Easton ::3 Years Old

...or also known as The Broken Leg Birthday.

My poor little Easton. Easton is so different from my other kids. He is the only one I can honestly say is more like me than like Rand. Not a fan of meeting new people or talking to pretty much anyone, and would just prefer that a big fuss or a lot of directed attention was never something he had to deal with. That being said, he warms up to people slowly and he has lots friends he loves, even if he can't show them to their face all the time. He is misunderstood often (as most shy people are), but when he is in his element he is charming and hilarious and talkative and fun. I have a bit of a soft spot for him because he is so much younger than his brothers (and wants to keep up so badly) and then his next closest sibling is the only girl in the family. That, plus he is shy and I understand his personality so well, that well....I have to be careful not to be a complete push-over.

Before I get to his birthday, let me say a word or two about trampolines. I grew up with a trampoline....and 4 siblings. It was a big trampoline with no net and we spent countless hours and years on that thing. No one ever got (seriously) hurt. Ever. My dad may say that is debatable because we launched him off the thing more than once, but honestly, no one ever went to the hospital.
Anyway, it was a great trampoline and it held up for years. In fact, it is still a good trampoline. When the kids grew up and my parents moved to their lake house, the trampoline went into storage. It came out one summer after me and my sister had kids old enough to use it, but then it went back.
When Brendan was diagnosed with Perthes Disease at age 5, we knew trampolines were out! Heck, running was out for a year and jumping, even off of the couch, was out for 2 years. Then the following years of that new bone growth was carefully watched and protected by no high impact activities of any kind. The last year or so we have talked with the Orthopedic doctors about trampolines and every doctor (we have seen one in Delaware, Phoenix, and now Washington) will not EVER tell ANY patient that a trampoline is a good idea. EVER. I get that. They can't recommend it. It's kind of one of those "use your own worst judgement" situations.

Well anyway, we live back up north near my parents (and the poor trampoline that is in storage) and it was offered to us if we felt like it was a good idea to have it (considering Brendan's leg) and we really did vacillate about it. But we have this great property, where the trampoline just seems like it would belong and summer is coming and I can't imagine anything more fun for my crazy kids. [Insert worst judgement]
So, Saturday (2 days before Easton's birthday) my dad helped me bring it over and set it up in our lower yard. We decided it was Easton's and it was for his birthday, and he was thrilled. He is naturally a little timid, so he really didn't like the idea of the big brothers being on when he was on. That's fine, probably better. The big boys, when on by themselves were instantly crazy, doing flips and literally jumping for 3 hours straight. (They were SORE the next day)
On Sunday, the day before Eastons birthday, I had to work. When I came home around 4:30 Rand met me at the door and said Easton had messed up his leg on the trampoline....like 2 hours ago and he was still on the couch not moving it. CRAP!!!!! It was a bad combination of no supervision, no rules, and big brothers. They bounced him and he crumpled. If you have spent much time on a trampoline, you know how it goes. You bounce right before someone else and then they catch your bounce and they go rocketing into the sky. (Think how high an almost 3 year old could go). Well he didn't go high at all. He just crumpled because the force of big brother was too much for his little legs. Honestly, I can barely type these words. I am just sick about it. SICK.
Well, Rand and I were pretty sure he twisted up his knee, praying to God that rest and sleep would make it better (plus it was Sunday night and knew it was Orthopedics we would have to see anyway). It was a hard night and in the morning he was miserable and hurting. Rand stayed home and I took him in at 9:30am. It was his birthday.
Long story short, X-rays showed a fracture at the top of his tibia (the big bone of the lower leg). UGH!!! The doctors there were SOOOO great. Not once giving me a guilt trip for setting up a death trap for my children and endangering my sweet birthday boy's precious little bones. Do you hear the motherly guilt? I am still feeling so bad about it I could just cry. They helped put Easton at ease (who absolutely did NOT want any strangers touching him, talking to him, or even looking at him). He was so brave and tough, even when they were manipulating his leg every which way and he was in excruciating pain. They casted him with his ankle at 90 degrees and his knee at 90 degrees so that he would remain completely immobile and not be able to stand on it in any way. We will follow up in a week with an Orthopedic surgeon and continue to follow it closely as he heals.
For his birthday, we had a party planned, but cancelled all his little friends that were going to come since he couldn't participate at all, and just had my family come over with their presents and cheer. He was in good spirits and opened his gifts and played from his spot on the couch. When he was about done with all the attention he asked to be moved to his bedroom where he played for a little while without all of the attention (and even rudely asked for everyone in the other room to stop laughing), then came back out and joined us in his make-shift wheel chair (an old stroller that I found in storage with the trampoline). He ate some cake and then we wheeled him onto the back deck and let his wish lantern go into the sky. It was perfect (except for the first one that caught on fire, hahaha).

