Not for the faint of heart...

You can't make this stuff up, as my friend, Angela, would say....

We were running late, of course, to get out the door to the bible study at church. K gets very still. Says, "maaaaaaamaaaa" and then throws up ....not only that, he conveniently catches it in his hands....

Then, looks at his sweet, precious brother...

yes....

he wiped it on B's head....

seriously....

See ya next week bible study...

Happy 2nd Birthday, Keaton!

My Sweet Pea turned 2 today! I can't believe it!

(He has a thing for "wearing" my shirts lately...He can almost get them on right himself. That is not demonstrated in this picture, haha!)

We celebrated by giving him the remaining Mega Blocks we got for him at Christmas.

A friend made his oh-so-fun birthday shirt! (Thanks Melissa!)



I promised I would share his word list (I'm sure there are words we are forgetting, but, this is what I have documented -

Single Word Phrases
Apple
Baby
Bag
Ball
Balloon
Banana
Bath
Bee
Belly
Benjamin
Block
Book
Bottle
Bowl
Bubbles
Bye
Car
Cat
Chair
Cheerios
Cheese
Chicken
Church
Circle
Color
Cookie
Cool
Cow
Crib
Cup
D
Daddy
Dark
Diamond
Dog
Done
Drink
Ear
Eat
Eye
Fish
Go
Grandma
Green
Guitar
Hat
Hey
Hi
Hot
Ice
Jacket
Jesus
Jump
K
Ketchup
Key
Kitty
Lap
Light
Lo
Mama
Mine
Nap
No
Nose
One
Out
Ow
Pee
Plant
Please
Read
Ready
Red
Roll
Room
Sheep
Shoe
Shirt
Silly
Sink
Sling
Snow
Sorry
Spoon
Star
Teeth
Train
Trash
Tree
Triangle
Truck
Trumpet
TV
Tweet
Wii
Window
Wow
Yes

2+ word phrases
Thank You
Love You
Hey You
Where is it?
What's That?
Uh-oh
Oh no
Here it is!
It's ok
Ready, Set, Go

...whew...

The day was going fairly well til he took off down the hall...I was on the couch nursing B and all of a sudden I hear screaming like I've never heard before! I jumped up and K is gimping around holding his right knee. I tell him he's Ok (he's on this "I hurt really bad til you tell me I'm ok" kick) and to run and get the ball for me (how I prove that he really is Ok). He runs and after 2 steps, he's on the floor, screaming. I say, "Keaton, come on bud, you're Ok!" He jumps back up and again, he is back on the floor screaming! He stands up to walk towards me and he's holding his knee and bawling....great...

I feel his knee...

He kicks me!

So, I call the pedi's office (JUST where I want to spend his birthday, ugh!) The nurse is all telling me to go to the ER for x-rays. I ignore her and call my chiro, but she's pretty much done for the day, so I call back and make an appt. at the pedi's office.

He finally calms down to take a nap. When he woke up, I tried feeling his legs to see if anything seemed out of place. He allowed me to touch his legs this time. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary so I just keep reminding him that he needs to sit and play and not be on his leg.

After about 45 minutes, he starts running around like a normal kid...I asked him if his knee hurt and he doubled over as if someone were cutting his leg off! So I stopped asking and he just kept playing.

I ended up calling and canceling the appointment, because who really wants to spend their 2nd birthday in the pedi's office?! I'm going to keep an eye on him and follow up with our chiro in the next day or two...

So...

We went to Mellow Mushroom for pizza tonight to celebrate! Their pizza is the best! We're so excited that they finally opened one close to us! He got a yummy cinnamon pretzel pizza for dessert!

Happy birthday, sweet pea! I can't believe how much you have grown and what you have accomplished in two years!!!!

Just a cute story to start your Monday...

Keaton has always loved saying "Ready? GO!" But last night, at small group, he finally got the middle part to it...granted it was while jumping down the steps! haha!!

"READY SET GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Of course, that was one of the first thing we heard this morning...

Atleast someone is ready for Monday!

Our Sorry Attempt

I normally save blogging for when the boys are sleeping or there's another pair of hands to help, but this had to be shared...

