Peanut's First Haircut

Peanut was born with a head full of hair.

Little Man was born with a lot of hair too!

But unlike Peanut, Little Man's hair fell out right away

So Peanut's hair was growing over his ears, rubbing off in patches and the front was starting to resemble a bad comb over.

So we gave him his first haircut today



And he liked it!!

My Giant Baby

We went to the doctor today and had a great visit. Peanut is 20 pounds (> 100th percentile) and 27 1/8 inches long (>100th percentile). He demonstrated all of his upper body strength and gave the doctor tons of smiles, coos and even restrained from peeing on her this time. His visit inspired this post below.

Things Peanut Outgrew LONG Before Their Time:

1. His infant car seat

2. The bassinet level of the pack n' play (weight limit is 15 pounds which he exceeded at 2 months but we pushed it and it is bowing in the middle)

3. His 6-9 months clothing

4. His swing (seriously looks like he might break it)

5. Size 3 diapers ( which his 2 year old cousin just grew out of)

5. The baby bjorn (weight limit is 23 pounds, but really who can tote my 20 pounder like that)

6. Baby Papasan chair (weight limit 21 pounds)

I should also mention that the car seat law is that you can't turn a car seat facing forward until the child is 1 year old AND 20 pounds....I can't even imagine what he will weigh by the time he is 1 since he is ALREADY 20 pounds!

A few other things to note:

He weighs more than his future wife, who is almost 9 months old and is only 4 pounds less than his 2 year old cousin.

His hands are bigger than some 1 year olds - he can palm a baby basketball!

What a different 4 months can make.....

March 2009

July 2009

Little Man Presents Old McDonald

Little Man needs very little introduction, he has been seen in productions all around the living room such as Little Man had a Little Lamb and Twinkle Twinkle Little Man. Today is a special treat as it was a one time show. Ladies and Gentleman, I give you Little Man in Old McDonald Had a Farm. (Please note that the snorting/gassy sound in the middle of the video is Papa Bear laughing) Enjoy the Show!

Little Man Has Boobs??

They say that imitation is the highest compliment, but I think that just depends on what is being imitated. At least that is the lesson that Little Man taught us this morning. I nurse Peanut, but we also try to give him a bottle of breastmilk a few times a week so that I can have the opportunity to get out of the house kid free every once in a while (I know, shocking, right?).

This morning Little Man announced “I have boobs, Mama!” Then he took the pump parts that were laying on the table, yanked his shirt up, held the pump parts to his stomach/nipple area saying “I pumping Mama milk from my boobs” and then he simulated the same noise that the breastpump makes. Papa Bear and I could not help but burst into laughter, which of course only encouraged him more. We tried to explain that only girls have boobs and that only mama’s pump milk but it was all lost on him as he ran around the living room with his shirt pulled high yelling about having boobs and pumping milk for Peanut.

I prefer that he imitate something else but at the moment at least it makes us laugh.

The Return of the Flutterbug

The Flutterbug has made a comeback.  He is short one wing and doesn't always sound in tune, but he is back nonetheless.  The Flutterbug first made his appearance when Little Man was just a few weeks old.  Little Man hated getting his diaper changed and his changes always resulting in crying or screaming for the duration of said change.  It was heartbreaking especially as we were new parents and thus new diaper changers and it took quite a bit of time.  One day while walking through Target we saw the Flutterbug and thought that maybe he could help.  It turned out to be one of the best investments we made for Little Man.  It attached to his changing table and we would wind it up (usually mulitple times during a diaper change, remember we were quite slow) and he would smile and laugh and generally flirt with the Flutterbug all the while not even noticing that his diaper was being changed.  We would sometimes put him on the changing table without the need for a diaper change because it would calm him down when he was upset.  We would even take him with us on car rides and I would wind him up and hold him over the car seat because it turned out that Little Man didn't only hate diaper changes, he also hated his car seat especially during long drives.  The Flutterbug lasted until Little Man was pushing himself up to sit because then he would push up and grab the Flutterbug and rip his wings off.  So he was put away and has recently returned to make him comeback.  

