5 on Friday

Here a 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. Justin decided to make a clubhouse behind one of the living room chairs and take Nathan's puffs with him. But it turned into one big mess when J decided to pour the puffs all over the floor. And as Carlene tried to clean it up, Nathan was right on her heels munching away.

2. Ariana was a little fussy and started throwing a fit so Lalla picked her up and laid her on her lap to try and calm her down. J and AJ walked up to Ari and leaned into her; it looked like they were asking "what's wrong?" and telling her "it'll be okay".

3. Carlene and the boys picked me up from work. When I got in the car and turned around to say hi to J he gave me the biggest smile and said hi.

4. Mary Jo (Justin's Early On special education teacher) was trying to clean up after Monday's session but J was holding on to his toy of the day. Lalla grabbed a ball to trade for what he had but J took the ball and kept the toy. So Lalla repeated the trade, or should I say bribe, and asked J "what are you going to give me for the ball"? J looked around, picked up his empty snack cup and handed it to Lalla. He's so smart, lol.

5. Nathan was pushing the TV buttons causing the screen to go back and forth between blue and static. Every time the static appeared Nathan giggled infectiously and he laughed at it like he had never seen or heard it before.

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. I had just finished nursing Nathan to sleep and was trying to get comfortable when I rolled over to find Nathan wide awake and smiling. I hoped that by closing my eyes and ignoring him he'd go back to sleep but he started opening my eyes with his hands and when that didn't work he started putting his fingers in my nose.

2. J sings along with Row Row Row Your Boat when he's watching "Your Baby Can Read".

3. Nathan has started feeding himself. He's been eating puffs off his tray and the other night he took the spoon from me and fed himself some peas.

4. J was watching Counting with Elmo and when they got to the part where they count by 10 by counting kids fingers he dropped the toy he was playing with and held up his hands and wiggled his fingers.

5. Carlene was talking to Dad on the phone when J walked up to her and asked to talk to his Grandpa Smitty. I'm not sure if he had an actual conversation with him or not, but Carlene said J grinned the entire time he held the phone.

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. So I've been letting Nathan sleep with me since Carl's been gone and last night when Nathan woke up he turned his head and smiled at me, then rolled over and gave me a kiss.

2. J was watching TV when Nathan started banging toys on the floor, making it hard for him to hear. So he walked towards me with the remote in his hand and pointed to the volume, instructing me to turn it up for him.

3. J can count from 1 - 10 but skips certain numbers. He will say 1, 2, 3, skip to 5, and then skip to 8 and 9. And he's started laughing like the Count on Sesame Street, imagine hearing 8, ha ha ha, 9 ha ha ha.

4. Nathan said Dada; too bad Carl wasn't here to hear it :(

5. J walked up to me holding a flashcard with a black oval on it and said oval when he handed it to me. When I asked him what color it was he said dirty, but as he turned and walked away he yelled out black.

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. During dinner Justin pulled me in close to him. I thought he was going to try and feed me his food but to my surprise he took my corn on the cob from me. He played with it at first but eventually it made its way to his mouth.

2. In one day Justin ate grits and toast for breakfast, snacked on Nathan's puffs and his veggie puffs, ate 3 bowls of Spaghettios, drank 3 cups of Pediasure AND ate applesauce. How awesome is that!

3. I always tell Justin "goodnight" and "mommy loves you" at bedtime. After I laid J down Sunday night he told me goodnight.

4. Looks like we may have another hair stylist/master barber in the family. During bath time Aiden got a kick out of washing Justin's hair. After massaging his hair he poured water on J's hair to rinse the soap off.

5. Aiden and Justin love playing in J's room and climbing up the stairs to head to his room. They were playing in the living room and I yelled out "alright boys" and they both rushed to the gate. They knew exactly what that means and couldn't wait to get upstairs.

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week.

1. Sunday night I was clipping Nathan's fingernails when J walked up to me and stuck his finger in my face and requested that I clip his nails too.

2. Carlene handed J his milk and he politely responded with "thank you".

3. Nathan is becoming much more mobile. He's not crawling yet but he's really revving to go. Although, I wonder if he'll skip crawling altogether since he's starting to pull himself up.