K was getting a lil hyper in making his brother laugh this afternoon that he threw something across the room and it hit me. Thankfully, it was a very lightweight flimsy object and not, say, his plastic bongos!

So I told him to come to me, informed him that he hit me and that he needed to apologize...

He looked at me and grinned.

I said, "Keaton, are you supposed to throw toys?"

These beautiful eyes looked up at me and he had a huge grin and very matter-of-factly said, "YES!"

I couldn't help but bust out laughing...

So I asked again, shaking my head 'no' while I asked if we were supposed to throw toys. He got the right answer.

So I asked him to apologize and that sweet, sweet, "Ary "come out.

I couldn't help but laugh again :)

Back to my boys....

He has to beat his brother...

I thought we were in the clear with our lil piggy!

Keaton rolled over at 6 weeks and didn't stop. B didn't roll til roughly 5 months - I was perfectly fine with this!

Keaton crawled right at 6 months and started pulling up and cruising the same weekend. B started scooting today - he made it across the room in less than 2 minutes. As I sit and type this, he is spinning in circles on his (poor, bare, because his 12 month PJs are too SMALL) belly - SCREAMING at the floor as he pushes up on his toes and tries to get on his knees. He turns 6 months on Sunday - trying to catch up with big brother?

sigh...

22 months

In two months, my baby will be 2 years old! I can't believe it!

Let's see...

He continues to add new words to his vocabulary everyday - and everyday I'm amazed! A sampling of his new favorites include:
Tuck (truck)
Stuck (when he gets in the Bumbo NOT designed for his porker brother)
Iccc (if you can say "ice" without the E sound, you've got it!)
Lo (color)
Teee (tv - bad mommy!)
Jump (for the Jumperoo)
He tried to say "sketty" the other night, but after about 3 tries, gave up - it's hard!
Nap
Benj-man (We're slowly moving away from saying "B"!)
Dum (drum)
Sirt (Shirt - could be worse, right??) ;-)
He uses ball to refer to the Wii, because we play bowling and tennis so much! haha!

He can point out: head, nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, chin, ears, hair, legs, belly, feet, chest, toes, hands, fingers and knees ...oh and Lap!

He knows lots of animal noises, my favorite being a "bear" - he makes 'claws' and says, "arrrrr" ...pirate bear? (that or mommy needs to learn animal sounds before teaching them!)

We're working on a letter each week - we've done A, B, & C...He can recognize A & B...After that, letters are "no". He counted to 2 on his own tonight while eating spaghetti at dinner (I can get him to 3 w/ prompting, but Zach & I were talking and he goes, "1.....2...." I said, "Then..." He said, "NO" haha) As you can tell, "No" is still the word du jour.

He loves puzzles. We have a basket full and this kid could entertain himself for days doing them.

He adores his brother beyond belief (still! yay!)

He's becoming a picky eater, but the 'pickiness' changes day to day - making it a tad frustrating, but atleast he won't eat JUST nuggets or something! He still would rather eat fruit & veggies over anything else any day (not sure he's really our child haha!!)

We're preparing to move him into a 'big boy bed'....a transition I'm dreading, but I'm tired of stressing over if he is going to climb out of the crib and if he's going to hurt himself in the process. Since he's a HORRIBLE napper, I start to worry if he takes a longer than usual nap - did he try to climb out and he got hurt? Should I open the door and chance waking him up if he is OK?...it's annoying. We're blessed and were given a crib for Benjamin so we didn't have to make this transition earlier than now, but, I'd love to keep him in that crib for another year just to avoid the drama associated with it (on the other hand - I found fabulous bedding! haha)

Not sure of weight/length and all that - we'll go in April for his 2 year check up.

He loves his Sunday school class. I still wish he could sit through any part of the service, but since Zach plays every other Sunday and I already have B attached to me, I'd be hard pressed to keep them both entertained! I'm hoping around his 2nd birthday we can start with the worship portion and slowly, each week work more and more of the service in....At the same time, he LOVES his Sunday school class! He doesn't even say bye anymore (which is sad, but atleast he isn't screaming for 5-10 minutes because we left) and it's good for him to have the interaction with kids his age.

