Blake's 2 Month Check up

We had Blake's check up and first round of shots this week. He is 12lbs 7.5oz and 23 inches long. That put him in the 75th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for height. The boy never misses a meal! He had to have 3 shots and he did pretty well. The poor guy held his breath when the first shot went in and turned beat red before he finally let out a big scream! He calmed himself down pretty quickly and was good the rest of the day, just as long as no one touched his thighs!

We talked to the Dr about his early morning grunting (he starts right after his 5am feeding and doesn't stop until we get up for the day), and he said that most likely it's just his personality, and that the best way to not let it continue to interrupt our sleep is to move him to his own room. Well, I tried that, and guess what? I listened to him grunt from across the hall, and still couldn't sleep!

I'll leave you with a picture of the little man. He is so sweet. He kept smiling for me while I was taking pictures the other day, but I seemed to miss all of them! So, here's a half smiile for you!

Avery's New 'Do

Yesterday I took Avery to get a haircut with me. She still has wispy baby hair on the ends that is pretty fine and it is all different lengths. So... we took the plunge and cut it all off! She was a very good girl and held still while Lanette cut about 4 inches off. Now she has a bob cut kinda like Mommy's!

Sadly, when she went to Auburn with Daddy that afternoon she realized that we could no longer put ponytails in her hair. That was a little distressing! I can still put a small pony on top of her head, and that seems to pacify her for now. For me, life is a little easier now, as I won't have to do her hair every morning!

She is growing up more and more everyday, and this new 'do sure makes her look a lot older! As Christmas is drawing nearer, she is getting excited about the presents. Every morning she asks, "Is Christmas over yet?" I guess she thinks it has to be over in order to open all of the gifts! Last night we had dinner with our friends Bill and Tammie and their son Colton. We did our gift exchange after dinner and poor Avery thought Christmas had finally come! She opened her gift from them first and then wanted to keep going! Before I knew it she had opened Tammies gift too, and was headed for another one under the tree! I had to explain to her that we weren't going to be able to see Bill and Tammie on Christmas, so we were doing just these gifts tonight. Thankfully, she understood and was content to play with the gift she received. Silly girl! She loves to do her "Count Down to Christmas" calendar every morning that Grammy and PaPa sent her. Now that we are below 10 days, she can tell that it's getting closer!

Blake

My high needs baby.... He's so sweet and happy in the morning. He wakes up with a smile on his face. But the rest of the day, if he's awake, you'd better be holding him. Even better if you are holding him and walking!

He is growing like a weed too! It's hard to believe that he will be 2 months old this week. Where does the time go? His personality is beginning to come out, and aside from the need to be held constantly, he seems to have quite a bit of empathy in him (AKA - if Avery cries, he cries!) and he is a very loving and cuddly little guy! He's also a night owl and enjoys staying awake from 7 - 10pm or later each night.

We are really enjoying him and Avery is such a good big sister. We feel so blessed to have 2 healthy and happy children!

Snow!

It started to snow yesterday morning about 10am, and now we have almost a foot! After Avery's nap we took her out to play and she had a ball! She especially liked to eat the snow. We took her over to my parents house (since they have a big lawn) and built a snowman and had a little snowball fight. This morning when she woke up, the first thing she said was, "Let's go play in the snow!"

I'm not sure how much more snow we will get before the storm is over, but I have a feeling we will be spending a lot of time outside in it.

Great Big Beans and other words to remember, and one to forget!

Anyone who knows Avery, knows how verbal she is. She will talk and talk, all day long. Some of her words just crack me up! Green beans are called great big beans andI have to laugh when she asks for more great big beans at dinner. Until last week peanut M&M's were called "renos". Don't ask me where she got that name, but that is what they have been for at least the past year. Sadly, last week she informed me that they are, in fact, just called peanut M&M's.

