3 year checkup

Payton had his 3 year checkup this morning and is doing great!  He weighs 29 1/2 pounds and is 36 3/4 inches tall.  That puts him in the 20th percentile for weight and the 45th percentile for height.   The doctor was not concerned that he is only in the 20th percentile, he said that he is growing steadly.  If you have aver seen his daddy, you know that Payton will probably not ever be very big! 

He is on target if not ahead on all of the developmental targets for a 3 year old. 

And it seems like our new asthma action plan that we got a few months ago is working so far.  It is more proactive then it used to be, but it seems to be helping.  When his asthma does flare up, it doesn't last as long as it used to.  The big test will be this winter though when all of the cold an flu viruses are going around.    But overall, the doctor said he is going great!

Halloween fun!

Payton had a pretty eventful Halloween this year filled with lots of parties!  The week before the actual holiday we went to a party at the day care that Aunt Kristin works at.  Then, that Friday, we had a party for all of the kids at my work.  It is a pretty big event where everyone brings their kids in and they go trick or treating throughout many of the floors in our buildings.  He became instant friends with the daughter of a friend of mine.  Then on Halloween day he had a party and a parade at day care and then that night we went trick or treating!  Payton loves Halloween!  He thinks it is great that he gets candy!  He was completely obsessed with his candy basket.  He would take it to his room and night and just hold on to it while he slept, even though we had hidden all of the candy.  Then on Halloween night, we were on our way home from Grandmas house and he fell asleep with a sucker in each hand!  

 

Payton started the 3-4 year old class at school last week!  It is a month early, but the director and the teachers felt he was ready.  He had been a handful the last couple of weeks and we think it was because he was ready to move up.  There were quite a few kids in his class that had just turned 2, so he was almost a whole year older then them and just getting bored.   This class is more like school.  He will actually have a monthly homework assignment!  Can you believe it, a 3 year old with homework!

 

Pumpkin Patch!

Today we spent the day at the pumpkin patch!  Payton had lots of fun seeing the animals in the petting zoo and going on a hay rack ride.  Then he found just the right pumpkins for our house.

 

Mom is now settled in her new house.  Last weekend all of her stuff from Iowa came and we got her all unpacked.  She is really happy to be all moved in.  It is a really pretty house and I think she feels quite at home in it.   Her house is nice and close to ours.  It is just a short bike ride away.  My Grandma from Florida came up to help mom get the house all spotless before she moved in.  While she was here she showed Payton a few songs on the piano.  He is very interested in it.  He would just stare her her fingers and try to copy what she did.  Now everytime we go there he goes straight for the piano.   I think we may have a future musician in our house!

 

Payton has been doing great.  He has been learning a lot of 'emotion' words at school.   Sometimes when he is just getting over being upset, he will try and hold back the tears and says, "I happy now."  Or, he sometimes says, "I make mommy happy."  It is pretty cute. 

The other new thing he is constantly saying is, "That's my favorite".  He says it for everything!  It can be food, toys, cartoons, anything, they are always his FAVORITE!

Payton loves to be mommy's helper.  I can pretty much make him do anything around the house if I tell him it would be a big help to mommy!  If he doesn't want to pick up his toys, I just say, "It would be a big help to mommy".  Then he does it!   Now if it were only that easy to get Justin to pick up around the house!!!

Dentist and baby kitty!

Payton had his first trip to the dentist this past week!  He did great!  We are so proud of him!  We found a wonderful pediatric dentist that really does a wonderful job at making the dentist fun for kids.  They even get ice cream and a balloon when they are done!

 

Payton also got a baby kitty this week!  We already have a cat that Payton loves to try and play with.  But he is 7 years old and is pretty content at just laying around.   So we thought it was time to get him his very own kitten.  He just adores her!  She is just over 3 months old, so just the right size for Payton to pick up and carry around the house!  She is a great kitty and pretty mellow.  She doesn't even mind Payton constantly picking her up or trying to hand feed her!  

Rough week...

This was a rough week...   Monday night Payton was admited to the hospital for his asthma.  He is doing much better now though.  Monday he started breathing pretty fast and looked like he was working pretty hard at it.   I was going to start a breathing treatment, but he just wasn't acting right, so I just brought him into Urgent Care at Childrens Mercy instead.  As soon as we got there they led us straight back to a room and saw a doctor right away.  (Pretty unusual, usually you have to wait for a couple of hours.)  They did numerous breathing treatments back to back and gave him a dose of steroids.  They then did chest X-rays to make sure there was no other infection. 

