Brothers

Stephen has been a pretty good big brother so far. I'm looking forward to watching their relationship grow as they get older. I walked into the living room the other day to see this scene. Hopefully, I'll see a lot more of Stephen reading to Paul in the future.

I took this video last night. Paul loves his big brother!

3 months old

Paul is 3 months old. He's such an easygoing baby. He doesn't cry much, but when he does, he lets you know how upset he is. He's very smiley and is almost giggling. He's getting very good at holding his head up and loves watching the world around him. He goes to bed around 8:30 and will usually sleep until around 12:30-1:30. Then he'll wake up again in 2-3 hours. He's helped make the transition from one to two a little easier. We love you, Paul!

Paul James - 3 months old

Stephen Joseph - 21 months old and Paul James- 3 months old

my little man

Fun in the sun

Last week we had a couple fun outings. We went to a nearby lake where we played and fed the ducks. We created quite a frenzy with our bread. I was afraid they might come after us when we were done.

 On Friday we ventured to the zoo again. We got to see the new elephant exhibit and were in time for an elephant show. Two other highlights were seeing this monkey trying to crack the coconut on a rock and this tiger looking right at us.

21 months old

Stephen is 21 months old. He has become quite the little chatterbox as you can see in this video. I love listening to his constant talking and singing.

Some other fun facts about Stephen...
   *He will usually give squeezes (hugs) and kisses when asked.
   *He has started grabbing our hands and taking us where he wants us to go.
   *He loves playing with his soccer ball, basketball, baseball, and football. He throws them and kicks them.
   *He has started calling me "mama." Every once in awhile he still says "mom."
   *His eating habits have become very confusing. The foods I can count on him to eat are any fruits - especially strawberries, grapes, and bananas, peanut butter sandwich, grilled cheese sandwich, ravioli, crackers, cheese, bread, and pasta. Sometimes he will eat chicken and hamburger but only when he feels like it. Vegetables have gone from being something he always eats to something he'll sometimes eat a couple bites of. He loves his milk and water (which he always calls "juice).
   *The words he says that I understand -
         pup (cup)                         
         up  (says for up and for airplane
         nee-nee (Amy or Megan)  
         teet teet(bird)
         papa (Grandpa)                      
         splash (said whenever he sees any water, accompanied by gesture)
         dad, daddy                         
         truck
         mom, mama                        
         choo-choo
         crash                                   
        pa (Paul)
         da (ball)                              
        dada (baby)
         run                                       
         nana (banana)    
         faf-faf (burpcloth or washcloth)
         do (door)                           
         deet (feet)    
         go                                        
        where'd it go?
         mah (more)                          
         peas (please)
         ti-too (thank you)               
        out
         yi (hi, bye, sometimes says something that sounds like "bye, guys)
         has a sound for car                 
         says sounds for dog, sheep, cow, horse, duck
         Jesus                                 
         amen
         shhh (with finger to lips, says when he sees Paul sleeping)
         cheese                                  
          has a word for fruits that I can't think of right now
         get it (says when he's running after a ball)
         whoa                                   
         off
         light                                    
         teeth
         drive, drive (says when we're getting in the car or he's driving one of his cars/trucks)
         huh (says when I ask/tell him something or he hears a noise)
        woo-woo (fire truck/police car/ambulance)
        hat (calls his baseball glove a hat as well)
        hot                                     
         coh (cold)
        

Happy birthday, Daddy!

Yesterday was Daddy's birthday! Unfortunately, he had to work, but we celebrated when he got home. We opened presents...

hot tamales

polo

remote control Mustang

driving his new car

 After supper we took a walk to Aunt Kathy's house - she recently moved just a few blocks away.

The boys are ready to go!

Of course, we ended the night with german chocolate cake after the boys were in bed. Happy birthday, Steve! We love you!

Parade time!

This past weekend was the annual parade in our town. We got there in plenty of time to get a great front-row seat.  It was a beautiful day for a parade. Aunt Kathy and her fiance Grant came to watch it with us.

Waiting for the parade to start

I'm so excited!

Dancing horses - Daddy's favorite

Watching the parade from a golf cart with Daddy and Grant

 

Bagpipers

"Driving" the golf cart

No parade is complete without tractors...

...or fire trucks!

Cute baby

Paul is still here. I'm sure he will have more than his share of blog posts as he gets older. Here's a video I took this morning. He had been talking up a storm until I started recording him, of course. This is his usual morning routine. He happily kicks around and chatters until I get him up.

What's the story, Morning Glory?

Stephen had quite the phone conversation with Aunt Amy yesterday. Part of the time he was actually laughing/talking to her and part of the time he was walking around just carrying the phone. Here's a couple cute pictures I caught.

"You'll never believe what Mommy said today!"

*Brownie points if you know the musical reference in the title

Fun with Stephen

Today Stephen and I did a couple fun activities. First, Stephen did a paint by water picture. He seemed to enjoy this.

 Later, we played with pinto beans. We scooped them with a spoon.

 We used our hands.

 We also used the cups to scoop them.

 We even drove a car in the beans!

Stephen had fun with this activity as well. I think we did this for 25 minutes. He only tried to eat them once right at the beginning. The rest of the time he was very serious about moving the beans to the cups and making sure to pick up any that fell on the floor.

Splish, splash

Stephen loves bathtime! I usually get as wet as he does because he really enjoys splashing. One of his favorite activities is to fill up his cup and pour it out on his tummy. Paul also seems to enjoy bathtime. He doesn't show any emotion but he just lounges in his bathtub. I'm sure he'll be splashing soon. Then I'll have to start wearing a raincoat. :)

Paul - 2 1/2 months old

Stephen - 20 months

Picnic time

Yesterday Stephen and I took advantage of the cooler weather (and a sleeping Paul) and had a picnic lunch. He did really good at first. Then he got distracted by his toys, so we went inside to finish eating. It was fun while it lasted, though.

Melt my heart...

Part of Stephen's naptime and bedtime routine is me singing a song. My repertoire right now includes "Immaculate Mary," "Hail Mary," "Hail, Holy Queen," and "Seek Ye First." Every once in awhile I'll throw in a different song to shake things up. I typically just sing one verse of one song. However, lately when I finish, Stephen has been looking up at me, saying "mah," and doing the sign for "more." So sweet! Of course, I sing another song. I don't know if he really likes my singing or if he's already figured out how to delay bedtime. :)

Tummy time

Paul is liking tummy time and is getting very good at holding his head up. He seems to enjoy looking at the world from a different perspective.

Stephen

Here's what Stephen's been doing lately...

*He's been very into wearing hats lately.

 *He attempted eating corn on the cob but only ate 1 or 2 bites.

*Dog and Tiger accompany him to bed. When I get him up, he has to pick them both up by the tail and hold them in the same hand.

*Stephen is enjoying the Olympics (as am I). I think his favorites are swimming and track. He likes to "run, run, run" across our living room.

Take me out to the ball game!

We went to our first Rockies game of the season on July 28. This was Paul's first baseball game. Both boys did very well. We were accompanied to the game by our friends Doc and Kathie from Montana. Steve happened to meet them four years ago and found out they like coming to watch the Cinncinati Reds play the Rockies, so we make sure to get tickets to one of those games and they travel down and join us. They are a very nice couple, and we enjoy getting to see them on their annual visit.

Paul attempts to control his excitement.

Stephen spent some time coloring with Kathie.