Our Sweet Angel

When I was a little girl, my Gramma J called me "Angel Child".

One of the perks of being the only grandchild for 11 years and only girl grandchild for 15. :-)

She still sends me an angel Christmas ornament every year. Well, now the W household has the next generation of Angel Child. EK's three month portraits are a week early, but considering I was always a month late on JK's portrait sessions, I'm pretty happy. Speaking of happy...unless he's hungry or gassy, this kid has a perpetual smile on his face. Not that we're complaining. He really is a joyful little baby!

Birth Order and Parenting

I read a blogpost a few days ago that talked about a mom’s parenting method having a lot to do with her birth order growing up. Something I’ve never really considered or cognizant enough about to notice in others around me. But it’s got me thinking a lot lately on my parenting methods and what’s good about it v. what’s not.

I’m a typical Type-A firstborn. I like schedules and deadlines, have an agenda, like being busy, have a tendency to be bossy, get impatient easily. I see the good and bad of that in my mothering techniques with JK, who is a lot like me.

Not sure if he’s like me because of genetics or because he’s also a firstborn or because of the example he sees in me. Eeks!

But it's making me rethink or at least be aware of some of the things I can do to make our relationship better. I can also see how my being raised by two firstborns made for a challenging household growing up! Three people wanting their way. Ouch! But when I compare that to my uncle (the third in four children), I see that his parenting techniques are vastly different from my father's.

So now I’m curious about other parents' experiences...

• Do you see your birth order affecting your parenting technique?


• Is your approach different with the children in your family or the same?


• Do you see that your parents or siblings have a different parenting technique than you?


• Do you think their birth order affected that?

Just looking at parenting in a different light today because of this and wondering if anyone else has thought of these things...

Out Of the Mouth of Babes...

One of the things that I really love most about our sweet JK is his chattiness. He is such an outgoing, gregarious little guy and when his comfort level is high enough, is very chatty!

We noticed when he moved from the baby room at school to the toddler room, his vocabulary exploded. By 18 months he had well over 130 words. They weren't always understood to everyone, but Momma understood most of them. This past month, he has moved from the toddler room into the 2 year old room. Not only have we noticed another vocabulary growth spurt, but his comprehension has been nothing short of awesome to us. Some of the things we've heard around the W Mansion lately...



*****

Driving home from somewhere a few weeks ago, he sees a new Smart Car in the lane next to us and screams, "Baby car!"

***

JK has a large brown birthmark on his right knee, courtesy of the M genes on my side of the family. He always calls it his "owie". I tried to explain that it's not an owie, but a birthmark. That he was born with it and that it will never go away. He listens and says, "Burt Mark" and immediately runs into the living room and points to a picture of Daddy standing next to his Uncle Matt and Uncle Mark.

Um...not quite.

***

Most of you know that JK's very best sidekick is a stuffed monkey that a friend of ours gave him. He takes that thing EVERYWHERE and naptimes/bedtimes/fearful times are a disaster if we don't have "Momo" to comfort him.

Which is also why we have four of them in rotation. God help us if anything were to happen to them!

One morning, as N buckles JK into his carseat, JK takes Momo and puts him into the attached cupholder. Very proudly announcing, "Momo chair!"

***

The routine in the evening is for me to pick JK up from school and we go home to either play or start dinner. He's usually in the middle of eating dinner when Daddy comes home. One night, he was asking for Daddy from the moment we left school. I had to explain over and over, "Daddy's at work." Finally, either tired of asking or distracted with dinner, he stops asking me where Daddy is. But halfway through his food, we hear the Eclipse alarm beep and the front door open. JK's face lights up and he screams, "Daddy work all done!"

***

Watching the Mickey Mouse show on the Disney channel one morning, JK says, "Moush!", with an "sh" sound at the end. I said, "That's right, that's a mouse." When the part of the introduction, where Mickey's house springs alive, JK says, "Moush Housh".

Okay, so the vocabulary's big, but we're still working on enunciation.

***

The other day N walks JK down the street to see the new fire department that lives a block from us. When he points out the ambulance, JK says, "Owie". Yep, the ambulance is for people with owies!

We're still not sure how he knew that.

***

A few months ago, N's parents lost their beautiful collie, Barker. He was old and in ill health and had to be put down. We explained to JK that Barker was gone and that he had gone to heaven to be with Jesus. Just recently at bedtime, as we were saying our prayers, I asked JK, "Where is Jesus?" He points to the ceiling and says, "Heaven. Wif Barker."

***

At the beach a month ago he drops his pancake snack in the sand. His bottom lip immediately quivers and he starts crying. We soothe and explain that it's okay. We have more pancakes and the birds can eat what he's dropped. He sniffles and happily eats the new pancakes we put in his hand. About an hour later, he tries a crispy cold fresh carrot for the first time. Being the expressive tot that he is, he immediately scrunches his face up and spits the chewed carrot bits on the sand. Obviously fresh carrots are not a favorite. Both N and I said, "JK! Don't spit your food on the ground." He very casually shrugs and says, "Bird eat it."

