New Truck

Eric finally decided after 333,333 miles that red could retire and he would get a new truck. And now we have a great family vehicle that Eric can haul things in as well. Super excited!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/RT7yGq2wAkVt3p2i7

Merry Christmas

It was a fun Christmas this year. Tom is finally old enough now that he sort of understands how everything works. He was even somewhat calm about the Christmas train this year. We got a lot more enjoyment out of it since he didn't try to destroy it every time he saw it. He also understood the Christmas movies a lot more this year and started to understand Santa. I even sort of taught him how to sing part of Jingle Bells.

For the grandparents we made talking ornaments again. Since Tom had a lot more to say this year we made longer ones. I cut together a bunch of clips of the kids doing different things and put it on a little recorder and then stuffed it inside an ornament. Tom had fun talking into the camera and of course the grandparents love it.

Eric was really dreading seeing Santa this year with how squirmy our boys are. So I told him that I would record the Seahawks and we would go during the game and hopefully there would be less people in line. I am so smart. There was not a single person in line. And we got a good smiling picture this year and I didn't even have to be in it because someone was freaked out by Santa.

We were glad to see everyone around the holidays. We went to the Robert's on Christmas Eve and then stayed the night at my parent's house. When Tom woke up in the morning he saw that Santa had eaten the big Santa cookie that he put out for him. And under the tree Santa left him a cool race track for his cars. And Tom got started to learn that not all toys are for him. Jake got a cool ferry boat that Tom had to learn wasn't his but he could ask his brother to share.

This year for Lena we got her the Frozen CD and a blanket that has a hood with Anna braids on it. Never would have guessed that would have kept her busy for so much of Christmas Day. She was dancing and singing all over the place. Tom and I joined in a little bit, but mostly it was just Lena doing her thing. 

So excited for all the fun holidays to come and seeing the joy on the kids faces as they experience the wonder of it all.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nLnSiz7Txg1qdauy9

6 Month Check-Up

Jacob had his 6 month check-up. He's doing going. More shots. He gets to start on fruits and vegtables. Yeah!

Date	Weight	Length	Head Circumfrance
Tom Birth	8 lbs. 11 oz.	19.7"	14"
Jacob Birth	8 lbs. 15.4 oz.	19"	14"
Tom 2 Weeks	9 lbs. 5 oz. 69th percentile	22" 91st percentile	15.25" 85th percentile
Jacob 2 Weeks	10 lbs. 8.2 oz. 89th percentile (cast 5 oz)	20" 18th percentile	14.5" 38th percentile
Tom 2 Months	12 lbs. 14.8 oz. 61st percentile	23.5" 68th percentile	16" 87th percentile
Jacob 2 Months	14 lbs. 7.2 oz. 94th percentile (brace 6 oz)	24" 82nd percentile	15.75" 46th percentile
Tom 4 Months	16 lbs. 15.6 oz. 85th percentile	26.5" 92nd percentile	16.75" 55th percentile
Jacob 4 Months	16 lbs. 4.6 oz. 78th percentile	26.25" 91st percentile	16.5" 41st percentile
Tom 6 Months	19 lbs. 15.8 oz. 86th percentile	29" 99th percentile	17.5" 70th percentile
Jacob 6 Months	18 lbs. 10.4 oz. 66th percentile	27.25" 73th percentile	17.2" 44th percentile
Tom 9 Months	21 lbs. 9.6 oz. 68th percentile	30" 94th percentile	18" 63.5th percentile
Tom 12 Months	23 lbs. 9 oz. 60th percentile	31.25" 89th percentile	18.5" 67th percentile
Tom 18 Months	28 lbs. 3 oz. 78th percentile	32.5" 56th percentile	19" 65th percentile
Tom 2 Years	33 lbs. 93rd percentile	37" 98th percentile	19.5" 72th percentile

Happy Anniversary

Eric and I and the boys went out to Mizu to celebrate our Anniversary. The boys were very nice to give us a quiet meal. The food was spectacular. And Tom gave us a shock. When he saw us eating with chopsticks he asked to have his own. We handed him some chopsticks and without any coaching from us he managed to get some food in his mouth with them. We were dying laughing about it. And the waitress even brought some kids chopsticks they made with a rubber band to make it easier to hold together.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/x8Xuh7zCxgTWbFXt6

6 Months Old

6 months old today!