4. J and AJ love Jack's Music Show. During one episode they did the "Freeze Dance" and J and AJ froze and started up dancing again on cue.

5. We bought a new security gate to keep the boys out of the kitchen but they quickly figured out how to work it and bumrushed the gate together. I guess you have to love this stage of problem solving, lol.

5 on Friday

As always, here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. During our trip home from Lansing Sunday I kept sneaking peaks at J through the headrest in the car and every time I turned around J gave me the biggest smile.

2. Carlene was reading Dr. Suess' Alphabet Book to J and AJ and J laughed at every single page while AJ looked at him "thinking what in the world is so funny?".

3. J's newest thing is feeding the person who's feeding him. Well Saturday J was snacking on Cheerios and Bailey walked by so he tried to feed her a Cheerio.

4. Lalla and Ariana visited Wednesday and J kept tugging on Ari's car seat whenever she wasn't in it. I'm sure he was trying to fasten the buckles, but he was tugging so hard that if we hadn't stopped him he probably would've pulled it off the chair. But when he walked by later and saw Ari in the car seat he didn't even touch it.

5. I was getting ready in the bathroom Wednesday morning and Carlene was taking the boys downstairs for breakfast so I said to J "go with TC, mommy will see you in a bit" and he smiled at me and said "ok".

5 on Friday

Here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. My hands were full when I came down the steps so Justin ran to the foot of the stairs and helped me open the security gate.

2. Justin rubbed the thermometer on his forehead and then checked the screen. When the temperature didn't register he hit the reset button and tried again. Then he cleared out the screen and took my temperature.

3. Nathan has discovered the mirror on the car headrest and smiles when we put him in the car. He likes to pull himself upright so he can get a good look at himself in the mirror.

4. AJ loves to dance, even without music. This morning I started clapping my hands and he started stomping his feet and waving his hands in the air.

5. Carlene was cleaning up spilled goldfish so J grabbed the dustpan and held it straight for her while she swept up the mess.

"It's Friday...

waitin on 5, lol"

My BFF Ambyr sent me the above text message yesterday evening. It's nice to know that I have loyal readers so I really try to keep the blog up to date. But as I'm sure you can imagine, life with 2 little ones gets a little hectic sometimes. So I thank all of you for hanging in there with us and following faithfully.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. Justin loves reading flashcards with TC and gets excited whenever he sees her pulling them out. I finally got to see him reading his flashcards in person. It was so cute seeing him recognize each picture and tell me what it was; he was grinning from ear to ear.

2. Nathan was dozing off to sleep but as soon as I smiled at him he opened his eyes really wide, smiled back at me, and then dozed back off to sleep.

3. We're trying to introduce J to whole milk w/ carnation instant breakfast but he realizes it's different because it's cold. So we mixed half Pediasure (room temperature) and half milk but he still knew it was different. Carlene had to pour the mix in a different sippy cup when he wasn't looking and then he drank it. Justin's smart, but not smarter than his TC, lol.

4. Wednesday morning AJ wouldn't eat his oatmeal but Justin was more than happy to eat it for him...but only out of TC's bowl with her spoon.

