Stats and Milestones

Grant had his 6 month check up on Friday. I also scheduled Connor to get his flu shot at that time. I was sweating profusely at the thought of having to take both kids to the doctor - for shots - by myself, but luckily everything went well. Here are his most recent stats:

• He weighs 19 lbs. 12 ozs. and is in the 84% (he has gained 11 lbs. 15 oz. since birth)
• He is 28" and is in the 94% (he has grown 7 3/4" since birth)

He is growing beautifully and hitting milestones as expected/appropriate for his age. He is quite "talkative" and is starting to imitate sounds. He can pass a toy from one hand to the other. He can't sit up unassisted yet, but does have very good head and neck strength, so I'm thinking it won't be long until he can do this. He started solids a few weeks ago and, no surprise here, LOVES to eat. I remember with Connor it was very challenging and very messy in the beginning. Not with this kid. I can't shovel it in fast enough. So far I've made sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and peas in addition to the rice cereal and oatmeal. I think the next things we'll try will be beets, green beans, and avocados. I want to get him well established on the veggies before I give him the fruits, but something tells me he will eat whatever I put in front of him, whenever. He already has two teeth on the bottom and is a fairly consistent thumb sucker. He loves being in the bumbo seat, the jumperoo, and still likes to be worn in the ErgoBaby. He is so pleasant and greets me every morning with a smile, but his best smiles come when Connor is playing around him. 

Now that Connor is over 2 years old, he only has to go to the doctor once a year, so his last visit was in June. I don't remember his exact percentages, but I know that he was 36" and weighed 30 lbs, and was somewhere around the 60th percentile for both height and weight. Connor has really developed his own little personality in the past few months. He is sweet and stubborn at the same time; he is funny and he knows it; and he is quite smart (I owe most of that to the daycare workers). He knows his ABCs, can count to about 14, knows the words to about 6 or 7 nursery rhymes and songs (The Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Ring Around the Rosie, Old McDonald, and several others - we are still working on the ND fight song), and is so polite (almost always says please/thank you without being prompted, and also says "bless you," "excuse me," and "I'm sorry"). We are currently going through the "what's that" and "why" phase and I love it. It is almost as if you can see/hear the wheels turning in his head. He's so inquisitive, and remembers everything you say and everything he sees. Every day I am amazed by him!

Knoebels

On September 20th, my office had a a family day at Knoebels Amusement Park. It is about 45 minutes from our house and is just a really neat old fashioned, family run amusement park. You don't have to pay to get in (you buy tickets for the rides, and each ride costs about $1.00), are allowed to bring your own food (but they consistently win awards for best amusement park food), pets are welcome, and it is a manageable size. I was excited to take Connor - we took him last summer and he enjoyed it but was too little to ride most of the rides...so basically we went down for the food and so Ryan could ride the roller coasters a few times. We hadn't gone at all this summer because we knew we would be going in the fall with my office. September was a great time to go - the weather was beautiful and it wasn't very crowded, even for a Saturday.

Before we left Grant was in the Bumbo seat and I noticed how well he was holding up his head...and that being able to do so significantly reduced the number of chins he appears to have!

When we arrived, we had a nice brunch with our co-workers before everyone went their separate ways to ride the rides. 

I swear Grant was there too, but he was content to hang out with me in either the stroller or the ErgoBaby. Connor really enjoyed himself for the most part. He seemed to do best when someone rode with him (Ryan or one of Adrianne's girls). On the rides he rode by himself, he was fine at first, but I think after a while he got disoriented and lost sight of us and started to freak out a bit. Overall, though, it was a really fun day. I thought Connor would sleep the whole way home, since he didn't have a nap and all the sights and sounds were sensory overload, but he stayed awake the entire time, screaming Twinkle Twinkle over and over and over again. We were ALL in bed early that night!

Back to Work

While my maternity leave officially ended on July 21st, I was lucky enough to be able to spend 5 weeks at home working on a new edition of the Pennsylvania Trust Guide, which was originally written by the two partners in my firm back in 2008/2009. It is basically a handbook for legal professionals and trustees who administer trusts, and I'm not sure why they trust me to work on something that is actually supposed to be an instruction manual, but I contributed to the 2nd edition and annual supplements every year since I've worked here and this year I got to co-author the 3rd edition. Anyway, it was wonderful for me because I got to keep Grant home with me for an extra few weeks and was able to make my own schedule for working on it (I definitely worked some odd hours).