Unfortunately, some words that have been picked up at school recently have not been so wonderful and funny. In retrospect, I have to laugh at the events of last week, though at the time I was not very happy. On the way home from school on Monday Avery informed me that a certain boy at school says the f-word. Now Avery did not say "f-word", no, she was kind enough to tell me just what that word was. In fact it was, "f-word-ed up" to be exact. At first I thought I had heard her wrong. My 2 year saying the absolutely WORST word in the english language? Surely she said 'fruitcup", right? No, mommy, let me repeat it for you again! So I explained that that is not a nice word, and it is not a word we use in our house. Well, since that got my attention, Avery decided that she should say it over and over and OVER again. ALL the way home. I wasn't sure how to proceed with this one. Do I punish her, or just ignore her, hoping that the lack of attention will make it less novel to say? I decided on the latter, and simply told her I won't listen to her say that word anymore and I walked away. After a few more repititions of that lovely word, she grew bored and hasn't said it since. (Thank goodness!)

The next day at school Jeff talked to the teachers about it and they let him know that they had heard the boy say it (and he knew how to use it) and Avery was standing right there when he got in trouble for it. They apologized profusely for her bringing it home. So, we got to be parents and teach Avery why we don't say certain words.

The ironic part in all of this was the next night when my sailor mouthed daughter had me pray at least 10 times during dinner. She must have known she needed forgiveness!

So, some words that come out are sweet and funny. Others, well, they just remind me of what my role is as a parent! I still can't believe my sweet little 2 year said that word, but I am hoping that that is the last time I will hear it from her!

Starting Point

So, I have been meaning to do this for about a year.... With most of our family and friends so far away, I thought this would be a fun way to keep people posted on the day to day events of our lives. More so, since I am terrible at writing in the baby books, maybe I can kill two birds with one stone and document the kids lives while I keep others updated! (Hopefully my writing will be entertaining enough to keep others interested!) The biggest challenge for me.... Keeping up with it! Since I am currently my own boss and set my own schedule (sort of!) I am hoping to schedule some time for this each week. I imagine it will be a little cathartic on those days when the kids are driving me crazy. I can write about it here, and then laugh at it. It's always easier from the outside looking in, right?!?

And life has been a little nuts the past month. Thankfully Blake is a very easy baby. There has only been one night where I called Jeff in tears because Avery was out of control with the whining and Blake was having a rough time too. Why didn't God give moms 4 arms? Have you ever tried to take a 2 year old to the bathroom while nursing a newborn??? Not an easy feat! Invariably I get the call, "I need to go poo poo!" right when Blake is settling in for his dinner! It's like clockwork!

Avery is settling in as big sister. As long as we get some time each night to spend just the 2 of us, she does really well. Her preschool teachers say that she is really coming out of her shell. I am not sure that is a good thing.... Jana was so impressed with her last Christmas because Avery didn't feel the need to touch everything in her house. She seemed so mild mannered and well behaved. Well, the next time we go to Dallas I have a feeling that Jana will not make that comment again! She loves to play with the boys at school and the rambunctiousness is definately wearing off on her. The other night I was bathing her and noticed a very distinct bite mark on her chest. You could see every tooth of some 2 year old little mouth on her! I asked her who bit her and she told me, and then let me know that she pushed him right back. The next day at school Jeff spoke to the teachers about it (biting isn't something to take lightly in my book, although neither is pushing...) and they didn't even know it had happend - Avery never cried about it... They were very concerned though and talked to Avery about the importance of letting the teachers know if someone hurts them. Of course when she tripped over a stump later that day she cried like the world was ending - but a bite from another child - no big deal! Anyhow, all this to say that Avery has become quite assertive (that's putting it nicely!). She has also become very polite. She has taken to saying thank you for everything. "Thank you for buying me these pajamas. Thank you for cutting my hair. Thank you for picking me up from school today". I love it.

Well, I suppose that is all I have time to write about for now... I will leave you with a few moments I have been meaning to document over the past few months....

A question from Avery as I am nursing Blake, "Mom, do I have bottles in MY boobs?" You should have seen the look on her face when I told her that babies get their milk from their mommies. She could not comprehend that one, since the milk has always come from a bottle when she is feeding her babies. She has yet to "nurse" her babies, but I think it is only a matter of time...

Avery telling me that baby brother is hungry (when I was about 8 months pregnant with Blake) and then proceeding to shove fruit snacks into my belly button for him to eat.

Anytime Avery wanted to talk to the baby she would lift up my shirt so he could "see" her.

This morning while laying in bed Avery said, "I love Blake". It melted my heart. We are trying not to force "love" on her. We say it to her all the time, but don't expect it to be said in return. We want her to say it when she wants to, not because she has to. So this unexpected declaration meant so much.