Addison Mae - 3 years

 

 

Y'all. She's THREE. I have no words. She, on the other hand, has lots of words. She constantly surprises me with the words she knows, her manners, her social skills ... and her stubbornness. She's definitely three.

She finishing up school in late July by wearing her birthday shirt and taking insane purple cupcakes for her friends. I CANNOT believe that she'll be starting preschool in just a few weeks. I'm so excited for the new experiences and all she's going to learn ... but it also means my baby is growing up.

Just before her birthday, Jordan's Granny and her Gigi passed away. My sweet girl misses her Gigi but is quick to tell us that she's in heaven where she's feeling better and with Jesus. I'm amazed at her faith.

She had such a fabulous birthday, starting with a jillion balloons and streamers outside her room. Her requested favorite breakfast was "breakfast crack," complete with a candle. She opened a million gifts, almost all of which were Frozen-themed, and then we went to the Myriad splash pad and playground with friends. She requested lunch at Saturn Grill, where she got to eat her pink cupcake first. We had a special dinner with all her grandparents and Jordan's aunt and uncle who were in town. The following day was her awesome Splatter & Splash Bash at Grammie and Pawpaw's house. I loved watching her and her sweet friends paint and swim and giggle.

I remember this girl as a teeny, tiny, brand-new infant, who relied upon me for every little thing in her life. And now she's so big, so confident, so brave. And I love that she still needs me sometimes, too. She often tells me, "Don't worry Mommy, I'll still sit in your lap when I'm firty-one." I'm so proud of the little person she's becoming.

Weight: 30 pounds
Length: 36.5 inches

 New things:

• Upper and lower case letter recognition. Letter and number tracing. Some writing on her own. Definitely a better command of writing utensils. I'm so impressed with her!
• Recognizing sounds, and which letters make which sounds. Although sometimes she says things like .. Guh-Guh-Guh Grammie ... starts with a Q. Makes me laugh.
• A continued obsession with games. Crazy 8s, Memory, Candyland and a new game called Chicky Boom are her faves. I love watching the wheels turn in her head as she strategizes. She's seriously competitive.
• Oh the attitude. Some days she's my perfectly sweet, only occasionally sassy girl. Other days I'm sure we're going to duke it out and there will be only one of us left standing when Jordan gets home

Likes:

• Oh, Frozen. I've seriously limited TV time, which means that anytime I let her watch, she requests Frozen. (Which is secretly OK with me - I love it too!)
• Singing Frozen. At the top of her lungs. All. The. Time. (I join in. So does her daddy. And brother dances)
• Speaking of her brother, she loves him and she is SO good with him. Be still my heart.
• Using her amazing imagination. Lately, we often pretend one of us works at Sonic and the other is ordering (complete with button pushing).
• As noted above, Sonic. She loves to go.
• Cooking. I love that she loves one of my favorite activities too.
• Going to Carter's to pick out clothes. I'll probably regret this later, but it's pretty fun right now.
• Listening to "her" music in the car, which she calls "my music" or "Jesus music."

. 

Dislikes:

• Getting in trouble. Going to time out. Going to her room.
• Being denied her way.
• Having any of her Frozen items taken away, which has been a very effective punishment!

Hutch Marshall - 8 months

 

 

 

Y'all. This baby is 2/3 of the way through his first year. I feel like I blinked and he's turned into this big boy. A big boy who is his sister's exact replica (well, you know, almost). He is so smiley and happy most all of the time (at least, when he's around other people - he saves his most dramatic self for his momma). He loves to meet new people, although he's definitely getting more clingy to me in new situations. And by clingy I mean holding on to me for dear life and hiding his face in my armpit. But, just like someone else I know, after a little time to warm up, he feels pretty at home in any situation.

This guy loves to move and see what's going on everywhere around him. And protest loudly if he can't. His current method of transportation is rolling - and he gets pretty frustrated about not having figured out that crawling thing yet. I keep thinking it's coming any day, but we'll see.

