9 Months and 2.5 years old

I think I've officially reached an all time low as far as blogging goes, my last post was when Fiona was 6 months old.....she's currently 9.5 months old!  I'm also pretty sure life is not going to be slowing down anytime soon.  Between kids and the business I don't see it getting any less crazy for a very long time.

FIONA - 9 MONTHS OLD:

• 16lbs and 26 3/4" long
• began crawling and standing/pulling herself up on pretty much everything all within the same week!
• is walking along the couch, drawers, pretty much anything she can grab on to
• saying da da da and ba ba ba.......she did say ma ma ma a couple times but so far it's not very frequent
• is giving kisses when asked....the open mouthed kind followed by a big smile <3
• LOVES her brother to pieces and is now on a mission to follow him everywhere and watch his every move
• still favors her Mama, never lets me out of her site and prefers to be in my lap or in my arms whenever possible
• gets up on the little trampoline and bounces on her butt with a big smile on her face because she can!
• got into her first plant just a few days ago and was eating the dirt....hands and mouth covered!
• loves the recycling bin and pulling everything out and dragging it around the kitchen.....that and getting into the "kids" cupboard and pulling all of the sippy cups out
• likes drinking water from a sippy cup
• is pretty much eating everything and anything we give her.  She is already a way better eater than her brother and usually starts finishing his plate after her food is gone
• always has a bruise in the same spot on her forehead because no matter how she falls or what she does she always manages to bump the same darn spot!
• both my kids have been prone to bloody noses this winter, Fiona has gotten a couple during the night......and a few from bumping her nose when slipping and falling!!  It's awful and I feel terrible for her, the other day she had 2 in one day both from her own doing.  She's just all over the place and still loses her balance a lot.  
• has taken a bath with her brother a few times which sometimes she likes and sometimes she gets nervous, just depends on how crazy Jack is being in the tub that night.
• we finally had to lower the crib, she just started standing up in it last week!!  I was surprised she went as long as she did!

JACK-  2.5 YEARS OLD!

• 33lbs and 37.5" tall 
• POTTY TRAINING has officially started.  We introduced the idea to him months ago but he has had absolutely zero interest until last weekend.  He was running around naked in the morning before I had a chance to put some clothes on him and he came to me and said "Mommy I want to go pee pee"  So I sat him on the potty and he went and he's been doing great ever since.  It's actually gone WAY smoother than I thought it would, he's really good about going on his own and asking for help.  So far (it's been about a week now) he hasn't gone in his diaper during the night either!!  I'm so proud of him.  In fact I was in the shower just a couple nights ago and he was still running around naked from his bath when all of a sudden the shower door opens, Jack jumps in and pees then jumps out and closes the shower door!!!!  I couldn't stop laughing and was really proud that he knew to do that.   I'm sure the fact that he gets a jellybean from his Mickey Mouse jelly bean dispenser after he goes def has something to do with it.  That kid doesn't miss a beat when it comes to jelly beans!! 
• still obsessed with Oompa Loompas and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory......he pretends large objects, specifically this collapsible tunnel he has for inside the house, is the blueberry girl (Violet) and he walks around it and rolls it around singing the song (pretending to be an oompa loompa) then rolls it off to the juice room to get juiced (my laundry room/mud room) HAHA its hilarious, there's no lack of imagination with him that's for sure!
• got his first hair cut about a  month ago.  I was so sad to see his little curls go even though we didn't have a ton taken off, but we had to lose the tail/mullet shape that was starting to form.  Jack did great, sat on my lap and sat very still the entire time. 
• he says the darnedest things, I really  have no idea where he gets some of this stuff.  Every day it's something new and the expressions on his face is priceless!  He has learned the word beautiful (boosiful) and told me that my little belly button is really boosiful hahaha!  He was combing his hair the other night and I told him to get the back really good because that's where the birds nest is, all the snarls, and he looked very puzzled in the mirror and said "nope! I see birds no!"  very matter of factually.  
• we are definitely in the terrible twos, he's testing me on a completely different level now.  Mainly with his little temper and his very selective hearing these days.  When he doesn't get his way he lets me know and it's usually an ear piercing scream, sometimes I can literally see the anger in his face as he's shaking with rage as he's letting it out.  Sometimes I feel as though I just can't catch a break, I feel like every time I put something away or clean up a mess, he's right behind me making 5 more messes or spilling cereal or cracker crumbs all over the floor.  Or pushing his sister over and making her cry, taking toys away from her because he can, emptying my soap dispenser in the bathroom because I accidentally forgot to close the door, or going through my bag digging for chapstick which he'll lose and I'll find it covered in dust/dog hair stashed somewhere weeks later.  When he doesn't get the answer he's looking for his new thing is "I hit you mama"  my usual response is "go ahead and see what happens" which so far always results in him immediately feeling bad and asking for a hug. 
• besides this terrible twos" phase, he's still the sweetest little boy with a heart of gold, filled with nothing but love for everything and everyone around him.  He tells me a million times a day that he loves me so much, he loves Fiona, Daddy, Rusey and Knuckles so much.  
• still loves to snuggle with me every night before bed
• loves his back tickled just like I did as a kid, he says "tickle me mama" and lays on my lap so I can reach his back.  then giggles and says "that so tickles"

