Hutch Marshall - 2 months

I had forgotten how much I love baby coos. The first time my sweet boy smiled and cooed up at me, I thought, "Oh. I remember now why we fight through all that crying and unhappiness. It's for this moment." If I thought he had stolen my heart before, it's an entirely different ballgame with that big grin and big dimples.


Speaking of dimples, I'd like to report that while I was certain that was the only feature on this baby that remotely looked like me, my mom found several pictures of me that look pretty identical to my baby boy. So I am in there somewhere.


I think Hutch is almost the same size as his sister. Seriously. This baby is huge. Which is wonderful and perfectly normal, just a major contrast to his sister, who is still always limping into the 10 or 15th percentile of weight at her well check appointments. He's more like 70 or 80th percentile At one month, he weighed what she did at two months. And now he's completely outgrown his 3 month clothes and moved on to 6 months. I love his little (big) belly.


Sleeping is better but still pretty questionable. I thought his sister was a rough sleeper, till I reviewed her 2-month schedule and realized she was sleeping 6 hours at night. I guess that was pretty great. Colic and reflux still suck, but I think we're making some progress there, too. This was about the time Addie improved for about a month before it came roaring back, so I'm choosing to be only slightly hopeful that perhaps we're over the worst.

Weight: Since his two month appointment isn't for a few more weeks ... I'm guessing he's close to 13 pounds. At least.
Length: Also guessing around 22 inches

New things:

• Smiling. His smiling is my favorite.
• Cooing and interacting.
• Watching our mouths and eyes very intently.
• Even better head control.
• Batting at toys, which I'm pretty sure is mostly accidental.
• Giving himself battle wounds. Thanks to a yucky case of cradle cap, he's constantly trying to scratch his head, ears and forehead, either by rubbing on us, blankets, his swing, his bed or raking his sharp fingernails across his little head. He was asleep and swaddled when I heard a big cry - he had wormed his hand out and given himself a pretty impressive scrape. So we're back to wearing mittens.
• Sleeping a little better. He prefers to wake every three to four hours at night. Sometimes he'll stretch to five. Rarely to six.
• Taking better naps during the day. In his swing, mind you.

Likes:

• His swing. Thank goodness. Especially since we've taken to putting him here around 4 a.m. to try to get some sleep ourselves.
• The mammaroo. God bless our sweet friends who let us borrow this miracle contraption. He doesn't generally sleep in it, not for long anyway, but it does often calm him down when he's fussy
• Being worn. Love that moby wrap, although this baby is quite a bit heavier in it than that other one of mine was!
• His ocean play mat.
• Eating. Eating is his favorite.
• His black and white and contrast books.
• Bath time.
• His momma. I really like that he likes me best. I love that he's really starting to respond to my voice or my face.
• His sister. He loves to hear her sing or read books to him. She gives him the sweetest little kisses and loves to hold him. He saves some of his biggest grins for her.
• His daddy. Just like with Addie, I love how he looks at his daddy. Clearly he has to like me because I'm where to food comes from, but he loves his daddy just because.
• Usually he likes tummy time. Especially if his dog participates.

Dislikes:

• His tummy.
• Sleeping.
• Taking medicine. Already a pro at spitting it out at me.
• Being swaddled. Man this kid is strong and he fights and fights the swaddle, till he finally gives in and realize he actually likes it.
• Getting his boogers sucked out. Which also seriously distresses his sister.

Addison Mae - 30 months

30 months. That's 2 1/2. I can hardly believe it. And a recent growth spurt means she looks even more like a big girl and less like my baby. It's bittersweet when these babies grow. I'm thankful that she still wants me to hold and snuggle her, but I'm realizing it's not quite as often as it used to be. I'm trying my best to soak up all these moments with her, but also reminding myself that each new stage is even more fun (and usually exasperating!!) than the last. While I sometimes feel nostalgic for when she was smaller, I'm always thankful for the present.

Weight: 28.5 pounds
Length: ~32 inches

 New things:

• I'm going to go ahead and call her potty trained. We haven't tried out her actual panties yet (more because momma's scared) but she rarely has an accident. And she LOVES to use the potty at public places. Fun.
• Starting conversations with people by asking, "Do you have a puppy?" If they say no, she asks, "Do you have a kitty?" If both answers are no, she's typically done with the person.

• The funniest new phrases/convos ...
• Telling people they are stinky.
• An obsession with talking about bodily functions
• Telling us about new friends at school or church ... "Do you remember [name]?" If we say no, "I will show her to you next time at church."
• Learning the meaning of the word "startle" and using it correctly in convos
• If Jordan and I or my mom and I are having a conversation, "Talk to me instead, mommy." Usually combined with moving my head to look at her.
• Jordan was telling her about the Olympics and all the various sports. When he said "bobsledding," she said, "Like my Pawpaw?" (His name is Bob. She's going to be really disappointed when he's not on TV)
• A fear of Grammie's bobblehead of Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty. He talks. And Addie doesn't care for it.

Likes:

• Gloves. Hers, mine, Grammie's, anyone. She was thrilled when we had to put gloves on her bubby to keep him from scratching himself.
• Baths in mommy's tub or showers in mommy's shower. It's the little things.
• Helping give brother a bath.
• Playing in cardboard boxes. And asking Pawpaw over and over and over again to cut windows in them.
• Playing with snow, inside.
• Going to Sonic to get a juice box.
• Parties. Which is really any social gathering. Although she can't understand why all social gatherings don't require singing the birthday song, candles and cupcakes.
• Watching the Olympics.
• Car dancing. Girl after my own heart.
• Her brother. Most of the time.
• Doc McStuffins. And playing doctor. "It's gonna hurt really bad, Mommy." She recently gave me a check up and declared that I needed surgery, a shot in the finger, a bandaid and to hold her Ernie doll. She's nothing if not thorough.

Dislikes:

• Not getting her own way. Being told no. She recently told me her teachers at school never tell her no. I'm not buying.
• Time out.
• When her brother gets his nose sucked out. Makes her cry, too.
• Even discussing having to eventually share her toys with her brother.