Jacob had his first his first School Pictures and his first Thanksgiving this month. He also had his first snow and got his first Christmas tree. Of course he loves to look at the lights. It will be exciting to see how he likes all the flashy wrapping paper.

He has been babbling and making more noises this month. He even kind of started blowing me some kisses and raspberries. 

Jacob got his first two teeth this month. The two little bottom ones. We were nicely surprised that he did not have any big meltdowns like Tom with the temperature and puking and up all night. We have had a lot of drooling, and some fussiness. He was sleeping OK at nights for a couple weeks and then the teething really tarted and he was up every couple hours again. He wants to use those teeth really bad too. I have been giving him some rice or oatmeal cereal and he is pretty bored with it. He will take a couple of spoon fulls and then he just wants to grab the spoon and stares at our food and complains. We have our 6 month check up next week and then we will bring on the more interesting food.

He is such a big boy. I think he might be even bigger than Tom was. He is definitely chubbier. Tom at this time was getting sick every couple weeks from teething and he was also wanting more to eat than I could provide with nursing. At one point Tom was getting up every 15 minutes to want to eat. I wasn't even go there again. With Jacob, as soon as I noticed that he started to get fussy that there was as much milk as he wanted I switched him over to formula. He was a little upset about it at first but once he got the hang of it he was fine with it. And I think Jacob may be longer too. We have already swapped out the dresser to have mostly 6-9 months clothes. And for sleepers and some other stuff he is in 12 months. I was looking at Tom's first Santa picture when he was 8 months and the outfit Tom was in was a 12 month outfit. Jacob is barely squeezing into that outfit at 6 months. Can't wait till next week to see how big he has gotten.

He is also trying to crawl and is getting pretty close. He can get his stomach off the ground for a little while and either kind of lunges forward and falls on his face or goes backwards. He is really frustrated because he wants to get to wherever brother is so he can watch him playing. One day Tom was playing behind the couch and baby was in the jumping and complaining a lot. So I took the jumper to the other side of the couch and put him right by his brother. I didn't hear any complaining for quite a while. I keep trying to convince Tom that he should play right next to wherever baby is but Tom really likes to be in charge and doesn't like to follow my suggestions on how he should play.

I think the biggest development of this month was we did not have to take Jacob to the doctor at all this month and I only had to take Tom on one brief trip to get a flu shot. In Jacob's first 5 months I believe we went to the doctor 25 times. I know this is a lot less then some kids with really difficult medical conditions. But it was pretty rough on me especially since I was working full time and really didn't have time to miss work so I had to make it up later. So this month was so wonderful not having any doctor appointments especially since Eric and I have been really busy with work.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xuMqm43XXM358rfV9

Here is a look back at Tom at 6 months old.

New Chairs

Eric and I decided to get ourselves Christmas presents this year while out shopping on Black Friday at Fred Meyer. We have been sitting on 20 year old couches that we got from my parents. You can hear the springs in them and everything. So we decided to get to comfy arm chairs that were half price. Nothing to fancy, but they are a lot more comfortable. We kept one of the old couches for the boys to destroy. The nice part is they swivel so mine is set-up at my computer station to where I can swivel to the computer and back out to the living room. Makes it a lot easier for working when I can actually use my computer desk how it is supposed to be used.

Tom really likes the new chairs too. And he liked playing with the box of course. We couldn't keep it around for too long because it too up so much room. But he had fun while it lasted. Of course the first thing he did with it was make a parking garage.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/ozDVqaE4KMR76obY6

Eric's Birthday

We had a quiet Birthday party at home for Eric. I made his favorite chicken enchiladas. And Tom got to do his favorite thing which is singing Happy Birthday and eating cake.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/yhUdPg1yPxPxV7d18

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving weekend is always a great time of year.  We went to my parents house and had a great Thanksgiving with family. The boys were very excited to have cousins to play with. And we got to eat some wonderful food.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1A3qE3ciLvkfes8u8

On Friday we did a little shopping in Covington by our house while Tom was at daycare. And on Saturday we woke up to snow! Tom was so excited to get outside. It was pretty cold powdery snow so it was hard to make a snowman. So I only was able to make a little tiny one.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wKXXpf5ebr5Gv5yP7

Then we decided since everyone was already bundled up we would go down the road and get our tree. And Mr. & Mrs. Clause were there. Tome didn't freak out. So maybe when we go and get his real Santa pictures this year he won't freak out.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/vnHAVZ7ufcPu7Avz5

We also cooked a turkey that we got for free at the grocery store with a coupon so we will get our own leftovers. And tomorrow will probably be all about decorating the house.