5. Justin and I were walking down the steps and I yelled to Carlene to come see J walking down the steps like a big boy and J repeated "big boy" after me.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. We had just gotten back from shopping and were unloading the car. When I knocked on the back door to tell Carlene to unlock the doors J peeked around the sun shade as if to say "who is it"?
2. Nathan fell asleep in his crib on his own without having to be fed or rocked to sleep. YAY!
3. We were heading downstairs for lunch and as J got to the edge of the top of the stairs he turned around and reached out his hand to grab mine. Since I was carrying Nathan and holding J's hand it was going kind of slow. So I jokingly said to J "you need to hurry this up" and he started scooting down the stairs.
4. The other day a telemarketer called and while I was patiently waiting for a good break in the conversation to say "I'm not interested" I heard someone pressing the keys. The telemarketer, thinking we had gotten disconnected, asked if I was still there and I said that my son was dialing on the phone. It was at that moment that a light bulb went on in my head and I hung up. Thank you J, my new telemarketer buffer.
5. J likes to help dress himself. He puts his feet out when he sees his shoes, holds his legs apart so we can put on his pants/shorts and puts his arms through the arm holes.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. I'm loving J's new found interest in food but for some reason he doesn't always eat well in his booster seat so we just let him eat on the go. As we were wrapping up dinner Sunday evening J climbed up on one of the dining room chairs, got himself settled and started eating the left over food off of Carlene's plate.
2. J is starting to say his ABC's; he's through the letter B. So at first I thought he was saying "baby" but then remembered that baby is actually spelled the opposite way, lol.
3. A few days ago I walked into Nathan's room to see him rolling over to grab his mobile. He's rolled before, but this was the first time I've noticed him roll to reach something he wanted.
4. During play time time J grabbed his singing Elmo out of the toy hamper, handed to Carlene to hold and then grabbed the microphone and started singing the Elmo's World theme song "lalalala, lalalala, Elmo's World" while Aiden danced along to the music.
5. J has been quietly reading to himself for weeks but this week is he much more vocal, excited and interactive; shaking his head when saying or being told no, pointing to his eye when he sees the shape/word oval or saying the word ball when he sees it in a book.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. Sunday Justin walked up to Carl and handed him a book. About 5 minutes after Carl finished reading to him Justin walked me to his room and grabbed another book and started jumping up and down in excitement. He loves turning the pages as we read to him.
2. Nathan was sitting in our bed while I was getting ready for work. No sooner than I would sit him upright he would plop himself down. He had a ball wrapping himself in and rolling around in the covers.
3. Carl brought Justin into our room Wednesday evening to say goodnight to me before putting him to bed. As they were walking out J started waving bye to me.
4. Now that Nathan's sitting unassisted he sits on the floor and plays with his brother and brouzin. Just the other day the 3 of them were fighting over a toy. And wouldn't you know, Nathan won the battle. That little boy is so strong and can definitely hold his own.
5. I'm loving the relationship the brouzins are developing. Justin & AJ miss each other when AJ spends time with his dad. When he left Monday J stood at the door saying bye bye to him. And when AJ came home Wednesday J squealed in delight and started chasing him around the living room.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. J was in the kitchen with me while I was cooking dinner Wednesday evening and when I opened up the oven door he pointed and said hot, hot.
2. J can walk up and down the stairs like a big boy but he's smart enough to know that he can only do it when Carl or I are holding his hand. If he's going up or down the stairs when our hands are full he'll scoot or climb on the stairs.
3. Nathan loves the song "Find Your Love" by Drake and cracks up every time I sing the chorus. Similar to last year, J loved the song "I Need a Girl" by Trey Songz, especially when I changed the word girl to boy in the chorus.
4. Last Friday I got a Blackberry instant message from Carlene with my e-mail address in the message so I asked her why she sent me my email adress. But she didn't send it, it was J. When she checked her phone she saw that J had saved 3 e-mails to me. I guess he really wanted to talk to his mama.
5. Nathan has the most priceless facial expressions. He was getting tummy time in the bassinet and now that he can push himself up he looks around as if to say "but what about me". Guess he doesn't want to miss out on the fun his brother and brouzin are having.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. We were sitting down to dinner and I unlatched the snack tray on J's booster seat so I could snap him in. He ran up behind me and pulled himself into his seat all by himself.

2. J's had a runny nose the past few days so I've been using the nasal aspirator to suction out the extra mucus. Usually he fights me whenever I use it but he let me use it without a fight. And when I finished he grabbed the aspirator and started using it, the proper way, no less.

3. Nathan sat up on his own for a few seconds before toppling over. Now he realizes that he can use his arms to help prop himself up.

4. J's becoming quite the acrobat and is constantly doing handstands in his crib or off of furniture. Saturday after Lalla's baby shower the boys were playing in the backyard and Justin was doing handstands. After about 3 0r 4 times he flipped himself over. Looks like I might have a future Olympian on my hands.

