Michael: 2 Months from Two

On Saturday, Michael became 2 months away from his 2nd birthday. Excuse me, but where did the time go? Wasn't it just last week that I was having a baby shower and day dreaming of what life would be like with a baby?!? And now, I am the mother of a near-two-year-old and an almost-6-month-old and boy, has it been one crazy (but fun) ride!

Michael, you are a dream! I love every single minute with you. When I'm at work, I ache to be at home with you and your brother and your daddy and puppy. I love you all. You are at such a fun age! You say new things and do new things every day and I'm in love with all of it. I totally wish my brain could remember all of your cute antics. I think often of how I'll feel when I look at you and you're 20 and I'll think back on these days when you're still so little and learning.

You crack me up everyday. You are definitely opinionated and you can be ornery at times. But you know what? I'm totally fine with it. You're precious regardless and you are learning and processing and going through things so I don't mind the tantrums and mood swings. (And I hope you don't mind mine--ha).

There will be times that you are spinning in circles in the kitchen & I'll spin too only to be greeted with a loud "ehhh!" and you run and hide because you didn't want me to dance with you. Or to have you say "mama?" and I respond with eye contact and "yes?" and you in turn go "ehhh!" and look away. I smile anyways because I know it's a mood and I'll never let a mood ever stop me from answering you when you call my name.

And, by the way, I LOVE to hear you call my name. When I get to be the one to go into your room on the weekends when you wake, or every week day when I come home from work, my heart is extra full when I hear you say "Hi, Mama!" I love it. I absolutely love it. And I seriously don't mind when you say it 20 times in the span of an hour or when you wave and say it after I've gotten on to you for something you shouldn't have done. It's priceless to me to hear you say my name and I consider "Hi, Mama" a sentence which is a milestone in itself.

You are also fond of saying "Mama, or Dada" or "Dada, or Mama." I love the "or" part! So sweet!

You are also grasping the true meaning of "yeah!" and "no." Last week I asked you if you slept good and you said "no" so it wasn't clear if you meant to actually say "yes". You actually didn't start saying "yeah!" until this week. You would say "mmm-hmmm" if you were agreeing with something but you said "no" to mean yes and no. This week, however, you started saying "yeah!" and yes I do really put an exclamation mark when I write it because that's how you say it-- with enthusiasm every time. Today you were standing by the kitchen entrance and I asked "do you want some lunch?" You said "yeah!" And I asked "are you hungry?" And you replied "yeah!" So when I walked over to open the baby gate for you, you laughed and laughed as if to say "she gets it! She knows what I meant!" It was really the cutest thing.

I think if I were to write down all the sweet and cute things you have done or said, this post would be pages upon pages long. I absolutely love you and will write this all down for you in a special place so neither one of us forgets and so we can reminisce together when you're 20 and we both have a hard time remembering these days when you were little and learning.


Here are some photos from the past month:

This is how I was greeted one Sunday morning:

Blowing bubbles in Mommy's cup:

Found some baseballs:

Keeping some baseballs:

Ashley comes to visit!

Brotherly Love:

Mommy and Michael:

Screen shot of "cool glasses dude!"

Such great brothers:

I love you so, Michael dear. You and your brother are my joy. I praise God that He chose me to be your mommy. I pray that you seek Him earnestly and always.

I just can't say it enough-- I love you. Forever, dear one, forever. Love, Mama

Noah: 5 Months

 

Dear Little Noah,

Good grief, it seems like yesterday I was writing your letter for turning 4 months old. And now here we are-- we blinked and you're 5 months old! No matter what we do, I guess we just can't stop time though, can we?

Tomorrow, you and I will head to Birmingham to visit a pediatric ophthalmologist. Your left eye doesn't quite move as much as your right eye and your pediatrician suggested that we get you checked out by an ophthalmologist. Your Grandma Dana will be accompanying us since she knows the Birmingham area far better than I do.

You are such a sweet and smiley baby! You are just now learning to make a "hmm" sound and you'll make it over and over again. You especially like it if someone else makes the sound too. :)

We just started really doing a consistent bedtime routine with you this past week. We let you sit with your grandpa R while we do out work out. Then we give you a bath, dress you in an Overnight diaper and clean PJs, put you in your sleep sack and mittens, feed you, read a story, and sing some songs. The first night, we had to make a couple trips into your room to remind you that we were still around. The next two nights were a breeze! So we totally know that you can do it because-- hey!-- you've done it!

We've put the baby food on pause for now. You don't really need the added calories until you are 6 months old, so we paused that area of your life right now to relieve some pressure on you and me! When we tried some baby food at the beginning of last month, you kind of got the hang of it but you would scream in between each bite. It was nearly impossible for me to be able to put a bite of my own food in my mouth in between each bite I was feeding to you. You were so frantic while you were eating that I just decided to put it on hold for a while until you are closer to six months old. Now at dinner times after I have nursed you, you will happily sit/stand in your exersaucer in the dining room while we eat. I'm usually able to finish almost all of my food before you make a fuss to be picked up. Then I just set you in my lap while I finish eating. I definitely think you will be ready for baby food again at 6 months old.

