Amy is 5 months old!

I may be losing it. About a week ago, I was so proud of myself because I remembered to take pictures of Amy the day before her 5 month birthday and planned to post them that night to the blog... but then I realized that HANK'S birthday is the 17th, Amy's is actually the 22nd (today). "Whoops," I thought. "No biggie. I'll just post the pictures I took for the actual 5 month birthday a week early."

Notice anything WRONG with this picture?? Apparently I can't count. And the worst part is I didn't even notice until I went to edit them for this post. Good thing I took some other pictures that didn't have that dopey and incorrect "4 month" sign in the background.

EYES!!! And LASHES!!!

Yay for grasping stuff!

 Eventually the boys got involved since they're all about doing the exact opposite I want them to do... and then I couldn't get them to look at the camera at the same time. And Amy was just stunned by the shenanigans.

Hank, look at the camera!

Johnny, look at the camera!

Hank, look at the camera!

Johnny, look- oh forget it.

Amy is doing really well. She's grasping things, putting stuff in her mouth, then dropping it. She can roll front to back and back to front and wants to sit by herself really badly. She's almost there, but not quite. She's so easy going and just rolls with whatever we're doing. She's still sleeping pretty well and is an excellent cuddler. She chills out in the ring sling, the Ergo, the woven wrap, the infant seat, and the exersaucer equally well.

Johnny and Amy have the sweetest little relationship. She ADORES him and he adores her back. I mean, he does weird things to her sometimes, like lick her face or suck on her toes, but I'm pretty sure he's just experimenting with boundaries... at least I hope so. Anyway. When he gets up in the morning one of the first things he asks is where Amy is. He gives her big hugs and constantly wants to hold her. He tries very hard to be gentle with her and then genuinely feels bad when he hurts her. He tries to make her laugh constantly and she laughs with him when he's laughing. Eventually, though, he gets a little crazy with the fake laugh and it freaks her out. It's all pretty cute though.

Amy is 2 months old!

My SIL, Lisa, does a cool photo project of her sons every month in the same place so she has images of them growing up on the same couch from month to month.. I'm not going to claim that I'm going to do that, since I'm a huge flake, but I'd like to try. Because it's cool.

This girl. She's stinking adorable. And has more clothes than Kim Kardashian's kid. Okay, that was an exaggeration. But she definitely has enough clothes to wear multiple outfits a day for a month. I'm not one to let such things go to waste, so every time she spits up on her clothes, or the boys smear their food on her, I change her outfit. Because it's fun.

She's honestly the easiest baby I've had thus far. She sleeps a solid six to seven hours at night and is pretty easy to put back to sleep. She takes all of her naps in a wrap on me, which isn't ideal, but I can't spend more than three minutes putting her down for a nap because I can't leave the boys that long. They're... destructive and can do considerable damage in the small amount of time I'm gone. (And in case you're wondering, yes, I've tried childproofing the house, but what I'm I supposed to do about towel rods or light fixtures? I can't really take them down as they are kind of necessary, but the boys have broken a few in the span of minutes.) However, it's kind of nice that she'll just nap on me because she'll sleep wherever we go and can sleep through really loud noises. Like battery-operated fire engines. And her brothers' screaming.

Now, I know that all of that "easy" stuff will change. I'm not naive enough to think that she's going to be easy forever, however it's obvious that she has a really mellow, easy-going personality. She got five shots at the doctor's office last week and she took them like a champ. I mean, she cried, but then was over it about ten seconds after the last shot was administered. She also is super smiley and will smile at anyone who smiles at her for more than 1.5 seconds. The people at our local bagel shop are in love with her. :) Can you blame them?

Hank is 19 months old!

I'm 19 months old today!

I am FINALLY feeling better today! Feeling good enough to even write out a little blog in honor of my 19 month birthday. Whoo-hoo!

Let's see? What has been happening with me in the last couple of months? I  haven't written since my 15 month birthday, so I suppose I have some catching up to do! 

I am talking up a storm and have figured out how to make rudimentary sentences. Of course, they are generally missing pronouns and some critical verbs, but hey, I can get my point across. This morning I said to Mommy, "Johnny Daddy shower!" Which, of course, means "Johnny and Daddy are in the shower!" But you could figure that out, right? I have also gotten pretty good at asking questions like, "Johnny go?" which actually means "Where did Johnny go?" not "Johnny, will you go?" I know, sometimes my language can be tricky. Lucky for me, Mommy is around all the time so she knows what's up.

