2012 Resolution

Happy New Year!

Picking a New Year's resolution is a tradition which I particularly enjoy. I've never kept one for a whole year, but that's beside the point. The start of a year and a new good habit is refreshing and motivational. Awhile ago I was reading a marriage blog that I enjoy perusing on occasion, and one post in particular has stuck with me. It basically said that when it comes to being wanted, all one can do is present something worth wanting.  I found that so profound and eye-opening. So my resolution this year will be to present and BE something worth wanting...as a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a friend.  It means becoming a better person in many ways, such as being kind, nurturing my friendships and family, being patient with my children, etc.  It also means taking responsibility (at least in part) for the failure or success of these relationships.

So, on this first day of 2012, I hereby resolve to:
     Be a wife worth marrying over again.
     Be a mother one would choose if given a choice.
     Be a daughter, sister, and friend that is supportive, present, loving, compassionate, etc, etc, etc.

And I can't help but wonder - what will 2012 bring?  2009 brought us Everett.  2010 brought the pregnancy that brought us Paxton in 2011.  It's crazy to look back on all the change that has happened in three short years!

A Few Christmas Firsts

Well today Paxton learned how to crawl!   And Everett learned how to give raspberries/zerberts! 

Some Funny Ones

I have to hide my boots because Everett loves trying them on.

Here is Paxton being swallowed by his winter-wear.  The gross looking things in Everett's bowl are NOT items of food I give him but rather chunks of play-dough that he fell in love with and could not part from for about a week.

 "Potty?!" No Ev, the Rug Doctor is not a potty.

Every time we go to Target, the same conversation...
Ev: "Car!  Drive!"
Me: "No Everett, that is for people whose legs don't work well.  And yours work JUUUUST fine!"

 "Phhhhbbbbbt"  We've been getting a lot of fun motorboat noises from Pax lately.

Everett got his picture of "Wenew" (Aunt Lauren).  He put it on the floor and then gathered some of his toys so they could play together.  Awwwww!  Sweet and sad at the same time.

Heehee.  I'll let you caption this one for yourself.  They're both making hilarious faces.  Needless to say they don't look thrilled about either the walk or their outfits.  But don't worry, the very next picture I took has them smiling.  It's just not as funny.  :)

New Food Friday #2

Well, we seem to have delved into food with a bit too much vigor.  Pax is practically begging for the food we eat in front of him, but his little body just isn't as ready as his mind.  It certainly isn't ready for two meals per day.  After four days of carrots, we finally figured out that it was the reason for 2+ hours of crying in the night.  We went a few days with no solid food, and the wake-ups stopped.  Over the last few days he has had very little solids, but we have introduced pear both in its whole state (through a net as seen below) and pureed.  This was started after he very jealously watched Everett and I share a pear.  I couldn't help but give him a small piece, and he really went to town on it.  I would not have guessed you could eat pear entirely through mesh.

On the verge of upset.  Ev's hand is a blur because it is about to push Pax onto the pillow so he can relax.  Pax didn't quite look at it the same way.  haha!  It really was well intentioned.

Play Pax Sophie!

I especially love seeing what Everett's first word to me will be when I get him up in the morning or after a nap.  Usually it's something like "Ju" (Juice) or "Pa" (Pax).  Today's was especially sweet.  I had Pax with me, and when we went in, Ev said, "Pway Pa Popie! Pway Pa Popie!" (play Pax Sophie).  I lifted him out of his crib, and he bolted for where all the toys are kept.  He looked for Sophie, Pax's toy giraffe.  When he couldn't find her, he ran back to his room, rattle in hand and plopped it on Pax's chest, very proud of himself.  Then he laid right on down for me to change his diaper!  Seems like a dream, but I swear it was reality.  What a sweet boy.  :)

Pax Skywalker

Using the Force to obtain more oatmeal.

The Return of New Food Fridays!