6 months and 2 years

This was written back in November and for whatever reason I never hit "post"!!  Here it is...

 

Our little girl is 6 months old and SO much has happened within the past few weeks.  I feel that the transition from month 5 to 6 was huge developmentally.....although I'm sure from here on out I'll be thinking that more and more.
FIONA is now sitting up on her own (for the most part), she still needs assistance at times.  SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT FOR THE FIRST TIME LAST NIGHT!!!!  From 7:30pm to 5am.  Then she ate and went right back down for another hour and a  half.  I would LOVE it if that was her new schedule.  I think an even bigger achievement is that I've been letting her soothe herself to sleep.  Granted this is still very new and anything could change at the drop of a hat but I'm feeling pretty confident that the whole sleep thing will be a much easier process with her than it was with Jack.  She actually woke up twice last night but put herself right back to sleep.  Of course I was still waking up being so used to how things have been for so long. 
Fiona was baptized last Sunday.....we were much more on the ball this time around.  Last thing we wanted was another toddler waiting for church to be over and then squirming through the entire ceremony.

We started Fiona on SOLID FOODS!  I initially bought a few little jars of organic baby food and box of oat cereal but quickly realized she hates the cereal and I despise dealing with the little jars of food, not to mention having to sit and spoon feed her for what could take an hour!  Ironically I started to read about baby led weaning right around the same time and thought it sounded like something that could work for us.  Basically it means no more mush, baby food, little jars, or messy cereal that I swear could act as super glue if need be!  You give baby whatever you are eating (of course a very soft version and in pieces that they can manage).  I was very skeptical at first, I worried about choking mostly.  Since I'm still breast feeding I know that most of her nutrition will still come from me.  It all started one night when I was eating a sub and Fiona was watching me very intently so I gave her a bite and she grabbed it and held on to it and just sucked and gnawed on my sandwich.  Every time I took it away to take a bite she reached for it and just watched me until I gave it back to her.  This told me that she was ready for solids and gave me confidence that BLW could work.  After reading a lot about it we gave it a try and she LOVES it.  So far we've done avocado, bananas, sweet potato, carrots, and peaches.  She also really likes the baby mum mums and teething crackers.
 Still scooting and rolling, has her 2 bottom teeth, is becoming more and more vocal (though I remember Jack being way more vocal at this point), seems to like the exersaucer whenever her brother is not occupying it, and is just over all a snugly baby who LOVES her Mama :)

 Our six month well visit (almost a month late) went great! She's 15.1lbs and 25.25 inches long. 
She doesn't weigh as much as I thought she would but is right where she needs to be.  I was worried about her neck because she favors one side but all is good, the doctor said it will work its way out. 

JACK is as rambunctious as ever, still favors his Mommy, is getting smarter and smarter by the second!  He seriously has the biggest heart of any 2 year old I know.  I didn't think such a little person could comprehend emotion the way this kid does.  He's growing up way too fast and I catch myself wondering where he gets this stuff from.