The Christmas Saga Continues...

I am so tired tonight that I feel like someone has tied bricks to my limbs. I forgot how exhausting it is to keep eyes on a crawling baby who has every intention of finding only the choking hazards and coffee tables.

But today was a great day, a perfect day.

This morning we had Peanut's 9 month well visit. His official stats are :

26 pounds 6 ounces (greater than 100th percentile)

30 1/4 inches long (95th percentile)

Unofficially, he is a fatty fat rolly polly adorable chunk-a-chunk

He checked out and wowed the doctors with his feats of strength, many many teeth, and ability to crawl, pull up but not roll over. (The doctor said that there is nothing to worry about with his lack of rolling over - apparently he is just past that, doesn't need it and has decided that he is just too much of a rock star to bother with rolling over).

When we arrived home, Mee-Mom (my mom) and Mommom (my grandmother) were already there. Oh and Simba (or Dumba as Little Man calls her), we can't forget Simba the entertainment with 4 legs. Little Man was already in the throws of being spoiled as Mee-Mom was providing him with his second (yes, second) round of Christmas presents and Simba was doing tricks for him. Peanut did his best to impress our guests with his crawling abilities as he chased Simba around. The dog didn't even know he was chasing her as he isn't super quick, but there were a few times we thought he was going to get a handful of fur. Little Man had " a job to do" as he "worked" at his new workbench (a gift from Mommom), sawing and cutting foam wood and building things, Peanut tried to eat the foam pieces and after deciding that they didn't taste so great moved on to trying to chew on all of the tools. Simba might have gone back to DE a little ill from all of the treats Little Man insisted on feeding her. We had a great dinner (yes, I made it and yes, I am bragging - but it was my first Chicken Pot Pie and it was fabulous). And the night ended with Peanut stealing Mommom's heart as he reached for her to hold him and then stared into her eyes. (He is a bit of a lady's man)

What a way to end 2009! I think Mee-Mom's 2010 resolution is to cut down on the toy purchases for the boys and like most resolutions won't be kept at all!! As for me and Papa Bear, well our 2010 resolution is to get more sleep.

Stay tuned for Tot Clocks, the return of "The Chicken by the door" and Little Man's man bag.....all to come in 2010!!

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

Not me! And not Little Man! He loves wolves and Giants and even monsters. We have conquered our fear of all of those things. But chickens...well that is a different story all together. Chickens, my friends, invoke such fear that screaming and running down the hallway in shear terror at 1 am occurs. Or rather occurred....last night. Sometime after 1 am (I didn't have my glasses on so I saw the 1 but the rest was blurry) Little Man came running and screaming down the hallway straight to my side of the bed. I scooped him up as he huffed and puffed and whimpered in my arms. I comforted him and asked him was scared him. I was ready for the Big Bad Wolf attack or a Giant tried to eat him - things from books we have read that in the day time didn't affect him but at night, well, I thought that may be an entirely different story. So I was shocked to say the least when he says "The chicken." The Chicken?? So asked again about what scared him. And he again said "The chicken by my door". So Papa Bear diligently got up and shooed "the chicken" out of the house and Little Man agreed to go back to bed in his own room after being reassured multiple times that "the chicken by his door" was properly disposed of by Papa Bear. I guess one kid's monster is another kid's chicken.

Manic Monday

The combination of sugar, holiday spirit, having Papa Bear home for extra days and household projects have left us all in a state of disarray, but in a very good way.

This morning we went to a soft playroom to let Little Man literally bounce of the walls and Peanut have freedom to crawl and explore without the typical bumps and bruises. It meant skipping morning naps for Peanut and a snack in the car while on the go for Little Man, but it was worth it. Then home for lunch and an impromptu instrument band created by Papa Bear and Little Man with water bottles full of rice (shakers) and jugs with a rubberband (guitar) and my tupperware and spoons (drums). Yes, I know we technically own all of these instruments for real, but they had to much fun making their own band (just like Curious George did in an episode Little Man watched recently). Peanut laughed and played and tried to eat the coffee table until we dragged him away to take his nap.

This staycation while Papa Bear is technically on-call for work but doesn't have to go in is already shaping up with a perfect blend of family fun events and home projects. Later to come in the week is a visit from Mee-Mom, Mommom and Simba as well as an indoor water park at the rec center!

Pockets Full of Peanut Contraband

Traditionally we have our Christmas decorations up for a full month, but this year they came down a few days early due to life in a post-Easy to Find Peanut world. This morning we realized that we could try to keep the halls decked in the holiday way and go crazy trying to keep Peanut safe or we could buck tradition and take the relaxing way out. So while Peanut napped and Little Man and Papa Bear played in the playroom I dismantled it all. I felt a little like the Grinch as Little Man looked up at me with his trusting eyes and said in his sweet little voice, "Why are you taking the Christmas tree down Mama? Why?" But even with his increasing anxiety about Christmas disappearing we pushed on. Ahhh, sweet relief....no more tiny ornaments for Peanut to choke on! Except that we found out that our house is not nearly as Peanut proof as we thought it was. What we thought was up high enough, is now in reach. What we thought was safe in a bag was quickly dumped out. So Papa Bear and I followed Peanut around all day collecting pockets full of contraband. Choking hazards. So in a post-sitting still, post-holiday decorations world - well we still have a pockets full of Peanut contraband.

