June 2017

We sold our house! After getting a really early low-ball offer I was starting to feel discouraged, but I guess we just needed to find the right buyer. Yay!

Our house was officially put on the market over Father's Day weekend. Unfortunately we did not get anywhere near the traction on our house that we had hoped. I think we only had 2 people come through on Saturday. I guess Father's Day weekend was a bad pick, but Gina didn't expect it so... and it worked out okay in the end!

Aurora had her last day of Kindergarten! We have been so fortunate that Aurora adores her school. I can't wait to see what her little brain decides to study next year!

Right before the end of the year Aurora got to go on a special field trip with her teacher Lainey to the Museum of Nature and Science. This was one of the items we won at the auction, and she was so excited about it. Lainey is very special to Aurora and getting to spend time with just her and one other friend (Harry) was wonderful.

Thinking we were going to have a lot of people in and out of our house the first weekend we headed up to Breckenridge to celebrate Father's Day with Nanny and Grumpa. We did a little hike, went swimming, walked around the town and had a really nice relaxing weekend.

Unfortunately we came home to another complaint from Animal Control against Chile. That poor dog is going to get herself into trouble if we aren't careful. The worst part is she isn't doing anything, our crazy neighbor has just decided that she is the new target. Our other neighbors have had just about every complaint under the sun filed against them (all completely unsubstantiated) and I guess it is just our turn. So Matt and I decided that the best course of action was just to board the dogs until we move to the new house.

Connor is such a good worker. He loves to help Dad in all things yard work. In fact he likes it so much he was in bed once when Matt was out front laying seed and he started crying asking why Dad wouldn't let him help. Of course I let him get up and he did such a good job raking and helping Matt spread the seed.

-- Cooper at 20 months --

Cooper is absolutely loving big kid books. He still enjoys the board books, but he is asking for pictures books more and more. I am amazed at how intently he listens to the longer books. He definitely has gotten his sister's love of books!

He is napping without a diaper! We are down to just one diaper a day! He stayed dry the first 3 days after we started potty training so I figured we would just go for it. It has been a bit hit or miss but he will work it out.

Cooper is putting his own shoes and shorts on. He hasn't quite figured out how to get the shirt over his head, but even I sometimes have a hard time pulling shirts over his big McCord head so that may take some time!

I am constantly amazed with how much awareness he has of his surroundings. The other day I walked into the new house with him and he asked to go to "Cooper's room" and then pointed out exactly how to get there. I don't know that he understands that he will be living there soon, but he definitely knows that is what we call it.

Cooper is such an empathetic guy! I don't remember his brother or sister ever doing this, but he comes running with hugs whenever anyone is sad or hurt. The other day Connor fell and hurt himself and Cooper came running over to me, pulled on my hand and said "Mama come. Ga-ga sad!" What a helper.

June 2016

We took a trip down to Texas to get all the cousins together. A bunch of the cousins are old enough now to really remember and enjoy each other which is so sweet to see. This year we went to Dallas and stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge. It is a super kid friendly hotel with bunk beds in the rooms and and indoor water park. Aurora's favorite part was the MagiQuest that she did with Dad where they had to complete scavenger hunt type challenges. I was really stressed about the trip before we left because Matt had a business trip come up last minute which left me to fly alone with the kids. Thankfully I have the best husband on the planet and he found a way to come home early and surprise me. 

Aurora and Brynn showing off their tattoos

Connor is starting to love the word no and is protesting direction a lot more. He is still refusing to nap a good portion of the time so I wonder whether he is starting to give it up or not. He also talks to everyone he meets. He asks random people on the sidewalk what their names are or how they are doing. The other day in the grocery store Connor told me “Mama I love you… and I love him” (in reference to a random older man in the produce section) He cracks me up. And apparently he cracks Aurora up too because she told me that Connor's jokes are her favorite thing about him. Cuties.

