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3.25.2015

Up on the Snowy Mountain

After spending the weekend in Fort Worth with Grammy and Louis, Sid and I loaded up and headed to NWA for a week of fun on the mountain. Or shall I say snow on the mountain. Sid once again was a trooper in the car. He definitely got a little fussy at times, but we would just stop and give him a quick break from his carseat. What should've only taken us 6ish hours took us closer to 8. 


We knew Northwest Arkansas had been hit pretty hard with snow in the days my mom was away. We really had no idea if we were even going to be able to get up the driveway once we got there. Her sweet neighbor called us saying they were able to drive up and down it. This was a relief, but we still weren't convinced because it's scary - and neither my mom nor I are very brave when it comes to snowy icy steep driveways!!! 


THANKFULLY! The driveway really was mostly clear and were able to drive right on up and get unloaded and settled in...before the next storm hit.


We spent a lot of time indoors on this trip. It was just down right cold most days. And very snowy! Even though the weather wasn't great, we really lucked out being there that week because due to the snow, my mom wasn't able to go to work on Wednesday or Thursday! So - we got her home with us more than we would have if the weather had been perfectly sunny!!

Rolling around on Grammy's floor
Fun with Mardi Gras beads in Grammy's laundry basket!

The next storm definitely iced us in.

Solid layer of ice...

Then came the snow on top...(bad combo!)


Eventually the sun came out and we were able to stroll around outside as long as we stayed all bundled up! Todd, the neighbor, came home on his lunch break and plowed the driveway on his Ranger! So when the sun came out, it just melted what was left right away. Man - if you only knew how AWESOOOOOME this is - to have a neighbor who can quickly plow her driveway! It's basically priceless. We fixed their family chicken-n-dumplings for dinner that night! We are so happy these friends decided to build next door :)

Silly boy playing in the bean bag chair

We ventured out to the grocery store one day and Sid had his first buggy ride! It's safe to say he loved it! Except he would get fussy if we stopped moving. It made shopping fairly interesting :) After he suffered through the grocery store, Grammy took him across the street to Target where he got to pick out some toys :)

Playing in his highchair while Grammy and I ate lunch.

When I say Sid and Louis became pals this trip, I truly mean it. The cuteness is just too much!

Louis wishing Sid could open the door to let him outside
"Hey Louis! Look at what I can do with this water bottle!"
Sorry Lou, he still can't open that door for you!

On Saturday daddy showed up! We were out shopping and when we walked outside, Sean was standing right there to greet us! Sidney was sort of confused at first - but immediately was all grins once he realized what was going on! 

Playing with the music table
He didn't quite understand why this jumper didn't do what his jumparoo at home does.
He warmed up to it though :)

One night, Sean grilled us these drool worthy steaks with blue cheese butter. Oh my word. We don't eat a lot of red meat around here, but the fact that I can look at this plate and salivate is the reason why I don't think I could ever be a vegetarian...


We had nice weather for several days once Sean came, so he spent most of his time checking things off of my mom's "Sonny Do" list. We just really enjoyed our weekend together, and even got to hit up a flea market, which we all love to do, but hadn't done in quite some time. We didn't find anything, but we just all enjoy looking. 

It's always hard saying "see ya later" to Grammy when we leave her. We really can't wait to get back there in the spring or early summer when the weather is nice and Sid can really have some fun outside! 

Thanks for having us, Grammy! See you back in TX for Easter :) 

3.20.2015

Winter Weather and Grammy Visits!

Several weeks ago Grammy and Louis came down for a visit! The weather was not nice. In fact, she had to travel here a day early to beat the snow we were predicted to get (and did get!) on Friday.

We had to spend our entire weekend indoors. It was cold, wet, and snowy outside! Who wants to get out in that? Yuck! Grammy was really good at keeping Sid entertained, thank goodness. This mama was running on empty and Sid was needing some new form of entertainment!

