D'oh! Old and new...

hi again!  I know it's been awhile, but here are some of the things that we've been up to...
This post used to be called "3 months is a long time between posts," but I wrote it almost a month ago, and never posted it.  So I'll be putting updates in with my original comments to keep you up to date.

-Scott is quite a mover now.  He rolls and spins himself around, so he can travel around.  He can travel really far, until he gets himself stuck under the couch. :)  He's starting to crawl, and he's starting to cruise (pull himself along the furniture while standing).  He can sit himself back up from laying on the floor.  It took him quite a while to start rolling, but now that he is moving, he just won't stop!  He'll be a super crawler before I know it.  Then we'll have to child-proof the house and put our gates back up.  [Scott IS a super fast crawler, and quite exhausting - he just never stops!  He gets into EVERYTHING.  He has a particular affinity for power cords (to pull out and chew on) and floor lamps (to hang from.)]

-Scott waves and claps. So cute!  His first wave was to some random guy at Panera Bread, so I felt kinda bummed, but I let the guy know that he should feel honored to be the recipient of Scott's first wave.  [Scott loves to stand at our front window and wave, whether someone is outside or not.  We always wave goodbye to Daddy when he is going to work.]

-Scott eats all kinds of solid foods now.  He loves to eat!  It's just so distracting to eat when that older brother of his is around. :)  Jared has taken to eating some of Scott's food, which is usually vegetables, so I usually let him.  Poor Scott, his brother is stealing his food already!

-Speaking of Jared, he is a great big brother!  He's not keen on sharing his toys, but he likes giving Scott the baby toys.  Now that Scott is getting more mobile and can help himself to toys, the fights have started.  But he is very loving toward Scott, which is wonderful to see.  [ummm...Jared is not very tolerant of Scott getting into his stuff, to put it nicely.  He is starting to rough-house with Scott, which makes Steve and I very nervous.  Jared nicknamed Scott "Bend-a-saurus," and calls him that when he is pushing him, pulling him, or laying on top of him.]

-We hosted Easter at our house this year, which was so fun!  I love being able to have a house full of family for the holidays.  It brings back wonderful childhood memories.  Jared was very excited to go to the neighborhood beach for the Easter Egg Hunt.  The little kids got to go in first, and they had a special area where the eggs weren't really hidden.  Unfortunately, Jared started finding eggs in the middle of the big kid area, since they weren't allowed in yet.  Just then, the big kids were let in, and a wave of kids came rushing right at Jared.  Luckily, I got to him before he got trampled.

-We've started giving the boys baths together, which makes for pretty crazy baths, but the boys really seem to enjoy it.  [Scott is now a constant splasher with his hands and feet, so he gets very fast baths.]

-Jared and I flew kites with our friends Claire and Jen.  Claire and Jared had a fun time playing beneath the kites, but Jared didn't really seem interested in holding the string.  Jen's kite got away from her, which lead to running across the park numerous times, since the kite string was caught in a tree, but not the kite.  Every time we turned around, the kite would drop to the ground, but by the time we got there, the wind would pick up, and the kite would be flying high again.  It was quite the first kite flying experience!

-We had 7 trees removed from our property, and a lot of pruning done.  The funny part is, that you can hardly tell that the trees were removed, we had that many trees!  Jared watched the tree guys all day long!  Their little climber guy was awesome!  He would run up the tree with his ropes and cleats (if they were taking down the tree, no cleats if they were just pruning), and just start trimming away with his chainsaw.  Pappy had to help out the tree guys too by trying out their big chainsaw on a log.  

-Jared got a tick bite when we went to our cabin over Memorial Day. :(  He was fairly good at letting us dig into the back of his neck to get it out.  A little piece of the tick remained (not the head), and it is healing nicely, so the Pediatrician isn't worried.  [All healed!]

-Scott used to be a great sleeper, but he is a terrible teether!  They seem to bother him much more than they did for Jared.  My theory is that since he's a thumb sucker, he is pressing down on his sensitive gums.  Poor kiddo gets his fair share of ibuprofen to help ease the pain.  [He's now working on 3 more teeth.  Gah!]

-Jared was never a very cuddly kid, even as a baby.  But since Scott's been around, he really likes his hugs and kisses, so that's nice.  He also says I Love You a lot, so Steve and I are really enjoying that.  He even says I Love You to Scott.

