My hope is that these two grow into a deep and sweet understanding of what it means to have a brother. An understanding that they live out through out their lives. I know that they will fight hard and play rough, but my hope is that we can model for them how to also love deeply.
They are already off to such a good start.
I love this outtake because it their faces are funny and what in the world was G doing with his leg? But also because you can see their hands. When they are near they are often holding hands. Nolan is in that grabbing stage where he is always looking for something to hold onto or chew on and his brother's hand seems like a good choice. G also reaches for Nolan too. When we are laying on the floor reading books or snuggling up on the couch he takes hold. Heart Melt. Every time.
I have one darling little chef in training. Almost every night he accompanies me on the counter as we make dinner. He tastes as we go ensuring all of the ingredients are to his liking.
Since he loves to help cook we often find ourselves baking in the afternoons too. You know, if the sweet tooth starts aching. He has already figured out how to clean the mixer by tasting.
Funny thing is that these were all taken on different days, but his wardrobe or lack-there-of is the same.
I have to be careful when cooking broccoli because it often sneaks away. He loves raw broccoli. Not sure if it's because he loves the taste or just thinks it's fun to eat.
My hope is that he loves being my little sous chef for years to come!
Our little G started school this year! He has gone for 2 days a week for 3 weeks now and is absolutely loving it, like I knew he would.
He has such a social personality, just like his dad, and I am pretty sure that when I say "school" he actually hears "friends". This kid loves him some friends! To him a friend is anyone even remotely near his age. Including the little girl who was probably 8 at the play ground the other day. As she approached with her mom, G got so excited he exclaimed "Look Mommy a friend!". And no we had never met her before.
He adores his teacher and has even started including her in the things that he is thankful for at night. Melts my heart!
I love our conversations after school and trying to decipher what he learned or did during the day. It is a puzzle to put together and leads to some funny quotes.
Our latest exchange went something like this... Mom: G, did you color this picture (showing him the picture of Noah and the ark that he colored) G: Yep Mom: Who is this? (pointing to Noah) G: God Mom: Really? What is he doing? G: Saying Ho! Ho! Ho!
So we obviously have a long way to go if he thinks that he colors pictures of God and that Noah or God is Santa. Hopefully we can get that sorted out!
It's so sweet to see him continue to develop into his own person. A person that is independent from me. The first day of school was strange. For the past two years I have known what he was doing almost every moment and then he went to school. And he ate lunch at table with other kids. And someone else took him potty. And someone else read him a book. And he made friends. And he sang songs. And I kept checking his daily schedule to try and envision what he was doing at that moment. And he survived. And he thrived with out me.
His teacher must have known about my seperation anxiety because she sent pictures of what they were doing that first day. I was thankful to have the opportunity to see what that fly on the wall was seeing.
What I love so much about the school dynamic is that he is super excited to go on the mornings he goes, leaves me with a kiss good-bye and no tears yet, but as soon as it's time to go he is ready to go home too. He thanks his teacher, waves good-bye and is just as eager to be back at home with mom.
I am so thrilled to see what this year has in store for him, especially his first Christmas pageant!
Silly Side Note: In the picture he was trying on his back pack that I made him. He was super excited about it and loved wearing it around the house before school started. On the first day when it was loaded up with supplies he strapped in on, only to proclaim "Too Heavy!" and take it right back off. He hasn't worn the thing since, although it doesn't house any supplies any more, only a change of clothes and lunch. Maybe he needs some motivation from Dora.
Sunday, as we celebrate our Father's, I gave much thanks.
Thanks for this man. My Father.
And this man. My Father-In-Law.
And this man. My husband and the Father of our boys.
What an amazing, difficult and unique task it is to be a father.
To my Dad, Spud and Matt, Thank you for loving me. Thank you for being men that my boys can look up to and learn from. Thank you for loving them so profoundly. On Father's Day and every day I am thankful you are a part of our story. So Much Love to you ALL.
**I noticed while browsing through pictures of the grandfathers and our boys there is not one picture where Pepaw or Papa is looking at the camera. Just another sign of their deep and incredibly endearing love for our boys. Heart Melt!
Recently I have caught G being G with ALL that personality! I have been working on using my stealth like camera operating capabilities, so that he doesn't immediately stop the funny thing that he was doing.
Without further ado here are two of my favorite snippets of G just being silly G.
Where is Thumbkin?
No idea where he got this from, but it was and still is hilarious to him when he rubs his ear.
