Wells: A 21-Month Snapshot

Because our big boy is growing and changing so stinkin' fast (booooo), I thought I should definitely record what's up with Wells lately. I know it's not a birthday or half-birthday, but I just can't help it :) I don't want to forget the little things he does, says, etc. And I cannot believe that the next time I write one of these, he will be TWO. Say it ain't so.

Measurements:
The last time he was weighed at the doctor's office, Wells was about 29lbs. It may be the fact that Grayer is so light in comparison, but I am pretty sure Wells has probably gained another couple of pounds since the visit :) He was 33 inches tall at his 18-month checkup, so I am sure he is taller than that now. My big boy wears 24-month/2T clothing, and he has a few 3T items as well (in his defense, he only wears them when they look like they run a little small! Ha!). He wears a size 7.5-ish shoe (really depends on the brand), and he is in a size 5 diaper...which looks ENORMOUS now that we have newborn & size 1 diapers in the house again :)

Eating Habits:
I'll just echo what I say every time, my boy can out-eat a grown man. He inherited his Daddy's appetite without question. He LOVES snacking still, and I have to make him stop snacking near meal times (this is usually Eric's fault, since he is a big snacker and does it right in front of Wells...so naturally Wells thinks it's snack time for him too!). He still loves dipping his food into different sauces. He is FINALLY eating sandwiches. I don't know what it was, but Wells would not eat a sandwich to save his life. I am glad that phase is over because life is just easier when you can give a kid a PB&J every now and then! Also, I don't know if I ever wrote this down, but he will NOT eat pasta (he did not get this from his starch-loving mama). The only exception is spaghetti - I guess because the noodles are thinner...I have no clue.

Sleeping Habits: 
It's a rarity for Wells to wake up during the night anymore. He takes one nap, which lasts anywhere from 1.5 to 3 (those are the best! Ha!) hours.

Vocabulary: 
For the last couple of updates, I've listed the words that Wells knows, but I can't keep track of them all anymore! We are working on enunciating with him because he is not the clearest talker when it comes to all of his words. His animal sounds are on point, though! He knows so many animal sounds and never confuses them, and he says them clear as day. Some funny things that he says:

- If he hears a quiet or far-off noise, he will put his hand to his ear and whisper, "listen."
-He calls grapes "corn" - I guess they do bear a resemblance. It does not matter how many times I correct him. He was calling every apple "banana" until a few weeks ago. So, there's hope that I'll get through to him with the grapes! Haha.
-Eric will take Wells' paci out of his mouth and run away with it, etc. And we will say, "No, no, Daddy." Now, if he wants his paci and can't find it, sometimes he will call it by name, but many times he'll just say, "No, no." Crazy kid.
- We are working on shapes, and he can point out/say Heart, Square, Star, Moon (crescent), Diamond, Circle, and Oval....my favorite is oval, which he calls "uuuuval."

Quirks & Miscellaneous:

-This is one of those moments that make me question my parenting, haha! As I mentioned, we are working on shapes. This has now happened on multiple occasions but the other day we saw a triangle. I asked him what it was, and he said it was a chip. Yes, my child thinks all triangle shapes are Doritos. #facepalm
- He is OBSESSED with the Disney short show, Tsum Tsum. If he sees my phone, he asks to watch it.
- He loves trains right now. We cannot pass a train without him yelling "Treeeeeeeeeen," or "Choo choo." The mall has a train that the kids can ride in, and he rode it for the first time about a month ago. It is his favorite. We've ridden it a number of times now.

- He has a little rocker that Eric will pick him up in and swing him up & down and back & forth. He lives for this and at any moment will go get his chair and bring it to Eric for him to play with him.
- The paci. Goodness gracious. A couple of months ago we almost weaned him off of his paci. Not really on purpose; it just kind of happened. But then he got really sick one week, and we let him have it for comfort. He has been pretty attached to it since. I think we will start giving it to him only at nap/bed times soon. But we'll see ;)
- Wells' hair has gotten SOOOOOOO curly. When he gets out of the bath, I will brush it down all neat and straight. But the second he sweats (which is usually pretty quick since he is so active and...husky lol), it curls up all over. It is wild! And it is pretty light in color. I always thought my kiddos would have dark hair, but his is a blondish color right now. I am curious to see if it gets even lighter during the summer.
- He loves going to Granny's house (when we pass her house, he points and says "Neeee" which is what he calls her). They play in the yard, which is the way to win his little heart. He likes playing with her rainbow pinwheel that is in her garden. He picks it up and sticks it in the ground all over the yard. He now has his very own for our house, and it was the best $1 ever spent! :)
- He has a serious love affair with pizza. I wish I was joking, but he ate an entire slice of pizza at Sam's Club the other day...which is so big that it is literally almost a quarter of a pizza pie. He doesn't discriminate either. I made a jerk chicken & pineapple pizza the other day, and he happily ate that, too.
- He has gotten very good at matching. We have a matching book and matching cards, and he does really well pairing up the same items. So neat to watch his smart little mind working hard.
- We are definitely in the disobedient stage. It is not an all-day, everyday thing. But there are times when he is feeling especially rebellious. He does a little dance when he knows he is doing something he shouldn't...which makes disciplining him difficult at times - there are many times that Eric and I have to turn away when disciplining him because we are laughing.
- Much to my dismay, Wells saw an episode of Dora the Explorer a couple of months ago. It has since become a very favorite of his. Not the manliest of shows, but he loves it. This show is single-handedly responsible for adding the words Dora (Du-ra), Isa, Swiper (Swi-er), Map, and Caliente into Wells' vocabulary. Haha!
- Wells loves for me to sing the ABCs. He will sing along with basically a string of aaah, eeeh, sounds. It is too cute. Even if he just sees letters somewhere, he will sometimes start the song.
-Wells is seriously such a ham and loves to be the center of attention. He will randomly make silly faces just to make us laugh. I see him being the class clown in school (if you know my husband, you'll understand that the apple does not fall far from that crazy tree). I've seen my fair share of goofy, silly kids, but I have never seen a child as young as Wells act like such a goofball. He is so funny, and not a day goes by that he does not have us in stitches laughing.



