2 Months Already?

I took Wyatt to his 2 month checkup! Time has just flown since this little guy came into our lives!! The doctor said Wyatt looked great, even though he was 3.5 weeks early.

Here are his 2 month old stats:

Weight- 10 lbs, 13 oz. (25th percentile)

Length- 22.25 inches (25th percentile)

Head- 15.25 inches (25th percentile)

(Funny thing is, these were pretty much Grant's stats at 1 month! I'm sure he'll catch up eventually!!)

He also had to get his shots and he was sound asleep when we walked in. He screamed as soon as the shot pricked him, but stopped as soon as the bandaid went on. It helped that Big Brother Grant was patting his head and saying, "Shhhh" the whole time!! They were both super strong boys!!

Wyatt is a great baby! He is sleeping very well at night- goes to bed about 9:30, wakes up around 2 or 3, then again around 6 or 7. Last night he slept from 9:00-3:30!! He eats a 3 oz bottle about every 3 hours. He likes lounging in his swing, being held by Mommy or Daddy, taking warm baths, sitting outside, standing on my legs and looking all around!! He is a very alert little guy and loves watching Grant be Grant!! I'm enjoying watching him change day by day!

We Love You!

When I married that wonderful husband of mine,
there were some things I knew from the start.
I knew he was gentle and thoughtful and wise,
I knew that he had a big heart...

But I didn't know all the things I know now,
all the tricks that he had up his sleeve.
All the toys he could fix, all the swings he could push,
all the ways he could play make-believe.

The longer we're together,
the more I can see just what very good fortune I've had...
When I married that wonderful husband of mine,
I sure married a wonderful dad!

We love you Levi, always and forever, and we'll miss you like crazy!!

Love,

Laura, Grant, and Wyatt

Driving Mr. Grant

There comes a point in the day when I just run out of the things to do with Grant!! It's even become increasingly harder to keep Grant busy now that Wyatt is around and insists on being held 90% of the day. Grant has done a really good job keeping himself busy and adjusting to not having me as a playmate all day long. But sometimes both of us just get bored!! So today we ventured outside to play chalk and bubbles, and as I opened the garage, Grant said he was going to drive and started saying, "Bye." Grant always jokes when I buckle him in his car seat that he's going to drive instead of me. Well today he got his chance! I rolled the windows down in the car and he "drove" for a good 30 minutes! He pushed every button, pulled every lever, turned every vent, and opened every compartment!! It might take me 30 minutes just to get everything back to how it was!! But he sure enjoyed himself!! As for me and Wyatt, we just kicked back and enjoyed the fresh breeze from outside. I was holding Wyatt (as usual) but my arms got tired, so I buckled him in the stroller and he just relaxed!!

Check out the eyelashes on this guy!!

Regress Much?

Grant sure has enjoyed all the baby gear that's been pulled out these past few weeks!! He's reliving his "babyhood" and giving all the toys another go around! He eventually realizes he doesn't like them all that much anymore, but it doesn't stop him from going into Wyatt's room a few times a day to pull out a new baby toy!

This was right after Wyatt came home, but he still likes to get the crib and play with the mobile!

He found the johnny-jump-up buried in the back of Wyatt's closet. He put the parts that hang over the door molding to his ears because he thought they looked like a giant stethoscope, so I showed him what it really does. Of course, he had to get in. The second he got in, he realized he hated it (exactly like he did when he was a baby!).

This was also being stored upright in the back of Wyatt's closet. As we were getting ready to run errands one day, I heard a loud crash from my bedroom and ran in to find that Grant had pulled it out of the back and turned in upright and was having a good old time!

He also loves sitting in Wyatt's car seat. He pulls the sunshade down in front of his face and calls it his space shuttle!!

The Boppy is always good for watching TV!

We're Going to Sea World!!!

We just got home from a wonderful weekend at Sea World!! Thanks to the "Here's to the Heroes" program, we were able to get into Sea World for free!! We thought, what a better time to go than one of our last weekends as a family before Levi leaves for deployment! We had a fantastic time!! I would've handled it being a little bit cooler, but we made the most of it! We'd been planning the trip for about a week and told Grant all about it! He couldn't stop talking about "wor world" (that's how he'd say it) all week long. We got to our hotel Friday evening and went straight to the pool- that probably would've been enough for Grant if we just stayed there the whole weekend!! He LOVED the pool!!

Probably the most fun we had at Sea World was the Blue Horizons dolphin show. It was amazing to see how they could train the dolphins to do such incredible things!! The show ran about 30 minutes, and I'm pretty sure Grant didn't even blink!! He clapped with such enthusiasm with every dolphin jump!! We actually saw the show twice it was that good!!

They were able to get 6 dolphins to jump out of the water at the same time!! At the second show, they had 8 jump out at once!!

Then we saw the Shamu show. I have to say, I thought it would be the best show, but after seeing the dolphins, Shamu just didn't live up to them! It was incredible seeing how big Shamu was and watching him jump out of the water!!

We saw lots of other things while we were there- stingrays, 3 huge sea turtles, sharks, penguins, pink flamingos, two different aquariums and Levi went on the two roller coasters! I would've, but I had a baby strapped to my chest and somehow, going on a roller coaster by myself just didn't sound that appealing!!

Grant enjoying the view from Daddy's shoulders!

Wyatt along for the ride!!

Grant checking out all the fish in the aquarium!! He was fascinated! He even thought he saw one that looked like Gilbert, his beta fish he got for his birthday!

Here's Wyatt strolling around!! It was about 92 degrees and pretty humid, so we were all a sweaty mess!! Wyatt seemed to enjoy himself though!!

