Happy birthday, Berend Glenn! We’ve survived the longest and shortest year of your life.
Age: 12 months on 15 May 2019 Weight: 22 lbs 3 oz Height: 30.94 inches Teeth: 6 (but #7 is so close) Clothing Size: 12-18 months & 18 months Diaper Size: size 4 and one size in cloth
Milestones: really crawling!, waving hi/bye, pointing, saying “oh” and “uh” sounds, recognizing objects and pointing to them in books, giving big open-mouth kisses, standing unassisted longer, taking steps
Likes: baths, meals, socks, photos of his family, playing with Gerrit, being with Mama, tickles, going outside, moving things around in the refrigerator, mouth sounds (especially if it involves spitting), growling, being walked around, climbing on things, kicking things
Dislikes: having his face washed, having his nose wiped, the NoseFrida, long car rides, having his diaper changed, having his teeth brushed (vs him brushing his own), Mama walking away or being away, being confined (car seat, stroller, shopping cart), when people STOP walking him around, having things taken away from him
Sleep: Berend is still averaging about 12.5 hours of sleep a day with two naps. His morning nap is roughly 2.5 hours after he wakes up (usually starting between 10 & 11), and his afternoon nap happens about 3.5 hours after he wakes from his morning nap (anytime between 2pm and 3:30pm). We’ve had a few days with only 1 nap because that first nap started late and turned into a decent nap, but he definitely does better with two naps.
Night sleep hasn’t changed much. Bedtime typically happens between 8pm & 9pm right now because the afternoon nap pushes bedtime later. Berend is still up every 1-2 hours most nights, but he has had more 3- and 4-hour stretches! He is still usually up between 7am and 8am, although if bedtime is later, he can sleep until 8:30. And he still sleeps with me for the last part of the night:
I feel like sleep has been a little wonky as we approach dropping to one nap a day. I try to follow Berend’s lead for the most part, but 5pm is the absolute latest I’ll let him nap. I just hate when his bedtime goes much past 9pm!
Eating: Shortly after Berend turned 11 months, his appetite for solids picked up again! Although I wasn’t worried about his disinterest in food, I was frustrated. So when I realized he was eating again, I was thrilled!
Some of his favorite foods? He loves Cheerios and blueberries for breakfast, he always does well with meat, and if it looks messy (guacamole, mashed potatoes, spaghetti sauce) it goes straight to his hair. He really enjoys pizza, my homemade chicken nuggets, spaghetti & meatballs, and mac & cheese. Typical toddler foods!
Photo by Elizabeth McDowell Photography
Nursing also picked up. Instead of only nursing well before naps and bedtime, Berend started wanting to nurse every 2 hours again. Sometimes just a snack, but sometimes he wanted to hang out there for awhile. And it became a LOT more for comfort. It really didn’t bother me… I was just happy he was nursing more!
Mommy Update: Well, a lot of this past month was spent planning a birthday party! I tried to motivate myself to get things done in advance, but apparently nothing motivates me like procrastination. So I was stressed the day leading up to his party, true to character.
I have continued to try to carve out some “me time” every night, which always helps my mood. I’ve been working on my family photo album and re-watching “Shameless.” I still stay up too late, which I will have to stop doing, because Gerrit is out of school as of May 21st… which means no more morning nap for me once in awhile.
Photo by Gerrit
I went back and read the “Mommy Update” from when Gerrit was 12 months, and while it was probably comparable in terms of sleep, I feel a lot more positive this time. Part of it may be because Berend is a worse sleeper in general, so when it gets rough, it’s not that much worse than normal. And I know from experience that there will be a LOT of “two steps forward, one step back” with baby/toddler sleep, so my outlook is better in general. I guess I just don’t try as hard to figure out what I need to do to improve things because I know it will get better in time.
I’ve also gotten a couple of kid-free outings this month! At the end of April, I participated in the Spouse Flight day and got to have a ride in Andrew’s plane. I had never been in an AC130, so it was really interesting to see everything that goes on with all the people on the crew.
The day before Mother’s Day, I went to the spouse event for Andrew’s squadron at the local winery. It felt great to wear non-nursing clothes and be able to have conversations without being interrupted by kids! I also got to meet some more ladies and put faces with names. It was a great afternoon!
I’m hoping to get out more often without kids as Berend gets older and doesn’t need me quite as much.
