Things we love about Easter

So, I'm back! It's been busy over here, and the task of writing it all down and uploading pictures has seemed, well...daunting. We've had a lot going on between J's swim-meet, pre-Easter festivities, spring break, sickness, and a new puppy. So, a quick update...

My sweet, lazy baby hates his tummy so much that he puts his back legs into a split, uses his hands to walk up, and puts himself into a sitting position. It's quite talented and takes a ton of core strength. He's also very sick, poor baby. He had an ear infection and sinus infection a few weeks back. I kept thinking the antibiotics weren't working, and sure enough, poor boy had 102 fever for a couple days and the ear infection is pretty intense. Hopefully, he's on the mend. Here's a tiny glimpse of how miserable the poor kid has been (puffy, splotchy face, and watery eyes).


J and I have both been struggling with asthma and allergies for a few weeks now, so we are just ready for everyone to feel healthy again!

Teddy, our schnoodle puppy, joined our family as the newest addition. He is super sweet and laid back. As the pictures I posted yesterday will attest, he and J are best friends already. While Matt and I feel as though we have another baby in the house, I know in a few months (when he's trained!) it will be worth it. I've never seen J so excited about something day after day. Teddy is the first thing he asks for in the morning, and the last thing he asks for at night. In fact, he's been begging for Teddy to sleep with him. Once Teddy is housebroken, I have a feeling we might fulfill that request.

Now, onto the fun (which will also update on the other things we've been up to)....

10 things we love about Easter/Spring time!!

1. Bunnies! How fun are they?!


2. The coveted creepy bunny picture.


3. Egg hunts. Sure, they usually only last 20 seconds, but it's still the highlight of the season for the kids. J had a blast running around and filling up his basket. And this is the first year that he really understood what he was supposed to do, so it was doubly exciting.



4. The start of pool season. J is getting ready for pool season by taking swim lessons. And he recently had a meet to show off his new floating skills.


5. Easter parties! Which also contain egg hunts and boatloads of sugary food.





6. Dyeing eggs. We love this tradition that we started last year with J. He comes up with some interesting color combinations.



7. Eating hard boiled eggs. Yup, we might be the only family that actually enjoys this part of it. But it's true. We all love 'em.


8. The Easter bunny visits! This year J was really excited about the eggs the bunny hid. I love when they finally start to "get" it.



9. Dressing up!



10. Warm weather, and all that it entails. Summer clothes, floppy sunhats, flip flops, and in this case juice pops (thanks Ikea!)

Differences

Ten differences between Jamers and O-Man, as babies.

1. O is very content to play by himself, James always wanted to be held.

2. James woke up every 2 hours for his first 9 months of life. Ollie slept through the night at 6 weeks old and continues to sleep well, except when sickness/teething throws him off.

3. James was very attached and didn't like other people holding him. However, he was super smiley to strangers and very flirtatious (as long as they didn't try to hold him). Ollie will let other people hold him, but warms up to strangers slowly. Mostly he looks at people like they're insane when they "baby talk" him at stores. He's also very quick to let someone else know when he's ready for mommy or daddy to hold him again.

4. James would eat just about anything and had a special love for veggies. Ollie makes himself throw up if you offer him anything other than yogurt or babyfood-fruit.

5. James was a marathon napper. Ollie naps for 30 minutes at a time.

6. James was very demanding of attention (not in a bad way). Oliver is super laid back and never complains, unless he's sick.

7. James preferred mama, especially when he was tired. Ollie prefers daddy, especially in the middle of the night.

8. James had big sicknesses his first year of life (heart surgery and asthma issues). Oliver has minor sicknesses, but they are never ending. He constantly has a cold and/or eczema issues.

9. James was an easy teether. We never knew when they were coming in. He'd just surprise us. Ollie whines and cries for about two weeks when teeth are coming in (and whining and crying are so rare with him that that is our first sign he's teething).

10. Before he could crawl, James just fussed whenever he wanted to be moved or needed something out of his reach. Oliver somehow drags his body around, while staying in the sitting position.

And there ya have it. Matt and I comment all the time on how they are polar opposites. But in reality, there are a million similarities too. The differences are just more obvious.

Cheeks galore!

So, I've been informed that Buggy's cheeks are always red. Not so. And since I snap about a billion pictures a month, for this Thursday 10, you get the pleasure of 10 pics of the Bug Man. 9 are "redless" and 1 is red, for comparison.








The next 2 I included to show you all how he's starting to try and get into things. He was a good 2 feet away from this table. NO idea how he managed to get here since he remained in the sitting position the whole time and still can't crawl.


In this one, his initial position was facing the camera, in front of that book. He somehow dragged himself over to the entertainment center where he proceeded to yank on the handles. But look how proud he is of himself!


Poor little dude has serious sensitivity issues and eczema. Because of that, if he gets hot or irritated, his cheeks get red. Like this


And that is our little cheeky guy, whose big jowls sometimes droop. Everyone comments on those cheeks. And it's not because they're red. It's because they're so darn irresistible.

Thursday 10

From Matt regarding O-man....


His center of gravity is jacked because of that bottom.

Mixin' it up!

I've decided to change things a bit. It gets harder and harder to remember to update. And since I really like having this online journal (both so that I can remember and so that the kids will one day be able to read about their childhood), I've been brainstorming some ideas to make myself keep this current. So, starting tomorrow, each week will be a bit similar. It will go a little something like this:

Monday Map: details of our plans for the week.
Tips on Tuesdays: J is chock full of advice lately. What better way to share it with the world ;)
Wordless Wednesdays: I think that's pretty self-explanatory, but just in case, it will solely be a picture or pictures.
Thursday 10: either something funny in 10 words or less or a list of 10 things.
Funny Friday: something funny from 1 or both of the kids.

Additionally, the goal is to stay current with other comments made by J, and one day soon, O.