Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Kid Updates

I love being a mom. It's the most rewarding job I've ever had. I love watching my kids learn and grow and I can't believe how smart they are. I never realized my heart could have so much love for two little human beings. They, and their father, bring me more happiness and joy than I ever knew I could experience. I was definitely meant to be a mother.

Now don't get me wrong- it can be really hard sometimes. Johnny is almost two after all. And they aren't named the terrible twos for nothing. And I'm tired. I feel like I haven't really slept in two years! And I realize that I haven't been a parent very long and we will experience trials I can't even think of right now. But the joy I get from my children is totally worth everything else that comes with it!

Now on to some pictures and updates:

He loves his tools. If anyone in the house ever pulls out some tools to work on a project, he runs to get his tools to help out!
Johnny is genuinely the sweetest little boy! He loves people and especially loves being around kids close to his age. Marcus' cousin is about to move to Utah and she has a little boy about 18 months older than Johnny and another boy 5 weeks younger than Johnny and I can not wait for them to get here so all the boys can be friends!

He is a little jabber box. The boy talks like crazy. It is so nice being able to communicate with him and understand what he is wanting. He is starting to be able to count- he knows numbers 1,2,3,4,5,7,8,10. We're working on 6 and 9. He doesn't count on his own really- mainly if you start counting with him, he'll join in. He also knows 9 colors- red, blue, green, orange, pink, white, yellow, purple, and brown. The latter three he doesn't know as well as the first six but he does pretty well. I was changing his diaper the other day and he started looking at his hands. He pulled them right in front of his face and said, "White. Johnny is white." Hahaha it was so hilarious.
He has sensitive eyes so he loves his sunglasses
Johnny loves to make people laugh. He is so silly and has so many great facial expressions. He loves to play a game my sister taught him that he calls, "neak neak BOO!" It's his way of sneaking up on people. He'll whisper "neak neak" (sneak sneak) as he's walking up to who he wants to scare and then when he gets to them he yells "BOO!" Then it's your job to act scared at which time he'll laugh hysterically. It's pretty fantastic. Johnny sure does love his Aunt Shay Shay and all the fun things she teaches him! :)
Johnny loves the outdoors. He would live out there if we let him. It's really nice now though because he's finally big enough that he can climb up the jungle gym and go down the slides at the park on his own.

He is still a very picky eater. He does not eat very many solid foods. But he sure does love his V8 Fusion juice which is where he gets most of his fruit and vegetable nutrients. The foods that he is most likely to eat are: spaghetti, soups, cheese, cereal, PB&J sandwiches, rice, french fries, hash-browns, and soft pretzels. But he'll only eat those things if the stars align and he's in the right mood. Most of the time he'll reject all of those things (except the last 3 which he'll eat pretty much anytime they're offered- figures they have absolutely no nutritional value) and just beg for juice. I feel like the two things I fight him on- eating and sleeping- are a vicious cycle. He doesn't eat well so he doesn't sleep well so he just wants to comfort himself with a sippy cup of juice and so on. Thankfully, he really is a happy kid so I'm grateful our fight with him eating doesn't make him grumpy.
Johnny is such a good older brother. While there are times that he asks me to "move Claire" or "Daddy hold Claire", he does care about her already. When she's crying in the car, he'll try comforting her by telling her, "We're going home, baby." When he sees her blanket, he'll cover her with it and say, "Here you go, Claire." And he has to give her a kiss goodnight before he'll go to bed. It's super sweet and I'm excited to see how their relationship develops.
Baby Claire is perfect and an absolute joy. She is such a good baby. She eats really well and sleeps well, too.
Daddy and Claire on Easter
She recently had her two week appointment. Here are her stats:
8 pounds 1/2 ounce
20.5 inches
 Today- Johnny is 23 months old and Claire is 4 weeks old.
I love my kids!