Merry Christmas 2009

The morning came early today! Papa Bear was up into the wee hours of the morning putting the finishing touches on the "Giant" mural for Little Man so when he waltzed into our room around 4 am we were just not having it. He tried a few more times and around 6:30 we dragged ourselves up and started getting ready for the day. We delayed Little Man as long as we could by letting him play in our closet while we showered and try on my high heel shoes (he walks in them better than I do). We were trying to avoid having to wake Peanut up but we just ran out of delay tactics and Little Man could see the presents under the tree from the top of the stairs. So at 7ish we woke Peanut and started our Christmas morning with Mee-Mom on the computer via Skype.

Little Man surprised us by insisting Peanut open a present first and we were amazed at his control around all of the presents. He didn't go rip roaring into them as we had feared and listened to our rules of opening one at a time, taking turns and playing with each gift as we got it. He loved his puzzles, books, trampoline, hobby horse, toolbench, and other toys. Peanut loves his Laugh and Crawl House and played with it most of the morning. Of course, Peanut started really being able to crawl just yesterday so that made things more interesting as he attacked the Christmas tree, coffee table, wrapping paper and numerous other things he isn't supposed to have. We are almost sure we got all of the paper out of his mouth before he swallowed it but seem to be missing a part of a crayon.

Papa Bear got to have sausgage for breakfast (I don't make pork products, so this is a once a year treat for him) and then we had a fabulous Christmas dinner of prime rib, sweet potatoes, asparagus and oreo pudding pie for dessert. Then down to the playroom we went to enjoy more of the toys and expend oreo pie energy! Bath time was extra fun because of new bath crayons and bath toys given to the boys by some good friends. The boys are snug in their beds and Papa Bear and I are settling down for some (more) oreo pie and a movie.

This will go down as one of the most relaxed, easy going, fun Christmas's of all time. Merry Christmas!




The Giant Mural

Happy 9 Month's Old Peanut!

It is so hard to believe that 9 months ago today, Peanut came into this world a whopping 9 pounds 3 ounces and 4 weeks early. I can remember eating sushi with 2 of my friends while having contractions that were getting closer and closer, but I was in denial that they meant labor. And then my beautiful baby boy made his appearance and my life changed completely. That tends to happen when you fall head over heels irrevocably in love with a little Peanut.

His unofficial weight (taken when the doctor wasn't looking at a sick visit last week) is 26 pounds 10 ounces. His official weight will be taken at his 9 month appointment next week. Peanut has been getting from place to place for some time now, but has really started to shuffle/crawl longer distances. He loves to push up from his tummy into the sitting position and then pivot, get back down into crawling, shuffle, crawl, push up to sitting and pivot again. It really gets him where he wants to go even if it seems like a lot of effort! He is a joy to watch and boy, do we have to watch him now. Just yesterday he made it over to a painting project that Little Man and I were working on, pulled the newspaper down off the coffee table, paint and all. I didn't think he could get all the way there without me noticing - but I won't make that mistake twice! Just today he crawled all the way across the room in one slick motion. I should note at this point he still can't roll over due to his well, let's call it, plumpness. He rolls from his front to his back on accident and then gets stuck there. Papa Bear has exclaimed three times today "We are in for it now! He is everywhere" and our post-Christmas purchase is going to be gates :)

His smile is so infectious. I have seen grumpy old men be swayed by his toothy grin. When he smiles his eyes scrunch up and he shows his 8 teeth off and his little jaw kind of goes crooked. He knows he is a charmer and uses his smile to get what he wants because it so often works.

He says Mama, Papa and Ba Ba (for his brother). Mama is definitely his most often used word as he babbles it from his crib, high chair or jumper trying to get my attention. His favorite activity is to take all of the books in the cubby or shelf and pull them out one by one, toss them to the side and go for the next one. He loves to play with toys and can entertain himself for 20 to 30 minutes just playing and getting from toy to toy.

He takes two naps a day, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon when Little Man is napping (ahh, the blessed silence). He goes to bed at 7 and sleeps mostly through the night with an occasional diaper change or lost binky waking him up briefly. It is a sleep miracle for us!

He did break my heart a little by deciding that he liked eating from a bottle better than me. So he has decided it is time to be done nursing about 3 months before I wanted him to. He loves the ease and quickness of his bottles and takes about 25-30 ounces of formula a day on top of his 3 meals of pureed vegetables and fruit. He goes to town on cherrios and demands them at the end of every meal by banging on his tray until you put them down. He is getting quite good at picking them up in the pincher grasp and at least 3/4 of the cheerios now make it into his mouth rather than his lap or the floor. He still gives us evil looks as we eat our dinner so I slip him pasta and other goodies when I can. I don't think he will be eating baby food for much longer as we move him to more and more table food. He eats every meal as if we have starved him for a week and practically inhales all that we give him!

We are all so in love with our Peanut. He is sweet tempered, easy going, fun-loving with a little mischievousness mixed in for good measure. Happy 9 months baby boy, you are loved beyond all comprehension!

Who Looks Like Who??

From the day Little Man was born, I have been told by friend and stranger alike that Little Man was a mini Papa Bear. Then Peanut came along and the doctor took one look at him and said "well, there is no doubt who he looks like!" and looked right at Papa Bear. But as the days went on some few (and very wonderful people) would tell me that Peanut looks like me. Oh how I rejoiced! Until today...when I put each of the kid's 9 month picture next to Papa Bear's picture from when he was roughly the same age. Not that I mind that my boys are so handsome that they look like their Papa, but I would just like a feature or two to look like me. They all have blue/green eyes (the recessive gene I might add) and they all have the same nose and smiles. Oh wait, what am I complaining about...they are all the cutest boys in the entire world! What do you think? Who looks like who?

