Nate update!

Nate is two and a half now and continues to do more and more every day.  His verbal skills have really taken off and he is mastering his two word sentences and is constantly mimicking what we say. 

He also loves singing!  I think the longest string of words he says is "Old McDonald had a farm."  He is ALWAYS asking to sing it.  Other favorites are Itsy, Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me and Wheels on the Bus.  He has also started requesting "The Baby Song" (Rock a Bye Baby) and will climb in your lap and want you to rock him and sing.  We have no idea where this came from as it isn't something we ever did, but it's too adorable not to give in.  He will also go on to request "The Daddy Song" or "The Mommy Song" and want you to fill in other names.  This has gone on through several family members, even Sammy.

Nate is getting better about eating different foods and we are also working harder on eating meals as a family and not just giving in to his food requests (otherwise he would live off of granola bars and goldfish.)

Being a rambunctious 2 year old we are definitely having some battles of wills and starting to figure out what kinds of discipline are going to work best for us.  For weeks we were having lots of sleep time issues after we took his pacifier away.  He will take off his pajamas and destroy his room at times, but we have come up with ways to combat all of these behaviors.  Let me tell you, it is no fun to find your toddler naked and sitting on top of his (tall) dresser when you got to get him up in the morning. 

Nate enjoys school and seeing his friends at church.  He is always very excited to leave the house!  He is also so sweet with Cole and I know they are going to be good friends!  Nate will say "What's wrong, Cole?" when he's crying and will sometimes help put Cole to bed, saying "Night Night, Cole.  Sweet Dreams" 

His favorite playtime activities include stacking blocks, playing with his animals and his Thomas "cuter" (computer).  That was a great consignment sale find and has letter and number games that he loves.  As for tv shows he is more into Nick Junior shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and Backyardigans but still also loves Caillou.

Cole: 9 months!

Cole is 9 months old!  He has done an awesome job of not going up too fast for Mommy (though I was literally screaming and crying this past weekend when he was trying to pull up!)

He is a healthy boy, weighing in at 19 pounds 10 ounces (50%) and standing 28 inches tall (25-50%).  He continues to be fitting into the same clothes Nate wore during the same seasons, which has been so nice!  I recently unpacked all of the 12 month clothes and he is starting to move into those.

For such a fussy infant, Cole rarely fusses now.  He is awesome at bedtime and really just wants to be put in his crib and he'll go right to sleep.  When he wakes up he doesn't cry and often just plays and talks to himself! Truthfully he cries the most when he is trying to get Sammy to "play" with him and Sammy isn't having it.  He can make quite the sad face at that!  It can be hard to coax a smile out of him at times and he has a habit of sucking on his bottom lip...it's pretty cute.

He loves eating- feeding himself his bottles and picking up his own finger foods.  Poor guy still doesn't have any teeth...though it seems like he's been teething one since forever.  He also doesn't have much hair :(  And he's so pretty he often gets mistaken for a girl.  ha!

First Day of School!

Nate had his first day of preschool for the year today!  He will go on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-1.

I tried to take a picture before school and this is what he did.  Wasn't in the mood!

 Once at school he dove right in to doing puzzles and meeting new friends.

 His school has a fun aquarium with turtles!

He loves his new backpack!

I know it will be so much fun for him to tell me about his days this year, since last year he couldn't say much.  From today he "told" me that he recognized his friend Eli, who was in his class last year and that they sang Wheels on the Bus.

Check this guy out!

**You probably want to mute this because baby talk apparently gets exponentially worse with each child**

 

I'll do a proper Cole update after his 9 month (yes, sad but true) appointment that is in 2 weeks!

Still on Summer Schedule!

Hi there.  We are still on Summer break here and probably won't be back to regular posts until after Labor Day!  Enjoy our new header with beach pictures...and I will try to keep pictures updated on our Smug Mug!

Cereal!

Feeding Nate his first cereal is one of my favorite memories...it's so funny how different it was for Cole.  I had been putting it off for a while and finally decided it was time.  He was not much of a fan....

Then with us making a big deal about cereal, Nate chimes in and says that he wants a bowl of cereal too!

Oh, these boys!

I'd been trying to shove rice cereal into Cole every night. He would be so tight lipped I'd have to make him laugh to get any in!  It was pretty frustrating. At his dr's appt I said that he wasn't a big fan and she said just to try a different kind of cereal- I didn't even think of that!  So, we have now switched to oatmeal cereal, which he loves!  I guess we will start fruits and veggies soon too.

Nate the Photographer

We were stuck at home one day last week when Nate ran a fever and I happened to find our old digital camera.  Thinking it might entertain him for a while I gave it to him....and he really enjoyed playing with it!  Started off with a good self-portrait....

then moved on to some (lots) of random shots (many with a finger over the lens)

But if you are diligent, you'll come out with a few gems...Like this one of Cole!

He even gave Mommy a little love.  I'm assuming he cut off the top of my head because I was having a bad hair day :-)

Maybe I'll do these posts periodically and see what Nate captures!

Cole is 6 months old!

