Bring On the Terrific 2's!

Dylan is 2...what?!  I tear up just typing that!  It's a bittersweet feeling knowing you have a healthy child who is growing up, but at the same time I feel like I am losing my baby.  These last two years have been wonderful.  Dylan has been very patient with us (especially me) as we navigate through the uncharted territory of parenthood.  I sometimes feel like I have no idea what I am doing, but we always seem to manage times like that and come out okay.  I am so thankful that God gave us Dylan and the responsibly of raising him. 

Anyone who knows Dylan knows he can be a wild man, but at the same time he has a very sweet heart.  He is a WONDERFUL big brother and loves Shiny so much.  He must know where she is at all times and is very concerned when she is upset.  

 Dylan LOVES sports... soccer, baseball, basketball, tennis and golf.  Basically anything with a ball.  He is always asking to go outside and play ball. 

 Right now he has a fascination with trains.  He loves to play with his train table and watch Thomas the train videos.  We went to a friend's birthday party the other day and they had a train (modified lawn mower pulling train cars) for the kids to ride.  He talked about that experience for days after.
Music is in his blood.  He can't listen to anything with a beat and not start dancing.  He loves to sing songs with daddy and play around on his instruments.  We got out Trey's 1st violin the other day and let Dylan play around on it. 

 Speaking of Trey...I keep saying how much Dylan loves sports, music, Shiny etc, but the one thing he loves the most is his daddy.  I've never seen a little boy more attached to their daddy than Dylan is to Trey.  Dylan wants Trey to do everything for him.  I constantly hear "daddy do it" all day long.  Trey has to give him his bath, put him to bed, if he falls he wants Trey to kiss it...he will pass me in order to get to Trey.  I'm just hoping Cheyenne is a momma's girl :)

 We are not celebrating his birthday until Feb 4th with a small family party.  We had a fun day today with a birthday doughnut for breakfast (his first doughnut ever) and pizza for dinner.  Daddy took the day off and we spent all day together.  It was a good family day. We are blessed! 

2 month checkup and 2 years old

Cheyenne had her 2 month checkup on the 5th of January.  She was 15 lbs and 1 oz and 24 inches long.  I mentioned in the last post about her having RSV.  The Dr told us the best medicine for her would be breast milk, so I should nurse on demand.  I nursed on demand for 2 weeks, never letting her get upset because that would make her cough, which would make her choke on the mucus...vicious cycle.  She was basically attached to me for weeks.  In those 2 weeks she gained 5 lbs :) I wish I could say momma lost those 5 pounds, but sadly it doesn't work that way.  Anyways, I blame RSV for having a chunky monkey :)

 Aside from gaining a lot of weight, Cheyenne is over RSV and everything looks and sounds good.  We go back in March for her 4 month checkup.  Dylan LOVES the Dr now.  We walk in and he immediately starts saying "sucker", which they give to the kids while they are in the rooms.  We go to his 2 year checkup at the end of this month.

 Speaking of Dylan turning 2...where did the last two years go???  We are having a low key family birthday party at the beginning of February for Dylan.  Trey is traveling some at the end of January and we thought it would be best to hold off on his party until Feb.  Dylan is excited because he is going to have a Thomas the Train cake...the kid LOVES trains.  I will update with pictures after the party.

 We are slowly getting into a routine of sorts.  I am really not liking winter right now.  Both Dylan and I sometimes go stir crazy not being able to get out and go to the park.  I have been taking him to play dates at friends houses and going to indoor play areas, but we still miss going to the parks and playing.   I always try and get him out at least once during the day, so he doesn't feel stuck inside.

I walked into my room the other day and Dylan had taken all of Cheyenne's socks out of her drawer.  I told him after he was done playing with them he needed to put them all back.  Hours later I walked into mine and Treys closet and saw Trey's boot filled with all her socks.  I thought it was cute :)

 Cheyenne is a pretty chill baby during the day.  She waits until the evening to get crankin'.  Dylan goes to bed around 8:30 and Cheyenne (if we are lucky) will go down around 10pm.  It use to be 12, so we are slowly getting it more normal.  I am hoping in the next few months to have them both going down around 8:30...I will let you know how that goes.  I am not the best at sleep training.

