Wells is TWO!

I don't know how we got here, but our big boy is TWO YEARS OLD! Where did all the time go??? Here is what our 2 year-old is up to these days...

Beach snacking. #priorities

Measurements:

At his two year check-up, Wells weighed 31 pounds and was 34.5 inches tall (60th percentile for height and 75th percentile for weight). He generally wears 2T clothing but can also wear a few 3T items as well if they run a little on the smaller side. He wears a size 8 shoe and is in a size 5 diaper. 

Someone decided that he needed to wear his beach hat with this outfit :)

Eating Habits:

Still a big eater, this guy. Like all toddlers, he has some days where he doesn't eat as much as normal, but for the most part, he has a huge appetite! He still loves pizza - he can put some slices down! He just recently started eating strawberries (he was not a fan before). He LOVES spicy food. He will sit with Eric and eat "hot chips" without batting an eye, while I have to gulp down water after eating just one. We've celebrated lots of birthdays lately, and Wells is not complaining about all the cakes (as you can see below. ha!)!

What? You don't eat your cake like this?

Sleeping Habits: 

Oh.My.Word. If your toddler never experienced the 2-year sleep regression, please go away and never talk to me again because WHOA. It happened at our house, and it was awful. About a month and a half ago, Wells started refusing to lay down and go to sleep. He would stand in his crib and scream bloody murder until we would go in and stay with him. He had never had any issues going down to sleep alone, and this came out of nowhere! After a couple of weeks, he started to get back to normal (although we aren't totally there yet), and we can usually tell him "I'll be right back" when we lay him down and he will fall asleep. With this regression came waking up in the middle of the night crying and wanting us to come in and stay with him again. This is the part we are still working on getting back to normal. Whew! It was rough for a while there but hopefully the end is near!

Vocabulary: 

His vocabulary gets bigger each and every day. He is stringing words together and singing some lines of songs. Some things of note that I want to remember forever are...

-He uses an "s" in place of "f"...so, we hear cute things like "sog (frog)" and "sall down (fall down), and my personal favorite "sish (fish)"

-His "r" is a "y" sound. So "rain" is "yain" and "red" is "yed."
-He still calls me "Na" like I mentioned in the last post, but he will occasionally call me Mama too. "Dad" is now "Daddy."

-I mentioned last time that Wells can count to 10. He doesn't really do that anymore but would rather call out random numbers. If you ask him how many of something there are, he almost always says "ten, nine" lately.

-He still knows his shapes, and we are working on letters now.
-He now knows colors very well - blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and purple.
-He loves to come up to Grayer and say "hey Dare (Grayer)." It is so sweet to hear every single time.
-Some songs he likes to sing are Twinkle Twinkle, Rain Rain Go Away, Ring around the Rosies, the Alphabet Train song, and Happy Birthday.
-He almost always says "nope" instead of "no."

With the birthday train conductor! 

Quirks & Miscellaneous:

-Wells is (and has been for about 2 months now) OBSESSED with all things trains. I mean, it is insane. He plays with his train table and toy trains all day. If he watches TV in the car, it's Thomas. He watches a few train videos on our phones, too. Everyday, we hear these phrases about 3,472 times: All aboard!, traaaaaaaaain, train tracks, Thomas train, big train, choo choo.
-We had a train-themed party for his 2nd birthday. He had a blast on the train my parents rented for him. We literally had to pull him off to come inside and see the rest of his party. He was in heaven and had so much fun.

-He hates sandals right now. Not great timing to be picky about this type of footwear since it's like 100 degrees outside right now. But nevertheless, he does not want any kind of strappy sandal on his foot. He has a pair like these that he will wear, but other than that, no sandals. 
-Wells' hair continues to get curlier and curlier. We love those curls and always get comments on them, but they can be downright WILD sometimes! I don't even bother to brush his hair anymore unless it's right after a bath or if it's just extra crazy on a particular day :)

-We are officially pacifier-free! Wells had gotten really attached to it in the last couple of months, but last week he went to bed one night without asking for it (he NEVER goes to sleep without it). In the last few days, he has not had it at all and has only asked for it once while we were out (I told him it was at home, and by the time we got back home, he had forgotten about it anyway). 