Another reason why I put the baby food feeding on hold was for a potential allergy you had. You have had cradle cap from about one month old til now. At your 4 month check up I asked the dr if there was any other treatment we could do because we had been diligent about scrubbing your head with a soft scrubby brush at bath time, as well as putting baby oil or lotion on your head. I also told the doctor that you would dig into your head and scratch it up so terribly even when we would cut your nails short. I told how you would spit up some or most of your milk within 30 minutes of eating. And I told her how you were so unpredictably fussy to the point that I actually didn't really like driving anywhere with you because you would get so worked up. She said you probably had a milk protein allergy! She told us to change the brand of formula that we had been using-- she suggested a brand that had easier to digest proteins. It's also cheaper (score!) She also told me to limit my intake of milk proteins to one small glass of milk daily and one piece of cheese-- no other milk proteins. Yep, that's right mister, no yogurt and no ice cream. But I totally love you, so it's no big deal. She gave us a prescription for an eczema gel to put on your head. And son, within 24 hrs of making these changes, your head was SO much better! The cradle cap is nearly gone today.

You are very interested in everything that your brother does. You just can't wait until you're big enough to play with him! The other day, he threw two Hot Wheels cars into a bucket of you dinosaurs and you laughed and gave him a HUGE smile! I tried to recreate the same reaction by throwing the cars again, but no such luck. Your daddy tried also to generate a reaction by doing the same thing-- but no reaction from you was given. It was funny only when Michael did it. I found this so interesting! I know you two will be best buds.

You simply love to be outside! Your Grandma Chips takes you and your brother outside once every morning and again in the later afternoon if its not too hot. You will happily sit in your stroller and watch your brother play at the sand table or with his toy golf set in the grass. Sometimes, you will lay on a blanket under the tree and wiggle your toes in the breeze! If you are fussy, we will hold you and walk out onto the screened porch. You instantly settle down nearly every time. I can tell that you will love going to the beach cottage and sleeping on the screened in front porch. :)

You are such a joy, little one! We love you so much and you're developing the sweetest personality. You are a people person and you still love to find that next face to focus on. You're quick to share your smiles. I'm sure you will be a social butterfly but I also have a mummy's intuition that you will love to read books-- there's just something about you that tells me so.

Here are some of your precious smiley faces:



 

 

 

 

 

Know that we love you deeply and are excited everyday to be your parents. We CAN wait to see you grow up-- we love enjoying you in the moments we have now! Never stop being sweet. I love you! Love, Mommy

Michael: A Summer Away from Two

*I wrote this blog post on Wednesday May 28, 2014


Dearest Michael,

Today you are only 3 months away from your second birthday! Time sure does fly. You become more of a boy and less of a baby every single day.

You fill our lives with joy and laughter and you keep us on our toes while we try to determine the best way to handle your toddler habits. You are such fun to be around! You are becoming a super big brother and I know that you and Noah will be best friends.

You are so sneaky and I hear that your daddy was the same way when he was your age. You definitely know when our eyes are on you and you'll try to act innocent until you think we're no longer watching- at which point you'll go for your targeted item. We have to keep our "toddler mindset" thinking caps on as we parent you-- it's hard to stay one step ahead. Usually I am a quarter second faster than disaster. I've grabbed items just in the nick of time before you were able to carry out your plan.

Yesterday, I stood up to get the remote and I left my phone on the couch cushion. I got almost all the way to the kitchen when I turned and saw you lock eyes on the phone. Then you looked up at me and we both knew it was a race! We went running toward the phone but I got there first by a half second! A burst of laughter escaped from both of us! You are such fun and you keep me quite busy!

Eating is still a little bit of a struggle these days. We know you well enough to know when you will definitely like the meal we are having-- like spaghetti and meat balls with garlic bread. You LOVE meatballs (cut up in a bowl with spaghetti sauce). You're not too fond of noodles though. You are definitely a carb-a-holic and would eat bread for every meal if you could. We try to hide the bread from your line of sight until you've eaten a good portion of the other items on your plate. If you see the bread first, you will want nothing to do with anything else on your plate. For breakfast you consistently like French toaster sticks (by E'ggo) or oatmeal (Quaker Fruit and Cream variety). You're an "ok" milk drinker at breakfast. It's been a little difficult to get you to finish your sippy of milk these past couple of weeks. Peach cups, applesauce, goldfish crackers and Auntie Anne's bunnies crackers remain favorite snack foods and lunch staples. You also like to indulge in a banana Popsicle (chopped up and put in a bowl) for afternoon snack after you've played outside. You also enjoy sharing dad's Mott's freezer fruit bar.

Unfortunately, I've shared my recent cough/cold with you and your brother. It's pitiful to hear you cry as you try to go to sleep; it's not easy to suck your thumb, breath through your nose, and have a runny or stuffed up nose all at the same time. Bedtime has been a struggle because of this but we've been giving you medicine to help clear up your congestion and it seems to be working.

You are so wonderful and I love you to pieces. Your new favorite word is "shoes!" and you walk around pointing at all shoes and saying "shoes!" in a high pitched voice. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever. Your new favorite phrase is "hi ball!" which you say to all balls, pictures of balls, or whenever we say ball. You also love to say "hi!" to random inanimate objects like your applesauce, peach cup, table, Noah's baby monitor (which you also kiss).


Here you are sitting on Grandma's counter while she makes a cake.  You were quite interested in the lemon:

 



Here you are in the kiddie pool.  You really enjoyed wearing your swimsuit and rash-guard. 

 

 

Here's a selfie:

 

 

Here is Daddy reading a story to you and Noah before bed:

 

 



Michael, you are truly a joy and we are so blessed to be your parents. We love every second with you. You're a wonderful little boy and we are so excited to see how you continue to develop and grow. We love your personality and couldn't ask for a better firstborn son. We love you, dear one. We truly do. Love, Mommy