Thursday, October 03, 2013

Jack at 4 1/2

My sweet Jack is four AND A HALF!  That's how he tells everybody how old he is.  This has been such a wonderful, sweet age with him, and I had to get this blog in before he gets too close to five!

Jack has matured so much since he turned four.  I'd say 2.5 to 4 years were quite challenging with him, but he is really growing up and such a neat little person.  If anyone out there still reads this, I hope none of this comes out as braggy, because each of my children has strong and weak points!  I just want to blog it all, because I know my tired brain will forget this!!

Jack just started soccer and is loving it so far!  He just smiles out there and loves running around trying to get the ball.  He has scored two goals, and you'd have thought his team had just won the world cup by his celebration!

Jack is super confident and has many friends.  He knows everyone's name from about the first time he meets them and greets them (very loudly) in such a happy way every time he sees them.  His best buddy Kolt told his mama during his 5-yr-old interview that Jack was his hero and favorite person. :)

Jack adores my friends and will talk their ears off.  During vacation, my friend Denise said she was going to be hearing "Mrs. Denise" in her sleep, because Jack said that about 1000 times throughout the week.  He also does this to our next door neighbor and several other of my friends around town.  He will spot out the people who are comfortable around kids and who are quick to lend an ear, and he will give them an earful. Josh's best friend, Joey, came over for the day, and he talked to him for about 45 minutes!  He asked him questions like, "Joey, why aren't you married?", "Joey, do you smoke?  Have you ever smoked?"

The things that come out of this kid's mouth!!!  He CRACKS me up!!!  His little brain...you just never know what's going to come out of his mouth!  He has the funniest way of expressing himself, too.  I'm going to have to just write things down this week as they happen and add them here, because, like I said, tired brain.

Okay, here's one.  He told me that if you are "brown" (black skin), it's because you smoke.  I very quickly corrected him, saying that God created white skin, black skin, etc, and it's all beautiful.  I asked him what made him think that, and he said that it was because smoking turned their skin black.  I finally figured out that he got that from me telling him that it turns your lungs black!

He also took play-dough, pushed it through a hole made with his pointer finger and thumb, and told his teacher is was a baby coming out!  Nice!

Jack is a girl-crazy Romeo.  When he was little, he kissed most of the girls in the nursery.  He has always loved when girls wear red lip-stick.  Now, he's talking marriage with a girl in his Pre-K class.  This girl (Kendall)'s mom told me that she and Jack said they were getting married.  She asked her daughter why she likes him, and Kendall said that Jack was funny and made funny faces. :) I asked Jack who he was going to marry, and he said, "Kendall. Mrs. Renee says 'No more talking about marriage and no more holding hands'" On Sunday, Josh and I taught Children's Church, and while this adorable little girl (Falon) was playing the part of Rebecca, Jack said loudly, "Who am I going to kiss....I'm going to kiss Falon!" and then he started calling Falon "Kendall"! Mrs. Renee told us that when Kendall was gone one day, he started flirting with one of the other girls!! I think we are in for some trouble with him!!

Jack has a very active imagination. He will get on the floor for hours and act out scenes with his trains and cars, or with action figures, characters, etc.  That's probably his very favorite thing to do.  He'll lay down and get right on their level, and just go to town.  This imagination carries out into all of the funny things he says. :)

Jack has a smile that will light up a room.  He loves to be tickled, chased, rough-housed with, etc.  He's outgoing, loud, extremely passionate, lively, and spirited.  He also has a hilarious mad face.  Like I said, he's passionate!

He's a helper!  He is super independent and will get things on his own 9 times out of 10 before asking for help.  He is also pretty good at doing things himself.  He also is good about helping me with chores and clean up.

One of my favorite times to watch him is when he looks at books.  He gets lost in the pages, even though he can't read yet.  It's so cute the way he goes from page to page, engrossed, like he's reading an interesting article in a newspaper. :)


Jack is very sweet and affectionate.  He's also pretty moody and has a temper.  It's hard for him to let his first response be a calm one when he's upset about something, but he's working on it.


He's hilarious with his baby brother.  He adores him and is really good with him....unless he's really bad with him..  JK, sort of. He's come a long way, but he likes to get things for Ben to make him happy, will stay with Ben in the car if I run in first to do sometime, and just enjoys being with him.

He loves and looks up to his big brother.  He's always waiting and ready for James' attention, and beams when he gets it!  They seem to be getting better about playing nicely, although they have plenty of moments!















Wednesday, July 10, 2013

James at 7!

James has changed and grown up so much this year! Here's a little about my sweet big boy at seven years.

He's an awesome big brother to Ben. He is absolutely crazy about him. He can't seem to get over the cute factor of Ben and gets so tickled by him. He carries him around, plays with him, loves to babysit him while I'm busy, likes to hold him on the couch before bed, and has to give him lots of kisses before bed. 

He has a love/hate relationship with Jack. Depending on the day, he is either being a super big brother, encouraging Jack, wrestling with him, playing and just having fun together, or they're arguing over every little thing. I do see hope for their future, though! 

