9 Months (B)

Simply amazing!

What is B up to?

Well, he has 5 teeth and working on #'s 6, 7 & 8 ((6 & 7 are about to pop through, 8 is on the horizon))

He's trying so hard to crawl - he pops up on all fours and rocks ((can I state AGAIN how nice it is to have him 'contained'...How did I survive when K started crawling at 6 months?! However, with B's 'girth'...he's getting a tad heavy, possibly within 4lbs of K....walking might be nice)) ;-)

He's trying to pull up - he has super arm strength, he just can't figure out what to do with his legs

He loves to crawl over things (like a pile of pillows or K's bean bag seat)

He's eating avocado, bananas, yogurt (for breakfast every morning with avocados or bananas), squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, green beans, and mum mums (due to his potential wheat intolerance/allergy/whatever...) - all homemade (except the mum mums and yogurt - until this weekend...maybe, haha!)

Everything finds its way into B's mouth - including 2 bugs today (he's one up on his brother on that one...that I know of...)

He still, for 9 months now, thinks Keaton is the greatest thing, however, has started lashing back. Yesterday he bit Keaton when he was aggravating him! I had a nice laugh ;-)

He can clap, loves shaking things, loves when things 'disappear' and then reappear, loves to be ticked, "eaten" and kissed

Still sleeping all night, how we got it right at 6 weeks this time, I still have NO idea!

He quit nursing last weekend, much to my dismay, he'd really rather eat solids or be playing - he barely even takes a bottle

He says dada, but no mama - it was the same with Keaton ;-)

He's still as snuggly as ever (and I hope it stays that way!) :)

And I think that's it on my little mini me!

7 months!!

I can not believe it! I know I say that every time, but, really I can't!

The latest -

He had squash today...he really liked that...it was all thanks to my Magic Bullet, good grief, I love that thing!!!

He isn't crawling, thank goodness!!! But this kid can scoot across the room like you wouldn't believe. Zach compared him to the way gymnasts move their legs around on the horse...

He's not really doing anything "new"...other than suffering from a MAJOR case of separation anxiety...whew...you can't walk more than a foot away (if you're lucky) with out him screaming bloody murder! I'm SO thankful for my hotsling these days...

Our lil, excellent sleeper took a turn for the worst and we've been having to get mean and let him cry it out here lately...he's not "adapting" as well as Keaton did when we let him cry (that took 2 nights and we never looked back...it's been about...a month now...haha!) ...speaking of...it's not going so well at the moment and I think I need to intervene...

23 Months (and a day!)

I didn't get to this yesterday...we're still fighting the crud! Zach has it now! ugh...I can tel it is indeed on it's way out though! Finally!

1 more month and my sweet baby will be 2!!!!!! I can not believe it!

I've been making a list of all of Keaton's words to take to his 2 year appointment. I sent them to Zach's mom (she's a speech pathologist) and she was very impressed with his vocab. He's a chatter box, but most of it is in Keatonese :) I'll post the official list when we have his appointment.

He has really been into animal sounds lately, particularly chickens/roosters! He walks around "Er er errrrrr"ing all day, haha!

He loves (always has, but especially as of late) helping me in the kitchen, with laundry & of course taking care of B. (putting bottles in the sink, getting burp cloths, handing me diapers, etc...)

B is definitely his favorite toy! I love watching them interact - these boys are hysterical!

He loves "reading" to me, but will sit for book after book after book if I'm reading.

He's wearing 2 & 3T clothing.

We're planning & getting ready for his party! And that's about it!

Happy 23 months & a day, bud!

B's 6 Month Appointment

he did great...Keaton...made me want to crawl in a hole. He spent the better part of an hour on the floor kicking and screaming...for no reason...just because he could. I think it's worth it to hire a sitter for any upcoming appointments.

Benjamin got the rotavirus oral vaccination and the pentacel (DTaP, Polio and HIB combo). He puckered his lip and then smiled at the nurse! With his fat thighs, I'm certain he didn't feel too much!

He is 28.75in and weighs 21lbs6.8oz...both 97%...his head is 43.6cm (40%) - where Keaton always was with length and head size - except K didn't weigh this much til about 14 months, haha!

