job singing!  Vince was so excited to be up in front of everyone and started off the performance by waving to Brad, Joel, Cecilia, and me with a huge smile on his face!  The first two songs they sang were ones that Vince knows and loves.  He was singing, dancing, and doing the hand motions.  He was adorable and brought a smile to many faces!  Brad and I were really excited that he went up front to sing with all the kids and that he wasn't sleeping or pouting.  Not that we should be surprised, he loves an audience!

Joel's unintended new freedom

Before Cecilia was born I started letting Joel go without direct supervision a little bit more.  As long as I knew he was downstairs and not in the kitchen or office I was ok with not being able to see his every move.  Occasionally he would try to escape and go upstairs, but Vince would alert me.  I would usually get up the stairs about the same time as he made it to the top.

Joel navigates the stairs pretty well.  He does great going up, but I don't trust him coming down the stairs by himself.  If no one is around he will turn and go down on his belly or sit on his but and go down the stairs.  However, if he sees an adult around to help him he will just attempt to walk down.  Once Joel sees you are nervous he laughs a sinister little laugh and thinks it is hilarious that whatever he is doing makes you nervous or is against the rules. 

This week I have been giving Joel more independence more out of necessity than because I thought he could handle it.  He seems to know when I am nursing Cecilia and has realized he can get away with just about anything.  Vince used to do the same thing when Joel was born, but 95% of the time I would convince him to read books with me on the couch.  Several times Joel has made it all the way upstairs to the play room.  Which in and of it self is fine, but I worry he will get into the bathrooms and make a mess with the toilet paper or throw random things in the toilet.   His favorite thing in the bathroom is actually the plunger!  I also worry that he will try to scale one of the dressers.  I have learned to just keep all the doors upstairs shut except for the door to the toy room.  Then as soon as Cecilia is done eating I can race upstairs and supervise what is going on.

That plan worked until yesterday when somehow the attic door had popped open.  It didn't take Joel long to figure it out!  I went upstairs looking for him about 5 minutes after he went upstairs with Vince.  Vince was playing in the hall and told me Joel was in the toy room.  About that time I heard footsteps above my head and panicked!  Joel was up in the attic, bare foot, and the attic is not the safest place in our house to play.  I ran up the attic stairs with Cecilia in my arms and Vince begging to follow me.  As soon as Joel saw me he ran to the far corner laughing the whole time!  He was not happy when I picked him up and brought him back downstairs.

Today Joel and Vince went upstairs to play and I followed them less than 2 minutes later.  Once again Joel was no where to be found.  Vince was playing with blocks in the hall.  Again I asked Vince where Joel was because Joel will not answer you when you call to him.  Vince told me he didn't want Joel bugging him so he locked him out of the hallway!  Vince put Joel in Cecilia's room and shut the door so Joel couldn't bother the blocks Vince was playing with in the hallway.  While I give Vince credit for solving his own problem without beating his brother up I still don't like that he locked his brother in a room alone.

Clearly we are going to have to come up with a new plan for playing upstairs without supervision!  I know better than to think I can stop it all together.

Friday Night/Saturday Morning Timeline of Events

This is how Friday night/Saturday morning went:

Brad gets home at 8pm from a 2 day meeting in Champaign.

Boys and I are thrilled to see him.

Boys go to bed around 9pm.

Brad and I are in bed by 10pm.

Cecilia wakes up about every 2-3 hours.

Brad changes Cecilia's diaper for me.

I feed Cecilia.

Joel wakes up and cries for 20 min.  Brad goes and gets Joel.

Joel's diaper is soaked.  Brad goes downstairs and gets Joel a diaper and changes him in our bed.

Maisy, our dog, keeps pacing up and down the stairs.

I wake up Brad who just fell asleep and tell him to let Maisy out.  He says she is fine. It is 3 am.

20 minutes later Maisy is still pacing.  Cecilia is sleeping on me.  I kick Brad in the leg and tell him to let the dogs out.

Brad lets the dogs out and yells "Oh, Crap!" when he is downstairs.

Brad hobbles back upstairs.

Shows me the dog diarrhea on his bare foot.

I laugh hysterically!

Brad washes his foot, goes back downstairs cleans up mess and puts the dogs in the basement.

