The kid likes to squeeze into tight spots

Connor's 1st Haircut

Like with Hunter and Luke I was scared taking him for a haircut.  The others have thrown major tantrums and we have been forced to hold a screaming child on our laps while the barber attempts to cut their hair. Connor was the complete opposite.  Sat in the chair completely content and let her trim away!!

14 months & 15 months

I am going to combine the two months into one update since I never got around to writing a 14 month update. Connor has changed from a baby to a toddler in the last couple of months. He refuses to sit in his high chair, shakes his head no if he doesn't want something and cries if you deny him something he wants.

In addition to his previous words, he can now say mama, dada, bye bye, nana for banana, Papa, & guys (he usually shots that when looking for Hunter and Luke.)

He is sleeping pretty well, up a couple times to fuss and he can settle himself and then for a bottle about 4am.  He is waking around 7.  

He is up to 12 teeth I think and eats everything we do for meals now.  He refuses the squeezy packets of food which were a nice quick fix when I was trying to prepare his food.  

Halloween

Kerry had to travel this year so I got to take all the kids trick or treating together.  Connor is usually in bed by 7 so I was nervous how he would do in the stroller.  Well, he was great.  He sat as I pushed him and didn't make a peep the entire time.

Again this was my attempt at a group shot.  Connor was trying to make a mad dash out of the picture the entire time.  By the third shot Connor was out and Hunter was holding him by his tail.  Too cute!

Pumpkin Patch 2013

We met Gigi, Papa, Mark, Robin and Liam at the pumpkin patch and boy was it hot.  This is the hottest I remember since we started coming, I think the high was 85.  The boys had a blast as usual, complete with hayride to the patch, hotdogs and caramel apples.

As usual lately, Connor refuses to let me take a picture of all of them together.  Here is the best I got!!

13 months old

Happy 13 months Connor!! You got your first pair of shoes since your birthday, courtesy of Gigi and within a couple minutes of having them on you were off and haven’t stopped since.

You still only have 2 words, ball and bye bye but seem to be working on banana. When will mama and dada come? You also got your top molars this month which puts your teeth count at 10! You are very early with teeth. We have been spending a lot of time playing outside, and you love swinging and pushing and being pushed on your little scooter.

Sleep – wow, you are stubborn just like your brothers. As I write this we had a bad night. You cried off and on from 2:45-4:15. When oh when will you realize that it will only be daddy coming in to give you the paci??

Your appetite is still great, and you have figured out that if you waved your hand from side to side that means you don’t want it. If you wave your hands up and down I know you are super excited to be eating. It is really cute. I would say your current favorites are pasta, mandarin oranges, cheese, banana, yogurt, yogurt melts, and chicken. You have also figured out that you can push the gates out of your way to get up the stairs…..very dangerous for us!! You are an active little guy we love you so much…..

1st Day of School

Hard to believe Hunter starts 3rd grade this year and Luke is in Kindergarten.  Unfortunately I couldn't convince Hunter to wear a different shirt and we all know how stubborn he can be about his outfits, so I didn't make a huge issue about it.  Although he didn't specifically say anything, I think he had some anxiety about starting at a new school and had a meltdown before we left the house.  So as you can see from the picture of him at school his mood is quite different between the two pictures.  Once he got to school he was fine and both had great starts to the school year and loved their classes.

Connor is 1

We celebrated Connor's birthday on Labor Day with a brunch for family and friends. He had a great time and loved trying cake for the first time.As you can see from the picture, Connor is walking full time and never stops.  Just like the other two he is a very active boy and never sits still.  He hates having his diaper changed and makes it near impossible.  On the other hand, he loves bath time.  If you aren't quick enough the minute he enters the bathroom he darts for the tub and will climb into it in about a second if you aren't careful.  

Connor has a whopping 8 teeth and loves to eat.  Vegetables aren't his first choice but if that is all you put down he will eat a few.  He loves pasta, fruit, chicken, yogurt, you name it.  We are slowly trying to switch from the bottle to the sippy cup, my that is a slow process.  Boy loves milk in a bottle!!

I can't believe I can write this, but we have had no ear infections, actually other than a few 24 hour viruses this kid is super healthy.  Such a welcome change to Luke who started with ear infections at 5 months and had 2 sets of tubes.

We are still trying to work on the sleep issue, and hired a consultant to help us get him sleeping though the night.  I just have to go cold turkey on nursing over night, something I have been reluctant to do since for that week at least we will be getting zero sleep.

Connor's favorite toy is still balls, and that is pretty much the only word he says.  We joke that he also says "I did it" because whatever he is babbling sounds exactly like that.  It is super funny.  We love this little munchkin (and I do mean little, measures in at the 1st percentile for height) and are so thankful he is ours!! 