Tommy Sicky

Not sure why but Tom was sick last night. He didn't want dinner. And then when he got into bed he threw up multiple times during the night. He was such a good boy. I told him to sit still and not to move until I could get everything cleaned up. He sat there and didn't complain at all. I got him cleaned up and asked if he felt better and he said yes and crawled back in to bed and went to sleep. When he woke up this morning he gave me a hug and kiss as if to say thank you for taking care of me mama. It was so sweet.

5 Months Old

Jacob is 5 months old today.

This has been a month packed full of Halloween fun. We barely had time to stop a think about how big Jacob is getting.

And the this month Jacob got to move from wearing his brace all the time to just wearing it during naps and nighttime. It went pretty well. It is kind of hard to define nap time at this point so some times I would put the brace on and he wouldn't go to sleep, and other times I would not have the brace on and then he all of a sudden passed out. Some times I can actually get the brace on after he is asleep without waking him up. I am sure it will get easier when he decides to get on a schedule. No luck with that yet. He still likes to stay up late and then sleep in. Sounds like his mom :) The nice part about day light savings is that most nights instead of going to bed at midnight it is more like 11:00.

Jacob has enjoyed his freedom of movement a lot. He didn't really like Johnny Jump much before because the brace would slide around and he couldn't really jump. Now he loves it. He loves it so much he has started to go crazy jumping up and down in your lap like Tom used to do.

He is also trying really hard to crawl. He loves being on his stomach. So when you put him on the floor he is rarely on his back. I just toss some toys out around his blanket and you can see him trying to get around to explore things. He tries so hard that he starts to get fussy when it doesn't work. It is very cute. He can roll from his stomach to his back now too, but he rarely does it because he wants to be on his stomach. You can tell that he can't wait to be able to follow his brother around the room.

He really freaked me out this month when I found him sleeping on his stomach in is crib. I tried rolling him back over. But now he sleeps that way every night. On his stomach with his thumb in his mouth. Still scares me especially since he is wearing his brace and can't really roll back over, but I can't stop him. So I guess I shouldn't bother worry about it.

We have been doing rice cereal this month. I don't know if he likes the taste that much. I started mixing it with juice because it was backing up his tummy. He like that much better. He devours it and complains if I don't get it in there fast enough. He also loves to grab the spoon and not let go. We had to slow down on the rice cereal just like we did with Tom though, it was backing up his system too much. We will probably only give it to him sparingly until he can get some vegetables to go along with it. Can't wait though because with a beast who eats so much it really takes some of the burden off a nursing mom.

He has been a smiley, giggly boy this month. You can also see that instead of hanging out with mama so much he looks at daddy and wants his attention too. And of course he is always interested in Tom. Tom has had a little trouble with his brother getting older. I think he is realizing now that Jacob is more active and can move a little that he is going to have to start sharing his toys. He hasn't seemed too jealous so far with us having to spend time with baby, but if baby comes anywhere near his trains there is a full on melt down. So we have been talking about sharing and taking turns a lot. He does good with most toys that we practice with. Just don't touch his trains :)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/mBvdD368CiRVYKUg6

Here is look back at Tom at 5 months old.

Trains with Daddy

Most nights, after dinner Tom and Daddy play trains or cars. Usually it just involves sending them back and forth between them and then parking them. But Tom loves his Daddy time.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/bF771Kb1Vd2oRLdC7

Poo Poo

Tom did a little bit of poo poo in the potty for the first time. I could tell he had to go. So we him on the potty and gave a couple books. And he did go a little bit. Very exciting.

