Blaine December 2013 Update

Age: 2 1/2 years

Favorite Food: He's been a good eater lately. He's willing to try most foods (not veggies) and his favorite game is to barely get it in his mouth and exclaim "I yike it" with a huge smile. Ironically he usually hasn't had time to taste it yet! 

Favorite TV show: Justin Time (He'll like and watch others occasionally, but this is by far his favorite.)

Favorite toys/activities: He still loves trains, but the obsession is definitely less than what Pierce's is. He's really enjoyed playing with the little people set at Nana's house and he and Nana affectionately named the blue and green girls Sally and Susie respectively. 

New tricks: He likes doing little roundoffs in the basement after going down the slide. He's also gotten really good at swinging on the trampoline bar. I'm quite impressed with his upper body strength.

Favorite phrases: "Hodju Mommy", "No bedwoom tiiime. I sweet boy downstayuhs." "Owive, hodju" (He wakes up saying this sometimes and I guess he genuinely wants the Justin Time character to come hold him. I'm slightly offended and also worried at what this means. Unfortunately since no such thing can be done, it usually starts our day on the wrong foot.)

Personality traits: He's still the more sensitive of the two. He also is quite the chatter box. When he's in a great mood it's non stop chatting. He'll repeat everything and just say anything that comes to mind. My mom noticed the other day that when he and Pierce are playing alone Blaine jabbers non stop, but it's really not in any real words. :)

Other quirks: Lately he has not wanted to sit down for any meals. I have to give him the choice of coming to sit down or have some bedroom time (which he never wants). Eventually he always chooses to come sit down and usually eats a great meal. Not sure what this is about. He goes to bed with several loveys now: Beary, Charlie, Tiny, and blue blankey. I'm worried the entourage will continue to grow from here.

Pierce December 2013 Update

Age: 2 1/2 years

Favorite Food: Breakfast! (quaker oat squares cereal which he calls "bwown sugar ceweal", waffles/pancakes with "wip keem"), bagels, yogurt, grapes.

Favorite TV show: Justin Time, Thomas, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Winnie the Pooh (I love hearing him say all the characters!), Chipmunks Christmas

Favorite toys/activities: Trains. Enough said. He also has a new found love for jumping. We call him Tigger. He loves the basement trampoline and jumping on the downstairs couch at Nana's.

New tricks: 

Favorite phrases: "No Bainey", am-pit?, 

Personality traits: He has become quite fun loving and seems to be more of the class clown between the two. Although he is more introverted around other people, once he warms up he loves making other people laugh and even does this super fake social laugh if others are. He has a rambunctious streak in him at times. He was also the one that spent a couple weeks napping in the pack n play because he basically threw a frat party for Blaine and wouldn't let him go to sleep. At other times, though, he still has his softer quiet side where he likes to snuggle (hand in my armpit still). And whenever he says "I wove you" or other sweet mimic phrases he says it super breathy and quiet. It's so cute! 

Other quirks: He doesn't like sleeping with anything in his crib except his train loveys. Every now and then he'll let me cover him with his train blanket, but not usually.

Tiny the Elephant

Blaine has another new lovey. They seem to be adding up quickly. During his scary shadow episode I found a soft, plush elephant they had each received in a gift basket from OBC. I thought maybe that would do the trick. It didn't, but the soft, blue elephant stuck around. Before long he was appearing downstairs in the mornings and had to be included as part of the crib entourage. A couple days later I asked Blaine what his name was. He thought for just a moment and then looked right at me and confidently said, "Tiny!". I was shocked that he had come up with such a cute name so quickly. And, as BJ later put it, what a great grasp on irony! I shared the story with our family and we all agreed how impressive and darling it was.

Well a few days later the boys were downstairs watching their new favorite obsession show while I was upstairs getting ready. I walked by the hallway and just happened to hear Justin say the word Tiny. I quicky came downstairs and my suspicions were confirmed. It was an episode where Justin has a little elephant named... Tiny! I cracked up! But I was still impressed that Blainey applied it to his own toy. So now he is one step closer to being like his hero, Justin.

Scary Shadows

A few weeks ago Blaine experienced his first real fear. We had been watching Daniel Tiger (of all safe things) and there was a part where Daniel sees a big shadow on the wall that scares him, but it turns out just to be his mommy. Neither of the boys had acted scared of affected at the time, but I had noticed Blaine watching very intently as I thought back later.

Later we were getting ready for naps and Blaine kept saying "scawy show-a". I was thinking he was saying scary shower and I kept reassuring him that showers are fine, although I was puzzled since it was random and they never take showers. Finally Pierce repeated him and I understood Blaine had been saying scary shadow. I quickly put everything together and did my best to explain that Daniel had just seen his mommy and that shadows weren't scary at all. I told him that they come from the sunshine and that we can even make little shadow puppets with our hands. I was trying to think of everything I could to make them seem harmless. So I put them down and went about a normal naptime. They chatted in their for a bit, but after awhile Blaine started crying hard. I figured he must have lost his paci or something and quickly went back in. He was standing up sobbing and talking about the scary shadows again. He broke my heart! I called BJ to see what he thought. I knew Blaine was tired, but I knew he would probably be scared no matter what. So I ended up with the idea of having him sleep in our bed where it was lighter and different. I could see how exhausted he was. So I layed him on my propped pillow and cracked the door. He didn't protest and within minutes was fast asleep right where I had layed him. It was precious!

Bedtime wasn't too bad that night and ever since then he talks about them quite a bit, but takes himself through the whole spiel that goes something like this... "No scawy shadows. Come su-shine. Make puppets." I'm so proud of him for being brave!

