Wednesday, November 30, 2011

2 1/2 years old

Dear James,

You are 2 1/2 years old (2 years, 7 months, and 2 days to be exact)! I am sorry your letter is a little late. Mommy has been busy, mostly with you and your brother! :-) The picture above was taken on Saturday November 4th, by our favorite photographer Sabrina Gebhardt. We had family pictures taken at the Arboretum for Christmas cards and you had just turned 2 1/2. How is that possible? Your third birthday will be here before we know it! You are growing up fast and I am so proud of the little boy you are becoming. You are the sweetest, smartest, most thoughtful, hard headed, stubborn, funny, loving, caring, baby boy I could have ever hoped for. You challenge us because you are so strong willed but also want to please. When you do get in trouble and I am irritated you will ask, "Are you happy mommy? Are you happy? You say this because you want me to be happy and not mad at you!". Of course it makes me laugh and I never stay upset for long.

You have now been a big brother for 9 months and you love Michael fiercely. I get tears in my eyes when I watch the two of you play together and think about the lifelong friendship you will have. You already are very protective of him but also love to tell him "no" when he is getting into something he is not supposed to or playing with a toy you don't want him to play with. You say, "No Michael, no, no!" You even pick him up under the arms from behind and try to carry him over to me. Poor little Michael has his little shoulders shrugged up and just looks at me like "What did I do mommy?" I cannot wait for him to talk and tell us what he really thinks, ha!

You still go to Brookhaven Child Development Center five days a week and are in the Toddler 2 class with Ms. Nancy and Ms. Taisha. Your best friends there are Everett, Olivia, Evy, and Beckett. You and Olivia went though a rough patch because you loved to play together but would fight over a toy or whatever and she would bite you when she got mad! I think it was just a phase because over a month's time you bit Everett and Beckett, Everett bit you, Olivia bit you a few times, and you also bit Olivia. I only know about the ones that involved you. Who knows how many other incidences there were! Ms. Nancy wasn't allowed to tell us who bit you but you are old enough that you would tell us as soon as we got in the car! Of course we would promptly call or text our friends (the moms and dads of your little friends) and apologize if you bit them. We also would always get a text or phone call apologizing if one of them bit you. I think we were all frustrated that it was happening but no one ever got mad. We are all happy that phase is over!

Funny story about you and Olivia-we were all together the day after Thanksgiving at the Vetters (who we met through our Brookhaven friends) and all the kids were playing in the backyard. You were playing on a little scooter, tripped and sort of fell but lay down over the scooter and said, "Help! Help!" I was eating but knew you were fine and just playing, Daddy had Michael, so Dan (Everett's Daddy) ran over and helped you up, brushed off your knees, and said, "You're ok!" You said, "No, I want Olivia to help!" and you laid back down over the scooter on the ground in the exact same position, looked at Olivia, and said, "Help Olivia, help!" Oh my! I could not believe this was happening. You are only 2 1/2! We thought it was hilarious. What is even funnier is Olivia just looked at you and kept on playing. She also LOVES Michael. She follows him around saying, "Baby Michael, baby Michael, hi Michael." Too cute. She has a 3 month old baby brother at home, Baby Eddie, so she must be fascinated with babies right now!

So James Peyton, what else are you up to at 2 1/2 years old?

You are 38 inches tall and weigh 33 pounds.

You are out of regular diapers, have been wearing pull ups (size 2T/3T) this past month, and officially had your first day in big boy underwear TODAY and were dry ALL day long at school and at home! Yay!!!! We are so proud of you!!! Daddy gets you dressed every morning so he sent mommy a picture at school this morning. You also insisted on calling Grandma-ma and Papa on the way to school to tell them all about it.

You wear a size 2T pants/jeans and a 3T shirt. You have a few 2T shirts from last winter that you can still wear and a few 4T t-shirts that fit.

You are so smart and the things you say amaze and impress us all the time. I know I am your mommy and am a little biast but I really believe you are one of the smartest 2 year olds I have ever met! I started keeping a journal last July of things you say because I would call Grandma-ma and tell her. She would say, "Tiffany, you HAVE to write this down! Months from now you will not remember everything he says!" I am so glad she told me that (several times) because now I have about 20 handwritten pages of stories or funny/creative/smart things you have said over the last five months. I will have to write a post and highlight a few of my favorites!

