Neil is 20 months now. He in general is still a good kid although he of course has his moments as all kids do.
Neil is still tentative on the stairs and always wants to hold our hands (and the banister with his other hand if possible). I'm really surprised how tentative he is but this could also be a blessing just because he's not running around jumping off things and stuff (yet).
Foodwise Neil still seems to prefer chicken over beef, and I still make fish type stuff for Dave and him at times. (I don't personally like seafood.) Neil doesn't really eat sandwiches, unless he has fish and I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Then he decides he wants what Mommy has. Go figure. With the fall, he is eating slices of apples (not boiled/steamed- the first time he didn't want it because it wasn't soft but since then he's been fine), as well as peaches. We introduced him to the song Peaches by Presidents of the USA and he will now yell "Look out" when he says peaches.
Every so often daycare mentions Neil biting but as usual he doesn't really do it around us so I'm not really sure what to do. We do say no biting. And I think they put him in time out when he does it at daycare.
Speaking of daycare, I am very happy with how things are going there. Since it's smaller they let the kids somewhat set their pace and they allow Neil to sit in on preschool classes even though he's too young. He brings home papers (just kind of colors on them) and actually wants to sit and learn; he even sits in on the Spanish classes! He has started spelling his name although I'm not sure he made the connection that N-E-I-L is Neil. But if you ask him to spell his name, if he's in the mood, he now spells it.
Neil also loves music as usual and sings a lot. He is always walking around and singing various songs. His favorites at the moment are No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Ring Around the Rosy, Happy Birthday, and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. If I start the ABC song he will sing it all the way through. And he sings along with me when I sing Working on the Railroad. Those are just a few that seem to be his favorites- he also sings with me when I play Raffi songs on piano.
We have hit the no stage. Is this part of the terrible twos? Neil loves saying no. To everything. Neil, do you want to go outside? No. (As he is running out the door.) Neil do you like to read? No. (Um yes he does.)
I think that naptime is shorter now. It used to be that he would nap 2-3 hours on the weekends for us but now it seems to be closer to 2 hours most of the time.
I am done nursing! I did wean Neil of the night session and it turned out to be a lot easier than I thought. At first I just kept telling him that mommy's milk is almost gone. Then after a bit of that I started singing the ABC's and telling him when the song was over we're done. After a bit of this he actually stopped asking one night so I didn't offer. That was it. He did ask once a few nights later and I just said no, and he hasn't asked since. Kinda bittersweet but it's also really nice. Now instead of nursing he and I read a book together. He LOVES to read with us so he doesn't seem to mind. And he walks to his crib, giving Daddy a hug and kiss on the way.
Stats: Clothing - We put away the summer stuff and pulled out fall/winter and with that put away all 12 month clothes. 12 month paths fits his waist but are too short so we're just dealing with 18 month pants.
We went to get ice cream again- we'll probably keep getting blue moon as long as they still have it. This place is open year round and all the ice cream is homemade. Love it!
This is the 9th month we've gotten a box from Citrus Lane. We received a box for free and then bought a six month subscription. Since then I bought another 6 month subscription for $105 total so that's $17.50 per box. My favorite box so far has been the May box.
I actually got this box myself without Neil (rare for me to arrive home without him) so I admit I peeked before letting him have it. I wanted to make sure that if there were food items I pulled them out.
Here's a breakdown of the items and how much they would cost on Amazon as of today:
Long-sleeved Graphic Tee from Tea Collection
We got a size 2T which will fit Neil sometime later- we just transitioned him to 18 month shirts. I really like the color of the shirt and it's really soft. This is not something I would normally buy because it's pretty high quality and expensive and I don't see spending the money for something a kid is going to wear and rip or stain. With that said it's nice to have an item like this and it is REALLY soft.
$24.00 on Amazon but on sale for $21.91 and eligible for Amazon Prime. (This exact shirt is on sale on Tea Collection's web site for $24.50 and not sure what the shipping is in addition to this so I used the Amazon cost even though it's not the exact same shirt.)
Links 3D Foam Bath Pieces from Boon
I always like the quality and type of bath items they send us. I have actually been considering buying something similar to this for Neil so I'm glad I haven't yet. I was very happy this was included inthe box this month and this was my favorite item. Neil has already used it in the tub; it dries off really easily and is really cute. This item was definitely a score.
$9.99 on Amazon and eligible for Amazon Prime. (They are for sale on Citrus Lane for $11.95 plus shipping, not sure what that is because I haven't ever ordered extra stuff off their site.)
Adhesive Bandages from Ouchies Jr.