Little Man Papa Bear Peanut

Winter Wonderland

It is snowing here. Well, that might be an understatement. We are being buried in snow here. We have at least 16 inches so far with more coming down. Mee-Mom is snowed in with us and we are taking shifts trying to clear a path outside.

A little bit of humor in a very tough day...

Today it is a stretch for me to find anything funny or cute to blog about. Today was a very tough day. Today Little Man was diagnosed with RSV after I found him in his bed, limp, grey and not breathing very well. Today I am thankful for the "mama instincts" (aka - nudge by God) that sent me up to check on him, today I am thankful for a doctor who ordered all the tests he could think of so we could know what we are dealing with, today I am thankful for my beautiful boys, who are beautiful even with dark circles under their eyes and red noses. But during all of the emergency inhaler treatments and nebulizer treatments and constant doses of tylenol and motrin and coughing and steroid hyperness - Little Man still had me laughing.

The doctor came into the examination room and Little Man sat on his chair with a combination of lethargy and hyperness - a tough combination to pull off. The doctor said "I am going to listen to your tummy, ok?". Little Man replied, "I think you should use your stethoscope to listen to me breathe instead, ok?" The doctor said "How old are you?" Little Man politely replied " Two, how old you?" Smiling, the doctor said "You are really smart for 2". Little Man nodded his head wisely and said " Ok I breathe for you now, listen carefully". I couldn't help but laugh at my 2 year olds precocious answers.

Even on the worst of days, my boys light up the world. Now if they could both just stop coughing, breathe easy and stay out of the hospital.

- A very tired Mama Bear

Parent Teacher Conference

Last week, Papa Bear and I attended our first of many parent/teacher conference. I didn't know what to expect, but I thought that what I wanted to hear was that he is the smartest, fastest, cutest, best behaved kid in his class. I couldn't wait to brag about whatever fantastic review the teacher provided us. But I walked away with an entire different kind of elation and something closer to my heart to brag about.

Mrs. H told us that Little Man is all of the things I was hoping for. He always listens and responds to verbal direction, he plays at all three levels (did you know there were 3 levels of play?), He is gentle and not aggressive, he respects the rights of others, he has good inner control and quality of knowing what to do. He has a wide vocabulary and displays a lot of knowledge in different areas. He loves music and science and movement and art. He reads books and paints often. I can go on and on. And please don't get me wrong, all of this was wonderful to hear. But the best, most important thing that the teacher shared with us is that Little Man can often be heard singing spontaneously while playing, doing an art project, or looking at the science table. She went on to tell us that singing spontaneously is one of the biggest signs of happiness in a 2 year old. The bragging I could do regarding his language acquisition skills all of a sudden paled in comparison. My son is exhibiting one of the best signs of happiness on a regular basis.

So I know this was only our first parent/teacher conference but I have to say, it is going to go down as one of the best no matter how great the ones to come are!

Santa 2009

As you might remember from this post, last year's trip to visit Santa did not go as planned. Little Man was so freaked out that for months afterwards if you asked him about Santa he would make his whole body shake to show you how scared he was. I was determined that this year he would either love it or leave it. So this morning, combining a planned playdate with some friends with a trip to visit Santa, ensured that he would at least have fun at one activity. Papa Bear surprised us by taking off the morning to go with us. Little Man was so excited (in theory) and so we talked to him about his choices. He could give Santa a high five, sit on his lap, tell him what he wanted for Christmas or he could walk away and not see Santa if that was what he wanted. All morning, I ran through these choices with him. His answers changed from high fives to sitting on his lap and back again. But in the moment, he was enthralled by Santa and wanted to give him his impossible list of Christmas wishes. (yes, somehow I have to figure out how to get a Giant and a Giant Orange Dog for him under the tree).

Peanut, on the other hand, has moved firmly into the stranger and separation anxiety stage of infancy at exactly the wrong time. At the moment, he screams if I leave the room, throws himself out of people's arms to get back to me and apparently hates Santa. We were happy to get a slightly disgruntled picture of him with Santa as opposed to the straight up screaming ones. We even picked him up, comforted him, got him smiling and tried again and the best we could get was disgruntled baby about to cry.

Jump-o-lene and Swings Galore

Our playroom has turned into a fun house these days. To fight off some of the cold weather blues I have pulled out all of the stops. We re-hung the hammock swing that Uncle Mark and Tita Michelle got for Little Man when he was 9 months old and added a Jump-o-lene to the mix. Oh the fun we have had!

The boys have loved the swing and we have to use the timer because they both want to be in it constantly. Little Man gets 5 minutes and Peanut gets 2 and then we switch. Little Man gets to dictate if he spins or swings and he loves to help push Peanut.

The jump-o-lene is a large inflatable moon bounce type thing. I got it for free from my local freecycle and Papa Bear patched a few holes and ta-da! instant fun and energy burning for my little monkeys. Little Man (aka daredevil) likes to get up and jump from the couch into the jumpolene and land in a somersault flipping so that his legs flip up and out of the toy. (inducing quite a few heart attacks). But just look at the smiles on my boys. Totally worth it!

Take a Guess!

Can you guess what part of the Thanksgiving Parade Little Man is watching and imitating in this video? (Mommom, press play down below because this is a video)

Did you guess?

Decking the Halls

The tree is up, the stockings are hung by the chimney with care and the wreath is up on the wall. It is such a fun and exciting time. Time to remember and reflect and also time to make new memories.