...But, all good things must come to an end and right after Labor Day I went back to the office full time. It was bittersweet - I loved being home with Grant this summer and the extra time I got to spend with Connor when I was able to pick him up a little early, but I really did miss the adult interaction, the challenges, and the routine of my office. It's a struggle that I'm sure every working mother faces. So, on the morning of September 2nd, Ryan and I loaded up the car and I dropped BOTH my boys off at daycare. 

Don't tell Grant, but I didn't get nearly as emotional as I did the first day I dropped Connor off, and I'm sure it has to do with the fact that (1) I knew from experience that he was in great hands and would be well taken care of and (2) I was carrying so many bags filled with diapers, wipes, bottles, etc. in addition to Grant's car seat that I was sweating profusely and couldn't stop thinking about how excited I was to have everyone and everything in order with enough time left to go get an iced coffee at DD before I had to be at work! 

My first day back at the office was good. It was nice to see everyone and get back in the swing of things, but I really couldn't wait until it was time to go get the boys. 

I survived my first day back in the office and Grant survived his first day of daycare. Can you tell we missed each other?

Grant's Baptism

Grant was baptized on August 24th. Thankfully, he was able to wear the same outfit that we got in Ireland (yes, the same one that Connor wore and projectile vomited all over and cost a small fortune to dry clean). He was all smiles during the ceremony. Afterwards, we had a nice brunch at Barrel 135 with the family and Julie & Donald (Grant's godparents).

Summer Recap

And just like that, summer was over. Woah. While we didn't go on any type of family vacation this summer since the boys are a little too young yet, we did manage to stay quite busy. And, since I'm incredibly behind on my updates, I'm going to try to cover the entire summer in one post, so get comfy.

Connor really wanted to sit with Grant, but absolutely did not want to hold him. Good thing, since Grant already looks terrified!

We spent many weekend afternoons at Grandpa's pool, despite the fact that the water was cloudy and a weird greenish color for most of the summer.

The boys and I spent about a week over the 4th of July at my parents' house. This was Connor's 3rd Wyomissing 4th of July parade and Grant's 1st. They still don't quite "get it" but I hope someday they appreciate it as much as I do!

He said he really just wanted a puppy, but I think he'll settle for grandkids!

We had a really nice time visiting, and I was thankful for the extra hands to help with diapers and entertaining Connor! After 5 or 6 days though I'm sure my parents were exhausted and ready to have their house back, and we were ready to get home to see Daddy, so we headed back to Williamsport before we overstayed our welcome!

The following weekend, we were trying to think of something fun to do with the boys, and I found the Tioga Central Railroad. You catch the train a few miles outside of Wellsboro (about an hour north of here), and it takes you on a 1.5 hour round trip up to Hammond Lake and back. It was really neat. We had lunch and walked around Wellsboro before driving to the train station, and we sat in the open air car. Connor really liked it, although he was a little antsy during the last 15-20 minutes. They have a Santa Express train over the holidays that I would like to take them on, probably in a year or two when Grant is old enough to enjoy it too.

On August 1st, Ryan and I went to see Jason Aldean play at Citizens Bank Park in Philly. We took Lisa and AJ, and I was really excited to have some adult beverages with my best friend. All was well and good, except (1) Lisa found out she was pregnant a few weeks before the show,  (2) I kind of forgot that I really hadn't drank in over a year and it's not a good idea to try to keep up with two men who are considerably larger than me, and (3) since we had a designated driver by default, I was home in time to get up with my kids the next morning, and my pounding headache made me much less excited to see them than they were to see me. 

Before...

During...

After. My proud moment of the night came afterwards in the parking lot, when I convinced the vendor to sell Ryan and I two concert shirts for $10. I'm fairly certain that the shirts said Mason Aldean rather than Jason Aldean and I never even got to wear it because after one washing my size M shirt turned into a XXS.

The following night, Sarah, Ann, and I and our husbands & kids all went over to Lisa's for a cook-out. It still amazes me that we have been friends for all these years, but it's probably because we're all jerks and no one else would want to hang out with us so we're stuck with each other. It was so much fun to get together - I wish we could do it more often. Connor had a blast playing on their kids' roller coaster. He pretty much rode it from the moment we got there until it was entirely too dark to be playing outside.