Joel, Brad, Cecilia and I share a bed for a couple hours.

Cecilia wakes up and cries and won't stop.

Cecilia and I head down to the couch and get comfy.

10 minutes later I hear little footsteps on the stairs.  Joel joins us downstairs.

We watch a movie and fall asleep sitting on the couch

Vince wakes up with the sun (7am) and comes downstairs and wakes us up.

I get Vince cereal.  Joel finishes the movie.

I am exhausted!

Brad is still sleeping in our bed alone.  I am jealous!

Brad comes downstairs.

We have breakfast.

I swear I am going to take a nap later and never find time!

My Valentines!

My darling valentines!  I love them so much!

Vince, Brad, Cecilia and Joel sitting in front of their window artwork

Brad and Cecilia....not completely dressed from her diaper change

Vince talking to his sister

Joel thrilled to be holding Cecilia

So proud to be a big brother!

My helpers making cupcakes

First group picture...only 1 was crying!

Sleeping in School

Yesterday we went to church and Vince had Sunday School.  We were told after Sunday School that Vince was sitting in the corner during music time and that one of the teachers talked to him and he jumped up and started singing with everyone else.  I thought it was strange but didn't give it much thought.  Later in the evening Vince wanted to play church.  Brad was supposed to be Vincent Craig Stewart, I was Miss Claire (his current Sunday School teacher) and Vince was going to be Tyler.  At first Brad didn't want to play and I told him we should just to see what Vince thinks of Sunday School.  Plus at that point he was only asking Brad to play and I hadn't been recruited yet! 

I was told to read a book to the class and Vince told Brad that he was Vincent Craig Stewart and he needed to fall asleep.  We asked Vince if he fell asleep at school and he said "Yes, I was tired so I took a little rest!"  We tried to explain that you don't sleep during school unless it is nap time for everyone.  Vince said "Yeah, but I was tired so I took a rest."  We explained it several more times and he still didn't seem to care.  Bottom line, he was tired and he needed a nap.  Finally I asked "Didn't you have a good sleep last night?  Why were you tired?"  Vince said "No, I didn't have a good sleep because I keep reading that scary book at night."  Every night we let Vince pick out a book to read and the last few nights he has picked a Halloween book that we have had since October and he loves to read.  I guess he doesn't love it as much as we thought or at least not at bedtime!

Last week he was crying in Sunday School this week he falls asleep.  Hopefully he stays awake next week because the Sunday School kids are supposed to be singing during church!

Visitors

After Cecilia was born we had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours.  At first I wasn't thrilled about this because I only stayed 24 hours with the boys and that was enough for me.  I just felt like I could never get any rest because there was a constant stream of nurses, doctors, etc coming in to check on us.  It turns out that the second day you are there they don't check on you as much and all the official baby paperwork is done so it is a lot more relaxing and you actually do get to rest a little.  It was also nice because we got a few visitors that we wouldn't have seen if we didn't stay the full 48 hours.

Vince holding his baby sister

Cecilia, Mommy and Aunties

On Monday night we had a room full of visitors.  Seriously I don't think you could have fit any more people in the room.  Grandma Diane and Grandpa Craig brought Vince and Joel up and were there for an hour when my mom, Dave, Kasi, Kennidy and Tina arrived.  About 5 minutes later my Dad and Jill walked into the room.  There were 13 people plus Cecilia in the room!  It was nice to see everyone and have them meet their new grandchild/sister/niece.  Vince asked everyone "Are you hear to hold my baby sister?"  He then took it upon himself to determine who got to hold her and in what order.  Grandma Dawn and Aunt Kennidy were begging to hold Cecilia.  Vince turned to Tina who was waiting quietly and said "Aunt Tina can hold her first!"  Then he said the rest of the order.  Poor Grandma Dawn was picked last but he did let her hold Cecilia for more than 30 seconds which is all he gave everyone else.  It was nice to see everyone and it was the first time I had seen Dave since he got home from his heart surgery a couple weeks ago.  He looked great!

