As I just wrote the blog below, my adorable 23 month old has taken chocolate chip pancakes out of the freezer and is eating them..... frozen! Double fisted.
We have so much fun here!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
JOSHY!
Joshua is now 7 weeks (and some change) old. By estimation of my weighing methods, he is about 12-13 pounds and is already wearing 3 month and some 3-6 month clothes. He has adorable chunky legs and still is sporting the big chubby cheeks. The dark hair hasn't fallen out yet so it will be interesting to see if he keeps that or loses it all like Jake did and then grow in blonde hair. If he keeps the dark hair, he may end up looking more like a Gunning after all (Paul would be thrilled...).
He is starting to fall into some patterns as well which is a relief. He is especially good with his sleeping pattern at night. He is sound asleep by 10pm and then up around 2am and 6am to eat. He has a period of wakefulness around 7 or 8 in the morning and then he dozes back off and usually takes a pretty good snoozer for most of the morning. He tends to be more awake (and a tad fussy) in the late afternoon and early evening. This sometimes makes it difficult to juggle making dinner for Jake and trying to give him a bath and put him to bed but thank goodness for the baby bjorn! Josh loves it.
He is smiling and cooing up a storm these days! He is a very smily little man... doesn't take much to make him grin (as long as he isn't in a grumpy mood!). Jake really seems to adore him. He looks forward to saying "hi" to him in the morning and giving him a kiss. He often times asks to hold Josh and enjoys to just lounge back and let his little brother chill next to him (supervised of course!!). Sometimes he is a little mischevious with trying to put his feet in Josh's face or "head butting" him but we're working on that.
Couple new pictures of the little man below so you can see that he is losing his "newborn look" and is really starting to look like a baby!
He is starting to fall into some patterns as well which is a relief. He is especially good with his sleeping pattern at night. He is sound asleep by 10pm and then up around 2am and 6am to eat. He has a period of wakefulness around 7 or 8 in the morning and then he dozes back off and usually takes a pretty good snoozer for most of the morning. He tends to be more awake (and a tad fussy) in the late afternoon and early evening. This sometimes makes it difficult to juggle making dinner for Jake and trying to give him a bath and put him to bed but thank goodness for the baby bjorn! Josh loves it.
He is smiling and cooing up a storm these days! He is a very smily little man... doesn't take much to make him grin (as long as he isn't in a grumpy mood!). Jake really seems to adore him. He looks forward to saying "hi" to him in the morning and giving him a kiss. He often times asks to hold Josh and enjoys to just lounge back and let his little brother chill next to him (supervised of course!!). Sometimes he is a little mischevious with trying to put his feet in Josh's face or "head butting" him but we're working on that.
Couple new pictures of the little man below so you can see that he is losing his "newborn look" and is really starting to look like a baby!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
MA MA!
This morning Jake called for me from his room with "ma, mama"! I know it probably doesn't sound like that big of a deal and he has been saying "mama" when asked for a month or so now but this is the first time he has actually called out for me/ asked for me by saying mama. I was so excited that it didn't matter that it was 5:45 in the morning and I had been up since 5 with Joshua and all I wanted to do was sleep. I was just happy to hear him really starting to use his words! (Side note -- he is now in his toddler bed and we put a gate up at his door for the first time last night to see if that would help keep him in his room instead of coming into our room multiple times during the night. He slept in his bed from 9:30pm to 5:45am straight! Now we just have to work on getting to bed a little earlier...)
He is also saying a variety of other words and will try to mimic pretty much everything you ask him to say (if he is in the right mood and wants to do it!). Besides mama, he is also saying dada, ball, doggie, bye bye, hi, car, airplane, mo mo (for Mosley), sorry, thank you, and a few others. He is doing well with his signs too. He can sign for food, drink, more, all done, thank you, please, and help.
We continue to do speech therapy every other week and it's helping but I think a lot of it is Paul and I being more conscious of how to help him learn how to speak and use his mouth to make the right sounds and also a lot of him just being ready to start talking. The goal is for him to be pretty much caught up with his speech by the time he is three. I think he is definitely on the right path!
He is also saying a variety of other words and will try to mimic pretty much everything you ask him to say (if he is in the right mood and wants to do it!). Besides mama, he is also saying dada, ball, doggie, bye bye, hi, car, airplane, mo mo (for Mosley), sorry, thank you, and a few others. He is doing well with his signs too. He can sign for food, drink, more, all done, thank you, please, and help.
We continue to do speech therapy every other week and it's helping but I think a lot of it is Paul and I being more conscious of how to help him learn how to speak and use his mouth to make the right sounds and also a lot of him just being ready to start talking. The goal is for him to be pretty much caught up with his speech by the time he is three. I think he is definitely on the right path!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Race for the Cure 2009
A couple weekends ago, we participated in the 2009 Komen Global Race for the Cure in DC. This is my 7th year participating (as a team captain) and along with me were Paul, Jake, Walt, Gretchen, and Allison along with members of my team from GDIT. (We left Joshua with Kathy at home :-)). Our team raised almost $6,000 for the fight against breast cancer.