I'm quite a good runner now and enjoy chasing Johnny everywhere. G-ma calls us Pete and Re-Pete because when Johnny runs to the kitchen, I also run to the kitchen. When he runs down the street, I also run down the street. If he wants to eat raisins, I want to eat raisins. Johnny's pretty much my best friend. We do fight over the occasional toy or when we should leave the park, but mostly we play together. I love to take baths with him and splash together and play trains with the set we got for Christmas. 

Physically, I can climb up high ladders and go down steep slides all by myself, which apparently, most children my age can't or won't. Mommy says that other people are often impressed by my abilities to do things that their 2.5-year-olds have trouble with. Well, they should be impressed. I'm kind of a big deal.

On the "academic" front, I have figured out most of the alphabet and know all the numbers from 0 to 10 (courtesy of Johnny and his numerical fervor). The letters "O" and "W" are my favorite and I like to find those particular ones and put them in a box to carry around with me. I enjoy "spelling words" with Johnny, though Mommy says my words aren't words at all. I beg to differ. "BGHHOOOTW" totally spells "sea lion".

My treasure box of favorite letters.

35 months!

I'm 35 months old today!

Hank is only 16 months old though, so don't get confused. This just happens to be a good picture of me, Johnny, therefore I want to use it. This is MY 35-month-birthday, not Hank's. Just to be clear.

Anyway.

I am only ONE MONTH AWAY from being 3 whole years old. Man, I'm getting old fast. In the past month I have exploded with correct grammar. I use complete sentences and use "I" and "me" correctly most of the time. I rarely talk in the third person anymore, much to Mommy's relief.

The biggest change in the past few weeks is how much I enjoy other kids now. I have come to appreciate Hank's company a little more and have even started asking him "Hank, do you wanna go upstairs and play with blocks, Hank?" in the morning after breakfast. It makes Mommy's heart melt.
I even have a couple of friends now that I enjoy seeing. One of them, Blake, likes to sing the ABC song with me, so we'll sit on chairs and sing together. I've even taken him up to my room to play with my coveted letters and numbers. When he goes, we give each other a big hug and the rest of the day I will tell Mommy about how much fun I had with Blake. I know, I'm adorable.

I'm still really into numbers and letters and am learning to spell and read more and more each day. My favorite game right now is having Mommy or Daddy make letters A to Z with my Duplo blocks. I tell them what color I want it to be and they make it for me. It's awesome. I even starting to write a little bit; I can write a "1" (and 11, 111, 1,111, etc) and am working on "7". To be honest, I'm not all that interested since I can just make Mommy write whatever number I need.

Hank is 15 months old!

I'm 15 months old!

There's a trash can in the background... that's important.

I have learned SO MUCH this last month! I have really started expanding my vocabulary and can now say the following words in addition to the list from my 13 month post:

• no
• yogurt (which is always accompanied by an open hand next to my mouth... no idea why)
• a car
• trash
• garbage truck
• soccer ball
• duck
• dog
• moo 
• on
• off
• book
• cereal (actually it sounds more like "uyuhyuhyuhyuhyuh", but it means cereal. With milk on it.)
• bagel
• llama llama
• block
• fountain
• hand
• pool
• strawberry (this one actually sounds like strawberry)
• boom 
• out
• outside
• closed
• throw
• cup
• bowl
• phone
• hi
• bye

I am IN LOVE with trash and anything to do with trash. I point out ALL OF THE TRASH CANS wherever we go (which isn't actually new, but now I can actually say the word "trash" so other people know what I'm talking about) and really enjoy throwing stuff in the trash. After Mommy changes Johnny's diaper, sometimes she'll let me throw it in the trash for her. It's such a treat! But sometimes when she doesn't have any trash to throw away, I'll pick something random and throw it in there just for the thrill.

I have started a love affair with the garbage truck and it's the highlight of my week. The second I hear a loud truck coming my way, I run to the door saying "Garbage truck? Garbage truck? GARBAGE TRUCK!!" So we all go outside and watch the garbage truck make it's rounds. Every time a can is emptied into the truck Johnny and I both say "BOOM!" and laugh hysterically. It's nice to actually have something in common with my brother.

