Growing Babies - Two Years & Four Months

Our babies are getting big - I can't believe we now have a two year old (although based on yesterday's awesome meltdowns revolving around having to wear a green shirt and not getting to eat off the orange plate, it shouldn't be too hard to believe). And speaking of big… Jonathan is one big boy! I didn't realize how big he was until we learned he outweighed his nearly one year old cousin… at four months!

Since I really don't love blogging right now (I wish I did, but when I have the choice of blogging and most anything else, I usually choose the anything else), I am combining these two milestones into one looong post.

We'll start with the latest from Caleb:

• His speech has exploded! It felt like he went from a handful of words to repeating nearly everything in the matter of a couple months. It's so fun listening to his little voice try to sound things out - especially words like octopus and cock-a-doodle-doo.
• Caleb thought his name was "you" for a solid two months. And it was even better that he couldn't actually say "you". When asked to point everyone out in a picture, he would exclaim "dada… mama… YO!"
• We're still milking the crib and will continue to as long as he'll stay in it. It definitely helps that he only gets his pacifier and blanket in his crib. 
• We feel a little in over our heads when it comes to discipline. Timeouts and taking things away work half the time. It's looking like we may need to see how he handles spanking. I'm not necessarily against it, but we want to exhaust all other forms of discipline first. I just know that if he doesn't learn how to stop when we say "stop" and come when we say "come" ASAP, he is going to get hit by a car one of these days. I'd much rather endure a spanking or two and see Caleb live another day than the alternative. 
• This boy has opinions!! Very strong and particular opinions… opinions about what shirt he wears (you might have already caught that in the first paragraph), how his trucks should be lined up, what we call each vehicle (contrary to popular and correct belief, it's a "truck", NOT an ambulance), what book we read, when we hold his hand, when we let him run, what he eats… get the point? 
• Today was the very first day that he did not take a nap. Up until now, he has been sleeping anywhere from 1.5 - 3 hours every afternoon. PLEASE Lord do not take this away yet! I'm not ready! 
• Even though two has brought about new challenges to tackle, it is such a fun age. I love that he is so rambunctious, curious and adventurous, but will still cuddle up in his onesie PJs with his pacifier and blanket while we sing and rock before bed. I'm trying so very hard to cherish and remember moments like these so that the not-so-good moments seem minuscule in comparison. 

And now for Jonathan's latest and greatest:

• We stopped swaddling Jonathan 3 1/2 weeks ago as he was breaking out of it anyways. He handled it like a champ.
• I cursed myself when I said he was sleeping through the night at three months… it was literally the very night I posted those words that he stopped "sleeping through the night" and has since been waking between 11:00-12:00 most nights and again around 3:30-5:00. The saving grace is that he quickly nurses and then goes right back to his crib within 10-15 minutes (so vastly different than the 60-90 minute night feeding sessions we endured with Caleb). 
• Up until two week ago, Jonathan had never slept in his crib - like never ever. We used the Rock n' Play for the first 3 1/2 months, which was awe-some! I wish I had had this for Caleb. The best part was that we could rock Jonathan until he was drowsy then place him in the Rock n' Play and gently rock him to sleep. This meant he hasn't grown accustomed or depentent on falling asleep in our arms. I still remember spending hours in the middle of the night with Caleb, rocking and re-rocking him to sleep then holding my breath as I set him in his crib, and finally cursing aloud as his eyes would dart open. 
• Because Jonathan is such a tank, we decided two weeks ago that he had finally outgrown the Rock n' Play and moved him to the crib. This night had been looming over my head for weeks as I was terrified that he would refuse the crib and we'd be back to zero sleep and angry mom. Once again, he took the transition in stride! 
• Naps are hit or miss. He usually catnaps in the morning since we're on the go and then takes a glorious two to three hour nap in the afternoon.
• I forgot until rereading the previous five bullet point how much of a baby's life revolves around sleeping - or maybe it's the mom's life that revolves around the baby's sleeping. 
• At four months, JD weighed in at 17 lbs. 14 oz. (90%) with a height of 26.5" (95%) and head circ. of 17.5"(95%). I told you he was a tank. 

Enough with the words. Here are the pics… first from Caleb's birthday:

We started by celebrating with my parents who came in for the weekend:

Birthday dinner at Macaroni Grill.

The boys reading with Gramps

Our "low key" choo choo party with a few of Caleb's buddies 

'

Send a dad to Party City alone and he comes back with a giant Thomas balloon.
Tim: "Look what I got! It only cost $10"
Me: "You actually spent $10 on a balloon?"

His family and friends sure know this guy - our house is full of new trucks, trains and sporting equipment

 And now for JD's four month photos:

 So I wanted to show that JD can kind of sit… kind of being the operative words:

Okay, so maybe he can't sit yet

And now for a few of my recent fav pics:

This is what happens when you face plant in a giant puddle at the zoo :(