The Halloween Thomas Twins

Halloween kicked off the start of what we think will be a really fun holiday season with the boys. They are old enough to understand the concept of holidays now and really take part in the traditions. Of course they were Thomas the Train this year. I found darling costumes on Amazon and ordered them back in August to make sure they wouldn't see out or anything. Excited much? I had thought about getting two different characters, but quickly thought better of it after envisioning the fights that would ensue. Not worth it. So the Thomas Twins it was. I had waited to even show them the costumes thinking that's all they would want to wear after seeing them. I had visions of pushing two Thomases through Target, etc. So we got them about a week or so before and they thought it was really cool, but there was no obsession. Pierce was of course reluctant to put it on as it required changing clothes, but they both thought it was pretty cool once on. And I was delighted to find they even happily wore the conductors caps that came with it which made the whole ensemble for sure.

We took them to the Monster Masquerade with Nana and Papa the week before to show them off a little and enjoy a Halloween party. It turned out to be fairly claustrophobic and lame, but the boys still looked adorable. Halloween morning was Nova Tech's annual costume contest. BJ dressed as Sir Topham Hatt and when the boys walked in and saw him dressed that way they immediatley recognized who he was supposed to be and grinned with wonderment. I knew they didn't think BJ was really him or anything, but it was more that they were delighted to see two of their favorite people combined. They all 3 looked perfect together!

We had our annual driveway party on Halloween night and everything went really well.  They loved the fire pit and did really well with it. Nana and Papa came over for an early dinner and sat with the candy while we trick or treated. We made it down one side of Prince Edward Island. Pierce was into the first couple houses, but then hung back due to all the "peeeeople". Our sweet little introvert. But Blaine was right up there at every doorstep with all the other kids. But even he finally wore out by the 8th or 9th house. I think we ended up carrying them both back.

We got back to the fire and after a bit I took Blaine in to change a dirty diaper. As soon as we walked in I noticed the whole right side of his face was red and swollen. He had gone into the Bakers' entryway and, I hadn't realized it, but BJ told me later it was to pet their dog. We've recently concluded that poor Blainey is definitely allergic to dogs. So strange, but I'm really hoping he'll grow out of it. So the bedtime wheels began turning so he could get a bath, even though I was ready to let them stay up and hang. They had enjoyed several pieces of candy outside, so I wasn't sure how easy it would be to get them to sleep. But trick or treating must have really worn them out because I think they were both snoozing by 8:15. It was a great night!

Pierce November 2013 Update

Pierce has become so verbal in the last couple of months. He seems to have caught up to Blaine in his knowledge and usage, although he is naturally a little less chatty. In fact, a lot of his word usage these days comes in the form of bossy demands. It's actually quite cute though. Some of his favorite phrases include "ow way, ow way" (out of the way), no mommy, wiy he-uh (right here- usually pointing to exactly where he wants me to sit), no bayne. It's just something about his little high pitched voice that makes it hard to get annoyed. He can name every single train he owns and sadly Percy is no longer "Poopy" for either of them. Some other favorites...
gapeys- grapes (my fault for adding a "y" onto a lot of words)
wattles- waffles (adopted from Blaine)
stee-wy- Steven the train
sand-ich
chicky-way- Chick-Fil-A (favorite restaurant)

Pierce is our routine child. I am finding more and more how tough it is for him to adapt to change and I have to say I get it. They're both that way really, but Pierce definitely is not a fan of change and has quite the stubborn streak in him. This can come in the form of changing clothes, new types of shoes each season, Daddy coming home from work, number of trains he is allowed to take with him. etc. Once he gets something in his head it can be really hard to modify.

But he also has such a good natured and fun loving side in him. He loves trying to make Blaine laugh and is my nap time ham, often denying both of them sleep with is crazy jumping and antics. He's scaring me lately into thinking that he may be trying to be done with naps. He is so hard to settle down and if I finally give up after a couple hours he makes it just fine until bed time. I.am.not.ready.to.give.them.up. We'll see..

His new thing lately is to repeat fun phrases he hears in his shows and try to say them in the same voice. And he is scary good at it. He can even imitate Diego. It cracks us up.

Pierce is also our introvert right now. He's just not a big fan of groups of people or strangers. If we go to a playground and there are others there he runs around saying "people,people". He's just annoyed that they're there. I've also found that if he gets worked up in a situation where there are others (playdates, family gatherings, etc.) he calms down so much better if I remove him from the situation a bit. This doesn't do as much for Blaine, but Pierce calms down so much more easily just being removed and soothed for a bit. I love learning little things like this as their personalities further develop.

Although he loves playing with Blaine and making him laugh, he also gets easily annoyed. Blaine is learning how easy it is to push his buttons and the two of them can go around. The most common offense is when Pierce states something he wants, for instance "A Turtle's Tale" (one of his favs) and Blaine spits back "No tur-tur tayle" then Pierce melts down and keeps saying it and Blaine keeps saying  no. I have no idea. For some reason, Pierce thinks Blaine calls the shots I guess. It's funny for about a minute and then gets pretty exhausting- especially in the car.

Pierce's stubbornness continues with food, but we are trying to be consistent, especially with dinner time. I'm not offering other options and we're trying really hard to institute the no thank you bite with him. It goes in spurts of working or not. Mostly not it seems. The kid will completely skip dinner on occasion.  Drives me nuts. But, in his defense there are still many of his favorite that are healthy. Namely fruit, yogurt, and cereal. He's a Holloway in that he'd eat cereal all day if I let him.

He still has his sweet Pixie grin that can melt my heart even when I'm at the end of my rope. And we comment a lot about his cute scurry. He runs and walks with little steps and it's so darn cute.

