Big Boys!

I continue to be amazed every week, every day at how fast the boys change and how quickly they are growing up. I looked at my little baby Josh today and started to see a little boy with his chubby cheeks and bright eyes -- newborn baby look all gone. And Jake, wow, I don't even know if I have the words to explain how much he has grown up in the last month. I am so proud of him and how far he has come with his talking and his willingness (most of the time) to listen and cooperate.

Little man started blowing raspberries today and boy did he and I both get the biggest kick out of it. My lips were numb after blowing raspberries back at him and he was covered in spit from his chest to his forehead! He would wait for me to do it and then he would giggle and do it right back, big gummy grin the whole time. Hysterical. And he is rolling over both ways now -- pretty much at the exact same time that Jake did. Now that he can roll from his back to his tummy, the whole back to sleep thing is way over and done with. The second you put him on his back in his crib, he flips himself over and goes right to sleep. His laid back personality is awesome. Perhaps I am a little partial and "braggy" because I am his mom, but if you ask anyone who spends an hour with the kid, they will tell you that he is the happiest baby on the face of the earth. He is so content and silly and just loves to smile and laugh and talk with you. He is the best sleeper too. Twelve hours a night -- straight. Whew. If only all babies were this easy -- makes me nervous to think about having a third and what a handful he/she could be!

Big man might as well be ten. I don't know WHERE the time has gone with him. His vocabulary and speech is tremendous and I think it has helped him so much to be able to verbalize what he wants. He is asking for what he wants using his words now and call most family members that he knows by their names (including the dogs -- Bay-eee and BoBo). He is still a little quiet to talk around people other than me and Paul but trust me, the boy can talk! Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama! He is also the biggest helper. The other day when I was in the shower, he heard me turn off the water and he immediately ran into the bathroom and pulled down one of the towels from the rack and opened the shower door and handed me the towel. The proud look on his face is just priceless. He is also a big help with throwing away trash and doing laundry. Tonight he helped me change the sheets on the bed and give Josh a bath. I really think that his terrible two's have subsided quite a bit. Now that's not to say that he can't let out the highest pitch scream ever if he is mad about not getting something he wants BUT what little kid isn't going to do that? He is much easier to reason with now. If I ask him to stop doing something, he will and he'll say "okay" and sometimes even "okay, sorry".

We are working on getting rid of the pacifiers now (we call them nummys). Part of me feels badly about taking them away because he is SO attached and its his comfort/safety thing away from home (and to sleep) but at the same time, I feel like he is starting to look kind of old to still have a pacifier and it does cause issues sometimes. For example, last week at SoccerTots, he wouldn't participate without the nummy and he kept running back to the bag to make sure his extra nummy was still in there. We started on Sunday morning and he made it pretty much until this morning without one. We had one helluva meltdown this morning. He also hadn't been sleeping as well at night without them so he was tired. So when we got home from day care today and he desperately wanted one, I gave him one that had the tip cut off. He was not too thrilled with the "broken" nummy. He eventually forgot about it and had dinner, played, took a bath, and got ready for bed. While he was curled up in bed watching cartoons, he started asking for it again. We decided that we would let him sleep with it for the time being but when he wakes up in the morning, he has to put it in a special spot where it will wait for him until he goes to bed that night. For a transition, he can have the nummy with the tip cut off if he wants to hold one and/or have one in his pocket. I am hoping this will ease the transition some for him. It breaks my heart to see him so upset because we're taking away his most important comfort item.

That's some of the latest and greatest for the boys. Life for Paul and I is business as usual. Last night we went to the Redskins/Eagles game here at FedEx Field. We had a good time and it wasn't too cold but sure enough, I fell asleep (in the stadium) during the 3rd quarter. Big surprise. I knew I wasn't going to make it. Considering that I am going on about 3 hours of sleep right now, I better wrap this up and get some much needed rest before it catches up with me!

Cox Farms 2009

Two weekends ago we went to Cox Farms to ring in the beginning of Fall. Lucky for us it was a beautiful sunny and warm day. A lot has changed in terms of the weather in the last two weeks! Now it is 40 degrees and rainy.

Jake had a lot of fun playing with Chloe. The highlight of the trip was the hayride... it was a really good one! Josh had a blast being carried around in the baby bjorn and then falling asleep on Aunt Gretchen's chest. Paul and Nick were there too.

Slideshow below of some of the pictures from the trip.

In other news, Josh is now almost 16 pounds -- about 40th percentile for weight. However, he is super long so he is almost out of 6 month clothes now (especially pants and PJ's). He LOVES to eat cereal and I know he will be super excited to start fruits and veggies in the next couple of weeks. He is sleeping for 9-12 hour stretches at a time and continues to be the happiest baby on the face of the earth! Jake has transformed into an amazing little boy who holds conversations with you! His terrible two's have subsided quite a bit so we have been having lots of fun. He is back to sleeping through the night and is even starting to sleep in a little longer in the mornings. When he goes to bed around 8pm, he sleeps until about 7 or 7:30am. A big improvement over his usual 6am wakings!

Speaking of the big guy, he is clinging to my back asking for a "giddy up" (piggyback ride) so off we go!

Owen's 1st Birthday Party

Last weekend we went up to Delaware to celebrate Owen's first birthday party at a beautiful state park. The weather was gorgeous and there was a playground right next to the pavillion we were at so Jake spent most of his time playing there with daddy and grandpa. Josh had a great time hanging out on grandma's chest.

Owen is Jake and Josh's third cousin... Walt's cousin's son's son. Jake and Owen are good buddies and we wish we were able to see them more often!

SoccerTots

This past week, Jake started his 6 week SoccerTots session: http://soccertotsva.com/. It is a child physical development program that uses fun games to engage kids in physical activity. In Jake's class of the 2-3 year olds, they don't actually play soccer games but the activities are designed around soccer-type play such as kicking, throwing, and jumping. The class is every Friday morning so Paul is able to take him and they enjoy their father/son bonding time!

Two short videos below of his first day at SoccerTots!

(Yes, I am discouraged that he used his nummy during the class but we're working on that. Think he needed it as a soother being in a new environment. He's going to be potty trained before we get him off the pacifier!)

Happy Boy

One of my new favorite shots of happy man, Josh. It doesn't get much better than this!

Talk, Joshy, Talk!

On the way home from Cox Farms yesterday, Mr. Josh decided that he would occupy himself most of the way home by chatting, squealing, and laughing almost the entire way. As you can see from the video below, he had quite a bit to say!!

(Video is a little bouncy because I was taping it in the car.)