Peanut does not seem to mind diaper changes (especially since our speed has increased quite dramatically in the last 2 years) and he also doesn't mind his car seat but he doesn't like being on his back.  For the most part he is our laid back low maintance child BUT that doesn't mean he would miss out on any Flutterbug fun.  So (minus one wing) the Flutterbug has been attached to Peanut's pack n' play and Peanut smiles and coos and generally flirts with the Flutterbug while laying peacefully on his back.  

Thank goodness for the Flutterbug.

Lock Ness Turtle and Gourmet Crackers

Crackers are a great lure for turtles at the pond near our house.  Regular crackers attract these types of turtles.  They approach slowly and skim the surface eating the bit of cracker floating above.  The fish around them jump and break the surface of the water getting some cracker themselves.  Little Man watches with rapt attention as Papa Bear or I hold onto him so that he doesn't try to swim with the turtles.  Great family fun... with regular crackers.  But this weekend we were out of regular crackers and we had to use our Gourmet Crackers.  More specifically Lemon Pepper and Poppy Water Crackers (I have no idea why we even have these crackers).  And with Gourmet Crackers you attract this the Lock Ness not so cute even a little bit scary turtle.  They came en mass 8 0r 9 giant Lock Ness (otherwise known as the Pig Nose Turtle) Turtles to eat our gourmet crackers.  Apparently they are snobby turtles who turn their nose up at saltines but come a runnin for the Lemon Pepper and Poppy.

And so does Little Man.  He ate more than he threw to the turtles.  I guess he prefers the fancy stuff too (either that or I forgot to give him an afternoon snack)

And when he wasn't eating he was just generally looking cute.

or monkeying around...

And Peanut, was just chillin' in his sling.  It is his most favorite perch to watch Little Man jump, swing and run. 

Photo Friday

Drinking from the sprinkler.... makes for one

really wet boy!

Nicknames - Literally Speaking, of course

Bealge (currently pronounced Bell-G) – is the ever-evolving nickname that Little Man uses for Peanut.  To tell this story right, I have to start back at the beginning, when Peanut was just a little seed.

Papa Bear and I had a difficult time coming up with his name.  Little Man’s name was so easy; we had it picked before he was even conceived.  But Peanut’s name took some good long negotiations.  At one point in time we thought his name would be Max.  Our “pretend to be playing but actually listening into adult conversations” little boy must have overheard us and latched onto that name.  When we brought Peanut home from the hospital Little Man was calling him Max.  We would always say “His name is not Max, it is Logan”. 

I must stop and tell this side story at this time.  If you ask Little Man now what his baby brother’s name is he promptly replies “Not Max, Bealge”.  Obviously this is because he took us quite literally when we said “ His name is…”Not Max, Logan:”.  So we fear that Little Man literally thinks his brother’s name is “Not Max Logan”.  Ok, back to the main story now.

Thinking that Max was just a lot easier to say for him than Logan  we used his initials and starting calling him Baby LJ, in hopes that he would refrain from telling everyone about his baby brother Max.  This was the ticket.  Little Man picked it up and was calling him Baby LG (he said his J’s like G’s at the time).  Well being lazy like his mama he then shortened Baby LG to BLG.  I guess he took his own licensing on the use of initials.  So BLG it was, but then even that was too much effort and it became a word, not a set of letters, which resulted in Bealge.  It was originally pronounced more like it looks Bee – L- G but has taken yet another slide to the Bell-G pronunciation. 

So that is the story on the nickname and I am sure that there will be a continuation to this saga since Little Man is learning to talk more and more.  At this time if you ask him what his brother’s name is you can get many answers: “Not Max, Bealge” or “Not Max, Onan (his version of Logan) or simply “Bealge”.  As long as he isn’t calling him names, I am happy for now and I think it is rather cute and hope that he holds onto into later years.  I have always called my brother by a nickname no one else uses and that has been special for us, I would love for my boys to have something similar.

