Dentist!

Connor went for his first dental checkup last week and did great! We've been talking it up and prepping him for the appointment so he knew what to expect. We took him to a pediatric dentist which was totally catered to kids. The staff was super friendly and the office was decked out with Rudolph paraphernalia. Why? The dentists name was Dr. Lesley Rudolph! He climbed in the chair and they handed him sunglasses to block the light and earphones to listen to the movie playing on the ceiling! He didn't even flinch when "Mr. Thirsty" sucked all his saliva out of his mouth. I was impressed.

We asked if the first set of teeth was any inclination as to how his permanent teeth would come in. We were referring to his top 'snaggle' tooth. It is pretty crooked and more in front of the others. Turns out that is an extra tooth! The dentist said only 3 to 5% of the population have an extra tooth in their adult set, and even less in a set of baby teeth. Go figure! According to his x-rays though it doesn't look like he has an extra one in his next set :) Either way she said the first set of teeth doesn't tell you much about the permanent set. We'll just have to wait and see!


Waiting for his x-rays

After his checkup he got to pick something from the toy tower and he got a few stickers. We were very proud of him. That night we treated him to a bowl of ice cream. He was one happy boy! 

Post Easter Egg/Beer Hunt

Say what? Yep, we attended a post Easter egg/beer hunt a couple of weekends ago at the LaBarbera's. It's an annual event for them and we were excited to finally be a part of it! Well, Connor and I that is. Poor Addie got sick that Friday with a fever so she and Daddy stayed home. We didn't want to risk getting anyone else sick. Connor had a blast though! The little kids had fun with their egg hunt and the big kids, aka adults, had fun hunting for beer! They also had a couple of bounce houses but Connor's favorite part of the whole party was getting to drive Ava's jeep!

 

 

 



Silly face!

 

The big kids with their "baskets" hunting for beer!



Connor taking Courtney for a ride :)

More fun egg/beer hunt pictures here.

Camping

I asked John to write a little blurb about their camping trip last weekend as he was there and I was not:

Last week we had a bit of a cold front that came through and left perfect weather for the weekend…low 80’s during the day and low 60’s at night.  So, Connor and I decided to take the opportunity for his first camping trip.  Fort Desoto Park is usually really hard to get into without reservations way in advance, but since it was a Sunday night they had a couple sites left.  I wish we would have had more time there, but by the time Connor woke up from his nap and I finished packing the car it was already mid-afternoon.  We got to Fort Desoto about 4:00 and Connor wanted to do some exploring right away so we checked out our site (which was right on the bay) and the facilities.  After that we set up our tent…Connor put all the poles together all by himself and helped me pound in the stakes.  We then had a little snack and hung our trash from a post (thinking it was okay in broad daylight with people everywhere) and headed to the playground for awhile.  Upon returning to camp, there was a raccoon waiting for us.  He had ripped a hole in our trash bag and finished the last bite of Connor’s yogurt.  Connor wanted to chase him, but I told him not to since raccoons out and about during the day usually aren’t safe to mess with.  So, we hung out at camp for awhile before cooking some hot dogs and baked beans on the grill.  Time flew by and it was soon dark enough to start a fire and make smores.  Connor loved them but decided they took too long to make, so we just ate the marshmallows and Hershey squares out of the bag.  By this time it was pitch black and Connor was getting pretty scared of all the noises around us caused by the other campers and nearby animals.  His big concern was that a raccoon might come over and bite us…he was scared enough that he wanted to get in the tent and go to bed.  So, we cleaned up and called it a night after playing with monster trucks in the tent for awhile.  The next morning we had breakfast, kicked the soccer ball around for awhile and then started taking down camp.  Stacy and Addison were on their way over to meet us for a day at the beach.  As we were leaving I got a text from Aunt Nancy asking how the night went, Connor said he wanted to talk to her so I called her and handed the phone to him.  I’m pretty sure that Nancy only understood about ½ of the conversation because Connor was so excited and rambling on as fast as he could about our adventures (most of the conversation centered around the raccoons that we had seen).  Overall, we had a great little trip and both are looking forward to going again.



Racoon!

Addison and I joined them Monday morning and together we headed to the beach. It was so fun to hear Connor tell me all about his camping experience. You could tell he had a really good time. We setup down by the water, not exactly the "beach" but close enough. The kids had a lot of fun in the sand, especially Addie though. And every time she saw a bird she would wave. Connor enjoyed pushing her around in the water float. She is in heaven anytime he pays attention to her. We packed up later that afternoon and Addison and I headed home. The boys were going to explore the park a bit more and check out the fort.

 

 

 

 

 

What a great four day weekend! Click here to see more of the boys camping trip and our day at the beach.

 

Easter

 

We went into Easter weekend without much planned. The kids had an Easter egg hunt at school but I wanted to see them in action myself. I also wanted to dye eggs but Connor didn't want anything to do with it and Addison is too young. And we don't really have a yard that is conducive to egg hunts so I thought we were out of luck. My friend Jen, however, graciously invited us to join them at their neighbors house for a mini egg hunt on Saturday. I jumped at the offer - thank you Jen!!!! It was a beautiful day for it too! When it was time the kids all went scrambling to find their eggs. It was so much fun to watch. Even Addie teetered around collecting eggs.

 

 

After nap time we took the kids to the park for a bit and then got ice cream :) That night we asked Connor what he thought the Easter bunny was going to bring him. He said a dog Monster Truck (which he has been wanting for awhile now...but we can't find!). The next morning Connor got up and joined me in Addison's room. I asked him if the Easter bunny came and he ran out to the living room to find out. Bebe had found the dog Monster Truck so we had put that in his basket amongst other things. I was expecting to hear him shout with excitement but he just came back into Addie's room looking disappointed and carrying a Hot Wheel. He said the Easter bunny didn't bring him his dog Monster Truck. I lead him back out to help him investigate. When he finally saw the truck he was beyond excited! He checked out the rest of his goodies and then helped his sister with hers.

 

We fixed waffles for breakfast and later had our Easter dinner for lunch. Why for lunch? Because the boys decided they were going to go camping! The weather was perfect and we had Monday off. They were going to camp at Ft De Soto and the plan was for Addison and I to join them in the morning and then go to the beach together. So the boys packed up and left and Addie and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing. She was quite whiny though as her tooth was still really bothering her. But she was happy outside so we spent a lot of time on the porch and went for a walk. Connor has several of his Monster Trucks lined up in the sand box and never lets Addison touch them. The first thing she did when she got in the sandbox was toss out each one of them. It was hilarious! I, of course, put them all back when she was done. I didn't want to hear about it when Connor got back home :p The next morning we drove to meet up with the boys. I'll save all that for another post though. To be continued...

There are many more Easter weekend pictures here.

Lowry Park Zoo



The kids school was closed this past Friday (for Easter) and Monday (for teacher workday). Four day weekend? I'll take it! Connor's buddy, Finn, was going to the zoo with his Mommy who invited us to join them and a few of her friends with boys all around the same age. I left Addison at home with Daddy so Connor and I could have some quality time together. We got there about an hour before the other kids so we had time to go look at some animals and explore the zoo a bit just the two of us. We saw a couple of rhino's, a tiger, a comodo dragon, birds and orangutans. He really liked the birds and wanted to hold and chase them. Neither of which he could do but something tells me if I wasn't watching him so closely he would have tried ;) He even got a picture with the Easter bunny!

After meeting up with Finn the boys headed straight for the kids area. First they rode the carousel together and then we headed to the banana car ride to meet up with the rest of the gang. Connor and Finn have so much fun together and today was no exception! After the rides we headed off to feed the giraffe's. That was so cool! Connor held out a piece of lettuce and the giraffe ate it straight from his hand! After the giraffe's the boys got another treat - ice cream! They were so cute standing next to one another trying to decide what they wanted. It was pretty late in the day at that point so we headed to the water area which we saved for last. Connor and Finn had fun running around and getting wet. I didn't bring Connor's bathing suit though and he didn't like the way his shorts felt all wet so he took them off and ran around in his underwear :p After drying off the boys rode the banana car ride one last time before saying their goodbye's. They are just so cute together!

Connor and I had a really fun day together. You can see more of our zoo pictures here.

  

Well Visits

Connor and Addison both had their well visits last week. Connor did great, Addie not so much. For whatever reason she was not having it that day. She cried almost the entire time we were there. It didn't help that they pricked her toe to test for iron and then gave her 3 shots: one in her thigh and one in each arm. Connor was so sweet and kept trying to comfort her, but nothing was going to do it, not this time.

Connor's stats:

Height:  37 inches (34th percentile)

Weight:  33 lbs (62nd percentile)

Addison's stats:

Height:  28.25 inches (22nd percentile)

Weight:  18 lbs 5 oz (9th percentile)

Addie is following her growth curve to the T as she was in the 23rd and 9th percentiles, respectively, back at her 9 month well visit. Yes, 18 lbs means she is still rear facing in the car and will likely be so until she is at least 15 months. She is doing much better in the car and for all we know she will hate it just as much when she's forward facing but we still have hope. I have a cute car story actually. We were driving home a couple weeks ago and the song "If You're Happy and You Know It" was playing. We thought we heard Addie singing along to it, listened more intently, and sure enough she was! Her favorite line is shouting "Hooray!" Now we sing it with her all the time, she loves it. We've had a couple of rough nights lately. We think she's getting another tooth, a molar more specifically. It better make it's debut soon. Teething and Addison don't mix well. Otherwise she is doing fantastic. She is so sweet and easy going. She eats almost anything you give her, just not a lot of it. We are having a little difficulty transitioning her to a sippy cup but she's getting better everyday. She is a full on walker now and a fast little thing too! She doesn't exactly look like she has a lot of balance but she hardly ever falls and if she does she gets right back up instead of crawling the rest of the way. 

Connor is still 100% potty trained. He hasn't even had more than a couple of accidents and both of those were in the first couple of days. I guess I just keep waiting for him to revert back or something, like this is all a fluke, but it doesn't appear so. I just can't get over how much he has grown up in the last year. From just forming sentences to carrying on full conversations at dinner, he surprises us with some of the things he says! If he sees us with our laptops out he says he wants to work, or look something up - too cute! If you ask him what he wants to look up it is usually Monster Trucks :) Daddy got him started on that by showing him videos on YouTube. He started soccer last week at school and seems to really like it. I'll have to sneak in one day to get some pictures. We're talking about enrolling him in swimming classes too, we just need to find the time.

In the last couple of weeks both kids have transitioned into new rooms at school. We love Connor's new teacher so far but don't have the same positive vibes from Addie's quite yet. Four other babies moved up with Addison so that probably helped her but she LOVED her last teacher. She's doing okay so far though. In addition to the transition to a sippy cup she also lost her crib and dropped a nap time! Lots of changes for her. Thankfully Connor moved up with his best buddies, Finn and Ethan. If you ask him he'll tell you he likes his new teacher better so that's a good sign. All in all the kids are both doing great. I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us!

Celebrating Baby Mitchell

 

My cousin, Jessica, had her baby shower this past weekend and I was so happy I could be a part of it. She lives in Dixie, GA so we don't get to see one another very often. I couldn't wait to see her belly! ;) Connor's best friend was having his birthday party the same day and I didn't want him to miss that so he and John stayed in Tampa while Addie and I made the trip north. None of my family in Georgia had ever met Addison so she had to come. Plus she is my baby shower buddy :) We left for Waldo Friday night to stay the night with my parents. The next morning, bright and early I might add, we all piled in my car and headed to Georgia. Little did we know the weather we were about to endure! We traveled at only 45 mph for most of our time on I-75. If you didn't know it was 9 o'clock in the morning you wouldn't have thought it. It was pitch black out! We were a little late but very happy to get there.

 

Jessica looked so beautiful and very happy. Pregnancy seems to be treating her well :) Addison had fun exploring the house and playing with their refrigerator magnets. After the shower we headed back to Jessica's house. I was so excited I got to see all of the DeSantiago's (with the exception of David who is off to college). My Aunt Beth put out an amazing spread of food so we grubbed and visited with one another. Sadly we couldn't stay long as we had to head back to Gainesville. I was planning on driving back to Tampa that night and still needed to visit with my Grandma and Uncle Dominique. We also wanted to time Addie's nap right. Speaking of Addie she did awesome in the car. It helped that she had live entertainment, aka Bebe, riding next to her. And we did time it right as she napped almost the whole way home. Thankfully we didn't hit any more rain but the congestion on I-75 was crazy! I've never seen it so busy, going both directions too. We ended up getting off and taking back roads. What did we do before smartphones? :p 

 

After visiting with my Grandma and Uncle Dominique we headed back to Waldo for dinner. I even got to see my Uncle Steve before leaving. I can't believe how much family time I managed to squeeze into 24 hrs! I wasn't exactly thrilled to be getting back into the car but the alternative didn't appeal to me one bit. Traveling at night with Addison is the only way to go, especially when traveling solo. I have to give her kudos though, she did so good and hardly made a peep on the drive back to Tampa. She didn't even wake up in her transfer to her crib, other than to let out a big sigh. You could just imagine her thinking, Ah...good to be home. Every time she woke up in the car she was in a different city visiting different people!

 

When I got home I was filled in on Connor and Daddy's day. They had a blast at Finn's birthday party. All of his buddies were there and though the party ended at 12:30 they were there until almost 3 pm! They had a bouce house, cotton candy machine, pizza and cake of course. The kids even kicked the soccer ball around. Afterwards they headed home for Connor's nap and then went to Target and Lowe's later. Lowe's is Connor's favorite store. It sounded like they had a great day together. When Connor was going to bed and John was leaving the room, Connor said "Daddy, you're my best friend." How cute is that?! It just melts my heart. He is such a sweet boy! ♥

 

We didn't do much Sunday. I needed a little downtime after my long Saturday. We did bike up to the park for a bit which was fun. We hadn't been since Addison started walking so it was a little bit of a different experience this time. It will be nice when she stops putting everything into her mouth though. You can't turn your eye for a second, not at the park anyway! LOL She isn't afraid of dirt...or mulch...or rubber turf. Yuck.

 

 

 

I didn't take any pics at the shower but snapped a few at Jessica's before we left. You can view those and a few more from the park here.