Dear Toby

This past week you turned one, Happy Birthday little man! I just wanted you to know that I absolutely adore you!  I love watching you walk/waddle around the house with your hands up in the air for balance, I love how you speed up when you see me and free fall into my legs or arms as soon as you are close enough, I love playing with those little curls you have on the back of your head, and kissing your cheeks and neck until you belly laugh, I love how you recline against me and cross your ankles when we give you a bottle, I love how you attack my face when you are tired and try to rub your face all over mine, I love that you think trash cans are the coolest thing, and how you constantly try to throw your toys away, I love how you SPLASH the water like it's your job when we give you a bath, I LOVE that little 4 tooth smile of yours, I love the face you make just after you've been hurt and you can't decide if you should cry, the one where you crinkle your nose and show all of your teeth, I love hearing you say HI!, and watching your floppy wave when you say goodby, I love they way you dance as soon as you hear music come on, I JUST LOVE YOU TOBY!  But probably my all time favorite thing you do, is when you lay your head on my shoulder and just hang out there! Sometimes I just stand by your crib and hold you for awhile before I put you down to sleep, soaking it up because I know someday you won't do that anymore. Don't grow up Toby!  ...I know you will, eventually, but even though you get bigger don't loose who you are, because the essence of you is 100% perfect!

<3 Mom

Toby update! (8-9months)

Gosh this little man is growing fast! Can't believe he's already 9 months, well almost 10 actually! I figured I better quick get caught up before he turns 10 months old, only 9 days to spare!  Note to self: when you are waiting for your baby to get over a cold to take pictures so he doesn't have snot hanging out his nose, don't, just take the pictures! I think I've been waiting 2 weeks, and I'm pretty sure he just picked up one cold after the other... it's never ending snot at our house these days!


Well, I feel like a lot has happened since I last posted.  Toby has been a busy man!  He is cruising all over the house, I call him my little speed crawler.  I guess he kinda has to be fast though in order to keep up with Piper.  She doesn't always seem to appreciate the attention!  He's pulling himself up and walking around furniture.  We have a little walking toy that he pushes around the house too!  If I let go of him he will stand by himself for a couple seconds. Climbing stairs is one of his favorite pastimes so we finally got a gate so I don't have to worry about it! We had been using kitchen chairs but when he pulled one down on himself we decided it was time get a gate!

 He finally has two little teeth poking through on the bottom!  I haven't checked but I thought I saw a third one coming through today.  He's been eating table food along with baby food, although we keep the bites really small, he seems to choke on everything still.

If there is a toy that moves or makes a loud noise, you can pretty much bet that's what he's going for.  Also if Piper is playing with a toy that also makes it the most desirable object in the house. Lets just say we've been talking a lot about sharing these days and how its not nice to kick, hit, or push over your little brother.  *sigh* I get exhausted just thinking about it...

I so enjoy this stage!  Toby is so much more cuddly than Piper was at this age which melts my heart. He's got this cheesy smile that is just too much to handle, and he is super ticklish which is fun! He's a solid little guy, weighs 20lbs, but I just love squeezing his little body. 

Oh, he's knows what the word no is too!  Probably because I'm saying it all the time between the two of them getting into stuff!  If I'm saying it to him though, he just looks at me with those big blue eyes and then smiles and shakes his head! So cute :)

Oh, Toby, we love you so much little man! 


Here's some more pictures to enjoy!

These two are blurry cause he just crawls too fast and loves to grab my camera, but they are two of his signature faces!  I couldn't not post them :)

Piper turns 2 & Toby turns 7 months old!

Are they not the cutest kids you've ever seen?!  Maybe you don't think so but I most certainly do! Within a week of each other we celebrated Piper's second birthday and Toby turning 7 months old!  Pretty proud mama over here! I think they are tuning out pretty well :)  ... most days that is! haha



Piper:
She is repeating and imitating everything we do and say!  She is picking up new words and phrases everyday, it's so amazing to watch.