Poor Cole is definitely a second child...I'm a little behind on his updates.  But no news is good news and our little guy is doing great!

Here are his 3, 4, 5 and 6 month bear pictures (I have been good about taking those!)

 At 4 months he was weighing 15 lbs 11.5 oz (50%) and was 24.75 inches (25-50%)

 

We just had his 6 month checkup yesterday and he is weighing 17 lb 5.5 oz (50%) and is 26.5 inches (25-50%) He is average sized, which is great in making up the 3 month seasonal difference in hand-me-down clothes from Nate.  I just unpacked all of the 9 month clothes I had saved, most of which Nate wore on our beach trip, and Cole will fit in them perfectly when he takes his first trip to the beach in July!

Cole is FINALLY sleeping through the night.  It clicked about a month ago.  He will still stir some, but I have started running a fan next to my bed so I don't hear him as much and he will settle down on his own.

We are working on eating cereal, which he doesn't like at all and I have to make him laugh to open his mouth and then shove it in. 

He is getting more interactive and loves when you sing to him.  His most favorite thing is anytime Nate plays him any attention!

Movie Night!

We decided to have a movie night, let Nate try popcorn (now that he finally has enough teeth) and watch Tangled!

Step 1: Jammies :-)

Step 2: Make popcorn (the real on the stove kind!)

Step 3: Taste and settle in for a good movie!

Nate did really great and watched most of the movie, aside from  going to his playroom for a little bit.  We'll definitely do more movie nights!

A small house project

We haven't done many projects in our "new" house, just painting Cole's room.  I have 2 projects brewing right now, but when I realized we could tackle this one Joel knocked it out really quickly!

We have a small area between our front entry and our living room where the door to the basement is.  We thought it would be fun to paint the wall opposite the basement door with magnetic and chalkboard paint so Nate could have a little play area!

It came out great!  Nate loves to "stick" the letters and numbers on the wall.  We haven't pulled out the chalk for him just yet (mostly because I haven't had the time to sit with him to do it), but we hope this little wall will lead to hours of entertainment!

Nate Says

I've sooooo been looking forward to start these posts, ever since Sharla started "Jacksonisms."  Nate's finally getting chatty enough for me to make a post!


Basics:
He's working on colors, shapes, letters and numbers.  I'd say letters are his favorite and he enjoys "reading" them in various places.  He has really learned them from the Melissa & Doug puzzle we got him for his birthday--highly recommend it!

He knows almost all of the letters and knows that "N" is for Nate (he will finallllllllly say his name!) Another funny is that he won't say "M," but rather says "monkeys." Ha


For numbers, he can count to 13!  Sometimes he likes to skip 7&8.


Working on sentences:
Though his first "real" sentence was "[Where] are you"/"There you are" I really wish I could claim it was this newest one: "Daddy at work."  Lately he's very concerned about where people are- including when Joel's not home/with us.  It started when we drove separate to church and I said Daddy was in his car.  Then during the week he would say "Daddy car" and I'd reply, "Yes, Daddy's in his car.  He's at work"  To which "Daddy at work" came to be.  It has now been extended to "Daddy not home. Daddy at work."

Baby stuff:
He's doing great not being too jealous of Cole, but something funny that he does do is ask for a "turn" in the exersaucer.  It took me a while to catch on to what he was saying since we don't have to deal to much with taking turns at home.  He's very sweet about it and isn't pushy trying to kick Cole out or anything....yet.

If he wants to you pick him up he'll say "Carry you" and something about that makes me want to melt :-)

We're working on getting him off of the pacifier (he calls it "see") and only has it at naptime/nighttime.  We started having him put it in a bucket after he got up and that routine is going great.  He's teething the first of his eye teeth and it's been rough, so we probably won't out the paci completely until after that is done!

Other words:

One of his funniest pronunciations is for milk, he calls it "musha." 

He's picking up words quickly now if he wants to.  Before Nana & Papa came last week I pulled up pictures of them on the computer and we "practiced."  Of course they were both so excited to be greeted with their names!

And I'll leave you with this video--Nate's discovery of a certain item (Joel loves this!)

Happy (Early) Birthday to Me.

My birthday is this Friday--reminder for any of you who forgot to get me something....j/k

I'm gifting myself my own little piece of the internet in the form of another blog.  One that's just for me to talk about shopping and cooking and decorating and all those other things I enjoy aside from being a mom to my two awesome little boys :-)

If you would like to give it a try send me an email (amylpenny@gmail.com) and I will send you the link :-)

Brothers

Joel's Birthday!

Catching up here....March and April have been busy months and May won't be any different!


Soon after Nate's birthday was Joel's 30th Birthday!

He chose a Big Steel Keg for his birthday gift- it's a fancy grill/smoker.  He has cooked us many awesome meals on it already...burgers, ribs, pulled pork barbecue, pork tenderloin, whole chicken, pizza and steaks!  Besides the delicious food, I'm enjoying a break from most of the cooking :-)

He also requested strawberry shortcake for his birthday dessert.

We made a quick trip to North Carolina to meet up with friends to celebrate his birthday.  We were able to have an overnight trip to Chapel Hill without the kids!

