Updates on the boys!!

CJ
CJ had another official trip for his 2 month checkup (even though he's already close to 3 months!) to our wonderful Dr. Perry recently and left with a clean bill of health!
Here are his stats:
Weight - 12 lbs. 4.5 oz. - 45%
Height - 24" - 70%
Head - 15 and 3/4 " - 30%
Dr. Perry again said not to pay too much attention to the percentages, but we do think it's obvious that this kid has a Barnes head instead of the notoriously large Stone head! He's definitely a tall boy too - already wearing 6 month sleepers because of his tremendous length. Ok, well 70% isn't tremendous, but he feels tall to us.
He's been a joy lately - and I say that with a bit of sarcasm. On the plus side, he's smiling a TON and is just the cutest thing EVER when he does. He's tracking objects (especially mommy and daddy's faces- gets very upset if we leave his line of vision). He's cooing a little more too. Mike has heard a "laugh" already, but I haven't been quite as fortunate to be the recipient of one yet. Of course, Daddy's the funny one, so it all makes sense.
On the down side, he does have his share of fussy moments. Usually, endless bouncing on the big ball or wearing him will pacify him, but sometimes he just needs to scream - especially in the evening hours after Levi has gone to bed and Mike and I would like nothing more than to relax. He seems to be chilling out more all the time, but once he settles down a little more we'll all breathe a bit easier. At this age Levi was soon sleeping through the night, but CJ seems like he's gonna need a little more time. Damn.

Levi
Levi has made many great new strides lately!
He's been sleeping in his "big boy bed" for about a week now, and is doing great! ("Big boy bed" means a little crib-size toddler bed with 1/2 length side rails, so that he's able to crawl in and out if he wants). It's been fun to sit in bed with him and read a bedtime story every night. He's also now sleeping with a blanket and his cookie monster stuffed animal as his pillow. Just too darn cute.
He's also started talking up a storm, with TONS of new words every day!!! He seems to have made some sort of breakthrough in just the past week! This is a fantastic and fun new stage, as he's learning to say new things and make new sounds all the time! He's always had great comprehension of words, but hasn't spoken very many of them himself. He suddenly seems more willing to try new words when we ask him to say something. Examples of words are: more, please (sounds like peas) hat, shoes, baby, Elmo, sit, knee, toast, and "sheet" and "ditch" from a little book that he loves about a castle ghost. Although it's a little humorous that his "sheet" currently sounds like, well, you know. Hard not to chuckle when he says it. When we look at the alphabet together, Levi's also been able to sound out more letters. He can do A-E, I, M, O, P, S and can point to a lot of these. He will even point at an "M" and say "mommy", at a "B" and say "baby", and sometimes point at a "D" and say "daddy", of course he also will look at a Simon & Garfunkle album cover and point at Paul Simon and say "daddy" and point at Art Garfunkle and say "mommy", but anyway... It's just SO exciting to finally be entering this stage - every day lately seems to produce a new word.
So much fun...

More pics of the boys!

Thanksgiving with Cousin Dario, Uncle Scott, and Aunt Renee!!!


Hanging out being cute.


Under the covers, reading Curious George with Cookie Monster (in a CJ outfit)


Hello

New little man and old little man

CJ update

Where has 8 and a half weeks gone? Hard to believe CJ is 2 months old. The first couple weeks were a breeze and then he entered the "fussy times". The little man gave us a tough go of it during weeks 5-7, but has since seemed to settle down a bit. The breastfeeding is going more smoothly; he is less gassy after feedings and seems much happier and calmer. His eating and sleeping has developed into a fairly predictable pattern! We are patiently awaiting the next milestone - sleeping through the night!! He's starting to give more little smiles recently and making eye contact. It's exciting to finally start to see his little personality emerging. More good times are yet to come...

Another Blue Devil

My handsome boys

Forts are fun!!

Pumpkin carvin'

We had grandiose plans of doing some trick or treating with Levi this year, but when we tried to dress him in his Yoda Halloween outfit he found it interesting for all of about 1 minute and then was done and back to what he loves best - pushing his truck around the house. Oh well. We had his attention long enough to carve a Jack o Lantern!

Big Hands

Can I have the car keys, please?

conversation

Levi is saying more and more words everyday. His favorite for awhile has been "yeah". The following was a great exchange:

Jen: "Levi, do you want some chicken for dinner?"
Levi: "Yeah"
Jen: "Do you want some green beans?"
Levi: "Yeah"
Mike: "Do you want a big pile of poop?"
Levi: "Yeah"

More pics

So many kisses on the head...


First snow of the year! (and yes, pajamas and sandals are appropriate attire!)




Your feet aren't growing THAT quickly, are they!?


little CJ

A visit from Grandpa and Nana!

Levi "helps" feed CJ


Going for a walk with cousin Dario!

A visit from Grandma and Papa!

Somebody's got a case of crazy legs!


Aspen turning color in the background off the "peak to peak" highway


Some instruction on picking a nice ripe tomato...

Some pics

A visit from the Fleece family!

CJ 2 week checkup

CJ had his 2 week checkup with Dr. Perry. Here's his stats:
Weight - 9 pounds 1.5 ounces (55%)
Height - 21.5 inches (75%)
Head - 14 3/8 inches (30%)
CJ went from 7 pounds 7 ounces a few days after birth to 9 pounds 1.5 ounces ten days later. That's about 1.5 pounds in 10 days! Wow! What a good eater!
All in all, CJ is a very good baby - not too fussy; just occasional bouts of gas/indigestion. He's sleeping great at night for the most part as well, usually having at least one good stretch from around midnight until 4 am. Mommy feels like she's getting enough sleep to function!
Levi has been exhibiting a bit of jealous behavior; he seems to notice (and not be very happy about) mommy and daddy's divided attention now. In general, though, he's still great and is very sweet with his little brother.