Babbling Baby!

Christopher has said his first baby words. "Da Da" was first two weeks ago. Followed by "Ba Ba" a couple days ago. I also swear he says "HI". I am trying for "Ma Ma," but all he does is smile.

Baby on the move!

Christopher has perfected his version of crawling. He is probably faster than any one in the military with his low crawl. It is the cutest thing to watch. He can crawl the right way, but his low crawl is just faster for him so that's what he prefers.

He is also pulling himself up on anything he can grab a hold of the tv stand, the couch, his sister, and the list goes on! He has even taken a few cruising steps around the couch. However, he is easily distracted and since his balance isn't that great he falls, ALOT! I have actually thought of getting him a helmet! NO Joke! But everyone assures me he will be fine. I remember thinking similar thoughts about my daughter as she was learning to walk. I didn't think she's make it to one. She started walking at 9 months, and brother is trying to beat her I guess! He just can't wait to be like his sister.

Sibling Rivalry!

I can not believe that my kids are fighting already. I did expect fights, but not this soon. The other day I put a cars tee shirt on my son. It was his shirt, but the problem was that I had allowed my daughter to wear it over the summer. My in-laws bought it months ago, and since it was to big for my son at the time I figured why not let Evie wear it. When I put it on him she was so mad. She signed cars and pointed at Christopher while she screamed. I was taken off guard I did not expect this. I told her he could wear it, and that she was already wearing a shirt so she couldn't wear it. This helped for a little bit then the tantrum hit again. Again I insisted there was nothing wrong with him wearing it and she had to share.

This was only the beginning of the brother sister madness over the week. My daughter has a pink toy laptop. We figured it would keep her busy when we were on our laptop. (Didn't really work!). However, she still plays with it. One day she sat on the living room floor with it and instantly brother noticed. He is mobile now. So within seconds he was at her side grabbing as babies do. This would not do. She began screaming as he grabbed and pulled. He is the stronger of the two, and would win this battle if I let it continue. I put her on the couch with the toy, and gave him something else to play with. He wasn't having it. He crawled to the couch and pulled himself up. Unfortunately, he couldn't reach his sister. He decided to scream out as he stretched as far as he could in hopes of obtaining the toy.

Again I was not ready for this. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't take the toy away for Evie. After all it wasn't her fault. Her brother loves her and is amazed by everything she does. He wants to be a part of it. Anything she has he wants. He always tries to be near her, and smiles the moment she walks in the room. He just doesn't know how to be gentle.

At 20lbs he is almost bigger than his 23lb sister. Soon he will be the bigger little brother. I want to be fair, and thought I knew how to handle these things. I was prepared for this type of stuff, when they get older. I had no idea it would happen so soon.

Weekend Get away!

A weekend get away is supposed to be just that, a quick and easy get away from everything. However, nothing is a quick and easy when you have kids even when it is only for 2-3 days. First of all you have to pack everything and anything you might need. This includes a complete medicine cabinet. If your kids are going to get sick it will be at night on the weekend when you are not at home! I found this out the hard way too many times to count.

Every other weekend we go to my in-laws home north of here. It is only about an hour and a half drive, but long enough to make the little ones miserable. I wish they would sleep. I am usually not so lucky. Each time without fail my daughter starts signing "all done", indicating she wants out of her car seat, when we still have 20-30 minutes until we arrive. We even have a DVD player for her already. I do not know how my parents survived without one!

I spend a few days before we leave attempting to get every thing in order. The day before I attempt to clean the entire house. Who wants to come home to a dirty smelly house? Not me. Don't forget to take out the trash. Old stinky diapers, do I need say more? The night before I pack and make a list. Then I can't sleep, despite the fact that I need to go to sleep early, because I am so stressed out about forgetting something. I have only done so once or twice! I also make a list of everything that needs to be done in the morning and grabbed before we can head out. This way my husband can help without messing up my plan.

We rarely get out of the house by the time we planned to, but each trip's departure time gets a little earlier. We are making progress, just slowly! Once we finally arrive and unpack thanks to grandma and grandpa it eventually is a get away. Actually it is the only time I really get to sleep! Thank God for Grandparents!