Our Summer Vacation

This year we went to Myrtle Beach and met up with Kerry's brother and sisters & their families.  We were all able to stay in the same condo complex which made it really easy to get together.

This was the first year that Hunter was confident enough to ride the waves and he loved it.  Luke even was able to ride some in that were close to shore.  Sandy and Gary took the boys out for mini golf and bought each a boogie board which they loved.

The baby on the other hand didn't like much about the beach this year, the sand, the water, nothing seemed to make him happy.

Hunter and Luke couldn't get enough of their cousins.  Although they may not see each other often, they always pick up right where they left off and really have a great time together.

During the week we took a day trip to Charleston.  It is one of our favorite cities and was a nice diversion from the beach week.  We were able to go to the Children's Museum, the Aquarium and play in the outdoor sprinklers. Luke got soaked and loved every minute.

The drive was probably the most difficult part of the trip.  We tried to break both drives up.  On the way down we stopped in Raleigh and on the way back Richmond, but it was still tough for the little ones to be in the car that long.

The boys missed their cousins and Aunts and Uncles the minute we left and were asking when we could do it all again.  It was a great family vacation.

11 Months Old

Connor is walking more and more these days.  He is taking multiple steps in a row to get to things.  It won't be much longer before he swaps crawling for walking full time.    Baby proofing is in full swing and the gates are up. Any chance he gets he is crawling up the stairs. He has 6 teeth and is eating more solid food than baby food.  Hooray!!  He loves sweet potatoes, pasta, all fruit and pancakes and waffles. Sleep is still a major problem, he is still up 3 times a night to nurse and won't take no for an answer. 

Pitching Practice

10 months old

Happy 10 month birthday little man!!  You are a firecracker just like your brothers.  You are crawling everywhere, up the stairs,into the bathtub, into the vents in the floor, basically anywhere you aren't supposed to be.

You are balancing for longer periods of time on your feet but prefer to be cruising around the furniture still.  

 You have 5 teeth and love to bit us, particularly daddy's shoulder. 

 This month you have really started eating most of what we eat, we still supplement with the purees but you are starting to prefer to eat really people food. 

 You love the pool and fight to be free of me holding on to you. 

 Sleep isn't great but better, you are typically up twice a night and we have eliminated the overnight feedings, which I hope will help soon with the night wakings.

You are a really happy baby. You prefer to be close to mom and dad, and have developed a real separation anxiety in the last couple of months. Hope that ends quickly...... Walking and your first birthday are right around the corner, I can't believe it!!

Hunter is 8

Hunter celebrated his 8th birthday on the last day of school this year.  He continues to excel in school and was accepted into the GT program for 3rd grade.  Hopefully this program will provide the challenge that he needs since to date he hasn't really had to work much in school.  We have had a lot of behavioral problems with him in school this year. It seems he likes to be the center of attention and make his classmates laugh. Fingers crossed this program will also keep him on task more but we will be meeting his teacher in the beginning of the year just in case. 

He also loves sports, and played baseball, soccer and lacrosse this season and enjoyed them all. 

A few things to note about you this year:

Your favorite color is green, favorite show is Looney Tunes, you love all DC sports teams, Legos, Avatar, & Gigi's lemon chicken.

Your best friends are Alex and Evan. 

You made the travel soccer team and were so excited. Hopefully we can fit in one additional sport each season.

For his birthday, Kerry took 6 of his friend to a Nationals Game then back to the house for cake and ice cream.

It was a really hot day and they only lasted 4 innings then back to our house for cake and ice cream. One of the issues we have been dealing with lately is Hunter's ultra competitiveness. It erupted at his party and he got into a fight with one of his guests. Unfortunately, he refused to come down and apologize so we missed singing him happy birthday this year and blowing out his candles. I am still upset about this, I can't believe he was so out of control. We are continuing to work on managing his temper and not letting himself get to the point of losing control, but I think this will always be part of who he is.

Graduation Day

Luke graduated from preschool yesterday and he was so excited.  The kids gave a performance, he was a giraffe and they all did great.  Its hard to believe that he will be in kindergarten next year.  He has learned so much this year.  When he started pre-K he struggled to write his letters and numbers correctly.  Now he is reading, writing with excellent penmanship and doing double digit addition and subtraction.  In addition he has such a great work ethic, he is really focused on getting his work done and getting it done well.  We are so proud of him!

Luke's many outfits

This is just one day worth of outfits.  He changes at least this many times each weekend day.  Most of the outfits involve Hunters clothes and are sports related.  He really likes to color coordinate and wear shin guards, cleats and/or a cup!  In the last picture he is actually wearing a cardigan of Connors with underwear from Hunter, who knows why.  It just makes for sooooo much laundry!