Nearly 45,000 people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on June 6th to take a stand in the global movement to end breast cancer forever. Each year, up to 75% of the Komen Global Race's net income stays in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to fund local screening, treatment and education programs for the medically underserved. The remaining dollars support the Global Promise Fund which is dedicated to reaching underserved people in areas where breast cancer mortality rates are the highest. This year's event raised $4.3 million.
Slideshow of pics above from the morning of the race.
Nearly 45,000 people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on June 6th to take a stand in the global movement to end breast cancer forever. Each year, up to 75% of the Komen Global Race's net income stays in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area to fund local screening, treatment and education programs for the medically underserved. The remaining dollars support the Global Promise Fund which is dedicated to reaching underserved people in areas where breast cancer mortality rates are the highest. This year's event raised $4.3 million.
Slideshow of pics above from the morning of the race.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Master Escape Artist
We've been having some issues getting Jake to sleep at night lately. Which is odd because he has always been a good sleeper and usually always went right down after a couple stories. Well this started off with him just falling asleep in our bed after about 30 minutes of cartoons and then we would transfer him to his crib and all would be good to go in dreamland. Well the last couple of nights have been torture. He has laid in our bed for an hour or two and just will not go to sleep. I have tried putting him in his crib and letting him cry it out (and boy does he WAIL) and nothing has worked. And you can tell he is tired. He practically passes out when I try to read him story after story or sing songs.
Well the little booger figured out how to escape from his crib today. He did it once and came downstairs and scared the crap out of me. The second time, I watched him do it and boy does he just swing his legs right on over and drop.... Now we're really in trouble. More joys of toddlerhood!
Well the little booger figured out how to escape from his crib today. He did it once and came downstairs and scared the crap out of me. The second time, I watched him do it and boy does he just swing his legs right on over and drop.... Now we're really in trouble. More joys of toddlerhood!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Green Mommy
Lessons learned -- don't let your two year old see you wearing a green facial mask before bedtime. It didn't scare him. Instead, he was so intrigued that he came downstairs to point and laugh for an extended period of time. The littlest one doesn't seem to mind one way or another.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Burke Lake Park
Paul and I took the boys to Burke Lake Park on a recent Tuesday afternoon (pics below). My mom took my brother and I there all the time when we were little and I have very fond memories of riding the train and carousel there. It was fun to go back there and take my little guys to enjoy the rides! Jake also enjoyed feeding the ducks with Daddy!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Target Here we Come!
Who knew going to Super Target was a milestone in one's mommy career? Well it is when you are taking two little guys under the age of two by yourself for the first time! Joshua was perfectly content in his snuggly (baby bjorn) strapped to the front of me and Jake sat patiently in the front seat of the cart (playing with my car keys and loudly saying "bo-bo"). We made it a pretty quick trip -- dog food, laundry detergent, father's day cards, etc -- but they both did great and boy do I feel like super mom now :-)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Jake's New Room!
Jake's new jungle safari room is about finished. We'll still have some finishing touches over the next couple of months I'm sure, but he is sleeping in there and now knows that it is "his room"! 
Longwood 2009!
A couple of weeks ago, Paul and I took the boys down to Longwood University (where I went to school: 1998 -- 2002). I haven't been down there since 2002 and they have done a lot to beautify the campus since then and have built a couple of new buildings. It looked great! Slideshow below of some of the highlights.
For those who went to Longwood with me, the biggest shocker was that the 411 house is now blue, not white!! (The 609 house looks exactly the same.... wonder if the Putneys still own it?!?) It looks like they have almost all of the off campus houses under the same rental/realty company as opposed to being owned and managed by individual landlords.
Jake's favorite part of the day was definitely playing in the fountains by the student union and Joshua, well, he just slept and ate all day :-) We also enjoyed a nice lunch at Smack-a-doo's (MacAdoo's) -- it was just as yummy as I remember.
The trip definitely brought back fond memories of my 4 years at Longwood!
(PS -- our photos are actually a little better that displayed in the slideshow. Photobucket doesn't do the best job at fitting the pictures into a slideshow for the blog.... Guess I need to work on that.)
For those who went to Longwood with me, the biggest shocker was that the 411 house is now blue, not white!! (The 609 house looks exactly the same.... wonder if the Putneys still own it?!?) It looks like they have almost all of the off campus houses under the same rental/realty company as opposed to being owned and managed by individual landlords.
Jake's favorite part of the day was definitely playing in the fountains by the student union and Joshua, well, he just slept and ate all day :-) We also enjoyed a nice lunch at Smack-a-doo's (MacAdoo's) -- it was just as yummy as I remember.