He loves music. Of any kind. On the radio, sister's singing, my singing, drumming, all musical toys. They all make him dance and sing. The Happy song on my phone remains his very favorite. He's definitely a water baby - whether in the pool, water table or bath tub, water makes him smile.

Sometimes he sleeps. Sometimes he doesn't. We've reverted back to the swing (to save our sanity) several times over the past month. Whatever, man.

We've had the delight of an ever-returning stomach bug the past month. So very sad for my poor little guy. But, his reflux and colic are definitely better. Hallelujah. We still see some remnants of both (and don't think we're brave enough to take him totally off meds yet), but we're making strides.

Weight:  18ish pounds
Length: 26ish inches

New things:

• Lots of talking and babbling and trying out new sounds. I try not to hold it against him that  his sister already had several words by now. Being that he's a boy and a second child, I'm holding out hope that he'll talk before he's 2.
• Figuring out how to get from a seated position to his tummy or back. Which usually means falling over and crying about it. But we're working on it.
• Not crawling ... but some funny scooting methods. His favorite is lying on his back and pushing himself around with his feet. He will roll until his movement is stopped by furniture or a wall.
• Being a total momma's boy. Be still my heart. I mean, he has always really liked me, but his new method of holding on to me for dear life/crawling up me/hiding in my armpit take it to a new level. He's not a fan of anyone taking him away from me. Unless it's his Daddy.
• Asking his Daddy to hold him when he gets home from work. So, so sweet. It usually includes whining, grunting and arm flailing until Jordan picks him up. He gives his daddy a HUGE grin and pats his face. I've pretty much never seen anything cuter.
• Figuring out his toys. He's pretty content to sit with a mound of toys (for up to five minutes) and sort through them/try to figure out how they work. I'm driving him crazy trying to teach him to take objects in and out of a container.
•  Eating. Real food. Still having quite a lot of pureed foods, but he's doing GREAT with finger foods. He loves puffs, Cheerios, blueberries and peas. He's a little unsure about chicken. His No. 1 fave are "green pancakes" (God bless my friend and neighbor for sharing the recipe - which is basically steamed veggies, a banana, oats and an egg in the blender and cooked into little pancakes).
• Waving. I think. I waved at him several times, he waved back several times (in that cute baby way where they are actually waving back at themselves). Of course now he won't do it again.

Likes: 

• He still loves the Happy song. And all Frozen music. He dances to all of it
• Sister's new talking Olaf. He's pretty much stolen it and her talking, singing Elmo. These also make him dance.
• Being out and about. Just like sister, he's a fan of Target and Sam's. He enjoyed going to see the giant Clydesdales at the Express Ranch, and he loves the zoo. I think mostly he likes all the people watching, but animals are pretty high on his list too
• All manner of beach balls, which he prefers to hold in his feet, circus-monkey-style. Balloons are excellent for this, too
• Banging on anything like a drum
• Pulling all of Mia's fur out. And her tail. Which she let's him do. Weirdo.
• Giving kisses to momma and sissy when we ask for them. Love.
• Going to the library. Looking at/chewing on/pulling pages out of books.
• Chewing on everything. 
• His paci

Dislikes:

• Being away from his momma. Or his sister. He's extra fussy/clingy on the days she's at school.
• His teeth. 

Addison Mae - 35 months

So I pretty much almost always cry when I think about my baby turning 3. In just ONE month. There may be a lot of difficulties about 2 and 3-year-olds, but in all honesty I just love this age. She still needs me so much, but she's also learning so much and asserting her independence. She's figuring out how the world works and her place in it. Everything is new and exciting. Her sense of wonder and fun are contagious. How I love this little person.

She had the best Fourth of July with our family in town from Houston/Colorado/NY, including my cousin's daughter, Emily, who was Addie's personal assistant throughout the weekend. Addie is obsessed with her, and Emily played along so sweetly. Highlights were swimming, going to a parade (complete with a ridiculous amount of candy) and setting off small (not noisy) fireworks with her daddy.