That's about all I can think of at the moment...

"Oh Wow"

I'm normally pretty anal about what Keaton eats. I mean, we're NOT healthy eaters, but I don't let him drink juice, have lots of sweets or anything like that. If I'm having a dessert, I'll let him taste, usually the least sugar-filled part of it...

Well, the holidays have ruined that. He's been eating Sandtarts with me, we stand by the Peppermint Marshmallows and munch all day...

Wednesday was the straw that broke the camel's back though...

When my mom was in town last weekend, she bought us some egg nog. The only time I notice it was when I'd open the fridge for meals, and I couldn't drink egg nog with meals...it has to stand alone!

Well, I went to get Keaton's sippy out of the fridge and I saw it. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to have a sip!

So I poured myself a cup and wouldn't you know, Keaton turns around - he knows something is amiss. He is being left out!

I looks and says, "Guh" (which I'm thinking this time meant, "Give" haha) I said, "Say please" (Forgetting that he has that one down now...) "Peeeeease" So I give him a tiny sip.

This is my son. I know he was birthed from me if for no other reason the second that delicious, thick drink touched his tongue, his eyes lit up and "OH WOW" escaped his lips - complete with a tummy rub, followed by "yummy yummy!" hahahahahah, I love it!

I had to chug the rest and show him it was "all gone" so he wouldn't beg for more (ie: wailing and gnashing of teeth!)
------------------
Benjamin discovered his voice a week or so ago. If you see us and we have blood pouring out of our ears, that's what is going on. This kid can screech! I don't remember Keaton being this loud - of course, up until this point, he'd spent the better part of his short four months screaming and crying all day....and all night. So, noise was kind of relative by that point. But B is loud. That's the only way to describe it.

When I taught pre-school, one of my 3 year olds had given me an ornament (I'm thrilled her mom wrote her name and the year on the back - I will never forget Meredith McGimsey...Seriously. I loved those kids. I can see the whole class now...Noah, Beth, Carter...ok, I won't name all 13, but I bet I could! haha!) Anywho, the ornament. It's a felt bear and super cute. Well, I was sitting at the "tree" tonight with B and he starts YELLING at this bear, grabbing for it. I tried to show him lights and other shiny ornaments...He'd push them out of the way to get to that bear! It was hysterical!
---------------
I keep thinking of things to brag about them throughout the day and when I sit down to write, I can't remember it all...

Oh well...maybe tomorrow. :)

Yes, Drill Sergeant!

That's not what I've taught Keaton to say...I feel like I need to say it to him! I'm so glad that Keaton knows what needs to be done during our day (before we go anywhere, when we come home, etc...) But I wish he could grasp the fact that I am merely 1 mama, with 2 hands, moving as fast as I possibly can with 2 children underfoot.

Before we left for this chiro this morning, this is what played out.

Me: alright, Keaton, let's get socks & shoes on
K: shooooes!!!
Me: Yes, sweet pea, grab your shoes
K: (they were on the floor next to him, he picked up one & screamed "shooooe!")
Me: Yes, get your other shoe
K: "Hmmm" (complete w/ finger next to the mouth as if he's pondering one of the great mysteries of the world...
Me: Keaton, it's behind you - turn around...
K: (he begins spinning in circles)

Meanwhile, I put Benjamin in his car seat...

K finally sees his other shoe and is sitting on the couch screaming "SHOOOOOOE" at me...

I grab Keaton's socks put them on him and get his shoes on

I start to look for Benjamin's blanket to drape over him

K is screaming "LIIIIIIIIII" and pointing at our "Christmas tree" - the lights were still on

"Yes, Keaton, I'm getting there, I'm looking for Benjamin's blanket..."

I find the blanket, and I hear, "LIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" again

I run around & unplug the lights

I hear, "Jaaaa...Jaaaaa" (jacket)

"Yes, Keaton, I will get your jacket...hang on mommy needs her glasses and phone..."

I get my glasses, stick my phone in the back pack

I get K's jacket, put it on him...

