Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Zander's Doc Update

The stats are here for Zander.   He is now 13 months, but when we went to the doctor a month ago, he was:

29 1/2 inches (30%)
19 lbs. 4 oz. (5%)
head was 45.7 cm. (25%)


Overall, our little buddy is now little for his age.  I like them like that.  Maybe because I can relate.  Haha.

He is growing nonstop in personality though!  He is definitely picking up on all social cues and habits, exploring everything in his reach, trying to lengthen his reach by climbing all the time, and enjoying more rough play. 

He still only has 6 teeth (which he's had since he was 8 months) and I don't see any that are coming any day soon.

He talks a lot.  He says "Daddy" whenever Preston comes home.  He'll say "birdy," "Doggie," "Brayden," "Hi," "ball," and his favorite word for telling us what he wants (acompanied by pointing) is "that."  If I don't show that I understand what he's looking at and wanting, "that" soon turns into "THAAAAAT."  Hahaha.  He really is a very expressive boy.  But, his new desire for exploration or knowing what he wants also comes with more whining when he doesn't get it.  Opposition in all things, right?  Haha.  But, I do love this stage.  We're out of the hardest stage in my opinion.

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday was a couple weeks ago. . . and I am just getting to this now.  Can you believe it?  Well, I definitely got spoiled this year.  We went down to Orlando and used our Disney passes for a day.  Possibly our last day :(  The Bells (a new fun family who just moved here) came with us and we had fun with them.  We brought a bunch of games and only played one, but that's how it usually goes.  Especially when there's a BYU football game on my birthday. . . .

Besides Disney, we went swimming the next day and got to go to the temple.  All in all it was great!  Of course, I did have to go get a new battery for our car on my actual birthday, and nowhere seemed to have the right one in stock.  But, I also got cupcakes at our park playgroup, yummy cake dessert on Sunday (thanks Porters!) and I got sung to twice in primary.  Haha.  Pretty special.  Of course, our camera got left behind (along with the boy's suitcase... ) on our little trip.  But, I have so many Disney pictures anyway. 

Here's the yummy ice cream cake we enjoyed for our birthday FHE!

General Conference FHE


As you can tell, I'm trying to document my Family Home Evening ideas while I'm actually putting forth effort and time.  So that when I'm in those down times I can go back to get ideas :)  Last year for General Conference we read about King Benjamin talking to the Nephites and likened it to general conference (we set up a kid tent and everything).  Then for the actual conference, we made a room-sized fort to watch conference in.  And, since it was around Easter time, we offered Brayden a jellybean any time he heard them talk about Jesus (to encourage listening).  We also had the photo page from the middle of the conference edition Ensign that we helped Brayden put a sticker on each apostle when he spoke.  It was affective!  I loved seeing Brayden actually enjoy conference time!  Even though he wasn't sitting and listening and soaking up their message (c'mon, he's 2), he did understand that we were hearing from the prophet and apostles of our Lord.  It was just awesome to see him begin to understand that it is important.

This time we're trying some different things to see if it works.  We made little Conference kits (one for each apostle) with activities or snacks.  It was Brayden's first experience with a glue stick and he very much enjoyed helping glue pictures to the bags.  He also remembered a lot of the apostles' names from last time.  I did get a bunch of my ideas from online, but it's sort of a mesh of ideas that have stuck in my head.  So, I don't have a specific link for ya.  Here's how I did it:

Preparation: (there’s a lot this time!)
Print and cut out a picture of all the apostles and first presidency.  I used apostle cards found on ourhandshishands.blogspot.com.
Get an old conference edition Ensign (or look it up online) and remove/print the middle page with all the apostles on it.
Decide what you want your activities and snacks to be for each apostle and gather the goods. Also print out a description of each snack or activity with the apostles name so you remember!
get glue sticks and paper bags ready.

Song: “We Thank Thee, Oh God, for a Prophet.”

Spiritual Thought: Being prepared for Conference helps me feel happy and ready to listen.

Lesson: General Conference is this weekend!  That means we get to listen to our prophets.  Let’s see if you remember all their names and faces!  Spread out the apostle pictures and pull out the page with all the pictures and names.  First name Monson to see if they can find the picture.  Then see if you can name them all in order! Whenever the children can’t find one, look at the page from the ensign (or printed from the ensign) and help them find the right picture. Once you name them all (or as many as you can until attention is fading) explain that we’ll hear from all of these brethen this weekend.  Today we’re going to prepare conference packages to use when we listen.  Being prepared will help us to be happy and listen during conference.

Help the children glue an apostle’s picture to a paper bag and fill it with the appropriate activity or snack.

While you fill bags or after it’s done, sing “The Prophet Song.”  It’s all the first presidency and 12 last names in order to the tune of “The Books of the Book of Mormon.”

At the end either have a fun fall treat since it’s now October, or enjoy some of the conference treats that look yummy! (the extras of course)

And here's the list of the activities and snacks I came up with:
Thomas S. Monson
Monson is our prophet!  See how long you can sit and listen! If you make it through the whole talk, you’ll get a prize!

Henry B. Eyring
“Eyring” sounds like Eye. Play “Eye Spy” gospel style as we spy with our ears.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Uchtdorf flew planes.  Here’s your airplane to hold while you listen to Uchtdorf.

Boyd K. Packer
We “Pack(er)ed” some pretzel sticks for this talk.

L. Tom Perry
Perry’s always smiling, so make your own smiley face while you listen.

Russell M. Nelson
Nelson was a heart surgeon.  Your heart pumps blood to your body.  Healthy blood has iron in it, just like these Graham Crackers.

Dallin H. Oaks
“O” is for Oaks and Oatmeal.  Eat an Oatmeal Cream Pie!

Russell Ballard
“Ballard” has the same first sound as “banana.” Eat a banana while you listen to Ballard.

Richard G. Scott
Scoot on your bottom whenever Scott says “Jesus Christ” (or the equivalent).

Robert D. Hales
The “D” stands for Dean.  Donut sticks also start with D.

Jeffrey R. Holland
Take a sip of water every time he mentions Christ.

David A. Bednar
Start playing BINGO when Bednar starts to talk! Continue until you have 5 in a row.

Quentin L. Cook
“Cook” a bag of popcorn to enjoy!

D. Todd Christofferson
“Christofferson” starts with “Christ.”  Color a picture of Christ. If you hear him say “Christ” in his talk, get a sucker!

Neil L. Andersen
Snack on animal crackers while you listen to Andersen.