Wills' 3rd Birthday!

I took the day off so that Charles, Wills and I could spend the day together to celebrate his birthday.

We started off with french toast at Good Gravy. While were there, a gentleman at another table over heard us talking about his birthday, so he came over to the table and gave Wills three dollars. Such a sweet gesture!

Then spent the day at White Water Bay. Wills had an amazing time. We played in the Kid Cove, floated the lazy river, jumped some waves, jumped off the cliff twice! and went down the Big Kahuna tube ride. We even managed to leave the park without a meltdown!

After nap, we went and had snocones for a snack.

Then we headed to the mall and played in the play space there and ate dinner in one of the cars. This was a treat because usually the cars are always full.

Wills is 3!

I cannot believe another year has flown by! Wills turns three today! He has had a lot of big changes over the last year.

He started pre school at Erna Krouch. His teachers were Ms. Sharon and Ms. Jill. We could not have asked for a better first school experience. They were so good to him and even called him their "angel baby". Charles and I are thankful he is an angel for others, even if he isn't always for us!

Wills became a big brother. This was pretty rough on him. He didn't want much to do with Ephram and became extra attached to me. Things have slowly been improving over the last 9 months. He will tell Ephram he loves him and give him kisses goodnight. He has been known to "read" to him and occasionally share his toys with him. Never the trains though!

We lost our nanny in May. She had been with us since Wills was 10 weeks old. He has handled the transition to new nannies really well. A friend's daughter has been helping us out over the summer while we looked for someone new. We hired a new more permanent nanny and she started a couple of weeks ago.

We took a long weekend in May and did potty training. Overall I am really proud of how he did. He still has the occasional accident when he is having too much fun to stop and go and sometimes at nap time too. He wears undies all day, but we do put him in pull ups at night. 

We had his big celebration with friends and family last weekend at the Oklahoma City Railway Museum. He had a wonderful time. I will do a full post on just the party another day.

Interview with Wills:
What is your name? Nothing (he actually said nothing)
How old are you? Three
What color is your hair? This color right here (points at his head)
What color are your eyes? Brown
What's your favorite toy? Diesel 10 (a Thomas train)
What's your favorite animal? Elephants, no STINGRAYS!
What's your favorite show? Thomas
What's your favorite book? Train (by Elisha Cooper)
What's your favorite food? French Toast
Who is your best friend? Holly
Who sleeps in your bed with you? Thomas, Paxton and Belle

Loves: PB and Jelly, grapes, applesauce, french fries, ketchup, milk, books, puzzles, trains, swimming, movie night
Dislikes: Pizza, dance parties, sharing, just about any vegetable other than corn, carrots and broccoli

Florida 2014

We took our annual trip to Florida with my sister and her family and my mother. We go the week of 4th of July. Ephram's Godparents and their son were also there at the same time, so we got to spend time with them as well. This years trip was truly the best yet. The weather was fabulous, there were no injuries, stomach bugs or teething!

We celebrated Grammy's birthday:

We played in the ocean, at the pool and the house:

We went on a crab hunt: 

We had a date night (thanks Grammy!):

We celebrated the 4th of July:

Ephram at Eight Months

Yay for another healthy month! We didn't even need allergy medicine this month. It is so nice to have two healthy boys right now. Ephram continues to be a snuggly boy and loves to be held. I still love holding him, but he is getting so heavy! We get lots of comments about his size. He is still in the infant car seat, so when you add his weight to the car seat, it is at least 40 lbs. I can tell I use my left arm to carry him the most, because it actually has a little muscle!

I continue to be so thankful that we have another good sleeper. He is even better than Wills. If Ephram falls asleep in the car, he might wake up when you get him out, but he has no issues going back to sleep once you put him in his crib. He also will nap on the go a lot more easily than Wills did. This is probably because he doesn't have a choice. Wills' morning activities dictate when and how Ephram can nap in the morning. Afternoon nap is still sacred for both boys and we always try to be home for it!

No doctor's appointments this month! That is so nice to write. His scar continues to fade. Some days it is more noticeable than others. We are not as diligent with the massage and scar fade as we were, and need to get back into the habit. We have been trying to be good about using sunscreen on it anytime we are out.

This child loves food. I don't think he has an off switch either. He continues to eat 4 bottles a day, 7 to 8 oz each. He also is eating 2-3 oz of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We started giving him these organic baby biscuits on occasion. They are super messy, but they allow me to eat my own meal without having to multitask quite so much.

Eight Month Stats:
Weight: 20.4 lbs
Clothing size: 9 months for tops, 9 to 12 months for tops and bottoms and 12 months for bottoms.
Must haves: wubanub, lillebaby carrier, our dogs,
Milestones: He started rolling to get places. You can't put him down and expect him to still be there if you walk away.

Brothers side by side:

Wills                                Ephram

Ephram at Seven months

Wooohoo! We have had a relatively healthy month other than allergies. So exciting! Ephram still loves to be held, but is content to chill in his excersaucer more than he was. I seem to be the main culprit in him wanting to be held all the time. If he can see me or hear my voice he immediately decides he needs to be picked up. Whoops. I am trying to get better. It's just so hard because he is so snuggly!

Sleep is still overall awesome. We had one night this month where he was up every 1-2 hours and it was awful. He sleeps for about an hour in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. If we are out and about in the morning his nap suffers and he sometimes will need a cat nap around noon and then his regular afternoon nap. He occasionally still needs a cat nap in the evenings too, usually about 20 minutes. He used to wake up screaming and irritated and that has improved greatly. Now he just lays in there and plays and chatters too himself until someone comes to get him.

We had another check up with Dr. Smith this month. He thought Ephram's scar looked a lot better and we did not have to do another steroid shot. He did recommend we start using preparation H on the scar to help with the redness. We don't have to go back again for three months.

His love of food continues. He has not turned up his nose at anything we have offered. He is mostly eating fruits and vegetables. I did introduce oatmeal and tofu this month. Hopefully next month I will add a little more variety into his diet. He is still taking a bottle 4 times a day and usually drinks 7-8 oz each time.

Seven Month Stats:
Weight: 19.8 lbs (65%)
Height: 27 1/2 in (61%)
Head: 18 in (92%)
Clothing size: 9 months and 9 to 12 months
Must haves: wubanubs, lillebaby carrier, big brother
Milestones:
I don't have exact dates for these, but he has discovered his feet and they go in his mouth on occasion, he started "talking" this month and he is sitting up like a champ.

Brothers side by side:

Wills                        Ephram

Ephram was crying and Wills said "It's ok Ephram. Calm down. Take a deep breath." and then he let out a big breath. Too bad big brother doesn't take his own advice!