Weight: 29 pounds
Length: 36 inches

 New things:

• An obsession with playing Crazy 8s and Memory. We do this every night from the time her brother goes to bed until it's her bedtime. She loves to say "I winned the game." And then has a great victory dance comprised of practically standing on her head and kicking her feet in the air.
• Even more letter recognition, and getting better at writing a few of them. She can spell her name, although she gets a little confused at the end depending on which name she is spelling. She often says "A-D-D-I-N." Close.
• Swimming like a boss. Well, a 2-year-old boss. She was AMAZING at her swim lessons and can totally swim underwater, as long as a responsible party is nearby to help. We've abandoned floaties and life jackets and have just let her have at it. She's great at holding her breath and loves to jump off the diving board. She also loves to dive for rings and can get them off the bottom of the shallow end. 

Likes:

• Twirling. Anytime. Anyplace. 
• Frozen. It's a total obsession at this point. Jordan finds himself singing the songs, out loud, at work. We all have a problem.  
• Making up gymnastics circuits with me. 
• Playing pretend. Whether with her babies, dress-up clothes or her kitchen, her little imagination is flourishing. She loves to ask me "What's your name, Mommy?", which means I'm supposed to make up a name, and then she does, too. We play school, gymnastics, library, grocery store ... and she mostly prefers to be the teacher or the one in charge (shocking)
• "Painting" with water and paint brushes on the back patio.
• Swimming. And that when she's swimming at Grammie and Pawpaw's, she can just pee in the yard.
• Donuts. She loves going with Daddy occasionally on Saturday mornings to pick them out.
• Sunflowers. Be still my heart. We love to look for them and point them out to each other while driving around town. We did this last year, too, and she totally remembered it. Although last year she called them "funflowers." She was ecstatic when I recently bought some for her.
• Cooking. "I need to get my chair, Mommy." (for standing on next to the island so she can reach the action)
• Meeting people. "Hi, my name is Addison. What's your name? Nice to meet you."
• Praying. She has two prayers she loves to say at dinnertime. And always tells me what she wants to thank Jesus for at bedtime. She recently told me when on the way to school that she was going to teach the other children about Jesus when she got there. Took my breath away. 

Dislikes:

• Time out. Or being told to go to her room. Really, she just doesn't like being by herself.
• Being denied watching Frozen.

Hutch Marshall - 7 months

How is my tiny baby so big already? And how is it possible that I love him more and more every day? There is nothing in the world sweeter to me than seeing my sweet babies playing, laughing or snuggling together. 

He's made huge strides in the last month in so many ways ... he already seems less and less like a baby. He's a boy (all boy!) with strong opinions about things, a need to be in charge and a desire to be MOVING, DOING or SEEING all the time. Reminds me a little of someone else I know ... But seriously, I was prepared to have this second baby with an entirely different personality and disposition than the first. In fact, I have a clone of the first. And I wouldn't change my strong-willed, strong-personality babies for anything (mostly).

We saw a big improvement in his movement/physical development after his tubes were put in place. He's finally back to rolling again, loves to sit and "stand" and marked his 7 month birthday with an earnest first stab at crawling. He's usually so busy moving and craning to see what's going on that he can't nurse for more than 2.3 seconds in a row. Now don't get me wrong. He's still a big fan of nursing, he's just doing toe touches, craning his neck and staying quite busy while doing it. And he's certainly learned how to "ask" to nurse ... by pulling on my shirt, sucking on my shoulders or shirt and in general screaming/growling till he gets what he wants.

The sleeping is finally happening. In his BED. Sometimes he stays asleep for SEVEN hours. IN A ROW. Sorry for the yelling. It's a pretty exciting thing around here. 

His sweet smile melts my heart. He must be the smiley-est baby ever. Until he's mad. He also grins like a lunatic for his people ... and for all pretty girls. And that laugh of his. Hilarious. I often beg Addie to make him laugh, because he laughs for her like no one else. And he loves to babble. He has a lot of important things to say and loves when we mimic or repeat him. 

The reflux is (I'm scared to say it) better. Not gone, but definitely better. His ears (also scared to say it) have remained clear since the tubes were put in. We are not, however, a fan of new teeth around here.

