Updates!

Well, I will have you know that Jax's laugh as displayed in the video in the previous post has been a one time and one time only event. We have tried to duplicate but no luck. He is much happier to give you his spectacularly addicting ear-to-ear smile to those who he finds familiar. So...that is progress! He is getting his 3rd tooth, but it is the top tooth to the left of his front teeth, so that should make for some interesting toothy pictures until those front teeth come in. Is that normal? Anyway...Jax is a master roller and would prefer that than any form of creeping/crawling at the moment. I turn my head for a moment and he ends up under tables and stuck against walls, etc. Tye has started Mother's Day Out and loves it. He is becoming so independent and wanting to assert that in pretty much all situations. That is the tough part of the "Two's" I am assuming. He loves playing outside and helping me cook! They are growing up so fast, but I am loving every minute.

Jax finally figured out the jumperoo...thanks Chris for letting us borrow it!



Here are a few pics from the past few days.

Yes, those are my sunglasses...



playtime!



He can't get enough of those puffs :)

More than a smile...a LAUGH!!

Tye has successfully made Jax belly laugh! FINALLY!
Enjoy...



Blessings,
Bethany

Just for fun...

Here are a few pictures from the last week. I have been working hard on "taking back my house". I have had a hard time keeping up the house, and keeping up with the kids lately. So, I have been on a quest, and it has been keeping me busy...hence the not so recent posts. It has been great, though. I have been using the www.flylady.net website, so for those of you who have not heard of it before...check it out. So we had a breakthrough today. We went to the grocery store this morning and Tye and Jax both sat in the car-cart! They did great and Tye was so excited to have a buddy beside him. Jax was even big enough to turn the steering while like big brother. So there might be hope that I can actually do a full shopping trip one day. Anyway, here is a video of Tye giving Jax zerberts, and Tye thinks he makes a surprise discovery at the end...so cute, and Tye and I thought it was much more funny than Jax, but he appeased us, and the picture is of Tye, taking after his father...sorry Russ.





Blessings,
bethany

This one is for you, Jamie!

This is as close as I will ever be able to get to matching outfits, but I have to admit, they were so cute! If you look closely, you will notice they aren't exactly matching, but very similar. Russ did not make too big of a deal, but he did notice. :)

6 Months Old!!

This is Jax's everyday look, hence the nickname "stone cold"...



but when he does smile...boy does it melt your heart!


Jax was 6 months yesterday and where did that time go? He is sitting up, has his first tooth and learning to like food. It has not come natural to him, and as long as I warm it up, he tolerates it. He loves his big brother and when he is crying, all it takes is a smile from Tye and he is great. It is adorable. We call him "stone cold", because it takes a very silly mom to make him crack a smile, but he is an absolute joy, and we are so thankful God has blessed us with him in our lives.

You just have to laugh when...

Your son learns how to use the word "GRUMPY" (Thanks Backyardigans!). So it was 5:30pm and I was in the middle of dinner when Tye says,"Gotta pee", so I shoo-ed him to the bathroom. He has been doing so good going in the potty, I thought I would give him his privacy and let him go with no supervision...well, a few seconds later, I hear the music from the potty, so I smile like a proud mommy would and then I hear, "OH NO, MOMMY I NEED HELP!" I am thinking, what could go wrong? So I walk in and see Tye standing on top of the potty chair trying to pee like a dad would, and of course he is upset because he made a wet mess all over the floor. The majority made it in, but his aim was not the best. So I am like, "YUCK! You can't stand on the potty that way." So he gets his rag and proceeds to clean it up and then instead of standing to empty the potty, he is sitting on the floor when he tries to empty it and he spills it all over the floor. "YUCK!, YUCK! TYE!" I said, with a loud groan of frustration. I just wanted to finish dinner. So Tye looked up at me with his big eyes and said, "Mommy, are you grumpy?, Why are you grumpy?" I could not help but laugh, and we both laughed together and I asked him, "Where did you hear that?" and he replied, "the Grumpy Emperor on The Backyardigans." Then Russ walked through the door. Hope that brings a smile to your face today. :)

Where to even start...!

Okay, so I did not realize it has been this long since our last post, and I think I said that last time. Yes, it has been busy, but still...grandparents need pics of grandkids, right? So I wont go through all the events of the past month, but here are a few highlights. Jax still hates baby food and yes, it has been about a month now. He shivers and gags with everything except the "oatmeal with bananas" cereal. Any suggestions? I have tried a few of the veggies, because I heard you are to start with those first, but he can't even get more than one bite down without gagging and that is just over the taste of it. It can't be a texture or thickness thing. I simply dip the spoon in and dab it on his lips. Silly boy! I am open for any comments or suggestions on this matter. Should I just go ahead with the fruits and try those? Other than that, he is starting to sit up on his own, and then slowly, slowly leans to the side until he laying down, which is fine with him these days, because he can roll like a champ. He is also sleeping through the night! Yea!!! He is giving us the 12 hours now, and can't be more excited about that. But, you know with kids, it is always something changing.



As for Tye, we officially started potty-training last weekend, and Tye did fantastic. I recommend the book, "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" by Nathan Azrin and Richard M. Foxx. Starting at 9am, Saturday morning, diapers were gone, and we had a few accidents in the morning, but he held it through naptime and only one small accident that evening. I thought it did not work, but he made it all night, and we have not had another peeing accident since. Now going #2 was a different story. We realized he was not a huge fan of going in the potty. So I had to come up with a serious reward. We decided on riding the 4-wheeler at Grandad's house was big enough, and sure enough...we were over there today and congrats to Tye...he pooped and was so shocked with himself! He looked down usually impressed with his pee, but to his surprise, his eyes got huge and looked at me and yelled "I pooped! It is big!" Needless to say, there was much celebration and 4-wheeler riding. Anyway, it has gone well. That may be too much information for some of you, but I am a happy momma. It is stressful though...always thinking about where the potty is and when did he go last, etc.

Lastly, we celebrated the 4th of July in Fredericksburg, and it was so much fun. The whole family was there, and then some. Yes, that made 18 of us. We all managed to fit, and had a great time riding tractors, going to the parade, doing a little shopping, and good food. Here are a few pictures from the parade. Tye had so much fun, he came home and had a parade for himself.







Here are some videos...

If you were to take Shane Mikeska and Russ and put them side by side as 5 month olds, I am sure this is what you would have seen...this makes me crack up, because it is so their daddy's personalities. Shane is the super active, excited one, and Russ is the laid back, go with the flow kind of guy...perfectly displayed!



Here is Tye taking a go at the guitar.



I could not pass up my little munchkin' getting in on some of the action. He loves making sound. He is my little noisemaker. If something makes sound he is shaking it, rattling it, hitting it, whatever. I love it, at least for now. Not so sure when he is 15, though.



Blessings,
Bethany