18 months - BLM

This kid is a walking hazard. It has been a very trying month around our house. B is really testing our patience and has become very defiant. This is all very new to us as parents. Not to say Ryan was a piece of cake, but we definitely weren't having discipline issues this early on with him. It's so much harder when you can't communicate like you want to (4-6 months can make such a huge difference) and of course the timing with the baby is just PERFECT!! haha. He tests us daily and thinks it is pretty funny to disobey us. Recently, he is into climbing on all sorts of furniture including but not limited to: couches, desk chairs (so he can reach pens off the desk), getting on top of the coffee table, trying to scale the walls, finding stools to get leverage, you name it, he's tried it. It's become very hazardous to himself as well.

He is starting to try and jump from our wooden ledges (which are like dips down into the playroom and dining room) into his pottery barn chair about 2 feet away. 100% of the time, he falls short and onto his face, on the wood floor. I am not joking, every night this week, he has tried it 10-15 times, resulting in screaming & tears. It wasn't until last night, I learned exactly what he was doing because Ryan finally explained it to me. Needless to say, the chair has been moved. He is just a rough and tough little kid. ALL boy. Wes has started a nightly thing with the boys. When he comes home, he goes and lays on the rug in our living room and just wrestles with them. They jump all over him, get tickled, scream, run around, etc. They all love it so much that Bradley now knows to expect it and asks for it. This week, not 5-10 minutes after Wes gets home, he has gone and stood in the area and starts jumping and screaming for Wes to come over. He has so much energy.

He loves to climb on the couch when we are in another room and then squeal with delight. Whenever I hear the high pitched shrill, I know he is up to no good. So of course, I come running, then he just laughs. He is going to be the cause of me going into labor, I just know it.

His newest accomplishment. I know there will come a day, probably in our very near future, where he will try to start climbing the outside of the staircase. And then, I will probably have a heart attack.

He has also been hitting and slapping not only other people, but himself as well. He's into throwing things when he gets mad or stomping his feet when he wants to throw a temper tantrum. Due to all of his shenanigans, he has learned what time-out is over the past two weeks. The first time we tried it, we were in the living room, so we just had him go sit on the tile by the fireplace, and ever since then, this is where he thinks time-out is. It's funny because after two times being there, he knows exactly where to go and it hurts his feelings & he pouts :( Makes me sad, but at least we know it's doing something. And he will actually sit a good 1-2 min before we tell him to get up.

Now that we have all the craziness out of the way, I can focus on all the great things this kid does. He has such an awesome personality. Wes and I talk all the time about just how funny he is and that he is constantly making us laugh. He found this hat that used to be Ryan's and loves to wear it around the house.

His favorite thing to do regarding food lately, is feed himself. At first, we were kind of against it because it's so slow (and we already have a whole other set of struggles with eating) plus it is super messy. But this kid is hardheaded and when he gets something in his head, there is no changing his mind. He has actually gotten better with getting food on the spoon and into his mouth as of late. So I guess progress is being made, which is good since we will have another mouth to feed any day now. He loves to put his hand in the bag of whatever snack he is eating to grab food out, whatever it may be. As far as eating goes, he is doing a little bit better. As in, he will eat a PBJ now, bananas, yogurt smoothies, and has had a few turkey/mayo sandwiches. I guess this is progress.

The boys are so cute in the mornings. I have had to find things to occupy them while I get ready, since our bedrooms are upstairs and I can't leave them downstairs by themselves yet. One day, B just sat down with Ryan and started coloring and it's become a daily thing. I love it!

 Love these two!

 Selfie time. Love those chubby cheeks :)

Watching big bro at swim practice. It was so cute because he had his nose smudged up against the window and could actually spot him in the water. He would try and wave and say hi to him.

And the OCD continues. First Ryan, now B man. This was from dinner a few weeks ago. Lining up the goldfish. He likes to make sure everything is in its place and nothing is out of order.

Reading with CoCo. He's learned when we pull into their driveway and open the door, that we are at their house and will get real excited by screaming CoCo over and over.

Brotherly love. I love how B still loves to go sit in between Ryan's legs whenever Ryan sits down. He truly does just adore him, even though he isn't always the sweetest to Ryan. He does have a sensitive side though. He does not like to see him upset. Whenever Ryan has been upset or crying over something, B always finds him, rubs his head, and tries to kiss him.

I am hoping this continues when baby brother joins us! He was good with baby Jordan at our playdate a few weeks back. He kept trying to lean into her carrier and kiss her. Aawwwww.

B had his 18 month check-up on Monday and was a beast. Haha. He barely flinched at his vaccine! He's coming in very similar to Ryan, except a lil smaller all around.

Head - 19.5 in (89%)

Weight - 25 lbs. 15 oz. (52%)

Height - 34.25 in (93%)

Not much has changed as far as sleeping or eating habits. His size has stayed about the same; it's just his personality this is coming through more and more each day. He is talking a little more, but not a lot of new words this month. He does love to sing more and more each day. In addition to Happy Birthday, his other favorite tune to belt out is Let it Go, even though he has never seen the movie. He's learned the chorus from Ryan since he sings it all day long. B really gets into it, with a serious face, sometimes a few twirls, and actually trying to stay on key. It's cute. He's really gotten into brushing his teeth lately and if he sees his toothbrush or watches us do it, he demands to brush his teeth right then and there. He's also very obsessed with brooms. All he wants to do is push them around our house, all day long if we would let him.