We have a tradition of putting the tree up on December 1st so that it is up for a full month. We only hang ornaments on the tree that have been given to us or have some kind of memory attached to them. Each ornament that goes on the tree evokes a memory, either of the giver of the significance of the ornament itself. A very good example is the ornament of a little beaver. Papa Bear gave this ornament to Little Man at his 1st Christmas. At the time, Little Man was 9 month old, teething and had taken to using his crib to teeth. He would gnaw on the wood of the crib taking off huge chunks of wood - thus the beaver reference. Then at Little Man's second Christmas when he was 21 months old that beaver ornament inspired Little Man's first complete sentence. He said "I tickled the beaver" as he reached over the tickled the ornament's belly. (Yes, the double meaning made us crack up laughing in horror/hilarity and Papa Bear remains proud of his son's first sentence)

A new December 1st tradition that we started this year was the use of an advent calendar. The kind with little doors that hide a chocolate treat for the 25 days before Christmas countdown. When will I learn to not tell him things in advance? 5:30 am Little Man wakes up and yells "It's December 1st time for Christmas Trees and Treats!" He was so excited to a part of the transformation for Christmas. He took his job of putting the window cling stickers up very seriously and rearranges them daily. He helped me make Christmas cookies but decided that we should use Rudolph, Snowman and Dinosaur shapes. He said that they are special Christmas Dinosaurs and really who I am to argue with his logic, if we can have a deer with a glow in the dark nose why not a christmas dinosaur. We have watched Christmas movies like The Grinch who stole Christmas or as Little Man calls it "The Green Guy movie" and The Curious George Christmas special otherwise known in this house as "The Monkey Christmas".

Oh and just so that Peanut gets a mention here, he hasn't really taken an interest in the changes in the house because he is so intent on working on crawling that all else pales in comparison. Boy does that kid want to move and I am kind of hoping he doesn't get it too good at it until the Christmas decorations go back in the box at the end of the month.

This is going to be a month of making special holiday memories and tons of sugar. I can't wait!!

Thanksgiving Pool Time!

Peanut's first Thanksgiving has been as laid back as they get. We decided with heavy hearts not to go to my Family Thanksgiving Extravaganza in Delaware. It was the first one I have missed since I was 12 and it would have been the 10th Thanksgiving that Papa Bear has attended. But with a 2 1/2 year old and an 8 month old, the traffic, the 65 people at the Thanksgiving event on top of Peanut's first ear infection and Little Man's cough - we opted for staying put. Not to mention that last year's Thanksgiving saw Little Man running bare naked through my cousin's house after an escape from a diaper change.

So Thanksgiving saw us all in our pajamas all day, already prepared food from the grocery store and tons of low key time at home. It was great - although we really did miss all of the family (not to mention great food) that we normally see.

Since we were actually in town for the holiday weekend we had to come up with some fun family time that didn't involve going anywhere near anything even slightly retail related on Black Friday. So after Peanut napped (while Little Man and Papa Bear rode bikes) we all headed out to the local recreation center for some swimming. This was Peanut's first time in a real pool (if you remember he had a brief foray in the pool on our porch at the end of the summer). He loved it. He splashed and played and tried to use his new weightlessness in the pool to aid in his crawling technique. He loved this pool floaty and we rode in it with gusto. We knew when he had enough when he laid his head down on the side of the float and tried to go to sleep. Which didn't put a damper on Little Man's fun as he continued to try and swim like a dolphin and run through the water.

The house is a mess, meals have not been well balanced, projects are half way done and tons of family fun has been had. Next up - decorating for Christmas!!!

What That Name?

The why's and the what's are prevalent in this home, but more than (almost) anything Little Man wants to know What's that name? Recently I was reading him a book and there was a picture of a little boy on the page and he said "What's that name, Mama?". I replied honestly and told him that I didn't know. He jumped right back with "Maybe his name is Jubawaba." The next day we were at a store shopping as each and every person walked by us Little Man would (loudly) inquire "What's that name, Mama?" Some very nice people would simply say their names, which thrilled Little Man and if he saw them again in the store he would call them by name. Other people simply ignored him or didn't hear him (which was quite possibly impossible given he only has one volume..REALLY LOUD). If they didn't answer (for whatever reason) he would make their name up. Saying "Maybe that Bob" or "Maybe that Tree". Then if he saw them in the store later in the trip he would call them by the name he made up for them. "Hi Tree, Hi Bob, Hi TreeBob" he would yell. And I will tell you, I wasn't embarressed in the least, well maybe when he yelled "Hi Poop" I turned a slight shade of red and pushed the cart a little faster but really they could have avoided being called Poop and TreeBob if they had just shared a second time to give him their name.

Note: It was suggested that some people didn't share their name because Little Man called them a "that" in his request of "What that name" - We are working on his pronouns but if a 2 year old calls you a "that" don't take offense. :)

Movin' and Groovin'...Sort of

Peanut wants to move. He loves riding on his bus and Little Man loves pushing him on the bus ... REALLY REALLY fast and then run into a wall ... so we have to be careful.

He has also started the first steps toward crawling. He lungs into a crawling position then falls on his tummy and reaches his little arms out to get whatever toy happened to be just out of his reach. If he is being really industrious he pulls his little legs under him and pretend for a second that he is going to crawl. There has even been some rocking going on while on his knees!

