51 Weeks

It's as if Santino is saying, "Whoohoo! I'm so ready for my 1st birthday next week, so I don't have to pose for these 'weekly photos' anymore!!!" haha

 

The biggest news is last week we started transitioning Santino to Maximus' room. Maximus now sleeps in his toddler bed, while Santino sleeps in M's old crib. And for the most part, it's going really well. Maximus loves having his little brother in there and in the mornings, M will sometimes greet Santino by saying, "Hi buddy." He also refers to S as "bambino" since Rob and I call him that a lot.

 

Santino has another tooth coming in, his 7th tooth. It's on the lower left, next to the center front tooth. It really seems to be bothering him, poor guy. And it appears that the other side will be poking through any day as well.

 

Santino continues to practice his walking. Sometimes he takes a series of steps and other times he only does one or two. He's also getting much better with balance and can stand for longer periods without holding onto anything.

 

He tries to imitate his brother in so many ways. And he also likes to tease and play with Maximus. Santino will grab and pull at Maximus' hair. He does it when they are sitting next to each other.

 

Tonight when the boys were sitting on Rob's lap, while I was reading them a story, Santino was at it.


Silly boys.

Maximus Says...

I try to record some of the funny or clever things that Maximus says, at the time, so I can remember them. Here are some of the highlights from back in April & May. Look for more recent conversations soon. 

 

April '14

Convo #1

Maximus (talking to me):  I'm going to give baby a five on his booty.

 

Convo #2

Maximus (after I told him he couldn't have any gummy bears):  I changed my mind. I can have some.

 

Convo #3

Maximus (before Rob left for work in the morning):  You can save your hug.

Rob:  Okay, I'll save it for later.

Maximus:  You can put it in your truck.

 

Convo #4
Maximus (in the bathroom):  Can I flush the toilet?

Me:  Yes

Maximus:  Bye, Bye. Have a good day! (waving as he's flushing the toilet)

 

Convo #5
Maximus (regarding TV & Tea):  I want some tea. Papa, can you put it on pause so I can drink it out there?


Convo #6

Maximus (in response to something placed up high so Santino wouldn't grab it):  That would be dangerous, dangerous, dangerous. (as he shakes his finger at Santino).

 

Convo #7

Maximus (talking about a butterfly):  If he doesn't have a nose, he can't breathe. That's why he has a nose.

 

May '14

Convo #8

One of his blankets was in the wash and hadn't been dried in time for his nap, So I got out a special quilt that was made for him and told him he could use that instead...reminding him it was the blanket he got when he was baptized as a baby.

Maximus:  We used pellegrino water for my baptism. The pellegrino water helps the baptism. Does the guy put pellegrino water on my head? I like him...he's a nice guy.

 

Convo #9

Maximus (cleaning up blocks & telling Santino):  No. It's not time to play baby. I'll give you two more chances.

 

 

Happy weekend!

50 weeks

Today Santino walked on his own more than ever before. When we were all in the kitchen he was standing and then took off like a bow legged cowboy, taking about 10 steps. Then later this evening, after Maximus and I came in from outside, Rob said that Santino was walking a ton.

 

Besides that, here are some of the other recent developments with Santino:

• Grinds his teeth. Oh, I hate the sound of that. It's like finger nails on a chalkboard.
• Fake cough. He likes to play a game where if we cough a couple of times, he copies us. Maximus used to do the same thing as a baby.
• Loves raspberries, Joe's O's (like cheerios) steak & hotdogs. We've given him some french fries and he likes them. Don't worry, they're not a regular part of his diet. The other day when we were at the meat counter they gave Maximus a pepperoni stick. He didn't want any, but Santino sure enjoyed it. It's quite amusing watching him try different foods.
• Santino's not always fond of the high chair, so sometimes it's a challenge getting him to eat. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with being strapped down with the safety belt. But, we've discovered distraction works well. Making faces, playing games, shaking cereal boxes, spinning jar lids on the table and crinkling packaging all help to get him to stop moving/rocking and open his mouth.
• Music means it's time to dance. When he hears it, he'll bounce or wave his arms. We have "dance parties" in the kitchen and I take turns dancing with the boys. Rob joins in sometimes too.
• Peek-a-boo makes him giggle.
• M & S like chasing each other upstairs, laughing and making lots of screaming and squeals. They get so excited.
• Containers and bowls are a favorite for Santino to put on his head. He tries wearing them as hats and scoots around or walks while doing some happy babbling.
• Either this onesie he's wearing keeps shrinking, or he's growing. I'm sure it's a little of both.
• He's very alert and understands a lot of what we're saying. We can tell him "No" if he's going towards something he's not suppose to have and most of the time he'll look at us and then stop.
• When he has something that he's playing with and you take it away from him, he'll let you know his dissatisfaction.