My favorite thing, by far, about this summer was just being able to be home with Grant, and watching Connor grow into such a sweet, sensitive, and caring big brother. I am continually amazed by how interested Connor is in the baby, and how well he has adjusted to having to share attention. Make no mistake, he has his fair share of meltdowns, and we also make an effort to ensure that he has plenty of alone time with each of us, but I feel incredibly lucky that both our boys are very easy going (and the fact that Grant has been sleeping through the night since 6 weeks has made the transition from one kid to to so much easier). Here are just a few of my favorite pictures from the past few months:

First day of college football season. Ryan was out of town that weekend, so there was no doubt that they would be dressed in their Notre Dame finest!

We had a great summer, but are also looking forward to fall - football season, changing leaves, cooler weather, and pumpkin everything!

Growing Like Weeds

These boys are keeping us busy and growing like weeds!

Not quite big enough to fit into Pop-pop's Notre Dame crocs!

Connor had his 2 year well visit in June. His current stats are:

• He weighs 29 lbs. 12 ozs. (70%) 
• He is 36" tall ((86%)

He is now in the "terrible twos" but for the most part he's taken it pretty easy on us. Every day he comes home from daycare I am amazed by all the new things he's learned - words, phrases, dance moves, facial expressions, etc. He's also suffered his fair share of cuts, scrapes, and bumps playing so hard at daycare, but I suppose as a mom of two boys, there's going to be plenty of that over the next several years and I should just get used to it!

He is so funny and sweet that even when he is testing my patience it is hard not to laugh. Every day Grant and I walk down to pick him up from school and I love our walks home - he points out all the cars, trucks, planes, etc. and has become very talkative with a few of the people who live along our route. He immediately asks for crackers and milk when we walk through the door after school. Right now, his favorite toys at home are still the wooden cars and trucks, his ride on tractor, Elmo and his stroller, and the puzzle that has different vehicles (police car, ambulance, fire truck, school bus, etc.). He also loves going for bike rides and walks. He is starting to have a longer attention span, which means I can usually get through a book (he brings it to me and waves it in my face shouting "Read it! Read it! Read it!") before he gets too bored. His favorite are the two Little Blue Truck books (because "Pop-pop has a blue truck"). I have read them so many times I now understand how my mom felt about having to read Goodnight Moon over and over. He is hit or miss with meal times - some days he can't get enough of a certain food and the next day he will push the plate away. I'm trying not to give him the impression that it is a restaurant where he can send things back and order something else if he is not happy with his choice, but it is hard because I want to make sure he is getting enough to eat. Most times if you ignore him he'll eventually eat what's on his plate. Some pretty safe bets seem to be: cereal bars, waffles, grilled cheese, PB&J, nuggets, meatballs, strawberries, blueberries, applesauce, cheese, hot dogs, and black or kidney beans. One thing's for certain, he is NOT into any kind of pasta or mac 'n cheese. He is an amazing sleeper - goes to bed without a peep at about 730 and sleeps a good 12 hours. On the weekends he still takes a 3-4 hour nap. I'm holding him hostage in his crib until he is 10!

Grant is 4 months old going on 9 months! He had his 4 month well visit on August 7th (he was 2 weeks shy of 4 months, actually). Here are his stats:

•  He weighs 17 lbs. 11 ozs. (I don't know what his percentage is because the system froze at the office while we were there, but I'm guessing it is approximately 127%)
• He is 25"

He is certainly a little tank and every morning when I get him out of bed he seems to have grown (in length AND in width)! When I compared Grant's stats to Connor's at this age, Grant was 1 3/4 lbs. heavier...and he was two weeks ahead of 4 months and Connor was two weeks past 4 months! He is really a good baby - so laid back and smiley (as long as he's being held). He is an excellent sleeper - most nights I put him to bed around 9 and he sleeps until about 6am. It is such a refreshing change from when Connor was this age and I feel so much better during the day because I'm sleeping well at night.

He is quite chatty these days and really becoming more interactive. I recently got out the Bumbo seat and he seems to really like sitting in it (for limited periods of time, until he realizes that I am not holding him, at which time he very quickly wants out) and watching what's going on. **Spare me the lecture about on/both kids on the table, I already know I'm not winning Mom of the Year awards for this, but since I'm taking pictures, I'm obviously close enough to catch them.**

I just love when Grant smiles. He lights up the room. He's recently started belly laughing too, which is so cute. Actually, Connor is able to get some of the biggest smiles and best laughs out of his little brother.

I continue to be amazed at how gentle Connor is with Grant, and how interested in him he seems to be. He has recently started to ask to hold him (actually, he says "want to hold it.") My heart melts a little every time I see them together!

This might be my favorite video to date! I hope Connor is always this nice to his little brother...and if he's not, it looks like Grant will probably be able to kick his butt in another year or two!