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Monday, September 10, 2018

Briggs is THREE months!

Is it just me, or are these months FLYING by?! Briggs is growing so fast! How in the world is he three whole months old??





Weighs: We haven't been to the doctor since his 2 month appointment (at the appt. he weighed 14lbs). I weighed myself on the scale alone the other day, and then held him with me on the scale, and...drumroll please...this boy is 17lbs! He gained three pounds in a month! We always get comments on how chunky he is, and I love each and every one of his rolls! #moretolove

Sleeps: Briggs is finally getting into a napping routine. He was kind of sleeping all day (and some days not as much) without much of a rhythm. But he is now taking two solidly long naps a day sometime in the morning and then in the early afternoon with a shorter nap in the late afternoon. He goes down sometime around 8pm on a normal weeknight. Several times this month he has gone 6-, 7-, and even 8-hour stretches without waking at night!!!! And it has been awesome! Some nights he still wakes after 4 or 5 hours, but not all the time. During the week, I wake him up to change his diaper and feed him a little before we take Wells to school, but on the weekends, he will stay asleep until 8 or later. He gets a gold star for sleeping!

Eats: On the two days I'm working and  he gets bottles of breast milk, he is drinking 4.5-5oz every three hours (give or take). He tends to eat more often than that when he is with me, though. I am about to start making and freezing baby food (I did this with Wells & Grayer, and I love doing it!) so he'll be ready to start trying some out when he hits 4 months!

Wears: This guy is already wearing 6-month outfits! He can wear 3-6 months clothes, as well. I've already started getting out the 9-month clothing because if he keeps growing as quickly as he is now, he'll be wearing those in no time! He is in a size 2 diaper.

Plays: Briggs is the happiest baby. He smiles and coos all day. He barely cries (but throws a straight-up fit the minute he's decided he's been riding in the car too long!). He has started grabbing his blanket if it is within his reach, and he likes to shove his hands in his mouth right now, too. I've gotten a few little laughs out of him in the last week or so, but it's not a regular thing yet. Love baby laughs and can't wait for them to get louder and more frequent!

We can't imagine our lives without our sweet Briggs! He is so laid back and content and has been the perfect addition to our family. He brings a little peace to our chaos (I'm looking at you, Wells & Grayer!), and I wish he'd stay my little baby forever!

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Grayer: A 2.5 Year Snapshot

Our middle guy is two and a half, so it's time for his half-year snapshot!


The Stats:
Grayer weighed 28 pounds at his last doctor's visit a few weeks ago. I don't remember how tall he was (I want to say 36" maybe), but I know that he is pretty average for his age in height and weight. Judging by the stature of his brothers, he may be our smallest-framed kiddo once he grows up :)

Sleep:
Grayer sleeps through the night (with a very occasional wake-up. if he DOES wake up, though, it might take him a while to go back down). He is our early riser. He is almost always the first one up in the house. On weekends, he gets to hang out with his tablet in our room for a little bit while everyone else wakes up! Ha! He still takes an afternoon nap, which I would say lasts about 1.5 hours on average.


Talking:
Just like his older brother, boy is a talker! He is always talking, and we get a lot of comments on how well/much he talks for his age. I love hearing the conversations he comes up with when playing with toys. Usually, it's trains arguing back and forth or one needing help, etc. It's adorable.


Brotherhood:
As I mentioned in Wells' last update, the two big boys are best friends and worst enemies. They love playing together and love each other so much...but they also love to annoy each other! He's also Wells' little copycat. As far as his little brother, Grayer really adjusted very well to having a new baby in the house. He loves Briggs...and sometimes he shows it a little too much! He is always in Briggs' face, touching his head/face, giving him sugars, hugging him, and, yes, occasionally licking him (#weirdo). I am constantly having to tell him to be gentle or just to back off the baby for a second!


The Smarts:
Grayer is really smart. He knows all his colors, shapes, ABCs, and can count to 20. I am starting to work on him being able to identify letters when he sees them (he can do it with some, but not all).

Playing:
Grayer was notoriously awful as a baby for never entertaining himself or wanting to play by himself. But now, he entertains himself so well - much better than Wells, actually. He loves anything with wheels and, of course, TRAINS. His favorite toy train is James (from Thomas) that he carries around the house all the time and sometimes sleeps with. He and Wells have also both been pretty into Legos lately. I will say that since Wells started PreK-4 a few weeks ago, Grayer seems to need a little more attention on the days I am home and not working. I think he really misses having his bubba to play with during the day :(


Potty Training:
We started really potty training Grayer about two and a half months ago. It took him a couple of weeks to get the swing of things, but since then, he's had it down pat! It is VERY rare for him to have an accident. He's only wearing diapers when he sleeps, and even then, he usually wakes up dry.

School:
Little man started PreK-2 (on Tuesday/Thursday mornings) last week! He seems to be enjoying it so far, and I think it will be really good for him to be around other kiddos for part of the week. Of course, he has a train lunch box and a Thomas the Tank Engine book bag.


That Personality:
This kids keeps us laughing. He is such a spitfire and has a funny personality. He makes funny faces, uses funny voices (to make toys "talk"), basically anything to make you laugh. He's also a mischievous little thing. He is not the best listener at times - and I don't think he'll ever stop breaking crayons! #petpeeve ...He's lucky he's so cute. And because he's grown up with a big brother, he thinks he's just as big and can do any and everything Wells does. And I've gotta say, he keeps up pretty well.


Singing & Dancing:
Grayer is still a dancing fool. He loves to dance and sometimes in the car, you can look back and he'll just be nodding his head along to the music. He loves to sing, too. His favorite song that he LITERALLY sings every single day is "You Can Only Be You" from a Thomas movie.

The Pacifier:
He is STILL quite attached to his paci. But since he can't have it during school, I am hoping we can start transitioning him to having it only at nap and bed time and then take it away all together before he turns 3 in January.


Quirks/Miscellaneous:
-Grayer is our snacker. He is constantly in the pantry looking for something to eat.
-Some of his favorite foods are berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries), pretzels (he eats them every single day), cottage cheese, sausage (links, patties, kielbasa, on a pizza, ANY FORM), and fruit snacks.
-He has SO MUCH ENERGY. He doesn't walk - he runs. He really is non-stop all day long.
-Grayer is hands down the clumsiest kid ever. He falls/trips/bumps into things multiple times a day. And he bites his tongue or finger almost every time he eats a meal. Eric and I just roll our eyes at each other (unless it's a serious injury of course) because it happens so often.
-He is such a boy in that he constantly has a dirty face. Anything he eats, plays with, whatever, always ends up all over his face. I can't let him out of the car when we go somewhere before wiping his face down (which he hates, of course).
-We always get comments on how drastically his and Wells' hair differ from each other. Wells has wavy brown hair. Grayer's is straight as a board and is bright blonde. I would never have guessed that I'd have a blonde child! :)
-As crazy as Grayer is, he is still a mama's boy. The other day I looked over at him, and he said "I love you" just out of the blue. #heartmelted ... I hope that he stays a Mama's boy and that he'll keep letting me hold him and hug him and kiss him for as long as possible.


We love our wild middle child! Grayer brings so much laughter and love to our family, and nothing would be the same without him!