Blaine November 2013 Update

Man, this kid has grown up lately. I feel like at some point every day I look at him and think how old he looks. Like when did he turn 5? The fun thing about Blaine lately is how much he's been talking- as in non- stop, all the time. And we love it! He talks in full phrases and sentences and absorbs everything. I can't even list everything he says anymore, but his pronunciations are my favorite. Here are a few lately...
no kee you and lately no tank-to-you- no thank you (He says this as no everytime. Very sweet.)
Yuh wecome- you're welcome
babana- banana
babana bed- banana bread (a breakfast favorite)
fwack- train track
fock- fox (Definitely his most R rated word. We're still crossing our fingers he doesn't feel the need to say that one in the church nursery!)
Behw-wy- Beary
Dowy- Charlie (his favorite train)
hodju- hold you (aka me)
wattles- waffles (a huge fav lately)
muttins- muffins

I'm consistently blown away by how smart both boys are and how much the pick up that I don't even realize.

Blaine continues to be our emotionally sensitive and compassionate one. Throughout our week with Grant he was very aware when one of us was crying or sad and just wanted to address it and talk about it until he could see we were ok. We were even just hugging in the kitchen one time and he came up and asked "Mommy sad?". So sweet. He has also turned into our extrovert. He is friendly to everyone he meets and really seems to enjoy being around people in general. For some reason this always surprises me because I would expect him to be the shyer of the two since he is more sensitive.

He's still a good sleeper, although he can take awhile to settle down at night. He is usually ready for his nap and is definitely the easier of the two to get to sleep for the nap, but come bedtime he's more wound. He usually just chatters a bit to himself and goes to sleep on his own. He also started using a blanket at night which is really cute. He switches between the sailboat blue blanket and the blue monkey blanket. When we check on him at night he rarely has it on him, but it's still sweet. If you ask him where he wants he lays down on his tummy in the front top corner of his bed and firmly states "right heaw". As soon as he wakes up, his first request/demand is "downstay-uh" to go down.

Blaine also continues to be our good helper. He loves helping me cook in the kitchen and is great at pouring in ingredients. We've noticed that he is just happy when he is helping and has a task to achieve.

He has also started/continues is "wee sad" routine. If one of us hurts his feelings (or sometimes completely out of the blue) he hangs his head and freezes in one spot. And I have to say, I'm amazed at out how long he can do this. If you ask him what's wrong he says "wee sad". Then I usually ask him why and every time he sadly responds, "People". Then I ask, "People made you sad?" and he responds "yeah". It's a pathetically cute routine he does. Sometimes it's based on hurt feelings, but more often it's just a random thing. Attention getting I guess? Still really cute.

He's becoming even closer buddies with Pierce who he now affectionately calls Picky Weil which is out he pronounces Pixie. He'll sometimes cut it down to Pick for short. I find it quite appropriate based on Pierce's eating habits. He remains really sweet and patient with Pierce and is often willing to give up a toy that Pierce wants.

He's still our better eater and is very good about trying foods. We're trying to institute the idea of a "no thank you bite" and he usually does this without prompting.

My Little Bookworms

I could not be prouder of my boys. We went into the library yesterday to get a Love and Logic CD I had on hold and I thought we'd wander over to the children's section and see how the boys did. They had a lot of great toys and the sweetest, perfect children's librarian who greeted us and asked if she could help me find anything. I told her that they love trains and off she went to gather books for us. She came back with about 8 perfect books that were the right length and right up there alley. The boys played happily. Then she found some potty training movies and a book for them as well. Throughout our time there she kept pulling out new toys and they played so well! Pierce loved a peg board maze on the wall and Blaine played on the floor with blocks and a bead maze. We were probably there for almost 45 minutes and then we expired. They started fighting over the wooden train (shocker) which led Pierce to begin screaming and Blaine promptly announced he had a bee-ol' poo poo. I quickly herded them to the self check, allowed them to help me (which went surprisingly well), and we loaded up. They are thrilled with their books and we've been reading all the time. Yesterday morning we just came down and read first thing...no TV! Pierce has also started taking a book to bed with him. I noticed a couple of weeks ago that as I shut the door for nap time, he already had his book open and was just sitting in bed reading. I realized that he must read himself to sleep most days. Precious. He is definitely the book worm of the two. Every now and then he'll find a book by himself and climb up on the sofa or a chair to look through. I love it!

Acorns aka "Acums"

The new obsession around here is acorns, which has coincided nicely with the start of Fall. I'm not sure where the boys first discovered these little gems, but they love them! We occasionally go on a family walk around the block and one day we walked by a big monster-type truck that had lots of mud on it. It was immediately deemed the dirty car by both boys and after that they constantly wanted to walk to see it and even touch it- causing me to wonder if they've had a tetanus shot recently. I think so. Anyway, the same house, which is on a corner, also happens to have a big oak tree and a storm drain. The boys can spend forever picking up an acorn, laying down over the drain, and throwing it down. It thrills them like only trains can. And it's so cute. BJ and I just sit in our spots (on either side of the drain) and actually get to converse while they gather and throw acorn after acorn.

Nana and Papa's house also has plenty of acorns for our little squirrels to gather and they love gathering, throwing, and sliding them. Blain says acorn pretty clearly, but Pierce calls them "acums" in his cute, pixie voice. And he says it really fast too. Too cute! His full phrase is usually "wa, wa, acums" meaning he'd like to go on a walk to that corner house to throw acorns. I'm beginning to wonder if we need to start a stash for the winter?

Kicks!

