I just want a nice picture, but as you can see, Jack does not stay in one place ever.  And if he does, it is not at ground level.

 

But it's okay because he is the cutest. We hang around a lot of babies and they are pretty cute, but Jack is the coolest too. 

He is definitely getting that older infant forehead full of bruises.  He is the best. He claps all the time. He just started waving. He can spit raspberries. I think he is getting a top front tooth, or at least i saw some blood there, but now that I think about it, he could have smacked his gum on his lower tooth, but he sure was awake enough last night to warrant teething.

He has zero interest in toys that are on the floor.  And nothing you hand him either. He only wants Bobbys toys! Must. have. Bobbys. toys.

He loves to charge for the tv stand and the bathroom. And the lego table and the outside doors and anything else where he could get hurt. Here we go!

March

Big developments in Jacks world this week.  Yesterday, he decided to start crawling. He's been so close forever, but finally figured out how to pick up his arms and get it done. He'd been getting around the room pretty well before though. And if that wasn't enough, as I was sitting on the floor with him, he up and pulled himself up to standing on the toy shelves. Then he pulled himself up on the soap holder in the bath. Too much. Then instead of nursing him to sleep and ever so carefully putting him in bed, I put him down and walked away. He SCREAMED as if being stabbed, but before I could even get to the monitor in the kitchen, he was asleep. So, this could be huge for my mental health. I had been having a lot of mommy brain from the lack of sleep. Jack has figured out how to cluck his tongue in his mouth and he loves it. He also wipes his hand up and down across his mouth while making noise and makes the ah,ah,ah,ah,ah and cracks himself up. He is a great baby and so happy and easy going and there's not much else to say.

Put himself in there somehow

Bobby is a pretty cool kid too. He is highly temperamental and short fused, but I'm willing to overlook that for the good. We try to limit his screen time because he is obsessed with tv, so I put a screen lock on the ipad. He would punch at a it a bit and sure enough one day, I hear, "1 1 1 1, it works!!!!"  So, I change it, couple days later, "1 2 3 4, I did it!"  So don't let this kid near your ATM card if you have an easy pin. shoot.
He is really into patterns and making them and finding them.  He likes to read still, but is obsessed with the page numbers in books and always points them out.  He can almost count to 40 smoothly, the transitions cause some hiccups though ...28,29, twenty-ten... and he still doesn't like 14.  His writing interest comes and goes, he is more interested in the shapes of letters in the bathtub or with blocks, rather than writing with a pen. You can see his interest in reading though and he is associating more and more letters with the sounds they make. He will spell out letters then say "dinosaur" for example, even though it's usually not the right word exactly.

Jack and I got up at 5:15 the other morning, and a few minutes later out toddles Bobby and tells me, "You can't play now, it's the middle of the night" I was not successful in getting him back to bed though. He also told me, "Have it your way" ! We know he's a sponge and copies a lot of what we say and do, but it kills me nonetheless. Especially in the car, telling me how to drive or getting frustrated with red lights (oops) It's cute though.

I think they'll be friends (mostly)

I will say this. I regret being mean to Carolyn and understand why Elizabeth treated me like she did. All the little brother wants is what Bobby has, he gets up in his business and drives Bobby nuts. It's a little mutual as far as Bobby also has to be suddenly really into the toy that Jack will be playing with. I try to tell Bobby that everything we have is both of theirs, but there is still a lot of "your toy" "his toy" going on. Sharing will always keep me on my toes. They have some good moments though.

Even though our winter only means 50 degrees, we have been hit with the normal colds and such. Bobby woke up this morning with a nasty cough and glassy eyes, so he's had a rough day.  He's eaten nothing today, so we'll go to the doctor tomorrow. Jack is pretty hoarse and has been snotty and had a low fever on and off for about 2 weeks.

.

Bobby is getting his days of the week down. At least the names of them. Also knows the first 10 months. They are followed by Devember.  He is great at tracing all the letters and can write a lot of them by himself without seeing it first. He is really good at throwing the frisbee. He does have a bit of a speech thing going on - using his tounge in teeth when he shouldn't and not using it when he should. th/f, s/z. we'll see where it goes. He said this today,
    B: Some people die sometimes.
    Me: Oh yah, like who?
    B: Jesus.
Alrighty, what else are they teaching you at school?

Happiest baby ever

 Jack got his second tooth. He likes to swing and take baths. Really easy going. He finds it totally hilarious whenever Bobby is yelling or crying. He can drink through a straw! He rocks on his hands and knees still. Rolls a bit more frequently. Does not enjoy being in the running stroller very much.

Second child syndrome

Blogger is kicking off my videos, so see them here.