She is a very serious baby and loves to study people.  She is slowly starting to smile more, but she does not give them out freely.

When it Rains it Pours!!!

(I wrote this post before Xmas and forgot to post it-oops)

I haven't undated in over a month. I have started about 3 different updates, but each time something comes up and I am not able to finish.  We have had some sickness recently and thankfully I THINK we are on the mend.

 I am one of those moms who is very conservative when it comes to getting their infant out in public.  I wait at least 6 weeks to take them to church or any other crowded area.  I am diligent about having people wash their hands before they pick them up and if anyone is remotely sick I don't let them in the house :) (I may not be that bad, but you get the point) So that being said...we have had the stomach bug for 10 days, pneumonia for a week and RSV that is suppose to last anywhere from 2-3 weeks (today will be a week that Cheyenne has had it).

 The stomach bug has literally wiped out about 65% of our church.  It is highly contagious and once one person in the family gets it the rest shortly follow.  Right after Cheyenne was born I kept Dylan home from services (again, overly cautious) for the first three weeks.  Dylan went to ONE Sunday morning and 3 days later he was vomiting.  His whole little Sunday school class all got it the same time.  So, Dylan had it for 3 days before I got it.  I luckily only had it for 24 hours, but poor Dylan had it for a total of 10 days.  Once he felt better Trey took him to a Wednesday night service and 2 days later he started getting a cough and he had some wheezing at night.  We took him to the Dr and they confirmed he had pneumonia-lovely! After a week of Dylan being on an antibiotic (his first ever) he was feeling better and acting like himself.  We thought we were sick-free, but Cheyenne started with a pitiful little cough, which quickly turned into something worse.  We took her back to the Dr (we are single-handedly keeping them in business) and they told us she had RSV-not what we wanted to hear, but we are dealing with it and momma is trying not to freak out.

 SOOOOO, Dylan is all better and acting like his crazy self.  Cheyenne is better than she was, but we still have another week of her croupy cough and runny nose.  Luckily she had a mild case of it.  Our Dr told us that 95% of formula fed babies who get RSV have to be admitted to the hospital, but 95% of breastfed babies can fight it without having to be admitted.  I am suppose to nurse often (basically I am nursing all the time-it's one of the only things that calms her down), give her steam baths once a day and run a humidifier constantly throughout the house.  Trey and I both can tell a difference in her and I am hoping by Xmas she is almost all better.

 2012 is going to be a "year of health" for the Kellers.  I am going to be diligent with the food we eat (healthy and more traditional), supplements and vitamins we take and we are making it a point to be more active than we were in years past.  I do not want us to be sick like this again or for a very long time.

 Luckily Trey never got sick and he was a HUGE help when I was sick.  For the 10 days Dylan was sick with the stomach bug he slept in Dylan's room.  About 3 times a night he had to strip Dylan's bed and put new sheets on it AND he would give Dylan a bath if any of the throw up got on Dylan...in the middle of the night. I don't know if I would have been strict about it, but he was and I am thankful.  There were a lot of nights Trey did not get much sleep and he would have to wake up and work the next day.  He deserves a medal for what he did this past month.  He's a great daddy!!!

 Aside from us all being puny, Dylan and Cheyenne are doing well.  Trey and I were talking the other day and Dylan is adjusting so much better than we thought he would.  We catch him kissing Cheyenne and rubbing her head unprompted.  Anytime she is crying he will run to us and say, "Shiney crying give hug"...that means he wants us to pick her up and console her.  He is very concerned when she is sleeping and we put her in another room.  He wants her in the same room and will constantly go and check on her, which usually ends in him waking her up.

I will update soon on our holiday gatherings.  We are staying here this year, which is kind of sad, but traveling with 2 sick kids is out of the question.  I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.