School Friends

It has been over a month since I was the helping parent in Little Man's 2 day a week Preschool program and boy have things changed. Little Man doesn't really care when I leave him because he is so excited to play with his friends and was a little disappointed that I stayed because that meant that he didn't get his 2 skittle treat in the car after school. But I loved watching him interact with his friends and the teacher. He loves singing and playing the instruments during music time. His art project consisted of dumping as much glue as he could on the cut out Gingerbread man and burying all of the buttons in large mounds of glue. He played and sang and ran around and was very well behaved. He passes the hearing and speech screening with flying colors and we were told that he was very cheerful and cooperative. We took a rain walk and splashed in puddles and went to the meeting hall to play with a big parachute. The day flew by and boy was I exhausted after that!! The following school day when I dropped him off he said "Don't stay today Mama, I want my treats for you going bye-byes". My kid will do just about anything to get a skittle, especially the blue ones!

Look Ma...Teeth

Peanut opened his mouth to take a bite of yummy mashed peas and carrots yesterday and low and behold there was a new tooth poking through. That makes 6! He got the top 2 teeth about 2 weeks ago and then the tooth next to the big tooth (Aunt Suzi, does that have a name?) started poking through and I was so concentrated on watching the progress of the top teeth ( I know riviting stuff people) that I totally missed the bottom ones progress and SURPRISE another tooth. Now for all of you parents out there you know that 4 teeth in two weeks equates to snotty, fussy, restless babes which then equals a tired, worn out Mama Bear. I am really hoping for a week or two of teeth free, snot free easy sleeping time. But I am not counting on it.

Other news in the Peanut department. He was caught red-handed pulling up in his crib and trying to take a nose dive onto the floor. So his crib was lowered to keep him from doing a superman out of it. He is still not rolling over, crawling or showing any signs of forward movement, but he is all about the vertical movement, pulling up where ever he can. I think I might be in for some trouble :)

At 7.5 months, Peanut is getting more interested in different toys, has a tendency to want the ONE toy that is just out of his reach and will scream for it, loves his brother more than anything in the world and has the most adorable (slightly Bevis like) giggle. Oh and he is probably weighing in at about 24 or 25 pounds and is in 18-24 months clothes. The next size up in clothes is 2T which is what Little Man wears, I am hoping he doesn't catch him because then we will be in real trouble!

Holiday Pics Gone Wrong

The weather is warm, the leaves are falling and it is a perfect time for holiday pictures. If both kids were happy about the warm weather, falling leaves and picture taking. Peanut was just not into it. Little Man tried tickling him, playing with him. We tried taking his pant off (he didn't look comfortable because he is just that fat). We tried putting him on a blanket, on the grass, in the leaves but there was just no making him happy on this warm, leaf falling fall day that could have been perfect for pictures. BUT we got some great crying pics??

Look Who's Talking!

Peanut is talking and it show stopping, heart meltingly adorable. He said both "Mama" and "Papa" at the same time. Let me back up a little to get the whole story straight because which one came first is still up in the air.

We have heard the rumblings of "Mama" via the monitor. It seems that is a favorite sound to make when he is in his crib and wanting to get out. But I had always chalked it up to babbling with no real intention of calling for me.

Just the other day Peanut was fussing and Papa Bear walked over and I handed the fussy baby off and he stopped fussing. Papa Bear says, "Where you just fussin' for Papa" and Peanut immediately followed up with "Papa". We thought he was just repeating a sound he heard without any real understanding of what he was saying.

But today, it became official. On November 1st (7 months and 8 days old) he said both Mama and Papa with true intention and it was witnessed by my Mom (Mee-Mom) and Grandmother (Mommom). Peanut was laying on the floor at Mee-Mom's house in Delaware. I was standing over him and he looked up and said "Mama". Oh I got so excited. So I told him to say it again. AND HE DID. (he is so clever). SO then I started yelling at everyone to come over and see it. Well of course my mom was ordering lunch and then handed the phone off to Papa Bear so he could order what he wanted and Little Man was chasing the dog and really no one was coming fast enough in my opinion BECAUSE PEOPLE MY BABY WAS TALKING and SOMEONE HAD TO TELL ME I WASN'T CRAZY. So finally Mee-Mom came over after rescuing the dog from Little Man and Peanut says it again. We all squeal in delight and at this point Peanut realizes that he is the center of attention as long as he keeps saying "ma ma". So in between squealing (ours and his) he keeps saying "Ma Ma" and FINALLY Papa Bear comes over and I try to get Peanut to say it. So I say "Show Papa how you can say Mama" and he looks at Papa Bear and says "Papa" and the squealing just grew and grew. He said Papa a few more times and then at my insistence gave me one more Mama and I picked him up with a twirl and all the fan fair that first word(s) deserve. Seriously people, did I mention how adorable it is and how special it is as a mother to hear your son say his first word and have it be Mama (or Papa depending on who is telling this story) AND to have it witnessed by Mee-Mom and Mommom. Ahh, music to my ears!

Brothers!

Peanut loves his big brother more than anyone and Little Man allows Peanut hair pulling and hugging as he does with no other. No one brings the light to Peanut's eyes like Little Man and no one laughs so hard at Little Man's antics as Peanut does. I know that this sibling love doesn't mean that there isn't sibling rivalry in the future, but for today I am basking in the joy of my two boys love for each other.

Here is a little video of the boys playing last night. Little Man makes brief appearances but you can tell when he is coming close just by watching Peanut. Every time Little Man ran away, Peanut would stop smiling and as soon as Little Man turned around...well, you will see!

Wordless Wednesday

7 months and Fat as Ever!

