One of the dads on our street apparently broke his elbow on our street basketball hoop, so Rick and I were talking about it.

Bobby: So he broke his arm
Us: Yep
B: And now he takes it off
B: And he has to get a robot arm

Hearing the music playing, "Aw, The ice cream truck ran out of ice cream" oops. The lie has been perpetuated.

Put the WHOLE thing together himself. 200 pieces. We pulled the pieces he needed together, mostly dor the sake of time, but he totally clicked them all together. All I said was, look at the picture, and push the piece down harder.
SUCH a big boy.

And with Jack, it's just dealing with a lot of climbing. Napping a lot - too much? 

Good Day

The great summer fun continues and after today, the boys crashed hard. We had friends over this morning after not seeing them for two whole weeks (which when going from 4-5 times a week, that's a long time) then a little rest, a little Costco and a lot of pool time. Bobby is absolutely killing it in the pool. He jumps fearlessly and today dove for a toy 3.5-4 feet down. He hasn't figured out the technicalities of his arms and such, but he can swim far and knows how much air he has and stuff like that.  He's a smartie pants too, so observant and really cool to talk to one on one. We are still working on lots of things (greetings as a manner, being selfless, patience) but he's a good kid and growing up fast. I don't know how it came up but we were talking about more and less, and I couldn't really grasp if he got it. Maybe he was just being silly, but wouldn't say 3 is more than 2. he would just say 2 is less than 3, and, 3 is not less than 2, but never "more". Anyway, brought out some M&Ms and he got it real fast.

Weeeeeee

Jack will make a beeline for the tiniest crack in an open door. Just like Bobby was, he wants to go outside first thing in the morning. He loves to throw balls to himself and swing a bat or club. He was almost to tired to eat tonight at 6:15 (late for dinner, but way early for bed). You would think this would translate to a good nights sleep, but he usually only stays asleep until 11 or 12, then after that never more than 1-2 hours at a time. It's getting a little old.  But despite all that, he continues to be the happiest and smiliest.

One last bit of fresh air before bed

Okay, so not thrilling stuff, but such is our life!

The baby is gone.

Now I have a toddler. With a personality. Nay, with an attitude. All of a sudden, he knows what he wants. And he wants it now. And he has learned that thing they do where he arches his back and throws his body weight back in protest. Almost got dropped a few times. He has learned a good squeal/squawk and is not afraid to let you know that he is MAD about something. Putting a diaper on him is like World War 3. But he is still a ham and a cutie. His new thing is (trying to) crawl under cars. And the little bugger is fast. His favorite thing to eat is crayons. He loves to climb. And can get up on all our chairs, which all seem to lead to another level. I better get him a helmet. And a coat of armor. He is also turning into a real person. He tries to put puzzles together. And shape sorters, and that kind of stuff. He doesn't get it right, but he knows what he's supposed to be doing. Sigh, better freeze time. Also, no one mentions how disarming it is to see #2 in #1s clothes. I'll pull something out and can completely see Bobby in it still - that's Bobbys shirt. Aaah. 12 month appt/shots tomorrow.

Bobby is having a great summer. He is so good at swimming and has gotten really brave, jumping in and falling backward, and cannonballing. He is doing his part at toughening Jack up indeed. He wrote his whole alphabet the other day and only had to ask what the Q looked like. He is really into the chapter books and we are flying through them. He is still a huge talked and very inquisitive. He says I am'nt. - so I'm not, just putting the contraction in the wrong place, and it's too cute to correct.

Devri came to town from Texas for work visit so we got to swing by and see her near 11 month old. He was a cute little chunk. Devri has the most beautiful auburn hair, and you wouldn't think it would get passed on, but little Keaton was another redhead (although a little subtler in real life) and they all played pretty well for being in a hotel room.

Blogging Extravaganza!

Three posts in one day, WTF. Flood after the draught. Plus I realized I could blog from my phone. 8:41pm, Rick isn't home so I'm online looking for books on Amazon (instead of cooking dinner) because we are 13 pages away from the end of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory that we got yesterday. We only read 2-3 chapters of 3-8 pages each, but either it's the wording or the story, but I guess it takes a lot longer than picture books (duh). Bedtime including peeing and brushing teeth etc. took 40 minutes tonight. Not that much longer, but it might be totally on me too, you know the book worm I was. And he was begging me at naptime today, Just Read it. And you might be able to hear that near whine if you know Bobby, I just want to watch it - is how it usually comes out. So Roald Dahl and EB White box sets, I hope you have free shipping, my baby is gonna be a reader.