You can never have too many band-aids and these are really cute. They are the Mr. Men and Little Miss brand which brings back memories!!
$3.25 on Amazon plus $4.57 shipping.
Snack Bag from Bumkins
This was the item I got to pick and I chose the style similar to the wet bag we got a few months ago. I'm not sure what we will use this for. It's not the kind of bag to put cheerios or something in because I can just see it being a complete mess. Dave thinks it's meant to put things like wrapped snacks in so you have them altogether. I need to research this to figure out when/how to use it. So any feedback from anyone who has one of these, I'm open to ideas!
$4.95 on Amazon and eligible for Amazon Prime as an add-on item but buying the other items would make this eligible as an add-on item. (They are for sale on Citrus Lane for $10.75 plus shipping, not sure what that is because I haven't ever ordered extra stuff off their site.)
Tea Collection and Bumkins included coupon codes as well.
Overall counting the "sale" prices on Amazon the value of the box was $44.67. The heavy hitter this month cost wise was the shirt. I was much happier with this box than I was the last few months but I still feel that overall the quality has been in general going down.
It turns out I don't have many pictures this week but I pulled from what we had for the week.
Dave went to the Steelers game so it was just us at home. We pulled out a slinky, which Neil loved and then watched the game itself.
Clapping while watching the game
I love how Neil looks in the sports jerseys. So cute!
We met Neil's new cousin (our new niece) Haley when she was about 2 weeks old. Neil had had a cold and we didn't want to risk getting a newborn sick or we would have been there earlier. Neil really didn't know how to handle a baby but honestly I'm surprised he held her like he did.
So I have fallen behind on my blog by quite a bit. I'm going to try to play some catchup this week, starting with weekly picture posts.
We started out the week with another Pirates game. This was really rainy and we barely sat in our seats.
We let him pick a perogie stuffed animal to take home. He deliberated over all 5 for quite some time.
This was the highlight of the game for him- meeting the PIRATE PARROT in PERSON! Look how excited he is.
Neil's first fast food? Burger King. Chicken fries.
The crown was a little big
Photo bomb by Daddy!
We topped off the HEALTHY fast food meal with healthy ice cream.
This was blue moon ice cream- tastes like fruit loops cereal
We went to see our old wind ensemble play in a local arts festival. Neil really enjoyed it and we ended up having to walk a ways from where we parked. I was tired of carrying him so I put him on my shoulders. He loved it. (He also did walk while singing nursery rhymes).
We went to the zoo in August 2013 and again (twice actually this year) in August of 2014. The 2nd time we went I put Neil on the same ride we had in our 2013 visit.
Credit: Blessed Moments, Blissful Hearts
I was by myself so I was trying to stay close enough to grab him if he didn't hold on (plus I didn't remember what the angle of the picture was from a year ago).
This is a guest post by my husband, Dave, with another one coming in a week or so of his top 5 football games he's attended. I posted my top 5 on opening day and asked him to do a guest post with his top 5. As usual, he went above and beyond and I have 2 posts from him related to my request.
Jen asked me to do my top 5 football games I've been to. First off, let me start off by saying that I've (and we've) been really fortunate to have been able to go to so many games over the years. And that I married a sports fan, especially a Steelers fan who grew up in upstate NY. I'm sure that Jen and I have some games that overlap the list. However, I will do a few honorable mentions to start off my list (Jen wont have any of these on her list). So this post will be all these. I'll do another post with my top 5. Hope you enjoy!
Honorable mention 3a and 3b:
Woodland Hills vs North Allegheny 1996 (two games: regular season and WPIAL Championship)
Yeah, I know these aren't NFL games, but it's the beginning of high school football season as well, so I figured I could throw this in there. 1996 was the first year that Woodland Hills (WH) made it to, and won, the WPIAL (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League) championships. I want to say that WH has won 5 WPIAL titles with 9 or 10 trips to either Three Rivers Stadium or Heinz Field (where the WPIAL holds all the championship games). Both the regular season game and the championship game against North Allegheny (NA) were both good, and both very memorable (in more ways than just winning). I was an instructor with the marching band at the time, so I went to pretty much all of the games.
The regular season game was labeled "The Mud Bowl". It was played at The Wolverina, the home stadium for Woodland Hills Wolverines. Before full renovations of the field and stadium a few years ago, it was a grass field and the drainage was terrible. The corner of one of the end zones was pretty much a swamp, and I've seen a number of kids get shoes stuck. It was even when it didn't rain, so this night it was especially bad due to the weather. The whole field was a mess this game, thus being dubbed "The Mud Bowl" (as you can see how muddy it is in the video below). We were the underdogs, and we won. We had 2 running backs, and they were nicknamed "The Smurfs" because they were a little undersized for running backs, but were pretty fast. NA was more of a passing team. So, we ran the ball much better than they could throw that night, and we came away with the win. After the game, NA was complaining saying that if the game was on turf, they would have won.