It's kind of sad to think that the next time I do a monthly update for him, he'll no longer be my baby and will have assumed the "middle child" role. I am a little nervous as to how this is all going to go down, but I feel it will all work out in the end and he'll gain a new best bud out of it!!

Galveston Trip Numero Tres

Two weekends ago, we made our third and likely last trip to Galveston for the summer (or at least as a family of 4!) Wes has been working so much, that it was a much needed {long} weekend away for us together. We got up early Friday morning and headed to Palm Beach at Moody Gardens. Luckily, the water was much warmer, which made the day more enjoyable for all. Ryan had an awesome time as usual, but B had a MUCH better time this go round. We played hard from about 10:30-3 when we finally called it quits. Somehow Bradley managed to power through the day. It was fun and exhausting.

B snacking on his toes on the car ride there, awesome!

We started heading west on the island to our condo at Pointe West. I had never heard of this place prior to this year, but it is a little hidden gem at the very end of the island. It's the closest thing you can get to a "resort" within 90 miles of Houston. We just loved this place and everything it had to offer. There was a huge infinity pool overlooking the ocean, with a poolside bar (where I sipped on my non-alcoholic Pina Coladas!!), a restaurant, lazy river, gameroom for the kids, and private access to the beach. It was just perfect! The Correas arrived later in the evening and we were ready to get the weekend started!

The kids finishing up their "work" before the weekend

I was a little nervous how Bradley would do sleep wise. He's a spoiled little princess (as I like to call him) because he has probably only ever had to sleep in a pack-n-play one night that I can remember in 18 months. Everywhere we go, there is a crib for him or people have so graciously offered up their cribs for him. Luckily, it really didn't go over too badly. He woke up a little here and there, but overall did pretty well.

We had zero plans for the weekend, except to just relax and enjoy being outside, which was just so nice. We hung out by the pools, mostly. The kids had an absolute blast, as they are both water rats. Between Ryan wanting to dive for toys and rings literally all day, everyday, and Bradley thinking he could legitimately swim, we were pretty busy chasing the two around. Ryan wanted to constantly swim back and forth to us, and by the end of the weekend, I really think he improved his swimming skills. He was much more confident in the water.

We went back to the condo for lunch and naps for the little ones, and that afternoon headed out to the beach. The sand was so white and clean, I seriously thought it had been trucked in. Unfortunately, the seaweed was DISGUSTING. I have never seen it so bad and smell so horrific. The kids, however, still had an awesome time.

It really is impossible to get both of them to look at the camera at the same time

B's girlfriend, Lucia

 

B loved the water, but was a little reckless and the current was pretty strong. I took him back to the sand and he was pretty content.

 the kid loves to stand on any and all types of chairs....

 ... and could give high fives all.day.long!

 He got bored, so he started playing fetch with himself.

 And then his partner in crime joined in :)

That evening, we just ate dinner by the pool and went for a late evening swim, letting the tots stay up past their bedtime! They all crashed, as did we a little earlier than usual - all to get geared up for another day in the sun. B discovered that he, too, loved smoothies over the weekend and probably drank as much of ours as I did. Here's the progression of how it went down.

First, sit next to someone with a smoothie.

Two: when said person is not looking, go in for the kill.

Three- laugh because you were sneaky.

Four - drink as much as you possibly can before they take it away.

On Sunday morning, we headed over to a different pool at the resort. It was definitely geared more toward kids and had a shallow sunbathing deck to play on and a lazy river to roam around in (ignore B's ghetto safety pins, we couldn't keep the bill of his hat out of his face).

After a full morning of swimming, we headed back for lunch and naps, and then the girls had some "mommy time" at the pool while the kids slept. B was pretty pooped, so I went back to the room later to let him keep sleeping while the rest of the gang visited the beach again. We all met back up at the pool for another afternoon swim. The Correas had to go home that evening, so we all showered up and headed into town together to one of our favorite places to eat dinner, The Spot.

family pic before dinner - ignore my wet dog look

love them!

Pooped - slept the whole way to dinner

....and then we paid for it the first 10 minutes we were there. He threw a colossal fit after being woken up.

Sweet B - having fun being a big boy and not being forced into the high chair.

We convinced Wes to take a day off work Monday, since the condo was already rented Sunday night so we could play a little more. So glad we did because the boys were having so much fun. We packed up Monday morning, play more in the pool and let the boys play in the gameroom. Ryan had been talking about it for a day straight. Come to find out, he has some mad basketball skills!! He probably made at least 10 shots and was so proud of himself :)

Nothin' but net!

B joining in on the fun

A little family shot before we headed out

We left around lunch (almost left the lovey behind, but realized it was in the room as we were driving away, thank goodness! Even though it wasn't the easiest thing to retrieve, Wes found a way!) and headed into town for lunch before driving home. The weekend really could not have been more fun and we are already planning multiple trips to go back there next summer.