I've gotten really good at running and jumping with two feet. I have been known to hop from one point to another point 20 feet away just because I can. I like to climb on the play structures at parks and go down slides; Mommy says I'm an adrenaline junkie. I am also getting good at saying hi and bye appropriately and LOVE to wave and blow kisses.

My napping is still rocky, but I've been getting better. I am finally getting to the point where one nap is enough and will usually go down for 45 minutes in the middle of the day and then Mommy can nearly always nurse me back to sleep and put me back down. Sometimes I don't let her put me down though, in which case the nap is over since apparently Johnny can't be without supervision for an hour. Whatever. At night, I've been sleeping for five hours straight in the middle of the night! I tend to go to bed at 7pm, wake up at 10pm, and then stay down until around 2:30 or 3. Then sometimes Mommy can nurse me back to sleep and put me in the crib, but other times she can't put me down so I come to bed with her. Either way is good for me! As long as there's a boob nearby.

My molars finished coming in this last month (finally) and now all I have left are my cuspids, which are taking their sweet time. Once those come in, maybe I'll be ready to push the boob away and move on with my life... or at least that's what Mommy is hoping!

Likes: trash, jumping, water, waving, blowing kisses, hot air balloons, balloons in general, Llama Llama Hoppity Hop, pressing doorbells, drawing on myself with marker, playing with sand, snuggling, Mommy's singing, strawberries, cheese, Greek yogurt, slides, ketchup

Dislikes: having my diaper changed, someone spoon feeding me, hitting my head, my carseat, shoes, having stuff on my hands, sitting in the stroller

33 Months

I'm 33 months old!

I celebrated my 33 month birthday by slipping on a retaining wall I was climbing and scraped up my face. Oops! It was my first bloody nose and I was none too pleased about it. Nor am I all that happy about the lovely scrape marks on my face, especially with all the strangers asking about it.

I'm still into numbers and letters and am spelling more and more everyday. I have even begun sounding out simple words I don't know. I'm almost 3 years old and starting to read... are you impressed yet?

One of my favorite things to do is put DVDs in the DVD player and then take them out and clean them. Mommy keeps telling me that I'm cleaning the wrong side, but whatever. I just think it's fun to clean them over and over again like Mommy and Daddy do.

I am also getting more into music and have started to hone my dance moves. I still don't like Mommy or Daddy singing/humming/whistling along to the music, but they really like it when I sing. And who could blame them? I have a voice like an angel when I sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. My favorite thing to dance to is still the fanfare music that comes on after the previews on Toy Story 2 or 3. The song only lasts about five seconds, so I try to squeeze as much dancing as possible into that five seconds.

The biggest change this month, I guess, is that I have decided I like parks. I'm all about going outside and going down slides. The 6th Ave park at Balboa Park is my current favorite and I ask all the time if I can go down the orange slide. Unfortunately, we usually end up going down a brown or beige slide since that seems to be the color scheme at the parks around my house. Oh well! Those are usually fun, too.

Hank is 13 months old!

I'm 13 months old today!

 This month has been packed full of development for me. The biggest thing is that I'm starting to say words. I mean, not words that just anyone can understand, but Mommy is definitely noticing a few noises here and there that are my versions of certain words. 

Word list:

• yes
• cheese
• ew
• whoa
• ball
• basketball
• Mama
• Dada
• car
• bird
• woof
• bubble
• balloon

I can also say "uh oh" clear as day. I usually say it when I've dropped something and Mommy thinks it's adorable. I'm even signing a little bit to make my communication even clearer. "More" and "night night" are the ones I do most often, but occasionally I will do "cheese". I like cheese. Obviously.

I am SO steady on my feet now. I am slowly working toward running, but my head usually goes a lot faster than my feet so I end up landing on my face. I can jump pretty well, though, and have gotten really good at it using our trampoline.

I'm throwing balls and sippy cups and all kinds of objects just to see what happens. The funny thing is I throw them with my LEFT. I also reach for things with my left and am better at feeding myself with my left hand. It's still early, but I may be left-handed!

