Fish Fry

Last weekend was the annual Beyer Family Fish Fry.  This was a tradition Al started in 2003 and even though two years in there were missed, this year marks the eighth event of its kind.  We have had a history of rain on the Fish Fry, but this year the weather was beautiful!  It was a chilly fall day, for sure, but the sun was shining and there was a cloudless blue sky.  We fried fish (some chicken for me), potatoes, hush puppies, crab cakes, and oreos.  Delicious!
   

Fry Master Al

Courtney serving the goods

Uncle Bob, Cousin Bob, Joe, Jonathan, Michael

Harley

Trafton's Aunt Pat brought him a gift of coloring books and markers.  Anonda helped him color.

Trafton was thrilled!

Aunt Sharon with Quay

Aunt Pat with Quay

Trafton with one of his favorite outdoor party items - a cooler full of ice to play with!

Trafton could play outside with push toys for hours, which is about how long he pushed this one around Pappy's yard.

Uncle Jonathan and Aunt Melissa

Football

Nice catch, Tom!

Another one of Trafton's favorite things to do at Pappy's house is to "ride" on the tractor.

Sitting quietly by the fire as night comes on

Not long after I took this picture, at about 8:00, Trafton grabbed my hand and told me he wanted to go to bed.  He took me by the hand all the way to the upstairs bathroom where he said, "potty," and "teeth."  He's never wanted to go to bed, let alone wash up for bed, before.

No matter where he is, Trafton still sleeps horizontally in the bed.  This was a better fit for him than his twin-sized bed at home for horizontal sleeping.

Sunday morning at Pappy's house

Ultrasound and Check Up

This past Tuesday Trafton had an appointment with the urologist who has been following his kidney and cyst problem.  The ultrasound showed that the size of the cyst on his bladder that is being created by his one problem kidney has not grown at all since his last check up in March.  Previous ultrasounds showed that that the cyst was growing slightly, but not too fast, which is why the doctor decided to wait until June 2013 to remove the kidney and ureter and aspirate the cyst.  At this appointment, it was the urologist's (the one who will be doing the actual surgery) decision that we wait until June 2014 to do the procedure.  He said that while the procedure definitely needs to be done, it will be best to wait as long as possible since it will be easier to do when Trafton is bigger.  So, we won't have to see him again until March 2014 to do another ultrasound and schedule the surgery for June.

Monthly Update: Quay is Three Months Old!

This past month has been great.  I just love the fall!  I have just three weeks left on maternity leave and I am trying to enjoy every second of the days.  I have been running consistently for about six weeks now and I have finally worked my way up to two miles.  I started with a half a mile - it's so hard starting from scratch again!  The plan is to be running four miles, so I am halfway there.  I have much more weight to lose this time than I did with Trafton, and I just lost my first pound last week, which is extremely exciting!

Trafton still attends his day care twice a week and we have been going to Toddler Time at the library once a week together.  He has actually started to become more attentive during the songs, but his attention still waivers and he wanders around during the stories.  We actually did Ring Around the Rosie twice this past month (which he calls "Ashes") and he just loves that!  We have also been spending an hour in the morning once a week at our local gymnastics center for Toddler Open Gym.  It's great!  The toddlers have access to all sorts of great tumbling and gymnsatics equipment while listening to music.  Trafton really enjoys his time there - he runs, climbs, walks on the balance beam, jumps on the trampoline, plays in the foam pit, and more.  It's a great energy release especially if it's too rainy or cold to go outside.  He continues to say more and more words and become more and more of his own unique little person.  He also continues to be a fantastic big brother to Quay!  He is working on learning his colors - he can say the names and match them, but he doesn't consistently say the right name for the color.  He is also working on learning his numbers, but we have a long way to go on that - he likes to start counting with "four."  We have our six-month-checkup with the urologist who will be performing next summer's surgery coming up soon, too.  If all goes well, we'll have another check-up in March, then the procedure in June. 

Quay has been becoming so "chatty" and attentive during the past month.  She coos like crazy - it's adorable!  She also holds her head and chest up very well during tummy time.  Last week I cleaned out her closet and dresser of all of her clothes and filled it up with 3-6 month clothing.  It's crazy how fast clothes are outgrown.  Luckily I had two friends with little girls older than Quay give me lots of clothing, so I don't actually need to buy her anything for quite some time.  Quay enjoys sitting in her Bumbo seat, especially when I read stories to her.  She is still waking in the night, which is tough.  She is waking around 2:00 and then again around 4:30/5:00 to eat.  If I could just get her to eliminate the 2:00 feeding and make it all the way until 5:00 in the next three weeks, it would be wonderful, since I get up at 5:00 anyway for work.  I don't know how I am going to go back to work on this sleep pattern - I am certain to be exhausted, I know.  She is mostly a pleasure all day, even around people.  I remember Trafton fussing more during the day and especially around people other than Daniel and me.  She recently found that she could clasp her hands together and has started putting them, among other things, in her mouth all the time.

Trafton wants to wear pajamas all the time.  When we get dressed in the morning and we take off his jammies, he wants to put other jammies on.  He is mostly obsessed with this pair of "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" pair and another pair of footed jammies.  In this picture I had recently bought him this bear hat and he was insisting on wearing both the "Jake" jammies and the hat all the time. 

Quay loves to be on her tummy!





Time for a run on a chilly morning

Quay also really enjoys her Bumbo

Who ever thought I would love the pink and frills as much as I do?!  I can't get enough - I want Quay in pink and girly stuff and headbands and flowers all the time :)

Computer time with Quay

Computer time with Trafton

Snuggles!  What a belly on the bambino!

Although Trafton is very good with Quay, he still will not allow her to sit in the Bumbo when he is around.  If I go to put her in it, he gets pretty angry and demands to sit in it himself.

This is Trafton's other pair of jammies that he obsesses over - he calls them "balls."

Cool morning run

Quay in the wrap

A much too big Trafton in the wrap :)

Trafton pretty much always ends up sleeping sideways in his bed.

This little bambino is loud when she gets going!

Trafton trying to slyly interrupt Daddy-Quay time

Trafton has been doing very well throwing a ball (not catching, yet) and wanted so badly to play catch with his sister while she was swinging.

Quay didn't seem to mind too much, despite the fact she was unable to move the large green ball.

Breakfast

My friend Kristin and her family came to visit.



My college roommate, Mandi, came to visit with her kids.



Morning lounge time

Trafton often asks to hold Quay, but after only a few seconds he not-so-gently tries to push her aside and complains that she is "heavy."

We are trying potty-training, with little success so far.

I love when Quay falls asleep on me! 

My view of what Quay looks like from the previous picture.

Daniel walked into the room the other day and found Trafton standing over Quay saying, "Mine!" talking about the frog.  It had been near her seat, and he thought she was trying to play with it.  After being reminded that it's nice to share toys, Trafton tossed the heavy wooden toy on Quay's lap in an effort to share.  She was a little surprised.

So strong!

Story time

The beautiful Susquehanna, about 3/4 mile from our front door

Relaxing with Quay and Charley Hogan

The days for warm patio relaxation are just about over.

Bringing up the laundry basket and Trafton at the same time

This girl still loves a good tummy-nap.

Trafton still takes great 2 1/2 - 3 hour naps each day.