Sweet Aaron Says

Aaron was playing just now and I could hear him over the monitor.

He said, "And thank you for mommy who loves us so much. Thank you for daddy who loves us so much. Thank you for sister and thank you for brother who love me so much."

....

"You have to sing with us! You have to sing it! bye bye, I'm going to get a cake for you. From the store. A birthday cake. And a candle. You need to blow it out. It is chocolate."

...

"I'm back. Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you. Here's one piece. You have to eat it!"


What a sweet little guy.

I love him!

Boy's Room: In Case You Were Wondering

We got the decals for the wall from Amazon. (Hat tip to our friend John for the Amazon gift card for Christmas! We also bought a new kitchen food scale to help us with our weight management. Thanks!)

They stick very well, even though our house has textured walls.

We bought the paint from Walmart for $7.99. I didn't even know walmart had their own line of paint, but they do! I read some reviews on it and, admittedly, it doesn't have the highest quality. It is manufactured under the ColorPlace label for Walmart by Sherwin Williams. Most reviews say that if you are willing to do a couple coats it will do just fine for you. We did 2 coats of the "Spring Garden" color. 

I think I spent $18 total for the letters & brown paint for their names (and Lauren's initials for her room.) 

So all in all, it was a pretty inexpensive way to jazz up the boys' space. We decided to go for it before we moved them together to try and make Ian feel excited about the move. New paint, wall decals, his name on the wall... all ways to show him he wasn't moving into Aaron's Room, but into a completely new room for both of them. Due to illnesses and baby-fussies, it ended up taking us a month to finish the project. I actually think that was really good, though, because it allowed the boys/all of us to get used to the changes gradually. We finished the painting over last weekend. The decals arrived yesterday (& I bought & painted the brown letters yesterday, too) so we pulled it all together before dinner last night with a big, exciting finish! Ian & Aaron helped move Ian's things (bed, dresser, books, etc.) over & it all went great!

They are both over the moon about the new space. For less than $50, I'd say that's a major win. 

New Boys' Room

**UPDATE**
They slept all night. Somehow, Ian went to bed without his blankie and raggie, though, so when he heard Roger leaving this morning, he realize he didn't have them and came out to get them. It was too late by the time I caught up with him... Aaron was awake too. So we got up at 6:00. I know that's not horrible, but it is a full hour earlier than we usually get up. So today is going to be a long day. Now to figure out how naptime is going to work...

**UPDATEI** 
Roger put the boys to bed at 9:30. At 10:15 he emailed me from the bedroom, where the monitor is, to tell me there nothing but silence. Too sleeping tots up in there! I know it will not always go so well, but  the first bedtime together was a success! Praise the Lord!

At some point, I will hopefully replace these pictures with non-phone-camera pictures. It cost us a grand total of $33 for the paint & decals. The walls are green, though you can't really tell in the pictures. When Ian is ready for a bigger bed, we'll probably do bunk beds and change it up a little again, but right now, the boys are pretty excited about their new digs.

Since tonight's the night, though, I figured I'd put the photos up to commemorate the occasion... hopefully it isn't a disaster.

Fell Asleep at the Table!

If you know the Vandervort kids, you probably know that they never sleep.

Ok, maybe that's not true, but what is true is that our kids rarely fall asleep anywhere but in their beds. It doesn't usually matter how tired, how much running, how late, etc. They just aren't the kind of kids to lay their weary heads down and just sleep.

We had a surprise visit from Emily & Adam & co. today. We went to 2 playgrounds (outdoor until we got cold, then to the indoor one) and they boys played straight through naptime. After we were done playing we went next door and had lunch/dinner. Neither Isaac, nor Ian, nor Aaron, nor Asher misbehaved at dinner. They sat nice and ate well. As Aaron was finishing up his meal, I kept looking at him thinking, man, he looks tired! He was holding his own, but then literally before our eyes he started to sway. I asked Roger to pick him up because I was afraid he was going to hit his head on the table.

He absolutely, 100 percent fell asleep in his high chair sitting at a restaurant. 

Hilarious! And pathetic!

I wish I had snapped a picture of the rare occasion. 

That is how hard they played today!

I can't wait until spring/summer & the daytripping with the cousins the warmer weather will bring!

What are we going to do when...

Lauren is old enough to want to play the iPhone too?

Dear Aaron could use a Prayer...

He is very sick today.

High fevers and terrible coughing, wheezing, etc.

Having missed nap for a doctor visit, he's crashing on the couch before dinner

Ian's Despicable Me Moves

Ian learned these dance moves from the movie Despicable Me... and then there's Aaron, who needs some new moves, but is obviously feeling pretty good these days. We took this video before bath 2 nights ago. So funny.

Feeling Better

Is it just me or does his face look different already?

Aaron's growth

I'm going to do a post just for Ian in a second, but I wanted to get down Aaron's growth measurement from Wednesday.

In October, Aaron was 32.75 inches, 26 pounds and 48cm head circumference. (At 2 years exactly.)

On Wednesday January 12, 2011, at age 27 months, Aaron was 35 inches, 25.8 pounds, and 49 cm head circumference.

So he has grown! He didn't gain any weight, but added 2.25 inches in height. Excellent news.

Adenoidectomy

I didn't blog the last few days. We spent pretty much the entire day at Children's hospital Wednesday with Aaron. He was having his adenoids out. And then he stayed overnight with Roger.

He did well. He wasn't feeling very good for the first 24 hours or more, but has since perked up quite a bit. At first he wouldn't fall asleep. (More than usual...) Aaron is our best sleeper and he was refusing to lay down (or even to fall asleep while being held).  He seems to have gotten past that now, though.


