Sidney Loyd - 21 months

Our little boy is 3 months away from turning two! I know! I can't believe it myself!

Something else happened, too. Sean and I have turned into THOSE parents that think their child is a genius! Ok so not a genius - but good golly - he is definitely smart! He talks continually and very clearly. I've had moms come tell me they can't believe how well he speaks. There is no word he won't attempt to say, and if it doesn't come out the way he wants it to, he will try and try again until it sounds just right. He has also started putting words together. His favorite lately is, "Mama up!" (Or whoever it is that is sitting when he clearly wants you up!). He has learned to put the person in front of what he wants. If he is having a smoothie, he will want to share it with me or daddy so he will say, "Mama drink smoothie." I just love it. I love that Sid can communicate with us so well.

Sid is very into trucks (garbage especially), trains, fire trucks, school buses! All of those boy things. When he hears a "delibery" truck, the mail truck, or the "gabage" truck, you better watch out because you might get run over by a speedy little guy who is dashing to the window to see out!

Sidney is getting into pretend play more and more. He's always loved being in the kitchen when we are. We have some play food and a container of pasta that we let him "cook" with while we are doing the real thing. He knows which spoon is what, and if the boy asks for the pasta spoon - he means the pasta spoon! Not the random wooden spoon that no one uses. He makes "smooooothie" for us quite often with the blender that we let him play with (because the blade comes out!). His latest with the smoothie making is he yanks the dish towel down that's hanging by the sink and shoves it into the blender cup. Adorable, except not, because I never have anything to dry my hands on, haha! He's a mess :) He also loves to feed his stuffed animals. He asks me to get a bowl down and he walks over and puts it down where my mom puts Louis' food and water when they are here. Usually he then fills the bowl with the dry pasta and holds their faces into the food so they can "eat". This is all adorable until Louis actually is here - then we have a few wet stuffed animals running around because they typically get dunked into Louis' water bowl ;)

Something we've discovered is that Sid looooooooves to color! I mean it will entertain him for an hour! We have a little table and chair for him and he will sit (or squirm) and color forever. Most of the time he's asking us to draw garbage trucks over and over and over again!! It's so fun watching his little mind wander along the page with his crayon of choice. He isn't just a scribbler. He takes his time and thinks about the lines or circles he is drawing. He does scribble - but not much.

This was the day we decided he needed his own table!

Books books and more books! Our boy loves to read!!! He can practically read me his books. I will start reading a line and he will finish it! Lately he's been sitting through some longer books, which has been fun. I love to read to him. Sometimes we will find him in his room sitting in front of his bookshelf reading to himself or reorganizing all the books on his shelves. We have his books all over our house! (Along with many other things that are his)

Eating, playing choo-choo, dancing, singing, playing outside, running, jumping, plopping, going fast!...these are all among his current favorites! Sid is totally happy being at home. He literally entertains himself so much. Most of the time he doesn't want to leave! He is a trooper when we do go somewhere but he's much happier at home playing on his excavator! As you can see, he's incredibly entertaining...

Sid is completely obsessed with being outside! Anytime he hears his daddy's office door open he runs as fast as he can saying "Outside! Outside! Outside!". That is their favorite thing to do together. I love it because it allows me a few minutes to get something done inside! And I see how much joy it brings them both. Sid likes to feed the birds, help water, and just roam around with the neighborhood girls who love him!

Our boy is finallyyyyyyyy growing more teeth!!!! Sid got his top two at 20 months! They still aren't all the way down, but that's ok. We can see them! He has the two next ones on top breaking through soon, and one more on the bottom that has cut. I started giving him homeopathic calcium tablets and I think it might be helping! Who knows if it is or isn't - but something is finally bringing them down!

Check out his top teeth!

As we all know, Sid has an egg allergy. Sean and I have been too afraid to try giving him food with egg cooked in to it for fear he'd have a bad reaction. A few weeks ago we got brave and gave him one small bite of a meatball. And - no reaction!!! This is huge! We will soon try again with a bigger bite, and so on until eventually we learn if he can have it or not! This is very encouraging to us!

The last thing I will say before wrapping this post up is - after 20 months and 3 weeks, Sid is weaned. For almost two years I nursed my baby. I could get sad, and in a way I am, but I am more proud than sad. I did it! I have given my boy the best start to his life that I knew how to give. And for that, I am beyond grateful. He is a healthy little guy :) Other than a few colds, (knocking on wood before I say this) he has never been sick! We are so thankful!

Sid is just so much fun! He loves being silly and making us all laugh. He loves to learn and explore. Sean and I are just completely in love with him. Our little family of three is so strong and so full of love. It's 6:45 in the morning right now. A month ago I'd of been laying here getting ready to nurse. But today I lay here and wait for a vibrant little boy to come bursting in with his daddy (who took the monitor to his desk) and say with the most joy you've ever heard attached with the most giant grin say, "Mamaaaaaaaa!" 

Life doesn't get much better.

Weight: 30 something - it really doesn't matter - the boy is SOLID!

Height: unsure

Medical Issues: Nothing new

Naps: We've just recently dropped down to 1 nap a day. For a while, his second nap really ended up just being quiet time in the crib. So I finally consolidated. He now naps between 12:30 and 1, for an hour and half (rarely more, ugh!)

Night Sleep: Bedtime is at 7. His routine has changed though because I no longer nurse him before bed. Sean does bath, then I get him ready for bed and we read a few books, say our prayers, sing a sweet song and then he's in the bed by 7.

