17 months

Time is flying by. Connor has transitioned to the walker room at daycare and seem to be a little overwhelmed by the room and all the kids. He is by far the youngest in the room and the smallest and while he doesn’t cry when I leave he just has wide saucer eyes and walks around staring at everything and everyone. He was never much of a paci or lovie fan, just using them in the crib and naps and bedtime. That has definitely changed. He takes the paci and lovie (favorite is the white one) out of his crib each morning and carries them around with him. He takes them in the car and to daycare. He is allowed to sit with the lovie in the morning but at some point during the day they put the blanket in his cubby. The minute I pick him up he starts requesting the lovie back and cuddles up with it. 

He is now using a spoon and fork to eat and seems to be able to get food in his mouth this way most of the time. He ends up giving up towards the end and using his hands but they have been working with him in the new room at daycare and he seems to be picking it up well. 

Words – this month he added book, shoe, nose – letting us know when he needs it wiped (he loves baby wipes) & poop – letting us know when he needs to be changed about 50% of the time. The first 2 new words are also 2 things that he has become very interested in this month. He continues to dispense a lot of gibberish with the occasional word that is understandable. He has a lot to say when he first sees you and while in the kitchen for whomever will listen. 

Shoes – he is obsessed with wearing everyone’s shoes. In the morning and evening he will take shoes off the mat and wear them around the house. In the matter of minutes he can try one and walk around in at least 5 pairs of shoes. He does not appear to care who’s shoes they are, just so they are not his. He will wear Luke’s, Hunter’s, mine, or a combination of different shoes. 

Books - He has also finally started to allow us to “read” books with him while he sits on our laps. Instead of actually reading the story we just point out the pictures on the page. He likes the animal books and is able to roar at the pictures of the lions and tigers. So far his only animal sound. 

Sleep - It's still the same, I tried to transition him to 1 nap a day but that resulted in only a 1-1.5 hour nap instead of two 1-1.5 hour naps so I added the morning nap back in. This week he has been waking at 5 or 6 for the bottle instead of 4 so hopefully that early morning bottle will come to an end!! 

Connor still loves being downstairs with his brothers any chance he gets, and can hold a hockey stick and hit the puck if he is playing with them. He has gotten better at going up and down the stairs but still needs to be spotted going down since he slides down so fast and sometimes still tries to turn around. He loves to dance, which consists of picking up each foot rapidly and shaking his hands and take bathes. The water has to be running the entire time so he can play with it, drink from it and dunk his head under it. If I turn it off, he can now stand up and turn it back on. He still hates the car and diaper changes.

16 months

Wow, its already time for your 16 month update.  The biggest change this month is your ability to get your point across.  You shake your head no when you don’t want something which makes it a lot easier to figure out what you need.  You bang your hand on the door to the basement or on chairs to let us know you either want to go play downstairs or sit somewhere.   You love to play downstairs by the way.  We took you downstairs for the first time on Thanksgiving and you are now obsessed with playing there. You are also our little pianist.  You beg to sit on the bench and play or bang the keys.

Words – you have added a few this month: agua, apple, hi, ma for milk & more, go and uh oh.  You love to drop things and say uh oh.  You have destroyed a number of sippy cups by cracking them as they crash to the floor.

Connor is still taking 2 naps – morning and afternoon, but I think we will be down to one pretty soon, the morning nap is getting later and later.  The bedtime routine is still the same as last month, down at 7pm and up around 4am for a bottle, then back down until about 7 or 7:30.  When it’s time to go up to bed, he says night night to everyone as he is being carried up the stairs, so cute.

We have finally dropped bottles during the day, he only gets one for bedtime and at the 4am feeding.  He is eating everything we are now and seems to be pretty easy to feed.  He isn’t a huge fan of veggies but will eat a few with meals.  Loves fruit – blueberries, mandarin oranges, apples, mango, strawberries…..Pasta is the easiest meal since he can feed himself and loves it. 

Connor has been pretty healthy (knock on wood this winter). We had to take him to the doctor right after Christmas, his eye lids were very swollen. He had an infection called cellulitis which thankfully was cured pretty quickly with amoxicillin.  Still no ear infection!! A miracle. 

As you can see from the picture, Connor loves helmets - football and hockey and wears them every chance he gets. He runs around all day long and never stops.  Puzzles and most toys have yet to hold his attention. 

Christmas 2013

Christmas this year came and went in a flash.  The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was short this year and being busy with three active boys didn't help.  Maybe next year we can fit in more baking and crafting but we did get the important things done - our annual trip to Santa and shopping.

Hunter and Luke are both huge DC sports fans so their gifts revolved around the Caps, Redskins and Nationals.  In addition they both received Kindle tablets, legos and video games.

Connor is still too young to get caught up in toys but he received this years Hess truck and a Little People farm.  He was pretty excited by all the paper and boxes.

After breakfast we went to Gigi and Papa's for more presents, brunch and dinner.

My parents bought Connor and Liam a spherovelo ride on toy which was a huge hit.

Trying to contain Liam and Connor in a house that wasn't child proofed made for a challenging day, but there was minimal crying from either of them and they both managed to nap.

A Zeoli Christmas

The weekend before Christmas Kelly and Darin brought the boys up to visit and exchange gifts.  As usual, the boys got along great and had a wonderful time together.

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.