Playing Peek-a-Boo

This visit was the first time Sidney really took an interest in Louis. He would squeal to get Louis to turn and look at him! They were both guilty of trying to give the other their toys in hopes the other would know what to do with it. Louis really wanted Sid to throw his toys for him, but Sid was much happier trying to put them in his own mouth instead (ick!). The bond was super cute, and I can't wait to see it grow.

They were pals!
"Hey, that's me on Grammy's computer screen!"
Snow day selfie 

Grammy and Sid did a looooot of strolling...through the house. All 2000 square feet of it. Yea. Fun! Sid definitely thought so, and really, that's all that mattered! Louis would just trial behind and follow them all through the house. Sid would get so relaxed, and then usually go down for a nap. Genius!


We decided we needed to get Sid out in the snow for a quick photo op. He wasn't thrilled, but it was cold and late in the day. I think he did just fine all things considered. Well, until Sean decided he needed to physically touch the snow. About two seconds later, he started wailing. Poor guy had snow all over his tiny little fingers and it was cooooold!

...and then the wailing started!

That's about the extent of what we did over the weekend. Other than eat well of course. 

Sid and I planned on heading back to Arkansas with Grammy on Sunday. Due to weather, we delayed our trip for an extra day. You know the drill by now, we usually always have a plan to head back to the mountain with her :) So glad we did! 

Next up...our visit to Grammy's house!

3.06.2015

Sidney Loyd - 9 months

Wow! What a month it has been! Our little bit is nine months old now! We've had so much fun, even though there have been quite a few challenges we've had to face. Nothing major, just changes and things to figure out in order to understand our favorite fella a little better. 



First things first. No - Sid is not crawling and - no - Sid has no teeth! But the boy can roll and scoot like it's his job! And he can drool and smack his gums together so much so that you shove your finger in his mouth because you are just SURE there must be some swelling or something going on in there. Nope. Notta. I am just taking comfort in knowing that each baby develops on their time. And like his Grammy says, he will do it when he's ready :) 


We decided to go ahead and lower Sid's mattress in his crib. He isn't pulling up yet, but when he would pop his head up, or turtle head as we like to call it, he was way too high for my comfort level! He loves his bed. Sometimes, in the morning especially, if he gets super fussy, I will put him in his crib like I would for a nap, and he will just play around in there for 30 minutes or so until he feels better and then I will go get him. We call it his quiet time, but really he's babbling in there the entire time. It's just a nice way to reset him, and he enjoys it I think. If he doesn't calm down after this, I will put him in the wrap and walk around with him to calm him down. Then he goes right down and takes a good morning nap. It's our thing, and I think it's safe to say we both enjoy it.


Sid loves his toys that play music! When the music plays, he will start dancing. It's so cute! He definitely comes by it naturally! His mama sure loves to dance :) He still loves playing with his books. He doesn't let us get much reading done. He much prefers to bang on them, pull them off the shelf, and turn his own pages as quickly as he can. 


My little stinker is LOUD. Do you hear me? LOUD I tell ya! I'm talking run out of the restaurant loud because he's so excited he squeals with all his might! AND - I might have found myself literally covering his mouth while having lunch with daddy out one day. AND - I might have wanted to crawl under the table, because he wanted to let his presence known to all around. AND - I might have scarfed my food and scooped him up to walk around in the lobby. I might have done that. 


Sid has learned how to get our attention. Half of the time I can't tell if he's really upset, or just wanting one of us to turn around and look at him. He will squeaaaaaaal (very loudly, in case you were wondering), then we will turn around, and he will grin from ear to ear and jerk his body with excitement. It's stinkin' cute, but, ummm, LOUD! So the moral of the story is, Sid is loud. And I think this mama and papa better get used to it - for now. My mom says it's payback (I don't know what she's talking about :/).

I am 99% positive he was squealing during this picture!

We took Sidney for his first swinging experience. He wasn't too sure about it, but I think in the end he liked it. For a few minutes anyway. He was still a little too small and the swing swallowed him so he wasn't really able to sit back and enjoy it. But he had fun and so did we!


We bought Sid his first cap! How adorable is he? I can't handle this picture...