The trip definitely brought back fond memories of my 4 years at Longwood!
(PS -- our photos are actually a little better that displayed in the slideshow. Photobucket doesn't do the best job at fitting the pictures into a slideshow for the blog.... Guess I need to work on that.)
Monday, June 8, 2009
A small victory for some...
But a big accomplishment for me! I took the boys to the pool by myself today... woo-hoo! Jake was a little unsure at first (he hasn't been to the pool since last summer) but he warmed up real fast and was trying to swim and dunk himself under the water in no time. I had to practically drag him away when his lips started shaking and Joshua started crying. But we did good :-)
Friday, June 5, 2009
SMILES!
I got some of my first Joshy smiles today! He actually gave me a great one at about 5am this morning but then I got a couple more this afternoon. I love the first smiles.... the whole face scrunches up with delight and you get the whole "gummy" toothless grin with eyes squinted. Too adorable!! Hard to catch a picture of it but will try soon.
We're still doing 3-4 hour stretches of sleep at night so mommy feels "mostly" rested. But boy do I feel 1000% better this week as far as taking care of both of the boys by myself. I found that I just have to work a lot harder at planning out the day and just continuing to do things and keep stuff interesting for Jakers. Paul and I have really been working on the consistent discipline and Jake is really getting it. He still tries to get away with some stuff here and there but he is grasping the idea of what he can and can't do.
This afternoon I found myself with both of the boys asleep and I ate lunch and took a shower and unloaded the dishwasher as fast as I could and now I am not quite sure what to do with myself... I keep looking at my "to do" list but the vast majority of it is scratched off. This is kind of like work -- I am not sure what to do when I can literally just sit down and take a breather. Well, I think Joshy and I are going to go watch some more of our Sex and the City DVDs. Not so appropriate for Jake but at least Josh is too young to pick up on any of it :-)
We're still doing 3-4 hour stretches of sleep at night so mommy feels "mostly" rested. But boy do I feel 1000% better this week as far as taking care of both of the boys by myself. I found that I just have to work a lot harder at planning out the day and just continuing to do things and keep stuff interesting for Jakers. Paul and I have really been working on the consistent discipline and Jake is really getting it. He still tries to get away with some stuff here and there but he is grasping the idea of what he can and can't do.
This afternoon I found myself with both of the boys asleep and I ate lunch and took a shower and unloaded the dishwasher as fast as I could and now I am not quite sure what to do with myself... I keep looking at my "to do" list but the vast majority of it is scratched off. This is kind of like work -- I am not sure what to do when I can literally just sit down and take a breather. Well, I think Joshy and I are going to go watch some more of our Sex and the City DVDs. Not so appropriate for Jake but at least Josh is too young to pick up on any of it :-)
Ocean City, NJ Here We Come!
Our first big family road trip as a family of four! We're going up to Ocean City, New Jersey the last week in July with Paul's family. I know Jacob will have a blast at the beach and the boardwalk. I am hoping to actually get to take him in for a little dip in the Atlantic! Joshua will be almost 3 months old so it should be a little easier to be out and about with him and it will certainly be his first trip to the beach! We can't wait for the family time as well. The only sad thing is that the trip to the beach is the week before I go back to work, but we'll set that thought aside for now!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Leesburg Animal Park
Pictures below from our trip to Leesburg Animal Park on May 6th (day before we had Joshua). Jake loved all of the animals and especially enjoyed feeding them and being chased by a baby goat!
Back in Business!
My laptop is finally fixed!! Now I can get back to providing updates and posting pictures. I have a backlog that I will work on over the next week or so when I have some time.
Paul and I are healthy again.... a little tired at times for sure but thank goodness for caffeine. Joshua is still getting nasal congestion out of his system. He doesn't like the saline spray and booger suctioning but it works and you can tell he is a lot happier once he can breathe easy through his nose again. Jakey has an ear infection and roseola... poor guy. Though roseola is harmless and doesn't make him feel sick. It just looks bad. I tried to take a picture of the rash to share but it didn't come out too well. He's had it before so I figured that was what it was as soon as I saw the rash appear on Saturday but we took him to the urgent care clinic on Sunday just to be sure. But he is having a rough time with the ear infection and he's had a pretty high fever since last week. He's been a little fussier than usual and just more out of sorts. I used to get ear infections all the time as a kid and I remember how painful they were. Plus he is not digging his amoxycillin so we're battling twice a day just to get the medicine down him to make him feel better!
(Needless to say, I don't want to see another doctor's office or hospital for a really long time!)