Favorites:
Show - Tsum Tsum...hands down. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Chuggington, and unfortuately (see above) Dora
Snack - Pretzels, raisins, cheese, chips (yes, chips. bad mom award)
Food - Still loves pretty much all kinds of meat. He could live off of pizza...any kind.
Book - He really likes his lift-the-flap transportation book right now.
Security Item - He doesn't have to have one with him at all times, but if he sees one of his muslin blankets laying around the house, he grabs it and carries it around with him. He likes to carry more than one at a time lately.
Toy/Activity - He still LOVES to play outside, especially on playgrounds. xHe likes to wrestle with Daddy. He likes to throw balls. Typical boy through and through.

Becoming a Big Brother: 

Obviously a huge change since our last update was Wells becoming a BIG BROTHER. The first meeting at the hospital was less than stellar. Wells wanted nothing to do with Grayer. But it didn't last long...later that night when he visited again, we convinced him to give Grayer a kiss. Since being home, Wells has really grown to love Grayer (or "Dare" as he calls him). He always smiles when he sees him in the morning. He likes to give him his paci, And the sweetest thing is when he holds Grayer's hand if Grayer is crying. He does get in trouble for rocking Grayer (in his swing/bouncy seat) because he is not exactly gentle about it. And when he touches Grayer's head, I have to remind him that we are to be "soft" with Grayer and then tell him not to touch his head. Now, he will say "shoft" (soft) when touching Grayer :) Wells really has done so great adjusting to becoming a brother. He has not acted out in jealousy like I worried he might. He is still very much a mama's boy...now I just have two mama's boys :)

There is never a dull moment with our Wells-man. He is such a handful and such a joy everyday. We love him so much and can't believe he's growing up so fast.

Grayer is ONE Month!

Over the weekend, our sweet Grayer turned one month-old! Boy, does time fly - I'd say more so than it did with Wells. But at the same time, it feels like our little baby has been with us all along. Can't imagine our lives without him :)

Please notice Wells trying to steal the airplane in the next picture. That pretty much sums up this whole attempt at a photo shoot.

At the end of our first month, Grayer...
Weighs: 10lb 3oz at his 1-month appointment a couple of days ago. He is not as big as Wells was at this age, and that's because he doesn't eat around the clock like Wells did! He may not be as chunky, but he is strong as an ox! He has already rolled over 4 times. And he can hold his head up for a long time! He seriously was holding himself up in the crawling position the other day. Boy's got strength! And if his current growth is any indicator, he is going to be a tall guy! He was 19" at birth, and then 20" at his 2-week appointment, and now he is 22.5". What?? He grew 2.5 inches in two weeks, y'all!
Sleeps: Grayer is a pretty good nighttime sleeper. He is typically asleep around 10:15 (when we go to sleep) and wakes somewhere in the 1:00 hour. Then he is up again somewhere in the 4:00 hour, usually going back to sleep right around the time Eric gets up for work. And then he is up somewhere in the 7:00 hour to eat again. Sometimes he's up for the day after that feed, but he usually sleeps a little longer afterward (which is what I prefer, as Wells isn't usually up by then and I can get a little more sleep before getting up!)  As far as naps go, he is a pretty good day-sleeper, especially late morning and early-mid afternoon. As we did when Wells was his age, we try to make sure that he gets a fair amount of awake time during about 7-10pm so that he is ready for bed when the time comes.
Eats: I'd say Grayer eats an average amount as a baby his age. He sometimes is more interested in napping than eating during the day, so I think he likes to make up for it later...because it seems like he cluster feeds in the evening. He is exclusively on breast milk, and I am so thankful that nursing has gone so well again with baby #2. I'm not sure how many ounces he's eating because he hasn't gotten a bottle of breast milk yet (although I have already started pumping for when I go back to work part-time in two weeks).
Wears: He can still wear some newborn clothes. Most long-sleeve onesies, pants, and footies in the newborn size don't fit anymore because of his long arms and legs! So, he is transitioning into 0-3 month clothes, and the length of 3-month pants is pretty perfect for him. And he is in a size 1 diaper.
Plays: He is obviously not great at "playing" yet, but he will focus on objects in front of himI have caught him smiling voluntarily a couple of times the last few days. I can't get him to do it at me or on command yet, but it is definitely a real smile and not just gas, :) I "coo" at him so that he will copy me, but he isn't really doing it back yet. I have noticed that he is getting more verbal in the last day or two. I know Wells can't wait for Grayer to be able to "play" because we constantly have to tell him to be gentle with Grayer and not rock his swing or give him juice or feed him pretend or real food! Haha! It's all fun and games until you have to pull a raisin out of the newborn's mouth. #thatreallyhappened #atleastheknowshowtoshare #gladwewereintheroom