4 Months

ELIJAH AT 4 MONTHS

::Tall drink of water and in 6-9 month clothing::Starting to reach and grab::Loves to coo and squawk::One leaky faucet::Rolled once stomach to back::Lost a lot of hair::Had his first taste of chocolate courtesy of Joey::Almost 16 lbs::Size 3 diapers::Never slept through the night::

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Still hard to believe that he came into our lives four months ago. Some days are better than others, but he is mostly happy and likes to be standing. Joey loves his little brother and Eli has been starting to smile at Joey, which is so fun to see. We are about to go on a long car trip and I'm a little nervous to see how we do...

We found out Eli is above the 99th percentile for height...they even measured him twice to make sure. He is my big baby and I love his rolls and cheeks and cute cute smile. Somehow I have more motivation to blog with two kids than with one. We'll see if I can keep up, I don't want to forget our little Eli babe!

Dear Joseph,

I sincerely hope I can write you a mushy letter every birthday of yours because it really helps me reflect on my love for you and the progression you’ve made each year. This is my third letter, which means you recently turned 3 years old.

Where to start! You are around 3 feet tall and weigh 28 pounds. Your eating habits change often, but right now you are an okay to good eater. Perhaps it depends on your pooping habits, and sorry I talk about your poop a lot. But I’m your mom so there. Your favorite food is cereal, particularly Life. You ask for it every morning. You also ask for chocolate milk a lot, fruit snacks, apples, pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, and a lot of other junky type stuff. You can be skeptical about food, but usually you’ll take more than one bite if we can get you to try it. The key is to get you to take a bite!

As far as things you like, you still like cars quite a bit but this year it expanded to things with motors or wheels. You liked Thomas the Train and Planes for a while, but ever since we got Netflix, you started loving the Magic School Bus, and then it became loving buses in general. You always point them out, you learned The Wheels on the Bus, and started carrying around this London Tour Bus Grandma and Grandpa Hobbs got you back when they went to England. Then it became Curious George! I really like this fetish because I enjoy watching Curious George, too. Sadly, Netflix recently took it off, but you still carry around a stuffed monkey your dad had as a kid as well. You love animals and ask to go to the zoo quite a bit. Your favorite would have to be the ducks, though it’s because you love interacting with them.

This year you finished occupational therapy, started and finished speech therapy, but you are still a little behind for your age. We put you on the list for speech again, done a hearing test to see if deafness was an issue (it isn’t), and contemplated whether or not we should test you for autism. You would be high functioning if that were a possibility, though. Despite these little issues, you still are progressing in so many ways! I hear new words you use almost every day. You are learning the alphabet and its sounds well (thanks to a Leap Frog video you loved watching). You insist you are a big boy in that you stopped taking binkies yourself, refuse naps, and found out you can leave your toddler bed without me. However, you still prefer the crib, don’t like getting dressed or undressed (so it’s hard to teach you), and, in your own words, “potty, yuck yuck!” Still in diapers, but we’re working on getting you to consider potty-training.

Major things happened this year as well. We moved, and you handled it as well as anyone could hope. You also became a big brother. I was worried because you tend to have a mean streak in you when it comes to other kids (like biting), but you love Elijah! You are such a sweet big brother, despite forgetting to be gentle. You cuddle with him, share your toys (!), feed him chocolate when mom isn’t looking, and run in to grab something for Eli to play with before we get out the door. You love giving him kisses and taking baths together. Although I have to be vigilant when you two are together, there is no denying that you love your little brother. I sincerely hope that is the case in the years to come.

I am still learning how to be your mom.  I feel I try and fail so many times to stick to a schedule, or to reward good behavior, or on how to help you better engage in the world around you. But one thing is for sure: you are very forgiving and such a sweet little boy. I love being your mom and I worry about you because I love you. I look forward to see the new things you will discover in the year to come!

Love, Mama

3 Months

ELIJAH AT 3 MONTHS

::Drooly drooly drooly::Found his little voice and laughs::Over 14 lbs::Sucks on his little hands all day::Threatening to move into 6-9 month clothes::Wakes up twice each night::Has cradle cap and a nice bald spot::Likes to be held::Still loves baths::

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I love this baby so so much! As much as the newborn stage is nice because they sleep a lot and cuddle more, he is getting more and more fun! His happiest time of day is waking up in the morning. We get the best smiles, kicks, and laughs out of our little guy. 

One thing that happened this month was Elijah's baby blessing. It was more low key than Joey's, which was nice. We had grandparents there, Jessica's family, Shauna and her kids, Kristy and Chris, and Heidi. Eli was given a wonderful blessing and I'm grateful for all the awesome people in my family, especially these two guys (and Joey, who doesn't stay still for any photo).

Throwback...Tuesday?

I came across Joey's one year photoshoot. Crazy to think he will be three next month! He is still cute, just in different ways. I decided to blog the list of things he did at 14 months that I currently keep on the "Meet Us" tab. I want to update that soon, so this is more journaling.