January

This kid is a human garbage disposal.  Nothing he won't, or hasn't eaten. He is well up on his knees and starts to rock, but if he lifts up his arm, he eats it. These kids have nailed tag teaming their naps and night sleeping. It's unbelievable actually. On one of the rare occasions Bobby actually naps, it's pretty much guaranteed Jack will wake up 10 minutes after Bobby is down. And then Jack has started staying up at 4am and when he finally goes back down at 5/5:30, boom, Bobby decides it's time for an early day. Not fun stuff.

Bobby is doing well. Three has been up and down, but while he still has his moments, he's pretty fun and funny. He says such adult things, "I think so," and Does that sound like a plan?, and when he falls, "I'm fine" He's really into rhyming and we're trying to learn the days of the week and the months. He has this lego vampire and he calls it the Umpire and neither of us wants to correct him. Its head glows in the dark and so Bobby waves it around, probably trying to make ghost woooo ooooo sounds, but really sounds like a monkey instead. He has been jumping on the trampoline almost every day.

when he goes potty by himself...

It is surprisingly hard to get a blog post up these days. We are doing well this winter.  It's about 40 degrees some mornings and boy are people cold here. Our blood has thinned too and it's pretty funny to see these people ready to bust out the heaviest clothes they have.  That or they just keep wearing shorts and flip flops.  Had to talk about the weather to get the old pen rolling...

What else, Bobby is doing great. Same old 3.5 year old stuff.  He's a bit of a pill but I won't get into that. Just easily frustrated and doesn't listen.  He is great to Jack and I could easily write a lot of what Elizabeth has written about the baby. Jack loves his big brother. I feel like I will have to work hard on keeping him alive from here on out.

He was sitting really well since right at 5 months. He doesn't spend a lot of time on his back or belly, so he doesn't roll over often, he tries hard to get up on hands and knees, but hasn't made it all the way there, but just like Bobby, he is strong.  We revisited his Jonny Jump up thing that didn't really click when we first got it, but he definitely figured it out this time around. Of course, now the goal is to keep Bobby from swinging him around like crazy.

He also has the first sliver of a tooth peeking through.  He has figured out how to eat.  He likes the mush I give him (blender up some stuff to get him iron) and the bites of all real food I would give him, but I had also let him feed himself the big pieces of food so that got gnawed on or turned to mush, but he has figured out how to open his grip up and get the food in his mouth.  So much so that when I went into the kitchen, he shoved almost a whole cut up meatball in his mouth.  He likes everything as far as I can tell. We worked a sippy cup a bit today too.

Jack LOVES the bath. Which is too bad, because I hate giving him baths. He starts bucking up and down and making all sorts of noises as I run the tub and when Bobby is in it.

He is, however, sleeping horrendously. The last two nights, he would go down at 7, wake up at 8,9, 10 and then I went to bed and who knows what happens after that.  It really is a blur even when I make the effort to look at the clock. I hope that's a combination of growth spurt and teething pain, but this could also be the kind of sleep pattern that forced me to have Bobby learn how to put himself to sleep.

Well, turns out if the boys are asleep and Rick is at work, I can actually get some rambling done. Sleep is looking good, we should make the 7-10pm shift quietly I hope.

Six Months

Time is flying, but I don't really mind that he's getting bigger and more fun. He is about 17.5 pounds with a big head! He is so happy and easy going. He's definitely a mommas boy, but he loves to look at his daddy, just not be babysat by him alone.This is a bit of a drag on my movie date plans, but it's okay.

We had a pretty good visit with Cash and Cooper.  Their whole trip was probably 48 hours door to door, but we were very happy they came to play with us.  The boys got along pretty well and were typical hooligans, with usual 3-4 year old sharing and tired issues.

Christmas Part 2

So many photos taken, so few work out...

Cookie decorating....Mmmmm

Who made the baby wear a Santa hat?

I don't expect the kids to look at me, but come on Clauses!

At least Comet behaved

There were also carolers, a puppet show, petting zoo, horse rides, and crafts which we did, and tree lighting and a movie we didn't stay for. The next morning, we finally got our tree up and decorated. Good times.

Playing with this guy is the reason I burned our last tray of Christmas cookies.

He will not play with any of his rattles or teethers, but if he sees a book or his socks, he will mouth the hell out of those things. He loves to eat paper, sheesh. 

Christmas, part 1

We are finally in the spirit of Christmas after Thanksgiving was so early, but since then it's been go go go. We have been opening our chocolate advent calendar, putting our felt ornaments up and doing our book advent calendar, so Bobby is always asking if it's the next day yet. He is a trip and loves LOVES seeing all the lights and inflatables on house and around town.

One book per day

We went on a Santa cruise, because, why not! It was 30-40 minutes and didn't leave the harbor, but we talked to Santa early and got to enjoy the boat ride.