He is a sports fanatic. He loves to play and watch any and every sport. His favorites are soccer and football. He played baseball this year and did pretty well but thought it was boring. His best sport is soccer and gives 110% in every game. He is known to be aggressive and have endless energy out there. He has also gotten into golf lately, which started because of his older cousins taking him golfing a lot.  He has begged us for two years now to play flag football with all of his buddies, so we are going to try that out this fall.  Between soccer, football, and Jack starting soccer, it's going to be a busy fall semester!  We will try not to do more than one sport at a time in the future, but it will be hard!

He is a social butterfly and would love to have a friend over every hour of every day if he could. He likes to be in charge too much and the one making up the rules to the games, but besides that, I love to watch him with his friends. They usually go from sport to sport and have lots of friendly competition. 

He loves school and loves to learn. He does not like homework, because it prevents him from being outside playing, but he is always enthusiastic about what he's learning at school. His first grade teacher was very creative and good at challenging the kids. He has a talent for writing, and she did a lot with that. He's an all around good student, who loves math (his favorite), is a great reader, and is really interested in history. He is most passionate about recess, though, and loves to tell me the stats if the playground competitions they have daily. 

He is sweet, thoughtful, kind, sensitive, tender-hearted, smart, perceptive, creative, funny, serious at times, fun-loving, laughs a lot, curious, persistent, argues his point of view to no end, somewhat mischievous, loves to be with older kids, wants to be grown up, adventurous, brave, and very active.

His favorites:
Food- pizza or nachos
Dessert- chocolate pizza or ice cream
Friend- all my friends (Joe, Liam, Charlie, Kelton, Noah, Keely, Boone, David, Issac, Jake and Josh, Tate, Carter, Jack, Jude, Jett, Eliot and Oliver)
Sport to watch- baseball, football, and basketball 
Sport to play- soccer
Activity- build blocks or swim
Game- quirkle
Book- 2010 sports
Subject- math or science 
City to visit- Dallas
Restaurant- Mazzios or Pizza Hut      
Place I want to visit- New York 














Tuesday, July 09, 2013

Ben at 15 months



Ben is at one of my favorite ages right now.  He is getting so interactive and is such a sweet baby!  Here are a few words to describe him right now...

Laid back
Easy going
Happy
Smiley
Jibber-jabbers like he's speaking a different language
Answers every question you ask him with jibber jabber
Fearless
Loves the water- splashes, puts his head in it
Is like a goat- eats everything, like sand, and it doesn't phase him 
Gives sweet kisses to everyone 
Loooves to be outside
Is a great eater
Size 2T
Very into everything
Busy, constantly getting into cabinets and drawers
Doesn't sit still for long- only sits still for his favorite books right before bed
Loves singing and dancing
A daddy's boy
Gets so excited over his brothers
Gives them lots of hugs on his own
Cackles at James in the car because he's facing him
Doesn't always sleep through the night. Wakes up sometimes several times a night off and on. 
Takes one good nap (finally) from 1-3. 
Starting to walk fast. 
Climbs a lot
Words he says:

Hi
Nigh-nigh
Dada
Nana
Hat
Uh-oh
No (nose)
Ee-I-ee-I (old macdonald)
Wof-wof (dog)
Moo (cow)
Ca-ca (clap clap)
Ca-ca (cracker)
Tick-a-tick-a-tick-a (when tickled)
Choo-choo (train)
Chug-a-chug-a-chug-a (when playing with trains)
Chee (when I take a picture and for peek-a-boo)












Wednesday, January 23, 2013

9 Months!





Ben is at a really fun age right now.  In the past few months, he has changed from a baby who just observes the world, to a baby who is mobile, engaged, and very interactive!  His first word was "Hi!" (around 7 months), and says "Hahh" (in a southern sounding voice) and waves and people who are smiling at him. He just started saying "Nigh-nigh" to his brothers and daddy before bed and "Bye-bye".  He is so proud of himself.  :)  He is trying so hard to say "mama" and "dada" and moves his mouth to try to get it out.

He loves to go outside and will shreak and kick his legs in excitement when I unlock a door or open the garage.  He also does this when Josh or my mom walk in the room and when we pull up to church.  He also goes nuts when Jack comes up to him and he hasn't seen him in a while.

He started crawling right after he turned 9 months and started slow, but is now crawling all over the place!  He's started pulling up at 8 months and can cruise, although he is not quite comfortable with it yet.

He is just the happiest, sweetest baby and smiles at everyone he sees.  He loves to be where the action is and never seems to grow tired of it, until he gets tired.

He is not a big sleeper. :/  He takes two-three short naps a day (20 minutes - an hour each) and goes down well at night, but wakes up around 4 or 5 am to eat.  He is good about going back to sleep, though, and will sleep until 7ish.  Right now, though, he has a stuffy nose and is waking up about 10 times a night!  Fun times!

