Coconut Oil and Vocabulary

Evan has said a few words since he was about a year old, including mama and dada and hat, but he has not spoken lots of words, and very rarely does he say them on command. About a month ago I read an article about how coconut oil stimulates the brain and many children with developmental delays showed marked improvement in their vocabulary. After reading everything I could find on the internet (lots of google searches), I finally decided to give it a go. So instead of Pam or Crisco, I substituted coconut oil every time I cooked dinner for the family. Whether spraying the skillet with the aerosol brand or putting a tablespoon of the solid into the spaghetti noodles to keep them from sticking, I used it almost daily. I even let Evan take a bite off of the spoon from any residual coconut oil left on it. So he got uncooked and cooked coconut oil most days for the last three weeks (I read some article that said the uncooked was better). The results blew me away. It may just be coincidence, but he has started saying words on command and his vocabulary has exploded. He says words and even does new sign language for words I didn't think he knew. Just in the last few weeks he has said snack, all done, go, book, ball, mama & dada (on command when we walk in a room now), down, baby, Alex (his baby brother's name), bite, light (although he can't quite say the L yet so it sound like height), door, lion, and more. He repeats most words we say so we are always stating the word to whatever it is we are using or holding. He has also picked up the four month old baby's habit of whining, only it's a very fake cry when he wants more snacks or a drink from the fridge. Evan likes to sit in front of the fridge or cabinet and wait impatiently for an adult to open it for him. He goes straight for his water cup on the top shelf of the fridge or his favorite snacks in the cabinet, tossing the others aside until he finds the one he wants (usually the cheese puff looking Gerber snacks that are all veggies with vitamins and no sugar). I have also been giving him the cheese puff looking snacks that are brocoli and kale, which are also supposed to stimulate the brain. He tolerates one or two of these before throwing them across the room. As a huge skeptic on most things, I have to applaud nature's way of developing kids in a healthy and quick method. Two thumbs up for the coconut oil products!

Mother's Day 2014 and Alex's Baby Dedication

Our church has a baby dedication ceremony twice a year. Two years ago, we dedicated Evan to the Lord on Mother's Day. This year, we were able to dedicate Alex. Kim had saved some of Nathan's old outfits from when he was a baby so I used them in the ceremony for both Evan and Alex. They looked antique white and so cute on the boys. Kim and Billy surprised mom for Mother's Day by coming into town to help her celebrate. We had a nice church service (where Evan repeatedly pulled my hair on stage and laughed during the prayer). We then ate a great brunch at City Range.

Alex 4 Months Old

Alex turned four months old this past weekend on 5/3/14. He is doing great and progressing right along. He rolled over on Thursday night, two days before turning four months old. He turned from his belly to his right side and then back. He loves kicking his feet and smiling when you look at him. He coos a lot and grabs for his toys. He also does fairly well holding his bottle. We took him for his four month check up today. He weighed 11.1 pounds and was 23.5 inches long. That put him in the 0 - 2% group. So even though he's bigger than Evan was at that age, both my boys are on the short/skinny side. I think they get that from my family. We are all small people. The doctor said there were a lot more overweight children these days, which skews the chart as well. Luckily, I don't have to deal with that issue. Alex holds his head up well and tolerates the bumbo time for about ten minutes at a time. He's got a little flat spot on the back from sleeping on his back, but hopefully, it will round out with more sitting up & tummy time. His capilary hemangioma is starting to turn white in the middle. The doctor said that's a good sign that it's stopped growing and may start shrinking soon. We tried giving Alex rice cereal this weekend. He did not seem at all interested, so we'll see if he continues to grasp the spoon-eating concept or not. He's a very healthy boy!

First time eating rice cereal.

Evan enjoyed eating the cake pop for Alex.

Spring Fling 2014

Mom and Dad returned from their cruise just in time to watch Alex for us on Friday night so Vince and I could take Evan downtown to see the bike races at Spring Fling. They had so many more tents this year with sponsors, so it was hard to find a spot to sit and watch the bikers without having to walk way far down. We sat for a bit and Evan enjoyed ringing the bell for the bike riders. The pro women were fast, but nothing compared to the pro men that raced after them. I strong breeze rushed by when the men took the field. We enjoyed looking at the booths and watching one of the bands play at one of the stages. It was perfect weather for such a nice night.