Weight:  17 pounds 6 oz
Length: 25.5 inches

New things:

• TEETH!! The first came in about a week ago (bottom right) and the second the next day (bottom left). Exactly two weeks earlier than his sister's, and in the exact same order. We do not understand the need for teeth around here.
• Y'all. We have quit the swing. I think he's only been in it two or three times over the last month. This is a miracle. He's sleeping better at night, as noted above, and napping a little better, too. He's down to two, sometimes three, naps a day. 
• More babbling. His current favorite sound is dadadada ... uncool. But I guess only fair since his dear sister said mama first.
• Sitting up like a champ. He never falls over. Unless he intends to. Occasionally moving from sitting to his tummy.
• Doing a much better job of eating food. He's up to three meals a day and his favorites are apples, sweet potatoes, squash and pears. He gets really angry about peas, green beans and avocado. Still some tears, especially at dinnertime. He definitely doesn't care for anything with texture ... so looks like he'll be on the pureed diet for quite awhile.
• I think we saw the beginning stages of crawling today. He pretty much hates being on his tummy (unless he's sleeping) so he won't stay in that position for long. But today he, surprisingly, pulled his knees up under his tummy and moved himself forward a few inches. He was on a mission to get one of sister's toys.
• Spending more time in the nursery at church, which he seems to really like. He did great there for four days in a row while I taught VBS, and he's done great on Sunday mornings. He'll start "school" there in the fall. Perhaps by then he'll decide to take a bottle ...
• Speaking of bottles, he stayed overnight with my parents while Jordan and I went to a wedding in Tulsa. And he DID take several bottles pretty easily. He did not, however, sleep much. And he did cry. A whole lot.
• Starting some separation anxiety. I think I'm number one on his list, and even when I briefly leave the room, he makes his opinion about that known. Loudly. He is not a fan of being in the same room/near me if I'm not the one holding him. 

Likes: 

• Chewing. On everything. Kitchen utensils are high on his list - particularly a little rubber whisk and spatulas of any shape and size. And spoons.
• Sophie the giraffe. We would not have made it through those first two teeth with dear Sophie.
• The Happy song. We play it, he dances. It's amazing.
• Frozen. Seriously. We watch this movie a lot at our house. He now cranes his neck to see it if it's on, and also dances to the songs. He's also very interested in his sister's Frozen books.
• Pretty girls are still a major priority for him. He also loves to look at other babies and kids. 
• Looking for Mia and Izzy. And "patting" them (which means pulling their fur out while being told "gentle hands, Hutch")
• Rolling. Finally we are back to rolling. He started really early but was on a bit of a hiatus. He rolls like a lunatic in his crib, but now is finally rolling a bit, slowly both ways, on the floor. He's figured out that going from his back to his tummy helps him reach things.
• Addie's Little People Farm. He is crazy about chewing on the animals. Also loves the sounds it make and the incredible animal sounds his momma can make. 
• Sleeping with his lovie and blankie. The way he holds onto his lovie makes me melt. And he also loves to cover his face with it while sleeping.
• Being naked. Or just in a diaper will work too. He's had a delightful time discovering one of Addie's favorite summer activities, which is "painting" with water and a paint brush on the back porch. Although she's usually dismayed that he just wants to spill his water and chew on the brush and cup.
• Swimming. And chewing on pool rings.
• Bath time. Although he's lately been trying to stand up in his little pink bath tub (which we put in the big tub). Probably time to make the move to the regular tub with sister.
• His puppy piano, music table and stationary jumper. Really anything that makes music.
• Books with flaps or things to touch. Particular favorites are touchy-feely books about a cow, a giraffe and an elephant, which were sister favorites too.
• His crazy momma's singing. Personal faves are Itsy Bitsy and Skidamarink 
• Pat-a-cake and peekaboo. 
• His sister. She's his favorite. She can always make him laugh and smile. He looks at her with such complete adoration. And I melt.
• The paci.

Dislikes:

• Being away from his momma. Or his sister. He's extra fussy/clingy on the days she's at school.
• His teeth. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Hutch Marshall - 6 months

A whole half a year?! Seriously?!? I already have a hard time remembering what life was like without this sweet little guy. 