When Everett was starting to eat, I dubbed Fridays as New Food Fridays in order to provide a week between introducing new foods.  And because it's fun.  I'm sorry to say I, myself, did not have anything new today.  I'll have to work on that for next week.  Pax's new food today was carrots.  I didn't realize until reading Everett's New Food Friday post that his first food was also carrots.  Paxton's first bite surprised him, but then he was excited for more.  He eagerly ate the entire serving.  You can see I'm not bothering with a bib these days.  He is a much less messy eater than, ahem, I am used to.  :)  Although, I'm sure it's just that we are more experienced feeders.

Yessss!

Carrots = Pure Happiness

Everett's Birthday, Take TWO!

Over Thanksgiving we had a little 2nd birthday celebration for Everett while my family was in town.  He enjoyed TWO carrot and applesauce cupcakes (SO good!).  Here is a fun photo comparison below.  My how they grow in one year!!!  Despite Everett's face in his one year pictures, I assure you he thoroughly enjoyed that chocolate cupcake. 

Pax Eats!

Real food that is!  It's that time!  I was dreading the messy, pureed, tedious learning-to-eat stage for awhile, but I've finally come around and am excited again.  I guess amid the toddler pickiness, I am excited for the fun that babies have with new food experiences.

I've had several people make comments wondering why I waited so long.  This puzzles me.  So let me briefly explain myself.  The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting on solid foods until 6 months of age for several reasons.  One reason is to prevent development of allergies by early exposure to allergens.  The digestive tract also needs some time to mature.  I also felt he needed to be able to sit adequately in the high chair, which for now is mostly adequate - some propping required.  And finally, there is a tongue thrust reflex in which their tongue pushes food out of their mouth when introduced.  You can see why this would be a great survival skill and another reason why little humans are so amazing.  Trying to get them to eat before this reflex disappears...well it's really messy.  And learning to eat is already messy.  The final and very important reason to wait has to do with his genetically inherited (my fault) proclivity to regurgitate all day.  Spit up blueberries, beets, and such?  Not fun.  Been there with Ev.  Not anxious to go back. 

So Pax is 5.5 months, and he is showing great interest in participating in meals.  Yesterday I gave him a slice of apple in this device that holds food in a net.  He gnawed and sucked on it and thoroughly loved it.  Tonight he finally got to do what he's been begging to do for a few weeks.  He sat at the table and ate dinner with his family!  :)  It felt so right to have all four of us around the table. 

First I made sure he could sit in and tolerate the high chair. 

Those smiles are for Daddy.  :)
Then we sat down for dinner for the first time as four eaters.  I know, there should be something green on our plates.  I had salad for lunch.  :)

Paxton, like his brother, ate more than I expected.  He eagerly ate his oatmeal, and he did really well.  Of course I'm better at it this time around.  I didn't bother with the super thinned out cereal.  I mean, who likes feeding someone soup on a tiny spoon?  Not me!  We skipped to a thicker version.

And below - of course Everett decided he needed to wear a bib now too...while playing with his farm. 

Just So You Know...

Ev and Pax, I look through our pictures on my phone every night before I go to sleep. You know, when I was a kid we didn't take pictures everyday, we had to wait for film to be developed, AND if we didn't capture the moment just right we had to live with bad pictures because the moment was waaaay gone. Can you imagine??? Oh and we also didn't have cameras in our phone...or phones in our pocket. But that's another story for another day.

A Sampling of Our Favorite Everett Words

 

p.s. He must have gotten ketchup from the sound the bottle makes.  :)  Funny kid. 

Ev and J's Day of Pfun!

Tuesday when I took Pax to the clinic, my friend, Aida (she lives in Pflugerville, so fun becomes pfun and means it was extra fun), was generous enough to let me drop Everett off for the morning. Her son, Julián, is Everett's best buddy, and Everett was incredibly excited to spend this time with him. These boys are born a few days apart and have known each other all their two years of life.  The great thing about Everett and Julián is that though Ev speaks English and J speaks Spanish they understand each other perfectly.  Better than we do I'm sure.  Here's a fun example of how their speech merges.  Everett used to call dogs "bark bark", and Julián calls big dogs "vaca", which is "cow" in Spanish.  Now Everett calls dogs "baca".  haha! 

Well, referee Aida did a fantastic job.  As you can see, the boys played beautifully together though she tells me there was one fight that was also documented.  I haven't seen the footage, but I do believe it.  haha!  There were an abundance of incredibly adorable pictures, some of which are below.  (I had trouble selecting just a few. ;) 

Moving in!