"DREEEEEEEEEEE" and he's shaking his sippy

"Yup, we need your sippy, take it to the bookbag..."

He instead feels the need to bring it to me - I'm trying to round up mail to drop off on our way out.

I take his cup and stick it in the bag with the mail

At this point, he's shaking the handle on B's carseat screaming "Uhhhhh" (up)

"Yes, Keaton, it needs to go up..."

I start to put it up and he runs to the door, "Edy! Edy!" (ready)

At this point, I sit on the floor and ask K to come to me..."Edy!!!!"

"No, Keaton, come here now please...."

At this point, I try to explain that mommy is going as fast as she can and I thank him for being a big helper in getting ready...

We head to the chiro...which went great until time to walk out into the parking lot - a nice little melt down with sympathetic smiles from all the patients there (ugh)

We head to a friends' house to get a couple items we were borrowing and he has a MELT down while we're there (sorry, again, Kristen!!!) I put K back in the van, he starts smacking B's car seat base screaming, "B!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yes, sweet pea, Benjamin's seat goes there...

I drive thru McD's and get lunch.

I get 2 nuggets in his belly before we get to the apartment. (this is typical and he knows he'll get the rest of lunch when we get inside) We walk in the door and it begins again....

"JAaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" trying to take off his jacket....I get it off for him

"Eaaaaaaaaaa...eaaaaaaaaaaa" (signing eat) "No, waiiii....SHOOOES"

I again sit on the floor and take K's hands and say, "Sweet Pea, I am moving as fast as I absolutely can! I know you want to finish your lunch...." "EAAAAAAAAAA"....."Yes, you want to eat, but you need your shoes off...." "SHOOOOOOOOOOOES" "Yes...Which would you like? To eat? Or Take your shoes off?"

He seriously thought for about 1.565332221 seconds and said, "Shoes, peeese"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Ok, sweet pea, we'll take off your shoes..."

Shoes off...."Ea, peese"

YES!

I get him set up to finish the nuggets...

"mama"

"Yes sweet pea...

(pointing to the tree) "liiii"

HAHAH

"Oh, you're right Keaton, I need to turn the lights on..."

Where in the WORLD does he get this OC behavior (hmmm....) ;-)
----------
This mama got a much needed night out tonight!

No, I didn't go to O'Charley's and get the Cotton Candy Cosmo I've been eyeing since before Thanksgiving. No I didn't go bar hopping with friends.

No. I went ALONE To Joann Fabrics and Michael's. ALONE! Oh how nice it was to be ALONE for a bit!

Of course, as soon as I walked in the door, I saw Benjamin and couldn't stop gah-gahing over him for about 15 minutes :)
-----------------------
Now for some observations from the night.

Oh kind cashier from Joann's. I'm sorry you have to wear that hideous "no sew" scarf (no offense to "no-sew" wearers...but hers was AWFUL), a Santa hat, listening to Christmas music by the door that keeps opening all day long. But that is really no reason to get an attitude with me.

To the employee's of Michael's. Thank you for your attempt to help us reach items that are 15+ feet off the floor with the large ladders, but really, is there no better place to keep them but in the middle of every single isle?

And to the teenagers at Target tonight. Thank you for calling me a 'nobody.' I appreciate you wanting to wait until "ain't nobody 'round" before talking trash about the girl who awkwardly smiled and said hi to you, obviously recognizing you from school, but I still heard your conversation...wish I hadn't.
---------
Other than all that, it was nice ;-)

Raleigh, We Have a Problem!

I don't know which problem is worse, so I'll start with the first born.

Keaton, my little eating machine, has finally decided that eating is not needed anymore! I was really hoping we were going to skip this stage of toddler-hood! Now, since he did eat an entire PB&J sandwich at lunch and even asked, by signing, for more, it very well could be that his cold is just causing too much drainage to eat...but this has been going on for a week now. The child only wants to eat, teething biscuits, waffles and toast! I did get some encouragement from this site and this site (as well as some BTDT -been there, done that- mama's on facebook!) Any other advice is greatly welcome :)

Benjamin is a mama's boy! Susan, my mother-in-law, commented this weekend on how much B seemed to really enjoy the close contact (while being in the wrap) and just being held and snuggled close in general. Now, I love this as much as the next mama. However, yesterday, B was napping in the swing and I was snuggling on the couch reading with K. B woke up and I just happened to look over about that time. He looked at me, stuck out his lip and started pouting. I put K down and B started grinning. I picked up K, the lip and pouting. I put K down, he grinned!!