Memorable Events: Berend’s first Easter! First we had the Easter event on base. Berend didn’t participate in anything, but we did get a brother photo!
Here’s Berend going through his first Easter basket:
And his Easter day outfit (crazy hair and all):
Berend’s first time in his daddy’s plane:
And right before his birthday, Berend had his first trip to Santa Fe! We met Andrew’s parents there on Mother’s Day (the 12th) and came home on Berend’s birthday. We enjoyed our few days there, and we’d love to go back to see more!
And here is Berend’s May photo:
Berend, my baby bear, you are ONE! I love watching you learn new things and your personality develop more and more. You are sweet but tough, snuggly but feisty, and moody as anything! You can go from happy to angry so quickly when things don’t go your way, and you already can throw quite a tantrum. I can only laugh at how much your name suits you: you ARE a little bear cub in so many ways. You’re a growly, rough-and-tumble, stubborn, strong-willed little thing… but oh so cute and cuddly! We love you so much and wish you the happiest first birthday!
Well, since I completely stopped blogging last year, I figured I should catch up a bit! I briefly talked about us moving to Texas in the post about Gerrit turning 2, but we are quickly approaching our 1 year anniversary of moving here! Here’s a recap of our Texas adventure:
Fall 2016
We arrived in Texas right at the end of September, I believe. Andrew was here with us just long enough to help out when the movers brought our stuff, and then he was off to Colorado for some flight training before actual UPT started.
Gerrit’s first priority was obviously exploring the outdoors! The weather was still pretty warm when we arrived, so we were outside all the time (instead of inside unpacking…oops). But I really wanted to meet people as soon as possible, and living on base really helped us do that! We constantly met new people at the playground near our house, and having kids the same age is a good conversation starter. 😉
The day Gerrit turned 2!
Andrew was gone for most of October and the first part of November, so Gerrit and I were on our own unpacking and trying to set up the house. We started going to a playgroup on base every week, which was a great way to get out of the house and meet more people. But honestly, our first couple of months here were VERY low-key since we were trying to focus on getting settled.
Painting his Halloween pumpkin
Winter 2016-2017
Winter in Del Rio is kind of a joke. It was quite warm in December! But we pretended it was winter and listened to Christmas music, decorated my little 4 ft tree from college, and made yummy Christmas cookies.
Andrew started pilot training the week before Christmas, which is why I tackled night weaning before he started. I knew Andrew would need good sleep at night, and I didn’t want to be interrupting his sleep going back and forth all night. And, who am I kidding, I desperately wanted to get more consecutive hours of sleep myself!!
Christmas was a lot of fun this year! Gerrit was definitely into the present-opening, so it was really entertaining to watch him. His big gift this year was a play kitchen (that happened to coordinate perfectly with my kitchen decor haha).
Andrew’s parents arrived on Christmas day to spend the holidays with us! We spent a few days in Del Rio, and we spent the last half of their trip in San Antonio. Gerrit loved having them here, and they got a healthy introduction to “Octonauts” and underwater life. 🙂
In San Antonio, we visited the Alamo, walked the Riverwalk, ate sushi, and visited the zoo! Unfortunately, I think all those photos are on my camera…which I left in the Midwest on one of our trips up there. But we had a great time in San Antonio!
One thing that started in the winter was rocketry. Andrew has enjoyed the hobby for a long time, and he gave Gerrit a simple beginner rocketry kit for Christmas. Obviously, Andrew does most of the work right now, but Gerrit enjoy launching them!
These pictures were taken in January… it was still plenty warm for short sleeves and shorts most days! The best part of winter in Del Rio was being able to be outside almost every day. I can count on one hand the number of times Gerrit put a heavy coat on, and even then it was usually just in the mornings.
We had a few visitors in January as well… our friend Steve from college came to visit for a few days to enjoy the warmer weather, and then my mom came for another round of Christmas gifts and Mimi fun. It was great to have visitors… not many people come to Del Rio for fun. 😉
Spring 2017
Spring started off with Andrew’s first solo flight in the T6! Gerrit and I went down to watch, but we pretty much just saw Andrew come back with his instructor and get tossed in the tank haha!
Shortly after my birthday and our anniversary, Gerrit and I packed up for a trip up to Ohio for my friend’s wedding! I was pretty nervous about our drive, since I was spreading it over 3 days to allow for lots of stops and early evenings. Andrew set us up with some DVDs of “Team Umizoomi,” I put together a Bribe Bag with little toys to keep Gerrit entertained when he got antsy, and we hoped for the best!