They look like they could be brothers, right?

Little engineers at work.

If you know how toddlers play, you know this is an amazing display of the very difficult concept of SHARING!

Pax Cute

I took the boys to a baby shower for some dear friends on Sunday.  Ever since then, Everett has been looking at Pax and saying "Pa Cue".  Translation: Pax [is] cute.  Haha!  He must have heard a lot of people saying that.  He isn't bothered by it or jealous.  He says it endearingly and with a sweet smile.  I keep assuring him that Everett is cute too.  I should say "Ev Cue".  :)  I try to get him to say "Mama Cue", but so far I got nothin'.  haha!

Swings

It's amazing what 19.5 months will do!

Our Quest for a Round Head

Yesterday I took Paxton in for evaluation of his head shape.  He has brachycephaly, or flat head syndrome.  This is pretty common now since kids are put to sleep on their backs to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).  Hey, flat head is better than death!  The treatment can be a helmet to help reshape the head, but it looks like that's not recommended by the clinic we went to until 6 months (he is 4.5 mo).  In the meantime, he gave me a whole bunch of impractical advice such as putting him on his stomach to sleep and sit and watch him during the nap at first.  Um yea, not really an option as I have a two year old (which he didn't ask about before giving these great tips).  And when I brought up that he will not relax on his stomach and lay his head down, rather he only cries harder and harder, his response...that I'm not letting him cry long enough (he did not ask how long I let him cry) and that Pax would eventually lay his head down and fall asleep.  No thank you!  I'd rather not upset my child into exhaustion to have him plop his head face first into a mattress and fall asleep.  I'm pretty positive that this guy doesn't have kids or that if he does he had very little to do with raising them.  He said some other pretty ridiculous things and didn't ask anything about what we've already done.  He had no idea he was talking to a healthcare professional married to another healthcare professional and that I could tell what a poor job he was doing. .

So I'm upping our already in place efforts to keep him off the back of his head.  My goal is very little use of the bouncer and swing, and trying to limit the carseat as much as practical.  When he can roll both ways more proficiently, he will naturally start sleeping on his stomach.  And if not, that would be the appropriate time to encourage him to do so.  I use baby carriers often.  We got a Bumbo, which is a special chair that helps him sit before he can actually sit on his own.  So far, Pax will sit in it for a little bit, but Ev spends most of the day plopping in and out of it and crawling around with it stuck to his butt.  He's obsessed with it.

My back feels like it's about to break from carrying Pax all day.  Paxton, when you're old enough to read this, and if you have a nicely shaped head, know that massages would be good Mother's Day presents from you.  And while I'm at it, Everett, it's pretty hard lifting your 30 lb self into and out of the car, crib, bathtub, etc.  So you can buy me massages too.  ;)

Everett's 2-year Stats

Ev went to the doctor today for his 2 year well check.  All is well, and he was very brave.  Here are his stats.

Height: 37" - 98%tile
Weight: 29lb 2 oz - 60-75%tile
Head: 49cm - 50-75%tile

If you go by the old approximation that his final height will be twice his two year old height, then he is predicted to be 6'2"!  So hard but amazing to imagine him an inch taller than Eric someday.  :)

Two Years of Immense Love

Happy Birthday to our sweet Everett!  It's hard to believe it was two years ago that you entered our lives.  Time goes too fast.  What's even more amazing is how our hearts know no limits when it comes to love.  Just one of the amazing things you taught us immediately.

Everett, you are TWO!  And you are:

-SMART!  You find ways to play with your toys that I would have never thought of.  Yesterday you used a straw to aid in stacking blocks that have a hole in them.  You can remember where you put something days ago.  You are learning words at a rapid pace now and can retain words told to you just once.  My absolute favorite thing you are doing right now is saying a prayer, "O God guide me" before bed.  You repeat after me or Dad, and often instead of repeating you say the next word.  Most of the words are intelligible to only God Himself, but in your defense they are big words.  And God is the only one who really has to understand anyway.  I'm going to put that on video soon.  :)

-FUNNY!  You say really funny things.  You love to laugh.  You love to make Paxton laugh. You are a generally very happy guy.