We were admitted up to the floor about 1:30 in the morning and spent the night getting breathing treatments.  When he fell asleep his oxygen levels dropped so he was put on oxygen.  He only needed it for a short time.  He was much better on Tuesday, so they sent us home Tuesday evening.  He is doing much better now, except that the steriods that he is on have him completely wired and hyper.  The first two nights we were home he didn't go to sleep until 4 am!  Last night it was midnight, so I guess that is better!  He is off of the steriods now, so I hope we can get back to a normal routine.

He is now on a more aggressive Asthma action plan, so hopefully the higher doses of preventive medicine will keep us from having to go to the hospital again. 

Here is a picture I took on my cell phone of my little guy on oxygen while he was sleeping.

Finally!

Things have finally started to get back to normal for us.  We have spent the last month or so working like crazy, getting lots of house projects done and helping get Lindsey and Kellen settled in Kansas City. 

 

Work is finally slowing down a little bit for both Justin and myself.  July are very busy months for us anyways and we are down a person at my job. 

We also tackled a few house things.  Justin said I am not allowed to say, "Lets redo (fill in the blank)" for at least two months.  (We will just have to see about that though!)  You will have to check out the new pictures I added to the albums.  It is Justin replacing a leaky/broken faucet with Payton 'assisting'.  It is no wonder that things seem to take along time to get done around here!

Lindsey and Kellen found an apartment and moved about 1-2 weeks ago.  It is in a good location and really close to her work.  So they are both settled in and have started their jobs.

 

Justin has been on vacation this week.  It has been so nice to have him home and Payton is getting some much needed Daddy bonding time.  Now that we are back to normal, things have been going good.  Uncle Jeremy and Mandi came down to visit on Saturday.  Payton was very excited to see them.  I don't think he left Jeremy alone the entire time he was here.  My grandma from Florida came to KC this past week also.  When Payton heard that his Great Grandma was coming he kept saying, "My Happy Birthday!"  He remembered her coming for his birthday last year and thought since she was coming again that it must be his birthday!  So I had to break it to him that it was not his birthday, but it would be in few months.  Payton went to the airport with Grandma and Great Grandma on Sunday to watch Great Grandma leave.  He loved watching the airplanes.  When they got back he told me all about it and talked about it for days! 

 

Payton has been doing great.  It seems like all of a sudden he became such a big boy!  He is now potty trained, which is a huge relief.  He also loves to 'read' his books.  He will actually stay awake in his bed for up to 2 hours and go through all of his books.  I would like him to go to sleep, but I guess if he is going to stay awake, I am happy it is with books.   He is also really into singing and dancing!  He learns lots of new songs at school.  Usually we can figure them out, but every once in a while we have to call Aunt Kristin to help us figure them out.  (She works at a day care).   The most noticiable thing about Payton right now is that he NEVER stops talking!!  His vocabulary has just exploded in the last few months.  My little guy is becoming a big boy! 

 

Now that things have slowed down, hopefully I will be able to add updates more often.  I hope everyone is having a great summer!

Funny Payton story

I don't have a lot of time tonight, but I had to share this funny story!   

First you will need a little backgound info---Payton is pretty much potty trained.  He only wears a pull-up while he sleeps because he sleeps so soundly.   He hasn't had an accident in months, so I pretty much consider him potty trained.   But, when he says he needs to go, you need to find a potty pretty quick. 

 

Tonight Payton and I ran to Lowe's to pick up a few things.  We were in the sink aisle, when he told me he needed to go potty.  So, I said, okay, lets go.  He started walking the other way... to the toilets that were for sale!!   I told him that we needed to go to the back of the store instead.   He said, "NO MOMMY!  That one!"  Then he started to pull his shorts down!  I literally had to drag him to the bathrooms while he was saying, "That potty mommy, that potty." 

 

It was so funny!   There were a few people around giving us a little chuckle.   He didn't think it was to funny though, he just didn't  understand why he couldn't go in the 30 potties that were lined up in a row!  I'm just glad I was paying attention!  Otherwise we might have had to buy one of them!