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.

Paxton is 3 Months!

Wow, I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  Time flies.  I will admit it has been a hard three months.  Not because Pax is difficult at all, but rather the overall transition to family of four.  I feel like it has been an intensive training in parenting two, and I am starting to get the hang of our new routine.  I'm much more comfortable bringing them both somewhere now, though it is still quite scary when traffic or elevators are involved (there was an incident involving a small Everett hand getting stuck for an eternity a short time.  It was so scary I felt like I could faint, but all is well and Dr. Daddy was there).  Our challenge these days is getting them to not wake each other up when napping or sleeping at night.  Bedtime can be like a crazy sleep circus involving me going from one baby to the other and back to get them both asleep sometimes.  This is, of course, when Eric is working in the evening.  When he's here it is much easier to coordinate.

So Pax seems to have turned into a typical three month old baby overnight.  But he DID turn into a three month baby overnight, you say.  Ok, that's true.  But any parent will understand that three months is magical.  All of a sudden he is more engaged in his environment.  He laughs more easily and for longer periods of time.  Watching Everett is fascinating and usually gets a smile.  All of a sudden he is also talking a LOT and loudly.  I really love having conversations with him.

Here is an excellent video of my singing...no, don't worry...of Pax laughing.  Oh, but there IS singing.  Sorry.  Enjoy!