My naps are about two a day for about 45 minutes each and nighttime sleep is still fragmented. I go to bed around 5:30pm, wake up about 9:30pm, 1:30am, 3:20am and then am up for the day at 5am. I'm like an alarm clock; I wake up at 5:00 on the dot every single morning. It's kind of nice because I get to spend some time with Daddy before he goes to work. Even though my napping and nighttime sleep is less-than-ideal, Mommy doesn't mind because it's pretty predictable, which is nice.

Likes: cheese, Goldfish crackers, strawberries, blackberries, Daddy's cereal, yogurt pretzels, raisins, remote controls, stuffed animals, Mommy's singing, being held, throwing things that make loud noises, pulling Mommy's hair, soy milk, homemade smoothies, PB&J, balls
Dislikes: leafy greens, nuts, Mommy leaving the room, the car seat, stroller, Johnny taking toys from me, being left in a room by myself, getting my diaper changed

30 months!

I'm 2 and a half years old today!

The months thing is getting a little ridiculous, but considering the monthly updates are the only ones that actually get published from month to month, I'll have to keep doing them, right?

Anyway. So I'm back on to letters as of this month and have started spelling and reading a few words here and there. Words like "stop", "menu", "pig", "cow", "cat" and "dog" I can easily recognize and spell out with the various alphabets at my disposal. I still like numbers and certainly don't want Hank to touch any of them, but I've realized how much more potential letters have at the moment. You can put them together to form words!!!

I'm still talking up a storm and parroting the most random things. Mommy's current favorite is when I say, "Zerorez!", which is something I heard in an advertisement on the radio. I can also repeat the number parents need to call to order a train DVD, which is at the end of the alphabet train video I like to watch on YouTube. I'm still a little obsessed with watching number and letter videos on YouTube, but Mommy's okay with it because it helps me wake up in the morning. Johnny is to YouTube as Mommy is to coffee. And she gets that.

My favorite foods these days consist of blackberries, bagels, Daddy's breakfast cereal, almond butter and jelly sandwiches, grapes, quesadilla, gnocchi, and brownies. I LOVE to make brownies with Mommy.

The worst thing about this month is Hank getting into ALL of my stuff. The only way I can keep him out of my room and away from my toys is to shove him over and continue pushing him into the ground, but Mommy gets really frustrated when I do that. Oh well. It's effective so I'm going to keep doing it.

Hank is 10 months old!

I'm 10 months old... now!

My biggest accomplishment this month is taking all of my naps in the crib and SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! Well, Mommy is more excited about that than I am and I can't really understand why. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend the hours of 11pm to 1am with me? Sheesh. Anyway. Most nights I sleep from 6:30pm to 5am and then during the day I take at least two naps. Mommy hasn't quite figured out when I want to nap, but she's getting there. My naps are usually 45 minutes, but the occasional longer-than-one-hour-nap has become more frequent, so we're obviously making progress. That, or I'm ready to drop to one nap. I'm certainly getting close to that age!

This month I started walking... kind of. I can walk and will toddle from one thing to another if I'm really motivated, but mostly I'll get to a stand then then squat back down and start crawling to wherever I want to go. I've gotten really fast at crawling, so it's much better than walking at this point.

I have also mastered the pincher grasp and use it daily in my Cheerio binge-eating fests. I love Cheerios. A lot. And since I love them so much, Johnny loves them a lot too. We eat a lot of Cheerios around here. However, we probably spread around as many (if not more) Cheerios than we eat, but that's just a part of the process, right? My meals now are about half purees and half finger foods. Mommy even gives me small pieces of her dinner so I can eat what she, Daddy and Johnny are eating! I'm like a real, live person now!

Foods I love at the moment are cheese (OMG I LOVE CHEESE), crackers, Cheerios (obv), strawberries, cooked broccoli, grapes, sesame sticks, oatmeal and Greek yogurt. Every day after my afternoon nap, Johnny, Mommy and I share some Greek yogurt and I love it! I have learned what the container looks like and Mommy gets one out of the refrigerator without opening it, I have a freak out session to make sure she realizes that she forgot to put the yogurt in my mouth. It works almost every time.

Lastly, my biggest development is I learned the sign for "more". I still use it at random times because I'm not exactly sure what it means, but I can make the sign and have figured out that when I do it, I get more crackers. It's awesome.