Ohhhhh boy! These guys are going to keep me on my toes!! :)

Here are some pictures:

B in his bumbo!

Cheesy grin from my sweet pea

My chunky almost 4 month old!

B in the onesie K wore 8 days before his 1st birthday!!!

20 months!

I cannot believe my Sweet Pea is 20 months 'old'!!!

What a busy 20 months he's had, too! :)

Here's a funny conversation that happened on our way home from church yesterday:

Me: Keaton, did you have fun?
K: Ge-uh (yes...from here on out "yes")
Me: Did you color?
K: "yes"
Me: Did you sing songs?
K: "yes"
Me: Did you kick the ball? (when I dropped him off in his class, he immediately went for the ball and was kicking it)
K: Ball??
Me: Yes, ball, did you kick it? (We were at a light and I turned to look at him)
K: (starts kicking like he would a ball!)
Me: Did you play with the kitchen?
K: "yes"
Me: Did you (at this point starting to wonder if he understands more than I give him credit for!) play outside (it was 40 and super windy, they BETTER not have gone out!)
K: (laughing) "Nooooooo" (!!!)
Me: Did you listen and obey your teachers? (Another light, so I turn around)
K: (BIG grin) Noooooo

We got home and I went to get his sippy out of his bag...what was in there?

A picture that he colored!!

He cracks me up all day long (and makes me feel like pulling my hair out, too!)

He definitely has a temper and is very strong-willed. Before B was born, we bought Dobson's Strong Willed Child. We also bought Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child to prepare for sleeping issues with B. I spent my time reading the sleep book...B has slept great (usually!) so now it's time to get back to SWC :)

He's wearing mostly 2T clothes now - for the length, NOT for the waist (though, as long as he's in a cloth diaper, the waist usually isn't an issue)

This child may look like Zach, but definitely has my cleaning tendencies! We cannot go any where with him picking up (most) his toys. According to his Sunday school teachers', he is the only child that cleans up before leaving (but I'm sure he's the child that dumps out ALL the toys too!)

So, after Christmas, I start planning the 2nd birthday party. I have some great ideas up my sleeve :)

----------------------------
On the Benjamin side of things, we did a 'faux' weigh-in last night...I stand on the scale, see how much I weigh, then Zach hands B to me and we (he) does the math to see how much B weighs....

18.5 is the number we came up with!!! 18.5 POUNDS! The child isn't even 4 months yet...Today he is wearing this onesie. This EXACT onesie. The one K wore 8 days before his 1st birthday!!! Now, it's not THAT snug on B, but it is definitely NOT loose on him! (I'll get a picture before the end of the day....or before he spits up all over it) ;-) Guess we'll have to find a new UNC onesie before basketball season is in full swing!!

No rolling yet (yay! haha!) He is starting to LOVE peek-a-boo (if he's anything like Keaton, which he is apparently, not, but, if he is, he will LOVE this game for a long time!) I've gotten a couple of giggles out of him. But he is definitely still our serious baby :)

We go back on the 22nd for his 4 month check up and we'll get an official weight/length check then :)

Well, things need to get done!

Happy 20 month-day, my Sweet pea!!!!!

"Oo-OO"

says the monkey. And in our case, our little Monkey :) Keaton has started making a monkey noise whenever we see a monkey (note: Monkey's are not often seen in this part of NC, merely in books and on toys) :)

He's expanding his vocab everyday. I'm simply amazed at what all he can "say" (I have to translate most of his words...but the fact that he's associating the same sound, usually the correct sounds, with an object or idea, is awesome). His favorite word is still "No" :) His newest is "Bah" for bath.

He has started signing milk (one that I never showed him, except in his sign language book!) in addition to more, eat, done/finished, light (sometimes), drink (sometimes), hi/bye (haha), and it seemed like there was another one, but I can't remember right now.