He's doing perfectly developmentally (according to the ages and stages form). She said we could introduce a cup with water in it at meal times...

And that was that!

6 months!

I can't believe it has been 6 MONTHS since my lil sugar lump was born!!!

He's huge. I had a lady in the bathroom at church this morning, while I was changing his diaper, ask if she could chomp on his thighs - this wasn't weird to me because I think about eating him everyday! haha! :) He is quite a chunk and I love it!

He's so far had oatmeal, bananas and avocados. Sweet potatoes will enter the menu tomorrow, followed by apples. The boy loves to eat :)

He's getting very active on the floor, but not crawling yet (whew!) Last night, he looked like a break dancer spinning around on his belly and scooting everywhere!

He still loves screeching...it's still loud ;-)

He's getting the "mmmm" sound down perfectly, and the other day, I opened the pantry and he said, "Oh!" haha! :)

He loves flirting with the ladies, batting those gorgeous eyes at them and showing off his two front teeth!

So far, it's only those two, but I keep having VERY vivid dreams about there being more...and those more...hurting me ;-)

He still loves his jumperoo. He is more 'content' if I walk away now (which is wonderful!) He loves playing on the floor with Keaton (or I should say, Keaton loves playing on the floor with him!)

He's in Medium, but could sometimes use Large, cloth diapers (size 4 in disposables) & wearing 12-18 month clothing.

So, that's the latest on my sugar lump :)

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...

5 months

Once again - I'm baffled?! Was he really born 5 MONTHS ago?? 5 weeks, maybe! Not MONTHS!

Ok, enough of that! :)

Well, not a whole lot to 'update' on, but here goes :)

2 teeth so far (ugh) he's not biting as much, mostly just if Keaton comes running through the room screaming and scares him :)

He's a rolling fool now :) Well, atleast rolling one way! He hasn't mastered from front to back - he just gets mad....really mad...and screams until one of us roll him over.

He loves:
Being in the wrap (as much as humanly possible!)
Being in the jumperoo (He looks like he will fly out of that thing most days!)
Snuggling with mommy (he buries his head into my neck - and I melt!)
His big brother! (He watches EVERYthing K does and quite often laughs at him!)
K's sock monkey he got for Christmas (K is growing to like it! haha)

He is slowly getting Ok with going to other people. Rarely do we see that precious bottom lip poke out anymore when 'strangers' are around :) He is DEFINITELY a mama's boy though! (And I love it!)

We're thinking he's about 19lbs. I had to pull out K's 12 month PJs for B to fit into. He's mostly in 12 month clothes (of course, depending on the brand/cut/fit - it could be 6 mos, 9 mos or 12 mos)

He loves his cloth diapers (as does mama) and he actually screamed at me the other day when I had to put a Luvs on him in the middle of the day (we do cloth during the day and disposibles at night for various reasons) He's in Med. cloth diapers and size 3 in disposibles, but we'll probably buy 4's next time - due to his Buddah belly and thunder thighs!

He's super long - not sure how much, but, very long :) Totally normal for the Jones' boys, I think!

We haven't started solids yet, for a handful and a half of reason, but we will start with oatmeal at 6 mos.

We go next Friday (I think) for some shots (we're doing a delayed schedule)

He is sleeping through the night almost always. Teeth and rolling have screwed this up the past couple of nights (OK - almost a week now, sigh)

And that's our baby!

Keaton loves...scratch that - ADORES his little brother! Today, on the way back from the chiro, I looked back and K was just about asleep (B was) and they were holding hands...they were still holding hands when we got home. :) I'm enjoying that while it lasts ;-)

21 months

Wait - what?! 21 MONTHS?! like, in 3 months he'll be 2???? oh my!

Keaton has new discoveries everyday and never ceases to amaze me.

His vocab is taking off. I was 'warned' by other mama's from the 'older toddlers' class that once their child was in that room, there was no stopping their vocab. Now, I know what you're thinking if you know Zach or myself - we were worried about this child talking?! (how about getting a word in edgewise?!) :) I wasn't worried. I just wasn't pleased with where he was when he went into that class. But a few things have happened since he entered the older toddlers class room 3 months ago - I do not compare my child anymore to other children, I ignore other mama's and their 'well, my child is doing x, y, and z...' and well, Keaton proved those mama's right!