Gimme that strangulation hazard!

This one is going to give me grey hairs. I cannot leave him alone for a second. If I do, he is either outside, in the trash, heading for the bathroom, or trying to climb on something. Eating a lego at this point is the least of my worries. He got up on the coffee playtable way too easily and then proceeded to stand up on it. My pinkie toe is rather balck and blue from stubbing it on my mad dash to save him after he went up the recliner. He does have some sense of the edges of things and sort of tries to put his feet first. 

Bobby, despite this sweet moment, is driving me nuts. I have pulled a few toddler toys back in from the garage and Bobby will not hardy let jack have them. And even when jack is playing super nicely alone, bobby has to intervene. Even when it's just moving things between baskets or boring baby toys.  

B: "Am I five this day?"
Sorry bud, we don't take turns with birthdays. We've got a draught here for a while.

Of course that was at 6:30am and on the one morning Jack slept in, because he had just been up at 5:30. Sigh. I was all set to take him to the doctor, but he is acting so much better, so we'll see...

Jack Turns One

Big Guy

I dont' know what it was, and it wasn't second child syndrome, but I had no desire to celebrate Jacks birthday. I just thought it was not really necessary and was cool to treat it like any other day (sorry little man) And I was the same way with Bobby, had it not been for his baptism, I think it would have been a super quiet day. But, for Jack, people kept asking what I was doing.... uh.... so we had the inner circle over and it turned out to be quite the perfect little party.  I ended up making it more than I had to, but it was hardly a party (no theme, invite, decorations, favors) just sandwiches and cake really. 

The only drawback was that Jack is pretty sick. He is just not himself at all. And it comes in waves, but he is so hard to console and nothing I try makes him happy.  Started a cough and cold, but I bet he has an infection now and may be getting his molars too.  He is sleeping normally, but really not eating so he has a lot of liquid poops and a real rashy butt -his first rash honestly. So he was a trooper and wanted to play, but was a little uncomfortable at times.

Glassy eyed sick guy

I served chicken salad on pretzel buns and caprese salad. Watermelon from the Fourth. And thats it. Some drinks. Ham and cheese for the kids. Strawberry and whip cream white cake. Simple simple. I used our leftover Batman party plates and napkins. It was more just a playdate with my favorite people.   More Pictures.

What do I do with this?

We did the 'cake smash' with a tiny cupcake with a strawberry on top. I'm sure he didn't eat any of it, but it's fine. Just enough of a mess was made. I don't usually get my kids anything much for birthdays or Christmas, but I did find a slide that I wanted used so now I can worry about Jack climbing up on that instead of just the table and chairs. He got a few books, a new toy of his own or two, good stuff.

Blowing it out before Jack grabbed the flame

Done by 1/1:30 or so for naps. Then Bobby headed down to the street to Jakes (his cousin was born at the exact same time/place as Jack), but he was napping so he stayed and played with Violet, which was nice and unusual, but I think nice for her especially

Hanging out the day before (you can tell b/c Batman and Superman are all B wears)

Jack was pretty cranky so he actually got a third nap in, then all the kids ended up here and played as usual. mostly outside, a lot of superhero stuff. It got pretty late, so we scrounged them up some dinner (because I needed more clean up!) But it was great. Rick was ready for the day to be over, but I love it.

Meatballs and Broccoli. Hungry Kids.

It was a busy day and I should go to bed now, but I have some Amish Friendship Bread in the oven (more dishes!) because that had to be done today.

Jack is Walking

He's been putzing around for a few weeks now, but all of a sudden, it's not even special anymore, he just up and does it. Across the room, down the hall, see ya dude.

He is a wild child. And knows it. In the bathtub, he stands up, arms above his head and then drops down is a big slamming splash. Or he tries to walk the length of the tub. Or he drinks the water. And he knows all those things are wrong.

His language comprehension is growing. Not talking, but definitely knowing what words mean.

Bobby is good. Typical jealousy/attention issues. Riding his pedal bike like a boss.

He's been trying. You could see the cogs turning trying to figure out if there was something more. And sure enough, Jack took a few steps today. Or actually he took a step or two a few times. And one time he was in the bathtub.  From the second he learned how to use his hands to crawl, he knew he could use his hands to pull up and he rarely was content playing with a toy while sitting. Recently, he's been standing unassisted more and more, and if you watched him you'd see when he want to go somewhere, it used to be drop and crawl, but lately he got more hesitant to drop down quite as fast. So he today, at 10.5 months, he went right, left, then crawl.

