Journey to Jackson

Pop teaching Bear to bear crawl.

Pop and Jace. "Hooray."

Nana found the tickle spot.

The boys and I went to Jackson to visit my parents last week. A very spur of the moment trip. We had a good time catching up, shopping, playing, etc... Thanks for letting us come :)

Roly Poly

Jace has added some new skills to his repertoire lately:

Most excitingly, he rolled over from front to back today! He was arching is back and I looked at Adam and said, "It won't be long. I bet he rolls over in the next week." Jace then promptly rolled over. I got really excited which made Jace smile. And then Barrett followed suit, getting really excited and jumping around saying,"Yea, Jace! He did it. He rolled over. Yea, Jace!" Too cute. One of those priceless moments where you need a hidden camera to truly catch the candid display.

Jace has also really begun noticing his hands. He puts them together and plays with his fingers and just looks at them with his eyebrows showing so much expression and thought. He also eats them. Very cute.

He has also started to playing with toys, swatting at dangling items, reaching for items out of reach, putting them in his mouth, and the cutest thing is when he coos at them. He has even figured out how to make one of his noise-maker toys work.

It is so fun to watch him learn and grow.

Monkey Brains, Bass, and Dog Tails

Barrett can be a finicky eater as are most 2 yr. old children, but Adam has an uncanny way of getting him to eat. On the menu tonight was baked tilapia, rice with veggies, and croissants. He ate almost all of his fish on his own accord, but had not touched the rice or bread. Barrett has never been much of a bread or rice eater, but I asked Adam to try and get him to eat some of it. Adam asked him if he wanted some "monkey brains" and Barrett thought that was funny, and apparently appetizing too, since he ate all of it. Then Adam got him to eat the rest of his fish by telling him it was bass. He then ate half his croissant when it became a "dog tail." I think little girls would be absolutely repulsed by monkey brains, bass, and dog tails for dinner, but my little boy thought it was great. Whatever works!

Barrett's 2 and 1/2 yr. check-up

Well, we went to the doc today for Bear's 2 and 1/2 yr. check-up. He did great. We had to get an unexpected shot today--there was a Hib shortage when his last one was due, so we got it today. I asked him if he remembered when he came to the doctor with Jace and he got his shots and it made him cry for a little while because it hurt. He said he remembered. I explained that you have to get shots to keep you from getting sick later and that it hurts, but only for a minute and then it goes away. He never changed his countenance and just said, "okay." The nurse came in and I told him that this is what we talked about. He said okay again and sat very still, let her give him the shot, and never cried. He just looked at me and said, "That hurt, Mommy. It hurts." He was so brave and shocked the tar out of me (and the nurse). I was so very proud of my big boy!

His official stats:
Weight: 27 pounds 8 ounces (a whole 6 oz. up from 2 yrs)
Height: 37 and 1/4 inches (up an inch and 3/4 from 2 yrs and the exact same height his daddy was at the same age.)
Not sure of the percentiles, but his graph looked fine. I think he is a featherweight, but 50th or better on height.

Barrett's 2 and 1/2 & Jace is 3 months!!!!

Barrett turned 2 and a half yesterday. Hard to believe. His little life is flying by. He is getting so grown--bittersweet. No huge milestones to report as we have had no further successes on the potty, so I will share a few funny Barrett-isms with you.

1) Aunt Andrea ("Yeh Yeh") and I hung out with the boys while Heath and Adam went hunting on Labor Day. Both boys were in the stroller and we strolled past a couple sitting on a park bench. Barrett had just said something neither of us understood and I asked him what he had said for clarification and he looks straight at the couple and says very loudly and clearly, "I got a booger in my nose!" So classic! We couldn't help but laugh and neither could the couple.

2) Probably too much information, but here you go anyway...Barrett deals with constipation from time to time and had been telling me his tummy hurt yesterday after having gone a few days without a #2. I was informing Adam of this when Barrett passes gas very loudly. Adam very calmly says,"Well, he just ripped one. So, maybe he'll go." Barrett then excitedly looks at me while I am giving Adam the look for using that expression and says just as excitedly,"I just ripped one!" Again, we couldn't help but laugh, all the while making a mental note to be more careful of the expressions we use!

We go for his 2 and 1/2 yr. check-up next week and I will post his stats then.

Jace will be 3 months old tomorrow! Wow! Again, life gets faster by the day and his first year is flying by. He doesn't go to the doctor again until 4 months so I don't have any exact stats, but he is somewhere between 13 and 14 lbs at present and appears to be getting longer as well seeing as he is popping the buttons on his sleepers. He is still sleeping through the night and his head and neck are getting stronger. His movements are becoming more purposeful and he is not as easily overstimulated anymore. He is beginning to enjoy swinging a little more and he loves his activity mat now. He is also beginning to get more predictable with his schedule during the day. Here are some recent pictures. I think he looks a lot like my baby pictures right now.

happy in his bouncy seat

entranced by the baby einstein star

tummy time

beautiful boy

smiling at the baby in the mirror

A bit of catch up...long over due...sorry!

At the beginning of August we travelled to TN to introduce Jace to Grandmother and my brothers' families as well as visit Ghee and Grandaddy and the Winchester crew. Here are some pictures from the trip.

Meeting Grandmother for the first time.

Grandaddy with his boys.

Ghee and Jace

Bear playing with "Great" and having a great time!

Jace and Great in the hammock

Bear and Maw playing

Barrett and Paw catching up on loves

Jace and Uncle Chris relaxing

Barrett playing with cousins Griffin (front), Kirsten, and Lucas

We had a great time visiting everyone, but each stop felt far too short. We love you all!