Mountain Boys

William spent last week in Cleveland with my parents.  And I know he had a great time.  Who wouldn’t?!  A whole week of undivided attention and constant playtime and hanging with one of the coolest granddaddies the world has ever seen!!  We called him every morning on the way to work – though he didn’t always want to talk because The Cat in the Hat was on tv and it was apparently riveting.  He would talk a little more in the evening and it was fun to have a conversation with him.  The things that are important to 2.5 year old are adorable.  Mostly he talked about cars and trains.  

We skyped on Valentine’s day so we could kind of give him his gifts.  We didn’t go crazy – he got two dinosaur toys and two foam swords/axes.  You would’ve thought we’d given him the most expensive toy in the store.  He LOVED the dinosaurs – we watched him play with them for what seemed like 15 minutes.  Eating tails, riding on the track, his imagination knows no bounds.  And the axe is a Pirate sword.  Cute kid.   He wasn’t very interested in telling us about his day once the “dinosaurus” came out, but that’s ok.  We videoed us Skyping-  crazy right?! – so we will always be able to laugh at how silly he is.

I think Patrick probably enjoyed being an only child.  I know we did.  The evenings were so much easier, not to mention the morning routine was beyond simple.  He slept in several of the mornings -  so we got to get ready without interruption.  I didn’t even remember what that was like! Ha!!  I think he missed having William as entertainment though.  He enjoys watching the wild man run around but Dinosaur Train filled in one morning, along with his jumperoo.  He’s finally tall enough for his feet to reach the ground and he loves that thing!  

Patrick is growing like a weed.  He is over 17.5 pounds now and in 6-9 month clothes.  He still fits in some of the 3-6 onesies and pants, but for the most part we have moved his closet over.  And I guess William didn’t stay long in 6-9 or we borrowed a big chunk of his wardrobe for this size, but there are very few outfits for Patrick to wear.  I am going to get very sick of seeing the same things every week, even if they are super adorable.  Maybe he will really chunk up and out and move into 9-12 size – because we have an overflowing tote in that size!!  Can’t wait to see what he weighs at his 6 month appointment – very excited to see how much he’s grown on breast milk alone.

I know I’m not quite at the milestone yet – still 1.5 weeks to go – but I am super proud of making it to 6 months of exclusively breastfeeding and I feel really lucky that my milk supply cooperated.  I remember in the beginning few weeks thinking that 6 months was so far away and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to make it that long, and now I can barely even imagine wanting to stop.  Even coming back to work, when pumping seemed like such a hassle and a chore – I’ve been doing that 3 times a day for four months.  And you know – that is something to be proud of.  No judgment, but there are plenty of moms I know who quit breastfeeding after maternity leave because it was too much to keep up.  Too little sleep.  Too much time needed.  So I am going to take one moment and tell myself that I am awesome for not giving up.  It is hard work, but totally worth it.

Ok.  Moment over.  Back to the regularly scheduled program.

I’m not sure if potty training is around the corner or not, but William has started going off in a corner to poop.  And he doesn’t want you to look at him while he does it.  I didn’t get to witness this one, but it was hilarious hearing about it from Sam.  “Don’t look at me Daddy!!!!!!!”  I can just hear him saying that!  (mostly because he says that often about all kinds of things… but y’know)  He has woken up dry from nap a time or two, but never has been dry in the morning.  Which is probably because he goes to bed with a cup of water….we are obviously still working on getting that one out of the routine.   I’m not the least bit worried about whether or not he should start potty training now, but I just keep filing away these readiness signs.  The biggest sign of not ready – he still hates the potty….  You can’t potty train him if he won’t go near it.  Just saying.  

Patrick is starting to get strong enough to sit.  We still have to support him but we can tell that he is close.  It takes him a little longer each day to fall over….  And funny – he still doesn’t like to roll over.  He can do it, but rarely gives us the treat of squealing for him.  Maybe it’s his belly – he gets halfway over and just decides it’s too much work to go all the way…  He’s usually pretty happy just to lay on his back/belly and play with any toy within reach.  He loves the tags on the stuffed toys more than the toy itself though.  Guess he really is related to William!!

I can’t remember  if I said this before – but recreational yelling is in full force.  He isn’t really that loud yet but he is most certainly spirited about it!!  So fun to watch him run around in the walker – which he is getting quite good at!! – and yell at doors, toys, and anything in front of him.  We have video of him repeatedly running the walker into the water heater closet door and giving it quite the “what for”.  Love it!!

Just in the past few days, Patrick has really gotten the hang of the walker.  He is able to control where he wants to go, get over thresholds, and is enjoying himself immensely.  He couldn't contain himself one evening while I was making dinner and just kept RUNNING in circles in the kitchen!  It was positively adorable.  He hasn't quite mastered reversing out of corners yet, but that will come.  We are just impressed with how quickly he went from enjoying the walker, to being a baby expert at it.  Goodness - they grow way too fast!!!

Loves!!