I thought Addie was the busiest baby ever. Till I met Hutch. He NEVER stops moving. There personalities are so strangely similar. He loves to talk, all the time, especially at 4 in the morning. I like to say he's defending his dissertation. He flings himself about to be sure he's seeing whatever is going on that might be interesting. On our recent beach vacation, he loved to watch the planes and helicopters fly over the ocean. He also turned toward the construction noises going on in our neighborhood. And four wheelers or tractors on the beach. I guess this stuff is born in baby boys??? 

He loves to laugh. And his belly laugh is amazing. Addie is the one who gets him laughing like no one else. He also loves to smile. And he will smile at anyone. But he is especially crazy about pretty girls. Seriously. I feel like I'm already apologizing for him ... sorry my baby is staring and grinning at you. He thinks you're cute. 

The sleeping is, sometimes, better. We thought the ear tubes would make a huge difference. They did, for his ears, but not so much for his sleep. The reflux has gotten worse and we've recently switched meds, again, and saw a GI at Children's Hospital. We are hopeful that the combo of finally getting over ear infections/off antibiotics, new reflux/colic meds and introducing solid foods is making a difference in the world of sleep. He's also (GASP!!) sleeping on his tummy, which seems to help. A good night is one in which we only have to get up with him a handful of times, plug him with the paci and he goes pretty quickly back to sleep. He's taking 3-4 naps per day, for about 30-45 minutes at a time. Still nursing seven to eight times a day.

Weight:  Somewhere between 17 and 18 pounds
Length: 25.5 inches

New things:

• Sitting up! He definitely has gained his balance. Still falls over occasionally, but is doing great. 
• Sleeping ... wait for it ... in his BED! We're trying to quit the swing, and I think we're getting close. He still sleeps on us some of the time ... well, at some point every day. When we were at the beach we, clearly, did not have a swing. We did, thankfully, have a king bed, so he slept with us some each night and in his bed some each night. Since we've been home, he's stayed in his bed each night. Hooray!
• Eating food! We were really gun shy about this since we had such a difficult time with Addie. We started her at 4 1/2 months in the hopes it would curb her reflux, but it backfired. So, we intentionally waited longer with him and skipped cereal to go straight to veggies. He's had a hard time adjusting - lots of crying. But I think after a few weeks he's finally getting the hang of it. So far, he's had green beans, peas, pears and prunes. Yummo.
• Smiling at pretty girls, as noted above. He LOVES "meeting" people.
• Sometimes resting his sweet little head on my shoulder when he's extra sleepy. My busy guy usually isn't down for cuddles, unless he's asleep.
• A pretty head! I think he's finally getting over his cradle cap as his self-inflicted wounds have been few and far between. 
• Going to the beach. He wasn't particularly impressed. Cried when I put his toes in the water. But he fell asleep nearly every time we sat near the ocean. Sounds quite a lot like his white noise machine.
• Going swimming. He cried the first time I put him in Grammie and Pawpaw's pool. But he really loved the pool at our resort, so maybe he'll like "swimming" soon.

Likes: 

• Mia and Izzy are high on his list. 
• His sister is way up there, too. He loves when she sings to him, makes goofy noises and faces, dances for him ... really, anything she does is amazing to him. He loves to laugh at her. 
• His momma. He's definitely developed a very clear preference for me. And he loves to make it known. Loudly.
• Chewing on his hands. His toes. Our hands. Our faces. 
• Giving "kisses," which is more like licking our faces. Likely in hopes of chewing on us.
• Bath time. 
• Knowing/seeing what's going on around him. All strange and/or loud noises need to be inspected immediately.
• His lovies. And his blankie.
• The library. He has started really paying attention and enjoying the class I take Addie to each week at the library. 
• Other kids and babies. I don't remember Addie being this interested this young, but perhaps because he has her to look at, he's naturally drawn to other children, too. 
• Pretty girls. I don't care whether he grows up to like girls or boys, but as of this moment, he's a ladies man for sure. 
• Being outside. 