I was born in April >Forever true

I love hair and prefer my mom's >Slowly got out of the hair phase, along with his binky back in December 2015

I had to have two haircuts by 14 months >Average around one every 2-3 months

I (or mommy) don't have a clue what my eye color is >They settled to a light brown more than anything

I will crawl in rocks to avoid grass >He became acquaintances with grass

I love being outside >Still true, he'll brave nearly any weather to go play

I get super excited when I see a playground >What kid doesn't?

I love staying up late >Oh my yes

I have a love/hate relationship with baths (right now I love them) >Hates getting his head wet but fine with everything else

I am very small for my age >Still true

I take my sweet time learning how to walk >Started walking at 18 months, whew!

I love anything that rolls and will push it around the house >Now it's anything with a motor

I have cute gap teeth >And a strong frenulem 

I travelled to NM, AZ, UT, CO, ID, CA, and Mexico already >Nothing new since poor thing

I claimed this random valentine stuffed puppy as my own >I forgot about puppy!

I have three cousins born the same year as me (it's fun) >Good friends, but have bitten all three at some point

I would rather have my parents' food even if it's the same as mine >He's figured out he hates all of it

I want to be a dentist with how much I love sticking my fingers in mouths >Now it's more a professional cereal eater or cartoon watcher

I have an amazing daddy who plays with me all the time >Still amazing

I love my mommy and love being by her >Now runs away from her 

Sweet, funny Joey!

Valentimes

Valentines Day is always interesting. We had a lot of fun, but you always try to make it out of the ordinary every year. This Studio C sketch is scarily accurate about Valentine's Day, haha.

Luckily for Sam, I don't expect too much from him. I was perfectly happy with some donuts and a pot of little tulips he got for me this year. In fact, any more feels excessive. I wish I could set the same standard for myself. To make it special, I decided to plan several dinner and activity ideas, associate them with a random picture, and have Sam pick one of each. That way, we both did not know what we were going to do for Valentine's Day!

Sam chose a picture of a bowling ball. I wanted to trick him. Since it is a rolling ball, we were going to eat sushi rolls. There is a restaurant called Pacific Paradise in town that has really awesome food (but we only eaten there once before). I blind folded Sam and he tried to guess based on turns where we were eating. But it didn't really matter if I blind folded him because he still would have had no idea where we were going. The food was so so good, and we loved the Fire Rolls we got (a must at this place- they even set the plate on fire for kicks).

But then Sam picked the picture that represented bowling anyway: a bowl. So it was fate we were to bowl for Valentine's Day. We brought our kids because we thought Joey would love bowling. But he got bored of it rather fast and it turned into a game for us to see if we could keep Joey away from the other lanes. Still a little too young, I guess. I am terrible at bowling and feel self-conscious every time I go, but it wasn't too bad this time. Sam felt loved, and that was the most important part! And next year we'll accept people's offer of babysitting.

And for kicks, here is Joey's art in the bath tub with color tabs. He "made" a valentine on Valentine's Day, but he ended up playing while Sam and I finished it up. We don't have a picture of it, sorry.

Hope your February was good!

2 Months

ELIJAH AT 2 MONTHS

::Smiles when prompted::Starting to find hands::Takes a pacifier well now::Doesn't poop a whole lot::Almost 13 lbs::Still only sleeps 3 hours in one stretch::Occasionally able to roll::Starting to gain a bald spot on the back of his head::Half-way into 3-6 month clothes::

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We love our smiley little guy! He still cries (especially when there is unsupervised time with Joey), but he definitely is getting more social. He's also on the bigger side in terms of size. He's 99% for height(!) and 66% for weight. I love chunky babies so it's a nice contrast to our pipsqueak Joey (He was really cute too, though). Here are some other photos of our 2 month old.

Update on our Boys

Almost caught up (until next week, when Eli turns two months)! Having two children is no walk in the park. You think it will only get twice as hard. Think ten times as hard! But I think I more or less have the hang of it now. Some things you just have to let go.

This is Joey as a big brother summed up right here.  He just wants to be where Eli is...literally. That is his first instinct upon seeing his little brother, which is to lay on top of him. Talk about constant vigilance on my part, haha. He's getting a lot better. He wants to kiss Eli to make him happy whenever he is crying. 

Eli reminds me a lot of what Joey was like when he was the same age. However, a few differences include Eli's size, which he is a little chunkier. Eli also doesn't mind baths, which Joey still hates. In fact, it is one of the few things that will immediately calm him down.

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ELIJAH AT ONE MONTH

::Mellow baby for the first two weeks::Around 10 lbs::Likes baths::Snacks more than eats::Doesn't like pacifiers::No true smiles yet::Sleeps three hours at most::Poor thing has baby acne::Likes to be held and swaddled::Handles tummy time fairly well::

Joey had to get in the photoshoot and do his thing.

"Baby happy!" Not.

Aww, we love his sweet face!