A little like mommy

Minus Brad's nose we think Simon looks like me. In this picture we are both 2 months old. 

Joy and the twisty slide

The weather has been AMAZING the last few days. In the high 70s or low 80s and very little humidity. I can actually be outside with a baby strapped to me and NOT sweat. I tell you it is the little things that brighten up my day. Joy loves going for walks and while she is super slow she mostly stays close/holds a hand. I still bring a stroller in case of a meltdown on the way home.

She loves swings most of all (however there are no swings in close walking distance to our house) but likes slides as well. She has mastered all the slides by herself at all the parks we frequent by our house.

Kadoorie farms with friends

We set off to kadoorie farms on Friday with friends. I called ahead and reserved a parking space. Door to door it took less than five minutes! 

Every time there is a new animal that joy is in love with. This time it was the turtles or tootlues as she calls them :) love that little girl. 

Simon is two months

We can't imagine life without this little guy. He continues to be a very mellow baby and for that we are thankful! He has had not evening fussy times which we are VERY VERY thankful for. He has started smiling and it just warms our hearts. He smiles the biggest for Joy.

Who he looks like:  Well a few people have told me that he looks like Brad...but if they know my dad they think that Simon looks like him (it helps that Simon has squinty Condie eyes and a bald head like my dad). Simon does have a Christensen nose but overall I think he looks like my side of the family. So far his hair looks to be brown and his eyes..well they are still gray. Some days they look a bit blue and other days they look a bit brown. Joy's eyes were already blue by this stage so we will see.

 

What Simon is doing:
-sleeping
-eating
-pooping
-awake for 1-2 hours or so each sleep, eat, wake cycle
-generally being VERY cute

Eats: He is a great nurser and nurses every two-three hours, stretching to 6-7 in the night.

Sleeps:
Night: Simon still likes to be swaddled and goes to bed between 7:30-8:30. He will give me a 6-7 hour stretch and then wants to eat every 2-3 hours waking up for the day between 7-8am.

Naps: He takes roughly 4 naps a day. He loves to sleep on his tummy, which we let him do during the day (and check on him a lot). He prefers to nap in his bed and will sleep the longest there. He gets about two of his naps in his bed and two in the carrier.  He has started to be more sensitive to sounds (Rudy has woken him up a few times) and will wake up being transferred from the car seat to the carrier. He will still nap in the carrier so that is great.

Weighs: 11 lbs 1oz
22.5 inches long 

Likes: eating, being held, smiling at us, taking naps on his tummy

Dislikes: when Rudy barks really LOUDLY.

Favorite event: Having daddy home for a whole week during October break. Also getting his American passport...he can now travel!

20 months oh yes!

What Joy is doing 

• Joy is talking up a storm! It is crazy how quickly she is learning new words. 
• Joy loves to pretend to feed all her animals when she eats
• She can clean up toys
• Is a bit shy around strangers these days. She will say "Mommy shy up" which is very cute.

• Total teeth: 13 (still working on "i" teeth, 3 more to go! Yikes these have taken a long time to come in)
  
  

What Joy is saying: Joy is constantly saying "What's that?"

It is too hard to keep track of all the words that Joy is saying, every day she adds a new word. Some of our favorite words she says right now are (she has a little speech impediment so they come out really cute!)
*Cat, monkey, rabbip (rabbit)
*Simom (Simon)
*Bless you baby (when anyone sneezes)
* Doy (Joy :-) 
*gutch = drink 

 Eats: 

• Loves: Our girl loves to eat: Her new favorite thing is peanut butter cracker sandwiches.
• Dairy Free: She eats a lot of different food than us because of this issue. Poor girl gets excited for pizza but thinks it is just bread, as all she can eat is the crust. 
• Still gives us trouble: Carrots and bananas are back on the diet if she eats them in moderation. 

Sleeps:

•  Night time: 7pm-between 6-7am. It is the weirdest thing. She will sleep for 12 hours for about a week and nap for 3 hours and then switch to 11 hours at night and a two hour nap. Must be that she sleeps more when she is in a growth spurt.
• Naps: One afternoon nap (2 hours). Glad that crying to go down for naps didn't last long!

Weighs:22lbs 13 oz

Likes:

* Her love for "bear" has become VERY strong. We can't leave home without him (we tried and paid for it.. she cried the whole car ride) and will not take frog (who is almost identical). I can barely wash him without her melting down.

*Swings! On ever walk we search high and low for swings...even though we don't have any Joy is certain they must be around. We did find a set of swings that is about a 5 minute drive from our house which Joy was elated about.

*Water/the pool

* Reciting her friends names: Elena., baby Aubrey, Abi, Gatch (Jack) and max.

* Playing with daddy: especially horsey rides and "tent" (playing under the sheets in our bed)

*Going to the liboy "library" 

Is learning.....
* to listen to mommy and daddy, being nice and gentle with baby brother and her friends. She goes to time out at least once a day for touching the buttons on the tv or computer or being too rough. She is learning though that timeouts are not fun and usually will choose to do something else if time outs are threatened.
* to share mommy with Simon

Dislikes: When mommy and daddy are talking in the car (and proceeds to scream), being restrained when she wants to walk, that she can't sit in Simon's bouncy seat.....

Favorite event:  Having daddy home during fall break!

Simon and mommy

And so Simon doesn't feel left out...here is a little video of him.

One two buckle my shoe

Joy is really into rhyming these days. She goes around the house saying "Rudy doody" which is really cute. She can also finish the sentences on a book "But not the hippopotamus". I finally got her to do one two buckle my shoe. Even in her distracted state (she just wanted to stare at her cute face!) she did great!

Jesus calms the storm

Joy loves her "Jesus story book Bible". Brad has read her about half so far. Her favorite story is about Jesus calming the storm. However she is convinced there is a monkey in the boat with the disciples. We laugh every time! I guess there could have been monkey :) 

Brother and sister

Some siblings look identical.  However that is not true for my children. They have the same nose and that is about it! When sleeping they look a bit more similar. I'm just shocked at how much bigger Simon is. I guess that is what happens when he started off a whole pound heavier and barely lost any weight 

First day....

Yes joy was trying to poke Simon's eye out!

Today is my first day alone with the kids after a long and lovely fall break with brad home. The kids are doing awesome! They both woke up at 7 am, no time outs for Joy, successful grocery store trip with both kids and both are napping at the same time. Brad is gone Tuesday through Thursday at high school camp lets hope this trend continues as I'll be a single mom 

Joy loves....

Joy is hard to take pictures of because of her constant movement....so videos are ideal.

She loves pumpkin soup (and all things pumpkin...good thing it is fall!)

She loves to wake up Simon (and gets quite upset when he is napping and she is awake) and yes...she did say that Simon eats garbage (Brad taught her that monkeys eat garbage so it is her new favorite thing to say).



She also loves playing with Brad and Rudy.....