Riley--4 Months (May 19-June 18)

Holy cuteness!  I'm kind of partial, but we do make cute babies!

"This is my serious pose."  

Wow, oh wow!  You have truly emerged this month!  You are growing and changing every day and it’s hard keeping up!  Please know that we try our best to remember these times, but y’all keep us busy!  Thank goodness I try to keep up with this blog!

Growth

• Still in Size 2 diapers, but moved up to 3 since we ran out.  I think your thighs thank us! 
• Clothing. Fun story.  You had some 3-6 month outfits that were perfectly fine one week, and the next your toes curled in them they were so tight!  So tight you busted a hole in a toe!  Ummm…oops!  Sorry about that little man!  So…now you’re in anything loose that is 3-6 month, but mostly 6 month clothing.  Thank goodness we have your brother’s clothes, as well as several friends who have let us borrow some!  You’re all set!
• Dr. Checkup—all the needed shots for 4 months—not fun!
• Weight—15 pounds 11 ounces!!!  You eat well!  Height—25 inches.  Thighs—Priceless!

Eating

• You are definitely at 5.5 ounce bottles.  Sometimes I throw in a 6 ounce one because you’re fine with it!  I think we’re on the move up to that much permanently though!
• You’re still nursing if you wake up in the middle of the night and sometimes during the day on weekends—simply because it’s convenient for mommy!  I’m glad it’s working out that you’re still breastfeeding because it makes some feedings just much more convenient in our busy lives!  I guess I didn’t realize what I was missing when it didn’t work out with your brother!
• We began rice cereal right after you turned 4 months because daycare said you were having a hard time waiting 3 hours for food.  (Turned out you were teething and just unhappy—not hungry!)  You definitely weren’t ready for rice cereal.  We had to feed it to you in a syringe and then eventually put it in your bottle.  Too much work for this slacker mom!  I gave it up for 2 weeks, started it again at about 4.5 months, and you chowed down on it this time!  You like it thicker—not the ratio stated on the box!  Hey—I wouldn’t like watery oatmeal either!

  

  Mmmm....so good I've got to hold my own bib down!

Gram...you're so silly  when you feed me!

• You are trying to hold the bottle more often now.  When you’re fidgety, it definitely is a curse because those hands have no boundaries and the bottle flips away from you more often than not!  But…you’re working on it!

Sleeping

• Same as last month.  Not so great at daycare and still waking up once or twice at night.  Sometimes we can give you the pacifier when you wake up.  Other times I have to feed you.  Gotta be honest here Ry—I’m getting exhausted!  Thank goodness summer is coming up and I have some time to work with your daytime sleep schedule and hopefully get us back to longer nights!
• Still making up for lost sleep on the weekends.   I must say…it does make errand running pretty easy!

Personality

• We’re partial to you, but you get cuter and cuter every day!
• You have now officially rolled from your tummy to your back!  If I put you down for tummy time, you roll over before I can move away most times!
• Update:  You've also now rolled from your back to your tummy.  You cannot do the full roll yet and that kind of makes you mad!
• You love to look at yourself in the mirror when I’m giving you a bath.  You’re amazed at yourself and you love looking at anyone else’s reflection too.  I try to put you on the floor in our bathroom sometimes and make you look in the mirror while I’m getting ready to practice this!  You’re getting there!
• Teeth!  You got your 1st tooth about 4 days after you turned 4 months—and then a 2nd tooth about 4 days after that!  Whoa!  Slow down!

Thank goodness for Sophie!  You love her just like Bennett loved his Sophie!

The Beginning Wasn't This Bad...

...but this sums up the hours between 5:30 and 7:30pm at our house:

I got peed on...

...by this little guy!

 

 

He wasn't even the one giving me the trouble tonight.  However, my boys must be conspiring against me:  one creates the ruckus and the other creates a distraction!  We're in for trouble with these 2!

Bennett--21 Months (May 7-June 6)

Silence is Golden!  Well, not at our house anymore!  You are a talking machine—and most of it is actually something we can understand….if we pay attention!

Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds.  You will repeat almost anything if we ask (depending on your mood of course!) and we’re definitely hearing more 2-3 word phrases!  This is so exciting because just a few months ago we were on the edge of getting worried about your speech.  From what you’re showing us now though, I think our problem will be the lack of silence!  I love listening to how sweet your voice sounds and can’t wait to hear it more and more.  I’ve got to remember to take some videos so you can hear your tiny self later on down the road!

New words/phrases:  light, yeah (we miss the famous “Yessss”), right there, that one, the letters n and t (working on the letters in your name!), No mama, No dada, Thank you mama, Thank you dada, he’s crying (pointing to Riley), huh?  I know there are more, but I’ve forgotten!

You love trying to hold Riley’s bottle for him and will sometimes do it without us asking while we’re just doing something else.  You honestly love your brother and enjoy having him sit with you in any chair as well as lie beside him on the floor, saying Night, night.

I feed!

With your new turtle friend that lived in our yard for a while--you LOVED throwing him in the pool!