I finally felt some good solid kicks from Baby Buh this afternoon! I've had several questionable and brief flutters, but this was undoubtedly a baby kick. Yay! I was laying on my side on the sofa watching TV and I felt them on my lower far left. So exciting!

Pregnancy Update 22 Weeks

We've been terrible about taking pictures of my belly progress, but at least I'm journaling a bit more. I truly feel so much smaller than this point last time. I can still fit into my size small t-shirts and overall am still pretty comfortable. I'll take it! In fact, I was a little nervous before my 20 week appt that he wasn't growing quickly enough, but he measured 4 days ahead of my due date. I'll take it! 

I'm still not really feeling him much or at all. At the sonogram she told me that my placenta was in front so that I probably hadn't felt him yet, but I thought I would more by now. I've felt a couple of really subtle flutters very occasionally, but that's really been it. 

I've had a very easy pregnancy overall, but have noticed a few differences from last time. I feel more hormonal overall. I think I'm more apt to cry and have just felt more PMS-y many days. Woohoo. I also had a foot issue a couple of weeks ago. I'd been wearing flat sandals all summer and a couple weeks ago I started having really bad pain where my heel and arch meet on my left foot. Dr. Cooper mentioned that certain hormones can flatten your arches, so I bought a pair of heel insoles and have been more selective in my footwear. I got my mind set on finally getting a pair of Sperry's, but this came at the end of the month with no extra cashflow. So my wonderful husband somehow put together $60 and gave it to me and told me he wanted me to have them. Such a gem. So I did and quite frankly I haven't felt this cool in awhile. :) 

I still crave sweets more than anything, but lately my cravings and huge appetite have backed off a little. 

I'm still teaching Zumba twice a week at pretty much full pace. It's crazy to me that I was 2 weeks away from having to stop last time. I made a personal goal of teaching through the end of the semester not knowing how possible it would be, but it's looking pretty good for now. Knock on wood. 

I think we're pretty close to settling on a name. We've known middle name for a while (which is funny, because that was our hold up last time). We've had a running list of first names, but for one reason or another they've been nixed. Many of the ones I really liked I've thought sounded too similar to one of the boys' names. The name we're probably looking at is a little more out there than I would prefer, but I don't think it's too prominent. It just seems to be the best fit. 

Independence

Blaine has become quite independent in the last week or two and emphatically tells me, "Baine Weil do it." And can I just say how darling it is that he refers to himself in the third person? This goes for putting on and taking off shoes (which he can completely do alone), climbing in the car seat and high chair, getting dressed, etc. He's very capable, but not always the speediest. He's working on autonomy and I'm working on patience. I think I'm going to have to start adjusting our time table to get out the door to allow for some of this new independence. It's really fun and exciting to see him capable of so many things now though. He's been such a delight lately and talks, hums, sings, and babbles throughout the entire day. I wake up and look forward to what he'll say and do that day.

He also has bossy moments. He'll get into these short segments where he furrows his brow and emphatically points if he wants someone to go somewhere or sternly say, "No, B.Weil. No do that." Really cute stuff these days!

It's A Boy!

We went in for our first official (and probably only) sonogram last Monday. I was so excited and anxious to find out.  I feel like I was even more so than with the boys and I think it's because I'd already had several sonograms by then and had a feeling at least one was a boy. This time I honestly had no idea. All along I had been thinking it was a girl for whatever reason. Almost everyone else thought the same except for Nana K, Daddy, and Pierce. It was just one of those things where every time I thought about the baby, I thought girl things. As we got closer to the sonogram I started really trying to pray and focus my heart for either gender possibility. More than anything, I just wanted to be excited no matter what the results are. A girl seemed like the newer and more adventurous possibility, but in my heart I knew that God had picked out the perfect child for our family at this perfect time.

I will never forget the Friday before our appointment. The boys were napping and I was in the middle of painting a desk for the dining room. I walked by the gallery wall  in the hallway and glanced at a picture of the boys. It was in that instant that God distinctly spoke to my heart and impressed on me the honor, privilege, and importance it would be to raise another boy. I think I can count the number of moments like that on one hand where I just knew it was God's voice straight to my heart. I immediately felt a calming peace over me and knew that God was in control and the outcome would be exciting no matter what. I also started to seriously wonder if we were having another boy. :)

Monday morning finally came (I felt like a kid on Christmas morning) and Daddy and I put in our final votes while driving down I35. He had thought boy all along and I kept going back and forth the entire drive. I could not decide! Finally, I settled on boy although I was only 51/49. Our sonogram started right on time and it was so wonderful to see our moving and active baby. I could have laid there all day and watched. She took some measurements and finally got to the time to see the gender. She settled in on one angle and said, "It's a..." and we both immediately said, "BOY!". There was no doubt about it! I felt a familiar excitement come over me. It wasn't the new, unexpected excitement that would have been with a girl, but a knowing excitement for the joys of raising a little boy. I immediately thought of Pierce and Blaine and the fun (and mischief!) the three of them would have. Also, my fears about the spacing being too close were immediately erased as I looked forward to them growing up together.

We had a reveal party that night and all our friends and family came. Once everyone was gathered we pulled out a wrapped box with two white streamers coming out. The boys each pulled and pulled until blue streamers popped out and everyone cheered. Many were quite surprised to see blue, thinking it would be a girl!

Pierce and Blaine like looking at the sonogram picture and have affectionately named their brother "Baby Buh". It's perfect. We're excited to have you as part of our family, Baby Buh!

27 Month Update

The buddies are talking all the time now. We really just have continual conversations throughout the day. They undoubtedly understand everything I say to them and, for the most part, I understand what they say back. Blaine is talking in all 2 or more word phrases and Pierce is adding to his vocabulary daily.

