Getting Bigger...sort of

Wyatt turned 2 weeks old today!! It's hard to believe its already been 2 weeks, not to mention the fact that my actual due date is still 11 days away!! But he's doing great and is making some growth, so we were happy to see that, even if it was only a tiny bit!! He was a good boy at the doctor! He was wide awake the entire time! He peed on the bed twice, and pooped on the bed twice!! I guess he wanted to show the doctor who was boss!!

Here are his two week stats (percentiles are according to babies born in the 36th week):

- Weight: 6 lbs, 11 ounces- 19th percentile (up 1 oz from his birth weight)

- Length: 19.75 inches- 46th percentile (up .25 in from his birth length)

- Head Circumference: 13 in- 30th percentile

So he's barely grown, but some growth is better than no growth! His jaundice levels also went down one point, so that was a plus!! And to top it off, he lost his belly button stump, so Grant won't be grossed out anymore!!

Brotherly Love!

Grant definitely loves his brother "Ky." He asks all the time where he is. When he wakes up from his nap and in the morning, he used to always ask about Daddy. Now its all Wyatt- he jumps out of bed and walks around the house until he finds him, then he showers him with hugs and kisses. He fake cries everytime Wyatt cries- I guess its his way of being sympathetic? He cracks up everytime Wyatt squeaks or makes cute baby noises! He is always hugging him, and kissing him, and showing him all his toys! It's so sweet! I think he'd carry him all over the house if we let him. I hope they continue to love each other as they get older!!

Oh yeah, and does anyone else think Grant looks like a GIANT next to Wyatt?? I still can't get over how big he is getting!!

Here's Wyatt!!!

Wyatt Daniel Broeckelman made his debut on Monday, March 15, 2010! He was born at 36 weeks and 4 days. He weighed 6 lbs. 10 oz. and was 19.5 in long!

I went to my weekly doctors appointment that morning and my blood pressures were so outrageous, my doctor made the call- today was the day!! I tried to talk him into waiting until the next day because Monday was Grant's 2nd birthday and I wasn't quite sure I wanted them sharing a birthday. But my doctor said we shouldn't wait any longer. Things went so quickly from there. I went up to the Labor and Delivery floor at 11am and Wyatt was born by c-section at 3:59pm. He started crying right away and he had the sweetest little cry!!! I was happy to know he had no problems breathing. They took him to the newborn clinic to check him out and everything looked great!! The Naval Hospital does not have a nursery, so its 24/7 rooming in!! Later in the evening, he had a little trouble keeping his temperature up, so they had to take him back to the newborn clinic and run some labs. Poor little guy had to get an IV to put in some antibiotics. By 10pm, he was back in our room!! The only other complication he had was a little bit of jaundice. After about 12 hours under the bililights, he was given a clean bill of health! As for me, my blood pressures had not returned to normal, but they still let us leave the hospital Thursday evening, thank goodness!!! It's so nice to be home!!

Grant has loved being a big brother!! He has definitely been a little on the mischievous side since Mommy left for the hospital. But he definitely seems excited to have baby Wyatt at home! He loves giving him kisses, hugs, and showing him his toys. He won't call him Wyatt, he calls him "Ky" for some reason. When he wakes up in the morning, he comes out of his room and starts looking for "Ky." It's pretty sweet!! Having Wyatt at home has made Grant seem like a giant though!! I can't wait for a few more days to go by so I can pick him up and give him a big hug!!

I'm so excited to start this fun journey as a family of four!!

Chillin in his Boppy All my boys!

Mama and her little boys!

Checking things out!

Wearing his robot jammies that his big brother gave him!!

Brothers!!!

Hey Bright Eyes!!!

Showing his "O" face!!

Stay tuned for many (many many many) more pictures to come!!

Mr. Mom

Getting some potatoes ready for dinner!

Bed rest is definitely not as glamorous as it sounds. Sure, the thought of people waiting on you hand and foot- cooking, cleaning, shopping- it sounds nice!! But in reality, to a neat (ok, control) freak like me, its rough!! Last week, I was ordered to be on bed rest from here on out! My first thought was- HA!! Yeah, right- like that's possible with a 2 year old! My second thought was- Levi won't believe me. And my third thought was- hmmm, this could be enjoyable!! I was able to handle it the first few days. Then came the weekend and my house was a DISASTER!! Luckily, Levi appreciates a clean house as much as I do, so he vacuumed, dusted, mopped, cleaned the bathrooms, did the laundry, and fixed dinner! Oh yeah, and did I mention he tried his hand at potty-training (lets just say that experience involved an immediate load of laundry- including Grant's bed sheets!). But I loved his enthusiasm!!! He embraced his inner-Mr. Mom!!! Luckily this week, he was already planning to take leave, but I'm sure he's thought to himself at some point (or two) that he might rather be at work instead!! It's been hard for me to let go control- I want to pick up, organize, and clean the way I like them to be!! But I must say I've learned to let go...at least somewhat!! Thanks Levi for all your hard work- we love you!!!