Despite it all, he is so excited to be 3. He has a great attitude and we are just making the best of a bad situation.
Pray for my poor back. I am lifting him from crazy positions way too much! (Remember, he wrecked my back as an infant when he was 24 pounds as a 4 month old and then didn't walk until he was 14 months old) I need to start a core strengthening routine!
Pray for Easton's leg. The break is in a "high risk" area because of it's closeness to his growth plate.

Easton, we just LOVE you!

Not the best way to spend your 3rd birthday.

 

Kindle helps. A lot. 

  

I showed Easton this picture and told him those crazy scissors were awfully close to his private parts and he got such a kick out of it I thought he was going to hurt himself laughing. Third boy. I know how to speak their language! :)

 

 

Taking a stimulation break in his bedroom

 

Had to settle for store bought cake for now!

 

First lantern: FAIL

 

Family shenanigans. Always.

Easton::15 Months

note: Easton doesn't normally have a binki in his mouth ALL the time. However, while painting, it does aid in keeping paint out of the mouth!!

Three months have flown by since our little, big guy turned one! Easton continues to mesh into our family more and more and becomes more and more of himself. I think one of my favorite things about having kids is watching them become them. Totally unique, funny, cute, clever and perfectly them.

Easton loves his brothers. He wants whatever they want. Playing outside? He's going too. Any particular toy? He'll take it from them. Ice cream? You better be sharing. He has already started coloring with them at the table, which is really the cutest thing ever. So it was no surprise when I brought out the paints....he already knew what to do.

We went to his appointment yesterday. He weighs 27 lbs. Down 2 lbs from his 9 month appointment. Pretty sure at 9 months he was 29 lbs, then 12 months he was 28 lbs. He is back down on the charts though still near the top. Seriously, remember when he was rockin' way above the 100th percentile??? Holy, crazy breast milk. His regular diet has now brought him down to the 80th percentile for weight and 95th for height. That's more like it!

Easton is a swimmer! He wears goggles and goes under water and jumps off the steps. He swims pretty much twice a day. Every day. Which means so do I. He tends to be more tentative than the other boys EVER were. He doesn't like it if I let go of him in the water and he doesn't really care for all the crazy tricks that Rand and the other 2 used to do (and still do). Throwing, twirling, flinging, all that....he'd rather not. He hangs on tight.

Easton points instead of talking. He can talk. He just chooses not to. He doesn't even say Mama. He can say it, but he really doesn't need to. He just follows me around and hangs on my legs and reaches up as high as he can. If he wants something off the shelf...he points. If he sees something interesting...he points. If he wants the other half of the apple instead of the one I gave him...he points. I like it. :)

My very most favorite development over the last 3 months has been watching Easton just fall in love with Rand. Oh, it is soooo cute. It's like it dawned him that this guy is his Dad and he is a really awesome guy. We watch out the window for him to come home and then we squeal and jump off the couch when we see him. And then we run to the door for hugs. It. is. so. cute! He still prefers me for almost everything, but it is only a matter of time.

We sure love this guy!

Easton::12 Months

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet Easton. This year has been a year of falling in love with boy #3. He is a joy and it has been one of the best years. Can't wait to watch him become more of him this coming year, too.
Easton at one year is almost, almost walking, crawling like a mad man, and not sleeping well at all. He is attached to Mama like no other. He is topping the charts at around 30 pounds (we will know for sure after his appointment in a couple weeks). He hasn't cut any new teeth this month (phew!) and his favorite toy is still any kind of ball. He is much blonder than the other two and we can't quite figure out what color his eyes are....kinda greenish.

Love this boy.

Easton::11 Months

We're reaching the end of that first year. It has gone insanely fast! Easton is a fully incorporated member of the Wagner household. We know him. And he knows us.

