Tristan - 2 years

Tristan had his 2 year well child appointment today.  In the words of Barb "he's perfect".  Everything checked out really good.  He's developing exactly as he should, which we pretty much knew.  His vocabulary is blossoming!  It seems that just in the last month he has added so many words and puts 2 or 3 words together.  My favorite right now is after he eats something he announces that it is "in my nummy" (nummy = tummy).  He still has a very good appetite and eats pretty much anything.  The most interesting eating habit of his is he prefers his milk warmed up.  He will even ask us to warm it up if we give him cold milk.  We tried to get him out of his crib recently and into the toddler bed but he has been resistant.  So to compromise, we took the side rail off of the crib and he is quite happy with that.  Tristan gets put in time-out his fair share.  He has a problem with hitting when he gets frustrated so we are working on that.  Otherwise, he is a very loving little boy.  He does have a small interest in the potty but he will not sit on it bare butted.  We aren't pushing that right now as he is a bit young.

Stats are as follows:
    Weight: 28.2 lbs  (just over 50th percentile)
    Height: 35 1/4 inches  (just under 75th percentile)
    He didn't need any shots today since we've been right on track with those since birth.

Birthday party for a 2 year old

We had a birthday party today for Tristan!  On the guest list were Grandma Shirley, Grandma and Papa, Uncle Mike and Uncle Cal and Aunt Betty.  On the menu was make your own tacos, along with veggies and dip and chex mix.  Birthday cake was an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

 We started out the party with a little Wii MarioKart.  Jackson had to show Mike how to play and then others took their turns as well. 

 Elmo cake for the T-Man!

 LOVE this picture!  Caught him just as he blew out his candle.

 Birthday Boy having some cake.

 He got a popper!  When he walked it around he says "pop, pop, pop"

 Some pots and pans for cooking!

 A grill!  Tristan just loves making "food" for everybody!  One of his favorite things to play with at daycare is the play kitchen.

 Testing out his new picnic chair

Foels' Family picture.

Tristan made out pretty good with his party and he was one tuckered out little boy.  Can't believe my baby is 2!!

Playing outside

As I said in a previous post, the weather had once again warmed up and we are able to play outside.  I always say "it's a bad day if we can't play outside".  I try really hard to get the boys outside at least for a short time, even in winter.  It's good for everybody.  The snow has been melting around here which means PUDDLES!  This is a Foels Favorite.  The boys get good and wet and nobody cares!

 We found a great puddle in the "gazebo" at the park

 Tristan even fell face first into the water, he had a blast!

 Jackson is sticking his tongue out at me....he was tired of pictures

Playing on the slide in February with snow gear on!

We are looking forward to Spring and even warmer days!

Tristan turns 2, Part 2

I took today off so we could all be around for Tristan's actual birthday.  His party with family will be this weekend.  We had our usual day but tried to make it a bit special for him.  It's not everyday someone turns 2.

Picture of the birthday boy right when he was getting up.

Got a picture of him at breakfast with his crown from daycare....

Jackson had to go to preschool this morning so Tristan and I kept busy around the house until it was time to pick him up.  Then after naptime we played outside for a while since the weather was really nice (pictures from that in a later post).  Karsten picked up a small cake from the grocery store on his way home and I made home made pizza for supper.

 Tristan just loved it when we sang "Happy birthday" to him and he blew out his candle just perfectly.

He enjoyed his birthday cake

Then we let him open one present, the rest will be for his family party this weekend.

It was a battery powered train!  

Tristan was pretty tired from all the birthday commotion today.  He went to bed at his usual bedtime.  There will be more fun this weekend!

Happy birthday Tristan!!

Tristan turns 2, Part 1

Two years ago today we met Tristan Ronald Foels for the very first time.  It was love at first sight. 

I've decided that on the boys' birthdays I would quickly reminisce about their BIRTH days.  Tristan was due February 20th, but Dr. Mehta offered to induce me on the 15th.  After thinking about it (for a very short time) we decided to do it.  Jackson was also induced so I knew what I was getting into.  We took off for Dubuque early the morning of the 15th, got settled in our room and got the pitocin started.  We ended up having the exact same nurse that we had with Jackson, which was really cool, she was awesome.  I eventually got my epidural, they broke my water, Karsten almost passed out, and then Tristan entered the world at 5:00pm weighing 7 lbs 10 oz and measuring 19 1/2 inches long.  He looked A LOT like his older brother.

Here's what he looked like then.....

And here's what he looks like on his 2nd birthday...

Happy birthday to The Tristanmeister!!!

Random pics

Just a post for some goofy pictures of those 2 little boys....

 This picture didn't come out so well but Jackson is "working hard" on a Sudoku book, yeah, he's a genius....

 Look Mom, I got my hat and shoes on all by myself!

 Apparently, he wanted a better view...

 The pic above and the pic below were ones that I just couldn't help but laugh at (and grab the camera for), even though they are incredibly inappropriate...

Cabin Fever

It's the middle of February and yes, cabin fever is starting to set in.  This has always been my least favorite time of the year.  The only bright spot is now we get to look forward to a birthday, Tristan's.

Karsten took off last Thursday for a ice fishing trip to Lake of the Woods.  This is the second year he has gone with the same group, and he really looks forward to it.  He deserves to get away for a few days.  I took some vacation from work so I wouldn't have to deal with getting little boys to daycare at 6AM.  I did however, sign them up for a couple days of daycare.  By today we were definitely in need of getting out of the house.  Unfortunately, it's been really cold so going outside is not an option.  We went to church this morning and then along with Grandma drove to Dyersville to go to McDonalds.  Why Dyersville you may ask?  The answer is:  playplace.

 The boys playing with their new Happy Meal toys.

 Playing

Jackson up high!

And what do you do after eating at McDonalds and playing?  Go to Dairy Queen of course!  Jackson for some reason refused to eat ice cream but Tristan dug in!

Today was fun but we are definitely looking forward to warmer days ahead!