We've started seeing a little more push back lately with discipline, the main infraction being jumping around on the couch after being told not to. We've been doing time outs as the main disciplinary action, but they have seemed to lose a bit of their punch so we bought Love and Logic for Early Childhood and are a couple chapters in. We've seen some success already though. We give a lot of choices to give control which makes "withdrawals" easier. The hardest part for me has been to give them learning opportunities and chances to make mistakes. The mom in me wants to keep them from doing those things, but then I'm stealing their chance to cement it in themselves. The only part I'm skeptical about right now is their ability to apply the lesson learned in once situation to the next time. I know they will eventually, but I'm just not sure about now. Especially when it comes to meal time and skipping it.

Speaking of which, I still don't enjoy meal time with my children. Someday...Pierce still won't try/like most everything and even Blaine has been throwing fits about sitting down to to eat dinner. I'm pretty sure he's eaten a banana for the last 2/3 meals. Could be worse I suppose. I know I need to get tough with love and logic and let them just completely skip a meal if they won't eat what's been given or throw a tantrum. We've got to start somewhere I suppose.

Some common/funny things they're saying these days...

Blaine calls Pierce "B.Weil" all the time now. My guess is it's just been shortened down from "Buh Weil". Still cracks us up.
Pierce says "heeeeeey" anytime he's annoyed
A buds- Angry Birds- the favorite ah-paa (iPad) game
Trains (most are Pierce's given names): Nom (Thomas), Deal (Diesel), Wowie (Rosie), Ne (James), Nene (Stanley), Blaine calls his favorite "nana how wain" (black train from Nana's house). Nana how (Thomas that came from Nana's house), and my new personal favorite Poopy (Percy)- which can definitely get confusing involving diapers or their Percy water bottle
Pierce seriously says "no fower" before we play in the front to remind us all that we are not allowed to play in the flowers. This was cemented after he went off the edge head first over his car and scraped his chin on the retaining wall. See? Love and Logic at work!
Blaine can count to 5 in Spanish and loves it. P is not interested yet.
They love their too too Nom books- especially the one about the dragon. Raaaaw!

They're sleeping well and bedtime is pretty much 8 now. They do so well that we have to be careful not to go past it some nights. Getting darker earlier will help.

They are as active as ever and would climb and jump off just about anything if we let them. Blaine loves jumping off steps and hopping over cracks. And Pierce has gotten some air under his feet too lately. Blaine can somersault with ease and still loves to do push ups with Daddy. We're working on his form. :) Pierce does his happy feet dance in a circle with a big grin on his face whenever he's excited about something.

We've gotten great about pacis in the last couple of months. Ever since we got really strict on Sunday afternoon in July, we haven't had to look back. They get them until breakfast and again at naps and then out again at snack time until bedtime. I have no idea how we're going to break them at night though. Definitely putting that one off for now.

They haven't shown much or any interest in potty training, but in their defense, I haven't really introduced it at all. I've always had the mental approach of not rushing it and waiting until closer to 3 when I've heard most boys do it. But lately I've been thinking maybe I should at least start getting some potty books or videos and introducing the idea.  I've feared the baby could interrupt any progress we'd made. We'll see.

Pregnancy #3 So Far (16 weeks)

I cannot complain about this pregnancy. I've had it pretty easy and I am very grateful. My fear early on was that I would feel tired and not great all summer and feel like I wasn't a fun mom to the boys and that we didn't get to enjoy the warm weather. But I've felt really good overall. I definitely had some fatigue, especially by nap time and the end of the day. I could hardly stay awake to watch TV past 9:30. Scratch that. I didn't stay awake to watch TV past 9:30. But I never had any food aversions or nausea thank goodness. I have craved sweets like they're going out of style. I have to be conscious about making sure I'm getting some fruit in most days.

These days my fatigue is much better and my energy levels are pretty normal. Zumba doesn't seem to take quite the toll it did early on either. I'm hoping to make it as long as I can. I want to keep toned arms as long as possible. :)

I just set our first (and probably only) sonogram date yesterday and it will be 9/9, which was Grandpa Carl's birthday. I've started thinking more and more that it's a girl. I have to remind myself that we still don't know and I really don't have a good reason for thinking that. But Blaine is with me. Every time I ask the boys if they think they will have a baby brother or sister, Pierce always says "buh" and Blaine always says "seesta". So we've decided Blaine and I are Team Seesta and Pierce and BJ are Team Buh.

I definitely have a small bump, but it's not always very obvious depending on what I wear. I'm getting past the chubby gut phase though. I realized today how much I will miss these "small days" so I should enjoy them now!

Pierce 26 Month Update

Pierce is talking more this month, too. He still adapts many of the same words that Blaine creates, but he's been using them more and it seems enunciating more as well. He is still very attached to me and is usually quite threatened by BJ. I keep hoping he'll just outgrow it, but I maybe need to start doing some research. If I'm gone, he adjusts great to BJ and they have a great time together- especially when the play "how" (rough housing). In the meantime, it's usually me and Pierce and BJ and Blaine for bedtime prep, sitting at dinner, in the car, etc. I love that he wants/needs me so much, but I would love to see him become a little more neutral too.

He continues his train obsession and is still pretty possessive of his favorites. We're working on sharing though when Blaine wants one. If I set a timer, Pierce does a really good job. Both boys refer to Thomas as "Nom"- courtesy of Blaine. Pierce also still loves his "Whoawie" and "Ne" (James) though. I think he calls Percey "P" like himself. He also has a new love for "Clifford's Puppy Days" book which is now the only book we read at nap and bedtime. He likes his routines. :)

He's getting better about trying new foods and can be bribed with veggie sticks or chips to try some things. That's also how I get him to eat more of something I know he likes. He still loves "applesa" and has started eating bananas again sometimes. Still no eggs. Breakfast used to be an easy meal, but lately he hasn't seemed as interested. He does pretty well at lunch though and still loves his fruit and yogurt.

