Average Cost to Raise a Kid: $241,080

Mike emailed me this article today.  While you always hear the cost is rising, it's shocking to read that this doesn't even include college tuition!

Un - Bear - Able

For awhile now, Lily has slept with the following items:

Large fleece blanket

Small fleece security blanket (Grandma had to make two so we could get one away from her)

Stuffed dog

Security blanket with giraffe (we call him Jeffrey)

Jeffrey was recently replaced with a sock monkey sporting a Tigers hat and jersey and most recently, Lily has added a stuffed bear to this assortment - added not replaced.

She received the bear as a gift for her birthday and has paid it zero attention since then.  It was in the bottom of her toy bin in our living room which she emptied on Sunday and re-discovered.  Bear has been very loyal and has not left Lily's side (or sight).  Sunday night she slept with Bear, Monday morning she woke with Bear.  When I suggested we leave him on the "bench" by the garage door I was politely told NO.  Bear accompanied Lily on the ride to daycare and I suggested we leave him in the car seat for after school.  I was not so politely told NO.  While watching the daycare camera during naptime, I watched Lily chuck Bear at a sleeping child on the cot next to her which she then followed up by retrieving him and laying back down (I think I've mentioned she's not much of a napper).  At pickup, I asked her teacher if Bear ever got put away and was informed after multiple attempts of hiding him he got to stay out and play.  And that Lily wasn't really interested in sharing Bear with her friends.

Getting Lily into her highchair for dinner without Bear was similar to World War 2 I imagine.  After an attempt to hide him under her chair, we ended up with Bear on the corner of the table in Lily's direct line of vision.  He was retrieved immediately post dinnertime and taken to bed.  Thinking I could outsmart my 17 month old I snuck into her room this morning before she woke up and hid Bear behind her chair on the floor.  When Lily woke up, she wrecked havoc on her bookshelf, toybin, laundry basket, and bathroom until she found him.  It's probably not much of a surprise that Bear went to daycare with us this morning without any suggestion of getting left behind.  The one good thing about Bear being around - I didn't have to sit on Lily to get pigtails in AND she was so distracted by him that she didn't pull them out.  One point mom? 

Typical morning with the Hoy Girls

Lily loves to smile when she sees herself

Lily telling me to get out of town when I asked if we should leave Bear at home - check out the pigtails!

Trying to put shoes on Bear

Bear and Lily are ready for daycare

Seventeen Months

Lily passed her seventeen month milestone this past Sunday.  She's changing so quickly and looks so different from her sixteen month pictures I took 30 days ago.  Although she may look different, her overall mood on getting her picture taken hasn't changed.  She gave me a few smirks here and there but she was mostly irritated I stuck her in a chair she couldn't get out of by herself.



Lil has just recovered from her 3rd ear infection since 4th of July weekend (I think we're on #8 from the day she was born) and we're off to see an ENT about getting tubes.  While she generally does pretty good with the infections - perhaps she's used to them - she chose not to sleep last Monday night.  She doesn't usually get a fever or overally cranky but last week she seemed to be in a little bit of pain and not interested in bedtime.  After getting up with her several times, I left her in her crib with a book hoping she'd entertain herself.  Sometime after midnight I woke up to a crash and her screaming.  Thinking of course the worst (and Mike barely registering that anything was going on) I flew across the hall to find she'd stacked her blankets and stuff animals between the slats in her crib above her bumpers and was attempting to climb out.  The crash was her falling back into the crib unsuccessful.  As you can imgaine I was furious and refused to give her anything but her small security blanket to go back to bed.  I'm happy to say this was a one time occurance and hasn't happened since.  Mike thinks we have to be proud of her for being so resourceful.  I'm not so sure I agree.

Kicking the Bottle

Most parenting books and magazines urge you to wean your baby off the bottle at 12 months.  The suggestion is that baby goes from boob to sippy and it's easy as pie.  In our case, we introduced the sippy cup around 9 months but that didn't hep our case when we tried to take Lily's bottles from her.  The day time nix of the bottle was easy - we made daycare deal with it.  If we didn't send one, she didn't get one.  Now THAT is easy as pie. 

I've been pushing dropping the night time bottle and knock on wood we are going on week three of no bottle before bed.  This one hasn't been easy as pie.  We'd go a couple nights here or there where she just wouldn't ask for one and other nights where she'd scream her head off and Mike would cave and hand her one which would end in us arguing about what was best.  Once we finally decided to get on the same page, I ended up caving one night and giving in.  I started searching mommy blogs for kicking the bottle methods - rub the nipples in vasoline, have her throw them in the garbage, fill them with something she doesn't like.  To my horror I found that several of these children were four and five years old and still hadn't given up the bottle.  I decided Lily wasn't in all that deep and Mike told me to CTFD.  And then - just like magic - she gave it up.  Now we just need to drop that morning bottle (which we're a little opposed to doing) and we'll be all set. 

Diesel loves Lily's cuddle toys

Sharing snacks and watching cartoons

Daddy's girls waiting for him to come home

Goofball

Lily and cousin Logan hanging

Cru and Lily hanging at the beach