You love sports and right now baseball and tennis seem to be your favorite. You have a tennis racket just your size and we have to throw tennis balls to you to hit every night. You have a great swing and hit a lot of them! Daddy was a great tennis player and was ranked when he was in junior high and high school so maybe you will be serious about it one day! Last week at school your class was studying the meaning of Thanksgiving. Ms. Nancy talked about the pilgrims coming over on the Mayflower. You then said, "James sailed to America to play tennis!" How funny is that?!? 

You love to play with cars, helicopters, trains, and trucks. You build garages out of blocks for all of your cars. You love Lightening McQueen and Mater from the movie Cars. 

You can spot a mailman's truck, police car, ambulance, or firetruck a mile away! Of course when any of those have the sirens on you get very excited.

You do watch a little t.v. at night after dinner and your favorite right now is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Dora the Explorer! You love Diego (which you call Lego) too but ask to watch Dora more. At least she is educational and you are learning a few words in Spanish!

You can count to twenty in English and to ten in Spanish.

You know all of the basic shapes (circle, square, rectangle, triangle, heart, star, and even hexagon!)

You know all of your colors.

You know almost all animals that I can think of and the sounds they make. You especially love giraffes and were so excited to see them when we went to the Fort Worth Zoo with Grandma-ma last month.

You can say the alphabet and recognize some letters. I want to start working with you at home more on this. Letter recognition and sounds are one of my favorite things to teach because once mastered we can work on blending words and reading!

Your favorite foods are spaghetti, fruit-especially berries, yogurt, steamed broccoli, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, string cheese, Chick Fila chicken nuggets, popsicles, and an occasional bean burrito from mommy's favorite-Taco Bueno, and donuts. Don't get me started. It's Daddy's fault. He will sometimes stop at Jay's Donuts on the way to school and get you 3 little donut holes. Of course you think they are the best thing you have ever tasted!

You don't drink milk at all, maybe a little at school with lunch. I think you get enough calcium from the yogurt and cheese you eat. Your favorite drink is orange juice. In fact you wake up asking for it, usually right after you climb in bed with us in the morning. Sometimes you insist on Daddy getting it for you and sometimes you want Mommy to get it. It is really about 3/4 water with a splash of oj.

Bedtime-our routine is bath, pj's, brush teeth, read books, prayers, then lights off and you go to sleep. If it were only that simple. It is always a fight to get you in the bath tub but you love playing and taking a bath once you are in it. You always want to read more books, you would listen to 17 books a night if we would read that many. Most nights it is 3 or 4, and reading is one thing I love to do so I don't mind. You always want to turn your lamp off yourself and then as much as I do not want to admit this-we sit with you while you fall asleep. It is something we started long ago and honestly we are not sure how to break the habit nor do we want to. We take turns putting you to bed and we get quality one on one time with you that we don't get enough of. But we did learn our lesson! Michael is the easiest baby to put to bed. After bath and pj's we read a book, he has a bottle, I rock him and snuggle with him for a minute and put him in his crib still awake but sleepy, say night  night Michael, and walk out. He is practically snoring by the time I get the monitor. Let's just say were determined to make sure Michael could easily put himself to sleep and not need us while doing it!

You are so sweet and affectionate. You love hugs and kisses and whenever I leave in the morning for school you have to have your "hug kiss" When Daddy drops you off at Brookhaven in the mornings you also have to have a "hug kiss" from him, usually a few before he gets out the door! The other night we were sitting on the couch watching Toy Story 3. You said, "Mommy, can I put my arm around you? Put your head here (and you patted your chest)". My heart melted. We snuggled with your arm around the back of my neck and you were sitting up on the couch like you were a big guy. Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

You are very emphatic and expressive when you talk. If we ask you a question and the answer is yes, it is"Yeeehhhhhhhhhs, mommy Yeeehhhhhhhhhs"! I can hear your little voice now, it is so funny.

Part of me wants to bottle you up and keep you this age forever because it is so fun to have conversations with you and to see the world through your sweet innocent eyes. But, I know I will feel that way about many of the stages you go through in life. I tell you I love you THIS much and stretch my arms out as wide as I can-you think it is hilarious. April will be here soon and you will be turning three. My next long letter will be on your third birthday but I will of course be posting pictures and writing shorter updates between now and then. I love you James Peyton and so much of who I am today is because of you. I could not imagine these past 2 1/2 years without you.

Love,
Mommy

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!

