5(ish) Months

Note to first time moms - do not commit to something for baby #1 that will be extremely difficult to keep up for baby #2 and nearly impossible for all future kids!

With that said, here is Jonathan's "5 month" update, two weeks late:

• Month five was not our favorite so far. Both boys were plagued for weeks with some sort of nasty upper respiratory virus that made them very wheezy and required nebulizing 3-4 times daily. Add ear infections, diaper rashes and 0 degree weather to the mix and we were going ca-ray-zee around here. 
• JD's supposed milk allergy seems to have worsened. I had cut out most dairy a couple months ago after we noticed extreme fussiness and eczema associated with my dairy consumption. I didn't worry though about dairy that was baked into breads, in desserts & chocolate, butter on veggies, etc. Sorry for the TMI, but JD's poop turned green two weeks ago and had traces of blood throughout. At this point I cut out dairy completely (so sad not to partake in the Easter tradition that is the Reese's peanut butter egg. By the way, why are these so much better than normal Reese's?? It must be the peanut butter to chocolate ratio). Anyways, after going hardcore no dairy, JD's poop problems cleared up in two days… hard to argue that there isn't at least some sensitivity there.
• Jonathan's first tooth popped right at five months. Add that to the previous two bullet points and you can imagine we had one crabby baby on our hands.
• Jonathan started sleeping on his stomach two weeks ago. I was hoping this would mean he would sleep better at night, but we're still waking twice a night.

Even though month five wasn't our best, that baby's sweet chubby smile melts me every time! Who am I that I would be so blessed to call him mine?

Here's our squishy little dude:

And here are fav photos from the past six weeks:

Poor J :)

Super Baby!

Vasty & Phoebe - part of the family we've "adopted" through our church and World Relief.  

The best we could do for an Easter photo with a toddler who wanted to run around
and a baby who pooped through his church clothes. 

Loved looking out the window at these two waiting for cars to drive by.

These three!

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 :(

Stud Muffin is Three Months

The fog is lifting as we've reached the three month mark with Jonathan. Here's what's new with the second March little:

• JD is a much happier babe that he was just a month ago. We suspect it has something to do with me cutting dairy out of my diet (excessive fussing and eczema lead us to believe he's sensitive to milk), but who really knows? I just can't get enough of his sweet little smile though!
• He caught on to the earlier bedtime going from 11:00 at month two down to 7:30/8:00ish now. It's so nice to have a little breathing time at the end of the day to hold a somewhat coherent adult convo with Tim. 
• He "sleeps through the night". And by that I mean he still wakes somewhere between 1:30 and 3:30, but I guess this counts since he went to sleep at 8:00. I've read and been told that a baby just has to string 5-6 hours together to be considered "sleeping through the night". Ha! I really think some mom made up this criteria to make herself feel better. I'm definitely not complaining about only having to wake once (sometimes twice) at night, but I am looking forward to getting an actual full night of sleep someday. 
• He has yet to suffer a major injury at the hand of his brother. I consider this a success considering how wonderfully spaz-tastic Caleb is. 

Here's the little stud:

He loves chompin' on his fingers

Look at those thighs! He's such a chunk :)

Here are some other fav photos from our winter exile:

The boys' first bath together. Caleb was very intrigued with J's "boat"

So much so that he had to jump in with J. How cute, right? . . . 

And then this happened. Please note that my hand is on its way to stop the shenanigans while Tim takes the photo - the second child already has to put up with enough, should he really have to endure prolonged drowning just so the 'rents can get a good pic? 

Caleb's first ride on a choo choo - he couldn't get enough.  

Went to visit Tim at work… I think he has a future in the bond world. Or sales -
 he isn't afraid to pick up the phone and say "Hi".

I absolutely adore Caleb, but I'll be the first to admit that his hair is ridiculous! The top is always sticking straight up and the front 1/4 has yet to come in… good thing he has such a cute little face (in my humble and completely unbiased opinion).