You started swimming lessons this month.  They’re more infant survival lessons where you work on going under water, closing your mouth (our biggest problem!), holding your breath, kicking, and floating on your back (the part you hate most!).  It’s so important that we do this with you since we have a pool and you love the water.  You’ve been a little more afraid of it lately, but I think it’s because you’re learning what to do and sometimes you’d just rather play and splash—or throw things in!  We’re taking you to Texas Swim Academy and we really love the way they work with you.  You do love Miss Amelia, your teacher!

You are becoming quite the expert at using your eyes to do things!  You certainly know how to give us sneaky looks, sly looks, etc—and the problem is that it’s just too cute!  The other problem is that I probably taught you!  Oh well…look like your daddy, act like me!  You’re such a ham and truly enjoy laughing, trying out new ways to use a toy, etc. One of your teachers said it best:  "Bennett is a rule breaker, but he's sneaky about how he does it.  If you tell him to not touch something with his finger, he'll touch it with his toe!"  That sums it up perfectly!

"Breaking a rule" by not grabbing anything in the fridge...but simply refusing to get out!

• Cars are one of your favorite toys right now.  Well, anything with wheels really!  
• You love driving around town because we see SO MANY diggers!  I try to call out their real names, but you insist they’re all just diggers!

Favorite spot to watch Thomas!

Bennett--20 Months (April 7-May 7)

Words!  Glorious WORDS!!!  Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds and that's pretty much how I'll classify this month!  You're still as cute as ever.  You still have as much personality as ever, and you still make us love you more and more each day!

Cracking yourself up on a car ride!

You are pretty much a bucket load of fun!  Everything amazes you and we love watching your excitement over the little things in life--like a favorite book or realization that if you hear something loud, it might have a truck/digger/choo-choo/etc to go with it!

First movie:  The Croods at the Drive-In in Hockley--not much of a success!

Lovely rash--still don't know what it was to this day.  Dr. said it was contact dermatitis...but we really don't believe that!

Daddy made you a chalkboard and hung it on the wall.  You love playing with chalk indoors--mommy...not so much!

Watching the choo-choo at Gram and Pops' house in Cuero

 

Monkey See, Monkey Do—that’s what the phrase of the month should be!  You are really into copying anything—not on a big scale, but we just notice you doing “grown up” things more and more.

You are a:

• Daredevil on your 4-wheeler and love to stand up on it…much to our dismay!
• Lethal thrower!  Anything and everything goes into the pool!  You’ve even figured out the best spot to stand at the fence so you can ensure it goes in!
• Great big brother!  You voluntarily give Riley hugs, kisses, his pacifier, hold his bottle, try to share food/toys with him, etc.
• Talker!  You said 3 phrases this month in addition to a few other new words.
• Phrases:  No more balls?—This one was particularly funny because you were running around the living room picking up balls you’d thrown.  After looking under a chair, this came out of your mouth!  Nothing major, but funny at the time because of your hand motions and voice inflection!  “I Sing”—which was followed by some cute Bennett singing!  “Did it”—when you fixed or did something!
• Words:  Outside, Rahla (Riley), mine—seriously…the 2nd most hated word after “No!”, bye, Yesssss
• Player—of toys I mean!  This month you enjoyed sitting in a V and rolling/throwing the ball.  Interactive games are a thrill for you!

 

This month you also:

• Started to get a little bit clingier (is that a word?).  It’s like you realize that daddy and I can go away and it frightens you.
• Tantrums come on easily and nothing triggers them the same way twice!

 

Riley--3 Months (April 19-May 18)

Why hello Sweets!

 

You are the epitome of a happy baby. Now…you like to be held a little too much and we’re going to have to work on that, but if you have someone’s attention, you are a happy little dude!

 

Growth
•You’ve now moved up to Size 2 diapers—you need more room for those thighs!
•Officially in 3 month clothing, although we have random 0-3 pieces that still fit.
•Not sure height/weight because we had no dr. visit, but you’re growing!

Eating

• This month you ranged from 5-5.5 ounces per feeding.  Daycare really wears you out, so sometimes you don’t finish a bottle—something we know nothing about in comparison to your brother!
• You’re still eating every 2.5 to 3.5 hours—depending on the situation.  I try to keep it at 3, but some days that just doesn’t work!

Sleeping

• You slept great the entire first month at daycare.  Then they made some changes….and our life hasn’t been the same since!  Not really sure if it was the changes in workers at daycare, or something else going on in life (we found out you were teething right before you hit 4 months!), but you now wake up once or twice every night.
• You were sleeping 10 hours at night.  We knew that was too much and we were too lucky, and now, since you’re sleeping 4-5 hours a stretch, we miss it!  We know you’ll get there again though!
• On the weekends you catch up on sleep because you’re so exhausted from daycare.  It’s normal for you to take a 2 hour nap in the morning and several others during the day—and at daycare you barely sleep 1.5 hours total!

Mommy was tired after a long night...so were you!