She has started talking in full sentences. The majority of the time I have no idea what she is saying though. I feel bad that I have to have her repeat it 3 or 4 times before I actually get what she is asking me for!

She can sing twinkle twinkle little star, or should i saw quinkle quinkle :)  I've been trying to catch it on video, with not much success. I was so proud of myself the other day because I was being so discreet and I thought I got it, but then realized I never pushed the record button.  : /

She works out with me in the mornings, its so hilarious watching her try to do some of the exercises!

She always wants to drink out of "big girl cups" which usually ends up with her choking and spewing out water because she lifted the cup up to fast.  Not to mention the spills and outfit changes, but she is getting better at it!

She loves talking to her grandma's on the phone, she thinks that's who I'm talking to every time someone calls :) She gets a big grin on her face when I turn on the speaker phone and talks very shyly, she gives grandma hugs and kisses by literally hugging and kissing the phone!


Toby:
He figured out he could make really loud noises so he's started yelling!  Its happy yells which is nice, I guess!

He can get himself up on his hands and knees and he will rock front to back, occasionally throwing in a little downward dog to go with it, or face planting because he rocked forward to hard!  No forward progress yet though.

He started clapping as well!  Its the cutest thing to watch, he always gets so excited!

We have no teeth yet, but he does clench is gums together, crinkle his nose, and give big cheesy grins! My absolute favorite!

He's been eating baby food 3 times a day now, along with his bottle.

Most nights he will sleep 10 hours straight, on occasion he will throw in a 12 hour night like he did last night! :)  If he wakes up before 10 hours we've been trying to get him back to sleep without feeding, which usually means Matt trying to give him some water, or just letting him cry a bit and hoping that he will go back to sleep.  Both strategies have not really worked that well, the other night he chugged 8 oz of water, went to sleep but then woke up an hour later and was mad and hungry.  It looks like he is on his way to sleeping 12 hours consistently though so we are hoping this comes soon!


Life has definitely gotten back to normal, I'm actually at the point where I can say I really enjoy being with both kids!  I don't dread getting both of them out of the house as much anymore.  It's still a lot of work to go somewhere with both of them by myself but it feels much more doable than it had previously! I'm really looking forward to this summer when we can all be outside playing, and there is warm weather!

 

Toby: 6 months

6 months was one of my favorite stages with Piper and it's no different with Toby! With Christmas whirling by and New Years upon us its been a bit crazy around here lately but he has been taking it all in with ease!

 Whats new this month?

 He's sitting up! Yay! Now I can leave him with a bunch of toys and he's content for a while! That is until big sis steals his toys or pushes him over :( we are working on that! She also loves to give him hugs and kisses which can unintentionally knock him over :)

 We've started him on solids. Somedays he's all into it, other days he wants nothing to do with it. I just keep trying, hopefully it will catch on soon! I think he's inherited my sweet tooth.

 He's on a pretty solid 3 naps a day schedule and has been doing really great with that. He's eating about every 3-4 hours, 4-6oz a feeding. At night he is usually sleeping from 7 to 7 with a feeding around 3 or 4 in the morning. I'm hoping to get him off that soon, this momma's excited for some full nights sleep hopefully soon!

 His hair continues to grow and his eyes are still very blue! He is such a sweetie, and so squeezable. Love him so much!

 We are excited to celebrate big sisters second birthday soon, and I'm hoping to start off the new year with some more disciple and routine in our lives. This past year has been a crazy one with a lot of chaos and disorganization but looking forward to new starts in the new year. More about that in another post! Hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Toby : 5 months

Another month has flown by, can you believe it?  I absolutely love this time of year but life always seems to hit super-drive around the holidays. I'm just trying to savor it as much as I can!