His latest words include:
Blue, shirt, grandma (he said it 2x when he saw Zach's mom!), carrot and drill (he got a tool set for Christmas)

He has started a handful of 'sentences':
"what's that?"
"where go?" (Where did it go?)
"there is!" (There it is!)
"Where is?" (Where is it?)

His vocab (atleast what we can understand!) is growing everyday! Of course, 'no' is still the word of choice, but I've given up on changing that (I have not given up on disciplining for it as needed, however). He said "Benjamin" once, way back when, but continues to call him "B". He recognizes the letter "B" (probably because there is one in Benjamin's room and we always talk about it) - I can show him a B and he'll respond correctly. Sometimes with A as well.

He will count "1" and hold up one finger, but anything past one is "no"!

He absolutely loves to do puzzles. He got a super cool puzzle book for Christmas and I seriously think he would play with it all day if I didn't 'hide' it!

He has gone to the bathroom on the potty once, totally by chance but has (thankfully!) shown no desire for a repeat performance!

He climbed out of his crib once, and again, no encore.

However, while at Zach's parents for Christmas, we had laid him down for a nap. The next thing we hear from the top of the steps is, "Hey! Hey!" He had climbed out of his pack & play, opened the door and wandered down the hall! Thankfully, he didn't try to go down the stairs (we were all down stairs at the time)

He still loves to play peek-a-boo, but has his own twist on it. He takes your hands and covers your face and takes them away when HE is ready for peek-a-boo! Another game he could play for hours! :)

In the last couple of weeks, he has become very affectionate in giving hugs and 'kisses' (aka: headbutts!)

He LOVES Benjamin. That's all there is to it. He must be wherever B is. If B is on the floor, Keaton is on the floor. If I go to chance B's diaper, Keaton must tag along. He is super sweet with him and would hug him all day if I'd let him, but he gets a little aggressive with his hugs on occasion.

I've started thinking about his 2nd birthday festivities....not ready to share quite yet, but, soon :)

4 months

Well, silly me posted pictures instead of talking about B yesterday! He turned 4 months! How quickly this time has passed!

He is usually a very happy baby (compared to K up until this point!) He loves "talking" - he jabbers all day long! He is super smiley and makes me melt with every gummy grin! He is trying so hard to roll over (I'm not encouraging it!) He loves his toes (who doesn't?!) He loves chewing and sucking on his hands. He still would rather be in the wrap snuggled up next to me than any other place (and I would rather that too!)

He's been sleeping thru the night since about 6 weeks (minus the snafu with HFM and a few days after...) He just doesn't like to nap (taking after Keaton)

He loves being in his jumperoo and jumping and making the silly thing make all sorts of noises.We've had to move it up to the 2nd level - we're not sure if it's because he's that long or if it's his weight weighing it down (I'm not kidding!)

He loves his big brother and watches everything he does (and laughs when K gets into trouble! hhahah!)

We go on Monday for his 4 month check up and 2 vaccinations (1 shot and 1 oral) ((I promise soon, I'll write about what we're doing and why!)) I'm SO excited to see how much he weighs, I really do feel our scale was pretty accurate in saying 18lbs....we shall see!

So that's my baby at 4 months! I could eat him :)
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On the mommy front, I'm just about done with Christmas. I've been busy doing a lot by hand this year and it's been so much fun.

To go along with my peppermint marshmallows I "made" peppermint all purpose cleaner! I bought some 7th Generation All-Purpose cleaner and some peppermint essential oil. In a separate spray bottle I poured 4 oz. of cleaner and a bunch of drops of oil. I shook it & started cleaning...ahhhh, Christmas on my counters! yummmmmy!

I can't wait to show off some of my hand made goods, but not til after Christmas!!

I was also accepted to write for another blog, 24 hour menu. It's a recipe blog that I really enjoy reading. I'm super excited about this! I've really been enjoying coming up with ideas and writing for {busy mommy} as well.

Time to throw dinner in the oven! Til next time