-Now that Scott is getting older, we've been going on more trips.  In addition to going to my parents' house and cabin over Memorial Day, we've gone up to Philly to visit Steve's parents and my relatives a few times, we went up to Baltimore to see my cousin Caitlin's senior exhibition for her art school.  At Caitlin's graduation party, my Aunt Bernie, Uncle Kevin, and Uncle Paul all got to meet Scott for the first time.

-Jared used to pull Scott around the neighborhood in our wagon, but now he wants to get in and rode too.  It was a lot easier for me when Jared did all of the pulling!

-We watched our friends' daughter Samantha for a few hours while the parents went to a wedding.  I think Scott liked not being the smallest kid in the house.  Samantha ate well and slept a lot (which was unusual for her at the time), so Steve and I had an easy time of it.  At one point, all three kids were sleeping at once!

*new stuff*
-Jared has been talking in more complete thoughts and sentences.  He is definitely sounding more like a mature 3 year old, than his 2 year old beginning talk.  One of his phrases is "Mommy, are you okay?" which cracks me up, since it sounds so adult.  Jared has had to use it a lot lately, since I have been gasping at a lot of "nature" on our property.  Over the past 2 months, we've had an ant invasion, a centipede sighting in the tub, a dead bird and a dead squirrel outside.  Luckily, we have a good burial plot outside that the kids can't access.  Jared and I are getting good at saying eulogies for random outside animal at their burials.

-Since Scott has been nursing less and moving a lot more, he has really started to thin out.  Jared hasn't called him "Baby Scott" for month, since he isn't looking like such a baby anymore.  He has reddish blond hair (getting more, but still thin) and gray eyes (just like Jared.)  At Scott's 9 month check-up, he weighed 19 pounds, 1 ounce (the 30th percentile), he was 27.25" tall (25th percentile), and his head was 46 cm around (the 75th percentile!!)  I know my kids have big heads, since they seem to have trouble getting their shirts on over their heads.  And Steve's Mom says that Steve also had this problem as a baby.  Scott looks so much like Steve did as a baby.

-Now that it's warmer, we've filled a baby pool up on our deck, but I'm not sure how long Jared will be satisfied with that.  I foresee many trips to our neighborhood beach this summer.  Jared is pretty good about only going up to his waist, but I think he'll need swimming lessons before too much longer.

-Jared had a great time going to a local park to see the Tall Ships come in to Baltimore's Inner Harbor with my parents.  The next day, they all went up to Baltimore, and actually toured two of the ships.  Jared was very excited that he was able to touch the enormous flag on one of the ships. 

-Steve and I took Jared to an air show last month.  It was really cool with lots of static displays, and tons of neat demonstrations!  Jared got to sit in the cockpit of a Maryland Air National Guard plane.  We saw demos from sky-typers, a Harrier jet, a V-22 (Pop-Pop's helicopter that he used to work on), an acrobatic flyer, the Golden Knights, the F-22, the B-2, among others.  The weather was warm, but not nearly as hot as I remember air shows as a kid.  Jared liked the air show (except the Harrier which was too loud), but his main highlight was that he got to ride in a school bus!  We had to park and go through security at FedEx Field, then they drove us in school buses from there onto the Air Force Base.

-Steve is running fairly regularly now.  He hasn't gone back to soccer yet, but the doctor has given him the all-clear.  Maybe in the fall.

-I'm enjoying getting back to the gym as much as my schedule will let me.  In addition to my weightlifting and kickboxing aerobics classes, I've started doing Zumba, which is so much fun!  It's fun to get out by myself for a little bit, and I feel good after exercising.

I know this is the longest post ever, but now that it's done, I'll start entering in the pictures, which I know is what people really want to see.  I'll put up another post to let you know when the pictures are up.

New Pictures! (finally)

I posted up new pictures under both the Jan. to March and the April to June links.  I realized I hadn't updated pictures in two months, which in baby time is forever!  I hope you enjoy seeing what we've been up to.  Hopefully, I'll be able to put a post up soon too.