Our challenges are 1. Finding enough soft foods that are interesting to him. Aaron is a good eater. He has a very balanced diet.  Have you ever tried to convince a 2 year old of anything?  Convincing Aaron that he should try a food he doesn't normally eat, especially when he's not feeling well has been really hard! And just because he ate something the first time you offered it, does not mean he's interested in it again. (Read: jello, macaroni and cheese, popsicles, etc.)

2.  Keeping him from getting too rambunctious. His discharge instructions said he could return to school on Monday (if he goes to school, which he doesn't...) and no exercise for 14 days. When was the last time you spent time with a 2 year old? He runs everywhere. He jumps around. His normal movements could very easily be considered "exercise." So how do we keep him from moving?

Learning patience and to share.

Aaron:  Play twains wif me, mommy?

Me:  Yes, buggy, I'll plain trains with you in a couple minutes.

Aaron: You feedin' Mornin mouk?

Me: yep. I'm feeding Lauren milk. Ok?

Aaron: Ok. Pway twains done feedin' Mornin milk.


He's so sweet. I could just eat him up!

Christmas Eve

A "Church Clothes" photo & A "new jammie" photo. Stockings hanging, cookies out...  And the rest has yet to be revealed.

This was actually after we got home from church, our first "successful" Christmas Eve service
since 2006
...nobody crying, mama didn't have to leave the sanctuary, etc! Lovely!

we only had 4 hooks, so Roger's and mine are on the same one.

Stockings knitted for us by my "Aunt" Peggy Groover. 

Aaron's First time in Cloth & Little Sis Photo

I guess I should not say first time because there were some times as an infant that Aaron was in cloth diapers. Anyway. Here's Aaron... in his Bumkins All-in-One diapers. I bought these probably 2 years ago now... and they've been in the closet just waiting.  Perhaps somehow I just knew I would eventually go for it? Sorry to be posting so much about cloth diapers, but I'm really trying to immerse myself & get really excited about it so I don't give up.

Right now it is a little like starting out breastfeeding: I know the benefits, I'm excited about doing it, but it is hard (for me) to get going. In a few weeks, I'll probably look back and say, "hey, this is alright!"

Of course now I'll just mention since I know you're curious... no, I didn't ever do bottles because I thought it was easier, but I definitely thought about giving up on nursing Ian.  The first 4 weeks of breastfeeding Ian were awful. I stuck it out & I'm glad I did! Now I'm nursing my third baby!

Anyway, that was a huge tangent I just went on...

Here are the pics.

LMV sleeping on the changing table (through a diaper change)

Other things we're up to?

1. All 3 kids have snotty faucet-noses. (Nasty!)
2. I'm thinking about the Apple tarte I'm making tomorrow morning.
3. I'm making Challah right now for french toast tomorrow.
4. Missing Roger & wishing he was on vacation today.
5. Thinking about Aaron's ENT appointment scheduled for 12/14.
6. Trying a new thing where we only buy meat once a month...and really take advantage of our freezer space.
7. Going to Grandma & Grandpa Bishop's for Thanksgiving dinner.
8. Thankful for a great many things this year.

Aaron's 2 Year Stats

Aaron had his well visit this morning.  He got his final 2 "baby" vaccinations that he'd missed previously because he was sick and/or I didn't want him to have more than 1 vax at a time.  No more vax until he's 5 (except for the flu)!! Yay! That's become something I look forward to...reaching the point in childhood where they don't have to get shots every 2 months or whatever.  Although it is hard to believe that Ian won't go back for another well visit until April! (And Aaron won't have another one until next October!)

They didn't tell me his percentiles today so I had to plug them into a calculator on the Internet just now so here we go:

At 24 months:your child is 25 pounds, and that is at the 14th percentile for weight.
your child is 32.75 inches, and that is at the 10th percentile for height.
your child has a head circumference of 18.9 inches, and that is at the 30th percentile for head circumference.

So thinking back a bit, at 18 months old, Aaron was no longer on the percentiles chart for weight.  You may be thinking... why is Aaron gaining weight a good thing? It's a good thing because he was so sick through is first 18 months that he wasn't gaining anything.  He was not able to intake enough calories to both gain weight/grow and fight off the sickies.  So the fact that Aaron is now gaining weight and back on the weight chart means his asthma and allergies are being managed well enough for him to put on some pounds.  That is really good. He's still teeny, but he's doing better.


Aaron now has a very healthy height/weight/head circumference ratio and that is super!

Aaron's vocabulary is incredible.  He knows almost as many words as Ian does.  (Which is why I'm not even going to try to put them all down.  He speaks in full sentences (even if the words are all "out of order.") and we can understand him 80-90% of the time.  His fine and gross motor skills are excellent.  He's eating well and playing well.

He wears 18 months size clothes...and mostly hand-me-downs from Ian. It is really so nice for me to "relive" a lot of the outfits I really loved on Ian now that Aaron can wear them.

Aaron is a sweetheart with a stubborn streak, by far the laid back one of the 2 boys.

I think that's about it about Aaron for today...

2 year Photo Shoot & 3 Month Photo Shoot

Tomorrow, Aaron will be TWO years old! (Unbelievable.)  But even harder to accept is Lauren will be 3 months old tomorrow. Here are some photos I took this morning.  (Ian was at school or he's be in them too, of course, he's 3 1/2 years old now.)  By the way, getting a 2 year old to sit still & smile is... hard.