5. J continues to be mommy and daddy's little helper by helping with clean up. Monday evening he and Carl played in the backyard with his ball pit. After they were done playing he helped us put all the balls back in the bag.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. Carlene opened the door and Justin was waiting for me at the front door when I came home from work Wednesday evening. As soon as I got out of the car he started cheesing.
2. Nathan has discovered his feet/toes and loves playing with them. It's so cute hearing him squeal/coo in delight.
3. Justin loves snapping things together. I have trouble buckling up Nathan in his car seat because J is constantly snapping the straps and I don't realize it until after I've put Nathan in the carrier.
4. Nathan is the happiest baby ever. He loves getting attention and doesn't hesitate to bat those eyes and flash those pearly whites. Okay, so maybe he has no teeth, but you know what I mean, lol!
5. During work I got the cutest picture message from Carlene with the following caption "The entire box of cheerios". Apparently unsatisfied with the snack Carlene gave him, J silently took snack time into his own hands by ripping open the bag of Cheerios. Carlene walked into the kitchen to find J and his partner in crime sitting in a pile of Cheerios, happily munching them one by one.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. Justin never ceases to amaze me; he’s totally mastered climbing all pieces of furniture. He’s also quite good at getting himself down without hurting himself. The other day he pushed the pillows off of the couch before proceeding to dive off, head first.
2. I love the quality time Nathan & I spend together while nursing. He now smiles at me while nursing, how sweet!
3. Justin continues to be such a sweetheart. The other day Carl and I were giving each other mini-back rubs while hugging so Justin joined in and started massaging his dad’s leg.
4. Nathan is becoming quite the flirt. He’s such a ham, as soon as someone smiles at him he smiles right back.
5. Justin has the cutest dance move. I can’t quite describe it, but he lifts one leg/knee up and stomps to the music.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. Nathan is beginning to play with toys.
2. Justin is starting to string 2 words together; his newest phrase is “step back”.
3. Justin likes mimicking his TC, especially when she’s disciplining AJ. He likes to repeat “get down” and “no”.
4. Nathan smiles and squeals in delight when he sees me after I get home from work.
5. Now that AJ is walking play time is so much more fun; Justin likes to follow/chase AJ around the living room.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 reasons I'm loving my boy(s) this week:

1. Wednesday I walked out of the bathroom to find Justin with a pad of paper and an ink pen in his hands. What did he think he was going to do, write me a note.
2. Justin’s enjoying eating food now. Tuesday he grabbed sweet potatoes and corn out of his drawer, along with a spoon, and brought them to his TC as if to say “feed me”.
3. Justin continues to be a sweetheart. When Nathan cries J pats him on his shoulder to try and calm him down.
4. Justin’s getting really smart. During a visit with his great aunt he grabbed her keys, walked to the door and attempted to put one of the keys in the keyhole.
5. Nathan’s such a chunky monkey, how can you not love those cheeks.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 reasons I’m loving my boys this week.

1. Lately I’ve been combing Justin’s hair with a fine tooth comb. The other day he had a fork in his hand and thought it was a comb so he took the fork and tried to comb his hair.
2. Nathan is such a happy baby!
3. J is developing a love of reading. I often find him sitting off to the side flipping through a book.
4. J continues to be such a sweetheart. He loves giving hugs to his brother, brouzin and mommy.
5. Nathan slept for 6 ½ hours last night. Hmm, maybe I (or should I say Carl, lol) should give him a bottle just before bed more often.

5 on Friday

Here are 5 reasons I'm loving my boys this week:

1. J is starting to enjoy eating solids and now starts crying when we don’t feed him fast enough. Boy is that cry music to my ears.
2. Nathan’s dimples, enough said!
3. Normally Hillary escorts us back to our therapy sessions. This week the receptionist gave us the okay to head back on our own. J understood what she said and on his own made a v-line to the door and walked, or should I say ran, all the way back to the OT room.
4. Nathan’s a little chunky monkey, enough said!
5. I love watching J play with his toys. He knows how to stack, sort, and put shapes in the proper slots.