Personality

• Oh my!  Smiley Riley is a great nickname for you!  You are just as happy as can be—and everyone says so!
• Your hands are your favorite new toy!  Your thumb is a perfect chew toy and sometimes you just pass out with it in your mouth!
• The amount of drool you have already is unbelievable! (Guess that should’ve clued us in to the teething…)
• Laughs are the cutest from you!  You give us this big gummy grin and just chuckle at random things we do!  We’ll do anything for a Riley laugh!
• You’ve started moving from side to side---how long will it be until the first roll???  Your thighs might hinder this…for your brother it was his belly!  (We love our chunky boys!)

I'll Admit It...

• I love Kathie Lee and Hoda!  They're crass and sassy, and I like to think that I'd be one of their friends if I was in that circle. I don't think I drink as much as them, but I can come up with the smart-a%# comments with the best of them!
• Child #1 got his first burn when he was 19 months old--because he walked up to a car at daycare, saw the muffler, decided to touch it, and immediately pulled back and screamed.  Sadly, I didn't even consider the fact it might be HOTTER than heck as he reached for it.  Not sure I'd call this Bad Mommy-ing Skills, but I'd definitely call it horrible and blame it on lack of common sense seeing as how I'm dealing with going back to work with 2 kids under 20 months of age.  (I did however make sure he got some meds on it once we were home and keep water cooler in the bathtub that night since it stung!)
• I love having a baby that snuggles!  Bennett wasn't a snuggler--he was content to be somewhere he was able to watch all that goes on.  Riley--another story!  He'd like to be held 24 hours a day, talked to, etc.  I love how different both my boys are!
• I don't want to be back to work full time, but I also don't know that I can be a full-time mommy.  HOWEVER...I really am looking forward to this summer where it's me and the boys all day!
• I want a boob lift and a tummy tuck.  No explanation needed!
• I want to do all the things I pin on Pinterest--and have them look/taste/be just as good!
• I want my husband to want to file any paper he sees lying around and be someone who loves organization like I do!
• I know that if my husband is like the above, he won't be the man I fell in love with, so I really don't want that...but I DO want to be able to walk into the garage!
• I've yelled out "Look!  School bus!"--and then remembered that no child is in the car with me!
• I sometimes drive certain ways on purpose because I know there will be a "digger" at a construction site--or a crain, dozer, roller, paver, etc. and they will distract the toddler from a crying fit for maybe 5 seconds!
• It's fun having a baby that nurses...simply b/c it allows me to be lazy at times and not pump!  Oh, the bonding time is good too...but let's be honest. With 2 kids under 2 being lazy trumps it sometimes!
• Nursing/pumping/breastfeeding sucks!  Until you see how much formula costs and then you just grin and bare it until whole milk is legit!
• Hearing child #1 learning to talk is fabulous!  I love hearing how his little voice sounds and can't wait for "conversations" this summer!
• It's hard not to compare your children--especially when they're so close in age!

That's it for this version!  Happy day!

Riley--2 Months (March 19-April 19)

Oh my cuteness!

Riley, you're otherwise known as "Sweets" for some reason...but it's probably because you're just too darn sweet!  You've been smiling for a few weeks now (and it has nothing to do with gas!).  We are loving you as an addition to our family and slowly finding our groove as a family of 4!  Here's how month 2 went down:

Growth

• Weight:  12 lbs even!  Height:  hmmm....can't remember (I'm typing this a month and a half later), but I'll try to go back and look!
• Diapers:  Size 1 for most of the month and then when we ran out, they were snug, so you just moved on over to Size 2.
• Clothing:  Slowly growing out of 0-3 and the 3 month stuff really is fitting better!

Eating/Sleeping

• You had to get on a schedule because I went back to work the day before your 2 month birthday!  Here's how that went:  GREAT!!!  I started the first 2-3 days back to work feeding you around 5:30, but it was stressful waking you up, getting all 3 of us ready, pumping, etc.  You decided you liked to wake up around 6:45, so that's where our day starts now! 
• You eat around 6:45AM, 9AM, 12PM, 3PM, 5:30PM and 7:30-8:30PM (that one depends on the day, but you're usually ready for bed by 8ish)
• You're eating 4.5-5 oz bottles depending on the day.  You were officially at 5 oz bottles by the beginning of April.  You get 2 formula bottles:  one during the day and one right before bed.  I realized that Bennett slept great at this age and I think the formula has something to do with it, so I'll take it!  I still nurse you on the weekends (because I can sleep in and not pump) and any time that you wake up in the middle of the night.

Stretch!!!  Just like Daddy and Bennett!

•  
  Sleeping = We're SO lucky!  You're not consistently sleeping 10 hours, but for the most part, I can put you down between 8 and 8:45ish and you'll sleep until around 6:45AM.  Don't get me wrong; we've had a few nights where you wake up once (or even twice--can we NOT do that anymore, please???), so we're grateful for what we get!  You nap decently at daycare.  Again, it depends on the day!

Bathtime has become one of your faves!

Such a peaceful sleeper---AHHHH!!!

Working on those neck muscles!

Nap time after a mani/pedi by mommy!

What's up ladies??  First time in the bumbo!

Lovin' the swing!

First day at daycare:  he seems stressed, huh?