He loves going outside which he calls "ahtsy" (I think? It changes.) He doesn't love swinging quite as much as Blaine but is just happy to run around. He got a pretty good scab on his chin when he drove his car over the edge of the walkway into my flowers and the retaining wall. I expected major blood and crying, but he cried for a bit and then was ok. He finally learned his lesson though and now every time we talk about going in the front to play, he immediately gets a serious look on his face and says "no fowers". And I say, "You're right, we don't drive into the flowers." It's way cute.

Both boys love going to the Y and do really in the nursery at church too. Pierce often cries hard as we leave and then is fine within a couple minutes. I'm so happy that they do so well and that we made it to this point!

Blaine 26 Month Update

This boy is talking non-stop these days. He's our little parrot and constantly repeating words and phrases he hears. It's amazing to think how much he can learn and retain. I'm not even sure I can list all of his new words, but I'll try to hit a few highlights. He only calls Pierce "Buh-Wy-yul" now and usually says it in an annoyed tone when Pierce is doing something that bugs him. It cracks us up. He is also super friendly right now and says hi to everyone he sees. I can't remember if I wrote this last time or not, but the funny thing is that right after he waves to and says hi to anyone he immediately points to Pierce and says, "buh". Maybe so as not to leave Pierce out? He can express himself for his desires for most foods now and of course "gookies" and "nonis" are still towards the top, although I feel he's gotten better this month. He also finally started liking "applesa" again and loves "na buh" which is banana bread. He even helps me make it by pouring the ingredients in. We talk a lot about Daddy and "daddy's ca" being at "wor" everyday. He still loves to "wing" outside and always wants to go "higher"! We push him as high as we can these days.

He still surprises us with his coordination and he can go up and down stairs pretty much alone, but we're still right there to be safe. I don't know when I'll ever feel confident about them and stairs. He loves to nump (jump) and has even added a little clap to it. He can jump over items as well. And he learned how to push himself up on the shelf and white chair and swing back and forth. It's an impressive feat of strength and coordination we think. He runs full out like a boy now and is pretty fast. We definitely see athletics in his future.

Blaine continues to have such a sweet and tender spirit. He is very aware of how others are feeling and is very generous. He is almost always the one to relinquish a toy to Pierce. Yesterday we were taking turns with "names" (James the train) and when it was his turn to play he picked it up, held it for just a bit, and then came over to Pierce and said, "Here ya go, buh". So sweet! He loves to make others happy and usually gives Pierce a full out hug if he's sad. I pray these traits never leave him.

He's been a better sleeper and we've gotten several mornings of 7 AM wake ups from him. Such a treat! He's still our pretty good eater, but still won't try many things on most days.

He also really enjoys coloring and putting stickers on. His coloring style these days is long, thick lines and he often favors black. It doesn't always make for the cheeriest of pictures, but you always know who did it.

Blaine's developed some allergies (which he calls "almays") where he got a runny nose and red, itchy eyes. We've guessed it's the pollen count or something and are hoping they will go away soon. Andrew assured us we could give daily allergy meds and Blaine refers to them as "bubble yum" because he took some bubble gum flavored tylenol one time and thought it was delicious. So all medicine is now "bubble yum".

One time recently while changing Pierce's diaper I happened to say, "That's a big ol' poopoo". They both thought it was hilarious and now say it every time they poop. We've also adapted it to big ol' peepee as well. Somehow that phrase makes diaper changes more appealing.

Pierce 25.5 Month Update

Pierce has been right along with Blaine in a happy, healthy, fun month. His personality continues to come out and he's also talking more and more. We've noticed that the words he most often repeats and uses are ones Blaine has already simplified into "toddler talk". I've been trying to get him to say excuse me at appropriate times, but he never would. One day I thought to tell him to say "me me" like Blaine does and he did and has been on his own ever since! He even occasionally says "here ya go, Mommy" now. One of my favorite Pierce phrases is "ah-kay, Mommy". That's what I tell them to say when I want to make sure they are listening. The way he says it is just so darn cute! He still has a much softer voice than Blaine (except when yelling at him), but he does really good pitch imitations. BJ will tell him to say "mommy" (his favorite word) in all kinds of different voices and pitches and he's spot on for all of them!

He loves rough housing with Daddy and tells him "mo how" for more "house" after they finish. He's still a tough one! He is still absolutely obsessed with trains and has some kind of rotation for his favorites. Rosie has been the favorite lately. She's a Sodor squirt train the boys found in the basement amidst some of Jack's toys he gave. Pierce quickly adopted her (as he tried to do with most new trains) and has rarely let her out of his sight. He calls her "woh-wie". He's also putting more 2-3 word phrases together, one of his favorites being "mo ____".

Our most favorite train moment with Pierce was the other night when we went in around 10:30 to look at them and get some itch cream out of their room. We shone the light on Pierce and saw that right above his head he had all four trains he'd gone to bed with perfectly lined up- in size order no less! It cracked us up and all I could think is how much that one moment demonstrated so very much about his little personality. Passionate about trains and particular in his ways. He is a boy who knows exactly what he wants, how he wants it, and won't give up until he gets it.

His picky food ways continue to plague me, but I will admit he has gotten better about making compromises. He'll take multiple more bites of something in order to get something else he wants. Progress, I guess. He's really into red grapes right now and calls them "gays". He's gone through a couple growth spurts in the last couple of months where he's eaten more than I've seen in awhile. By appearances, it looks like he's closing the size gap between him and Blaine.