Nate is 2!

It's so hard to believe that Nate is 2!  We started the celebrations by taking these cookies to church Wednesday night to celebrate before his birthday on Thursday.

I also took cookies to school for him to share with his classmates on his actual birthday.

That night we had our family celebration at home.  He opened presents and had balloons and a cupcake!

Instead of a party this year, we opted to take Nate on a special outing just the three of us.  We decided the zoo was a good pick!  We were hoping for nice weather, but ended up with a rather cool morning.  It was really nice though after we had lunch and visited the petting area and rode the carousel and train.

Nate had his 2 year check up the Monday after his birthday.  He weighs in at 28 lb 11.5 oz (50-75%) and is 36.5 inches tall (90-95%).  There is a wives' tale that says if you double your height at age 2 that you will get your adult height...that would have Nate measuring 6' 1"

He is still enjoying coloring and playing with his animals and puzzles.  His language is definitely taking off and he really tries to mimic words now. New words/phrases:
Sorry
Okay (instead of yeah/yes he now says okay....all the time!)
Yellow (sometimes used correctly)
Where are you/there you are--a new game we play, usually when looking for his dog before naptime.  He'll say "are you?" while looking for him and then "there you are" when he finds him.
Lots more....can't wait to do posts on funny things he'll come up with when he really gets talking!

Cole's Birth Announcement

It scanned really grainy, but I love it.  I used a new site mixbook.com because I had purchased a Groupon a while back (LOVE Groupon!)  We used one of his newborn photos taken by Lauren Liese.  You can see all of the photos here!

Cole is 2 months!

I dare say we are starting to get into a groove.  I'm learning what Cole needs to be consoled and to be a little more patient too.  The days go fast, and I know I'll look back and miss holding my little baby.  He is sleeping better, which helps a lot.  At best he'll get up at 2:30/3 and then at 6:30.  At worst it's 12:30/1, 3 and 6...but at least he is sleeping in between feedings!

He has done a lot of growing.  At his checkup he weighed 13 lbs 5.5 oz (90%) and was 23 in long (50%).  He is still wearing some 0-3 months clothes, but quickly moving into the 3-6 month outfits.  We are having lots of "photo sessions" these days because I want to capture him in all of his cute outfits.  Be sure to check our SmugMug site for these!

Cole is really liking his play mat and was actually happy "playing" this morning for over 30 minutes!  This is great! He also still loves his swing and birds that fly on that.  He is sleeping in his basinett now, but will move to the crib soon, since Nate is in his big boy bed (will have to post on that later!)  I know he will love the mobile once he is in the crib and that may buy me some time in the mornings :-)

Some favorites from our photo shoots:

Cole's Dedication

We had Cole's dedication at our church on February 20th.  Aunt Lauren came and took pictures for us.  Both boys did great!  Cole was asleep until we posed for pictures and though he went back and forth between us a few times, Nate didn't cry, yell or run through the choir loft ;-)

Nate's not sure what to think of all these people!

Jim always has great and funny insights

 

His rose was soooo pretty!

Lovies

 Most children have items they become attached to when they are young.  For Nate it is his paci, blankie, but most of all his little stuffed dachshund that I used to call "puppy" but he now calls it dog.  I bought it before I was even pregnant from Gymboree when they had an adorable line of dachshund clothes.  And I only bought one.  It is my sincere fear that "dog" will someday be lost and I won't have another one!  I've scouted ebay to no avail. 

Joel and I both had animals we loved growing up.  Joel's was a stuffed dog named "Mutt."  Mutt still resides at his parents house, so I couldn't take a picture of him, but some googling brought forth this photo- which is very much what Joel's Mutt looks like.

So cute and well-loved to adorn a book on the subject.  I think I need to add this to my Amazon Wish List!

I had a love for Roo- the baby kangaroo from Winnie the Pooh.  Thankfully for my family Roo was in production for many years in the early eighties and when one got a little too loved a new one would appear.  Of course, none of the other Roos would leave, the new one was just added to the pack.  I believe there is a picture of me with no less than 8 Roos.  This one is the one that went on to live a happy, retired life in a bin in our guest room closet.  I'm sure he'll see some love again soon.

For Cole's lovie I thought maybe he would get these hand me down bears from Nate, which I intended to be his lovies (hence there are 3, lest one was lost.)  But Nate never really attached to them.  On a whim I ordered this lovie from My Blankee on my favorite (aka dangerous) kids sale site, Zulily.  It's a little blanket with a snap that you use to put a pacifier on (kind of hard to explain unless you look at the pic.)  Very early on Cole started grabbing for the blanket and it's also nice because if he spits his paci out it doesn't fall far--lost paci is a BAD thing!  He is also starting to be able to push his paci back in when he grabs the blanket.  So, once I saw that he was attaching to it I panicked because we needed more!  They retail for $25-36...insane for a 10x10 piece of cloth with a snap!  I checked their website-which is stocked with many more clearance options now than when I looked- and etsy for some cheaper options.  Thankfully another sale came up on Zulily and I ordered 2 more for the rotation :-)