Peanut turned 7 months old this past weekend. He is just a delight! He is so playful and happy these days. He mostly wants to be sitting up playing with toys but I can convince him to lay on his tummy and play a couple of times a day. He isn't crawling or even coming close to wanting to start trying to get anywhere near crawling, which I am very thankful for! But he does rotate and wiggle if something is out of his reach. Luckily if he seems to be trying to get to a toy and can't make it, Little Man is happy to rush in and push it closer to him and then bring him 3 more toys that he didn't even know he wanted.

Peanut has dropped (with a little coercion from me) his third nap and so is sleeping from 9:30-10:30 and 1:00-2:30ish on good days but he is still my champion sleeper at night! He is tummy sleeping and seems to have developed an attachment to a stuffed dog but we aren't sure it is going to stick. He does get super excited to see it though which is adorable!

Peek A Boo is his favorite game to play and Pat a Cake is a close second. He loves having his face covered by the blanket and then pulled off. He starts to shake and squeal when I hope the blanket up and dips his head down waiting and waiting for me to throw it over him. He will play for as long as I let him and sometimes Little Man even will take over for me. (with my close supervision)

Food Glorious Food! Peanut loves to eat! Well he loves to eat his homemade baby food. He isn't overly fond of anything we buy at the store and try to pass off on him when I don't feel like grinding something up. He loves peas, sweet potatoes, squash, apples, pears, bananas, avocado. Next up greenbeans, mango and carrots. The funniest part is that he acts like he is starving. All 24 pounds of him gets angry if you don't put food in his mouth within seconds of putting him in his high chair. The other day I sat down to feed him and had to get back up to get something. You would have thought he was undergoing torture with all the fuss that he put up until I sat back down to provide him with his much needed sustenance.

All he wants for Christmas are his two front teeth. They are swollen and angry little bumps that are plaguing him and he is not happy about it. We are hoping they break through in the next few days to put him out of his misery.

And probably the sweetest skill that he has developed is that he reaches for us. When we go into his room after naps or in the morning he pushes up on this arms and reaches out to be picked up. He will reach for me if someone else is holding him and reaches for Papa Bear when he gets home from work. It fills our hearts with love and happiness to see him growing up and developing.

Can Jesus Come to My House?

We have been trying to introduce Little Man to prayer before bedtime. He has really really taken to the idea and likes to talk to God. He likes to tell God what he did during the day and thank God for EVERYTHING. Tonight it was a sweet prayer. He thanked God for Mama and Papa and Peanut. He said "I love you God and Good Night Jesus. Amen" and then he sat up in bed and said "Mama, can Jesus come to my house tomorrow?" I didn't even know how to respond. I could say "Well Jesus is with you all of the time..." but really my VERY literal 2 year old would find issue with that. So I just said "we'll see honey" and he then said "Maybe Hannah come over if Jesus no come." He is just so cute I want to eat him up!

It is all about Perspective

Actual Version

Row Row Row Your Boat

Gently Down the Stream

Merrily Merrily Merrily

Life is But a Dream

Little Man Version

Row Your Boat Row Your Boat

Jackson Down the Street

Many Many Many

I get a Treat

Mama Bear: "Little Man please get down from standing on the table"

Little Man: "But it is a game called.."

Mama Bear: "No, it is not a game and I don't care what it is called, get down now!"

Little Man: "But Mama it is a game called One Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed"

Mama Bear: "That's not a game, that's a song"

Little Man: "Mama, it's a game AND a song"

Mama Bear: "Oh, I see. Get down anyway"

Little Man: "Ok"

What that is? Why? Know why? Maybe? these are the most popular phrases in the house and they have led to some very interesting conversations, some sillier than others. But it is so much fun getting Little Man's perspective on the world. For example when he told me that birds flap their wings really fast and I said ok and he said know why? and to indulge him I said why? and he said "maybe cause they can't flap their feet" I just never looked at it that way. Maybe.

Wordless Wednesday

The Elephant and the Monkey

One day there was a LittleMan Elephant and a Peanut Monkey that went to a Halloween Party in their neighborhood. They were very excited to go and see all of their friends at the party. When they walked in the door they looked all around to make sure that there were no witches or ghosts and seeing only cowgirls and superheros they went on it. Their friends were playing, there were crafts and tattos and even a magician - but that held no interest for LittleMan Elephant or Peanut Monkey. Nope - they didn't care about any of that because LittleMan Elephant had found a new treasure. One that his mama had kept from him as long as she could and it was called CANDY CORN. The End.

Photo Friday

Peanut's First Playdate

Peanut had a friend come over today. They are 6 days apart in age (but I think Peanut has about 6 pounds on him). They sat on Peanut's playmat and shared toys and smiled t each other. They played nice until we heard a scream from his friend and looked over and Peanut had his friends foot in his mouth. We righted the situation and explained it was not nice to eat our friends and all was well again. I think he really liked having someone who stayed still, spoke his language and played near him.

Wagon Rides and Singing Silly Songs

The boys are really starting to be able to play together. Peanut has eyes for his big brother and is just happy to have his attention in any way shape or form. You might remember the wagon from this post (Mommom, click on the word post to see what I am talking about). Well the wagon is back, but the players have changed and some silly songs have been added to it. See what I mean.

Rub a Dub Dub 2 Boys In a Tub

*Update* - Since this is a public site we have edited some of the bath time boy parts to keep our boys safe.

