I can only assume this is his "Hello Ladies" look:)

One Classy Girl

Nothing screams "class" quite as much as Sophia passing out on me only after pulling her shirt up over her ever expanding belly and then starting to drool milk on me.

Gymnastics!

 

For the life of me, I can't figure out why two of these pictures flip when I add them since they are upright when I upload them, and every time I try to flip them, all 4 pics disappear.

Anyway, both boys started gymnastics last week at a really cool gym in Portage. Max's is a TumbleKids class, and the room is outfitted with small, kid-sized equipment, while Alex is in the big room. I love that they have a large waiting room, with glass on both sides, so I can watch both classes at the same time. 

Words of Wisdom...

When I was pregnant with Max, a mom told me to imagine everything I thought I could get done with a baby, then cut that list in half, and if I accomplish most things on that shortened list, it is a good day. At the time, I thought she was exaggerating, but I now realize she was incredibly wise.

Sophia at 8 Months

She continues to be a happy, loving baby! She is still waking up, on average, 2 times a night. There has to be an end to this! This past month has been a big one as far as her physical movement-she's fully crawling now...none of this army crawl stuff anymore. She's pulling her self up and beginning to cruise around a bit and is into absolutely EVERYTHING! It really is getting quite busy with two of them. Until about a month ago, Max was the one to keep an eye on; now, it's definitely her.

She tolerates us feeding her some baby food, but she really just wants to be in charge, and she adores puffs. Just like her mommy-loving the carbs. She has 2 teeth, hates to be changed, and burps like a man. Really, she puts Charly to shame sometimes.

She says, "Mama, Dada, and Baba", although I don't really think they're directed at anyone or anything yet.

4th of July

For the 4th this year, we went to South Haven with my parents, Charly's brother and his girlfriend and her daughters. I was a jerk and just took pictures of my kids:)

This was Sophia's first time at the lake, and she absolutely loved it! Max has always been a bit hesitant about the water, and even this time, he wouldn't go in past his knees without someone carrying him. Not Sophia! She was fascinated by everything and would have crawled right in if we had let her!

Mr. Max

Here are some cute Max and Daddy pictures taken at the fish hatchery.

Max is forever a little individual. Potty training is non-existent (it's about to cost us his spot in Spanish Immersion preschool:( ), he still hates to have his nails trimmed and his hair washed, although he is doing much better about brushing his teeth. At least there's one thing!

He continues to be adventurous and has just discovered puzzles; he has taken right off with these, completing ones up to 25 pieces on his own.

I love that he still likes to cuddle, and he's full of hugs and kisses. Around those he doesn't know, he's still very shy and takes awhile to warm up to new situations, clinging and whining until he feels more comfortable. I hope he outgrows this some day!

I Love Putting the Kids to Work!

Alex's Cool New Haircut!

For quite some time, he has had a REALLY long haircut. It was more like a shaggy, in his eyes, lack of a haircut, but he thought it was a style. I finally convinced him to get a David Beckham inspired cut, and it looks SO much better.

I Love How They Are Starting to Play Together, Even if It's Not Always as Max Wants Its

Sophia keeps waiting for Max's train to come around and then destroys it by grabbing a couple of the cars to chew on. Max is not impressed.

I Love This

"I really am your gift. I am not just a little person who needs to be "raised" and taught, and taken to activities....I came to the people in my life to bring a message: slow down. Feel. Be. Over and over again. When you do, you will notice immediately, that I am not an obstacle to your work, or inconvenient to your daily life. Instead, you will come to appreciate my honesty, humor, presence and love." - Bruce Scott

Sophia is Quite the Eater and Other Stuff

Man, this girl loves her food! In the past week, she has decided she no longer likes purees or me feeding her. She may accept a few bites to humor me, but after that, she likes to take charge. She has an excellent pincer grip, so is is doing remarkably well with finger foods.

Also on a coordination note, she mastered the clap a couple of weeks ago and now loves to show it off.

While she has crawled on her hands and knees a couple of times, she is still mostly scooting around on her belly, but she can get to where she wants to, and she does so quickly. She loves chewing on shoes and playing with velrco, grabbing things out of the fridge, and anything to do with plastic bags.

She is very curious and is still such a loving, quick to smile baby.

This might as well be Max-This is how he prefers to be in the summer!

I Really, Really Love This Age

Sophia is now 7 months, and the best way to describe her is pure joy. She smiles 99% of the time, is loving, cuddly, curious, and has such a calm and sweet nature.