Dislikes:

• Bottles are still usually a no-go.
• Being alone. Especially, being without momma. Particularly if he can see me and I'm not holding him. 

Addison Mae - 34 months

 

Two months till she's three. She had her official last day of Starbright ... and I might have cried. In my defense, both of her teachers did, too. She'll be on the preschool side of the children's area this summer and will start Warm World this fall. I'm so excited for all that means, but I'm pretty pitiful about it, too. She is so smart and constantly surprises me with the words she says or questions she asks. She is absolutely in love with her brother and tells me often that he's her best friend. While my mom and I had them at the doctor together recently, she about knocked my mom out to try to climb up to "save" her crying brother while he was getting his ears checked. She may look tiny but she is STRONG. And determined. Speaking of doctors, we're going on round two of ear infections since she lost one tube. I tried to interest the doctors in a two-fer tube placement session, but H's was serious enough we had to move really quickly. Otherwise, I'm SURE they would have taken me up on it. 

She LOVES to meet new people ... on an airplane, at the airport, on the beach, at the library, walking in to church. Wherever. And she has the sweetest little social skills. And the very best manners (when she wants to, mind you). Jordan and I are both fairly outgoing, but we've got nothing on this girl. She's forever telling me, "Mommy, I made a new friend!"

She was a superstar at her gymnastics recital, aka M&M party. She has learned so much and loves to show off. She also loved to boss all her friends in her class (imagine). She LOVED going to the beach with her family for a whole week. She was ecstatic to spend that much time with her daddy and pawpaw, especially, and kept reminding them that they didn't have to go to work. She squealed with delight when she saw the ocean and much preferred swimming in the ocean and playing in the sand to the pool. My brave girl loved riding the waves on a raft, too.

She may be a big girl, but she still says "Mommy, hold me" a lot, cries for me in the night when she's scared (or needs a drink, needs a blanket, needs a blanket removed, needs the fan on, needs the fan off, needs her humidifier ... etc) and needs my help for a lot of things. Thank goodness. Being a mom is hard, and my patience is often worn completely thin, or disappeared altogether ... but in my few moments of sanity, I realize how very precious it is to have two little people who depend on me so completely and love me so fully. I am so grateful to be their momma.

Weight: 29 pounds
Length: 36 inches

 New things:

• When helping give her brother a bath, asking why his parts are different than hers. I am honestly surprised it took five months for this to happen.  
• Going to the bathroom "by herself." Which means she removes her pants and underwear and leaves them approximately 12 miles from the bathroom, climbs up on the potty and then yells, "Moooommmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy."
• Practicing "school work" with her new preschool books. Homegirl is pretty awesome at number and letter recognition. She can draw both As and Hs, but in general holding and manipulating a pencil is a different story ... we're working on it. And I'm reminding myself that she's not quite 3. (Someone remind me I should never homeschool ... I do NOT have the patience for it.)
• Saying lots of funny things.
• When she says "I want to go with you" it sounds like "wish you." Makes my heart melt a little every time.
• On our beach vacation, we all started a 30 day ab challenge (perhaps to offset all the good food we were eating). She participated, of course, and calls it the "Firty Day Allange." So funny.
• Still says "I mam" instead of "I am." I hope she never gets it right.
• "That's cool"

Likes:

• Picnics. Which she doesn't realize usually happen outdoors. Ours are just on a blanket on the living room floor.
• Her (now two) inhalers. Weirdo. Just glad she's happy about them instead of fighting them.
• Coming to the finish line of two races I was running in to cheer for me. She does NOT care for the part where I won't stop and hold her ... you know, because I'm trying to finish. She has commandeered the medals from all my recent races.
• Martin Nature Park. To her, the tiny building with three specimens in it is pretty much the same as the Zoo (which she also loves). She loves feeding the giant turtles and catfish, too.
• Cooking with me. Especially if we're making chocolate chip banana bread or any type of cookie. When she helps me with onions, she always asks, "Will they make me blink, mommy?"
• Gymnastics. She loved her class, teacher, classmates. And was entirely obsessed about her "recital" at which they received M&Ms and a giant trophy. She proudly and seriously stepped right up on the podium, very first of the whole day, to receive hers. 
• Getting her face painted.
• Sidewalk chalking.
• Helping plant flowers. And watering abundantly, always including her own body.
• Giving Izzy her medicine.
• Swimming. And the beach. She keeps asking when we get to go back. 
• Balloons. 

