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!