He's also shown more and more compassion lately. He's very sweet with the baby and likes to pat and even hug my tummy. I remind him and Blaine about being gentle to me a lot and sometimes he'll randomly come up, look straight into my eyes, and gently pat my shoulder. I love it! He's been pretty good about sharing and trading toys with Blaine, except for certain beloved trains,.

He's still my mama's boy and I'm ok with that. :)

Blaine 25.5 Month Update

The boys have come alive in a whole new way this past month and hallelujah for that! We've had a blissful month of happy days, overall health, and good moods. What a blessing and difference from the previous six months! I'm still not sure what it was- summer months, development- but I'll take it!

Blaine is chattier than ever and I love listening to him babble. He picks up new words so easily and quickly applies them to his every day vocabulary. Some of my favorites:

"oh yeah"- the best we can figure, he learned this from his Lightning McQueen car. He uses it when he remembers something or is excited about something. I love it!
"home"- says this when we pull in the driveway or, for example, when he doesn't want to be somewhere anymore. (see future post of Black Bob Bay disaster)
"mump"- whenever we go over a bump
"Buh Weil"- just started this one today after hearing me call Pierce, Pierce Weil. Cracks me up!
"noni" or "cooookie"- the request for every meal or snack
"cukay"- cupcake. I may or may not call muffins cupcakes to encourage the eating of something slightly healthier
"na b"- banana bread. A true Holloway, this kid has a breakfast (and all time of day) sweet tooth
"nom"- Thomas
"woh-wie"- Rosie, another Sodor train
"Go Ky-yo"- random remembrance of cheering at Kyle's baseball game a few weeks ago
"bee"- bridge, meaning he wants to walk under our legs

He's also constantly putting words together into 2-3 word phrases. I love seeing his language come together. We call him a smart pickle a lot. (BJ had to change it to pickle after triggering a request for cookies.)

Blaine is still very compassionate and sensitive. Certain things at certain times can seriously hurt his feelings or embarrass him. If this happens, he'll just stand really still with a serious/sad look on his face until you go to him. Then he'll press his face into your shoulder for a long time. Little else can break my heart like this! He has shown a great interest in baby dolls lately at church at Aunt Nancy's. We'll often come back to find him holding one with a bottle or putting it to bed. This gives me great hope for next year with a little sibling! He also likes to help wipe Pierce's bottom sometimes. Such a helper!

He's been a great sleeper lately and has even slept in a few occasions. He's full of energy and still has a smile that lights up his eyes. He still loves trains, but is definitely less obsessive than Pierce. Another evidence of his compassion is his willingness to share with Pierce. Pierce can be a little (or a lot) possessive of his trains, and Blaine almost always gives Pierce whatever he wants with a "here ya go, buh". I hope he's not learning to give up too easily.

I feel so proud of who he's becoming and seeing him be so compassionate and giving makes me feel like we're doing some things right.

First Swim Lessons

At the end of June we took the boys to a parent and me swim class through Olathe Parks and Rec. It was definitely hairy making the schedule work because the lessons were from 6-6:30 M-Th for 2 weeks. I'm really glad we did it though. The purpose was mostly to get the kids acclimated to the water and learn some basics. We blew bubbles, kicked, reach and pulled, jumped off the side and even dunked them on the second week. I still feel like a mean mommy. Songs and toys were mixed in and the boys really loved that. Their favorite was throwing the squirt toy and kicking to get it. Surprisingly Pierce did really well, but Blaine did not enjoy it overall. A few times BJ had to take him out early because he was so cranky. He was a little sick the first week, so I had hoped for a better second week, but no so. The best day was the last one when Nana and Papa came to watch. Both boys came alive and showed what they could do. It was so cute to see them showing off and proud of themselves.

I think my absolute favorite memory was after the last lesson when the instructors passed out certificates of completion. They quickly understood that this was an accomplishment and they were so proud. When it was their turn, we took them up and they each reached out for their certificate with a huge grin on their faces. Pierce ran over to show Nana and Blaine just stared at his very intently with his serious look. BJ offered to read it to him and he said his serious yeah. It was darling to see them so proud!

Turning 2!

The boys celebrated their 2nd birthday under the sea with family and friends. The party turned out really great which was happy because they were pretty sick on their actual birthday. They had both come down with a really nasty throat virus and they could hardly eat anything. It was not at all what I had envisioned. I pictured a morning at Deanna Rose, planning to meet Daddy for lunch at Chick-Fil-A and a cupcake celebration with the four of us that night. None of that happened. But thankfully they were healthy for their party. GG came into town that week and John and the kids were here as well. The boys had a blast playing with their cousins. Each time gets more and more fun as they were more able to hang out with the big kids. They all 6 had a ball playing Little Round People in Nana and Papa's basement.

We had their party the following Saturday. Rachael came over early and helped me put the finishing touches on. I'm always pretty impressed with how festive everything looks by party time. My mom and LaChelle made darling fondant and candy sea creature cupcakes. They were the perfect centerpiece. We had submarine sandwiches, sand dollars (chips) and skinny dip, fruit of the sea, and ocean cups. But the highlight of the party had to be when an actual fire truck showed up in front of our house. Sarah has a friend in the KCFD, but somehow arranged for an Olathe firetruck to come during the party. The timing was perfect right after lunch and the boys (and adults) were thrilled. It was so fun and they let the boys climb up in the seats and ring the outer bell. They talked about it for days after. Such special and fun memories!