***

It was early morning and I'm on the living room sofa nursing EK. JK wakes up and joins me. His hair a wild mess of curls and his puffy little face is so cute when he wakes up. He stands silently watching me nurse and says, "Baby milk". I said, "Yes, the baby's drinking milk." After another moment he says, "Boobies!" I'm caught a little off guard, but confirm to him, "Yes, baby's milk comes from Mommy's boobies." But I'm thinking to myself, OMG, this kid is too much! He contemplates this a moment longer and lifts his shirt to look at his torso. He then looks up with his eyes wide and says excitedly, "I have boobies too!"

*****



I'm sure there'll be more situations like these crop up, but I wanted to record them here, so I don't forget his sweet innocence. I know someday, probably too soon, he'll be screaming at me how I've ruined his life and how humiliating I am to him so I want to remember these sweet funny times to help balance those out! LOL!

Because I'm in Love

EK has just started smiling this week. I just can't get enough of this little man. He was officially 9 weeks old yesterday and I'm just shaking my head over how time is flying AND how adorable this boy is! The older he gets, the more we realize he is really his own little person. He doesn't look like JK at all, nor does he seem to have the outgoing personality. While JK is always blowin' and goin' 0 to 90 in .05 seconds, Bubba reminds us of a lazy Sunday afternoon on a front porch swing.


Hello Mello!






Not much Mello here...




Does any other momma feel like the love they feel with their children is really a love affair? That they take your breath away? That you can't wait to see them when you've been apart? That leaving them leaves you in a wake of a strange loneliness?

I honestly wouldn't have it any other way...

Bubba Phat

When we got pregnant with JK, somehow the nick-name "Monkey" entered the picture. When he was born, it just stuck. What's funny is that we call him Monkey so much that he answers to it like his own name. It's also pretty cute that he LOVES monkeys. He's got several stuffed ones that he's attached to, but in general a monkey-anything makes him happy.

When we got pregnant with EK, we just called him M2 for Monkey Two. I still call him that occasionally, but it's kinda gone by the wayside as time goes on. At some point in the last few weeks, the nickname "Chubba-chubba" came up, inspired by his little chub rolls and my friend Wendi that called her son that. Chubba-chubba morphed to Bubba, which morphed to our latest version by Daddy...Bubba Phat. Some pictures that might show WHY the name is appropriate.


Chunky cheeks...



A big round belly...



And my personal favorite...the roly-poly thighs...



And baby toes just because...



On Thursday, we had our two month well-check with Dr. N. We knew our sweet boy was a chunk, but had no idea his stats would look like this!

Weight - 13 lbs 7 oz (95th percentile)
Height - 22 1/2 in (75th percentile)

Sheesh! JK was always (and is still!) such a petite child that we were a bit taken aback by the numbers. (JK wasn't 15 lbs until close to 5 months.) Anyways, EK's been given a perfect bill of health even though he'd love nothing more than to nurse every hour every day. (Maybe he'll slim down once I go to work on Monday?) He's really starting to smile and coo and we're seeing his little laid back personality come out, which is really a lot of fun!

N and I feel so very, very blessed to have this adorable new little boy in our lives and really look forward to seeing our family adapt to being a family of four.

Our Big Boy

Two years ago, this little man entered our lives...



...and things haven't been the same since. And we're so glad!

*******

Our sweet JK,

You have no idea how fast your life is flying before us. You are growing way too quickly! On the day we met you, I think more than anything, we were in awe. I was stunned. And I've never seen your Daddy so proud! Such a long hard road to have a baby and then to have one as beautiful and sweet as you. God was so good and showed us how wonderful He is by letting us have you. Another W male to continue the family name. It might sound silly, but the day you were born, I felt so honored to be a part of that. I still do!

We have watched you move from a tiny helpless baby, to an independent and opinionated toddler. While we miss your sweet baby-ness, we are constantly amazed at how much you've grown. You are adamant about your likes and dislikes and when you can't verbalize it, you are creative enough to find ways to communicate your wishes. Wishes that we try to honor, unless it's something harmful or teaching you something that God doesn't want for you. We pray all the time that He give us the wisdom to make good choices in raising you. You are so precious and we don't want to mess it up!

You are still officially a toddler, but lately we are noticing a new maturity about you. You just seem so big!



You are such a sweet big brother to little Baby EK. You are learning to share things, even though he's too little to understand what you're doing.



You don't even mind sharing Momma on occasion.



You are very strong in your verbal skills and you love chatting with people. You make friends quickly because you're funny and silly and people are attracted to your sweet demeanor. We see signs everywhere that you are becoming a big boy.

You love books. Even the boring ones.



You love to go for walks. You will often grab our hand and say, "Walk-a-ning? Momma go walk-a-ning?"



