20 months - BLM

The crazy one turned 20 months a few days ago. I know he gets a bad rap, but he really is an awesome kid - full of personality with a mind of his own. He males me want to pull my hair out most days, but leaves me in stitches most of the time. I've learned over the past month that this whole "2 under 2 thing" is no joke. It's been tough trying to juggle the two little ones and most days, I have a lot of anxiety about how I am going to make sure both get fed without the other one crying, or get them dressed, etc. To leave the house takes hours it seems like! Luckily, Ryan is a HUGE help and can entertain B while I am tending to Charlie. The only problem is, he can't catch him when he falls off the couch or is on top of the kitchen table (no lie), which is why I feel like it's an accomplishment each day we all make it through injury-free! He is such a little ham :)

Anyway, what has B been up to this month? Definitely some crazy shenanigans. He is obsessed with phones. We still have a landline that he loves to get a hold of and mess with and to pretend to talk on. Well, when we first moved in, I guess he grabbed it and somehow recorded over our message for the answering machine. Basically what we got was inadvertently perfect. It starts out him saying hello? then 3 seconds later buh-bye. Then, the next 20 seconds are him babbling, whining (probably because we were trying to get the phone back from him), etc. Well, since I have been home the past few weeks during the day, I didn't realize how many random calls you get and I get the joy of listening to the answering machine pick-up and 9 times out of 10, people think someone is really answering the phone and start talking back. Then they finally get annoyed and hang up, but I love it!

A few weeks ago, some friends brought us dinner, so the boys stayed up later than normal. I think Bradley finally got in bed around 8:45/9ish. Well, he usually plays in bed for a while before going to bed. Finally, we looked at the monitor around 9:45 and it looked like he was still playing. Wes got on the monitor and told him to go to bed, but he didn't budge. A few minutes later, he went up there to tell him to go to sleep and lo and behold, the kid fell asleep sitting up! I so wish we had a picture of it. Wes laid him down and he didn't move.

He has become the king of crafts this month as well. He is so into coloring and painting. He goes to the closet where I keep everything and just begs and cries until I give him the supplies. It's a messy proposition, but I have learned giving in keeps him much happier and actually occupied for more than five minutes.

He's really into playing kitchen and pretending to cook. I remember Ryan going through this same phase as well. He likes to stir things and try and feed them to me. It's pretty cute.

As far as real eating goes. Still not a whole lot of change. He has discovered forks and demands to eat with them. So sometimes he will try new things just because of the novelty of using a fork to eat it. He loves strawberries, has eaten pizza, spaghetti, and I think that's it! Haha. His obsession with bananas has become insane and he begs for them at every single meal. He is also eating PBJs pretty religiously, too. He basically circulates through the same foods everyday. Starts with Nutrigrain bar, yogurt smoothie, and banana. Snack time is an applesauce. Funny story, he wanted a 2nd applesauce one day (which I refuse because I want him to try new things) and Ryan has just finished one and put it in the trash. B went and dug it out and was trying to get every last drop of it out. Lunch is a PBJ and strawberries. Snack is goldfish. Dinner is usually lasagna and sometimes a pouch to get veggies in. If he's eaten well for the day, his reward is Sour Cream n Cheddar Baked Lays. Of course he will always eat Graham crackers, any type of cookies/sweets, crackers, chips, etc. Sidenote, I think he may be allergic to strawberries because his mouth gets the red spots all around them after he eats, uuuggh. Of course, one of the only fruits he will eat, might be something he can't have!

Still loves to clean

The other night, when it was bathtime, Wes, Ryan, and B headed upstairs and while Wes was gathering towels and PJs, B went into our room, shut the doors and locked himself in. Of course he either didn't notice or seem to care. Wes picked the lock and all was well.

He is also really into feeling the rush of adrenaline. He loves to jump on our bed or the couch and then fall flat on his face from the standing position. He will do it over and over again, until I can grab him and get him off. This is usually taking place while I am nursing Charlie. When Wes gets home, his new thing is that he wants him to swing him as high as he can in the air.

His new words for the month include cold (he'll go touch a cold glass and say it), uh oh, pump (for my breast pump), nanas (bananas), babybrubber (one long run on word) and that is about it. He will mimic some sounds, but he still doesn't talk all that much. I am hoping when he starts school next month, this will begin to change. If you ask him what his name is, he points to himself and says B. Sometimes, he will say something like Bra, but usually B it is. He finally got the last two top incisors, thank goodness. Hopefully we have a few months of no teething before he gets his last set of molars.

He begs to go outside and play all hours of the day. Yami is great about taking them out a bunch, so he gets to burn off a lot of energy.

swingin' like a big boy (he fell off 2 seconds later)

He's also started to notice the TV a little bit more, but still won't sit still for more then a few minutes. He mainly just loves to play with anything that Ryan is playing with. They love to chase each other around the house, put puzzles together, and make huge messes in the playroom.

watching TV for a nanosecond

The day I took the above picture, he was so snuggly. He turned to me, took out his pacifier and gave me a huge kiss. I almost started crying (seriously).

love this pic

We went to dinner with a bunch of my extended family a week or so ago and my cousin was in town with her little girls. They were so sweet together, giving each other a ton of kisses. Funny thing, in large crowds he gets so shy. It is so unlike him, but he just clams up. Makes me curious as to how he will be in school.