Benjamin had his vaccination visit today (we're spreading out his shots so he doesn't get a ton in one visit. It means more trips in, but, I feel better about it this way - I'll write more on this later) He just got one and took it like a champion :)

I was also curious as to his weight because he is wearing 6-9 month clothing (Not entirely, but some things, depending on the fit)... My little chunk at 3 months and 6 days weighs in at.......

16lbs. 1oz.!!! This is "nearly off the charts" (97%) for his age. (K weighed 16lbs. at 4 months) Unbelievable!

I want to apologize for not posting a lot of pictures recently. I've been taking them, but when ever I upload them to Blogger, they post all weird and if I try to caption them, they go out of order...I'm not stupid but I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong!! It's RATHER frustrating and I keep meaning to shoot someone an email at Blogger, but...I keep putting it on the back burner...along with calling PlaytexBaby about sending me a new pump since mine died :( going to our old apartment and visiting the Hahns and Macks!!!!...and about 18 other things!!

The Joy :)

I can't stop laughing!

Pictures

Benjamin & his Buddha belly :)

Keaton...being Keaton :)

Thriller ;-)

Thanks to JLeigh for letting me borrow the wrap - one day I'll make it to get my own fabric :)

Full-length wrap

I guess he can!

At our pedi's office, at certain ages, we have to turn in an Ages & Stages form. One of those ages is 18 months, which is all too quickly approaching! One of the questions on this form was "Does you child use a spoon correctly and get most of the food in his/her mouth?" (something along those lines...)

We've been giving Keaton a spoon to use for months, but we've honestly never paid attention (we really usually just gave it to him to entertain himself while we ate!) So we tried this weekend and he did OK with it.

Yesterday, when I went to give him his probiotics in the applesauce, I decided to let him do it himself....

And one of the B-man...this was pre-swing batteries dying yesterday...what a long day it was!!!

A CALM Monday!!!!

I can't believe it's been a "normal" day! Well, it's only 150pm, so I guess there's still plenty of day left! But the fact that we've yet to go to the dr. today - for the first Monday in 7 weeks!!!!! I'm VERY excited!

Really, the only thing I've done, other than eating, feeding, reading and snuggling with B, is get more diapers for K ordered! He's pretty much outgrown all of his current stash! B is slowly getting that way! I think we're going to sell the newborn ones and order the next size. Then, for the next one (which IS NOT on the way!!!! haha!) we'll just use disposables until he/she can fit in the ones we have. They're so little for such a short time. And if I would have looked at how long K was "little" I would have realized this! But since they've really only been used for about 3 weeks, we should be able to get most of the money back and get a decent amount of bigger ones for B until he can fit in what we have for K.

Our scale isn't the best, but I'm curious to know how much B weighs. On the scale last night, it said 13.5 lbs...but, before his 1 month appt. it said he weighed 10.5lbs. (when he was really 9lbs. 12oz.) so...it could be right..or wrong! I'm just very curious because he was in a 0-6 months shirt last night...and his big ol belly was all hanging out! :)

My mom snuggling with Keaton when he was 7 weeks...

My mom snuggling with Benjamin at 6 weeks & 2 days

Bebe brought down the Keaton-sized chair and he LOVES it! He spent most of the morning in it reading!

Love those gummy grins!!!!

Me: "Keaton...stand next to your brother so I can take your picture"
Keaton: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

This could be titled:
1) Brotherly Love
2) Keaton, Be Gentle
3) Why we can't get germs out of this house!
It is so sweet though! He gets right in his face and makes a kiss sound :)

3/4 of the family!

And to end with a funny story. Last night, Benjamin woke up to nurse (I can't remember if this happened at 1 or 4...) but, he was screaming for a minute or two before Zach got him...(which I think I punched you to get up...sorry, honey!) Zach changed his diaper and brought him in the bedroom for me to nurse him. About a minute later, the house is all quiet...and you hear Keaton scream, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" (think "STELLLLLA" & A Streetcar Named Desire) I could NOT stop laughing!!!! It was absolutely hysterical!