28 months

I'm 28  months old today now!

Geez, I'm getting old, aren't I? Well, not too much has changed this month. I'm still obsessed with numbers and love to watch number videos on YouTube. Though I'm starting to throw in the occasional alphabet video now, too. I'm talking more and more every day and repeating random things I hear on videos, from people or the radio (like advertisements that say "866-590-CASH!" Mommy thinks that's hilarious). My longest sentence is, "Play Mommy phone while put Hank down nap?" Now that Hank requires some time to be put down in the crib for his nap, Mommy can't play with me for a while, so she gives me her phone to mess with. Then when Hank wakes up I say, "Mommy go get Hank? Johnny turn off Hank noise" (Hank has to sleep with white noise since I'm kind of loud when he's sleeping).

Speaking of naps, I don't take one any more. I'm officially over naps. How do I know this? Well, if I fall asleep at any point in the day (usually in the car) that means that I refuse to go to bed at the usual time. I still wake at the same time in the morning (about 6:30am), but instead of going to bed at 7:30pm, I fall asleep around 9pm on a good night. I think Mommy kind of likes not having to worry about putting me down for a nap when she has to deal with two naps a day for Hank.

I love to watch videos on YouTube and also videos of me or Hank on Mommy's phone. While that may not be new, I'm starting to act them out throughout the day. I particularly like this one video of an 18-month-old who knows his alphabet and shows off his knowledge in the bathtub with his foam letters. I have these same foam letters, so I just reenact the scene as best as I can remember, which is certainly better than Mommy can remember.

Hank being mobile has made me much more possessive of... well... everything. I respond to Hank's desire to touch my stuff by trying to squish him into the carpet or pushing him face first into the floor. I have finally figured out that the best way to keep Hank out of my things is to bring them into my room and close the door. So I spend a lot of time in my room with the door closed. But I like it that way. What? I'm an independent kid.

Hank is 9 months old!

I'm 9 months old today!

I have now been out of the womb as long as I was in it. Yay!

This month has been a trying one for me as Mommy insists on me sleeping in my crib for naps. I was so happy sleeping on her in the sling, but I guess I was getting a little too heavy for her to cart around 3-4 hours a day. My naps are slowly getting better, but not great. Maybe I'll have it mastered by the end of the month. I also got FOUR teeth at once this month! It really wasn't that big of a deal for me, actually.

I'm eating like a horse these days! I eat all kinds of delicious (pureed) foods like carrots, brusselsprouts and broccoli. Mmmm-mmm good! While I still have a strong gag reflex, I managed to steal a raisin from Johnny's bowl the other day and actually ate it. It was delicious! So now Mommy is trying out finger foods here and there. It's a good thing, too, because I need to work on my pincher grasp. I have the palm grasp down, though, and have used it to shovel dirt into my mouth a couple of times...

I crawl like a madman now and follow Johnny around pretty much everywhere, much to his chagrin. I also pull up on anything and have mastered cruising. I'm even transferring from one piece of furniture to another already! What can I say? I'm a beast.

27 months!

I'm 27 months old today!

I know my age is starting to sound ridiculous now that I'm up over the 24 month mark, but Mommy insists that I keep updating monthly to keep everyone informed. She runs a tight ship. Okay, not really, but sometimes I like to let her think she does.

Anyway! This month I remained obsessed with anything having to do with numbers. Numbers, numbers, numbers, that all I care about! I'm starting to count on my fingers, but not the way everyone else does. I can count all the way to 15 on my hands by holding up 1 finger on one hand and 5 fingers on the other.  1 and 5 together makes 15! Right? Mommy made me a felt board with numbers on it and I use it to count all the way to 99. I even use the right words now since I learned thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, etc, from all of these great number videos on YouTube.

I don't watch movies anymore because Mommy and Daddy got rid of the TV in the playroom and then turned the TV downstairs completely off, so no more movies for me... or for Mommy and Daddy, actually. However, I watch a little bit of YouTube here and there when I get the itch to zone out.

I'm still incredibly independent and have no issues running around Vons shouting out the aisle numbers while Mommy remains two aisles behind me. However, I have gotten a lot better about listening to my parents when they get that "danger" tone in their voices. Before if they said, "That's dangerous, Johnny, don't go there" would just move faster toward it. Now, I'm starting to believe that they know what they are talking about those crazy parents of mine.