And this one,

10 Months

I am trying to keep a monthly photo of Jack to chronicle the differences, but I'm done. I don't know how people do it, some even weekly.

The latest installation had me get this picture. Don't ask me how. Also don't ask me why I put a pale red head on a couch this color with that wall color and never bother to use the natural light in the mornings.

Standing, or jumping?

Here is his face being forced to sit still.

 Bobby has mastered his scooter, except for the stopping part needs some work. I better invest in some more shoes though.

10 Months

Likes

• trashcans
• toilets/toilet seats
• unrolling toilet paper and pulling tissues out of their boxes
• charging for open doors to the outside
• electrical outlets and nightlights
• the computer printer
• the door stopper springs with removable plastic tips and sharp screw nails
• standing up
• bathing and all water
• meat
• food
• whatever toy his brother has

Dislikes

• eating with a spoon
• sleeping through the night

Bobby is good. He is a great brother, if not a little aggressive. He wants to help Jack stand, gets mad when Jack tries to knock his buildings down or take his toys, but he also has never been so excited to play with baby toys and get in Jacks way too. Bobby threw a mango for Jack to catch. Last night he said, "God bless Batman"

I'm ready for August

Grandsons, a photo by sld78 on Flickr.

9 Months

Let's talk (again) about how awesome Jack is. Because he is, so you should come visit him. Easy check up and 2 shots today at his well visit. About 21 pounds, so a bit bigger than Bobby was, but very normal and on his growth curve. He is an active and strong baby. So freakin happy. Only wants to pull up, can get around fast.  Loves the trash can, the toilet, the tv wires and Bobbys nightlight and outlets. Eats everything he is offered, and if you're not fast enough, what you're eating too.

Just a boy and his pizza

He is sleeping well in his crib, goes down easily, is fond of his blanket. He wakes a couple times a night still, but goes right back down after being fed. He LOVES the bath, and will charge for it. He wants to explore the outside so badly. I can't think of anything he doesn't like.

This is my normal

Sometimes it's hard to strap him in the carseat. He doesn't know how to drink out of a bottle. Rick watched both boys from 6am-2pm and Jack did well without me. (So did Rick) He has a top tooth in, but just one. And it looks huge, so the other one better hurry up.

What I have to do with him while I pee.
Look at those mischievous eyes.

 He loves his brother and his brother loves him.
So right before this, I dropped my phone in the bathtub (it was bound to happen) and I thought it was fine, but apparently the microphone has suffered a bit. So it's worth turning up your sound.

Friends!

Easter

We love our friends here. Both the kids, and even better for me, their moms. This is the bunch of usual suspects. They're the best, are like us, approach parenting the same way and we all have a good time.

The lovely little Eleanor

Troy and Liam are just 1 month older than Bobby and every time we get on the freeway, Bobby wants to get off at their exit. And although, he never shows it, he likes them immensely and has a great time. Words can't express, so I won't try.

Our buddies, Troy and Liam

Goofy goobers at breakfast

A sweet moment

Bobby seems to like school once he's there, but he doesn't seem to like getting there.  He does have fun and plays a lot, but I can't say much else.  In 8 months, he's brought home 2 pieces of art. I know that's not his thing, but nothing at Christmas time, come on. He likes his little buddies, and there seems to be some boys boys that he plays with mostly, no surprise there. (I don't know who this kid looking at me is) I'm sure the moms are all friendly, but we just haven't clicked in the few minutes we see each other at drop off.

Hat day at school

There are several Stroller Warrior babies right at Jacks age, and a ton in the 1-2 year old range. Jack is the active baby of the group so far.

Such the ham

Bristols face just kills me

This was right after Jack whacked her on the head

We ended up living on an awesome street. There are 2 other 3 year olds, two 2 year olds, a 1 year old, then another five kids between 6-10. It's nice to be able to walk out front and find someone to play with right before dinner when I'm the most tired or we all need a change of scenery.  Jake is 2 months older than Bobby and they are trouble together. They will run back and forth between houses and we are all able to give each other breaks when needed if someone needs to cook dinner or Jack is sleeping etc. They played on Saturday for at least 5 hours non stop. And then both woke up asking about the other.  We want to buy a house for sure, but are in less of a rush because we'd have to leave our street!

Violet waiting on them in helmet and tutu

Leading the bike posse

Strider buddies

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.