Monday, October 26, 2015

South Creek Park

We recently discovered South Creek Park and it's one of our new favorites! It's under ten minutes away, and it's a big park that's very EJ-friendly. 



Later at home, I asked EJ what his favorite part of the park was, and he said the water fountain. Apparently it had a big effect on him.


Swinging! Aaron just started using the baby swings.




Swinging with Daddy! This is the first picture of its kind. 



Sunday, October 25, 2015

EJ - 2 Years



Age: 
TWO YEARS OLD! (As of October 18th.)

Stats:
25.1 lbs (30th percentile) and 32.5 inches long (4th percentile). EJ is still a bit of a shorty, but from now on he'll only be measured on the normal growth chart. No more adjusted ages!

Wears:
EJ is small, so he still wears some 18 month clothes, and also wears 24 month and some 2T. He wears size 6 shoes and size 4 diapers. He wears lots of rompers and onesies around the house because he likes taking his clothes and diaper off. So far he hasn't figured out how to get out of one piece outfits!

Says:
New words every day! EJ has over 100 words now and repeats new ones all the time. He's just starting to string two and very occasionally three words together. He says lots of things that we can't understand, but it's clear that he knows exactly what he's talking about!

Sleeps:
Still a great sleeper! Pete puts EJ to bed around 9, and EJ has recently started putting himself to sleep. He started to shift around and have trouble getting comfortable in Pete's lap when Pete rocked or bounced him to sleep, so now our big boy goes into his crib awake after a few books. EJ turns on his crib aquarium, rolls over, and goes to sleep. He wakes up around 7:30 most days, sometimes a bit later. EJ goes down for his nap between 11 and 12 depending on if we go to Stroller Strides that day, and sleeps for 2-3 hours (usually closer to 2).

Eats:
EJ has recently become obsessed with Honey Nut Cheerios in a bowl with milk. He asks for it multiple times a day! The other day he asked for Cheerios, so I poured some on his high chair tray. He said, "MOMMY! Milk! Bowl! Spoon!" He doesn't mess around when it comes to his "cheewios and mek."
He also loves Nutrigrain Bars, oatmeal, dried mango, avocado, grapes, smoothies, pesto, and cheese. He will usually eat rice or quinoa lately. We make lots of grilled cheese sandwiches with broccoli or spinach and macaroni and cheese with broccoli or peas. He loves waffles! Sunday mornings we always make waffles, and EJ gets very excited about waffle Sundays now! He loves feeding himself and dipping his food in things. He had a recent meal that consisted almost exclusively of barbecue sauce sucked off a roasted carrot.

Loves:
His new bike! He got a Strider bike from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Terry for his birthday, and he's obsessed. He rides it multiple times every day. I guess it's a good thing we don't have much furniture in our living room!
He still LOVES baking and always wants to be a part of anything going on in the kitchen. EJ always makes sure Aaron has his own spatula if Aaron is with us when we bake.
He loves coloring and stickers, playing dress up, dancing, playing outside, climbing, and jumping.
He's super active and loves, loves, loves going to the park. He just recently started swinging on the big boy swings.
Shrieking! The phase that never ends.
Drinking from regular cups
Playing with water
Old school Donald Duck and Chip and Dale cartoons. He loves them! I used to love them, too, so it's fun to watch them with him.
Banging on our laptops
Pushing buttons
Bounce Houses
Reading books. He's up to 778 in the library's 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten program!

Dislikes:
Being told no!
Coming in from outside. Leaving the park.
Waiting
Daddy leaving for work :(

Plays:
Bike
Blocks and things he can stack
Puzzles
Books
Dress up clothes. Capes and hats are his favorites, and he also loves his bumblebee wings.
He pretends to make food and feed it to us.

EJ & Aaron
EJ loves Aaron! He has some trouble sharing sometimes, but he's getting better. He likes to feed Aaron and bring him toys and blankets. He babbles to Aaron, and I so wish we knew what he was telling him! If I lay Aaron on a blanket or play mat on the floor, EJ always runs over and lays down next to him. EJ gives Aaron kisses every night before bed, and has started saying "Sorry, Aaron" when he is too rough.

The Fab Five Birthday Bash

     This year, EJ and four of his best buddies (affectionately referred to as the Fab Five) had a joint 2nd birthday party! We rented a gazebo next to a playground and hired a popular local children's band to play. There were three cakes and over 100 people! It was very hot that day (around 100 degrees!) but we still had a great time!

The hot, sweaty, and somewhat grumpy birthday boy!

The birthday kids and their families.


Look at those pink cheeks!

Hullabaloo! (More Hullabaloo here, here, and here.)


Aaron tried to eat the scarf, just like EJ used to do.






We were worried the frosting on the cakes would melt in the extreme heat, but luckily it held up well. 

Gavin (11/12), Teagan (11/8), Andrew (11/3), Ethan (9/30), and EJ (10/18)! 



Thursday, October 8, 2015

Aaron - 4 Months



Age:
Four months old!

Stats:
16 lbs 9 oz (73rd percentile) and 26.5 inches long (95th percentile). Aaron's a big boy. And apparently a tall one! EJ was about this size when he turned one.

Wears:
6 month and 9 month clothes, size 2 diapers. He's definitely ready for size 3! We're just trying to use up the last of the 2s. Then he and EJ will be in consecutive sizes of diapers.

Says:
Aaron is a chatty guy! He makes lots of super cute baby sounds and laughs now.

Sleeps:
Aaron had been waking once a night at 4am to eat pretty consistently, but over the past couple weeks he's been reverting to waking twice, at 2am and 5am. I do not approve! He made up for it last night- he slept through the night for the first time! I fed him at 9:30 and he didn't wake up to eat until after 6am. It was amazing. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come.
Aaron is awake a lot during the day now. He takes one long nap in the afternoon, and a few cat naps here and there.

Eats:
Formula and breastmilk. He has six, four ounces bottles per day and breastfeeds 3-4 times.

Loves:
Smiling! Aaron is just the happiest little guy.
He loves his playmat, chewing on toys, and grabbing his toes.
His bouncy chair. If we bounce it with our feet, he'll sit in there for days.
Being tickled!
Rolling over! Aaron has been rolling back to tummy for almost a month. EJ's first roll was documented like this. Aaron rolled at least four times without me even seeing it! I'd lay him down on his back, go help EJ with something, and all of a sudden he'd be on his tummy. Sorry, second child. I saw him do it eventually! And now he does it all the time.
Laughing! Aaron first laughed at seven weeks, but then we didn't hear it again for a while. Then we started hearing it more, and for the past couple weeks he's been laughing a lot. It's so much fun!
Drooling. He is so, so drooly.

Dislikes:
Being put down. Aaron still prefers being held or played with. He'll play by himself for a little while, but he likes being with Mommy or Daddy.
Cold bottles!
Not being able to roll off his tummy.

Plays:
On his playmat
With any baby toys he can grab
In the Exersaucer

Aaron & EJ
Aaron adores EJ. Whenever EJ plays with him, Aaron gets so happy! It's the cutest thing ever.



He still has those big blue eyes!

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Pumpkin Patch

We went back to the pumpkin patch at Bates Nut Farm!












EJ and Ethan loved watching a helicopter land.


Each facing a different direction. Welcome to taking group pictures of toddlers.



EJ rolled this pumpkin down the road.