We have noticed Sid is not a huge fan of texture when it comes to his food. He likes his purees smooth. Which is fine, but a little texture is good for him. I am trying to get him used to it a little bit at a time. He has started gagging on certain things. This scares us half to death because he turns bright red and basically stops breathing for a second. His favorite things to gag on are avocado and chunky green veggies. Grammy was here once when it happened and all of a sudden she grabbed his arm and started yanking it above his head! He pretty much quit gagging instantly. Sean and I weren't quite sure what happened, but whatever it was, we liked it! She said that's what they used to do to help us.

We started giving Sid a big boy cup instead of a sippy cup. After much research, we decided against the sippy cup and so far so good. He loves his new little yellow cup :) Sometimes he gets way too much water and chokes, and sometimes he splashes his hands in it, and other times he tries to dump it all over himself. But it's fun and he loves it!

Can we just take a moment to talk about his leg rolls...


I just love them!!! I can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can see them more often, ha!

We are still having some trouble with his night time sleep. After almost a month of getting in a bad habit of nursing him at night (I honestly don't even know how we got in this habit - I think once I thought he really was hungry and next thing I know, we had a bad habit going). We finally convinced ourselves that we indeed had a problem and that we needed to let him cry. Well, it took one night of serious crying for about 30 minutes and that was it. Yes, he's woken up in the middle of the night since then, but quickly able to get himself back to sleep. For the most part though, he goes down around 6:30 or 7 and sleeps until 5 or 5:30. I get up, nurse him, then we all go back to bed until 7:30 or 8. I want to try to start pushing him to 6 instead of 5, but we will get there again.


Sid got to experience his first snow!!!! I can't say he was thrilled about it, but we had to document it none the less. He is such a cutie!


Daddy thought he needed to have a hands on experience and let him touch it. A few seconds later he started screaming his head off because his hand was so cold! It was so funny, but sort of sad!


I can't wait to see what this next month will bring. I am just in shock that we have a nine month old. I know I'm not the first to say this, but I really do feel like it was yesterday when we brought him home from the hospital. I guess time flies when you're having fun :)


Weight: 18.5 pounds (24th%)
Height: 29" (71st%)
Medical Issues: He no longer needs prune juice! Yay! Still has eczema. Boo :(
Naps: 2 a day. I can't say what time because it just depends on what he did the night before. But usually 2.5 - 3 hours of awake time and then he's ready for a nap.
Night Sleep: Bedtime is between 6:30 and 7. We hold our breaths lately that he will sleep until 5:30. Night time has been a little shaky.
Clothing Size: 9m & 12m.
Diapers: BG 4.0 w/ cotton or bamboo inserts during the day / nighttime BG 4.0 w/ 3 bamboo inserts.
Diet: Mama's milk!, sweet potatoes, pear, butternut squash, green beans, carrots, zucchini, nectarines, some avocado, but he doesn't like it, broccoli (gives him stinky breath), asparagus, water in his new cup
Favorite Baby Gear: Pat the Bunny is his new favorite book because he loves to play Peek-a-Boo!, and his 10 Busy Whizzy Bugs book that Grammy gave him for Valentine's day, jumparoo, his bath seat that he is too big for!, maya wrap
Personality: He is loud and silly. He loves to get your attention and then smile really big! 
Milestones/Firsts: I am not sure much new has happened. He does like to dance to music now! He is able to communicate what he wants more with certain gestures. Definitely started saying dada and mama (the mama as of just a few days before 9m birthday, and still a little questionable), waving
Likes: his books!, being tickled, growling (yes, he growls!), rolling all around, drumming on the big metal bowl I use to make his wipes, strolling, Louis!, and FaceTiming with his Grammy! He squeals with pure joy when he hears that high pitch ring coming., playing patty-cake 
Dislikes: when his food is all gone!, getting ready for bed because he's ready to nurse, not getting what he wants (I know, trouble already!)
NicknamesSid-Sid has definitely stuck, for both daddy and I.

OUTTAKES