Memorial Monday

Hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day. We spent a lot of time cleaning, studying, eating & chasing our now 20 month old around the house. Johnnie is full of energy as always. His favorite thing to do indoors is to turn the ball popper on & then shove anything he can into it. He loves to see if the stuff will come back out & when it doesn't he gets really upset, which leads to his next favorite activity... whining. I hate to admit it but it completely grates on my nerves to hear him whine about EVERYTHING. My, my, my (his pacifier), bay bay (his blankie), coffee, coffee (that's obvious- he likes to take sips) & basically anything else he wants. He finds everything funny & is constantly laughing. He now asks us for high fives, tells us goodbye & night night. He hits when he gets angry-hope this stops soon. He loves to give Joey kisses & loves to steal all his toys from him too. He now spends some time each night resting in his baby brother's swing & has discovered his new found love of his old exersaucer. The terrible twos are quickly approaching & I'm hoping that he will have grown out of some of his bad habits by then. We'll see.

Joey is now 21 weeks old. Back to getting up twice a night for feedings. I'm praying it's a long growth spurt phase because I'm getting more tired by the day. He continues to get more smiley by the day, is extremely ticklish & is completely enamored with his brother. He doesn't even hold a grudge when Johnnie decides that a good head butt is needed. This week he discovered himself in the mirror on his playmat & spent a long time talking to his new friend, his reflection.

I'm Sitting Mama

Joey is constantly trying to sit up from his laying position. I think he feels that he is missing out because he can't see everything going on. He is happiest when we sit him up to play. Well FINALLY tonight with a little support from a boppy he did it. He sat up on his own. Long enough for me to get my camera out of the case, long enough for me to lay down on the carpet & say look at me. He looked so happy, but then he tipped over & sitting time was over. We're proud of you Jojo. Now just keep practicing & soon, maybe by 5 months you will be sitting up to play on your own.

Flashback Friday: Here's Johnnie on his 5 month birthday(2.26.07)... the first day he sat up.

10 on Tuesday- Sunday Special

1. Really hot weather. A house with a broken air conditioner. And what do you get? 2 naked boys (don't worry- the blur tool works wonders) spending Sunday afternoon outside enjoying what little breeze there was with their family.

2. Johnnie spent most of the time playing with his water table until Rick brought out the golf clubs for chipping practice. Of course Johnnie had to get involved.3. Then he got a lesson .4. Auntie Kim came over to enjoy time with her nephews.5. Conversations between mommy & Joey.6. Grandpa came over for afternoon fun & dinner. 7. He brought Johnnie & Joey matching outfits from his business trip in Hawaii. Johnnie wanted to wear his right away & he wanted to test it out IN the water table.8. It must have made him thirsty because he asked Rick for "a little bit " of his beer. Right after he asked for more. 9.What's grandpa telling you jojo?10. And yesterday Joey turned 20 weeks old. Almost 5 months old. SLOW DOWN!!! And for the first time he slept from 7:15pm- 6:30am. It may have been a fluke but I'll take it.11. And the BONUS: today is my mom's birthday. She is dearly missed & fondly remembered. Love you mom! Thank you for teaching me how to be a mommy. Photo from Christmas 2005.12. It's now Wednesday morning. It was a fluke. Joey woke up at 4am for a feeding. Oh well. At least it's only once a night, right?

Flashback Friday

We came home from work & found you sitting on the kitchen floor wearing your new tee & Auntie Kayci's hair creation. So cute!

Cat beds aren't just for sleeping anymore

I never post twice in one day, but had to share. Johnnie has been getting really upset lately when told no. He even hits occasionally. Today I told him to stop doing something & he got upset & pushed me. Well I'm tired of telling him no so I decided it was time for his 1st timeout. He refuses to sit still in a corner so I had to get creative. For those of you who don't have pets it's a cat scratcher/bed. It's about 3 feet off the ground & therefore he's a little trapped. Well for now it works. Later he picked up a lego to throw & I asked him if he needed to go to timeout again. He put the lego down & said, "No meow". It may not last for long but at least I have a punishment I can use that doesn't involve saying no a thousand times.