I can't believe Joshua will be 4 weeks old on Thursday (and a month old on Sunday). This first month went by so fast. It was all about trying to figure out how to adjust to our new lifestyle. I will be the first to admit that it's been tough at times. Anyone who tells you differently is lying! Having one child does completely change your life but a second child brings a whole new dynamic to routines and emotions. You don't necessarily get a break when the baby is sleeping because you have another little one who needs your attention! (Plus can I just mention the massive quantities of laundry that come from having two kids?!?) Jakey is also going through terrible two's which is a challenge sometimes. Paul and I are figuring out how to discipline and do timeouts and be consistent about it at the same time that we're juggling a newborn. And let's face it, a two year olds tantrums aren't exactly the most fun thing in the world :-) Lucky for us, Jake is a very sweet little boy in general and his tantrums are relatively short. It's not too hard to distract him with something else. I think he will be a little more laid back again once he is feeling 100% and has caught up from his lack of sleep lately. I gave myself this first month to be a little emotional and figure things out (with a lot of support from Paul, my family, and his family). The "mommy confidence" (as I like to call it) is returning and I'll be out and about with these two boys in no time.
Joshua continues to thrive. At night he has done two five hour long stretches of sleep (in his bassinet!!). During the day he asks to eat every 2-3 hours still. He thoroughly enjoys sleeping next to me in bed (which I sometimes give into because we both inevitably end up falling asleep while he is nursing in the middle of the night) but he does pretty darn well in his bassinet and car seat too. I swear he looks as big as Jake was when he was about 2 or 3 months old! He loves the bath and he's had quite a few "real" baths in his infant bathtub. (Though I will be honest and say that when Jake was a baby, I gave him a bath every day since I had the time. Yah, don't have that kind of time now! But he is still clean and smells like a yummy baby!) He is definitely focusing on faces a lot more now and will stare into my eyes and I feel like we're on the verge of a smile! He makes cute little baby noises all the time and he's is very gassy and poopy just like a typical newborn!
Lots to do, never enough time to do it, more soon!!
Paul and I are healthy again.... a little tired at times for sure but thank goodness for caffeine. Joshua is still getting nasal congestion out of his system. He doesn't like the saline spray and booger suctioning but it works and you can tell he is a lot happier once he can breathe easy through his nose again. Jakey has an ear infection and roseola... poor guy. Though roseola is harmless and doesn't make him feel sick. It just looks bad. I tried to take a picture of the rash to share but it didn't come out too well. He's had it before so I figured that was what it was as soon as I saw the rash appear on Saturday but we took him to the urgent care clinic on Sunday just to be sure. But he is having a rough time with the ear infection and he's had a pretty high fever since last week. He's been a little fussier than usual and just more out of sorts. I used to get ear infections all the time as a kid and I remember how painful they were. Plus he is not digging his amoxycillin so we're battling twice a day just to get the medicine down him to make him feel better!
(Needless to say, I don't want to see another doctor's office or hospital for a really long time!)
I can't believe Joshua will be 4 weeks old on Thursday (and a month old on Sunday). This first month went by so fast. It was all about trying to figure out how to adjust to our new lifestyle. I will be the first to admit that it's been tough at times. Anyone who tells you differently is lying! Having one child does completely change your life but a second child brings a whole new dynamic to routines and emotions. You don't necessarily get a break when the baby is sleeping because you have another little one who needs your attention! (Plus can I just mention the massive quantities of laundry that come from having two kids?!?) Jakey is also going through terrible two's which is a challenge sometimes. Paul and I are figuring out how to discipline and do timeouts and be consistent about it at the same time that we're juggling a newborn. And let's face it, a two year olds tantrums aren't exactly the most fun thing in the world :-) Lucky for us, Jake is a very sweet little boy in general and his tantrums are relatively short. It's not too hard to distract him with something else. I think he will be a little more laid back again once he is feeling 100% and has caught up from his lack of sleep lately. I gave myself this first month to be a little emotional and figure things out (with a lot of support from Paul, my family, and his family). The "mommy confidence" (as I like to call it) is returning and I'll be out and about with these two boys in no time.
Joshua continues to thrive. At night he has done two five hour long stretches of sleep (in his bassinet!!). During the day he asks to eat every 2-3 hours still. He thoroughly enjoys sleeping next to me in bed (which I sometimes give into because we both inevitably end up falling asleep while he is nursing in the middle of the night) but he does pretty darn well in his bassinet and car seat too. I swear he looks as big as Jake was when he was about 2 or 3 months old! He loves the bath and he's had quite a few "real" baths in his infant bathtub. (Though I will be honest and say that when Jake was a baby, I gave him a bath every day since I had the time. Yah, don't have that kind of time now! But he is still clean and smells like a yummy baby!) He is definitely focusing on faces a lot more now and will stare into my eyes and I feel like we're on the verge of a smile! He makes cute little baby noises all the time and he's is very gassy and poopy just like a typical newborn!
Lots to do, never enough time to do it, more soon!!
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