 

I am loving having Aurora home for the summer. Everyone seems to get along better when we spend more time together and we aren't so worn out from the school schedule. Aurora had Inspire Camp and Avid4Adventure the first three weeks of the summer but since then we have mostly just been hanging around. I am very curious to see if eye therapy is going to help Aurora's headaches. She sat out at least half of her week of Avid because she just felt so awful.

Aurora at Avid4

Aurora and Dad heading to Beauty and the Beast

-- Cooper at 8 months --

Separation anxiety has set in big time for Cooper. He has never been a super low maintenance baby, but now he has to be in my arms or on my lap which is exhausting.

He has figured out how to sit up all by himself. This did make him a bit happier for a little while but it didn't last long. He has also pulled himself up to standing at least once but doesn't do it very often. 

We are finally really starting solids. I had stopped feeding solid food a few weeks ago because he got really constipated. The pediatrician said to avoid things like banana and sweet potato and instead focus on things like peas and blueberries. Peas were an instant hit but he hasn't taken to blueberries yet.

Cooper has a tooth!

He is finally starting to  lengthen his sleep time! He is sleeping from 6 until almost 2 then a wake up 4 and again at 5 or 5:15 when he is up for the day. This guy has always struggled with the early morning wake ups.

He is still on two naps at 8:30 and 1 which both last about an hour and 20 minutes.

June 2015

Aurora has had two dance camps so far and they have been great! There has not been a single tear and she even got to be a helper to one of her friends that was crying at drop off. It was so amazing to see her be the one to go take her friends hand and offer to walk in with her.

We flew to Massachusetts to see Mimi and Papa for almost a week and then headed into Boston for Matt's cousin Robbie's wedding. The kids had so much fun playing with Mimi and Papa. Aurora got to swim in the hot tub and both kids loved running and playing in the yard. Friday Papa drove us into Boston and then my parents met us at the hotel to watch the kids while Matt and I went to the wedding. It was a rare treat for the kids to get to see both sets of grandparents at the same time!

Thankfully Connor and Aurora have been playing better together lately. After the past month of them just terrorizing each other I am so happy that they seem to be enjoying each other again.

Aurora is reading everything! I am constantly amazed at how quickly she picks up new words. She doesn't like having to stop and sound out things she doesn't know, but we are working on that. She is also developing quite the competitive streak. We have talked many times about how her friends aren't going to want to do things with her if she is constantly telling everyone she does things better than they do... but this will take time.

I can't believe I'm 28 weeks already. The middle of the pregnancy seemed to go really slowly but now as the 30 week mark is approaching September is starting to feel awfully close. I'm tired all of the time and not as patient as I would like to be but considering those are my biggest complaints things must be going pretty well.

-- Connor at 18 months --

This boy is talking a ton! I used to joke that with a sister who talks as much as Aurora does Connor would either have to be super loud to compete or not say a word until he turned three. I think we have our answer :)

He is using two and three word sentences. Where Dada go? and Dada work! are two of his favorites

He is also responding really well, I feel like he understands most of what we say to him even if it is more complex than a very simple direction or statement.

He is finally starting to eat well! I wouldn't say he eats a ton but he is finally starting to each chunks of meat and not fight us about everything on his plate. As a result he is actually putting on some weight and was in the 5% which is an improvement (albeit small) from the sub 5% category he has been in.

He was a champ at his 18 month well check. He got two shots and didn't shed a single tear. What a brave boy!

We got him a sleep light that seems to be working pretty well. We started having it turn green before he wakes up and steadily pushing the time later and later every few days. He picked up the concept pretty quickly and we have him now waking around 5:30 which is a huge win.

He has been a little cranky lately but I think he's getting his first molar. We have also been dealing with quite a bit of hitting lately. He does seem to understand he shouldn't be doing it and will repeat "no hitting" back to us but that doesn't stop him from hitting the next time he is frustrated ;)

It also looks like it wasn't just a fluke that he threw up in his car seat while we were in San Antonio. He has had two repeats since then -- one while visiting my parents and one here in Denver. We are going to try switching his car seat to see if that helps because its really awful to make that poor boy ride around in a seat full of vomit. Yuck.