That's our Nolan. He is a total smush-a-lump. Yes, I know I made up that term, but it fits him perfectly. He is just a precious lump of sweet baby smushy cuteness. Makes total sense to me.
So he is already affectionately called Smush-a-lump, Smushie, the Smush and Smushers. Daddy also calls him The Express. This one makes sense if you know anything about Nolan Ryan. And possibly his delivery, at least in comparison to G's. After spending two weeks with you Smush, here are a few things we know about you...
You are a total Jackpot baby (so far)! Meaning you sleep all the time, day and night, nurse well and are easy to please.
You were born healthy and just keep growing! You were back to your birth weight in just 5 days and have already gained another pound and grown another inch since then.
You don't particularly like a pacifier, but when you find your thumb you sure do like it.
You hiccup. You hiccuped daily during your last trimester, if not multiple times a day and you continue to hiccup almost daily now.
Your brother adores you! He asks dozens of times a day to hold you and most of the time I have to tell him that you are sleeping. He loves to kiss your head, rock your cradle, give you raspberries on your belly, and pat your back. If you cry he runs to see if you are ok and will even try to calm you with a sweet shhhhh or "ok Nolan". He even wakes up asking about you in the morning.
After G goes to bed, you don't leave my side. Since I am juggling the two of you during the day, evenings are our time to cuddle. I usually feel like I should be cleaning, but right now nothing could pry you from me from 8 pm to whenever I go to bed. You are even sleeping on my chest as I type.
It's amazing how you have changed everything in an instant, yet feel like you were here all along. We love you sweet boy and are so excited to watch you grow! Just do it slowly and stay smushy for a while, please!
Our Easter weekend was busy and fun filled. Saturday we went to church and afterwards G got to participate in his very first egg hunt.
The company, the weather, our sweet boy in his bow tie, it was all perfection! The whole Coker family is so dear to me and I always love spending time at their family and friends who are like family events. They have one of those houses that feels like home to everyone. They have created this sense of belonging that is hard to find the right words for, it just exists around them. We were thrilled that this year we were going to be able to make their Annual Egg Hunt.
After visiting and eating way to much yummy food it was time to hunt. G caught on quickly to the idea of finding eggs and filling up his Easter basket. He even developed a little victory cheer of "Alright!" with a fist pump each time he found one. And that was all before he realized that there was candy and money in the eggs!
The kicker to the Coker Egg Hunt is that after the kiddos are done hunting the adults make their way onto the egg hunt stage. Only this time the stakes are much higher. Waiting in the lucky golden and silver eggs is some cold hard cash. It was hilarious seeing the adults race into the yard with much more excitement than even the kids had shown.
Look at these people! They are hungry for that golden egg!
G preferred hanging with Mr. Coker during the craziness. He was perfecting his magic "Where Did the Egg Go?" trick.
Isn't that the sweetest? He is going to be such a wonderful Grandpa, whenever that time comes! As a parent it is such a sweet feeling to see someone else genuinely enjoying your child. G is such a light to me, but when he provides that for someone else, gosh, melt my heart. This picture, their eyes, their smiles it just screams light to me!
What a blessing it is to have friends that are like family in our lives, to share traditions with, to love on us, to help us grow and what better to time to celebrate this than Easter.
Seems crazy that I am just now mentioning here that we are adding a fig to our family. Yep, that's right, another baby and soon! Soon, like maybe, today? Well, probably not today but most likely sometime within the next week. This pregnancy has flown by, from keeping up with G, holidays, then enjoying the arrival of three other new babies in our close friends lives it seems crazy that D day is almost here. Since I am horrible about keeping up the week to week stuff here is a pregnancy summary.
Gender We don't know and won't know until our little one makes his/her grand arrival. Based on a home gender test and the guesses of most friends it's another sweet baby boy. Either way we will be thrilled!
Movement This babe seems to like the same places that his/her older brother did. Always sticking a back or bottom out on the right side of the bump. This little fig does hiccup quite a bit. I only felt G hiccup once or twice. This babe often hiccups twice a day.
Craving This is hard. I crave food pregnant or not. It is hard to tell which are because of the pregnancy and which are just because I would like queso with every meal. I have notices a strong desire for Dr. Pepper in the last few weeks. I like Dr. Pepper but have never had a craving for one or rarely ever drank one in my life before. No worries I keep the caffeine to a minimum. Only a few sodas a week. I have also noticed a desire for fried chicken, strips or the whole chicken. Yummy! Maybe one more trip to Babe's before the baby arrives? I also seem to crave foods of my childhood when I am pregnant. Sugary cereal, pop tarts, oreos. Things that I allowed myself back then, or I guess my mom allowed, every once and a while at least. Foods that I allow myself to buy once a year now.