Lots of quality time with Daddy has to involve fixing something with tools- yesterday it was mowers!! Wonder what tomorrow will bring??

For the Love of Robots

Grant is totally obsessed with Robots! It all started one day when I was getting ready to take a shower. I usually turn on the TV in my bedroom and he brings in a few toys to play with. Well, one day he didn't want to watch just any show on TV, he wanted to watch the Little Einsteins (surprise, surprise). Well, it wasn't time for Einsteins, it was time for Handy Manny. So I pulled up playhousedisney.com on the laptop in my room hoping to find an Einstein's episode. Sure enough- one episode: The Music Robot. I thought- ok, that'll be long enough to get a good shower in! I turned it on, and took a shower. He kept running into the bathroom saying, "Bot, bot, bot!" When I got out of the shower, in his own little way, he tried to tell me what the show was about! The rest of the day all he wanted to do was sit at my desk and watch that episode, over and over and over again!!!!! Sadly, it was down from the website the next day and onto a new episode. That was about 2 months ago! Well, finally this weekend on the Disney Channel, the Music Robot episode came on and I made sure to get it on the DVR! So we've probably watched it at least 10 times since then!! His favorite thing to do while watching the episode is to mimic exactly what the robot is doing! It totally cracks me up!! All day long, he'll do some weird dance and as he's doing it, he says, "Bot, bot, bot." He also likes to pretend to fly like the robot!!

Here's a little video of Grant dancing like the robot and "helping" the Einstein's find the Music Robot's missing battery.

Last week, at a trip to the teacher store, we were getting ready to check out and I noticed a little wooden robot toy on the counter. You would not believe the excitement when I showed him the robot!!! Of course, we had to get it!! Mr. Robot has been Grant's little tag-a-long friend ever since!!!

It's funny the things little kids become interested in all on their own! I'm not sure how long this robot phase will last, but it will definitely make for some great stories in his baby book!!

It's a Bird...It's a Plane

...its Super Grant!!!

Mimi sent Grant a super-fun Valentine's Day package last week, and inside was a new pillowcase she made just for Grant!! I put it in the laundry so it would smell fresh to put on his pillow. As I was pulling the laundry out of the dryer, Grant wanted to "help." As soon as he saw his pillowcase, he pulled it out of the pile and wrapped it around his neck saying, "cold," like it was supposed to be a scarf. Then he figured, hey- a cape is much better than a scarf!! After a few minutes of re-tying the cape around his neck, Daddy found a binder clip to keep his cape tied. He wore that thing ALL morning long!! We had to take it off for lunch/nap time, although he was not too happy about that! As soon as he woke up from his nap, the cape went back on! He would run back and forth between the living room and family room saying, "ZOOOOOOOM!!"

I think he's been watching a little too much Wonder Pets and Team Umizoomi!!!

Here is a little video of Grant "zooming" around the house!!

My Funny Valentine

I was trying to do a little photo-shoot of Grant in his adorable Valentine's Day shirt from his Aunt Summer!! Let's just say it turned out less than spectacular! Grant didn't want anything to do with the camera, but I did manage to get a few cute pictures regardless! He definitely is my funny valentine!!

I love you THIS much!!

UPDATES

Just a few updates on what's going on in the Broeckelman household!!

First of all, we got some great news about Levi's deployment. As of last week, their deployment got moved from mid-March to mid-May, which works out PERFECT for us, because that means Levi will actually be around when Wyatt is born. Granted, it is the Navy and things can change in a heartbeat, but we're hoping this plan actually sticks!! We're also hoping that because of this change, their deployment will be shortened from 8 months down to 6 months, but that's just what we're hoping for- we really have no idea!!

Second of all, I've been having some high blood pressure issues. It's been quite elevated the past 3 weeks. I've had to go to the hospital for multiple checkups and spend some time being hooked up to the fetal monitors. So far, everything is looking just fine, and Wyatt is getting bigger and stronger everyday. I will continue having weekly checkups until Wyatt makes his debut! I will be having a scheduled c-section sometime around April 1st, but I should know for sure next week after my appointment. (For those who are counting, like me- that's only 7 weeks away!!)