Hank is 8 months old!

I'm 8 months old today!

I know, I know, you can't see my face, but isn't my butt cute?! That should count for something...

Anyway! I am thisclose to crawling. I can do a plank and some mountain climbers and I can push myself backward (which gets me stuck under furniture), but I haven't yet figured out how to move my hands and knees in sync to move forward. But I'm getting there!

My newest fun thing to do is play peek-a-boo with Mommy. It's so fun! I'll take my blankie or my burp cloth or a bib and put it on my head and then pull it down and smile big and wide while Mommy says "Peek-a-boo!" I LOVE this game! I do it over and over again especially while I'm eating in my high chair because I get the added bonus of hitting the spoon and catapulting food all over the place.

Speaking of food, I'm eating and eating and eating! I've added tahini, acorn squash and asparagus to my repertoire. Mommy has tried making the food a little thicker, but it turns out I have a rather sensitive gag reflex. If the banana isn't pureed enough, watch out! I'm guaranteed to puke. Hopefully that will ease up as I get older...

I am officially down to two naps a day and I still nap in a wrap on Mommy. It's so cozy and warm... how can you blame me for wanting to sleep there rather than the crib? At least I sleep a good 6 hour stretch most nights.

Month 8 was pretty exciting, but I'm ready for what month 9 has to bring!

26 months

 I'm now 26 months old!

So I missed the actual day that I turned 26 months, but oh well. All the days seems to blur together since I don't sleep very much anymore.

In the last month I have stopped napping, stopped sleeping all night and stopped eating healthy food. This food pyramid pretty much sums up my diet:

Source: TheDaddyComplex.com

 Now I like to spend my days counting and watching Toy Story 1, 2, or 3. I had a Lion King phase in there somewhere, but I got over that after Mommy purchased Toy Story 3. The problem with not sleeping enough is I never feel like going outside and expending energy. Mommy took me to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park this month and instead of running around like a maniac like I usually do, I just wanted to sit in the foliage and throw Blankie and Scout around. Mommy tried pretty hard to get me to run around and expend energy, but I just didn't feel like it. She still tries to get me to play by taking me to parks and the zoo and SeaWorld and stuff, but I usually bring some numbers with me so I can just sit and count them until she gives up trying to get me interested in something else.

I may not be very interested in the zoo or the park, but I am definitely fascinated by numbers! I can count from 1 to 99 if I feel so inclined (though I'm still learning the words forty, fifty, sixty, etc. Instead I just say four-one, four-two, four-three, etc). Grandpa and Grams Mitchell gave me a number puzzle to take home for Christmas and I like to take these numbers with me everywhere: to the store, to bed, downstairs, upstairs, everywhere! It's a good thing Grams insisted that I take them with me because Mommy wanted to leave them in Albuquerque. *phew!*

I'm 7 months old!

Today I turn 7 months old!

In the last month, I have learned one life-changing thing: SITTING! I can sit all by myself and it. is. awesome! Mommy especially loves it because it means I can hang out on my own for longer periods of time. She just sits me down, puts a bunch of interesting objects within reach and I'm set to go. I want to crawl really, really badly, so I've been leaning forward to practice... and always fall on my face. Literally. I can almost push up to my hands and knees though, so perhaps I'm getting there.

Mommy pulled out the walker this month because while I do enjoy sitting, I LOVE to stand. I haven't figured out how to move around in my desired direction yet, but the buttons on the walker are entertaining enough for now.

I'm still taking naps on Mommy in the new woven wrap she got for Christmas (thanks Grandpa and Grams!), but she's been talking about working on getting me to nap in my crib soon... yeah, we'll see about that Mom!

I've been teething for the last few weeks and my teeth are FINALLY about to break through! It's been pretty painful and I'm looking forward to being done with it. Oh wait, you mean I have 18 more teeth after I get these bottom two? Hmmm. Mommy neglected to mention that to me. Bummer.

25 months!

I'm 25 months today!

I know, I know, it's kind of hard to beat 2 years old as far as milestones go, but in an attempt to keep a record of my life, I decided to keep up my monthly posts... for now.