 

I hope you all had a good weekend! I haven't been blogging as much lately and am always meaning to post more, but....it just doesn't always happen.

 

I do have several things that Maximus has been saying lately that are so cute. I'll try and share some of them this week.

 

In the meantime I'll leave you with this photo of M trying to help me get Santino to lie still for pictures today.

Happy day!



49 Weeks

It's pretty commonplace for Santino to have a number of bumps, bruises or cuts on him at any given time. He's a rough and tumble little baby. (Note the bruise on his forehead and Band-Aid on his toe).

 

Santino gets frustrated easily when he can't have something that he wants and will let you know. He's good about voicing his opinion.

 

He's been showing this kind of independence when it comes to eating as well. Lately he wants more of what we're eating and less of the baby food. Sometimes he doesn't even like us feeding him. He wants to do it himself. He likes blueberries and cucumbers. Recently he had both German Potato salad and American Potato salad and loved them both. Tonight we had carbonara and he enjoyed that.

 

When it comes to wiping food off of his face, he doesn't like it; however, if I get water on my hand and rinse off his face like that, he doesn't mind it a bit. In fact, he starts licking my hand.

 

He loves water...drinking it and playing in it, just like Maximus.

 

Santino continues to take a few steps here and there unassisted. Yesterday, he was playing on the floor while Rob, myself and Maximus were finishing up dinner. Just as I caught Santino out of the corner of my eye, Maximus announced that Santino was walking. M was the only one this time to see him take some steps. Maximus' reaction was sure cute. He thought it was so funny and we've been talking about it ever since.

 

These boys keep us busy and laughing. It's a lot of fun to watch them grow.

 

Happy day!

4th of July Photos

On the fourth, we took the boys to the fountains in the morning.

 

The water was a little cold for Santino.

 

On the other hand, it didn't stop Maximus from getting wet.

 

This boy LOVES putting his face straight in the water!

 

After lunch, we went to feed the ducks by the lake.



Later that day we went to see Rob's parents. These two cousins, (Santino & Sydney) look like they are fighting over rights to the hammock.

 

This was the first year that Maximus participated in the fireworks, so it was pretty exciting for him, and us!

 

Santino watched for a bit from the sidelines before it got to be bed time.

 

Maximus hugging his cousin, Sydney.

 

Can you say, "cake pop?"

 

All Smiles!

 

Grandpa BoBo helping M with sparklers

Cute little Sydney

 

Rob & me

 

Oh my...a fudgesicle now. So many treats at grandpa & grandma's house.

 

 

As Rob drove us home, I snapped a few photos of the fireworks out the window.

 

What a fun filled day!

 



48 Weeks

 

Lately:

• Stands and pushes the kitchen table chairs across the floor. When he gets stuck, he usually figures out that he needs to turn around and go the other way.
• Any other object that will slide across the floor he enjoys pushing...cars, bowls, boxes, you name it.
• Loves playing ball. He throws it or rolls it to us and will go after it too. He's also perfectly content playing independently.
• Still cries almost instantly when someone else tries to hold him besides me or Rob.
• Likes being on the move.
• Can you believe he'll be turning one next month?!

 

Hope you had a good 4th of July. Did you do anything exciting? We had a nice time at Rob's parent's house. Maximus had fun as this was his first year to enjoy fireworks. Santino saw a little of the action, but went to bed before it got dark. I'll try to post some photos this week.

 

Summer has been busy so far and we've been enjoying the beautiful weather here.

 

Have a good week!