They got lots of fun and generous gifts: clothes, trains, cars, Mickey bulldozer, a sand table, mini trampoline, a water table. Everyone was so generous. 

A couple of weeks later we headed south to Altamont to celebrate with Chris and the Gatton family. I'm always touched about how sweet and helpful they are with the boys. We made a last minute switch from the park to Bob and Nola's house and they even had decorations and balloons up. Chris had made pineapple upside down cupcakes and the flooded the boys with gifts that were right up their alley. Only trains, cars, and puzzles and the boys couldn't have been happier! 

They are certainly two blessed little boys!

The Boys' First Mural

I learned an important yesterday: Do not leave crayons out and go upstairs. It's my usual routine. About 9:00 every morning I leave the boys down here with Sesame Street and toys and go upstairs to get ready and get a few things done. Blaine has been really into crayons and coloring lately, so they had been laying on their little table (which Pierce had already colored on). I was upstairs for a bit and had no idea anything mischievous was going on down here. I heard Blaine saying "here ya go, mommy" from the gate and came down to find him offering me a quarter. It was so sweet and cute and then I walked into the living room. I was shocked and somewhat amused, but really not mad. I would say mostly incredulous really. They had used every single color and done quite a number. I knew I should be stern about it, but after telling them that they shouldn't color on the walls I had them stand by it and take their picture saying cheese. I couldn't help it! I figured it was Pierce, but I really can't be certain that Blaine had no involvement. He'll tell you buh did it, but when I ask him if he did too he says yeah. But he says yeah to everything really. They were a hit on Facebook and I got some good advice for getting crayon off. Luckily this morning I went at it with a wet sponge and a lot of elbow grease and it came off. We knew eggshell paint would come in handy. A soapy sponge also worked for the little bit of crayon they got on my white chair too. I don't know why they love that corner behind the chair so much, but it's like the naughty, rebellious corner. Maybe b/c that's where time out is too? In any case, I consider it somewhat of an official initiation into toddlerhood. Welcome!

Myrtle Beach...Did you know it was bike week?

We headed south from the Kleinbergs for an almost 4 hour drive to Myrtle Beach. The time went pretty quickly, despite the fact that neither boy slept. Thank goodness for the iPad! My plan was to hit the grocery store on our way in so we wouldn't have to get out again. We found a Wal-Mart and got what we needed. We both noticed that the demographic wasn't quite what we expected. We were definitely the minority and I had noticed a lot of scantily clad Black women and men in vests. We went on to our condo (Which ended up being another 30 minutes away. Oops.) and headed upstairs with a nice bellhop. On our way upstairs he said, "So I have to ask you..." (at which point I thought he was going to ask if the boys were twins or something) "When you booked your vacation, did you know it was bike week?". I told him that I had seen a thing or two about it, but didn't think much about it. He gave us a knowing smile and that was it. So we get to our condo and the keybox wouldn't open with the code I was given. This should have been my first clue. I got a hold of the manager and we got in only to find it was 80 degrees and rising in there. It was already pretty hot and sticky outside and I had no patience for no AC. I was in touch with Karen again and she called to find an AC guy to come and take a look. Finally, after almost having to switch condos for the night, a man arrived at about 8:00. Pierce had already fallen asleep, bless his heart, but Blaine was in fine form. At some point while the guy was fixing it he asked us if we knew it was bike week. I said, "Yeah, but what does that really mean? Is it a big deal or something?". He just smiled and said, "You'll see". So the AC got fixed and we went to bed, noticing some revving motorcycle engines as we did.

As the week went, we basically learned Bike Week in Myrtle Beach is code for every Black bike gang in the coastal area coming to ride and rev their engines at night. It was definitely a thug-ish, shady crowd, but we minded our own business and didn't have too many encounters, other than the huge group hanging out in the parking lot every time we came in and out. Luckily our condo ended up being a good fit and had wonderful, close access to the beach. We hit the beach the first afternoon and the boys had a great time in the sand with their new sand pails and shovels. The beach was even nicer than we'd expected with white sand and dunes like I'd always wanted to see. The water wasn't too cold, but both boys were pretty timid about getting too close. Swimming pools still intimidate them some, so I wasn't too surprised. :)

The weather ended up being perfect, even after looming threats of 40%+ chances of rain. It only rained hard once for a bit during an evening. It was plenty warm and very humid, so getting in the water felt good. We would carry the boys to the shore and dip their toes in and let the waves splash us. They were still nervous, but let themselves enjoy it for a bit. Pierce loved running around the vast sand and Blaine mostly played with his sand toys. After a day or two he started getting bored though (much like the backyard at home) and had some meltdowns on the beach. I don't think he was still quite himself post illness. Probably one of the boys' favorite beach moments was when we let them wreck a pretty sandcastle someone had built and left. They'd eyed it for awhile and we finally gave in and let them wreck. It was fast, but very fun! It was really neat to see them experience another environment and I love giving them those adventures.

On a cooler morning we killed some time at a local children's museum. Cute museum, cranky kids. We tried one of many "famous" seafood buffets which was, as we had somewhat expected, like a seafood Golden Corral. We hit the boardwalk which was really pretty, but again, cranky kids and a lot of sketchy bikers. The condo also had a nice pool with a little water park attached. It was a little cool with the wind and water, but we got the boys down the slides a few times and they enjoyed it. We also rode the lazy river around with them a couple times. They really did a good job overall, but we discovered that vacationing with nearly 2 year olds was a little more exhausting. I was definitely ready to come home and be back in our normal environment with high chairs! They mostly "ate" (I use that term loosely) on a couch with the TV on. I'm so glad we got to go. It was wonderful to see the Kleinbergs and meet Ellie and let the boys experience the beach.