-Wells still loves to be the center of attention and make everyone laugh. He is such a little performer.
-So we gave potty training a go a few weeks ago. He did well with actually sitting and going. But he was not at the point where he would tell us if he needed to go. He would say "Oh no" after the fact :) ...so, I think we will try again soon. He did well, but I just think he needs a little more time to get it down. 
-He is not as stingy as he once was with giving kisses ("sugars"). When we leave a family get-together, he almost always gives them out generously. And he always says "mmmmmm" when going in for a kiss.
-He hates having his hair brushed, teeth brushed, and hair washed. As if we don't do these things on a regular basis day in and day out, he still acts like a maniac most of the time it's happening. 
-We went on a beach vacation with Eric's family a few weeks ago. He was not a fan of the water but played well in the sand and picked some seashells too. He also liked snacking in his little beach chair (can't blame him). We'll see if he warms up to the water as the summer progresses. My favorite part of the trip was when he learned the word "ocean" ...he says it with a French accent: "O-Shone."



Favorites:

Show - Thomas (or, as he calls it, "Tom Train")

Snack - Fruit snacks, yogurt covered raisins, veggie straws, cheese

Food - I don't think any food could replace his beloved pizza. He really seems to like rice lately (specifically spanish rice and fried rice).

Book - Railroad Hank. This book is too cute, and I think I love it as much as he does :)

Security Item - He still loves his muslin blankets, but he has never had to have one with him at all times. He just wants it if he sees it. And the paci is gone!

Toy/Activity - All trains all the time :) He is still an outdoor fella, which is rough during the summer and it is so hot out! He loves wrestling/chasing Daddy. 

Goodness gracious, we love this boy so much. I hate that he is growing up, but I love it at the same time! He is so much fun to be around and keeps us laughing, keeps us tired, and keeps us feeling blessed. I think 2 is going to be the most fun age yet! Love you, Wellsie-Man!

Grayer is FOUR Months!

So, I think that this month has been the shortest since little man has been born. Seriously, it flew by! Now our sweet Grayer is four months old - that just sounds so big! Here's how things are going for our second baby boy:

Weighs: At his 4-month appointment Grayer weighed 15 lbs and 2 oz and was a little over 25" long. He definitely has got some serious chunk going on!
Sleeps: Grayer is still doing well in his crib at night. I was fearing that he may go through the dreaded 4-month sleep regression that many babies experience (Wells was one of them). So far, nothing. Praise the Lord! And let's hope he avoids it altogether. He usually sleeps a good 5 hour stretch after going down for bed and will then wake up about 3 hours later to eat again. Then he's back to sleep for another hour or two before waking for the day. His napping has gotten more routine this month. He takes a morning nap about an hour or two after waking up in the morning. He takes a long early/mid afternoon nap, and then he usually takes a short cat nap sometime around dinner. I used to hate that and think it would affect his night sleeping, but it hasn't so far and he seems to need it.
Eats: I think he has started eating more this month (nursing). He gets a little bit of cereal at night, usually with a fruit or veggie. Like we did with Wells, we started Grayer on food about two weeks before he turned 4 months old (the pediatrician gave us the go-ahead with Wells, and we decided to do the same this time around as well). So far he has had bananas, peas, peaches, and apples. I have been making his food and loving it just like I enjoyed doing for Wells.
Wears: He can still (barely) fit in his 3-month clothes. He is mostly wearing 3-6 month clothes and is starting to wear some 6-month outfits now. He is still in a size 2 diaper.
Plays: Grayer is so fun right now! He is such a smiley baby. If you talk to him or smile at him, he will almost always give you a smile. And he laughs quite a bit now, too, which is just adorable. He is starting to grab some toys and his blanket/burp cloth/whatever is near him. I tried him in the doorway jumper the other day and he seemed to like it. He didn't really jump, but I think he liked just being up in that position. He loves to stand when you are holding him (and sometimes even jump), so I thought he may enjoy it. I foresee lots of doorway-jumping this month :). He still loves the bath and loves when we go on walks, as well. He is enamored when watching Wells play. Anytime Wells is near, Grayer's eyes are glued on him, and many times he just smiles the sweetest smile. It is the sweetest!