She's still not sleeping through the night :(, but she is down to 1-2 times a night. The girl LOVES to eat, and has liked everything we've given her with the exception of apricots. She still eats them though:)

She's a tall one, just like her brother, with a 95th percentile for her height and 75th for weight.

She's really into her army crawling, is VERY vocal, and loves to explore. Walks and nature are very calming to her, and I love to watch her as she explores with her eyes, taking it all in. I cannot imagine having a better, more loving baby:)

A Pretty Typical Day...

The kids have been crazy today. I think they are conspiring together to wear me down so I will just completely cave, let Sophie chew on anything she wants and let Max watch t.v. all day. 

Some of the highlights...

Sophie was not able to sleep at all due to Mr. Max. I would have her in her room, rocking her, almost completely asleep, after giving Max strict orders to stay downstairs and play. Instead, he would sneak up the stairs like a Ninja, burst into her room in full costume, and yell, "Captain America is here!", before trying to get the "bad guys" out of her room. Sophie would cry, and we would start all over.

At the library, I was changing Sophie's diaper and turned around to see Max had a HUGE stack of toilet paper pulled off. He said his shark was hungry and needed a snack. We cleaned it up, I put Sophie in her seat, and went to wash my hands. He stated his shark was hungry again, and was spinning the toilet paper off the roll like his life depended on it. Yeah, I received some looks from others....they must not have kids!

Our First Visit to the Kalamazoo Nature Center

We were just able to see a little bit of it, but we'll be back-we're now members!

Sophia is on the Move!

Sophia, in continuing her competitive nature with her brother in regards to all milestones, is THIS close to crawling. She's rolling across entire rooms, scooting in every direction, rocking on all floors, and projecting herself toward objects. It's going to be busy with two on the move.

Oh, to be a kid again

I want someone to encourage me to go play, read me stories, and make me special snacks. I want someone to clean up my messes, pay all the bills, and make me dinner every night, without fail. I want someone to make me take naps, and do so by tucking me in, reading me a story, and rubbing my back. And to think, when I was a kid, all I wanted to do was grow up. Sometimes, when I'm in the midst of paying the mortgage, taking care of the kids, and doing other adult stuff, I stop and think, "Wait, I'M in charge of this? How did this happen?"

Sophia Slept Through the Night...for the 3rd Time!

Well, I'm so sleep deprived I get excited by the little things. I really hope we're on to something here.

Until we started her on solids, she was waking up 4 times a night. Then, it's gradually decreased to 1-2 times on a pretty consistent basis. I looked back to see where Max was at this point, and he was also still up once a night, so I hope she can show him up!

She's not napping as well as he was though; he consistently took 3 naps like clockwork, but she takes 2 that can vary, and some days, it's only 1.

Looking back at Max at 6 months, it's amazing how much his looks have changed; I wonder if Sophia's hair will lighten up that much, too.

Sophia at 6 Months and Max at 3 Years

They are within 2 days of being exactly 2.5 years apart, which I think is a great gap.

The time since Sophia has been born has been one, long blur, and since this current semester started, each day has felt like a marathon. It's truly amazing how much I can do in one day-more than I ever thought possible. I also have less free time than ever before; I can't believe I thought I was busy with Max!

I truly love to watch the exchanges between them, and my heart grows with love for them every day. Max isn't completely into her yet, though. Oh, he loves her, and tells her so, tries to make her laugh, and brings her toys, but then he likes to run away and do his own thing too:) Sophia, on the other hand, is completely smitten. For the first few months, she seemed quite skeptical and just observed him with a very serious look; it was as if she could not decide what to make of him and his bouncing antics, but she's since decided she adores him.

She has continued to be a good eater, and we started her on solids at 5 months; she took to it like she had been eating her entire life and continues to astound me with the amount she is able to put away. She is sitting up for brief periods on her own, rolling across the room, and scooting all over the place. At the rate she's going, I'm sure she'll be crawling soon, and this was the age Max was crawling, so there's some competition!

Max is entering a fun stage. Sure, he still fights going to bed, brushing his teeth, refuses to go to the bathroom on his own, and still has temper tantrums, but he is a bit more portable (that is, we can take him some places in public and not expect meltdowns), and he is in a really fun, imaginative stage. I love his creative little mind and the level of scenarios he conjures up during play. He is also really getting into dress up, and there have been a couple of days he insisted on dressing up as a fireman or Spiderman for school.

He's still as spirited and stubborn as ever, and I love that he's still a mama's boy:)