This month has been one of our most challenging. Our sleeping regiment has begun to fail. I am not one to have good sleepers. I don't know who is to blame for that. Maybe they aren't supposed to sleep much the first year. I'm done guessing. I didn't have expectations with Easton and sleeping. I just relaxed about the whole thing and just rolled with it. And as mine do, he has yet to sleep through the night. It got better, then it got worse...and I was still alright with it. We changed things up with him (compared to the other 2) so that I could get the most sleep possible. Mostly that meant having him in bed with me through most of the night. Well the time has come for change. I was fine keeping on with what we were doing....but it just stopped working. All of a sudden he was awake most of the night, he skipped his naps, he was exhausted and refused to sleep (unless I was holding him or nursing him). So, the last few weeks have been difficult. We're both sad. Hopefully soon he will get the hang of the new routine. I hate this! Crying babies makes me anxious and a really huge part of me is saying, "just hold him and make the crying stop!" But nobody can really function like that. I have others to care for and Easton. is. tired!

Soooo, other than that he is a riot. He makes the biggest messes you've ever seen. Tearing things up and ripping things off shelves (or anywhere he can reach) and throwing things EVERYWHERE. He has decided that pointing is the coolest thing ever and he points all the time, as if he is showing us something really cool. He's eating lots more foods, mostly off my plate. He has 4 teeth on top now and 4 teeth on the bottom. And I can't hardly wait until this kid is walking!!!! He crawls everywhere including through the dead, messy grass that is everywhere. He is a total disaster most of the time.
4 more weeks and no more "baby" Easton. (:/:(

 

 

helping to save my back...

...the ergo.

By far, the best money I've spent on Easton so far! Who knew he'd be almost 30 pounds and still immobile! I could sing its praises a little bit more if the weather here wasn't so hot. I often choose not to wear it because he and I just sweat....but seriously. It's awesome. And my back always breathes a sigh of relief whenever I decide that sweating is better than holding this kid on my own any longer. I know I'll be using it more and more as cooler weather moves in.
It's a baby/toddler must-have!

Easton::6 Months

Don't you hate when your whole post gets deleted and then it immediately saves your new deleted version? Shoot!
I'm writing this for the second time now.....

Easton is 6 months!!! Half a year. Crazy.

Well time is flying by and Easton-ton (as Rand occasionally calls him) isn't getting any smaller! He weighed in this week at a whopping 27lbs 9oz. sheesh. The 4.5 year gap between him and Wyatt seems to be getting smaller. He is 29.25 inches. So he is big all around. 100th percentile for both weight and height. I think he's thinning out! Remember at 4 months he was "off the charts" for weight. What does that even mean anyway? At 100th percentile it means that there are 0% of kids that age, that are bigger. So what does "off the charts" mean! :) The doc said I have "VERY rich milk." I guess!
Easton is such a sweet boy. He never cries, just yells when he wants something and has the best laugh ever. Wyatt can make him laugh the most. He is eating some table foods but isn't all that interested so I'm not trying all that hard. Obviously he is getting plenty from me, right? He is sitting up great which I can't even tell you how awesome that is. I haven't been able to carry him in that darn infant carseat for a couple months now, let alone lifting it in and out of my car! So what do you do with a big dude that can't sit up when you have to go grocery shopping for example?? FINALLY, he can sit up in the cart!!!
Now, I anxiously await the day he can walk.
Here's our boy, 6 months.
(It's too hot for clothes still!)

Easton::4 Months

4 months! Time is flyin' by!
It's hard now to imagine what life was like before Easton was born. It's like he's always been here.

Okay. Like I always say, Easton is HUGE. Seriously. My back is killing me! He is really heavy. Now I have the numbers to prove it. He's tall and big. 27.5 inches to be exact, and 23 pounds 8 ounces. Holy Moly. That's over 100th percentile for weight and 100th percentile for height. Did I mention my back is killing me? I seriously started doing sit ups the other day because I just don't have the core strength to pack him around, not to mention hauling him in and out of the car and in and out of the grocery store in his car seat. Can't wait until he can sit up on his own so we don't need the car seat anymore. I've started using the ergo carrier a lot more in lieu of the car seat, but it's hot here and he gets uncomfortable sooo, there's issues. But we love him. He is healthy and growing and learning and I think he's perfect just the way he is!

He is love, love, loving the door-way bouncer. He just bounces and bounces and bounces. He still loves baths and his brothers and going for car rides. (good thing because we have a long one coming up!)
He's starting to "play" with toys and he still refuses any kind of fake nipple. Won't take any kind of binki, won't drink out of any kind of bottle or sippy cup! We're gonna maybe try a spoon with food on it soon!!! We'll see. I have a feeling he'll reject the rice cereal, but we're gonna try it soon.
Easton laughs and smiles all the time especially when Daddy and brothers play with him.

Here's our big boy at 4 months!