Papa Razzi (Dave) and Cecilia

Aunt Tina and Cecilia

Aunt Kennidy and Cecilia

Grandpa Craig and Cecilia

Grandma Diane and Cecilia

Jill and my dad were the last ones to leave.  At one point Brad was laughing at the three of us because he was sitting holding Cecilia and my dad, Jill and I were all on our phones and looking at Facebook.  Jill and my dad had posted pictures of Cecilia and they were trying to see who was got the most likes and comments in the shortest period of time!  We can turn anything into a competition.

Nanno and Cecilia

Grandma Dawn and Cecilia

1 of 100 pictures of Aunt Kasi with Cecilia

On Tuesday Aunt Linda, Amanda and Winston came to visit and meet Cecilia.  Unfortunately Brad missed seeing them because he had gone with Grandma Diane and the boys to Bounce Town.  I got to have a nice visit and be reminded how quickly babies grow.  Winston is close to 5 months old and he looked so big and grown up compared to Cecilia.  It is hard to believe how much she is going to grow in that short period of time!

Amanda and her new baby cousin

Aunt Linda and Winston

Later on Tuesday my friend Cassie stopped by.  She is in nursing school and had a rotation at the hospital and was sweet enough to come say hi and meet Cecilia.  Vince, Joel, Brad and Grandma Diane were all there when Cassie stopped by and Vince once again asked "Are you here to hold my baby sister?" 

Joel watching his movie

Tuesday evening I was just sitting in the hospital bed holding Cecilia and waiting for Brad to bring dinner back to the room when a nurse came in to ask if it was ok for my cousin Ryan to come in.  I said sure but at the same time I was thinking she must have the name wrong because my cousin Ryan lives in Kentucky!  A couple seconds later Ryan came walking into my room.  I was stunned and so excited to see him!  Ryan was in town for business and was driving near the hospital and talking on the phone to his mom (my godmother) and she told him that he was driving right by me.  Ryan decided to stop and visit!  When Brad arrived with dinner he was just as shocked as I was to see Ryan!  It was such a fun surprise visit!

Ryan visiting his new cousin

We are very blessed to have such wonderful and loving family and friends in our lives!

Our New Addition

On Monday February 6th we were blessed with a daughter, Cecilia Berdene.  My great great grandmother's name was Cecilia and Brad's grandmother's middle name was Berdene.  The boys both have family names and we wanted to continue with that tradition.  It was so wonderful to finally meet her, hold her and love on her.  I was so convinced she would arrive early so when her due date came and went the anticipation was killing all of us.

Cecilia wrapped in the blanket Grandma Pat made for her.

Holding Mommy's finger

When my in-laws brought the boys up to meet their sister we weren't exactly sure how it would go.  We were prepared as we possibly could be.  The boys came up after nap time, my in-laws picked up dinner to eat at the hospital with us, and Brad had the portable DVD player ready to go with a movie to help entertain the boys.  Vince jumped up on the bed with me and Cecilia and said "She's a girl.  She's a girl.  I tell you she was going to be a girl and she still is.  Coo chee coo chee coo.  She is so cute!"   Joel saw the DVD player as soon as he walked into the room and didn't really care about anything else.  A little while later he came up on the bed with me and mumbled something and then said "That baby!" and I asked him if he wanted to kiss her head and he did.  Then he quickly crawled down to finish his dinner and movie.  It was by far the best reaction I could have ask for from the boys.

Daddy holding her feet

Seeing me in the hospital bed with an IV catheter and wearing a hospital gown really was a bit much for Vince.  He had been pretty emotional the couple days before Cecilia arrived.  He would be fine for awhile and then just start crying or asking me to hold him for no reason.  When we were at the hospital he kept asking if it was still ok to give me kisses and hugs.  It about broke my heart!  When it was time for them to go back home with Grandma Diane and Grandpa Craig Vince was in tears and kept saying he wanted to stay with me "all day long."  Brad walked them out to the truck and told me the boys were both fine until the walked outside and then they both started crying.  My two momma boys just didn't want to leave me.  Luckily I knew that once they got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house they would be fine.  When they came to visit on Tuesday they were much better.  The fact that I was wearing real clothes and no longer had a catheter in helped a lot.  Vince noticed as soon as he came in to see me.  No one melted when it was time to leave either!

