Playing Catch-Up

I don't even think there is a way to play catch-up on the blog at this point.  I will tell you one thing, life with 2 busy little boys is never stopping, or even slowing down at any point during the day.  I am exhausted when 7:30 pm rolls around and they lay their little heads down.  I am blessed to have great sleepers and nappers, so I do have close to 2 hours every afternoon to try to get the house in order and supper going, but other than that, my day is spend chasing, hugging, disciplining, kissing, teaching and playing with 2 WILD little boys.... and I wouldn't have it any other way.  These past few months have been so much fun as Jack has started to talk NON-STOP!  The things he tells us are hilarious!  Witt decided he would start walking when he was 10 1/2 months old, and it took only 5 days of "first steps" for him to become a full-time walker!  Witt is a very verbal baby, mostly growling and grunting to communicate, but he will say "bye-bye", "hey", and "ball" spontaneously and appropriately (the SLP coming out in me) :).    With Jack suddenly talking ALL.THE.TIME and Witt babbling constantly, it is NEVER quiet at our house.  We have had a great summer with lots of play dates, time with grandparents, a trip to the beach, and tons of outside playtime.  We have celebrated Jack becoming "almost" completely potty trained, and had an early birthday party with our family for Witt.  Here are a few pictures to show you what our summer has looked like (in random order)... I'll be back tomorrow with Sweet Baby Witt's birthday post... I really cannot believe that my little baby with be ONE tomorrow!

A Little Bit About Jack

I thought maybe it was time to give a little update on my firstborn.  Jack is 26 months old and ALL BOY!  The loves of his life are tractors, trucks, trains, and Mama.  I am so happy that I am still in the top 5 :)  Allen and I are having THE BEST TIME watching him grow and learn every single day.  As soon as the boys go down for the night, Allen and I sit in the den and laugh about the things Jack did/said that day.  We never dreamed that raising children would be so hilarious :)

Jack is/was a late talker.  He definitely focused on his motor skills during those early months, but I am amazed at how quickly he is catching up to his peers in the language area.  I feel like he is my little lab rat and I am watching all the things I learned about language development in grad school happen right before my eyes.  His receptive language is fantastic, but his expressive language had a slow start (which taught me a great deal about patience!).  He is still a quiet child, a studier of things, BUT he is becoming more and more verbal and FINALLY talking in short sentences.  This morning at the park he walked up to me with a fist full of weeds and said "I pit ewe fowers, Mama!" (translation: "I pick you flowers, Mama").  Sweet boy :)

We are sort of potty training at our house.  Jack is really interested and is doing GREAT, I'm just now very good with being consistent.  I would say he is about 80% potty trained when we are at home, but when we are away from home, forget it!  I am just now figuring out how to take a 2 year old and a 9 month old out of the house by myself, I'm not even going to try to add in trips to public restrooms!

The terrible two's hit hard at our house in March, but Jack is starting to figure out the whole "obedience thing" and Mama and Daddy are learning the whole "discipline thing".  We say the word obey A LOT at our house right now, but I wasn't sure that Jack really understood.... until 3 days ago.  I said "No No, Witt" and pulled him away from the electrical cords that he is determined to play with these days and a minute later he was going right for them again. Jack got right in Witt's face, pointed his finger at him and said "No, Witt. Obey!"  

A few other favorites of Jack's right now are:  playing with Witt (sometimes), building with his blocks then knocking them down,  a drink of whatever Mama is drinking, ice cream, "nunning" (aka running), and his hat.

Witt is 9 Months (and 30 days) Old!

Since I am 1 day shy of being an ENTIRE month late on Witt's 9 month post, I'll just share his stats and a cute little pic of my chunky chubby hefty stout little man :)

WITT'S 9 MONTH STATS:

Weight: 22 whopping pounds!

Height: almost 28 inches

  

In case you didn't already know, I have a big baby on my hands.  His big brother (at 2 years and 2 months) only weighs 26 pounds :)

On another note, I've had several ask if Witt smiles all day long.  I am happy to report that YES, he does :)

Life Right Now in Pictures

Here a little view of what we have been up to around here.