6 months with Scott

Scott is six months old already!  He is such a lovely and easy baby, he really spoils me.  If I could freeze him in time right now, I would.  I love the big toothless grins with all of the drool.  And he laughs and interacts with Jared, it's so precious.  He now weighs 16 pounds, 14 ounces, and is 26 inches long.  At six months, Jared was 16 pounds, 7 ounces, and was 26 inches long.  Those numbers are in the 50th percentile, so my boys are very average sized babies.  Last time, Scott was a pound and a half more than Jared, so the weight gap is closing.  I'm not really surprised, since I noticed Scott's second chin was disappearing.  Scott seems to be eating less and sleeping more.

Scott did not enjoy his first taste of food.  I don't think that I would like the (lack of) taste and the texture of rice cereal either.  He seems to be doing better with oatmeal.  Jared and I are big fans of oatmeal, so maybe it's a family thing.
Now that we took away Scott's pacifier, he is free to suck on his thumb all that he wants.  This has led to improved sleep for him, and because of that, improved sleep for everyone else.  He sleeps 12-13 hours at night, and takes three naps a day that last between 1-2 hours each!  This kiddo has definitely inherited my love of sleeping.  Too bad the older brother is boycotting naps.  Although with no nap, Jared has been sleeping 11-12 hours overnight, which is pretty nice.

Jared is starting to get very particular (bossy) about how things are done.  We have a very set routine for brushing teeth, going to bed, putting Scott down for a nap, what song we can sing, etc.  Heaven forbid if I forget to inform Steve that Jared is supposed to close the fridge door or turn the handle to put the dirty diaper into the diaper pail.  Major catastrophe!

I installed a seat belt into our wagon, so Scott and Jared can go around the neighborhood together.

We had a Leap Frog for Leap Day playdate at our house.  There were two babies that came over that were only 2 weeks older than Scott, and they were very cute together.

Jared is now out of his booster seat, and kneels on a chair to eat.  I preferred him in his booster, but he loves being like his parents.  He also uses real plates now, he's a conscientious eater.  The problem is that now he can get down from the table and go play on a whim, so Steve and I can't make any last-ditch efforts to get dinner into him.  He is so picky at dinner - we usually have trouble getting him to the table, and he would rather go play than eat.  He loves hot dogs and sandwiches!

Jared likes to hurry up the stairs to get Baby Scott (as we all call him) when he hears him crying on the monitor.  He yells out "I'm coming, Baby Scott!" which is so cute and funny.  One night, Scott cried out when we were eating, and Jared yelled out "I'm eating, Baby Scott!"  which was even funnier and cuter than normal.  Jared throws a full-out tantrum if he is not included in putting Scott down for a nap or getting him up from a nap.

Jared also uses the word love a lot.  Every time he washes his hands, he says that he loves soap.  I think that he loves soap because that means he can get really dirty.  He tells us that he loves us, and I about died from mother's pride when I heard him say "Baby Scott, I love you."

Jared is a very spatial person, where I am so not.  I gave him a 4 piece jigsaw puzzle (his first), and I didn't even have to explain to him how to put it together.  He definitely gets that from his Dad!
Jared was outside on the deck the other day and was telling me which windows went to which rooms.  He wasn't correct all of the time, but he got some of them right.  I was just so impressed that he realized that the outside widows went to the inside rooms. 

Pictures coming soon...

The boys they are a changin'

Both boys are growing and changing so fast!

Scott likes to suck on his thumb and his toes now.  He loves to take his socks off so he can play with his toes.  There's a good reason that pose in yoga is called the Happy Baby Pose!  Scott is such a happy kid, and I love his huge baby grins with tons of drool and no teeth!
Scott can also stay sitting up if you put him up.  He can also stand and lean against the couch and hold himself up for a long time (at least 5 minutes.)  He usually falls over when he gets distracted by Jared racing around the house.
Scott can also roll over from his belly onto his back.
Scott really likes the exersaucer. He doesn't really play with the toys very much, but he likes to hang out and watch Jared run around.
Scott loves watching Jared, and laughs when Jared stares at him.  It warms a parent's heart to see them interacting so well.
Scott wants to eat so badly - he stares longingly at you while you are eating.  We'll probably have him try some rice cereal soon.

