47 Weeks

I think in the next few weeks Santino will be walking on this own. Lately he's standing without holding onto anything for balance. Rob has seen him take 2 or 3 steps on his own several times now and Santino walks when we hold onto both of his hands. Maximus tries to get him to walk as well.

 

Santino knows the sign for milk and he'll usually sign it when I ask him.

 

He likes a version of egg salad, but we make it with hard boiled eggs and avocados seasoned with dill, cumin, garlic powder & pepper. Actually, this is my new favorite sandwich. So good! Rob recently introduced it to me.

 

When S was much younger he didn't care for peas, but the last few days he has been eating brown rice and peas.

 

Tonight he had lemons. He made a funny face when he swallowed them, but he ate more. After that he had a very small sampling of some chocolate gelato. He really dug that.

 

Last week we started swim lessons. I've only been in the water once with him, but he had fun. He also went on the swing by himself for the first time and Maximus got a kick out of pushing him.

 

Santino likes to open and close the dishwasher door. So now we try and remember to keep it locked. The stuff he does and gets into reminds me so much of Maximus when he was little.

 

He's also a climber. We have a couple of boxes of diapers that he and Maximus like to climb all over.

 

I've got a short video of the two boys together. Maximus is trying to get Santino to walk. You'll be able to see the boxes in our living room that they like to play with too. haha...

 

 

If you didn't see it, please check out this post from yesterday and help me wish my mom's cousin, Elaine, Happy Birthday. She just turned 90 years old!

 

Happy day!

Happy Birthday Elaine!!!

Maximus:  Hey, Santino. Mama wants to take a picture of us.

 

Santino:  Okay. What's the sign for?

Maximus:  It's Elaine's birthday today.

 

Santino:  How old is she?

 

Maximus:  90 years old.

 

Santino:  Say WHAT???

 

Maximus:  Yep. You heard me right!

 

Santino:  Whoo hoo! She's gonna have a lot of birthday candles to blow out!

 

____________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Happy Birthday to my mom's first cousin, Elaine. I first started corresponding with Elaine about 5 years ago. She faithfully reads my blog, is one of my biggest cheerleaders, and is so kind to me and my boys. Even though we've never met in person, we stay in contact with each other. She's bright, funny, kind and such a dear friend to me.

 

Happy 90th Birthday, Elaine! I hope to meet you before you turn 100!

 

Love to you,

Heidi & the boys

Parks & Recreation

 

The boys love to get out and play. And lately, we've been doing a lot of that.

 

Last week, after our music class at the library, Santino got to try out his first pair of shoes at the park.

 

Maximus had fun climbing up the rock wall...

 

and coming down the slide.

 

Santino was very interested in his shoes as well as anything on the ground.

 

This guy got sprayed in mud.

 

Such a boy!

 

Last weekend, Rob joined Maximus on the slide at a nearby school playground.

 

Earlier this week, I took the boys for the first time to a track near our house. Maximus looks like a long distance runner with years of running under his belt in this photo.

 

Here's a closer view. See what I'm talking about? haha...

 

Lunch break, everyone!

 

I had M stand by lane 7, since he was born on the 7th and seven is my favorite number!

 

How is it possible? Maximus is looking so grown up!

 

This week we started swimming. When we were going from the car to our class on Tuesday, Maximus insisted on pushing Santino in the stroller.

 

But, someone got the time wrong...(oops)!!! The class was almost over when we arrived, so we watched a little and then went out back to the playground.

 

Thursday we made it on time to swim. Santino and I are in a class together and Maximus is taking a class on his own; however, M didn't want to get in the water, so he sat on the sidelines. I think it might take another time or two and Maximus will be okay to get in by himself. He did really well when he took the "baby and me" classes when he was younger.

 

Maximus got a kick out of pushing Santino on the swing.

 

Another "first" for this little guy.

 

I had to throw this photo in here...it was taken on Father's Day over at Rob's parent's house. These boys both LOVE the hammock!

 

I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy the last few days of June.



46 Weeks

What's new?

• Sleeping for longer stretches at night this last week - sometimes only waking up once or twice.
• Hair on the back of his head is getting wavy.
• Responding more to things we tell him to do.
• Helps me with laundry - likes to pull out clean clothes and hand them to me.
• Loves going into our garage. He hears the echo in there that Maximus and I are always talking about. So to hear it for himself, Santino will say, "ahh...ahh...ahh..."
• Says "nigh nigh" or a form of that, for Night Night.
• Gets SO excited when Rob comes home from work. If Santino hears him coming, he likes to stand by the baby gate and greet Papa when he walks up the stairs.
• Arches his back when on my lap, to look at the mobile above the chair.
• Constantly grabbing Maximus' water bottle and drinking from it, when it's within reach.
• Maximus likes feeding Santino crackers and small snacks.

 Love these boys!

 

45 Weeks & Happy Father's Day

It still takes a lot of distracting and various props to get Santino to lie still for these photos. He's got a pincher toy here that Maximus uses a lot to pick up toys and other things.

I'm pretty sure Santino will be getting more teeth soon. He's been a bit more fussy lately and his gums appear swollen next to his lower front teeth.

The other day, Santino was in his crib and I had my back to him. Next thing I know, I hear the door opening. That little stinker reached the handle while standing in his crib, and opened the door. It about scared me to death, because Maximus was in his room in bed and nobody else was home. S also likes to play with light switches if he can reach them.

I wanted to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the Dads, past & present. It seems like Mothers get most of the credit for raising kids, but let's not forget all of the dedicated Fathers out there.

To Rob, thank you for loving our boys, being an involved Papa and for always taking care of us. To my Dad, I couldn't ask for a better role model. I'm one grateful girl! And to my father-in-law, I appreciate all of your love and support throughout the years.

Splash!

Yesterday I took the boys to the fountains near our house. 

 

It was the first time for Santino to experience water outside the bathtub.

 

Maximus of course had a blast!

 

While Santino found a friend to play with.

 

S appeared to be cheering M on from a distance.

 

 

Maximus was perfectly content running around and entertaining himself...while the lovebirds were getting acquainted.

 

After the boys were finished playing, we took the stroller and walked over to the manmade lake, (previously a rock quarry) and we ate our lunch.

 

Such a great time of year...

 

 

Happy day!

44 Weeks

 

Here's the latest with this little guy:

• Loves to climb the stairs.
• Responds by crawling over to the staircase when we tell him we're going upstairs.
• Enjoys the outdoors, stroller rides and playing at the park.
• Laughs and smiles when playing peek-a-boo.
• Pulls himself up to a standing position and holds onto our legs when we're in the kitchen.
• Loves to climb all over Rob & Maximus and play.
• Stood on his own for a quick second or two recently for Rob. 
• Said "ball" a couple of times the other day when Rob was with him.
• Been eating strawberries as well as smoothies with spinach and fruit and with either yogurt or avocado mixed together.

 

According to the pediatrician, Santino has eczema. The poor little guy gets red blotchy spots all over his back, tummy and on his arms and legs. But, it seems like it may be food related. Rob and I are trying to keep watch to see if that's the case. Today his skin flared up. Perhaps it's from the pineapple in the smoothie he had? And usually after a bath, it looks worse. I'm sure it has something to do with heat as well.

 

We're having some nice weather lately, so I've been taking the boys to a park near our house.

 

Santino really tries to keep up with his big brother. I can only imagine the fun they'll have once they can run and chase after each other!

 

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Our dear friends' daughter got married on Saturday. Rob stayed home with the boys and I took my sweet friend Dawn. We had a great time...gorgeous bride, handsome groom & wonderful food. It was an incredible venue - a LOT of fun!

 

Happy day!