Speaking of savoring as much as I can, how is it possible that Toby is 5 months old already?  I'm kind of glad that I've been doing these posts every month it forces me to stop and reflect, and yes, savor, the moments! :)

With having two babies so close together I thought I would have this process down and at least know what to expect.  This is true for many circumstances but I've been surprised about how much I've forgotten as well.  Most recently, actually just 30 minutes ago, as I was having a wrestling match with Toby just to get him in a new outfit after a not so nice diaper hoopla, I'll spare you the details, I caught myself thinking, man I really don't remember Piper being this difficult to change.  And then as soon as I had the thought, I did remember, and yes it probably was as bad.  So excited to move around and grab the next toy they can hardly lay still for a diaper change! So fun, but somewhat infuriating at the same time!

What else is Toby doing?
Well I've already alluded to the increase in mobility. He's still rolling but now its in sucession and most likely in the direction of a toy.

He is getting better at sitting up by himself!  I still have to watch him because he tips over but still his balance is much improved!

We started feeding him some oatmeal before bed, mostly hoping it will help him sleep through the night, which it has on some occasions just not consistently yet :(

The other night he went 12 hours between feedings, wasn't sleeping the entire time but i'll still count it!

And boy is he into grabbing things! Those little fat fists are quick too :)


Here's a couple more pictures of the little man, he is such a sweet boy!  Those big eyes get me everytime!

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas if I don't post again before then, and this could very possibly be the case!

-Monica

toby 4 months

4 months has reminded me how much I love babies! I can't get enough of this little man! Its funny how much difference a couple months can make. 4 months has brought back some normality to our lives.  We are back on a schedule and I finally feel like having two kids is just normal! Toby is such a blessing to have around and he is such a happy little guy!

The one major change we've made since last month is we got rid of Toby's nuk. He was waking up 3, 4, sometimes 5 times a night other than his feedings because he lost his nuk and couldn't go back to sleep. For a person that likes to sleep that was way to many times to be waking up, so we decided to take it away from him cold turkey. He actually did surprisingly well, considering. It did take a little bit for him to get used to it, but once he did I was so glad we decided to do it.  He now only wakes up once a night to eat, occasionally he might wake up another time, but if we let him cry a little bit he will go back to sleep.

Toby usually naps 3 times a day (9am, 12pm, 3pm, anywhere from 1-3hours a nap) sometimes he will take a short 4th nap but thats not typcial. During the day he's been eating about every 3 hours

Another thing he started doing this month was rolling over.  He can roll over both ways but most frequently its from his back to his belly, and he typically only rolls to his left.

This month he has started sleeping 8 hours at night consistently, there was once he even did a 10 hour stretch. We will put him down for the night at 7pm and he will sleep until 3am, wake up to eat, and then usually sleep until 7:30 or 8am. I'm still definitely looking forward to the day he sleeps completely through the night but I'm happy with 8 hours too... small steps in the right direction.

Toby has never really been a big fan of the carseat.  For the longest time he would just scream the entire time we were in the car.  This month he actually slept in his carseat for the first time on the ride home from church! :) Woohoo! He is also doing better in the car in general.  The only time he really cries is if he is hungry and tired.

This was also the first month that I took Toby to the nursery at church. He has done surprisingly well. I thought he might be a little more of a clingy baby but so far that isn't the case.

So I made the mistake of trying to take pictures of Toby while Piper was awake.  I took a ton of pictures and most of them were of the side of Toby's head because he was watching Piper, who was not conveniently staying behind the camera.  I finally decided to try and take pictures of both of them and you can see how it ended in the last picture.  Most of those ended up with me telling Piper not to lay on Toby or to go sit back down, because she kept trying to look at the ones I'd taken.  Needless to say these were the only 3 that turned out decent! haha Life with two kids is never dull!