But you're a guys guy. 150 percent boy! You love trains and any other transportation toys.



You love any sports that involves a ball you can kick or throw.



You love contact sports.



It warms Momma's heart to see you have a creative streak. You love to use crayons and paint and know all of your colors so well. It makes Daddy so very proud when you hear a song and immediately stop whatever you're doing to dance and sing. You don't even care that you have an audience watching you. In fact, that makes it more fun!

You have your Momma's sweet tooth. You love all things "chockit"...



We are so very proud of your growth and accomplishments. We so look forward to watching you turn from a toddler into a big boy and then into an independent young man. Just remember that your Momma will forever look at you as her first baby...



...I can't help it. It's just what Momma's do.

Little Monkey, there is only one other being in this world that loves you more than Mommy and Daddy and that's Jesus. It's hard for me to imagine, but our love for you pales in comparison to His love for you.

HE IS THE REASON YOU ARE ALIVE AND HAVE A HOPE FOR YOUR FUTURE!!!

Please look to Him for the purest love one can receive. Mommy and Daddy will do their very best, but He will never ever fail you. You are a daily reminder that He has not failed us. We have no doubt that if we feel this proud and in love with you, that He feels that times a hundred. We can't wait for you to grow up and learn how He's shown that love to all of us.

The last two years have been the happiest two years of our lives and we attribute that to your presence! Happy Two Year Birthday Little Monkey! We love you so much.

Love,
Momma and Daddy

Getting Creative

Because the batteries on the baby swing went out...



...so we're using Daddy's rocker-recliner. Don't worry. I'm sitting right next to him watching that he doesn't roll over. :-)

Coming Up For Air...

I just cannot believe it's been almost two months since EK was born. Everyone says that when you have a child, that life flies at warp speed. And that once you have more than one child, it goes even faster. The speed at which time is going right now is positively taking my breath away. And not in the happy way either. :-(

A few things that are going on...

EK: Wow. This kid is so doggone cute! I still can't believe we're going through infancy with another child. I've forgotten how much fun this stage is. Funny little noises, precious baby snores, curled toes, and super soft skin. I love it all! He is growing leaps and bounds, which makes me sad, yet I love watching at the same time. He LOVES to eat and would do it around the clock if I let him! He has rolls that JK never had, so having a little chubba-chubba on our hands has been fun! We are looking forward to seeing his little personality come out more.

JK: This kid amazes me with his sense of humor and intelligence. We've struggled with a little extra whiney-ness, but otherwise, he's adjusting to being a big brother very well. He finds all of EK's funny baby noises funny and is quick to give his baby brother kisses and pats on the head. Recently, he's been going to the pool a lot with Daddy and has quickly gained confidence in the big pool. If Daddy doesn't watch him closely, he'll jump into the deep end without floaties and without a shred of fear. This kiddo has so much confidence! I pray all the time that God give us the wisdom to steer this child's independence and strong will into a healthy direction.

Daddy: I can't say enough about my sweet husband. He is so patient and helpful, both with the state of the house and the needs of the baby. He understands my love languages so well: quality time and acts of service. While we don't really have the opportunity at this point to spend much quality time together, he totally gets that helping around the house really makes me fall in love with him so much more.

Me: I'm tired. And happy. :-) I've chosen to nurse EK, which is a new experience for me. It's been a tough road, as there was a very steep learning curve for both EK and I. I was not prepared for how exhausting and WONDERFUL this experience would be. I was also not prepared how hungry this would make me. My daily schedule right now consists of eating, nursing, pumping, eating, sleeping, eating...you get the picture. I've always been a bit of a grazer, but now I'm grazing and eating a solid 5 or 6 meals a day. And we aren't talking the little meals, we're talking normal full-sized meals. I hope I can stop this rollercoaster once Evan decides to wean. I'll be big as a house otherwise. Ha!

Work: I go back in less than 10 days. I'm REALLY not looking forward to it. But I know that until N or I win the Lotto (which we don't play, so the likelihood of that is low) me being a FT working mom is just part of the picture. I'm trying to be okay with it, but still praying that the Lord provide an alternative so I can spend more time with the boys.

Housework: Hmm. This is a bit on the backburner right now. We're doing good to keep toilet paper in the bathroom at this point. But my husband really helps me keep perspective when I fret over the fact the house hasn't been dusted since before Evan was born. Today he said, "Perhaps. In a few years, I’d think you’d rather say: “Wow, I spent some great quality time w/ Evan during my maternity leave", than: “Wow, I got a lot done around the house on my maternity leave.” I love this guy. Keeps me focused in the right direction so many times.

Pictures: Yeah...when folks say you don't get as many of the second kid as the first, they're right. I love bragging about how cute the little turkey is, so I'll prove it by posting some shots soon.

Anyways, the little guy is hollering at me, so time to run. Will try to be back in less than a month. Ha!