Things went really smoothly, for the most part. I originally planned stops for every 2-3 hours, but that proved to be a little too often! Gerrit definitely wanted to spend a good amount of time at the parks we found, so I started aiming for the halfway point in our day for one long stop (hopefully followed by a nap!).
There were Air Force bases near the areas I wanted to stop both nights, which was very convenient for us. Not only did it give me a sense of security, but it also was quite a bit cheaper for us. Traveling through unfamiliar cities alone with a toddler gave me a little anxiety, and having that sense of familiarity with each base put my mind at ease.
Despite doing very well in the car, Gerrit was thrilled to get to Dave & Emily’s house in Ohio on our last travel day! We were both sick of being cooped up in the car, and he was excited to see “his friends.” Yes, my friends are now his friends too, I guess, haha! My mom and sister came to the wedding as well, not only for the wedding ceremony, but also to help me out with Gerrit since I was in the wedding party! I’m SO thankful to have had their help, because it allowed me to really have a fun time celebrating Dave & Emily on their special day.
After our brief visit in Ohio, we headed north to Michigan. My grandpa had recently been diagnosed with leukemia, and I wanted to take advantage of being in the area to see my grandparents and spend some time with them. We happened to visit the first week that my grandpa started receiving treatment, and I’m so thankful to have been with him when he was still feeling like himself. It ended up being the last time I saw him alive, and it meant to much to have those games of 7 Up, his time watching Gerrit play with his collection of semi trucks, and those hugs as we said goodbye.
Gerrit was not very excited to be in the car heading back to Texas after our quick trip to the Midwest, but he’s a trooper, and we made it back home just in time for Easter. We missed the base Easter activities, but I had set up Gerrit’s Easter basket before we left, and I had some little treats ready for him for a backyard Easter egg hunt. He had so much fun!
I think spring was around the time that Gerrit started showing interest in dinosaurs. He had watched “Dino Trux” for awhile, but really started enjoying “Dinosaur Train.” I had no idea how much I didn’t know about dinosaurs until he started watching that show. Since then he’s also fallen in love with “Dino Dan” & “Dino Dana” on Amazon Prime. I love it too, because, seriously, I learn a lot! 🙂
Anyway, there was a dinosaur exhibit that came to Del Rio in May, and we took Gerrit to see if he’d enjoy it. It may have been a bit early for that, because now, 4 months later, I think he would enjoy it a lot more. It was still something fun & different to do!
We spent an afternoon out at Lake Amistad at the end of spring, hoping to avoid the worst of the summer heat, but the day we went was still pretty warm! We took Gerrit out on a canoe for awhile, and I think he enjoyed it, but it was really warm. Later we met with some friends to go swimming off of their pontoon boat.
Summer 2017
We started off our summer in Texas by buying a screened in gazebo and some patio furniture. It seemed like a pretty good use of our tax return! We enjoyed it a few times in early summer, but, to be honest, it was just too hot to sit out there much in the dead of summer. Del Rio doesn’t get a lot of humidity, but it’s still like walking into an oven when you go outside. The heat is pretty intense, and a hot breeze doesn’t do much to relieve that.
Despite the heat, I tried to get Gerrit outside at least once a day, usually in the late afternoon to get the mail. We visited the pool on base a few times, and we set up our pool for awhile, but Gerrit’s favorite thing was playing in his sprinkler and just getting free reign with the hose!
We explored the area a bit more in June as well! Andrew and I went on a day date to the Val Verde Winery here in Del Rio to do a wine tasting. It was great to enjoy some yummy wine and adult conversation for an afternoon.
Gerrit and I joined some friends on a little mini road trip up to Sonora Caverns one weekday as well!
I was hoping Gerrit would walk most of it (without touching everything he wasn’t supposed to touch), but I ended up carrying him for the last half and came out a sweaty mess. It was a workout for me for sure! It was a really cool place to explore though, and I’m glad we made the drive up there!
I’m sad to say that my grandpa passed away at the end of June, so that meant another road trip for Gerrit and me. Several people suggested we just fly, but with how far we live from the airport (2-1/2 hours), the cost of plane tickets and airport parking, and the lack of freedom not having a car would mean, we opted to drive instead. Gerrit impressed me by doing really well again!