Daddy, Mommy, Cecilia

On Wednesday afternoon Brad brought Cecilia and I home and then Grandma Diane dropped the boys off a few hours later.  The dogs were so excited to have everyone home, the boys were running laps (and making Brad join them) around the house and taking breaks to get as close to me as possible and I was happy to have everyone home and just sit and watch the chaos!  It finally became real that we are the parents of 3 kids!

Cecilia showing us how she can wink.

1st family picture...not sure why Vince has a wrinkle nose.

The boys and Croc

On Tuesday the boys and I spent the day playing outside.  The weather was amazing except it was so windy at our house that we ended up playing in the shed and horse barn.  The kids and I were just happy to be outside!  The shed is basically our garage so we have several toys out there we can play with.  The kids were given a small trampoline for Christmas so they were happy to have the chance to jump on it, play on the slide, and enjoy some other random toys around.  After an hour or so I suggested we go visit the horses.  Joel was out the door, running across the yard and disappearing into the horse barn before Vince and I could even get out of the the shed!  Joel loves the horses!

Brad and Joel riding Croc

Joel very happy to be riding with Daddy

When Vince and I got to the barn Joel was picking out some strands of hay to feed to the horses.  Which was good for me because he has been known to try to crawl under or over the gate or try and squeeze himself between the gate and the fence post.  Lucky for me his head it too big to squeeze between the gate and the fence post, he always gets stuck!  We don't have any good areas to really play in the barn.  The horses are all kind enough to come over and say hello and don't mind the kids running around, squealing or climbing on the fence to pet them.  The problem is that both the kids like to be in the pen with the horses.  I can easily take 1 kid in at a time and let them sit on a horse and pet all the horses, but two kids is not so easy.  Vince is very good at waiting his turn, but Joel gets mad if he is left behind and tries to get in the pen on his own.

Brad and Vince having a discussion...Vince was not happy

Grandma Diane taking over!  Vince was much happier.

Tuesday while we were out there Joel was begging to ride one of the horses so I put him on top of one of them and just let him sit there.  He was very happy.  Vince, who rarely asks to sit on the horses, said "I want to ride Croc."  I told him to come over to the fence and I would let him ride Croc.  To which he replied "No, I want to ride Croc with a saddle and my helmet outside, Mommy!"  I tried to explain to him that it was too windy and we needed Daddy around to help us but Vince was not happy.  I offered to take him to Grandma's and he could ride one of her horses in the arena, but that was not cutting it either.  He was determined that he was going to ride Croc!  After a couple phone calls to my mother in law and Brad we had an official plan that on Wednesday when Brad was done with work I would meet him at the farm with the boys and Croc and Brad could help Vince ride.

Vince thinking he is steering, but Croc was following Grandma.

Vince very happy and gaining confidence.

Croc is Brad's horse and we have had him about 1 year.  He is amazing and we have found very little that bothers him.  Brad and I both have talked about how we would take a couple more horses just like him for the boys someday.  Brad hasn't ridden Croc since this fall and just jumped right on him in the arena and he was pretty much perfect!  Joel kept dragging me around the arena trying to catch up with Brad while he was riding and finally Brad stopped so Joel could ride with him.  Joel had a look on his face like that was the only place he wanted to be in the whole world!

Joel was mad he wasn't riding so he played with Daddy's phone.

Vince practicing flags.  Croc is embarrassingly dirty on his right side.

Brad wanted Vince to ride double with him too, but Vince only wanted to ride Croc by himself!  Brad was not happy that Vince wouldn't ride with him but finally gave in.  Brad was trying to help Vince from the ground and teach him different things, but it just wasn't going the way Brad or Vince wanted.  Croc was being super good but Vince just wasn't wanting to listen to all of Brad's detailed instructions.  Luckily Grandma Diane was there and took over, which Vince had wanted from the beginning.  Before we left our house he was telling me that I could stay home and watch Joel and Grandma would help him with Croc.  For whatever reason it is just easier to listen to Grandma sometimes.  Grandma and Vince had a great time and Vince did really well.  I am excited that both the boys are interested in the horses!  If Vince continues to like Croc this much Brad may be forced to ride Ray (our Percheron) this summer.

Brad riding Ray a couple years ago...he is next to a small horses so he looks a little bigger than he really is.