Clothing Size: Most everything is 2T (can still wear 24m onesies)

Diapers: BG 4.0 w/ cotton or bamboo inserts during the day / nighttime Pooters bamboo diaper with cover.

Diet: He loves food. There isn't much he won't eat. He doesn't like green veggies right now, but I hope it's just a short phase and nothing permanent. He will eat them, but I have to suggest it. Red bell peppers are amongst his favorite things. Along with hummus toast and PASTA!

Personality: Silly! He is good at being silly. 

Milestones/Firsts: Gosh that's hard to say. He learns new letters, numbers, and words every day!

Likes: Coloring, legos, his books, anything having to do with trucks, being outside, painting, his stuffed animals (especially Pooh!)

Dislikes: Having to leave the house when he's in the zone and playing. It is seriously sometimes just easier to stay home!

Nicknames: Sid-Sid, boo, bug

Valentine's Day with my Loves

Valentine's Day fell on a Sunday this year. My morning started off with the cutest little guy I know running into our room where I was still laying in bed. His daddy had given him one flower to bring to his mama. He ran in faster than lightening with a huge grin on his face, then instead of handing me the flower, he showed it to me...and then he dropped it and ran off!!...Back into the kitchen where his daddy was getting his oatmeal ready. It was the cutest thing ever and I will never forget it.

Sean had to work that day, but we spent the morning together and then we cooked outside for dinner. Instead of Sean cooking us a yummy breakfast (like he typically does on a special holiday) we ended up getting breakfast from our favorite pancake spot! We decided we'd rather spend time outside with Sid rather than cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. Even though there was no home cooked breakfast on the table, there were still these goodies for me...

Don't miss Sid shoveling in the background!

He gifted me a Kindle Paperwhite! I was beyond excited! It is something I've wanted for a while (I gave one to Sean for Christmas last year), but couldn't justify buying one because I usually just read on my iPhone or iPad. The problem I have with these devices is that I end up not reading! I get stuck on social media and then I've wasted my time and I end up being too sleepy to read. Since receiving this Kindle, I have hardly put it down in my spare time. I seriously love it! He didn't pick out a case for it because he said he would have picked the wrong one, ha! I decided to get a pink case to help us remember this special day of love :) (I still can't believe I picked pink - b/c if you know me, you'd of probably bet $100 I would have gone with blue or green - but I actually really like it!).

I got Sean a custom mug. I have one, and decided he needed one too :) There is a funny story behind the image I chose. Sean went fishing when we went to Broken Bow, OK last summer. He caught a fish! I thought it was a cute picture so I posted it on Facebook - didn't even occur to me that he was holding up a rather small fish! His buddies had a good time giving him grief over the two handed fish hold - for such a small fish! So, I felt it only appropriate to keep the joke going by putting the picture on a mug :)

Sid got some fun new books and Curious George! You can tell by the look on his face that he absolutely adores him. He's been so into him lately! He was carrying George around everywhere with him, but now he's settled into his bed next to Louis (and big Pooh, and little Pooh, and bunny, and Peppa Pig, and little piggie...phew! how did I let this happen!!!).

Diapers and pants on George :)

Grammy sent him a box of fun things, including his t-shirt which reads "Best Kid Ever", and this awesome card full of stickers! Sid decided he wanted to color on it as well :) It entertained him for several days.

We got to spend the entire morning outside on the patio. Sean and I cleaned up what was a very messy patio and Sid colored with sidewalk chalk! 

After playing outside, we came in and read some books and then Sid took a nap. I scrambled to surprise Sean with our dessert for the evening. I remembered I had leftover, un-iced, birthday cake from Sid's first birthday in the freezer! I have always wanted to make a heart shaped cake! So I pulled it from the freezer, cut it into a heart, whipped up some buttercream icing, and then made myself sick over the leftover cake pieces  VOILA! The cake was so so good! And I love how it turned out!

I was able to get it finished up and into the outside fridge before Sid woke up and before Sean got home. Once Sid woke up, we made a fun craft for daddy!

Love after nap sleepy snuggles :)

 Sid got to paint for the first time ever and he loved it!

...Look how cute it turned out...completely perfect :)

Once Sid went to bed, we got to cooking! We popped the potatoes in the oven, then grilled the steaks and cooked the mushrooms in the cast iron skillet on the grill. We couldn't have asked for a better night. The weather was perfect. 

Sort of hard to see but just wanted to remember how pretty our plastic folding table looked :)

Gosh, this was all so yummy we both cleaned our plates (don't judge)!

Hmmm, not sure what happened to our green veggie!

 He was totally surprised when I walked out with this cute cake!

Happy Valentine's, babe! I love you and our little bug so so much! I am a lucky girl to be loved by you two gentleman ;)

And just for fun...here is a picture I found from our first Valentine's together...TWO THOUSAND AND SIX!!!!

Traylor Family Photos

A few weeks before Christmas, we came up with the idea to hire a photographer to take pictures of our family while all together in Arkansas. I did a quick search on Instagram and stumbled across Jessica Robinson Photography. I loved her style. Thankfully she was available to shoot our family on Christmas day! We were scheduled for the day after Christmas, but due to a forecast change (rain rain rain!) she worked with us to move it to Christmas day. Anyway, she was wonderful and we all love how the pictures turned out!

These are my people!