Aversions This is hard too. I like most food and it has stayed pretty much the same. In the beginning I was definitely more nauseous than I was with G and the smell of most any food turned me off. Luckily, I was cured of that around week 14.
What I Miss My body. Following after G has gotten harder and harder. It seems as soon as I sit on the ground to play he wants me to move to another room to play with something else. It's hard to resist his sweet request "c'mon mommy". He has learned that it takes mommy a minute to get back up. And as anyone who has been pregnant knows, it just gets uncomfortable at a point. The discomfort makes suggling hard. I miss snuggling with my boys!
Maternity Clothes Oh My! This might just be the hardest part this time around. Nothing Fits. All the clothes I wore with G are just too small. I am carrying the baby lower which made all my pants seriously snug. By week 30 I was wearing them out and ripping them off to be replaced by seriously over sized yoga pants as soon as I got home. I am sure Matt will enjoy me dressing like a normal person soon!
Sleep Hallelujah! I have been able to sleep during this pregnancy. Of course, there are sometimes four or five trips to the bathroom during the middle of the night but I think I can pee in my sleep at this point. TMI?
Symptoms Other than having every possible sign of labor for the past few weeks this pregnancy seems to have been relatively symptom free. A little nausea in the beginning, some ligament/ groin pain in the end, and rounds and rounds of braxton hicks for the past two months.
Best Moments The best moments of this pregnancy have been with G. He often talks to the baby, cuddles up with the bump, and has given many a kisses to this little one. I can't wait to see how he loves his little fig. I am prepared for jealousy and hard times but he is such a caring boy and I think he is going to love being a big brother!
All the pictures are by Raspberry Rain Images. Check them out! These gals are fabulous to work with and captured some sweet moments of this quickly growing family of three.
G has a deep love for pinwheels. I can't really blame him. They really are fun when the wind or a cute little toddler gets them going. Usually that cute little toddler adds a sweet sound effect of "Wheeee!" with the spin.
I imagine that is exactly what the pinwheel is thinking too. Or maybe "Get me off this ride. I'm gonna puke!". Either way "Whee!" is probably the better choice.
Well, thanks to Grandma Julie we have a garden of pinwheels to admire and love in our backyard. Recently, G and I took one of those little pinwheels on a hike up to the top of the Mound to see how the pinwheel would work up there. Maybe his first science experiment, if you will?
See the look of determination?
It needed a little help. But it turns out pinwheels are as much fun on the Mound as they are in the backyard! Our experiment was a success!
As a treat for all of that hard work and hiking we had Sonic drinks waiting for us at the bottom!
Anyone know how long I can get away with a water from Sonic as a treat? I will take it for now, because something about the straw and then getting to munch on the fabulous Sonic ice makes this little boy a happy camper!
Let me start by saying I am well aware that I am writing this as a completely biased, over the moon in love with her toddler mom. Now that it's out of the way...
In the past 20 months, I have been blown away just watching my little man learn. From the first reflexes and turning to hear our voices until now it has me baffled at how that amazing brain works and puts things together so quickly. And sometimes so uniquely!
Most recently, it has been the words. Seriously, this kiddo learns a new one(usually more than one) every day. And then he puts them together and communicates with us. It's amazing! How huge is that, to be able to communicate your wants and needs. And to top it off he is constantly doing a bunch of other ridiculous and funny things with words!
I am not sure of why, but I know that I was not expecting him to communicate so well at this age. I should have known since I was a talker from early on that I would get one too, but I just wasn't expecting it. And then overnight he went from mama and dada to well over 100 words. (Yes, I counted and the list is in his baby book now)
The funny part is that as he builds his vocabulary he is also building his jabber. He makes more noises now and talks more gibberish than before too. It is like he is trying to build sentences, but only knows a few of the words so babble and some great expressions make up the rest.
A few of Mommy's favorites.
I love you - A given right? If you tell him I love you he will often respond with I love you or just say too! Melt my heart!
Buggy - We have called him Bug, bugs, bugger, and buggy from early on and he has recently picked up on it saying buggy, usually in a voice like he is calling out to himself from another room. Like he is saying "Where are you?"