-CARING!  You hold Sophie (giraffe teether) in Pax's mouth to help him chew on it.  You are sharing your toys with him now.  You softly rub his hair.  Lately you say "hold Pax!" a lot, which means you want to hold him, and which makes Pax laugh and smile.  Today as Pax was crying, protesting his nap, I found you camped outside his door quietly playing with one of your toys.  Also, you recently found a stuffed bear and pig and have been carrying them around, feeding them, putting them to sleep, pushing them down the slide, etc. 

-HELPFUL!  You like to put things back where they belong.  You like helping me clean, wiping things off with a rag, putting trash in the trash can, and trying to sweep.  You hand me things I need for Pax, like the burp rags.  You and Paxton share a bath now, and you enjoy helping bathe him.

-You're normal too.  You have tantrums.  You don't always listen.  You love cookies.  You know, normal two year old stuff.  :) 

We love you SO much and are really enjoying watching you grow up.  Happy birthday Everett!

These are some pictures from his best buddy Julian's birthday party this past weekend (Halloween hence the cowboy costume).

Loving getting buried by Dad at the dino pit

Mother's Day in October

What a day!  First Everett poops in the potty for the first time (I know, I know.  I told myself I wouldn't be one of those moms that broadcasts this news, but it's much more exciting than I anticipated.).  And THEN he asks for vegetables for breakfast!  OK, sure!  Chants for "mommy!  mommy!" don't go unrewarded around here.  Ok, that's not for me, but for edamame...but still...it sounds nice.  ;)

Quick Updates

I realize I haven't been blogging much lately.  Life has been exponentially more busy with two, though it feels a lot more normal now.  Let's see what news I can come up with quickly here...

-Paxton is having a hard time sleeping lately; therefore we all are.  He is in the midst of mastering the art of rolling over.  He goes to his belly with ease, but then gets stuck.  He is incredibly cute, so you can't be mad at the guy for getting us up 4-5 times/night.  He'll get it, and we'll all rest better soon.  He's talking a lot, loves watching Everett, and enjoys hanging out in the jumper.  He is really interested in manipulating the toys on it, which is fun to watch.  Oh, and his big squishy cheeks and thighs are so adorable, I just kiss and squeeze him all day long.  I love him SOOOO much!

-Everett's speech is blossoming and hilarious and so cute.  He is using the potty more and more, which is exciting for us.  Potty is also my favorite word he says lately.  It comes out like "paw-ee".  So cute.  He also says "boobee" = blueberries, which makes it hilarious when he talks about big blueberries.  He calls rabbits "tatas", and he likes to point out and exclaim BIG TREE when he sees them, which happens to come out "biiicheee".  We are trying to teach him "tall tree" though he's still partial to the previous.  Eeek!  Haha!  When we ask him his name or if he talks about himself lately, he says "you".  Hmm.  So we sound really strange as we are replacing "you" with "Everett" in our sentences to help him learn.  Also, Ev loves to be my sous chef, which equates to him standing on a chair watching me cook most of the time.  But sometimes he even gets to stir...which is really messy.  But hey, I'm the messy cook, who am I to judge.  I also love him SOOOO much!

-Eric has been having to work away from home for several days at a time lately.  Boo!  We miss Daddy so much when he's gone.  It is perhaps making me feel more capable managing the two boys on my own though.  I admit I tend to freak out in advance, which is just silly.  Trying to do that less.  Eric is such a great Dad, and I have really been enjoying watching him with the boys.  And I love him SOOOO much! 

-And me.  Not much new going on with me.  Just taking care of the boys, laundry, cooking, cleaning, laundry, playgrounds, storytime, laundry, errands, dr appointments, weeding, and you know...laundry.  The usual.  I'm enjoying getting to go for walks now that it is not 100+ degrees everyday.  We had 90 days of that this summer!  Unbelievable.  The mornings are just gorgeous, so we've been spending a lot of time outside.  I just love starting my day with Pax (Everett is still sleeping) and a cup of coffee outside as the sun is coming up and the birds are singing.  Aaaah.