Our boy has a few quirks of his own: he sticks his tongue out all the time and will mimic you if you stick yours out at him; he has an incredible talent of spitting up all over anyone/anything but completely missing himself; and he does the cutest, most dramatic little cough when he cries :) Grayer really has had a good month. We are FINALLY completely out of the colic stage. The last few weeks have been so much better for him (and us, ha!), and we are so thankful that the crying stage is over!!! This new, happier Grayer is a pretty chill guy. He is very go-with-the flow and just likes to take it all in. He still loves being held, especially by me, but I can't complain about it! Love those sweet snuggles. Happy 4 months, Grayer-Bear!

Grayer is THREE Months!

Here's the scoop on our 3-month old little guy!

Weighs: At his 2-month (although he was really about 2.5 months when we went), Grayer weighed 13 lbs and 1 oz. He was 23.5 or so inches. He is really starting to look big lately!
Sleeps: This month, little mister moved to his crib at night, and he is doing pretty well. On a good night, he sleeps about 4 hours (the longest he's gone is 5, I think) during the first stretch. He will usually wake up another time needing his paci or to eat, but every now and then, we make it through the night with just the one wake-up. He is not really on a set napping schedule yet. He likes to take a morning nap about an hour or so after waking up in the morning. And he takes a good afternoon nap (3 hours on a great day!). And he catches little cat naps throughout the day - usually if we are in the car.
Eats: He does not eat a lot in one sitting, so he is usually ready to eat again in about an hour or two. He did start getting a little bit of cereal this month. We did it a little early with Wells because he was always so hungry. But with Grayer, I decided to give it a try because he has such bad reflux and gas. I was hoping a little thickness would ease his tummy a little bit. He seems to like it and is doing really well with it. I am getting excited about making him some baby food in the next few weeks. I really enjoyed making Wells' food and am looking forward to doing it for Grayer.
Wears: He is wearing mostly 3-month clothes. He has worn a couple of 3-6 month footies at night that fit pretty well, too. He is in a size 2 diaper.
Plays: Grayer laughed for the first time a few weeks ago. It isn't a super regular occurrence yet, but if you try hard, you might get one out of him :) He is very smiley when you talk to him. He has started to grab some rattles if placed in his hand, and he will stare at them if you wave them in front of him.  He likes the lights on his bouncer seat, and he enjoys lying on his activity mat and looking up at the toys and mirror. He is still a big fan of bath time. He loves watching Wells play. If I hold Grayer in my lap while Wells and I play on the floor, his eyes light up and he smiles. Sometimes Wells will stand or sit next to him while he is in his bouncy seat and play with the toys (and usually say "Heeeeeeyyyyyy"), and Grayer loves it. He is still so strong and has started jumping when you hold him up on his legs. I am going to get the doorway jumper out in a few weeks.

Grayer is doing really well, and his evening colic has diminished sooooo much over the last couple of weeks. I am so thankful for that! He is still pretty gassy, which causes some crying fits, but I think we are in the home stretch of it being over. His eyes are still blue, and I am convinced they'll stay that way. He is a mama's boy just like his brother. There are times when all he wants is to be held by me (and he lets everyone know it!). But, he is such a sweet boy, and we love him to pieces!

What's Up Wednesday

Joining Mel, Shay, and Sheaffer today for What's Up Wednesday.