How cute are my little turkeys? The first picture is of James on Thanksgiving Day in 2009 when he was 7 months old and the second picture is Michael in the same outfit today, and he is 10 months old! Michael is a busy, busy boy these days so it is nearly impossible to get him to sit still and look at me, especially when I am using my iphone to take his picture. That was the best picture I took of him and I took a lot. I misplaced my digital camera so will be getting a new one soon, maybe tonight. We decided to do a little black Friday shopping tonight so hopefully we will find some good deals! Nanie (Janie, Sean's mom) is here and was so nice to offer to listen for the boys, in case they wake up, so we can go get our Christmas shopping done. We have never gone shopping on Black Friday before so it should be interesting! Our main stops are going to be Toys R Us and Best Buy. Wish us luck!

Friday, November 18, 2011

10 months old


Dear Michael,

You are 10 months old today and a BUSY boy! We went on a walk earlier today and I took this picture with my phone. It is the only picture I have in the last few days where you are sitting still! I joke and tell people I thought James was into everything and busy, ha! You have your brother beat on that one. You are so fast. You can crawl across an entire room in two seconds. You pull up on everything and walk holding onto the couch, chairs, or anything you can get your little hands on. If there is something on a table or shelf you can reach, you like to throw it on the floor and laugh when you do it. You are so happy and laugh all the time. The other night we were all riding in the car and you started laughing at yourself in the mirror and would not stop. Daddy, James, and I were all laughing with you because it was just too cute. This month was a big month, you took 3 steps all by yourself at 9 months and 12 days old! You are still in the infant room at Brookhaven and Mommy misses you very much during the day but I know you are in good hands. You are now the second oldest in the room! Daddy says you are always laid back and happy when he drops you off and when we pick you up, you crawl to the door as fast as you can with the biggest smile on your face.

So Michael Scott, what else are you up to at 10 months old???

You are 30 in. long and weigh 22 lbs

You wear a size 4 diaper

You wear size 12 month clothes and a few 12-18 month shirts

You still only have two bottom teeth but you are working on your top two front teeth! We can feel the little bumps and see a little white through your gums on the top front left tooth. I am going to miss your big toothless grin when your front teeth do come in!

You are finally a wonderful sleeper! I have been waiting for you to sleep 12 hours a night consistently. For months you would wake up hungry every night between 3:00 a.m.-4:00 a.m. and would suck down a 4 oz bottle like you had not eaten in days. We did not want to give you more than that because we were trying to wean you off the nighttime feeding. We tried feeding you more food at night before bed, more milk (Gerber Goodstart Formula) before bed, but you still never drank more than 6 oz. I think you finally are a little older and eat more during the day so you do not need the bottle anymore at night. You now go to bed at 8:00 p.m. and sleep until 7:30 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. Yay!

You LOVE food. I have never seen anything like it. You will eat anything and usually eat like it is the best thing you have ever tasted. It's hard to narrow it down but your favorite foods are probably pasta (spaghetti or Annie's Organic Mac & Cheese) & fruit (especially blueberries).

You love Daddy very much but you are a Mama's boy! My favorite time of day is at night right before I put you down for bed. I rock you and we snuggle with your head on my shoulder and your little knees scrunched up under you. I just hold you and rock and cherish the quiet time together.

You love music and love to "dance". If you hear any kind of music and you are standing up your knees start bouncing!

You started clapping this past month. We have a bear that sings, "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands" and as soon as the bear starts singing you start clapping! You are very proud of yourself. :-)

You want anything that your brother is playing with and most of the time he doesn't want to share. Some days he loves to play cars with you and others he wants 14 cars to himself and will hand you one to play with. I can tell how much you love him and look up to him though. I love watching the two of you play together and interact!

You are so good in the car. The only time you cry is when you are hungry and most of the time you take a nap. We just bought your big boy convertible car seat and will be making the switch soon!

I am excited to celebrate your 1st Christmas and I just started planning your 1st Birthday party! I can't believe you are turning one in two months! I love you, Michael and can't wait to see how you grow and change this month.

Love,
Mommy 

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Do you see a resemblance?

My mom brought over this picture today of me as a baby to show me how much she thinks Michael looks like me! She has been telling me for months and I belived her but after seeing this picture I can really see the resemblance. Michael makes that exact same expression! There are a few pictures of me as a little girl that we looked at today and I immediately saw some of the expressions James makes. I think it is so fun to see myself in my boys. Side note-how awesome is my brother's hair? He didn't even need a helmet to go with his football uniform! :-)

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Fall Festival

On Saturday we planned on going to the pumpkin patch at the Arboretum but we drove by and it was way too crowded. We decided to have lunch at Chili's instead. After lunch we were driving home and stopped at the church across the street from us where there was a Fall Festival. We stopped because we saw a big firetruck parked in the parking lot and could see the kids climbing in and out of it. James LOVES firetrucks and he had so much fun climbing in it, pretending to drive it, and talking to the firemen. It was a gorgeous day so afterwards we played on the playground!