Although the reason for our trip to the Midwest was sad, it was really nice to be able to see and spend time with all of our family in one spot. We all happened to be in Michigan for my niece’s 2nd birthday, which was a big deal for me! I haven’t been able to be at any of my nephews’ or niece’s birthdays because of where we live. Seeing all of the cousins playing together is seriously one of my favorite things!
One thing we were sad to miss in Texas was being there when Andrew finished his T6 training and found out he had tracked to T38s! When Andrew and I had discussed the pros and cons to both the T1 lifestyle and T38 one as well as what would be a better fit for Andrew personally, we both were really hoping he would go to T38; we were excited he got what he wanted!
I decided to spend some time over in Wisconsin after our time in Michigan, since we hadn’t been there in nearly a year, and I was hoping to see some old friends! So after about a week in Michigan, we hopped back in the car and headed west. We drove straight to Madison area first, to see one of my best friends from college. It was a quick visit, but I always appreciate face-to-face conversations with friends when I can get them.
Then we drove up to my sister’s house to spend 4th of July with her and her family. I told Gerrit he had to take a nap if he wanted to go to the beach and see fireworks, and I’m glad he decided to cooperate.
He had so much fun in the sand and water at Lake Michigan, and although he said they were too loud, he really seemed to enjoy the fireworks show too!
After a few days with my sister and her family, we headed a little further west to visit my best friend from high school. She lives about a half an hour away from my dad, so we were able to see him and my mom one more time too. It was another quick visit, but I loved having a little time to catch up in person! Leaving from the west side of Wisconsin cut a few hours off of our return trip, which was a big bonus. Plus we drove through very few cities, so traffic was generally pretty good. I was glad to have an uneventful drive home.
Just a week after we got home, we drove to San Antonio with Andrew for his centrifuge training. We were able to enjoy dinner with him and his flight on the Riverwalk, and the next day while he did his training, Gerrit and I went to The DoSeum, a children’s museum.
I think Gerrit’s favorite part was the little town where he got to go grocery shopping, do some digging in the construction site, and take care of some animals at the vet clinic. We spent the majority of our 5 hours there! We got back to the hotel with enough time to relax for awhile before going out for sushi with Andrew and his flight. We were able to visit with a friend of mine from England and her sons the next day after brunch too. Another quick but fun trip!
The rest of the summer we tried to stay cool and not get too bored! There really are not a lot of indoor options for families in Del Rio, but we did go bowling a few times!
I had mentioned to Andrew’s mom that if they wanted to visit us sometime, they could come surprise Andrew for his 30th birthday. Well, they decided to do just that! It was so hard for me to keep that secret! I kept almost slipping up and saying something to Andrew, but luckily I was able to keep my mouth shut. I forced strongly suggested that we go out to dinner the night before Andrew’s birthday at a pizza place in town. He definitely did not want to go after a 12 hour day at work! But he grudgingly agreed. When we walked into the restaurant, his parents were already there at a table! It was such a fun surprise, and I’m glad we pulled it off for him. 🙂
Although their visit was short, we took them to the winery in town, had some yummy meals, and got in some some bowling. 🙂 Andrew was even able to bring them in to do one of the simulators! Gerrit loved having the company, and he was so sad to see them go.
We tried to go watch Andrew come in from his first solo flight in the T38, but… toddler life. I don’t know why I always underestimate how long it will take us to get ourselves ready and out the door. I did get this cute photo of Andrew and Gerrit after his flight though.
We finished up our summer with a mini vacation to Fredericksburg, TX for Labor Day weekend. It was just a few hours away, and I had heard great things about the area.
We visited the pioneer museum and learned about the German immigrants who settled in the area, did some wine tastings at a few different wineries, and enjoyed the garden and playground in the town square. I think we all had a great time there!
Whew! So that’s a year in Del Rio! We still have at least 4 months (most likely more) here, so I hope we have a few more little Texas adventures before we leave. And I promise to try to post more frequently so I don’t have to write a novel to catch up again. 😉
Seriously, Gerrit is halfway through his 2nd year already?! This year is just flying by. I was so excited for him to turn one, since I love this age, but I feel like it’s kind of slipping away. I try to savor all the little moments, but, man, they go by so fast!
You’d think getting a good picture would be easier as they get older, but someone wasn’t particularly cooperative the day he turned 18 months!