Big Pool Fun

A typical afternoon/evening in our house will find Papa Bear and Little Man playing in the yard, riding bikes, hunting bugs, using tools to fix or break something while Peanut and I fix dinner for the gang.  Well today, we went crazy and atypical!  My MOMS club had a pool day and a few of Little Man’s friends were planning on going.  A pool with an infant and a 2 year old is stressful on a good day so I asked Papa Bear if he could swing an early day at work and he swung it.  So Papa Bear got home at 4:00 (and I had the dinner all ready to go for him to just put in the oven) and Little Man and I went ALL BY OURSELVES TO THE BIG POOL!  Oh you would have thought that I had just given him heaven in a box.  From 4:15 – 6:00 when I finally dragged him home he jumped, splashed and swam in the big pool with me.  He blew bubbles and even went under water a few times successfully while holding his breath.  I had taken for granted all of the time I got with him one-on-one before Peanut graced us with his presence.  We hugged and laughed and had ourselves 2 hours of non-stop fun without any stress or distractions.  I enjoyed it immensely and I know he did too.  But he also showed me that he is aware that it was a different kind of afternoon than he is used to because as I loaded him into the car to go home he said “Mama, I miss Papa and Bealge*” ( *his nickname for Peanut which is a whole different post)  When we got home (in between stuffing large amounts of meatloaf, rice and strawberry pie in his mouth) he said “Papa, I missed you”.  It was just the sweetest sentiment especially because it was so sincere and unprompted.  I had missed Papa Bear and Peanut too, but I sure am thankful for my alone time with Little Man.  

Peanut’s first holiday and Little Man’s first Fireworks

Little Man loved fireworks, well he really just loved the “snaps”.  You know the things that you throw on the ground and it makes a loud pop.  He liked to put them on the ground and step on them or throw them down.  Papa Bear lit some actually pretty little ground fireworks and we all oohhhed and ahhhhhed appropriately.  We had a busy weekend of Choo Choo parks and Friendly’s, Ice cream and M & M’s (specifically the blue ones because Little Man requests only blue M & M’s).  We grilled out and took family walks and just had a relaxing family weekend. 

Some milestone updates:

Peanut is VERY ticklish.  He has this spot in the middle of his ribs that if you tickle his legs come up and he pulls his whole body and lets out streams of laughter (which is sounding less and less goat like).

Peanut is kicking his (sweaty) feet with more purpose and laughs when he makes contact with things.  He loves laying in the water during bath time and kicking the water around.  Papa Bear and I have found that it is just as much fun to rediscover the world with our second child as it was with our first. 

Peanut sits up (in a tripod) for a few seconds at a time.  We can’t actually tell if it is just his fat propping him up or if he is actually holding himself up – but he seems to like the position until he keels over.

Little Man took his diaper off and went running bare butt through the living room to the potty of his own accord.  We are going to tackle the potty training thing one day….  He was yelling “no pee no pee no pee, pee in potty!” basically yelling at him himself to hold it until he gets to the potty.  We think these runs to the potty are more about the blue M & M’s than the potty but we will take what we can get.

Each night after dinner we have been going for family walks through the neighborhood and Peanut goes in the stroller while Little Man peddles his bike.  He is so grown up as he says “Don’t touch Papa” or “ NO push me” and then directs us which way to go “ This way!”  “ NO that way!”.  We like that it tires him out and helps him sleep longer!!!

Ok that is all for my updates, I will leave you with a few pictures from the holiday weekend!

Photo Friday

Parroting our Parrot

We have learned to listen.  Yes, we listen to the things that Little Man says and what we hear is, well, us. We are quickly learning that our little parrot man listens to EVERYTHING we say and just loves repeating it back throughout the day.... Here are a few choice examples:

On the way down the steps first thing in the morning....  "Coffee Coffee Coffee"

To Peanut, when he was fussing - "Why so sad"

On our way out the door to the park - "Let's go guys!  Ready? Ready!"

While eating dinner - "Thanks Mama, ummm licious" 

When asking PapaBear to get something for him "Jon, Jon hurry please"

Upon seeing Peanut spitting up on me - "Rag Rag Rag"

Watching a little boy throw a rock at the park - "Hmmm, bad behavior he should make a better choice"

There are a ton more, but I am just to exhausted at the moment to remember them all so I will add to them as they come to me!