I have been meaning to update for a while now, but I haven't seemed to have any downtime since thanksgiving. Kevin and I got iPhones this week so now I can update from my phone. I'm nursing Keegan and writing a blog post right now!
We went up to the cottage for thanksgiving and it was great. We hadn't been up since Ronan was a baby so it had been far too long. It was such a gorgeous weekend so him and James spent most of the weekend playing outside and throwing rocks in the water.
Since then, we have signed Ronan up for preschool and he starts next week. He is also going to see the speech pathologist on November 21.
Keegan is up to 17lbs and is pretty quick getting around now. He seems to be so much bigger than Ronan was at this age but in actual fact they were the same size.
On Friday we are going skating with our playgroup. It has been a few years since I have been on skates so we will see how that goes. Keegan is going to hang out in the stroller in the penalty box with the other babies while we skate.
We have been part time potty training Ronan, meaning that we have been taking him to sit on the potty whenever he has a diaper change, but not really in between. On Friday, I noticed that he was dry in between diaper changes and consistently peeing every time I put him on the potty. We didn't have any plans for the weekend, so I figured it was as good a time as any to try and get him out of diapers. Saturday morning he woke up dry and immediately had a huge pee in the toilet. I put him in a pull up and we went from there. He did great! All day, he stayed dry and I was taking him approximately every hour to try and pee. He has yet to poop on the potty but we will get there in time. Also, he isn't saying he needs to go yet, but, baby steps!
Saturday night, it was really chilly but we decided to go for a walk to the park after dinner. When we got back, hot chocolate sounded like a really good idea. Ronan had never had it before, and boy, was he happy!
The other big thing that happened on Saturday, was that Keegan started pulling himself along the floor. He is officially on the move, and its only a matter of time before he is fully crawling.
Sunday, we had a lazy day, but kept up with the potty training, and Ronan helped me make some yummy cupcakes!
Monday, we had our friend Christine over and her 2 boys Jacob and Logan. They are the same ages as Ronan and Keegan so it works out perfectly for play dates.
It is now 5pm on Tuesday and Ronan is still dry and has had only 2 or 3 "accidents" all weekend. I got him some Thomas underwear in a size 2 but his little bum is too small!
Friday, we are off to the cottage for Thanksgiving. We haven't been since Ronan was a baby, so it should be fun!
Yesterday, as I mentioned, we made gingerbread cookies. My mum had given me a mix that was about to expire so I had to use it. We also had alphabet cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma and since it's too early to make gingerbread men, we made gingerbread letters!
Ronan is such a good helper in the kitchen now. As soon as I put my apron on, he runs over and grabs his and he knows its baking time! He loved the cookie cutters and said each letter as we cut them out. We had exactly enough dough to do every letter in the alphabet once, so it worked out really well!
Pouring the mix in (The Sherry is for the fruit flies!)
I made pasta bake for dinner last night and since I have had a few people ask me for the recipe, I thought I would post it here.
Pasta Bake
4 cups Rotini pasta
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, diced
1/3 cup green pepper, diced
1 jar spaghetti sauce
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- preheat oven to 350
- cook pasta until al dente
- saute beef, onion, and grenn pepper until beef is cooked
- combine with pasta sauce and pour into casserole dish. Stir in pasta
- bake 30 minutes
- remove from oeven and top with cheese
- bake an additional 10 minutes
It's so easy and so delicious. I think it's one of Ronan's favourite foods.
We went to the park today and Ronan has decided to be a dare devil and climb up the ladders on the play structure instead of the stairs. I didn't get a picture because I was too busy hovering over him making sure he didn't fall!
Today we are making gingerbread cookies and chili. Kevin's mum is coming over for dinner and she hasn't seen Ronan in a while, so it should be fun!
We have had a pretty busy week around here. On Tuesday, I went to Stratford so I could take my road test to get my G license and I passed! Yay for no more road tests and cheaper insurance! Kevin started his new job this week, so he couldn't come with us, so my dad came over to the drive test centre and watched the boys for me. Afterwards, we went for dinner to celebrate and Jonny met up with us for dessert. Ronan was very good about sharing his ice cream. He would take a giant spooonful for himself, and then just dip the tip of the spoon in for Jonny.
Thursday night, I went to a workshop put on by Childreach called Positive and Practical Discipline Strategies. It was a free seminar, and let's just say, you get what you pay for. There wasn't much talk about discipline strategies, she just talked the whole time about things that were pretty obvious, like not expecting too much of the child and to use age appropriate discipline,. but didn't really elaborate on what that would be. She didn't really talk to much about discipline strategies, mostly about her experiences as a parent.
She gave us a few handouts about what to expect at different age groups and how to deal with tantrums (again, it had obvious tips like don't give in, etc). All the handouts seemed to be photocopied from "The No-Cry Discipline Solution" so i might take that book out from the library and see if there is anything uselful. We haven't really had to discipline Ronan too much as he is a really good kid, but he's 2, and with 2, comes tantrums. They aren't very often, but I would like to know some strategies to avoid them at all.
I have been busy getting ready for the London Moms Fall Sale thats tomorrow at Lucas Secondary school here in London from 8-11am. I have a table set up with my Lisa May Designs stuff, and even though people are there looking for good deals on used stuff, they know that there are also business tables there, so hopefully they check us out. I did the sale last year, but didn't sell a single thing, so I'm hoping this year goes better. I have also been accepted into a Christmas craft show in November, but I will give you more deatils as I get them.
Not much to report here. Kevin got a new job and started today. He was working at Roots, but he wasn't really enjoying retail anymore. The long hours for little pay and always having to work weekends were starting to get to him, so he was looking for something else. This summer, he played baseball with some old friends of his, and the team was sponsored by a company called Hose Headquarters, which also is partly owned by a guy on the team. Kevin mentioned that he was looking for a new job, and within a week, they had one for him!
Yesterday we went to Kevin's mum's house for dinner to celebrate his brother's birthday. We got to see James and Kennedy and Kevin's grandparents and Aunt Anne! What a great day.
The boys are getting pretty big. Keegan is loving eating solids and is so interested in the world around him.
I am part of a website for local moms called http://www.londonmoms.ca/ and they do product and service reviews for local businesses and yesterday they posted a review for Lisa May Designs. It was such a good review and will hopefully boost sales for the sale I am doing this coming weekend!
We took Ronan to do his hearing test today. The Dr said he is pretty sure his hearing is fine and he has no fluids or blockages in his ears. He can hear at all different decibels. Good news, right? Maybe. Apparently, he wants us to go to the university for further testing because he although he can tell that Ronan can hear, he can't tell if he is hearing clearly or muffled because he can't respond (because he can't talk, which is why we are there...) He says that the university has more specialized equipment and would be better able to tell. I'm confused, because we went to a place called Hearing London, which is a hearing clinic and only does hearing stuff, so how come they don't have this equipment.
Whatever. I am going to talk to the pediatrician and see what she says