What we're eating this week...
Monday - Due to getting the house ready to put on the market, Eric was doing some lighting updates in the kitchen that took waaaaay longer than expected. With the kitchen breaker off for hours, I couldn't cook. So we ate out, something we hardly ever do on a weeknight.
Tuesday - Skillet Beans & Rice with Kielbasa. And even though it doesn't sound like anything spectacular, it was SO flavorful, quick, and easy. And a big win for the toddler, whose favorite meat is any type of sausage.

Wednesday - We eat at my parents' church tonight.
Thursday- Homemade General Tso's chicken with fried rice
Friday - No idea :)
Saturday - Our town's annual parade/festival is this weekend. So, we will probably grab a bite with family amidst all the festivities.

What I'm reminiscing about...
A good night's sleep. Ha! Grayer still wakes up for 2 feedings at night. And Wells was not feeling great last week (I think he was finishing cutting his 2 year molars), so he kept waking through the night, too. Silly boys. Mama needs some sleep!

What I'm loving...
This Spring weather has got me feeling a bold, pink lip. I am not usually one to go bold, but on a whim, I used Baby Lips Pink Punch this Saturday and really loved the way it looked.

What we've been up to...

Getting the house ready to put on the market. So not fun. 

What I'm dreading...

While I want our house to sell quickly, I am really not looking forward to the showings that will force us to leave the house at a moment's (or few hours) notice. 

What I'm working on...

A certain little guy's 2nd birthday is coming up very soon. Where did the time go??? Anyway, I am chugging away at planning a train-themed party for our big boy.

What I'm excited about...
Looking at houses :) While selling and buying a house is definitely a stressful time, I do LOVE looking at houses. I've been scoping out a ton online but now that our house will be listed, we can actually go and look in person. Yay!

What I'm watching/reading...
I've been reading this devotional and really liking it.

And I just started watching People's Couch online. I had no idea it could be so entertaining to watch people watching TV :)

What I'm listening to...

Lately, my Pandora has been anything from the Boys II Men station to the Brad Paisley station to the Jesus Culture station...and as always, my all-time favorite station - Whitney Houston. #balladsfordays

What I'm wearing...

I am officially back in all of my pre-baby clothes as of the last month or so. Hallelujah!

What I'm doing this weekend...

Our city's annual Stand Up For America Day parade/festival is this weekend. We always enjoy going, and I know Wells will really enjoy the parade in the morning and the fireworks that night. Last year it rained (poured, really) for the first time in the parade's history. Really hoping it stays dry this weekend!

What I'm looking forward to next month...

Getting the house on the market. It should be officially listed next Tuesday.

My favorite Mother's Day gift to give/receive...

It's hard to believe I've only had one Mother's Day on which I've been a mom. Two years ago, I was about to pop with Wells. Last year, I was a mommy of one (and about to find out about another!), and this year, I've got two little babes. Man, how quickly things change! But anyway, last year Eric surprised me with a beautiful, personalized First Mother's Day picture frame with a print of me and Wells in the hospital after his first bath. 

And in the spirit of being a mother...

The best job in the world is being a mama, but I think everyone can relate to having one of those days!!!

Don't forget to join the link-up!

Out of the Mouth of Wells

So, I am starting a new little installment called Out of the Mouth of Wells (once Grayer can talk, I'll change the name!). I always love when people post the funny things their kiddos say, and even though Wells can't have lengthy conversations with us (oh trust me, he's working on it. Chatty Kathy that kid is!), he does say some funny things that I want to look back on one day and remember. The list will get longer as he starts talking even more, and these aren't really that funny (well, they are to us!) but here are some little things that he says right now that I love...

- Apparently when I am making a decision with Wells (like what to have for snack, etc.), I say "Hmmmm....let's see." I didn't even realize that I did that until Wells started saying "Hmmmm...seeeee" all the time. He says it at the right times, too, and it is adorable.

- "Cheet dat" ...we have NO CLUE what this means but Wells says it multiple times a day. It's one of those things that is finally going to click, and we'll be like Ohhhhh that's what he meant. But right now we are at a total loss!

- "Oh no" ...this is by and large his favorite phrase right now. And he says it with such feeling! The other day he was watching The Ugly Duckling, and when the duck was sad, he said it so sympathetically.

