Hup Bees!

I have been working hard at getting Jack to say "Help" and/or "Please" when he wants something or needs something done, instead of screaming and pointing like he usually does.  Just lately, he has started saying "Hup!" for anything and everything that he wants or needs.  It is very cute, but can be annoying because he thinks if he says Help, he automatically gets it.  We consistently have to tell Grandmas and Grandpas the new words Jack is using and translate for him!  Just yesterday he has started saying, "Bees" for please.  I think it is just the cutest thing when he comes to me and says "Oh bees" and stares at me with those huge blue eyes, how can I say no to him?!  But anyhow it is very cute and we appreciate very much this polite new thing!

The other great thing is he gave up his bottle of soy milk this week, by himself.  He has just decided he is now ready for a sippy cup and that is the only thing that will do!  Don't get me wrong, I totally love it and am glad to be done with bottles for him, I just think it's funny he did it all on his own!  The bad news about bottles though is Audrey has decided to stop taking them too!  It was really over Christmas when she was spoiled with me home all the time and being able to eat whenever, she has become a breast milk brat!  She will only take it from the source and will not take it from ANYBODY when its in a bottle!  We have even tried putting rice cereal with it and feeding it to her and she just screws up her face and spits it out.  So sadly I run home on lunch every day I work, it stinks but it has to be done!

Now for some cute pictures!  This isn't a particularly attractive picture but I love it because it shows her chunky thighs!

This is her big girl outfit!  It makes her look so old!

Jack is becoming more and more independent every day!  He is his own man and likes to do things his way.  I let him eat his yogurt with a big boy spoon and this is how it turned out!

Audrey loves Jack and I am not very sure why!  He torments her out of love!  He hugs her too hard, kisses her too hard, rolls on top of her, shouts in her face, tugs at her clothes, spits at her, runs her walker into things, feeds her oreos, shoves his bottle or sippy in her mouth, and just loves her!  She just adores him and smiles when he looks at her.  He can get her giggling so hard she snorts!  Here are some of the fun times they have together.

Wrestling on the bed (under supervision)

Pushing the walker around

Sharing toys

And talking on the phone!!!

I love these kiddos so much and I am so happy to call them mine!

Love/Hate Relationship

So we have this love/hate relationship with the garbage man!  Jack is obsessed with trucks and cars, basically anything with tires/wheels.  Well our garbage man comes to empty the dumpsters every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  No matter where we are or what we are doing, we must drop everything to go see him dump the garbage and drive away.  Jack will be playing, drop his toys, and run up to me saying "Ha-wee, Ha-wee!!!!" (Hurry! Hurry!)  We then run to the door and step out on the front porch.  The nice man always waves at us and we love him then.  When we hate him . . . sometimes Jack gets up early which means he takes an early nap.  I will just get Jack in his crib and the stupid garbage man comes by.  Jack wakes up, stands up in his crib and says "Ha-wee!"  So frustrating!!!  I don't go in and get him, but he is still wide awake and it is hard to convince him to take a nap!

Growing Up So Fast

So I feel kind of guilty! I see all these other moms get all teary and emotional when they say their kids are growing up so fast. My kids are growing so fast too, but I don't get that "oh my gosh I am going to miss this!" feeling. Am I doing something wrong? Don't get me wrong, I love them and I love the stages they are at, I am just trying to enjoy every part of them at every age. I miss some of the cute little things Jack used to do, but now he is doing new cute things. And Audrey is becoming more independent everyday! I love the little baby, but it is a little more convenient that she is getting bigger and sturdier. I just figure, you can't go back and relive anything so enjoy em' while they're young. Maybe I am bad in that way, but I am glad the newborn days are over! Anyway, I love my kids! I love spending time with them in whatever stage they are in!

Audrey's 4 Month Update

My not so little girl went in for her 4 month check-up today. She is 26 inches long (off the charts), 14 lbs 13 ozs (80th percentile) and her head is 16.6 inches (75th percentile)! I love my big little girl!

Songs and Prayers

Jack has always loved singing songs. When I sing to him and the song finishes, he smiles at me and says "Mo, mo!" (his for more.) So I have to do it because he is just too darn cute! Well his favorite song in the world is twinkle, twinkle little star. He knows the whole tune and will sing it to me, although he won't usually sing along with me. Lately he has changed the lyrics to the song which makes my heart smile. (A little background on the lyrics, we have a painting of Noah and the arc and all the animals in his room as well as a gorgeous one by Greg Olsen. Every night, Jack tells us where Jee-za, No-ahhh, awk (arc), eeeep (sheep), and bee-uh (beaver) are.) Today he sang the whole song using Jee-sa, No-ahhh, Ba-pa (Grandpa), and Eee-ahh (Lisa) as his song lyrics. I don't think any of them minded it and I think it's cute that he likes all of them so much he would use them in a song.

The other cute thing he has picked up is praying and saying a-men. He has said "may-men" for a while after prayers, but now after I say a prayer he will fold his arms again, talk in high pitch baby talk, then announce may-men. He usually says a couple of these sweet little prayers, then he's done. He also uses this tactic when I want him to do something during the day. He will stop and show me to fold my arms and then he will say multiple prayers. How can you say no to a child that is praying with you?!

Oh Jealousy!!!

So we haven't had any major melt downs up to this point with jealousy . . . until this week! Audrey is growing and getting bigger every day so it was time to get the teething toys and bouncer out! Well, Jack thinks that all of these things belong to him and Audrey should have nothing to do with any of them! He can run around, and pretty much rules the house (within reason) and low and behold, he wanted to get into the bouncer instead of Audrey. So I have a timer and let Audrey have a turn and then Jack gets a turn! At least it keeps him corraled for a short period of time!

He also thinks that every toy in the house belongs to him. Audrey has her bottom two teeth breaking through and so she needs a teething ring. I guess Jack remembers them! He will just point to them and cry if she has one and I am near them. If I am not near them, he just goes over and swipes it! We are working on that!

Jack pouting over in the corner with his bazillion other fun toys!


Jack finally got his turn! Silly silly boy!

Audrey received a fun rattle from Grandma Margaret for Christmas. She is learning how to hold it and really have fun with it!

Audrey's new hat! I realize it is not all that flattering, but I think she is still cute!

No More Chocolate Cake

So we went to celebrate Lisa's birthday last night. In my family we believe that if the cake isn't chocolate, it probably isn't worth having, so for every birthday my mom makes a chocolate cake from scratch. We don't let Jack eat much of it because I don't like him eating that many sweets! Well last night he was sitting on Aunt Lisa's lap and she just let him go at her piece of cake. I thought it was kind of cute since he has never been able to do that and he seemed fine . . . at the time! We brought him home and put him in bed and he went right to sleep without a fight! But then at about 1:30 or so he was up crying. That is unusual for him since he has been sleeping better at night and not up until at least 4:00 or so. I went in and went to grab him to put him back down and I felt it and smelled it at about the same time! He was crying and wanted to just go back to sleep. I woke up Johnny and he sat with him in the bathroom with Jack in the tub, while I cleaned out the crib. Audrey slept through everything! She really is the perfect baby! After putting him back to bed and one other little throw up incident, he didn't wake up to stay until just after 8:00. So after all that, there will be no more chocolate cake for Jack for quite a while!