Watson at 18 months

Watson will be 18 months tomorrow-truly so hard to believe. I can't imagine what our family would be like without him, or even more so, what Hayes would be like if she didn't have her sidekick! They are a mess together, so funny and entertaining for each other. These are sweet and crazy days with their little ages. I have been awful at keeping monthly posts on him, poor baby. He is so precious, and FULL of life. His one little speed is set on high always. He has the curliest little blonde hair that has yet to be trimmed. It reminds me of my Grandmama and Ease's hair from the back. He is the biggest snuggle bug, especially at bedtime. He loves to be rocked and held, which is funny because he hardly ever slows down. But he will crawl in your lap and say "rock, rock, rock" which means you better bust out a song really quick if you want to enjoy that ball of sweetness being still in your lap for a moment! He also doesn't mind letting you hold him like a baby, something I still do often. I don't want to think about him getting any bigger.

One of his major loves is food. The boy EATS, EATS, EATS. ALL THE TIME. Nathan and I always say we hope he plays sports because he is going to have to start running off all this food he eats!! Seriously, our grocery bill is getting higher each week. He also loves sweeping with the big broom or little broom and gets the dustpan out too and pretends to shake it into the trashcan. He also loves to play in the play kitchen and cook and stir things up. He is always working on something. he will grab a plate or bowl and spoon and sit down at the table to stir. It's hilarious to watch! He loves books, mainly animal books, and knows most all the animal sounds. He is hardly ever, ever, ever without his paci or lovie, which is something we need to start working on soon! He loves to grab your hand and pull you around the house to find both.

He loves being outside and getting dirty. He can now climb to the top of our playset and is really good at going up but still needs help coming back down the ladder. He loves his swing and to slide, and now lately loves the glider. He also loves his bat and ball, but doesn't like for Hayes to use it. He wants to hit every time, no catching for him! He says lots of words and repeats most everything we say. He loves songs and says the last word of each line. He is learning and soaking up so much. He wants to be just as big as Hayes and refuses to not be treated the same. Whatever she has he wants too-juicebox, crayons, markers, candy, etc. He will march his little self to the outside refrigerator and get get his own juicebox if she doesn't bring him one. Such a determined little one!! Oh and he loves to brush his teeth but doesn't want you to help. Sometimes when we come home he will run straight to the bathroom for his toothbrush. I'm glad he wants clean teeth! Speaking of, last weekend he had an accident and fell flat on his face on the hardwoods and I was sure he knocked every tooth out of his mooth. There was blood everywhere. So far they all look fine and are intact, thank you Lord.

Happy 18 months, big boy. You are SO precious and SO special to our family and we all love you so much, Bay Bay Watsa Bam Bam!!

Alabama Babies

One of the favorite activities at our house is the water hose, not so much the baby pool, but just the plain old garden hose! They both love playing in it and fight over who gets to hold it. I love the simple and cheap things that make them so happy!

Hayes at 3 1/2

Our little Hayesie Daisy is growing up and getting so big. Every day is something new and I am not sure I want her to get any bigger. I can see how fast we got from birth to 3 1/2 and now she's about to start 3 yr preschool. She is funny and silly and sassy and independent and mature (mostly) and has a major imagination going on. I'm so thankful for that. You never know what she is going to say or come up with. She is in L.O.V.E. with her brother. They are 2 peas in a pod. She can't wait for him to get up in the mornings or from his nap. I wonder how long it will be like that? For now it's so sweet to watch. And then of course she can have some major, major fits and meltdowns. Behavior and discipline can be so challenging and we've had quite a bit of that around here lately.

A few of her favorite things at 3 1/2... She is a baby doll girl. She loves taking care of baby, changing her diaper, feeding her, making her color and play school with her. She takes care of Watson in the same way and lately we have found her disciplining him (popping his hand or leg and then running away b/c she knows she will get in trouble!). She wants to be his mommy so bad!! She loves to pretend her cousins are coming over and will put breakfast or snacks out for them at the kitchen table. She will even go and open the door and greet them like they're coming inside, take them to the potty, get their crayons out, etc. Again, a great imagination and/or hostess in that little mind!

She loves outside! She could play out there all day long climbing, playing chase and hide and seek, and swinging. She has been working on pumping her legs and I think she almost has it down but still needs more practice. She loves to have her afternoon snack outside and we do that every afternoon, just the 2 of us while brother boy naps.

She loves to help me cook and pulls her chair up to the counter to watch and help. She can make a mess in the kitchen, but I love that she wants to watch and help and learn, at least for now. I know our days at home are so short and 2 years she will go to kindergarten! I feel the need to cram everything in I want to teach her before those big school years start!!

Other things she loves...her ABC game, fixing her hair by herself, dressing herself, her little purse with $4 in it that she's been carrying around since early July, making tents, her Daddy, donuts (or any sweets), going to Publix (I know the bakery people are sick of us!), playing kindergarten, Dr. Seuss books, eating snacks, playing in the rain with her rainboots and umbrella, Dora and Umizoomi, videos from the library, really into asking what is healthy vs not healthy-kind of strange but I'm glad she knows there's a difference! Her new favorite food lately is broccoli-out of nowhere-also loves ham and cheese, yogurt, cheez-its, spaghetti or lasagna, cheese grits, strawberries. She is excited about ballet starting back soon, or maybe it's just that sucker she gets after each class. She also has learned to snap the middle part of her seat belt and one of the bottom buckles and is so proud. She also loves to sing songs and nursery rhymes. She often does this when Watson is crying or pitching a fit! It's hilarious to watch. She just got her hair cut last night and it's the shortest it's ever been! Her curly hair can get a little out of control and Nathan said it was taking over our house-hahhaa!Time is going too fast. I'm thankful for every day with her, even those really, really hard ones!!

Honey's Visit

Nathan's grandmother came to visit on Friday and to spend the night. We love to have company and Hayes was excited about a playmate!! And Honey was a good one, such a trooper. She played chase and hide and go seek (2 of Hayes' favorite games now), played in the tent and read books and did whatever those 2 little people asked her to do. We enjoyed it so much. Come back soon, Honey!! They were both fighting over who was carrying her suitcase, daddy won that one.

Sunday Silliness

Silhouettes

My super talented sister in law, Lindsey, painted silhouettes of the kids for my birthday! She did an awesome job. When she gave them to me I could not stop looking at them because they really do look just like their little profiles!! I still love them so much and just got them hung in the kitchen. I thought that was a great spot since I seem to spend 95% of my day in there. I love seeing those sweet little heads. Hayes was almost 3 1/2 and Watson was around 15 months here. Thanks Lindsey for the incredibly thoughtful and precious birthday gift. I LOVE them so, so very much!!

Oak Mountain

This past weekend we took the kids to Oak Mountain to the petting zoo and to have a picnic. I've been wanting to take them out there and it was a great thing to do with Nathan w/us, I probably would never take them by myself! We had a picnic by the water and they had fun exploring sticks and rocks and dirt! Eating outside (or really anywhere!) is one of their favorite things. We had a lot of shade so it wasn't really hot. We saw lots of animals, Hayes just wanted to watch from someone's arms and Watson wanted to chase all of them and get right up in their faces. We haven't seen much fear in him yet about anything. It was a fun outing, not too terribly hot, the bathrooms were even pretty clean, and we made it back without anyone falling asleep which was really good. I'm sure we'll be going back. The fall would be a great time to go!

Pajama Time

My little ones are not seeming so little anymore. Here is Hayes at 3 1/2 yrs and Watson at 17 1/2 mos. Don't they look the same size almost? I am hoping to do a monthly update on each soon, since this little blog is our family scrapbook, and since they change daily!