Happy Friday

Do you have a little helper to blow on (spit in) your hot coffee everyone morning? I'll be glad to send him to your house if you need a little assistance in cooling your cup of joe.

Witt is 8 Months Old!

Witt Cravens, you turned 8 months old on April 15th!  Your mama is only 10 days late getting this post out, but I did take your picture on your birthday, so all is good :)   You are growing and learning to much right now!  Here are a few facts about your life as an 8 months old:

• As you can probably tell in the picture above, you are the HAPPIEST little baby!!!  Anything and everything is so very hilarious to you!  Your laugh is contagious so all 4 of us do a lot of laughing around here :)
• You are a big boy weighing in right around 21 pounds.  That's a lot of weight packed into your small frame :)  I have noticed that with all the moving you have been learning to do, you are starting to slim down in the face, neck, arms, and tummy, BUT your legs are as big as ever and your mama LOVES those chubby little thighs!!!  You wear a size 3 or 4 diaper (whatever is in the diaper cabinet that day), and mostly size 12 month clothes.  I have no idea what your shoe size is because you have never worn shoes.  This is the only time in your life you can go to church barefoot, so we are letting you embrace it :)
• You are a GREAT eater (is anyone surprised?)!  You drink 4 bottles a day, plus eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and you have your sippy cup of water with a splash of juice throughout the day.  Just this month you started eating some finger foods and you are doing great feeding yourself mashed up carrots, beans, and bananas.  Your favorite food is yogurt!
• You have had very sensitive skin from the day you were born and we have to be careful with the types of soap, shampoo, and lotion we use on you.  This month  after a terrible rash all over your body, we discovered that you are allergic to strawberries.  Hopefully you will grow out of this allergy, but we are steering clear until you are 2 years old or older.  I am also being extra careful with other high allergy foods and watching you very closely for possible allergic reactions when you eat a new food.
• You have been army crawling very slowly for almost a month, but the week you turned 8 months you figured out how to crawl on all 4's and you were off!  You are just now picking up speed, but in the past week I have caught you in the dark bathroom, under Jack's train table, behind the curtains in the dining room, and trying to open the cabinets in the kitchen.  You LOVE to explore!!!  Also with the crawling came pulling up!  You mostly just pull up to your knees, but will sometimes find the strength the pull that big body of yours up to your feet.  You have also learned how to get from the sitting position to all 4's and back to sitting.  In other words, you are just a moving machine :)

 

 

• I still think you are going to be my verbal child.  You love to coo, blow raspberries, squeal, and your newest - the fake cough :)  You love music and will sing along and wave your arms.  You just started patty caking all by yourself and you are SO proud of yourself.  
• You are a good sleeper and you sleep from 7:30pm-6:30am, take about a 1 hour nap sometime in the morning, and a long afternoon nap from 1 until about 3:30.
• You LOVE LOVE LOVE your brother.  You are always crawling after him and wanting to play with him (which aggravates him at times), you think he is the funniest person ever!  You two share a room now and sometimes when I put you both down for a nap I will hear you giggling a few minutes into nap time.  When I go in to investigate, most of the time you are sitting in your bed, peeking over the bumper pads watching Jack play peekaboo from under the covers in his bed :)  You two are going to be such great friends!

•  You are very attached to your mama and still will throw some little fits when I leave the room.  It is slowly getting better as you are learning that you can now follow me wherever I go :)
• Your favorite part of the day (other than eating) is bath time and wrestle time with daddy before bed.  It's your brothers favorite part of the day too!  After you and Jack splash around in the bathtub until you are all wrinkled, we head to your bedroom or the playroom for some roughhousing with Daddy before bed.  I need to video this time of our night because it is pretty hilarious watching the 3 of you roll around, climb on top of each other, all while growling.  The best part of it is I'm not included but always invited to sit and watch (which I do) :)

Witt, you are growing up WAY to fast, but I still like to think you are my little baby.  We are proud of all that you are learning and we are having so much fun with you!  We love you SO very much and even though your brother is constantly yelling "NO NO Baby!" when you try to play with him, here is proof that he does love you :)

A Little Gentleman

The first picture is a bit deceiving. You see what looks to be a child eating his supper of green beans (no fork present) dipped in ketchup, no shirt, and food all over his mouth. Before you judge, look at the 2nd picture. Jack's newest "thing". He must have his napkin in his lap while he eats. Funny little guy! What good manners :-)

Jack is TWO Years Old!