He's a great eater and prefers tart fruits and vegetables to bananas and rice cereal...strange!  He loves table foods and will always eat those happily.

He is very portable and will just go with the flow wherever we are!  He is a dream to take out!

He is a big boy, weighing around 26 pounds, and is just solid.  He is starting to wear 18-24 month clothes, because his waist is so thick (exactly the opposite of Jack, who has the Robinson torso).

He is such a joy, and is just adored by this family!

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

8 Months




Here's a snipit of Ben at 8 months!

Getting very busy
Dives for things all the time
Kicks legs a lot when he's excited
Gasps with excitement when the door to the garage opens
Sweet as can be
Very easy, content baby
Happy just to be around people
Wanting very badly to crawl
Can scoot forward a bit, but mostly goes backwards

Monday, November 05, 2012

7 Months!

Waving
Trying to pull up
Rocking
Babbling
Seeming less like a baby and more interactive
Broke of swaddling
Started sleeping better
Not a good napper
In love with jack
Cuddle bug with James
Sit forever outside
Great eater
Observer
Loves music

Friday, October 05, 2012

6 Months!!

Ben is now 6 months old!  I am in disbelief that he could possibly be half a year.  He has so quickly turned from my tiny newborn to my 22 pound 6 month old!  

He is sitting up now, but is still a little wobbly.  He just started lunging for me when I come near him, and when I walk in the room, he jumps with excitement.  That melts my heart!  His personality is starting to come out in little ways.  When he wants to nurse, he has started grabbing my shirt and burying his head into me.  He is easy going and is an observer.  He is at a very easy stage, where I can set him down on a blanket outside, and he'll sit happily for hours if I'd let him.  





Monday, September 17, 2012

5 Months!

Our sweet Ben is five months old, one of my favorite ages.  We are so in love with our precious third child. I just am in awe of this little gift from God and what pure sweetness he is. He is such a joy to our family, and the older two just couldn't adore him more. It is so much fun to watch James dote on him.  He is always eager to hold him, runs to give him anything he needs or he thinks he may want, and is very good at making him happy!  Jack is really starting to grow into big-brotherhood. He is starting to move from loving on him so much that he was too rough to running to get him toys, singing to him, and laying by him just to be with him (and not pestering him while doing it). I'm so proud of him!!
Ben's personality is really coming out! He is such a happy, happy baby. He coos squeals a lot, and loudly. He smiles very easily, and even when he's not smiling his big smile, he has a pleasant look on his face. Just recently, he has been screaming with excitement when I try to make him laugh. He looooves his daddy and gives him the sweetest smiles when he comes home from work or hasn't seen him in a while. He also cuddles more with him than anybody. He will still go to anyone, although he has had a few episodes of separation anxiety, where he lost it with other people until I got back to  him. Mainly because he was hungry. :) He is such a big boy. He's thick, solid, and strong. He weighs 21 lbs and continues to eat every 2-3 hours. He is a good eater, although he's starting to get distracted by his big brothers. We are in a bad habit of nursing to sleep, but I'm not too worried about it. He's not a good napper (I'm sure due to the fact that he's a third child and not on a schedule), but he sleeps from 8ish to 6ish most nights. He still dislikes the car, but has gotten so much better about this. He can get distracted by toys or James from behind him now. His teething was rough. He woke up one or two times a night for a about a week with each tooth. He seems to have a very happy-go-lucky, content, and easy-going disposition. He is excited by new faces and places and very interactive with people.
We spent every day last week up at school while I volunteered for Grandparents Week, and he stayed happily in my baby-wrap, loving all the action. He was the star of the show, and the cafeteria ladies referred to him as "our baby". :)

He loves the exersaucer, being outside, laying on his back, and going on walks, but most of the time, he just wants to be held. Who can blame him, though!

A few firsts:
rolled over front to back- 8/27
First tooth-9/3
Second tooth-9/13

4 Months!





Ben is 20 pounds and 26.5 inches long.  This puts him in the 98th percentile for weight and 80th for height.  At his check-up, our doctor told us that he is right on track!  He is sleeping through the night every night and working on his first tooth.  Not much else to add about our sweet 4-month-old!

Ben at 3 Months!

19 lbs
Sleeping 11 hrs most nights (8:30/9- 7:30/8)
Very happy disposition
Laid-back
Very smiley, interactive, and talkative
Hates the car and screams at lots of red lights and drive-throughs
Giggles spontaneously , when I laugh at him, and when he's tickled on his thighs
Strong neck
Tries to sit up
Tries to Stand in our laps
Loves to be outside
Has discovered hands and feet
Falls apart when scared with loud noises from jack
Eats every 1 and  1/2 - 2 hours when he's awake.
loves to be sung to and will coo along, especially "adleweis", "in my life" by the Beatles, and "mamas going to buy you a mockingbird" song
Loves to be swaddled and gets really calm aNd waits for his before bed feeding by smacking his lips
Started squealing recently and raising his eyebrows
Gets comments constantly about how much he looks like his bros