A Date with Scissors & Bronchitis

1. We decided it was time for Johnnie to have his 1st professional haircut because we got tired of making him cry everyday trying to brush the rat's nest out that his curls would turn in to overnight. We (Rick, me, Joey, Papa, Nana, Grand Nana, Auntie Kim & Kayci) piled in to two cars & headed up to First Cut Salon for Kids at the PV mall. He picked his own rocket to sit in but once the lady came near him with scissors he got upset.2. Then Elmo popped up on the tv screen in front of him & he put his pacifier in his mouth & all was good.3. Let the haircut begin. 4. As his curls fell from his head to the floor he started to transform from a baby to a big boy. So cute, but so sad.5. Johnnie kept stealing her comb thinking this would make the haircut end but no she had a ton of combs to choose from. 6. Almost done. Auntie Kim had to hold his hands once the clippers were turned on.7. Final step. Let's clean up the hair around your ears while daddy holds you. As you can see from the photo the haircut ended in tears because Johnnie was a little scared & didn't want to be held down. Seems a lot of activities end in tears these days. Until your next hair cut.8. And here he is with his new big boy haircut. 9. 19 weeks old. Just like Johnnie on this exact weekly birthday, Joey is really sick. 1st fever, 1st case of goopy eye, & 1st case of bronchitis. He is up all night long moaning in pain & crying out of frustration. The breathing treatments should help & as you can see he doesn't seem bothered by it but instead just a little nervous.10. As expected Johnnie had to get in on the action too. At least he likes to help.BONUS: A sneak peek. Rick's dad, stepmom & her mom came to meet their new grandbaby. We had a wonderful visit despite a whole house of sick people. We were sad to see them go but look forward to our next visit.

Boys are Crazy

1. Growing up with 2 sisters, I always assumed I would have all girls. I am 4 & 9 years older than my sisters so I know a little bit about raising little girls. This boy thing is still new to me even after 19 months.

2. I don't quite get the fascination they have with their umm private part. Johnnie is constantly pointing it out to me... every time I change him, during bath time & basically anytime he isn't dressed. He also points the part out on his daddy & now his little brother. He also doesn't seem to understand why I don't have one. Since we didn't grow up with a brother in the house (see #1) my sisters & I would try & convince Johnnie that he shouldn't touch it. I have since been reprimanded by my husband to never do this so instead I take photos. Did I mention that my son is also obsessed with my shoes?3. To my dismay Johnnie has become a little daredevil. Jumping off of chairs, the couch & this morning the bed. It would be great if he was coordinated enough & ready to land on his feet but instead he lands on his bottom, his face & his back. He screams at the top of his lungs, calms down & then climbs right back up to jump again.

4. Johnnie runs himself ragged during the day & usually goes to bed pretty easily these days. The other morning when we went in to wake him this is how we found him. Kids crack me up!5. Just like his daddy, Johnnie loves orange juice. We give him a mixture of juice & water every morning. Tonight I was sitting in the living room & could hear him asking for juice in the kitchen so I went in the kitchen to get him. He had opened the cupboard where we keep the garbage, pulled it out, knocked it over, dug through it & was proudly holding the empty carton of juice & of course asking for some. Again, I say that kids are crazy but they sure do make me laugh.

6. Johnnie is constantly tackling me. He enjoys knocking me over & then helping me up. Is this tackling thing a boy thing?

7. As you can see Johnnie loves his brother & Joey is usually all smiles for him but not at this particular moment. 8. I'm beginning to think that I will never sleep an entire night again. Johnnie didn't start consistently sleeping through the night until he was 1 at which point I was in my 3rd trimester with Joey & getting up to use the rest room every few hours. And now Joey is getting up at least once a night for a feeding & doesn't seem too interested in giving it up.

9. 18 Weeks Old. Getting bigger everyday. Growing out of his clothes. Enjoying spending alone time in his crib at daycare. The ladies call it his castle because the crib is the biggest one in the room & our little prince whines sometimes during the day until they put him in it.10. Joey started daycare 4 weeks ago & has been sick now for 3 weeks. He is a tough kid. All the coughing & spitting up hasn't slowed him down or made him eat any less but today his poor little body has given in to its 1st fever. So he isn't sleeping well, is irritable and YES still very hungry.