Where in the world has the time gone?!?!?!  Jack Cravens, you turned TWO years old a couple of weeks ago... on March 31st to be exact.  You are sweet and funny and rowdy and handsome.  Here are some things going on in your life as a new 2 year old...

• You weigh 26 pounds, wear a size 4 diaper, and mostly size 24 months in clothes.  You are still a small little thing, but I have no doubt that you will catch up with your friends.  You have always been in the 15-25th percentile in weight and height, but as a 2 year old you are in the 35th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight!
• You are a good eater most of the time.  Any and all kinds of fruit are probably your favorite foods.  Next on the list would be an "Onge Snownown" aka Orange Snowcone... You ask for one of these at least 5 times a day.  You also love "toddler junk" as I like to call it... Fruit snacks, hotdogs, cookies, m&ms, jellybeans.  I have learned to call all meat a hotdog to get you to eat it :)
• Your favorite color was blue until about a month ago and now everything is either green or orange.  You can identify all the primary colors, but get a little mixed up when labeling them :)  We have been working hard on learning your ABC's.  You can imitate all the letters, but when I ask you to say them, most of the time it's "ABCIJ...done".  Ha! 
• You LOVE helping!  You help unload the dishwasher, put wet clothes in the dryer, put the pillows on the bed, put Witt's empty bottle in the sink, and throw away any and all paper you find around the house.  You will make a great husband someday :)
• You are a typical boy and your favorite play things are your sandbox, riding toys, tractors, anything outside, balls, and wrestling with your daddy.
• You are still a bit attached to your mama and you get a little upset when I leave you at school and the church nursery.  You are always fine after a couple of minutes and you love playing with your friends!
• The week after you turned 2, the terrible two's hit our house.  Your daddy and I are learning on how to deal with these tantrums that happen for no apparent reason, so please be patient with us as we learn to be patient with you!
• It has taken you a while to fully acknowledge your little brother's existence, but you are figuring out that he watches you all day and thinks you're hilarious... and you love attention so its a win win situation :)  You are beginning to try and play with him and I LOVE seeing that!  And the fighting has already begun.  You snatch toys away from him, he cries.  He crawls over to you, grabs, then pulls your hair, you cry.  Lord, help me through the years!  :)
• I was not planning on potty training you this early, but you are very interested in all things bathroom related, so we are "practicing" while at home and I am so impressed at how quickly you have caught on.  You still have no idea that a potty exists outside of our house.  I'm not quite ready for the walmart and chickfila bathroom trips with you!
• You are still an all-star sleeper, but an early riser no matter how late I try to keep you up!  You go to bed at 7:30, wake at 6:30 and take a 2 hour (sometimes longer) nap every afternoon.  You still sleep with your "Bunny" lovey and it is the sweetest little sight to see you sound asleep with bunny up by your face.  You are doing great sleeping in your big boy bed!
• You are a BUSY boy!  You have more energy than I could every dream of having!  You love to run, jump, ride your bike, and throw balls (and other objects that you aren't suppose to throw).  Lately though, you have really gotten into little trains, trucks, and tractors.  You quietly play with them (with little vroom and choo choo noises coming out of your mouth) for 30 minutes at a time and your Mama LOVES this quiet, calm playtime that takes place every morning while baby brother naps.
• You are hilarious, adorable, mischievous, obedient (most of the time), lovable, kind, impatient, and smart. 

Jack, you have no idea how much you changed our lives 2 years ago when you arrived.  Your daddy and I love you more and more each and everyday and we are so proud of you!

I Could Just Squeeze Him...

I could just squeeze him... And I do!!!!!

This little guy is becoming such a ham!  His sweet and hilarious little personality is shining through and I love it!

 And in 16 months I had completely forgotten what it was like to keep a crawling 8 month old out of stuff!  He just figured out how to crawl last week and the boy is already into EVERYTHING!!!!!  But, he sure is a cute little crawler, isn't he? :)

iPhone Picture Dump

Here is a glimpse of life around here right now. Enjoy :-)