- His new talent is imitating snoring. Eric's dad fell asleep when they came to visit, and Wells heard him snoring. Now when we ask him, "What does Papa say?," he responds with a snore and a sigh :)

- For the longest time, Wells would not say "Mom." If you asked him where I was or to go give something to me, he would. He just never called my name. No clue why. When he did say "ma, ma," he was really saying "more, more," as in he wanted more food. Classic Wells. But a couple of months ago, my mom figured out that Wells did have a name for me. One day I was running errands with my mom and the boys and when I got out of the car, Wells yelled after me. He did it a couple times throughout the day, and we discovered that he was calling me "Nah." What in the world? He continues to call me that, and I have no clue when he will switch over to "Mom." Crazy kid.

- Counting. Wells loves numbers. He can count to ten (with little prompting). If he picks up two of something (pacis, blankets, whatever), he will almost always say "twooooo." He used to automatically say "two" if you asked him how many of something he had. But now if you ask, he will start counting out loud and throw out a random number.

- When we say our blessing at meal time, Wells folds his hand and says "Dear Lord" followed by some jabbering and will then repeat "Amen" after an adult says it. I love it.

I can't wait for his vocabulary to expand even more. I know some funny phrases and conversations are ahead (especially when Grayer starts talking and they have their own little talks!). Wells had a string of ear infections earlier this year, so I really think that his hearing was a little off for a while because sometimes his words weren't that enunciated. He has always had a huge vocabulary but the last few months, his new words weren't always recognizable. I think we are in the clear now, though, and I can tell that he is really starting to speak a lot more clearly. In the last few weeks, he has started to talk all of the time. The other day I had to tell him to stop talking and go to sleep while we were riding in the car during nap time. Haha!

Weekending

Linking up with Biana for a little weekend recap.

Eric was off on Friday, and we spent it trying to get the house ready for photographs since we are putting it on the market! So exciting, but so stressful! With two littles, it has proven to be a lot more work than we thought to get it photo-ready. We are nearing the finish line, though! Other than getting things tidied up, it was a pretty low-key day at home. Which was perfect before our busy Saturday!

On Saturday, we made an impromptu trip with my parents to my sister and nephew's school for their annual fun day. Wells got to play games and jump and slide in a bouncy house (which he is obsessed with after a recent trip to an indoor bouncy house place). Daddy had to get in with him since he couldn't quite climb up to the slide by himself. Eric is actually just a big kid at heart, so he didn't mind at all :) Grandma bought the boys some new books at the school's Book Fair, and I was so especially excited to add this one to our collection. We have the Nighttime, Easter, and Fall ones, and I always love getting a new one for each holiday.

After the school festivities, we headed to Oatland Island for a friend's 1st birthday. I took a Benadryl on the way in preparation for the petting zoo! Ha! Wells LOVED petting the bunny and looking at all of the animals.

We left for home after the party and Wells got in a quick 45-minute nap before we left to go to a friend's house for dinner. Eric played disc golf outside with the guys while the girls (and baby Grayer of course) stayed inside chatting. Wells spent most of his time playing with our friends' kids' train table. We are now positive that we have to get him one for his birthday. He LOVED it and was entertained all night. Poor Grayer was not feeling well the whole night. He had a major colic flare-up. I hate seeing little buddy feeling so yucky, and we are hoping that the end of colic is near.

On Sunday, Eric surprised me by making breakfast before the boys got up. And we got to eat at the table with just us! ...Well for most of it. Grayer was ready to be held toward the end of the meal :) We spent the morning at church and then headed to my Granny's house to eat dinner with family. After that, we came home where I tackled some laundry while the boys napped. Eric spent the afternoon doing paint touch-ups on the house. Wells, Grayer, and I went to my parents' church that night because our small group was cancelled for the night. Eric stayed behind to continue painting. We got home and spent some family time together before putting the babies to bed.