The picture I posted is one of my new "tricks". I'll say "eyes close!" and close my eyes like in the picture. Then I'll say "eyes op-EN!" and open my eyes. Mommy always laughs when I close my eyes, so I like to do it a lot.

I'm stringing words together into longer and longer sentences. My longest sentence thus far is, "Read Aunt Nea book 'GAIN!" I know that the word is A-gain, not, just "gain" but that extra syllable requires more time than I'm willing to devote to talking.

I'm still in love with books and my current favorites are Pajama Time from my Aunt Nea (Mommy's best friend) and Ten Tiny Babies from Uncle Glen and Aunt Margie. I have both of these books pretty well memorized since I have Mommy and Daddy read them over and over and over.

The bath has also become part of my bedtime routine again after having a bout of terror over the drain. It required Mommy to get some foam letters and numbers for the bath in order for me to agree to get in there again. Now I'm mostly content to sit in the bath for twenty minutes at a time playing with the numbers and letters and washing them while I get washed. I'm obsessed with numbers and now know my numbers from 0 to 29. I can recognize them, but I'm still not into counting. I also know the ABC song, though I add an extra little "shoop-shoo-waa" which I learned from watching Sesame Street. Yep, I impress pretty much everyone I meet with my knowledge of the alphabet and numbers, because, let's face it, I'm rather impressive.

Backlog: Hank is 6 months old!

I'm 6 months (and 6 days) old now!

Mommy's been so busy trying to get me to sleep that I haven't had a chance to blog about my 6 month birthday! Sheesh, Mom, give it a rest for a second, okay?! 

Anyway. I've spent the last month quitting the whole sleeping thing. Life is just too interesting to miss, you know? I've also spent the last month growing some pretty long hair. I get lots of comments on how long and wispy it is. Some have even compared to Einstein's coif, though I don't think it's quite that extreme. Maybe one day... if Daddy doesn't insist on getting me a buzz cut.

I'm SO close to being able to sit on my own. For some reason I'm more motivated to sit by myself in the bath tub than anywhere else. Maybe because if I fall over I'll whack my head on a hard surface? Or because if I fall over in the tub I could inhale water? I don't know, I'm just able to sit unassisted in the tub and that's it. 

I also started eating solid foods this month and I'm getting pretty good at eating. At first I enjoyed blowing bubbles in the food Mommy tried to give me, but now I have discovered how great solid foods can taste and always have my mouth open like a baby bird when it's food time. 

My eyes continue to get bluer by the day and may actually be as light as Johnny's eventually... it's certainly something to strive for. You know, other than being big enough to rough house with him at some point.

5 months!

I'm five months old tod- oops... yesterday!

Man, oh man did Mommy drop the ball on this one! She completely forgot to tell me the date, otherwise I would have posted on my actual five-month birthday. It seems she has trouble remembering that I'm a baby and can't read a calendar... though I can blog with the best of them. :)

Even though I'm five months old now, I still enjoy grabbing my feet. I haven't yet pulled them into my mouth, but I'm just not that interested in the taste of toe jam yet. I really enjoy sucking on my fingers, though. So much so that I no longer require a swaddle because I like to have access to my fingers at will. I still put myself to sleep most nights with the help of my hands, but I nap in the ring sling like I have since the day I was born. Mommy did attempt a little sleep training Baby Whisperer-style, but stopped after two naps because I kept waking myself up with coughing fits. There hasn't been another chance to try sleep training because I keep getting sick. Mommy thinks that napping in the ring sling is also pretty convenient, especially since we'll be visiting family throughout the holiday season. It just makes me more mobile.

I'm still happy as can be! Smiles all the time, except when I'm tired, and I'm laughing a lot more easily now. I like to play peek-a-boo and I love it when Mommy makes silly noises right next to my ear. Makes me laugh every time! I'm also fascinated by my big brother and love to watch him play with his toys or hang out in a wrap on Mommy while she plays chase with Johnny. Baths can get a little difficult though because I'm so tall that I get in Johnny's way when he's playing. Hopefully I'll start sitting up soon and bathing together won't be such a problem anymore.

I had the ultrasound on my hip done this week and the tech insinuated that my hips look great, but a doctor has to look at the pictures before any official ruling can be made. However, I'm perfectly happy with that diagnosis and am sure my pediatrician will draw the same conclusion. I'm sure Mommy will let you know when that happens!