School Pictures

It was time for Tom to get school pictures again. I asked them if Jacob could get his picture taken too even though he wasn't enrolled in their daycare. They said yes of course. So I got some great pictures out of it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/d89Vo5MiBDgW6J456

Working Outside with Daddy

Tom loves spending outside time with his daddy pretending to do work with him. And of course he is a little pyromaniac in training.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1w2TvEtqNN3SMPoL7

Trick or Treating

We have had so much Halloween over the last couple of weeks. We went to the Blossey's pumpkin patch and we also went to the pumpkin patch by our house. We went on a Halloween train ride. Tom had a couple of dress up days at school. We carved pumpkins and decorated the house. On Halloween we all walked to a few houses together and the Tom and Eric walked the rest of the neighborhood while Jacob and I handed out candy. Tom was very excited to see what treats he had when he got home. Always one of our favorite times of year.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WbvhP95S8MT9zzNh9

Pumpkin Carving

One of my favorite things about Halloween is carving pumpkins. We had 5 small pumpkins from our garden. And we also got a couple bigger pumpkins from the pumpkin patches, including one really large pumpkin. I couldn't resist putting baby inside to get a picture.

Tom helped my pick out the stencils on the computer. If I let him all of the pumpkins would have been cars. But after some encouragement he decided on Lightning McQueen, Madder, Thomas Train, Mickey Mouse, Elmo, The Count, Kermit the Frog and he even cut a smiley face with some help from me. Tom had a lot of fun grabbing the guts out of the pumpkin for about 2 minutes and then got bored until I showed him the finished product. He is very attached to these pumpkins so it will be interesting to see how he reacts when the start going bad.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DbPv5nVSxuN5LPpNA

Halloween Train Ride

We had heard about the Train Rides in Snoqualmie and have wanted to go. We had other plans cancel and the Wheeler's asked us if we wanted to go with them. Tom was so excited. Even just talking about it he was so excited.

The train is a steam train. It is a little challenging to make it onto it with a baby on your back because it is old school steps up. But we made it. We rode in the caboose which was very old. Tom had such a great time. He sat memorized looking out the window for the longest time. The train moves pretty slow, and it doesn't go very far, but it was pretty cool. It went from North Bend and past the Snoqualmie Falls and back. Tom was so sad when we left. And even just seeing these pictures he was so excited.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/oetWtzRkgq6H4q2q6

Rocking Out

It is so funny to see what crazy little things Tom does while he is playing by himself. Today he was rocking out with his guitar. He likes to play with the box of music stuff we have. That is when he decides to take a break from his cars or trains. He also likes to play on my guitar a little, although he doesn't quite know what to do. But he likes to hear that he can make sound with it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2dGpZmR52bgqqYrh9

Break from the Brace

Went to Jacob's orthopedist again today. She said his foot is looking good and he can take the brace off while he is awake and only wear the brace during naps and night time. He was very excited to have his freedom today. He rolled around on the floor and even rolled from his stomach to his back which he has never done before. He has also really been trying to crawl lately, but taking off the brace didn't help too much with that. He did jump a lot more enthusiastically in his jumper. He also kept wanting to grab at his feet to check them out. We are very excited for the next stage of his development. Unfortunately she said it will be till age 3 or 4 that he has to wear the braces while sleeping.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4Sj2vXz2im2JmLW3A

Jump Jump

We had been given a second hand jump that Tom loved. But it was used outside and was pretty worn and started to rip away from the bar so we had to get rid of it. So we got a new jumper. I wasn't going to, but I read in some of the literature the orthopedist that trampolines can be good for club foot because they stretch out the Achilles tendon. So we decided to get one now while Tom is still interested and then Jake can use it.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cuSY8Xri7thgCwYm6

Second Pumpkin Patch

Tom loves the pumpkin patch so much that we decided to go to the pumpkin patch right by our house too. We were hoping they would have hay rides again this year, but they did not. But Tom did get to sit on a tractor and get a really big pumpkin. He was also really excited that the train was parked right by our car and he got to touch it.

Tom really wanted to push the wheel barrow. I think it was 65 pounds of pumpkin in there.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KBY8ki3n1JbEtx4c7