Lastly, Wyatt isn't the only one getting bigger and stronger by the day!! I guess I should add smarter to the list as well because Grant seems to amaze us each and every day!! He is a total sponge these days, absorbing every tidbit we throw at him!! He's learned to count to 4, using one-to-one correspondence, which is AWESOME!! He knows 4 colors- blue, red, yellow, and green. He still confuses them, but it usually only takes him no more than two guesses when I ask him what color something is. He has learned how to sing along to his favorite songs, those being: Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Scat Like That. He picks up other verses he hears on his Toddler Tunes CD as well. He has developed some great gross-motor skills- somersaults, walking backwards, kicking and catching balls.

Overall, things here at the Broeckelman house are busy busy busy, but filled with lots of happiness...and noise!!!

And if anyone is wondering- this is what a February day looks like in Jacksonville! I feel like we should be carving pumpkins or something...

Oh Grant!!

Oh Grant!! You never cease to amuse me!! He has recently started pointing out every little boo-boo, real or not, and wanting me to kiss it. I'm not quite sure where he picked this up because I try not to make a big deal out of boo-boo's so he gets over them faster. So who knows where it came from, but wherever it came from, it sure is cute! On the way home from the commissary this morning, Grant was sitting in his carseat and kept showing me his finger saying, "Boo-Boo," and then making a kissing sound. I kept telling him that I'd look at it when we got home. I asked him how he got his boo-boo, but all he kept saying was boo-boo, and making his kissing sound. He'd occasionally throw a fake cry in there too, just so I would know he meant business. It takes about 25 minutes to get home from the commissary, and this kept up pretty much the entire ride home. So we finally get home and I got to check his boo-boo.....yeah, some boo-boo... it was a dried booger on his finger!! I was like, "That's not a boo-boo, that's a booger." He just puts his hands to his face and said, "Silly."

Yes Grant, you sure are silly!!

Almost Two?!?

We've been making our to-do list of things to get done before Levi leaves for deployment and baby Wyatt makes his arrival. After looking over my organized excel spreadsheet, I realized I had forgotten a few things- Grant's 2 year old doctor appointment and his 2 year old pictures. So I added them to the list, and then it hit me- GRANT IS ALMOST 2?!?! Where has the time gone?!?

From this past weeks hospital visits I've had to make for some high blood pressure readings, I feel like I just did this a few months ago, right before Grant's arrival. It's so hard to imagine that was almost two years ago!! What a crazy, busy, exciting, happy, adventurous 2 years it has been!! Our little man sure is growing like a weed and seems to learn at least two new things every day!!

He is talking so much now!! You still have to have a pretty trained ear to know what he's saying, but he repeats EVERYTHING!! He is very into "retelling" his favorite episodes of the Little Einsteins. He likes to re-enact things he sees on TV (which is why we're only tuned into the Disney Channel). He likes to act really silly and tell you he's being silly. He's pretty much a walking laugh all day long!! He definitely keeps me entertained!!

Here are a few pictures of our almost-2 year old little guy!!

Mimi came to visit and lets Grant play in the sink while she's getting ready!!

Having lots of fun at the park!

"Driving" my car.

Making "Rocket Soup" in the bathtub, something he learned on a Little Einsteins episode!

Do-It Ourselves

Levi and I have been very busy with a few do-it yourself projects lately!! I have been trying to get baby Wyatt's room ready for his debut and before Levi leaves for deployment. Funny how one thing can spiral out of control and turn into many different things!! Yes, one project like getting the baby's room ready turned into this huge to-do list for both Levi and myself! It started with trying to find a place for all Grant's new toys from Christmas. That made me think we needed to move the "baby toys" into the baby's room, which meant we needed some sort of organization method, because that's how I roll!! Well that organization project turned into an organization project for Grant's room as well. Then I was out looking for decorations for the baby's room and came up with a fun scrapbooking-type project!! So, the past few weeks, Levi and I finished our projects and here's how they look:

I used different scrapbook papers on colored cardstock to spell out Wyatt's name! I tried to match the colors that will be on a quilt my mom is making for Wyatt!! Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself!! Total cost: $27!!

So I guess you might say Levi's project was a little more involved than my own! After looking around town for a nice, sturdy toy box for Grant's room, Levi decided it would be a good idea to just make one. I was a little skeptical- not in his skills, but with time, money, etc. Turns out- it was the best deal EVER!! He designed it to match Grant's exisiting furniture- style and stain color. It looks amazing!! Plus it only took him one week from start to finish!! Total cost: $78 (sure beats the $287 toy box that actually goes along with his bedroom furniture!)

