Feeling the Love in February

February always seems to come and go very quickly...maybe that is because it's a short month. I didn't take many pictures, except for our Valentine Day celebrations. Lexie was super excited to make Valentine cookies. The weekend before V-day I made heart sugar cookies for us to decorate. Lexie had fun decorating, but mostly she liked the icing.

She was up ready to decorate. Here are some of the cookies. Yum!

In February, Hoyt turned 9 months old! Here are his stats:

Weight: 21.01 lbs. (58%)

Length: 29 in. (75%)

Head: 18 in. (63%)

I was a little worried when he had gained less than 2 lbs from 6-9 months. I knew he wasn't nursing as much as he should, and I felt like I wasn't providing him what he needed. He was doing great with solids and I had been trying to get him satisfied with those, but he still wasn't sleeping through the night and I really thought that part of it was that he was still hungry. I had been trying on and off since he was 7 months to supplement with a bottle and have him take one in case I needed to leave him with someone else; however, he was strongly refusing. The Dr. wasn't extremely concerned because his iron levels were good and he hadn't dropped too much, but I knew he needed formula to grow better. I bought formula (which made me glad I nursed for the first 9 months of his life because that stuff is expensive). I tried to first get him used to taking a bottle by pumping and giving him breastmilk, but he struggled even wanting to take that. Basically because I hadn't tried the bottle soon enough when he was a baby he didn't want to even try. I would try to pump and barely get an ounce so I knew my milk was almost gone. After getting him to take the breastmilk bottle a few times then refuse the formula we determined that he did not like the brand we were using. I researched and found out that Similac tastes the most like breastmilk so I went and bought some ($$ ouch!) and he didn't flat out reject it like the generic. Then he got sick, which actually ended up being a blessing because he couldn't breathe when he nursed and eventually after fighting with him for hours he took a bottle! I decided to just switch him over completely and I could see him starting to fill out again and seem more satisfied. He started sleeping longer stretches and even slept over 10 hours a few nights so that was the long 3 week ordeal we had to deal with which really took up most of my month (maybe that is why I didn't take many pictures). Also, at 9 months Hoyt didn't have any teeth yet. But just a few days later a tooth poked through and 3 more came in within 2 weeks after that. So with the teething, learning to take a bottle, and a long sickness, it was a rough month for our little guy. He started standing up to everything and walking around the furniture. He is so good natured and patient with his sister, most of the time. He does love to eat and feed himself finger foods. I know he is growing now because we had to switch him to 12 month clothes. I enjoy my snuggly little guy!

Lexie hit the 2 1/2 mark in February. She is just growing up into a little girl and is a big burst of energy! She is really tall for her age and towers over everyone in nursery, even those several months older. She loves to sing, especially primary songs. Here she is doing "If You Chance To Meet a Frown" holding the picture and doing the faces.

Lexie always has on opinion on what she wants to wear and already loves to shop for clothes and shoes (and she doesn't get it from me). She goes through phases where she doesn't want to eat anything and then the next day she eats everything all day long. She loves to go on slides and wants the weather to warm up so she can go to the playground every day. She loves animals and gets so excited when people in our building ride the elevator with their dogs. She also loves her brother and just wants to play with him all the time. And as you can see she's going through a stage of only wanting pigtails in her hair. Lexie knows all of her ABCs and always amazes me with the things she knows, especially about the scriptures. She loves nursery and I can tell her teacher enjoy having her in class. She's also starting to say some pretty funny things. When I remember them I need to write them down.

Here are the kids in their Valentine's Day clothes from Grandma, and getting presents from Mom & Dad.

Lexie liked her stuffed animal, coloring book and candy.

Hoyt loved his musical book.

I made Bryan his favorites for dinner. We had pepper steak with rice, a peanut-butter cream cheese pie for dessert, and sparkling cider. Sadly, we didn't get pictures of us on Valentine's Day, but I want Bryan to know what an amazing husband and father he is and how grateful I am to have such a handsome, smart, kind and loving Valentine!