Age: 18 months on 27 April 2016 Weight: 25.5 lbs Height: 33.07 inches Teeth: 11 with 1 more about to come through Clothing Size: 18 months Diaper Size: size 4 in disposables Milestones: can say more words, although they are not always easy to understand; starting to do some ‘pretend play;’ can identify nearly every body part; beginning to understand emotions (he can sign “happy,” “sad,” & “mad” appropriately); beginning to understand time (first we will do this, then we will do that); can complete simple puzzles & shape sorters; shakes head “no” and nods “yes;” can pull off pants once pulled past his butt; dances; spins in circles; can throw, catch & kick a ball; can brush his teeth (rudimentary); showing affection/empathy
I feel like I need to expand on all of his milestones! Things Gerrit can say: Mama, Dada, Papa, Mimi, dirt, bird, ball, bubbles, bowl, no, baby, nose, elbow, Lamb, nut, blue, green, orange… I’m sure I’m missing some. A lot of these are very rudimentary, and only I can understand him sometimes. But as soon as Andrew hears how Gerrit says something, he understands too. I’m so thankful Gerrit is patient with us, haha! I know some kids get really mad/frustrated when people can’t understand what they’re trying to say, but Gerrit is quite good about repeating himself and complying when I say, “I don’t know, Baby, show me.” I love how he tries to say “lemon” (I posted a video on Facebook), and his newest one that makes me smile is how he says “orange,” which I’m pretty sure is his favorite color right now.
Gerrit and pretend play? So freaking cute. I love his little truck and airplane sounds, I love seeing him kiss his stuffed animals, and I love watching him “cook” with his bowls and spoons. It’s just so much more fun to play with him as he understand more of what it means to pretend. One night, Gerrit was very busy making a puff ball concoction before dinner, and Andrew brought it to the table to include in our dinner (seriously, how adorable is that?!). So we had our dinner plus Gerrit’s “puff ball salad.” We all kept taking more helpings of it (including Gerrit asking for more constantly), and we all pretended to eat it, Gerrit included. We were impressed that he understood that we were just playing and that Gerrit “contributed” to dinner that night.
Gerrit knows so many body parts now: head, hair, forehead, nose, eyes, ears, cheeks, chin, neck/throat, arm, elbow, shoulder, armpit, finger, thumb, nipple, belly, belly button, penis, leg, knee, foot, toe, butt, tongue, teeth, nostril, back… he constantly wants to know what things are and likes showing that he knows what different body parts are. And he remembers everything! I think we talked about our nostrils one afternoon, and when Andrew asked Gerrit where his nostril was the other day (not knowing that I had showed Gerrit where they were), Gerrit promptly pointed out his own and ours. Smarty pants!
I was so impressed when I started seeing Gerrit use sign language for emotions. I know emotions are really tricky for toddlers, and I try to label emotions frequently to expose him to them. He has actually appropriately used “mad” when he was frustrated by something. That surprised me! He is starting to recognize emotions in others. Gerrit will give me a snuggle when I say I’m sad or show him that I’m sad. It’s so sweet. I have not seen a really terrible temper tantrum from Gerrit yet. I don’t know if that’s just his personality, or if it’s all my hard work and effort and being calm with him and trying to help him understand his feelings. 🙂 If he hurts me (on purpose or accidentally), he’s quick to hug that area. He accidentally hurt my foot the other day (I think he dropped a book on it), and he gave my foot a hug… too funny. If he stomps on a stuffed animal, he then picks it up and gives it a cuddle. And did you all see my Facebook post about me singing “5 Little Ducks?” Oh my gosh, his tears when the sad mama duck goes out to find her babies just broke my heart! Emotions & empathy are tough things to learn, but I feel like he’s doing really well so far.
Sleeping: January (14 months) was a rough month. Things slowly improved in the sleep department in February & March, although we had some bad nights when we traveled, which is nothing new. Our worst night was 9+ wakings the night before we flew home from our trip to Reno. It was pretty rough! Eventually I just laid in the guest bedroom with him to get through the night. He was so restless; I don’t know if either of us got much sleep. Our best nights were 3 night wakings, which really isn’t great. But compared to the “bad” nights, I’ll take it!