Michael hanging out at Chili's waiting on his high chair

Mommy & James (who was being entertained by Monkey Lunchbox) It was the first time we let him play a game on one of our phones and it was wonderful. The game is educational and James actually sat still while waiting for our food!

James & the Firetruck

I love the look on James' face

James "driving" the firetruck

He was so excited!

Jumping up and down with excitement. This boy LOVES firetrucks.

Closely inspecting the back

Playtime

Daddy's turn coming down the slide

Hi Mommy

Swinging

So bright outside

Mommy & Michael

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Friday night Fun

Superman waiting in line for his ballon animal and seriously watching the lady make it

Superman and his balloon dog. He chose purple and told the balloon lady "because it's Mommy's favorite". What a sweet boy and he knows Mommy's favorite color!

Mommy and our little Tigger
Friday night we went to a Halloween party at Brookhaven Country Club with our Brookhaven friends who I originally met through baby yoga class and playgroup when James was a baby. Now four of our kids are in class together every day. It is so fun that they are growing up together! We are always so busy chasing the kids (more on that in a minute) we never get pictures of each other. I did manage to take a couple of pictures with my phone of James dressed up as Superman and one picture of Michael as Tigger. He did not like having the hood on his head! I really wanted to dress Michael up as a monkey because we always call him our little monkey but maybe next year. I thought it would be cute if he wore the same Tigger costume that James wore on his first Halloween!

We picked James and Michael up from school at 5:30 p.m. and went over to the Halloween party in the Ballroom at the club. We had been there for about an hour and Sean had to walk back over to the school to get food for Michael. (We thought we had some in the diaper bag but didn't) He was gone for maybe 10 minutes at the most. I was sitting next to Michael who was in a high chair eating puffs and James was happily playing on the floor with this toy plush pumpkin next to us. I turn to Michael for less than 20 seconds and look back over to where James was and he. was. gone. I immediately stood up and looked all around and could not find him! Kids were running around everywhere but I could still see around the entire ballroom and James was no where to be found. My sweet friend Emily started to help me look for him while our other good friend Staci watched Michael. We could not find James anywhere inside the ballroom and finally Emily said, "The pumpkin that James was playing with is on top of the piano, by the back door!" We ran out the door which goes out to the pools and asked a couple if they saw a boy run by. They said yes and described what James was wearing. He had taken off his Superman costume earlier and was back in his t-shirt and jeans. I had the most horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. You know your friend cares about you and your family when she is sprinting along side you screaming your child's name as loudly as you are. Well, we found James with a big smile on his face standing in line for the bounce house. Why in the world they would put the bounce house near the pools is beyond me. I actually talked to the GM about it later that evening and he explained to me that the top of the bounce house was so tall there was no other place to put it. Anyway, I was so happy to see James and mad at him at the same time that I frantically yelled his name, which I think scared him but also made him realize he was in trouble. So he ran. Towards the pool. I finally knelt down and said, "James come give Mommy a hug!" and he turned and ran back to me. Thank God. I hugged him tight as tears streamed down my face and told him how worried I had been and how he is to never go anywhere without Mommy or Daddy again. Isn't parenthood great? All of this happened in a matter of ten minutes. I carried James back into the party just as Sean was walking back in. I was crying, mainly out of relief that James was ok. Needless to say we had a big talk with James about staying with us. To his defense we had already been out the front door to jump in the bounce house and I did tell him I would take him to the one out back, he had eaten candy which gives him entirely too much energy, and he was in an environment where he felt comfortable. He knows his way around Brookhaven, it t is his home away from home since he goes to school there every day. It turned out to be quite the eventful night. We did end up staying and having a great time. James also stayed right by Mommy or Daddy's side. James is 2 1/2 now and has been asserting his independence lately but that was a little much.

I am so appreciative of my husband who goes to birthday parties and other events with me and the boys so we can each be in charge of one of the boys and enjoy ourselves. I am also so incredibly grateful for our wonderful friends who help us and love us through all that we go through as parents. Thankfully the rest of our weekend was fun but uneventful in a good way! More on that tomorrow. Once again I have a lot of blogging to catch up on! I have several blog posts I need to backdate and post in October. How is it November already?!?