18 Month Stats

We visited Dr. Denison the night before we took off for Iowa for JD's 18 month checkup. Overall he's doing fine - we're going to continue the breathing treatments once a day -and he is having surgery to fix his umbilical hernia in September.

Weight: 27lbs 6 oz
Length: 33 inches
Head: Still Huge (20 inches)

Justin is still being pretty stingy with his words. He'll say one here and there and then not say it again for weeks. He has uttered Truck , Tractor, Grandma, Grampa, Jeff (yes all you aunts and uncles- be jealous- he uttered Jeff first), Duck and he regularly says "uh-oh." I've noticed just this week he has started saying more - so I'm sure he'll be babbling non-stop soon.

He transferred to a new room at daycare this week too - so drop off has been not-so-fun. His teacher says he's fine 5 minutes after I leave though. She has commented to me each day that he has a good appetite. For those of you who have seen the kid eat- I swear he is currently eating twice what he normally does - and you know that is a LOT.

Rocks are fun...

Congrats David and Elise!

Wanted to post some wedding pictures that Tara took this weekend. I'm sure we'll have some more to follow- but here are a few shots! Justin was at the reception until 11pm..he refused to fall asleep and enjoyed showing off his dance moves..

Congrats David and Elise!

It's hot

We've been stuck inside so much this summer- it is so stinkin' hot that Justin is a sweaty red mess if we're out there for 10 minutes. He loves being outside - which makes it even harder to be trapped indoors so much. We're looking forward to our trip to Iowa in a couple weeks and our trip to the Jersey Shore the week after that..we need some relief!

Being inside means more dance parties..and a lot of climbing in and out of his rocking chair - and CONSTANTLY chasing Winnie- that poor dog.

Testing out his shore hat:

Chasing Winnie in to her cage:

Angry Justin cracks me up:

Video of JD dancing to the farm song- the kid has some strange moves. I love how he gets distracted for a bit and then comes back to dancing:



While reading last week - he attempted to say Tractor. He definitely knows what they are- and if I say "go get your tractor" he runs off and finds the one he got for Christmas from Grandma and Grampa Riggan:


If you missed his Happy Birthday Dance for Uncle Jeff- it's entertaining too:

My Sweet Hawkeye

JD discovered the football that plays the fight song this weekend- and immediately started dancing - and provided many encores for me. I'm one happy Hawkeye mommy - :)

Oh the joys

This is the same boy who rolled around on the floor kicking and crying all morning..

This afternoon he was great..but this morning he cried and rolled around on the floor whenever he didn't get what he wanted- and I don't think he even knew what he wanted. He just points and grunts - a lot. And he would prefer to be outside constantly- but that's just not possible when it's 106 degrees.

He seems to be better on the health front. He is however, producing buckets of drool. I'm guessing that's from a combo of the i-teeth still coming in and the fact that his mouth is in mega-healing mode after the torture it received this last week.

A SMILE!!

I've never been so happy to see a smile - I almost cried.

He's happy in the high chair- he doesn't want down. So I've just left him there..it's just so great to see him play! Just two hours ago he was a monster baby and was only content when we were in the car driving around..I guess the drive helped?

Oh sick bugs..

Well we are on day 7 of this awful bug. Dave stayed home with Justin yesterday while I was in Austin for work - and I'm at home with him right now. He's better- he's just not 100% yet. I'm sure that it doesn't help that he is "teething" on himself. His tongue, cheeks and lips are all disgusting cause he has been chewing on himself (freak). The doctor wasn't too worried about it - said it will all heal really fast when he stops doing it. I just really wish he'd stop - it's making me crazy...

So...I hope the "5-7" days that the doctor said the bug would last...is accurate..I really hope we're at the end! It's been a long week!

Stomach Bug Weekend

Well - Justin is breathing just fine now- but of course something else had to happen! He was up pretty much all night on Thursday and it was obvious his tummy was bothering him - and then Friday he was pretty lethargic and got sick on Dave Friday after work. He was sick again Saturday morning - and he's been really out of it all weekend. He wants to either be held - or be in his swing - or we brought the umbrella stroller in and Dave is pushing him around the house in it now. Poor little guy. If it's not one thing it's another!

Another fun-filled parenting weekend! ;) Hoping it clears up so we don't end up back at the doctor's office this week!

Cry it out

Well after two nights of 30 minute crying episodes and a couple nights of 10 minute episodes- Justin has layed down without a peep for several nights! I realize I just jinxed it- but I had to share!

He and Winnie have continued chasing each other around, which has led to hysterical laughter by Justin, we have had some more dance parties, and he has been learning about tractors. Very eventful life we lead. :)

This is the longer version of Justin's hysterical laughter that I had emailed around when he was chasing Winnie the other night:



Some more dance moves:


Excuse the Imagination Movers which sounds like it is blaring in the background in the next one- I swear it's wasn't on as loud as it sounds! It's almost as if Justin is using real words here! :) We're getting there- even though everything sounds like "da" most days. (the embedded link isn't currently working -try visiting it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkpuVUnWeK4



I've been testing out the iTouch for videos. I don't like it as well as the Flip- but it's usually closer when I want to snag a video of something. And since Flip is going to be defunct sooner rather than later- I figured I should figure out what I'll do when Cisco quits supporting it and the editing software won't work as well as it does now. I'm taking all recommendations for other things to look at - I'll miss the Flip! I hope it continues to work well for awhile!

Then and Now..

His love for chasing Winnie has not waned with time..

Today:


Last October: