IVF: Implant Anniversary

Can't believe it's been FOUR YEARS since my embryo implantation. The embryo that would grow to become our precious William Davis. 

William: 3 Year Dr Appt

3 Year Stats

Weight: 31.8 lb (usually between 32-33 lbs when we weigh him at home) (52%)

Length: 38.2 in (70%)

Eating: William is still a good eater! He eats what we eat for the most part, we usually don't have to make a special meal for him. His favorite food is hot dogs :) He eats more veggies at daycare than he will for us at home, but he's got peer pressure there. 

Naps: William is still rocking an afternoon nap each day. He eats lunch and then we have some quiet time & watch a show (Rescue Bots, Octonaughts, PJ Masks, Paw Patrol) before putting him down about 1:30/1:45pm. He sleeps about two hours, getting up about 4pm. He is quiet when he wakes up, so sometimes we don't know that he's awake and go into his room to find him playing in his bed.

Bedtime: No more crib! Bret took the front off the crib so now William has a big boy bed. William goes down for bed by 7:45pm. We read a few books, say our prayers, and sing some songs as he gets tucked in for sleep. During the week, William gets up about 7am and on weekends about 8am. His morning demeanor wavers, he is either up and ready to go or acts like he could sleep another hour. He takes after his mom and his dad, it seems.

Undies: No more diapers at this house! William wears size 3T undies all day & pull-ups for nap and nighttime. But he is getting better and better at waking up dry!

Clothes: William has switched over to 3T in shirts and pants. Some of his 3T pants are even a little short. He is apparently tall (not sure where he got that from!).

Favorites: William is always moving! If he can skip or run instead of walk, that's what he will choose. He has an amazing disposition and is a happy little guy. Now that he's big, he can play with the other big kids. He's getting better and better at his scooter & riding his tricycles. He is like his dad and wants to be outside as much as possible. I try to get him outside as much at the weather will allow.

Dislikes: William likes to be independent. He wants to be able to do everything on his own. When he needs help, Bret has taught him to try one more time. If he still can't do it, he tells us, "I tried, but I still need help." This has been working so far! Other times, he thinks he needs help to do something we know he can do. We tell him to try his best and usually he figures out a way to do it.

Development: He is definitely at or above where he should be in speech development. He went from saying just one or two words to speaking in 5 or 6 word sentences. We can understand 95% of what he says. When we don't know what he is saying or what he means with his words, he is very good to repeat himself or try to say it a different way. William has good coordination as well. He plays well and can stay focused when he is on his scooter or kicking a soccer ball. We have harped on him enough that he always holds our hands in parking lots & busy areas. When he colors with crayons or markers, he switches between his left and right hand so we aren't sure where he's at with that yet. Same with eating. I ask him to help me in doing his laundry. He puts his pants away in their drawer & finds matches with his socks. Trying to train him!

Looking Forward To: I am looking forward to seeing how William's speech development and recognizing letters. He is getting better at knowing his capital letters and sometimes even the sounds they make. Bret and I have discussed starting PreK next fall.

Dr. Appt: Clean bill of health and development from Dr. Nash! He has his sensitive skin & need to be sure to put sensitive lotion on him nightly. No shots at this appt besides his flu shot.

According to our doctor, what we need to be working on between now & his next appointment (3 year appointment): 
-Have conversations and explain things to William wherever we are (at home, in the car, at store)

-Reading books (done!)

-Exploring his environment

-Practice gross and fine motor skills

-Reward good behavior & discourage bad behavior (redirection or brief timeout suggested)

-Offering choices to William so he can practice making decisions instead of just telling him how it's going to be

-Brushing teeth (should have first dentist visit soon)

 

showing off his muscles

William: 18 Months

18 Month Stats

Weight: 25 lbs 10 oz (I was shocked at this, I thought he'd be closer to 30 lbs!) (70%)

Length: 33 in (71%)

Head Circumference: 18.75 in (57%)

Eating: William eats like a man, for the most part. He eats pretty much anything we put in front of him (still no green beans!). He will have his whole portion and ask for more. He is great about eating fruits, but we need to get him to eat more fresh veggies as well. We give him squeeze pouches that are veggies purees, so he's getting some but not the real deal. His favorite thing to eat is tortillas, we can give them to him with any meal and he will be happy. In fact, we usually have to delay giving him any tortilla so we are sure he eats the other food on his tray ;)

Bedtime: Bedtime hasn't wavered over the summer. He still goes down for bed by 7:45pm. He (knock on wood) has always been a great sleeper, as soon as we got him to sleep in long stretches. Because it's summer and we don't have to rush to daycare, I get him up in the morning between 7:30-8am. It goes back and forth, he is either up and ready to go or acts like he could sleep another twenty minutes.

Naps: Just one nap a day for Will. He starts getting a little grumpy around 11:45am, but then perks back up for lunch. He eats and then we have some quiet/calm play time before putting him down about 12:30/12:45pm. He sleeps for a solid two & a half hours, sometimes three! He is quiet when he wakes up, so sometimes we don't know that he's awake and go into his room to find him playing in his crib.

Diapers: Size 4s & overnights 4s 

Clothes: William is fully into his 18 month clothes. There are a couple 12 month shirts he can wear, but getting them over his head is difficult and they are a little short on him. 12 month shorts/pants are a no-go for sure! I'm sure we will be into the 24 month/2T soon enough.

Bret and I went through all of his clothes (we have some all the way through 5T) and got it all sorted and organized. This kid has a lot of clothing!

Favorites: Being on the go is definitely a favorite. When we were at his 18 month appt, the nurse said, "Man, he just doesn't stop!" Nope, Will is always moving! If there's something happening, he wants to be part of it and won't be happy until he is. That said, he has an amazing disposition and is a happy little guy. But he knows when it's naptime/bedtime and you better let him have it ;) He loves to eat as well. There's not too much he hasn't liked that he's tried (green beans, of course) and he loves his afternoon snack after his nap. He likes to watch and play with big kids at the park. He thinks he's big like them and wants to do all the fun stuff they can do.

Dislikes: William does not like not being able to do something on his own. He will try and try before whining and asking/yelling for help. Other times, he thinks he needs help to do something we know he can do. We tell him to try his best and usually he figures out a way to do it.

Development: William is working on coordination and speech development. He can get up stairs very easily now, crawling. Going down the stairs is a different story. He thinks he should be able to just step like we do, but that doesn't work out so well. He is learning to sit & scoot or hang on to an available railing. I make him walk as much as possible when we go places. He walks & holds my hand (which I love!!) in the parking lot from car to building and when we are inside of places that don't have carts. He hasn't started pulling away too much and I let him know he has two choices: hold a hand or be held; he usually chooses to hold a hand. He stacks his toys and throws a ball (working on promoting the left-handed throw!). He moves from standing to squatting to sitting and back very fluidly and doesn't have problems ducking under tables or moving around objects. He uses a fork and spoon when eating, though sometimes he just holds them and uses other hand to feed himself. He has started to prefer to have his food given to him in bowls or plates instead of just on his tray. I'm thinking he wants to be a big kid and that's how big kids eat!

Words he can say: dada, mama, shhhh (he does this when Bret is sleeping during the day), Nemo, ball, hat, truck, baseball, basketball, down, let's go!, snack, Pop Pop, Nana, Papa, nana (banana), night-night, bye-bye, belly, toes, doctor, a variety of animal sounds (woof, baa, neigh, eee-ahhh, moo, quack)
*He understands so much more than he can say. We can give him directions or as him questions and he will comply. He likes to get Bret's shoes for him when he's getting ready for work, he's gotten good at finding the matches.

Looking Forward To: I am excited for the rest of the summer and having fun together. I try to get out of the house with him at least once a day. It makes me feel better that we aren't being noisy for Bret to sleep and the change of scenery is good for both William & me.

Dr. Appt: Clean bill of health and development from Dr. Nash! He has his sensitive skin & a little excema so we are sure to lather him with sunscreen anytime we go out & have cream for any itches he gets. She said that he is right at average or above average for his measurements. She will be able to better predict his future height at his 2 year appt. No shots at this appt and he won't need any until December (besides the flu shot), then he's done until kindergarten!

According to our doctor, what we need to be working on between now & his next appointment (2 year appointment): 
-Continue to support coordination & gross/fine motor skills and his language skills
-Listen to music & sing to him
-Read book (check!)
-Keep discipline brief (quick time outs for tantrums) and be sure to give choices to avoid behavior
-Eat together for family time and to model utensil skills
-Allow for expression of feelings and recognize/name them ("I understand you are mad right now. What can we do to help?" "You are smiling so you must be happy!")
-Model, model, model- he's watching us all the time and mimicking everything we do

Paging Dr. Brown

Day off Work/Daycare = Open Gym

It was a long weekend for me (off Friday after conferences & Monday for Presidents' Day) and Will was off daycare as well. After three days of being inside at home or only out to take walks and play in the driveway, we needed to get out & go somewhere! A gymnastics place in Olathe has open gym on certain days for littles for only $5! We just couldn't pass that up!!

Will liked to play with anything he could push or pull. As soon as we got there, he found a little scooter car like he has at home. No need to ride it, he just wanted to push it around. After he was done with the scooter car, it was onto the vacuum. If only I could get him to be just as excited to do household chores at home!

'No time for pics, mama! I've got to play!!'

More chores to be done at the gym! Once the place was all vacuumed up, Will thought the floor needed some mowing. He was all over the place with that mower! He climbed up a play structure and went down the slide (the pink one in the background of the mower pic) with just a little assistance. Quite the daredevil we have here!

 

'Again with the pics, mama, just let me play!!'

He rocked the fish rocker (no riding on it) and explored tunnels as well.

Hands down, Will's favorite toy of the day was this huge green wagon! Again, he did not want to ride in it, but only wanted to push & pull it around. If he let go of it and another kid started playing with it, Will just followed them around, waiting for them be done. He was like a bouncer or mafia man, just following the wagon closely so he could nab it from whoever had it. We worked a little on redirection for this little guy ;)

Overall, Will did a great job! Especially with how many other (& bigger) kids there were there. He didn't try to take toys away from any kids (besides the green wagon stalking...) and moved around kids as they ran by him. Some of the floor were uneven, between mats, but he did a great job navigating that and popping right back up if/when he fell. This open gym has more times over Spring Break & you better believe we will be there!

End of an Era: Stopping Nursing

Yesterday was my final time breastfeeding. By Thanksgiving, I had weaned Will off both of his daytime nursings. A benefit for me with that is not having to pump at work any longer! I was happy to be able to not leave my classroom & instruction time. I continued to nurse Will in the morning before work/daycare & in the evening before bed. 

With Will turning 1 on December 17th and my having two and a half weeks of winter break, I thought it would be a good time to wean him from nursing & bottles during our time off and a more relaxed schedule. A week ago, I dropped his morning nursing session and instead gave him a 360 sippy cup of formula. Since day 1, Will has not shown a big preference or dislike between breastmilk and formula, which I am so happy about! It took a day or two of adjusting, but Will is doing great! 

Our new morning routine is: wake up, diaper & clothing change, then Will sits on my lap with his sippy of milk and we sing, read books, and take silly pictures while he drinks. He does pretty well at this. Once he's had most of it, I let him off my lap to play and finish his milk. Because he's over 1 year, he isn't quite as dependent on the milk for his basic nutrients. This makes me a little more lax about making sure he finishes his milk.

Tonight, instead of me nursing him just before bed, Bret had a sippy of breastmilk for him. I was sure to do breastmilk instead of formula as that is what he's used to (calming?) having before his night sleep. Bret gave him the sippy and read a couple of books to him as I sat in our room across the hall, weepy & sad. I know that it had to come to an end at some point and I will always be his mama, but it's sad to see that bonding time go away. Each day will make it a bit easier for both of us!

Some fun facts about how breastfeeding for a year has benefited William:

• stronger immune system
• more likely to have a better social adjustment
• lower risk of becoming overweight later in life 
• lower risk of heart disease
• more alert & brain/body development

Benefit for us:

• saved lots of moolah on 12 months of formula

Twelve Month Dr Appt

Twelve Month Dr Appt

Today was William's twelve month appointment. He weighs 21lb 8oz (53%). He was measured at 20in long (52%).  His head measured at 18.25 around (58%). Will is comfy in the "normal/average" zone with all of his measurements!

She listened to his heart & lungs and looked in his eyes & ears, which are all great. Except that Will has an ear infection in his right ear. He hasn't shown any signs... or we just passed them off as teething fussiness. He's on antibiotics for the next ten days that should clear everything right up (going back Jan. 2 to check him again). Will was not excited to show Dr. Nash his teeth, but he loved the light she had. Crazy that he didn't have any teeth at his 9mo appt, but he has six teeth full in and three more poking through now! With his red hair, fair skin, & sensitive skin gene from his mama, William has patches of baby eczema all over. Dr. Nash told us to stop using his J&J after bath lotion and use Cetaphil instead. She also wrote him a prescription to help clear up the redness. The eczema does not seem to bother him, but I'm sure the dry skin can't be comfortable.

Because Will is a year now, no foods are off limits. He can have whole milk now (organic/non-hormone is recommended). He still needs dairy, but it doesn't have to all from breastmilk/formula. It can come from yogurt, cheeses, whole milk, etc. Will is enjoying eating table food with us and is right where he needs to be developmentally.

Count 'em: FOUR shots today! He has tree vaccines and his flu shot booster. Plus (this was the saddest of it all), they had to draw blood to check his levels and check for anemia. Two nurses and Bret & I had to work together to hold him still so they could get two vials from him. In true William fashion, he was upset while it happened & but was smiles again as soon as it was over. He has such a pleasant demeanor!

According to our doctor, what we need to be working on between now & his next appointment (15 month appointment)

-cuddles, love, and snuggling :)

-reading to William each day - language development!!

-encourage talking & praise William for trying to communicate

-start talking about and naming different body parts & animal sounds

-maintain a bedtime routine & putting baby to bed when they are awake so they can self-soothe

-encourage independent play for William as well as playing with others, promote sharing & kindness

-be consistent with discipline; most of the time distraction can be a discipline took; time-out (one minute for each year of age)

Upcoming milestones to watch for:

-respond to his name and possibly understanding a few words

-pick up, shake, throw, and bang objects together

-may show preference for one hand, but will usually try both hands on and off (Bret is still hoping for a lefty)

-starting to understand the meaning of "no", try not to overuse it (use redirection instead)

William: One Year Old!

Note: pics taken before first haircut, mullet alert!

12 Month Stats

Weight: ___ (dr appt Wed)

Length: ___ (dr appt Wed)

Eating: Schedule 7/11/3/7:30 milk/formula with 8:15/12:15/6 meal times

Will is eating what we eat full time now! He has had food with many spices and flavors. We do try to limit the amount of salt/sodium & sugar he eats, just with him being a little guy still. Most meals start with some puffs or veggie bites while we get his food ready. We dice up whatever our meal in and he feeds himself (usually in the messiest way possible!). He doesn't like us trying to help him, but sometimes it's necessary. We try to get in at least one fruit or veggie in each meal. We also give Will squeezy pouches of fruited & veggies. He's gotten good at squeezing them himself and/or sucking the puree out of the pouch. For dessert, yogurt drops!

I have moved Will to no bottles! He drinks his milk/formula from a 360 sippy cup and he's doing great. I hold him in the lap after his nap and give him his cup. I try to get him to drink about half while I am holding him so I'm sure he gets some nutrients down. But then, I let him take the cup with him and carry it around as he plays. He will stop & take a sip every little bit. Since he's transitioning to getting more nutrients from actual food instead of milk, I am okay with him not finishing every cup I give him. I also off him a sippy of water throughout the day so he becomes used to drinking from different types of cups.

Bedtime: still going down about 7:30-7:45 each night

Naps: At home, Will takes two naps (9:30-11 and 1:30-3:15). At daycare, he's far to busy for his morning nap, so he takes just his afternoon one. Many times, he falls asleep at daycare closer to 1pm and sleeps until 3/3:30. Hmmmmm, maybe because he's so exhausted?!?

Diapers: size 3

Clothes: 12mo clothing, but still wearing some 9mo pants (welcome to the world of being a short kid!)

Favorites: Being with mom! He likes me to be in the room with him & does not like when I leave, even if there are other adults in the room with him. He dives toward me when I walk by him, whether he's on the floor or in the arms of someone else. I love knowing he loves me so much. It makes up for the times he cries when I have to change his diaper or clean out his nose.

Food! He is excited for meals & lets you know if you are late in feeding him ;)

Dislikes: Being helped to do something he thinks he can do by himself. I think we've got an independent little man on our hands!

Development: Will is WALKING! He has gotten very good at walking and now prefers it to crawling. He can carry things as he walks and can stop, pick something up, and stand back up to continue walking. He is pretty big stuff! His walk looks a little like a cowboy getting off his horse after a few days' ride, but he love it. He smiles as he walks around, so proud of himself! It's as if he's always thinking/saying, "Look! Look at me! I'm doing this walking thing!"

William is getting better at playing on his own. Don't get me wrong here, he wants to have an adult in the room with him still! But he's getting better at entertaining himself and moving around to find something to play with on his own. And if we are in one room and he decides to leave us behind, no tears. I guess he likes to be the one making the decision on when he wants to be alone.

Looking Forward To: 

-Winter break for me to have time with William for two weeks! My goal is to conclude breastfeeding over winter break. I'm sure Will will be just fine with it, but the emotional toll it will take on me is another story.

-Christmas! I know it's technically William's second Christmas, but he pretty much slept through the whole thing last year as a newborn. He's much more aware of everything this year!

meals are messy!

William: 10 Months

Ten Month Stats

Weight: 20 lbs.

Length: 29 in.

Eating: Four feedings each day: 7/11/3/7:30 with solids & a slippy with water at 8:30am, 12:15pm, & 6pm; We give William snacks as well: puffs, crackers, rice cakes, & cookies

When I make Will's food, I am blending it less and less or he has to chew more. Now that he has teeth coming in, this is less of a problem! We also give Will little bites of whatever we are eating for dinner.

Foods Will has eaten so far:
Fruits--> apple, avocado, banana (loves!), peas, mango, peach, plums, prunes, blueberry, cantaloupe
Veggies--> sweet potato, acorn squash, green beans (still hates!), carrots, peas, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, tomatoes, beets, white potatoes, kale
Grains--> baby oatmeal, barley, rice, pasta, quinoa, multi-grain crackers, cheerios, toast, tortillas
Protein--> chicken, pork, beef, salmon, egg yolks, black beans, sausage
Dairy --> whole milk yogurt, colby jack cheese, cheddar cheese, cottage cheese

Bedtime: Bedtime begins about 7:30pm and Will is usually out by 8:10pm. He is going down for about 11 hours at a time. Working to stretch that even farther out. Never thought I'd sleep more than 4 hours in a stretch for a bit at the beginning of this year and now I get about 7-8 hours a night! Well-rested mama!

Naps: When he is at home for the day on the weekends, Will takes two naps a day, about 1.5 hours each. He rarely takes a first nap at daycare, but his second nap is better (probably because he is exhausted). We are trying to drop the catnap in the evening after daycare, but sometimes he's so cranky because he's so tired. 

Diapers: size 3 

Clothes: 9mo for clothing & sleepers

Favorites: William still loves his "expensive" toys (empty cups, a coloring book, and the packaging for actual toys). He loves to toss toys around and follow them wherever they land or roll. Any toys go directly into the mouth so he can see how much he can chew on them.

William likes to pull up on everything around him, he enjoys holding on with just one hand and looking around/back to see if anyone is watching. Like he's saying, "Hey look at me! See what I can do!"

Dislikes: William is getting better at independent play time in his room or while we are cooking dinner. Being contained is also something Will cannot stand. He doesn't like to be "stuck" in one place for too long (highchair, snuggles, any room, etc.)

Development: William has perfected his crawling ability and his now working on climbing stairs. He gets up them pretty well! He likes to open and close cabinets/drawers, slamming them is his favorite ;)

His understanding of our words exceeds what he can currently say, as it will be for a while. The letter sounds we have heard are: m, d, h, w, n, b (all with vowels following "baaaaaa")

When Will sees Bret or me come into the room, he rushes over and hugs or snuggles us quickly before moving back to his toys. It's pretty sweet :)

Looking Forward To: Seeing what he learns next! Planning his birthday party!

Teeth!

I finally got a couple pictures of William's first teeth!

One big one & one little one on top

One little one on bottom 

William: 9 Months

9 Month Stats

Weight: 18-19 pounds

Length: 28.5 inches long/tall

Eating: Four feedings each day: 7/11/3/7:30 with solids & a slippy with water at 12:15pm & 6pm; We give William snacks as well: puffs, crackers, rice cakes, & cookies

Foods Will has tasted so far:
Fruits--> apple, avocado, banana, peas, mango, peach, plums, prunes, blueberry, & cantaloupe
Veggies--> sweet potato, acorn squash, green beans, carrots, peas, yellow squash, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, tomatoes, beets, white potatoes, & kale
Grains--> baby oatmeal, barley, rice, pasta, quinoa, multi-grain crackers, cheerios, & toast
Protein--> chicken, pork, beef, salmon, egg yolks, black beans
Dairy --> whole milk yogurt, colby jack cheese, cheddar cheese

Bedtime: Bedtime begins about 7:30pm and Will is usually out by 8:10pm. He is going down for about 10-11 hours at a time. Working to stretch that even farther out.

Naps: Will takes two naps a day, about 1.5 hours each. He doesn't take a good first nap at daycare, but his second nap is better (probably because he is exhausted). His weekend naps are better, less distraction in the room by himself. We are trying to drop the catnap in the evening after daycare. 

Diapers: Fully into size 3 now

Clothes: 6-9mo and 9mo for clothing and 9mo for sleepers

Favorites: "Expensive" toys like empty cups, a coloring book, and the packaging for actual toys. He loves to toss toys around and follow them wherever they land. Bret gave him a soda bottle half-filled with water and Will loves to push it around the kitchen/dining room.

He has started to enjoy his teether toys more. He has one that is the shape of bbq ribs that he likes to chew on. Lots of drool is happening so maybe teeth are on the horizon?

William has a knack for finding and getting into anything we don't want him to find ;) 

Dislikes: William still doesn't like being alone. We are trying to leave him to do some independent play time in his room. Or even to play by himself while we are cooking dinner. 

Development: Will is a crawling machine! He can get pretty much anywhere he wants and fast. The only thing he isn't when he is crawling is quiet. He giggles or pounds on the ground as he moves around. He is now pulling himself up on anything & everything around him. He likes to balancing himself with his belly and go hands free for a couple of seconds. We have seen him cruise a few steps around our coffee table and while bracing against the wall. Low shelves & drawers are not safe from him anymore! William is also working on mastering the stairs.

We hear "mama" and "dada" a lot now. When we say "hi" or "hello" to Will, we get a response that sounds like his version of those words. His understanding of our words exceeds what he can currently say.

Looking Forward To: William & I are visiting California this month for his cousin Mila's 4th birthday and to visit the California family.