Toby's first 3 months

You can definitely tell this is my second child!  With Piper I was totally up on things...doing posts once a month, with Toby he's already 3 and a half months old and I'm just now sitting down to do a post!  Better late than never right?!  At least I took pictures at the right time. :)

Wow, so this past three months has seemed like the longest three months of my life, but then as I think back it does seem like its gone relatively quickly as well.  For the first 6 weeks, Toby was just not very happy.  He would cry for the majority of the time he was awake, and often it was a really mad cry one that we couldn't figure out how to stop until he just fell asleep. For those of you who've had a colicky baby you can totally understand, but its one of the most frustrating and helpless feelings you can have.  He also did not enjoy being in the car.  Most car rides he would just scream the entire time. Needless to say we just didn't go away much those first 6 weeks. It seemed like it would last forever, but I just kept telling myself, he'll grow out of it, and that's really the only thing that kept me going some days.

At the 6 week mark he started smiling and from then on out things started getting better and better.  He would still have his moments of all out crying but they were getting less and less.  By the 2 month mark things were much better, crying bouts were few and far between and he was becoming a much more happy and pleasant baby!  He really has such a sweet spirit about him and when he smiles it lights up his whole face, and the whole room!

It was 11 weeks when I first heard him laugh. Often times he'll laugh the most when he is tired.  You can just be talking to him and all of a sudden he just busts out laughing.  Melts my heart every time! He loves cooing and talking. He gives such big smiles... he'll pull his head back so he has a double chin and then give the biggest grin.  I've been trying to catch a picture of this but he gets distracted by my camera when I try :(

At 3 months he's like a whole new baby!  Such a happy little man. We are finally into a schedule which really makes a world of difference.  I am still working on some sleep training during the day, but other than that he really is doing so well. Just earlier this week he rolled over for the first time, from stomach to back, he looked so surprised it was hilarious. He has also found his hands and can now grab my fingers if I hold them in front of his face.  Piper is also starting to want to interact with him more.  She will ask to hold him occasionally, and will get down on the floor and play with him sometimes too.  Can't wait til they can run around together!  They are going to be best buds.

Well... the kids are waking up from their naps so its time to go.  I'm hoping to get back into blogging regularly now that things are getting back on schedule.  There are definitely some things coming up that I'm excited about! Hopefully you'll hear from me again soon!

-Monica

Piper : 18 Months

This girl, I can't get enough of her!  After a seven month hiatus its about time to give an update.  This is her 18 month update but actually she is 19 1/2 months old... shows how on top of things I am these days! Through all of the transitions we have gone through in the last couple months (moving, baby, new job) she has thoroughly impressed me. What a trooper, and she did it all without even blinking!

I'm absolutely loving this stage with Piper, she is such a vivacious, energetic bundle of joy! It seems as if she learns something new everyday, and is continuously making us laugh.

This is whats up in Pipers world these days:

-Talking, talking, talking!  For the most part I can understand the majority of what she is saying.  Occasionally she will still babble but there are a lot of real words in there now.  Her new thing is asking "whats this?" about everything!  I'm surprised at how quickly she has been picking up new words. 

-She takes the occasional interest in Toby, or "Boty," as she calls him.  She will walk up to him and say "HIeee" in and high pitched voice, and sometimes give him kisses!  Can't wait until he is a bit older and they can interact more!

-She copies everything mommy does with Toby!  I find her teddy bears in the swing, on the changing table, under his play gym...etc  So cute!

-Currently pushing through 4 new teeth, to put the total up to 14! 

-If there is something to climb she will find it.  I'm constantly telling her to get off the table. The kitchen table that is!  She knows how to drag the chairs around and climb up them and onto the table. Yesterday I caught her trying to get her leg over her crib! *yikes* hoping that will not stick, not quite ready for that yet.

-She loves running around outside, collecting stones, flowers (weeds),  or smelling the flowers!

-Shes a champ at puzzel's and still loves to read.

-Her favorite game is playing hide and seek with her aunts, uncles, or cousins. They do the hiding she does the seeking and its always a guarantee to end in a fit of giggle's.

-If you put water in front of her she would be content for hours. 

That's all I can think of at the moment.  Now for some more pictures!  Enjoy