Well, they got their rematch (and on a turf field), at the championship game. Being a part of the band staff, I got to go down on the field at Three Rivers Stadium, and it was pretty awesome. Three Rivers Stadium is where both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Pirates played, before they built Heinz Field and PNC Park. We were again the underdog. And we won again, "despite" it being on a turf field. We won the game with both running and passing attacks. It was great beating them twice, and on a turf field which they cried about during the first game I also remember one of the band staff looking up at the scoreboard at one point, saying that it seems so real. haha! Yeah, it was real.
There is also a tragic memory from these games. Jim, one of my buddies that I graduated with and was in the drumline with me (he also helped out the marching band), his mother died the night of the first NA game. During that game, she had a fatal aneurysm in the stands at the Wolverina, and died that night. I remember seeing flashing lights outside the stadium during the game, but not knowing what it was for, and then later that night finding out what had happened when we got back to the school. It was a hard time, and totally unexpected. Jim's younger brother Joe actually played for the team, and his family went to all the games and were big supporters of the team. The team dedicated the rest of the season to their family. They kept saying that she was looking over them, and WH went on to the state championship game in Altoona, PA. We lost, but it was a memorable run (in more ways than one).
Honorable mention 2:
Steelers vs Cincinnati Bengals first regular season game at Heinz Field 10/07/2001
Let me say that I bought these tickets off of my buddy John (who has season tickets) prior to the season starting to take the girl I was dating at the time. The game was actually the second regular season game scheduled. The regular season home opener at Heinz Field was supposed to be Sept 16 against the Browns (John and his brother were supposed to go to this game), but the NFL postponed all games this week due to the terrorist attacks on 9/11. Because of the game being rescheduled, I actually got to go to the first game. They handed out coins commemorating the first season at Heinz Field. Heinz Field is a totally different stadium than Three Rivers Stadium. Heinz Field is open air, and Three Rivers was kinda like an ashtray shape and kept the sound in (and was louder in my opinion). Also on this day, the United States went to war in Afghanistan, and the mood at the game was odd. It wasn't a real excited crowd, and wasn't really all that loud like how it got at Three Rivers. I do think that Three Rivers was a louder stadium in general, but the crowd on this day was definitely affected by the events going on at the time. The Steelers won 16-7. They made the playoffs this season, advancing all the way to AFC Championship game in which they lost to the New England Patriots. I actually got to go to a lot of games this season, which they were all memorable for one reason or another.
Pre-season game 2 against the Bills: the first game I went to at Heinz Field
First regular season game against vs Bengals: mentioned above
Oct 29 against the Titans: I took my nephew to this game, the second game I took him to (ironically the first game I took him to was also against the Titans, but at Three Rivers Stadium during the 1999 season)
The rescheduled game vs the Browns played on 01/07/2002
AFC playoff game 1 against the Ravens: I went with my uncle, who was able to get tickets. It was a great game!
AFC Championship against the New England Pats
Honorable mention 1:
My very first Steelers game
It's a shame that I don't remember the date or who we played. My uncle took me to my first Steelers game, and it was a night game (possibly a Monday night game or maybe even a 4pm game, I remember it was a little chilly out but not enough to be totally bundled up). I do remember the atmosphere, and it was awesome! I remember everyone booing after a passing play and I asked my uncle why is everyone booing, that was a pretty good play. He said that they aren't booing, that are saying Looooo. Louis Lipps was the receiver. HA! I don't even remember if we won or lost. My uncle bought me a Steelers hat that night, and I had nachos. If I remember correctly, I think I was in either 4th, 5th or 6th grade. So that would have been 1984, 1985, or 1986. I probably shouldn't even include this game as an honorable mention since I don't remember much from it, but it was my first game and I do remember the atmosphere. Looking through old stats, it could have been one of the following games:
This is the 8th month we've gotten a box from Citrus Lane. We received a box for free and then bought a six month subscription. Since then I bought another 6 month subscription for $105 total so that's $17.50 per box. My favorite box so far has been the May box. I have to admit I'm disappointed with this month's box. I'm not sure if part of the problem is that Citrus Lane was bought by care.com but it seems like the selection of products has gone downhill. With that said, though, I do have to admit that part of the reason I'm disappointed is that out of 4 items I already have 3 of these (not necessarily same brand).