Little Einstein

Grant has been extremely interested in watching The Little Einsteins lately. All day long, he'll come up to me and say, "Pat, pat, pat," which is what the Little Einstein's say when they want their Rocket to go fast. I think its a great show for little kids- they teach a lot of great concepts from counting and colors, all the way to art and music appreciation. I know Grant has learned a few things from this show already:

• He can recognize the Sphinx, tell you it doesn't have a nose, and lives where its hot.
• When we were at the book store the other day, he heard a classical music song over the speakers, and recognized it as one of the songs from an episode involving a train. He heard the music and said, "Pat, pat, pat. Choo-choo." I was in shock!
• He can mimic the hand movements and gestures they do with each song.
• He answers "Yes" or "No" when they ask questions.

So these things don't make him even comparable to Einstein, I know. After all, he still thinks glue sticks are chap sticks and drinking soapy bathwater is a good idea. But anything that gets him thinking, listening, and moving sounds great to me!!

Awwww

This was what I saw when I walked into the kitchen first thing this morning!! Isn't it cute?!

Levi left for work early this morning, so Grant wasn't up yet, which means neither was I. Funny thing though was that I was kind of ticked at Levi because he didn't say goodbye to me before he left, which he usually does if I'm not up yet. So, I heard Grant on the monitor, got him up and walked into the kitchen to get the little guy some breakfast. Needless to say, I wasn't mad anymore when I saw this!! It's still sitting on my counter as I type this because it makes me smile walking in and seeing it!!
I love you too Levi!!

The Time Has Come..

...to start Potty Training!! Dun, Dun, Dun!!

Thank you God for my beautiful, wonderful, perfect child whom I love and cherish.
Thank you for giving me the strength, patience and knowledge to care for my child and to teach him the things he needs to know to live a full and abundant life.
Thank you for giving me the power to speak words of affection and affirmation to my child at all times.
Thank you for giving me understanding, wisdom and mother’s intuition so that I know exactly what is right and good for my child.
As I enter into this period of specific focus on potty training and teaching my child to control his elimination functions, I thank you that I have the will and determination to stay focused on the training and to continue to have patience through this learning process. Thank you that I know there are no mistakes, but only opportunities to learn.
In my imagination, I see my child wearing only clean dry clothes and letting me know when he needs to use the potty. Diapers are a thing of the distant past. We are both proud of his accomplishment in learning this life changing skill of elimination control.
Thank you so much for the life that you have entrusted to my care and my training.
Bless this training session and keep us both in your care forever.

I found this prayer on a potty training website. At first, I thought-this is great, I need all the prayers I can get. But as I read through it, it just made me laugh more than anything!! Pretty sure I won't be saying these nice thoughts as I'm in the throws of poopy underwear and mopping the floor for the 83rd time! But hey, I'll take all the prayers I can get! Stay tuned...

SNOW!!!!!

While at Levi's parents house for Christmas, we got ALOT of snow!!! Grant had a blast playing outside in the snow for the very first time!! I was excited to see snow too and watch my little Florida boy act like he's lived in snow his whole life!! He absolutely loved it!! We didn't have all the equipment we needed to tackle the snow- boots, snow pants, etc. But we had footie jammies, overalls, and leather shoes and those seemed to work just fine!! He loved making snowballs, eating snow, and the most exciting part was riding on the tractor with Grandpa to shovel some snow!! The next few days after it snowed, it was waaaay to cold to go out and enjoy it, but we luckily had one more time to play in the snow before we left. That time, Grant made his very first snow angel, had a snowball fight with Daddy, and went for another tractor ride!! I'm so glad we got a White Christmas!!

When Grant got outside in the snow the first time, he picked up some snow and kept saying, "Cold, Cold."

Attempting to pick up some snow (it was really powdery).

On the tractor with Grandpa and Daddy
Snowball fight with Daddy!!!
How 'bout this one Mama?!?

This snow stuff is fun!!!!!

Making snow angels!

The finished product- my little angel!

Christmas in the West

After 6 days at my parents house, we headed West to spend Christmas with Levi's parents. We actually headed out a day early to beat the impending snow storm! It was a good thing we left when we did because the snowstorm hit hard!! Because of all the snow and wind, we had a lot of time to just hang out at Grandma and Grandpa's. Grant had a lot of fun exploring their house again! He loved going upstairs all by himself to play in his little playroom! Grandma even cleaned up the old Little Tikes Kitchen and Grant had a blast playing with that- he liked pretending to wash and dry his hands!! At our Christmas Eve gathering, Grant played Santa's helper and passed out all the presents to everyone there!! He did such a good job handing out gifts!! He even had a great time opening them!! Once again, he got some really great toys!! It was great that everyone from Levi's family was able to get together because that doesn't happen very often!! It was a wonderful Christmas!

"Washing" his hands at his very own kitchen
Being Santa's helper

Just hanging out, watching a movie with Flicker the Flashlight

Some new puzzles from Grandma and Grandpa!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a very Merry Christmas!

I can't wait til Christmas next year!!!