Little Man and Peanut had their first joint bath time. We felt that Peanut was stable enough while sitting up and Little Man was gentle enough with him that it could work out well (or not) but we wanted to find out. There were a couple of incidents where Little Man could not restrain his desire to dump water on Peanut's head - but the result was that if he dumped water on Peanut - well then I dumped it on Little Man. (I know, I know, Mean Mama Bear but he learned quickly) It won't be long before Peanut is defending himself and since he is only 6 pounds less that Little Man he is going to be able to handle himself just fine. I think that Peanut's favorite part was that he finally got to play with toys in the bath tub and was chasing the lobster through the water. I think Little Man loved having a brand new toy (Peanut) in the bath with him. It was twice the fun, twice the mess, twice the work and took about half the time. A success on all accounts.

Mohawk Twins

Loving the Toys

Getting Water Dumped on His Head

A look that spells "REVENGE"

Quick Updates...More to Come

I will try to expand on some of these quick updates and stories but I wanted to get them up before my mama brain kicks in and they are lost or diluted.

Little Man was 100% successful at school this morning. His little chin quivered momentarily as we hung his coat up and walked into the room but I reminded him of the wonderful bribe I offered him if he didn't cry. I know, I know, great parenting skills. But it breaks my heart to walk away from my sobbing son so I did what I had to do and it worked. He got to have 3 M&M's and watch the Curious George movie while he ate his lunch. He had a great time at school. He told me he had chocolate chip muffins for snack and it was so good that he didn't eat his grapes. He painted on the other side - I have no idea what the means - but I am guessing that he wanted to paint on a particular side of the easle but he had to paint "on the other side" because someone was already on the side he wanted. He was most excited about playing on the firetruck on the playground with Mrs. H and singing itsy bitsy spider and twinkle twinkle little star - except according to the lesson plans he didn't sing those songs. But all in all - success and fun and he is adjusting fabulously!

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The other night I made dinner but due to timing, Papa Bear and Little Man were at the table eating together while I nursed Peanut. I overheard a great conversation.

Little Man - "Thank you for making me dinner Papa"

Papa Bear - " Mama made your dinner, all I did was put sour cream on top for you"

Little Man - "Thank you for putting sour cream on my dinner Papa"

Mama Bear - "Hey, can I get a little thanks over here!!"

THE NEXT DAY

Little Man - "Thank you for making me pizza Papa!"

Papa Bear - "All I did was heat up a frozen pizza"

Mama Bear - "Hey, how come you get thanked for sour cream and frozen pizza?"

Little Man - "Thank you Mama!"

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There is a chance that Peanut is allergic to dairy (ok, I get the irony that his nickname is a food that he is NOT allergic to) Anyway, this means that I have to cut all dairy out of my diet until he is weaned and hope that he grows out of it. So YAY SOY! The change has been amazing - he and I haven't had to have a zillion outfit changes due to tons of spit up. But boy would I love to have a tall glass of milk.

Ok I think that is it for now. Neither of the boys are sleeping well due to runny noses from the weather changes - so I am going to go lay down and count the minutes until I have to put the binky back in for Peanut or convince Little Man that he needs to sleep in his own bed.

Peanut's Secret Weapon

The boys have started to have small battles over toys and attention. Anytime I pull out a newly unearthed baby toy for Peanut to play with, that toy becomes Little Man's new favorite toy. The treehouse toy, the train toy, the cloth book, the stacking bowls - you name it and despite Little Man having ignored those toys sitting in bins for well over a year now that Peanut seems to enjoy them he just HAS TO have them. Peanut on the other hand will grab toys out of Little Man's hands or knock down whatever Little Man is playing with if it happens to be within his reach. I try to explain to Little Man that all he has to do is move what he is playing with away from Peanut BUT then it would be moving it away from where I am as well. Oh the difficult choices my children face!

So the battles, small and not overly difficult, are starting with Little Man usually on the victorious size because of size, age, and the ability to run!

Today, the tides of war are turning. Peanut pulled out his secret weapon. He was playing with a toy on his playmat and Little Man went to take it out of his hands and BURP - HICCUP- SPLAT - Peanut spit up a little bit. Little Man jumped back so quickly and yelled "Mama, Baege is trying to spit up on me". I said, "well just stay away from him then". But Little Man reached in again to get the coveted baby toy (that he apparently just had to have) and BURP - SPAT, more spit up. He pulled his hand back as if he Peanut were spitting up acid. Again, he didn't get the toy and was scared of the spit up so he just found something else to play with. Later in the morning Peanut was playing with his train and Little Man reached in to push the button and SPAT spit up all over his hand. He cried and ran to the bathroom to wash his hands. When he came to me upset over the spit up I said "well, what did you learn" he said "Beage spit up on me and it no accident". I just laughed and looked over at Peanut who was smiling and drooling with a twinkle in his eye that seemed to say that Little Man may have won a few battles but he knew he was going to win the war!

Peanut Keeps on Growing!

Peanut is a VERY healthy baby boy! He weighed in today at a whopping 23 pounds 8 ounces and 27 3/8 inches long. The doctor was very happy with his sitting skills and his tummy pushing up skills (although we had to pry the table paper out of his mouth when she put him on his tummy). He giggled through his entire exam because of how tickleish he is and he showed off his two tooth grin multiple times. He has to see an eye doctor to make sure that his eye muscles are strengthening correctly and he might have a milk allergy. Although, if he has a milk allergy - it isn't stopping him from gaining weight and growing. He endured two shots and recovered quickly and slept the afternoon away. We get to start him on mashed vegetables and fruits here soon.