Neil saw this box sitting outside our door when we got home, and I'm pretty sure knew what it is. We have a split entry house and he insisted on carrying it up the stairs himself, saying "heavy" while trying to lift it. I'm proud of my smart little boy though; he figured out a way to heft it up, one step at a time, while following up himself a step at a time. I should have taken a video of that; it was cute. (I tried several times to "help" him and got a big resounding NO.)
Here's a breakdown of the items and how much they would cost on Amazon as of today:
Woodland Growth Chart from Petit Collage
We already have several growth charts and honestly haven't used any of them. I love the idea but I'm lazy and haven't even hung it up anywhere. We will not use this. If I use a growth chart it will be one of the ones we already have. This was definitely a bust for me. Plus I would have rather had it before his first birthday and he's 18 months now. I was surprised they included it in the boxes for kids of Neil's age. (I will say it's cute but something we will not use.)
$21.95 on Amazon but on sale for $19.50 plus $4.99 shipping.
ABC 123 Blocks from Melissa & Doug
We have a lot of blocks already. So initially opening this I was disappointed but Neil loved them and I was able to cook an entire dinner UNINTERRUPTED, which never happens, while he happily played with these. It also came with a little bag to store them in and Neil loves putting things in bags, etc. We don't really need more blocks but Neil will play with these. Update: Since writing this it has been a few weeks before actually uploading pictures and posting, and Neil has not touched these since.
I have heard that the quality of Melissa & Doug Products has gone down, and just looking at these blocks some of them have part of the picture worn of as we took it out of the box. But I rubbed my finger over it and it's not going to give splinters or anything like that so it will still work. Also, Neil really loved the actual plastic box and played with that for quite awhile first.
$14.99 on Amazon but on sale for $13.19 and eligible for Amazon Prime.
Cool It Buddy from Me4Kidz
I have to reserve judgment on these. I loved that we got a penguin and so did Neil. So far, knock on wood, we have not had to use an ice pack. These are disposable ice packs; I think without have to use one that I would prefer a reusable one I could keep in our freezer. I do recognize that this would be nice to carry with us for in case we need it but honestly our diaper bag is too full as it is, and a lot of the extra little stuff is actually from Citrus Lane. It's really good ideas but adds up in that bag. I often take all the "extras" out because we will be carrying the diaper bag and it does get heavy. With that said, this is the one item we didn't have already and ice packs are always a good idea. I'm sure we'll use these at some point.
$3.73 on Amazon plus $5.99 shipping.
Snuggly Lotion from Episencial
I said this is a repeat above but looking back at old posts I'm realizing I didn't get the exact same item and the items for the mom do tend to be sample size type things of lotions, sunscreens, dishwashing soap, etc. I haven't smelled the scent of this but Dave is very sensitive to scents so if he doesn't like this it will be relegated to my desk at work.
Update: This lotion is very... thick (not sure that's the best word) and hard to rub in all the way. I am going to use it for Neil after bathtime instead of for me. I also can't really smell anything but I guess that means it's not something Dave won't be able to handle.
I couldn't find this exactly on Amazon and what I did find was an add on item so you have to order $25 of other qualifying items to get "free" shipment for this one. It was $9.50 and wasn't the same product, but I'll go with $9.50 and assume the $25 of other products are if I bought the other items from the box.
Language Video Digital Download from Little Pim
So this isn't an actual item in my mind because it's not something in the box and we don't really let Neil watch television a whole lot. But it's included on their list so I included it here. From looking at the web site I think we will get a 5 minute video teaching a language in some subject matter.
I can't figure out the price for one digital download, which is what the coupon offers. They have a digital download of a whole set of languages (I chose Spanish to try to figure out the price) for $149.99. I'm not even sure what this voucher is for vs. that whole package so I'm not even going to try to parse it out.
Petit Collage, Me4Kidz, and Episencial included coupon codes as well.
Overall counting the "sale" prices on Amazon the value of the box was $56.90. This includes $11 in shipping though since some of the items did not qualify for Amazon Prime. I assume any other web site is going to charge shipping. This also doesn't count the video digital download. From what I can tell you wouldn't be able to download just that little clip they gave. I am very surprised at the total dollar amount for this box. It seems like the value has improved but the items I'm getting aren't really things we're going to use. That's what I miss about some of the previous boxes and why I feel that the quality of the boxes is going downhill. Although I still note this is a grab bag so you're going to get things you already have.