All in all, it was a pretty packed weekend. Hopefully this will be the week that we can finish getting the house ready. My mom's birthday is also this week, and Saturday is our city's annual Stand Up For America Day parade and festival. So, we are looking forward to some fun stuff this week, but I hope a little rest is in order, too! ...I won't hold my breath, though!!
    

Grayer is TWO Months!

So, just to be honest, Grayer is actually more like 2.5 months old. Bad mom award :)

I know I usually say something along the lines of "time flies!" or "how has another month gone by?!"...but not this time. Eric and I were just saying that we feel like Grayer has been with us waaaay longer than just 2 months. Feels like he's been here in our little family all along :) And PS - He was not in the picture taking mood. These are all we got :)

Weighs: I have no clue...his 2-month checkup is coming up on Friday (we had to reschedule it since we were out of town last week). He seems to be filling out more, and if I had to guess, I'd say he's about 12 lbs. I'm also curious to see how long he is since he had grown so much at the last appointment.
Sleeps: Grayer is a pretty good sleeper at night. He goes down around 10pm (although I am trying to bump it up a little bit earlier now) and wakes up around 1-2am to eat. Then he will sometimes not eat again until 5 or 6am. So that puts us down to only 2 feedings at night. Sometimes he throws another feed in there just to keep me on my toes :) He has had a stuffy nose the last few nights, so sleep hasn't been as sound or uninterrupted as I had gotten used to...so I am hoping his little nose clears up soon and we can get back to good sleeping! I have to be at work at 8am, so I usually feed him at least a little bit before we leave the house just so he doesn't wake up hungry in the car and scream like a wild banshee!
Eats: Like I said last month, he is not the ravenous eater that Wells was. He still eats about every 2-3 hours. He is much more of a spitter-upper than Wells was, too. We don't ever make it through a day without changing blankets or clothes at least once. I still am not exactly sure how much he eats in one sitting because he's only ever had like 2 or 3 bottles of breastmilk. Since I am only working a couple hours a few days a week, Grayer usually comes with me to my office. So, I am able to feed him during the day. My work is only a minute or so from my mom's house (where Wells is during the day), so if she happens to watch Grayer part of the day, I can just drive over and feed him since it would take the same amount of time to pump.
Wears: Grayer is wearing 0-3 month (although some of them are getting snug) and 3-month clothes. He is in a size 1 diaper...until we finish up the last box left from baby showers. Then we'll be opening the size 2 boxes :)
Plays: Grayer is quite the smiler. If you let him see your face and talk to him, he will usually smile right back. He has been very vocal lately, just cooing and babbling a ton! I have gotten out a couple of his rattles to wave at him - it'll be fun as he starts "playing" with toys like this soon. He has gotten much better at not being held 24/7 in the last week or two. We brought up an old bouncy seat that we used a little bit for Wells. He seems to really like it and will sit in it for a while in the kitchen so I can cook dinner. If he is in the right mood, he will lay on his back and coo and smile for a good amount of time, too. Grayer really likes bath time. He HATED it for the first 3 or 4 weeks, and now he loves it. He just sits there looking so relaxed and enjoying it. He even likes when I scrub his head in an effort to get all that yucky cradle cap off. Grayer is very alert and has really big, attentive eyes. It's fun to see him becoming more aware and interactive as he gets older :) He is so strong, always pushing up and standing with his little legs! Combine that with the rolling over that he started at just a couple of weeks old, and I think he is going to be an early bloomer as far as active/physical milestones go! We'll see.

We love this little guy and are excited to see him grow and develop more as the days pass. Whereas Wells' facial features look like mine and he has my brown eyes, Grayer is really starting to look a lot like Eric to me. And I think that his eyes will will stay blue like Eric's instead of turning to brown. I think the colic (that he had been having many evenings each week) pretty much peaked a couple of weeks ago, and hopefully we are on the other side of it now. He still has some fussy times (I don't know why my children are so gassy as infants!!!), but they have diminished a lot. So, here are to happy days and lots of playing for our sweet Grayer in the next month!