Dislikes:

• Getting her ears checked. Or bubby getting his ears checked.
• Being away from her momma.
• Being told to do something she doesn't want to do. Or not to do something she does want to do
• Being told she needs help/can't do something on her own.

Hutch Marshall - 5 months

This guy. He is pretty much amazing. His classic wide-eyed look really just means he's totally taking in the world around him. He's so observant and is definitely of the opinion that he needs to see and know what is going on around him at all times. (Sound familiar????) He is wild about his sister. No one can calm him down like she can. He's been laughing some, but he recently laughed for the first time at her, when she was playing peekaboo with him. Melt. He's also crazy about his daddy and strains to see him when he comes home from work. 

He's still moving ... all the time ... even in his sleep. He still loves to smile at just about anyone. Although he's definitely got a preference for his momma and has decided he doesn't really want me to be out of his sight.

Two more ear infections this month. The very first one didn't respond to meds, the second we treated with injections, which didn't seem to work, and the third was capped off with a visit to the ENT and tubes the same day. And he's had his first visit to Kids 1st after hours clinic. Someone is following in his sister's footsteps. 

Weight:  17 pounds, 3 ounces
Length: 24 inches

New things:

• Sort of sitting up. With a lot of assistance. He can stay upright for a few seconds on his own. And he totally loves the new vantage point and gets cranky on his back now.
• Grabbing our faces to inspect our lips, nostrils, hair, etc. His sister doesn't quite understand this and his inspections of her usually end in her crying and saying "He's hitting me mommy!!! Time out!"
• Being more interested in his toys and reaching/grabbing for them. Transferring things from hand to hand.
• Discovering his feet. And rocking the happy baby pose.
• Rolling onto his back to his tummy a few times. 
• "Talking" all the time. Especially when he's in his car seat. He loves to "talk" to an actual person, but just jabbering to himself works, too. He's loud. :)
• Laughing more. Sweet, sweet little sound. I am often completely ridiculous and/or injure myself in the process of hearing that baby giggle.

Likes: 

• The cat. He loves to grab her fur, her ears, her whiskers. And chew on her if he can get her close enough. 
• The dog. He's finally able to really see her. He smiles and opens his mouth when she licks him.
• His stationery jumper. The first time we put him in it and he was able to push some buttons to make music, I swear his head almost exploded. Big eyes for sure.
• "Standing up," with help of course. He prefers this position above all others. Perhaps it's because it feels best on his poor little tummy, but I also think it's an indicator that he's pretty much ready to start running now.
• The swing. It's pretty much number one in his life, still.
• Being swaddled. He'll be both swaddled and in his swing for sleeping till he's 23.
• Sophie the giraffe has made a comeback. He's in love.
• Bath time. In his little tub, in the big tub with his sister. I'm pretty sure there are warning labels all over his little tub that warn against this, but whatever.
• His sister. When he's fussy, she's often the only thing that can make him happy. He'll pause in his fussing/crying to smile/laugh at her, and then resume fussing.
• His toes. They haven't made it into his mouth yet. It's coming.
• His hands. He LOVES to chew on them and has been sucking his thumb some.
• He still loves to look tough with his self-inflicted head wounds. The cradle cap looks better, but he insists on making himself look like he's starring in a slasher film. I am SO over random people asking me what the heck happened to him. I let him play with razor blades, OK?

Dislikes:

• Being alone. He prefers to be held. Or entertained. 
• Sleeping. Unless he's sleeping on me.
• Sitting in his high chair. We're trying to include him in dinnertime, without always holding him, and he's not having it. Perhaps when he actually starts eating dinner he'll like it better.