Names - He has caught on to so many familiar names now, both family members and friends. Matt and I have been jokingly teaching him our real names, not mommy and daddy, and sometimes he even uses them! Funny now but I really hope it doesn't stick!
I do - He can say yes, but his usually response when asked a question and the answer is yes is either "I do" or "Peeees". No ranks right up there with mommy and daddy in words used with the highest frequency. The joy of toddlers!
I don't really have any pictures that actually relate to this topic, so here are a few of my random recent favorites.
Playing on the computers at the library
One of his newest quirks - requesting a hat or shoes first thing in the morning
Anyone have the 90's Hit - More Than Words, by Extreme running through your head during this post? Sorry!
These pictures are all recently taken from my phone. I love that I have this camera that is almost always available. Currently, my phone is home to 1,265 pictures and all but one is G. Honestly, it's more like ten, but I will probably delete those tonight. No wonder he already says cheese and sports a big fake grin!
These are some of my favorites.
You sure are up early! Now come to Mommy and Daddy's room for cartoons and snuggles.
My little photog, just like Mommy! He is really into imitating what ever it is that Matt or I do these days. Keeps us on our best behavior :)
Naptime is over. Wake Up!
Bubbles! This has become an regular activity everyday after nap.
New Chair = New Box = Loads of Fun!
Time to wind down. Why don't you let Daddy read you a book?
He's one and a half. Seriously? Where does it go? These last few months seem to have brought on a wealth of change. But I guess I could say that about every month, week, day since birth at this point. G, here is just a bit of what you are up to...
These days you are running, throwing, and climbing the day away. You find new ways to climb on things and will move objects to make steps. Very clever sweet G, but you scare your momma! You have an always growing collection of balls and have a solid overhand throw down pat. We gets lots of comments on what an arm you have.
Your vocabulary is growing exponentially! A few of your words: Mom, Da, Ball, Bubble, Tiger, Turtle, Go, Back Dog, Ice, Thank You, No, Cheers, Cheese, Nonna, Papa, Me, Shoes, Hi, Hello, Eyes, Mouth, Bye, Yes, All Done and so many more. It seems like at least once a day your surprise us with a new word.
You still LOVE animals! You will sit for long periods of time just identifying them, having mommy or daddy identify them, and making all of the animal noises/motions you know. You love to: Bark, Moo, Baa, Swing your trunk, hide in your turtle shell, stretch you neck like a girafee, roar, oink, squeek like a mouse, make claws like a crab, Meow, fishy faces, hiss like a snake, fly like a bird and hoot like an owl.
A little distracted but here are a few animal favorites
Putting it together! You love to play with your puzzles and legos. Taking them apart and putting them back together again and again. Mommy is so impressed with how quickly you picked up on how to do puzzles. Of course, you love them because the several we have are all animals.
Reading. You still LOVE to read. You will bring me book after book, after book. We have your books in almost every room of the house. Sometimes we even have to stop in the middle of doing dishes or laundry just to read a book. I am a sucker! How could I say no to a book, even if it is in the middle of the kitchen floor? I can already tell you are going to be like your mom and want 10 bedtime stories a night. Right now, daddy and I read you one or two, sometime three but you always ask for another. Your favorites are Quick as a Cricket, Anything by Sandra Boynton, and your Zoo-ology book. You also really enjoy visit the library to check out new books and listen to Mother Goose time.
The Arts. You love to break out the finger paints, crayons, or colored pencils and create a masterpiece. When it comes to fingerpaints the masterpiece is usually your painted up body. But it is so fun watching you explore that all the mess is definitely worth it.
The ugly. To be completely honest the past month has brought out a bit of the ugly in you. We have started with small tantrums and hitting when you don't get your way. You have experienced your first (and many since) timeouts. It broke our hearts to do it, but we couldn't resist laughing at the same time. That cute little diapered booty sticking out from the corner was irresistable. I know this is all normal for your age and thus is one of the major challenges of parenting - discipline.
G, we are so enamoured with watching you grow and you fill our house with so much laughter. On top of all of these things you are gentle and sweet, still loving to cuddle and giving drive by kisses to your momma when you play. You are funny and already know it. You love to make people laugh and have already perfected your fake cheeseball smile. You have rhythym in your heart and the slightest beat can make your little diaper booty sway. Watching you change and grow has been the greatest joy of my life. I can't wait to see what tomorrow holds.