He is a happy, easy baby so far and is still taking 3 naps a day (although the last nap is only a half hour or so) and he is sleeping from about 7:30 pm until about 7:00 am. My absolute favorite part of the entire day is first thing in the morning, after hearing his morning coos, going into his room and getting his first thing in the morning smiles. Papa Bear and I fight for the privilege each and every morning. Oh how I love my Peanut!

A School Update

So Little Man has been attending his pre-school twice a week for two weeks now. His first day was a huge success because I was the co-oping parent. The second day was ended early because he missed me so much that he never stopped crying and after almost 2 hours of crying they called me to come get him. His third day he cried for 30 minutes and then had a great rest of the day and today he only cried for 12 minutes. It breaks my heart to leave him at school when he is yelling "Mama, no leave me! I want to go home and play with my toys!" I feel like the worst mom in the world while he is crying and the best mom in the world when I go to pick him up and he excitedly tells me all that he did. The first thing he tells me is what he had for snack. The next thing that he tells me is what bike he rode during activity time and then he usually sings me a song or two that they sang at school. I am not usually able to understand the rest because it is thoughts/ideas and moments told to me totally out of context. From what I have gathered from talking to his teacher, him and other parents here are some of the highlights.

1. He played with pumpkin seeds and went to the class garden and harvested a pumpkin.

2. Caught a cricket in the room, put it in a glass jar and maybe shook it a little to much - making it a not so hoppy cricket.

3. Learned how to glue things on paper - I was told he REALLY enjoyed the glue and that his entire paper was covered in glue. (so glad this mess was at school and not at home)

4. Sang Sticky Sticky Bumblebee - ok this one, I am not sure about. He has sung it to me twice and told me Mrs. H taught him but it wasn't anywhere in her curriculum so I just don't know.

5. Is now known as the class hugger. Has hugged Mrs. H multiple times and apparently has a little girlfriend, Ava in the class who holds his hand and he hugs all the time.

6. Painted with a feather, painted with corks, painted with brushes, painted with his hands and the kicker . . . with one of his classmate's hands. I don't really even want to know.

7. Sang to Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee - this might be the Sticky Sticky Bumblebee song with a little 2 year old confusion.

8. Played with rhythm sticks - this is a favorite for Little Man because he is allowed to hit the sticks as loud and often as he wants.

I am hopeful that next week he won't cry at all when I drop him off AND I get to co-op again next week so he is excited that it is soon his turn to have his mama stay with him!

Wordless (but not soundless) Wednesday

Semantic Stories

Last night Papa Bear stirred up a nice ground beef and mexican rice dish for dinner. Little Man was not diggin it and getting him to eat it was a down right chore. So Papa Bear says "Should we just give him some plain rice?" and Little Man chimes right in with "Yes! Yes! I want Airplane Rice!!"

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Today I brought out the safety scissors to work on teaching Little Man how to use them. There are some skills that I forget were ever taught to us because they come so naturally, but using scissors can be difficult for little hands. But he is good at shallow cuts along the edge of the paper and made a few continuous cuts too. He probably spent 30 minutes today working with his scissors. Later on in the day, while trying to open something to make a snack I yelled "Ouch!". Little Man, ever the nurturer, ran over and said "What's wrong mama, what's wrong?" So I told him that I got a papercut and he got his furrowed brow confused look on his face and said "No mama, you got a scissors cut. Scissors cut paper, right?" I could understand his confusion but I didn't know how to make him understand, so I just gave him a piece of poptart and he forgot all about it!

Mikey Likes It! (some of you won't get this reference)

Success! Peanut had his first meal of solids (rice cereal that was more soup than solid) at just 4 days shy of six month. For the last week, Papa Bear and I have felt guilty during dinner because Peanut was eyeing us with marked jealousy every time we put food in our mouths. We were trying to wait until his 6 month well visit next week, but I think he was just too hungry. So I mixed up a bowl of rice cereal to try again, this was my third attempt and I didn't really expect him to take to it. I expected him to look at the spoon like it was an alien and push the food back out of his mouth with a shudder and a gag but my to my surprise he opened him mouth to the spoon like a seasoned veteran and ate quite a bit. He followed his cereal up with a 4 ounce bottle of milk and then had a bath. He was out like a light at 7 after his last feeding. He was clean, content and rather rotund in his 12-18 month pajamas.

Oh and did I mention that he is an Eagles fan? ( We didn't let him watch the game today because we wanted to spare him that disappointment.)

The Airplane Park

Little Man loves all things that go, trucks, cars, trains and planes. So as a family fun activity we went to the Airplane Park this weekend. This is just a place near the airport where you can watch the planes take off or land depending on which direction the wind is blowing. And it was a good plan, but you know what they say about things not going the way you planned.

It started off well, we found a nice spot to lay our blanket down and get comfortable.

We even posed for a few shots together before the day went awry.

But then we learned that it best to go when the wind blows so that the plans are LANDING (engines being turned off) not TAKING OFF (engines firing up LOUDLY). With two little guys sensitive to loud noise our day went quickly south.

Peanut, even with his ears covered, was very scared of the loud sound and it didn't help that we were actually planning to nap him there. Even our Peanut can not sleep with that noise!

And Little Man hid his face in the blanket every time a plan came over head. He said that he wanted them to "coming in for a landing" so the could use their "quiet voices".

So we ditched the plan, vowed to only go back when planes were landing and went home to play in the backyard where planes taking off were no where to be found!