Then there were tree lightings in the two adjacent towns and our block party.  It was such a gorgeous morning, but ended up drizzly by party time, but didn't phase anyone.  There was a huge bounce house, a lot of potluck dishes and tons of kids, the same 4 three year old boys we went trick or treating with. And Santa even came after his surfer fire fighter day job was over.

Next up more festival/tree lightings and the boat parade.  And the ice castle on the Queen Mary (Carolyn, you should come to that) Ho Ho Ho!

Poor Jack

Consider this his baby book, because that sure isn't getting done.

And I don't know if it's pre-teeting, normal sensory baby desire, or actual interest in food, but he puts everything in his mouth, (duh, like every baby) but he is really grabby at my food. So I give him food and he gums it, but how do i get him to swallow some?

I have nothing to say, but I really wanted to title this, my kids are cuter than your kids. Which of course I don't really mean, but come on, a little bit.  And yes, I totally did dress them alike on purpose.

Me: Why were you in time out?  (A: for not listening, for hitting e.g.)
Bobby: Because you put me here
Me: ...

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, a photo by sld78 on Flickr.

We had a nice day; we went down to the harbor for the Turkey Trot, it was a ridiculously gorgeous day. Then we rested before dinner. Rick worked all day until we went to Judys for a big meal. Random bunch of folks, but very nice and glad I didn't have to cook. I missed the rest of the family though. Rick worked Friday, Saturday and then flew to Jacksonville this morning.  Bobby and I pulled the Christmas boxes down and are pretty excited for the next month!

YAY. Done and it's still November

Well it wasn't easy finding time to sit at the computer and actually get it done, but I did it.  I stayed up way too late to get work done before the coupon codes expired, but I got a lot of photo projects done and it barely cost anything.  Next I am working on more calendars and another project. So, come on groupons!  Sorry to spoil the surprise of it arriving in the mail. And Shutterfly partners with Tiny Prints, so even more reason to like them both. Plus the way more affordable cards are on Shutterfly and just as cute. Enjoy.

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Full disclosure: I really did order a bunch of projects on my own initiative, but I am sharing this now to get a $10 discount on the next round of projects I am doing.  (I'm such a real blogger now eh)

November

Moving right along here. Holidays are so much better with kids. Halloween to New Years is just full of events, baking, crafts and fun stuff to do. Bobby is great usually. Typically, he is a three year old. Generally good, but doesn't always listen, definitely knows how to push buttons, but is really smart and learning so much and never shuts up.  Jack is great, happy, easy going, doesn't know how to fall asleep on his own, loves watching his brother.  He does like to be held a lot, but he's at the age where being held is not enough.  He is going after everything with his hands. And then into his mouth. He can definitely do a lean forward sitting thing.

I feel like my whole life will be trying to get them both to smile at me at the same time. Whenever Bobby gets near this chair, he wants to sit down and makes me take a picture of them.

Not exactly Christmas Card material

What's happening?!

Somebody look at me

If only I could focus

I kiss him

And he kisses me

New (to us) comfy cute jammies (thanks Grammy)

Our Petco is a good one with dogs!

Helping cook breakfast

Enjoying a nature walk

Hiker guy in a pith helmet

Watching an intense game of Go Fish

Four Months

Bobby directed this photo be taken

Jack is four months old, time is flying by. He is the best baby. I don't remember Bobby being this happy and he was a good baby. He was cracking up as the doctor was examining him, she wasn't even touching him so it wasn't tickling, but he was smiling so big - and I had just woken him up since he fell asleep in the car on the way there.

He was 15 and a half pounds at his check up, everything right along the 50th percentile, head a little bigger. He got 3 vaccinations without batting an eye and then he took a nap while we went on a run. 

He has been sleeping in his crib, albeit poorly.  I am determined to make a good sleeper out of him earlier rather than later.  This includes not falling asleep in my arms and not eating every time he wakes overnight. (I actually think he might be hungry since I have watery milk and he doesn't eat for very long at a time) Also, it's time for structured naps, but I don't know how feasible that is with Bobby, but we're going to try.

October 12th

Childrens Museum

We explored Pretend City - the childrens museum in Irvine this week. It is basically like every other childrens museum, but that doesn't make it any less fun.  It is done really nicely and since we went in the afternoon, it wasn't very crowded.  AND, I had a groupon like deal so instead of $11 tickets, I got them for $5. YAY.

Good thing I was hungry

We are still hoping to go to Caliornia Adventure at Disneyland, so our guest room is open.  Also on tap this winter perhaps - Legoland and the SD Zoo Safari Park! Gotta get the first round of exploring out of the way while Jack is still free.