Bike!

Jack finally got to try his new bike out last weekend and he loved it!  He did great for the first time!  

 

He wasn't at all scared and never fell off.  Of course, Kenny was never more than a few inches away, so he didn't have much chance to fall, and he has training wheels too of course.  I only freaked out once as we were going down a big hill to the lake, but of course, it turned out fine. 

 

Max and I followed behind and watched in awe of our perfect little life.  Watching your husband so lovingly explain how to ride a bike to your child is really pretty amazing.

Here's a short video clip of the very first attempts.  So maybe I freaked out twice...what can I say?

Beauty School Dropout

So most kids take the scissors to their hair at some point and I guess we could still see that happen in the future...but if so, there won't be much I can say about it since I am completely to blame for butchering Jack's hair, just before his big 3rd birthday party. :(

 

I'm still upset about it.  I always cut his hair and it's always been fine...until this week.  I'm sorry Jack - at least it's not in the front!  I'm hopeful it'll grow back quickly.  It's not completely scalped, just really short! :(

SIX months old!

Where is that pause button??  Six months?  Is that really possible?  I can't believe it. But look...just look at that precious smile! 

This month brought more smiles, more sounds and less sleep!  He definitely found his voice (or the volume knob) and started to make sounds just for fun, or just to be heard. He loves blowing raspberries and squealing!

This was also the month when we started to explore food a bit.  We're doing things a bit different with Max than we did with Jack, mostly because Jack wasn't still nursing at this point.  But also because Jack is a very picky eater and while I know most toddlers are, I think some of the choices we made with exposing him to food probably played into that a little bit as well.  In short I'd say we're letting Max lead the way a bit more than we did with Jack.  We have tried cereal and some fruit and veggie purees but we're also letting him feed himself real food, which we didn't do with Jack until much much later.  Anyway, it's going well, and we're all having fun with it I think!  Here he is licking the bowl...

 

trying rice crackers...

and a giant grin after feeding himself a big hunk of avocado! YUM!

His 6 month stats:

     weight: 17lbs 5 ounces (50th %)

     length: 26" (50th %)

     head: 18" (90th % ) - still on the chart!

Interestingly he's almost exactly the same size as Jack was at 6 months!  He eats so much better than Jack ever did that I can't really believe they are the same size.

Sleep, or the lack thereof, was probably our biggest issue.  It's a good thing he's so cute and smiley, let me tell you.  He's still up 1-4 times a night.  It's very inconsistent and seems to have no pattern.  The pediatrician suggested we let him cry it out at this point, but I'm no fan, so I'll stop whining.  But Max, whenever you're ready, Momma would sure love a good night's sleep.  Daddy would too.  Whenever you're ready!  We're working on a solid nap/eating schedule, but until he's sleeping well at night, it's kind of hard to control.  He's taking 2-3 naps and eating 5-6 times a day for the most part, but can't go much longer than 3 hours at a time during the day between nursing or a bottle. We'll get there though, and until we do, we'll be a little loopy, but that's ok! :)!

Max had his first playdate with Henry this month, which was a lot of fun.  These guys are just a couple of weeks apart and I hope they will be good buddies!

I know it looks like he spends all of his time in the exersaucer, and he does love being in there, but mostly that's the easiest place for me to get good pictures of him!  He's sitting on his own pretty well, but not quite well enough for me to walk away and get the camera.  In the next few weeks I think he'll be there.  He gets stronger every day!

We're definitely getting the hang of this family of 4 thing and some days I'm not sure how we lived so long without Max!  He's so sweet and keeps us all smiling.  Especially Jack.  I really never expected Jack and Max to like each other until they were old enough to play together.  But they both just light up when they see each other.  It's so neat to see and I'm just so thankful.  I'm sure it won't always be like that, but for now, I love watching them interact and am head over heels in love with these two red-headed cutie pies!  How'd I get so lucky?

 

THREE on 3/3

Three was a big deal in our house this week.  Jack turned THREE on the 3rd day of the 3rd month!

It was a school day, and his party wasn't for a few weeks, but he woke up with a smile on his face when he found Kenny and I dancing in his room to the birthday song!  There were a few presents set aside for him to open early that morning but the biggest excitement came from finding a bouquet of balloons on the doorstep from Eddie and Audrey!  And what a perfect bunch of balloons it was - a 3, a lion and a T-REX! 

 

Eventually it was time to go to school and share cupcakes with the other Orange Birds! Dinosaur cupcakes of course! 

 

I think he had a pretty good day at school being the birthday boy.  After school we all went to Galaxy Diner for dinner before coming home to open more presents.  French toast with powdered sugar on top for dinner - what more could a 3 year old ask for?

We gave him a bike and he was SO excited.  The next morning he asked if he could ride it to school!  He actually hasn't ridden it yet since the helmet we got to go with it was too small for his giant head.  The new one came this week so we're hoping to get outside today and test it out.

 

His party is next weekend and I'm sure he'll be just as excited all over again!  

Three so far has been pretty good.   Jack's such a curious child.  Always wanting to know when and where and why.  And a very sweet child (most of the time).  

He still needs hugs and snuggles and still gets so excited to see us at the end of the day. 

He loves his little brother like no other.  It's so wonderful to watch.  Though when asked if he wants another sibling, the answer is always "not yet" or "one at a time Momma!" Fair enough.  I'd agree with both of those statements.  

He still needs his blankie and his monkey and is still very much a little boy.  

He doesn't like to be woken up and likes to have a few minutes to wake up before he can talk to anyone.  

He's really into dinosaurs, of course, but also coloring and cutting and trains.  

He needs THREE (this changed when he turned 3) books with Daddy before bed each night and then some snuggles to fall asleep.  

He hates taking a bath, until he's in the bath and then he never wants to get out.  

He learned to love swings at school this year after 2 years of trying to convince him swings were fun.  

He loves walking places instead of taking the car! He knows where things are and how to get there.  It's kind of odd I think, but he pays attention I guess.  

He shows some interest in the potty from time to time but still isn't all too keen on it.

Eating is still low on his priority list, but he's doing a little better with it I think.  He's still too small in the waist for 2Ts but has to have 3Ts for length.   His stats were 28.25 lbs (25th %) and 37" tall (50th%).  That's an improvement over his 2.5 year appt where he was barely above the 5th percentile for weight.  YAY!

He talks nonstop.  We sometimes wonder how we (not the chattiest of folks) gave birth to someone who never stops talking.  Ever.  Most of it's cute at least. 

I hope that three will bring more of those good things and fewer tantrums and meltdowns, but I guess only time will tell.   

Happy birthday to my sweet Jack - I  love you buddy!