On average, Gerrit got mostly 9-10 hours of sleep at night from 15-18 months. According to the experts, it’s really not enough, but it’s clearly all I could get from him at that time haha. Total sleep was 12-13 hours at 15 months but only 11-12 hours at 16 & 17 months. Seriously, when I read how much sleep kids are supposed to get at Gerrit’s age, I worry that he’s chronically sleep-deprived.
Naps… one thing that I usually don’t have issues with is naps. Gerrit normally gets at least a 2 hour nap, although he’s had some short nap days. When we traveled to Reno, Gerrit refused to nap on the plane, so that was almost a no-nap day. But in February, he also took a 4 hour nap! When this kid wants to sleep, he sleeps! Too bad it doesn’t happen very often haha!
Eating: Back and forth, back and forth… Gerrit eats well, then he goes through a few days or weeks of not eating well. It seriously drives me nuts. I wouldn’t necessarily call him a picky eater, because when he DOES eat, he eats almost anything. Sometimes I think it’s teething, sometimes I just don’t know.
Things we can normally count on him eating: scrambled eggs, fruit, pasta with sauce & meatballs, Goldfish crackers, and Cheerios. He used to LOVE meat, but now he is hit or miss with that too. Some nights he loves broccoli, other nights he won’t touch it. He’s done well with peas, carrots, and corn here and there, but nothing consistent.
Gerrit is still very actively nursing both day & night. This goes up and down as well. Sometimes I think, Wow, maybe he’s starting to wean! And then he goes back to wanting to nurse every hour or two. Sometimes I think he’s genuinely hungry, because he just doesn’t eat enough solids. Other times I think it’s primarily for comfort and affection. I do think the nursing increases when he’s teething, but giving pain reliever doesn’t seem to do much for him, so I guess nursing is what helps.
(Andrew took this sweet photo of us while we were sleeping)
Any night wakings are still dealt with with breastfeeding. I’m very back-and-forth on pushing Gerrit to night wean. My heart wants to continue waiting for him to do this on his own. My head tells me that this is really hard on my body. It’s hard on my body to not be sleeping enough for this long. So we’ll see what happens over the summer… stay tuned!
Mommy Update: I have good days and bad days. When Gerrit is sleeping better and eating well, my stress level is lower and I’m feeling pretty good. When things go downhill, I feel exhausted and frustrated. I get impatient and angry. But maybe that’s just parenthood!
A few weeks before Gerrit turned 18 months, I started working out. I was hoping the exercise would be enough to start losing some weight. When the numbers on the scale didn’t budge, I started making healthier food choices. Still nothing. I knew that it could be hard to lose weight while still breastfeeding, but I found out that it can be very hard to lose weight if you’re not getting consecutive hours of sleep at night. So for now I’m still working out, still making healthier choices… but I guess I won’t be surprised if I don’t see any changes for awhile.
This momma turned 31 in March!
I also made the decision to start selling Usborne books in April! I’m still learning a lot and figuring out how all of this works, but Gerrit loves the books, and I love that I can get him and other kids access to them!
Best Moments: From now on I’m going to combine this with our Memorable Events (down below)
Likes & Dislikes: Gerrit really likes “helping” us. He likes helping us unload the dishwasher, and he is actually getting really good at remembering where everything goes. Although he started out not being very helpful, he actually does make the job go faster now! He also likes helping me vacuum (he’ll use the attachment I’m not using to vacuum the floor near where I’m cleaning), wash up spills on the floor, and do laundry (he tells me who each item of clothing belongs to haha).
He also loves being outside! It’s definitely one of his favorite things to do. He loves coloring with chalk, digging holes, making and playing with mud, splashing in any water he can find, and just exploring.
He loves the garden! We have to watch him to keep him from playing in the dirt, damaging any plants, etc, but I’m pretty sure he thinks that is HIS garden!
When he sees the little onion plants, he shrieks, “Bee-bee!” (baby) since I first told him they were baby onions growing in the dirt. He loves checking on the progress of the poblano peppers and the tomatoes, and he has learned which plants he can pick (salad greens) to sample from the garden. I hope we can always have a garden, because I think it’s a great way for him to learn about plants and growing your own food.
Gerrit dislikes coming in from outside, haha. Usually I have to suggest that we go in for some Goldfish to get him to agree to go inside without tears. He also dislikes getting his diaper changed. I don’t think he so much dislikes getting a new diaper, he just doesn’t want to stop what he’s doing to get changed.