Jared is becoming Mr. Independent.  He can climb up into and out of his car seat, so I only have to strap him in.  This is nice for Jared, since it was difficult to get him into the car without hitting his head on the car.
Jared now can put on his socks and sweatpants by himself.  I put his shirt over his head, and he can put his arms through the sleeves by himself.
Jared peed in the potty for the first time, but since then has shown little interest.  We'll just keep encouraging him, and hopefully he'll try to sit on the potty more soon.  He has taken to setting up his diaper changing items on the floor for me to change him when he needs it, so that is helpful.  He also is fascinated watching me change Scott's diaper - he finally gets to see what goes on during the diaper change!
Jared is very talkative, and most of the time is able to express his feelings.  Not always in the most polite way, but we're working on that.
Jared is getting more imaginative.  He is now more interactive with his books (pretending to eat if they are eating) and TV characters.  He especially likes the Little Einsteins on TV, so he is learning about French Horns!  I'm looking for my French Horn mouthpiece, which got misplaced in the move, so I can play for him.

Steve and I are doing well.  I'm going back to the gym, so I'm having fun getting out of the house and working out.  And I always look forward to my Mom's group monthly meetings and Mom's Night Out events.  Steve is still going to physical therapy twice a week, he'll probably go down to once a week soon.  The doctor thinks that he may even begin to start running again soon.  He walks well now, and only limps when he's extra tired or overdoes it.

The Baltimore Aquarium runs specials during the winter on Friday evenings, so we decided to take the kids.  Jared loved looking at the boats in the Inner Harbor, even before we got inside the Aquarium. 
He loved to see all of the fish, and said "Excuse me, please!" to the people waiting in front of us to see a particular exhibit.  He kept saying it over and over, each time getting more and more frantic, until we finally got to the front to see the fish.  He thought that if he was polite, everyone in front of us would just move out of the way for him.
Underneath the dolphin tank they use for the shows, they have a big window to see the dolphins underneath the water. (the freebie show)  Jared and another 2 year old boy went completely nuts watching the dolphins swimming around.  We also saw lots of "pointy-nose fish" (sharks), stingrays, jellyfish, and "BIG fish."  Jared had a great time, and Scott liked to look around at all of the people and lights.  We carried Scott in our hiking backpack, since they don't allow strollers at the Aquarium.  He did really well, and even took a nap while we were walking around. 
When we arrived home, both kids were asleep, so Steve and I unloaded the car.  When we got back to the car, Scott was awake and screaming and Jared was still passed out. (Jared had no nap, and had done a lot of walking around the Inner Harbor and the Aquarium, but never lost his cool, which was awesome.)  Steve carried Jared upstairs and put him into bed.  Jared stirred briefly when we changed his diaper in bed and put on his sweatpants, but he was so out of it, I think he barely noticed. 

We're so happy to welcome Baby Samantha into the world!  Our friends Chris and Kristy are just at the beginning of the 24/7 party that is parenthood, but I'm sure they'll do great!

January pictures up!

Check them out under the January to March pictures link.

Pictures (somewhat) updated

I didn't realize that I haven't updated the pictures since before Halloween!  Check out the Sept-Dec 2011 link to see what we've been doing.

Scott is 4 months old!

I've skipped a lot, but I'll try to give you recent news, then catch you up on what you've missed.
Scott weighs in at 15 pounds, 8 ounces (50%) and is 25 1/4" long (75%).

Jared was 14 pounds, 1 ounce and 25 1/2" long at this point.  We were also dealing with Jared's reflux by this point, so he wasn't eating as well or as often as Scott eats.  Scott still eats every 2-2.5 hours during the day, but gives me longer stretches at night.

Scott found his thumb finally, which makes him really happy.

Last week, Scott rolled over from his belly onto his back.

He is in the super drooling phase where he soaks through 2 or 3 bibs a day!

He coos a lot, and seems to have conversations or sing along with songs.

His skin is so smooth and soft - I forgot how wonderful baby skin was!

He loves being around people, so he can see the action.

He's very good at wiggling his legs and pelvis.  You have to be careful when he's on your lap, that he doesn't slide right off!

He takes good naps and is a good sleeper at night.

He loves to check out what his big brother is doing, but sometimes gets a terrified look when Jared gives him a kiss or a hug.

He has great head control, and is really improving his balance while sitting. I think he will be sitting up all by himself soon.

He is picky with his bottles.  Most nights he will take a bottle, but not every night.  And the bottle giver has to be walking around with Scott for him to take the bottle.  Steve is not thrilled with this.

Steve got off of crutches in the middle of December after 8 weeks.  He has been going to physical therapy twice a week, and his walking is greatly improved.  He is happy that he is able to get up and play with Jared again.