23 months!

I'm 23 months old today!

Wow. Only one month away from the big 2!

This past month has brought lots of changes, especially in my communication skills. I have finally figured out how to put the end on some of my words. For instance, I used to say "mou!" for mouse, but now I say "mou..sssssse". I said my first three-syllable word this month: fireplace. I also know the entire alphabet along with the sound each letter makes. I can even tell you a word that starts with that letter, for most of the alphabet, that is. My favorite is the letter N, which says NNNNNNNN as in newt! Mom likes it when I say newt, so I say it a lot to get her to laugh.

I have most of my favorite books memorized now and Mom will test me sometimes by saying "Five little pumpkins sitting on a ....." and then I say "gate!"

Mom: "The first one said, 'Oh my it's getting....' "

Me: "Late!"

And so on and so forth. I have memorized The Five Little Pumpkins (a Halloween gift from Aunt Renea), Can You See What I See? and Goodnight Moon. Thank you, by the way, to Cousin Alison for telling Mom about finding the mouse in Goodnight Moon. We read that book almost every night before bed and I look for the mouse all over the place even though I know exactly where he is on each page.

I didn't enjoy going outside as much this month and have become even more of a Cars fanatic than last month. When I get up in the morning, I want to watch Cars. When I'm eating breakfast, I want to watch Cars. When I'm getting ready for a nap, I want to watch Cars. When I get from a nap, I want to watch Cars. Etc, etc, etc. Unfortunately, Mom only lets me watch Cars a little bit each day. I can watch it in the morning when I get up and then for a little bit with Daddy at bed time.

I am in a big Daddy phase right now and he is the only person I want to see all day every day. The nice thing about the time change is that when I wake up at 5:30am, instead of 6:30am like I used to, Daddy is still home! So I've been taking advantage of that. I don't like to go to bed and have been putting up some incredible battles when Daddy gets it in his head that it is bedtime. I was sleeping in my big boy bed pretty well until Daylight Savings ended and now I get up repeatedly before I finally fall asleep. What do they expect? They let me sleep in a bed without bars and think I'm going to stay there and sleep? Yeah right!!! I want to see what Mom and Daddy are up to! Silly parents.

I'm really looking forward to next month when I will be TWO MONTHS OLD! Hope to see everyone at my Cars -what else?- themed party!

Oh yeah, and Mom's birthday is today! Happy birthday, Mom!

Hank is 4 months old!

NOTE: Please excuse Hank for not publishing this post early this morning like he was supposed to. He's new to this whole blogging thing.

I'm 4 months old today!

I swear I was smiling for this picture. Mom's just too slow with the camera.

I think I'm finally done with that whole "newborn" thing. When you're three months old, you can usually pass as a newborn. Four months, though, it's a whole new stage. I've gone through the whole sleep regression thing and while Mommy tells me I'm not sleeping as poorly as Johnny did at the same age, I'm still not back to where I was. Granted, now that I'm no longer a newborn, I don't sleep as soundly anymore and sleep more like an adult with REM cycles and such... or at least that's what the books say. Who knows if they even know what they're talking about, right? All I know is that sleeping with Mommy is not something I'm interested in anymore. I'm all about sleeping in my own crib. 

In other news, I'm slowly getting over the whole spit-up thing. My drawer of burp cloths rarely runs out, which means Mommy doesn't have to do my laundry nearly as often... but I do have some pretty incredible poop-splosions that result in quite a bit of laundry. Luckily, I only poop every five days or so, making those explosions few and far between. (My older brother went through the same thing, I'm told.)

I'm currently wearing 6 month clothes, but they're all getting pretty tight in the torso, which means Mommy needs to bust out the 9 month stuff. The only problem is that most of the 9 month stuff from Johnny is summer-wear, which isn't really appropriate for October. That's the trouble with Johnny and I being born in completely opposite seasons, I guess.

Other than that, I'm still Mommy's bucket of smiles and love to look at faces and watch Johnny play with his toys. I suck on my fingers occasionally and still enjoy grabbing my right foot. If I'm feeling especially adventurous, I'll grab the left foot, but it's certainly not my favorite.