B is still so sweet (and obsessed) with Charlie. He has to give him at least 20 kisses a day and they are all unprovoked. He wants to hold him so badly and will just go sit by him, wherever he is. Usually after a kiss or a sweet pat on the head, comes some poking of the eyes or sticking fingers in his ears, so we can't ever leave them alone in the same room. I hope this love continues!!

B weighed himself on our scale the other day and he was 26.8 lbs. So, still kinda small although he looks huge. I think its the large head and chubby cheeks. They can be deceiving. When he runs, you can see his cheeks jiggle. It's funny. He's wearing more 24 month/2T clothes now and still size 4 diapers. He still goes to bed around 8/8:15 (doesn't usually fall asleep until closer to 9) and has been waking up around 8 am. His naps are usually about 2-2.5 hours around 1 pm. 

He is a handful, but we wouldn't trade him for the world.

1 month - CJM

Well, we survived the first month as a family of five. One down, about 200 to go! Some people say they feel like time flies with lil ones, but this past month has seemed pretty long to me. Luckily, we have had so much help (thank goodness) or I would have probably lost it by now. I have not had one full day with all three kids by myself yet, which is probably a good thing. During the week from about 4-6:30 pm when Wes gets home is the only time I have them all to myself, and let's just say that's enough! Charlie just seems to always want to eat right when it's time for the boys to start dinner. So, I am doing a lot of parenting from the couch for about 30 minutes while the boys are dropping food on the floor, fighting, B is climbing on the kitchen table or screaming all the while I am trying to keep a peaceful environment for Charlie to nurse in. Yeah right....

perfecting Blue Steel!

Charlie seems like he was born on a schedule, at least more so than Ryan or Bradley. He has pretty much maintained the same schedule since week 1 and I am really hoping it will stick. He usually wakes around 7:30-8:30 am, eats, plays (more like stares), then takes a 40 minute nap. Wakes up and eats again, plays, and goes down for a 3 hour nap around lunchtime (luckily about 2 of these hours overlap with Bradley's schedule). Gets up and eats again around 3pm, looks around and takes another 40 minute nap. The hours from about 5 pm - 9pm are pretty up in the air and by far the most difficult. He usually eats about 3 times between those four hours, so trying to get him to rest/nap is unpredictable. He usually fights it until he crashes around 7:30. Whether he wakes up or we wake him up, we give him a bath (which he just loves) and nurse him and put him down for the night around 9:30ish.

Normally, he will sleep until 2:30 and then again until 5:30, go back to bed and then wakes up around 8 to start the routine all over again. Granted, we have had some nights he will sleep til 3 or 4 and others he will only wake up once. I can't really complain because Wes is such a huge help and takes one of the feedings. Definitely a lifesaver :) Luckily, he is just fine with the bottle.

He had his doctor's appointment today and his stats were as follows:

Weight - 10 lb 4 oz (56% and coincidentally the exact same weight as B)
Height - 22.5 in. (73% and also exact same length as B)
Head - 14.5 in. (22% - tiny little head!)

He does feel much small than the others and considering he was almost a pound heavier than B at birth, he seems to be growing at a slower rate (for now at least). It also might have something to do with his "short upper frenulum" that we just had fixed. The little connector between his upper lip and gum was too tight/short, so we took him to a pediatric dentist this past Monday to have it resolved. It was causing him to take forever to latch when eating. They take a laser and basically break the tension and elongate it. It is painless and super quick, although he cried pretty hard (I think because he was restrained and his mouth was pried open for a few minutes). One of the assistants told me to go sit down and not to watch! He did smell charred afterward, but was good to go because the laser seals it off. He does seem to latch better now and it is less painful.

For the most part he seems pretty content and chill. He does seem to get pretty bad pains/gas after he eats. Sometimes it will resolve itself quickly and other times, he just screams in pain for a while. He does like to lay on his tummy on our chests which makes him feel better.

He also loves his bouncer at the moment and can sit in there quite a while (until one of his brothers comes and messes with him!). He has definitely become much more alert over the past week or so and seems to be focusing on objects (the big picture in our living room, the little birds hanging on his bouncer, looking at us, etc.).

He also spends a lot of time on the Boppy lounger after he eats. A lot of times he is trying to go to sleep (because that's what he loves to do), but I try and keep him awake for at least a few minutes.

crazy eyes!

Peace!

He does really well with the swaddle and it seems to calm him down when he is restless.

trying to escape!

I've also started wearing him more and I think he enjoys that as well. Usually, he falls asleep within 5-10 minutes though which then makes it difficult because I don't want to wake him!

He's now wearing size 1 diapers, still in some newborn clothes and moving into 3 months. His hair is dark brown as well as his eyes (seem to be getting darker by the day). Still has two precious dimples. We booted him from our room around 3 weeks, but he still sleeps in the little bassinet. Maybe we'll try out the crib this month! Here are a few pics from his 1 month photo shoot!

a little blurry but it looks like he's smiling!

half smile :)

fist bump! he looks so old!

We love you buddy!