Memorable Events: I feel like February was a pretty quiet month for us. The only “exciting” thing to happen was our switch to cloth diapers! I had wanted to use cloth when Gerrit was a newborn, but that time in our lives was super stressful. I was so overwhelmed with everything (breastfeeding, sleeping, my crying baby, preparing to move), that I thought adding in learning how to cloth diaper would just be too much. I told myself that once we got settled at our new home, I would give it a go. By the time we were settled into our house in North Carolina, Gerrit was nearly 6 months old. And I thought, Well, it’s too late to switch to cloth diapers now. How silly, right? I was talking to someone about how I wished I had cloth diapered Gerrit, and she said, “Well… why don’t you do it now?” So I bought some inexpensive diapers from Amazon and we gave it a shot!Overall it has been a smooth transition to cloth diapers. We get leaks occasionally because Gerrit has a tendency to “flood” (he holds his pee and releases it all at once, and the diaper can’t absorb it fast enough) his diapers once in awhile. But I’ve just gotten more diligent about checking for wetness so I can change him more often.
I have a good wash routine, and I’ve only had one little hiccup (we needed to switch to a stronger detergent) so far. We still use disposables at night, not out of necessity, but to get through the big box of size 4 diapers Andrew bought! Overall I am glad we switched: I love that we are not going through so many disposable diapers, I LOVE the cute designs, and I’m hoping it helps Gerrit with potty training when the time comes.
March was a busy month for us! In the middle of the month, we boarded a plane headed to Reno to visit Andrew’s parents. Traveling with a 1-year-old can be a little crazy, but our time in Reno was a lot of fun! Andrew’s parents LOVED their time with Gerrit and made some cute memories with him. Gerrit notoriously sleeps terribly when we’re traveling, so I slept in most mornings. But that was fine, because Gram & Gramps had a great time entertaining our little guy. 🙂 Andrew’s mom got a lot of fun books and toys for G to play with, and Gerrit loved playing with Andrew’s dad on the pool table and exploring outside with them.
Another exciting thing happened while we were in Reno: Andrew found out that he was accepted into Officer Training School for the Air Force! He had applied earlier in the year, and it was great timing that he got the call from his commander while we were at his parents’ house so they could celebrate with us! He leaves for OTS this summer, and we will be packing up to move again sometime this fall.
Right after we got back from Reno, we unpacked and repacked our suitcases to drive to Tennessee to spend time with my family for Easter! It was a little hectic having back-to-back trips, but I figured if Gerrit’s schedule was going to get off track, might as well just keep it off track, right? My parents rented a house that would accommodate all of us coming in from out of town not far from their house. It was great! The house we stayed in had lots of room for the kids to play, a nice kitchen with a dining table that could fit all of us, and enough beds for all of us and our kids. Plus it was out in the country, so it was quiet (minus the frequent trains passing by haha) and pretty with all the plants blooming.
Rub-a-dub-dub, 3 babies in the tub! Gerrit, Lexy, & NolanEaster morning
The day before we headed back home to NC, we went to the Chattanooga Zoo with all the kiddos. I feel like the zoo was just the right size for Gerrit (and toddlers in general): we saw lots of animals, but in only took a couple of hours to get through the whole thing.
It was a fun outing with my mom, sisters, nephews, and niece! The weather was pretty much perfect that day too. As you can see, we’re still getting a lot of use out of the ring sling. Gerrit still loves it, and gets excited anytime I tell him to “go get the sling” so I can carry him around with me.
I think the memorable part of April was getting outside! The weather was beautiful, and Andrew spent a lot of time building raised beds for a garden in the backyard. Gerrit wanted to help with all of it, of course, but he really just enjoyed being outside.
Gerrit would stay outside all day if he could! We’ve gotten him a slide and some outdoor toys. We’ve also gotten him some plastic gardening tools to play with.
Of course the beautiful weather quickly moved into hot weather. I got Gerrit a little sprinkler to play with, but he’d much rather let the water turn our yard into a muddy swamp than run through the water!
So that wraps up months 16, 17, & 18! Gerrit continues to grow and learn, and we love watching him figure out new things. He is becoming quite the handful (toddler terror!), but he is also very sweet and loving. I love that I am still able to be at home with him, and I try to cherish all the special moments we have together!
Happy 18 months, Gerrit! We love you, you silly boy!
On An Even Kiel 