We stopped to feed the dolphins, which is something I'd always wanted to do!! It was so cool how they just came right up to the wall and just opened their mouths begging for food! We each had a little tray of fish. Grant wanted NOTHING to do with this! Levi had to step back with him while I fed the dolphins and then we switched so Levi could feed them. We were able to touch their chins, which was really cool!! Later that night at the pool, Grant was pretending to be a dolphin and we had to feed him fish (leaves he found in the pool) and we had to pet his chin. So apparently, he got something out of that experience!!

It was a wonderful weekend as a family!! It definitely was an experience sharing a hotel room with all 4 of us- definitely not much sleeping going on!! But we had a great time!! I wish I could say we had more of these kinds of weekends planned, but sadly with Levi leaving soon, it will be a while before that happens again! We'll cherish these memories and will be looking forward to the day we get to do something like this again!!!

Bucket O' Treasures

Mom, this post is for you!

While my mom was here taking care of Grant when I was in the hospital, her and Grant spent lots of time walking the culdesac looking for "treasures." The idea of a "treasure" to Grant is a little different than what I would consider a treasure, but to each his own!! He would carry his little bucket and walk down the sidewalk looking for anything that caught his eye!! One of the funniest things he found was a piece of carpet padding from the neighbors old carpet that was being thrown out. He actually slept with this little piece of foam for a few nights!! Oh, its the little things in life that bring such joy!!

Here are the contents of Grant's "treasure" bucket: a penny, 2 pieces of carpet foam, a water bottle cap, a small aquarium plant, a piece of our recycling bucket, a black tube, orange tape, eyeglass ear thingy, a handful of rocks and nuts, a piece of weed-eater thread, a black cap to something, something to a sprinkler head, a piece of a pop-up book, a twist tie, and a few shreds of paper

Checking out all his treasures...he seems so proud of his collection!!

Mimi, Grant can't wait to come to your house and find some Kansas treasures!!

More Comparing...

I couldn't help myself!! I saw this photo opp and I had to do it!! I had this picture of Levi snuggling Grant when he was 6 weeks old. I saw Levi holding Wyatt the other night and it reminded me of this picture, so I had to snap it!! I just love how sweet they are!!

These are two more pictures I found that show brotherly-resemblance!! Grant was definitely much more expressive than Wyatt at this age. Grant started socially smiling at 3.5 weeks and Wyatt has yet to crack a smile, but I think he's on the verge! But one thing they have in common is a love for the Baby Einstein Playgym!! Holy cow- if this wasn't worth the money, I don't know what is!! Wyatt will lay there and watch the musical light-up star for 20-30 minutes!! He's starting to notice all the hanging toys too!

He might not be cracking a smile in this pic, but I definitely can read this expression:

"Whatcha lookin at Mama?"

Some Updates

• Wyatt is now 5 weeks and 2 days old. He weighs 8 lbs. and 12 oz. and is 20 inches long!! He is filling out and is starting to look a little on the chubby side, although he still can only wear a handful of his clothes! He is a pretty good sleeper, still sleeping most of the day. However, he is becoming kind of a dependent night sleeper- preferring to be held while I stand- not so fun!! Hopefully that will pass soon!! He is very alert and loves sitting up on my lap looking around at everything!!

• Grant is still in love with his baby brother, Ky. He is always giving him kisses, hugs, holding his hand, and playing with his little toes. Recently he has tried picking Wyatt up when he's laying on the floor, or trying to soothe him when he's crying by giving him a NUK or lovey!! He loves helping hold Wyatt's bottles when I feed him! Grant has had some ornery moments the past few days, and I'm trying to have an understanding heart, but sometimes my lack of patience gets the better of me! But at the end of the day, when I get a goodnight hug, kiss, and "Wuv you" it all feels ok!
  
  

• Levi is set to leave for deployment around May 21st. As of right now, they are scheduled to be home right before Christmas, which I hope actually happens!! It still doesn't seem real that he will be leaving for that long very soon!! I'm looking forward to spending most of that time in KS surrounded by friends and family, although it just won't be the same without my other-half!

A Glimpse

If this little angel isn't a glimpse into Heaven, I don't know what is!!!

Comparing

It's inevitable that comparisons will be made between Grant and Wyatt not just because they're brothers, but because they also have the same birthday! As I was looking through some old pictures, I found a few of Grant when he was a baby and it made me think of a few of Wyatt that look very similar! They are definitely their own little person, but the resemblance is definitely there!!

Grant- April 9, 2008

Wyatt- March 22, 2010

Grant- March 21, 2008

Wyatt- March 17, 2010

Grant- April 19, 2008

Wyatt- March 27, 2010

America's Next Baby Model

Wyatt was asked to be in a photo shoot for one of my friends here in Jacksonville who owns a baby boutique. The in-store photographer was amazing and had such unique props! She has asked Wyatt to be in another photo shoot for some in-store promotions, catalogs, etc! The best part was that we got some free prints!!!

If you're interested, here is the photographer's blog where she has alot of Wyatt's pictures posted!!

http://juliecate.com/blog/

Just scroll down and you'll see my handsome boy!!!

(ps. the pictures with the scale do not show his actual weight- he's not a 9 pound baby...yet!)

Growing Like a Weed

Wyatt had another drs. appt. on Friday for some severe diaper rash. He had been to the doctor 10 days earlier and in that amount of time he gained a whole pound, and half an inch!! So, as of April 9th, he was 7 lbs, 9 ozs and 20 in. long! It's hard to believe he's almost a month old already!! I guess his brother beats him out still by growing 3 pounds in the first month, but this little guy is growing like a weed before my very eyes!

Trip to the Beach

Well, it must be spring because we took our first trip to the beach on April 1st! It was a gorgeous day and Grant was definitely ready to sink his feet into some sand! Wyatt even enjoyed the beach too- well, maybe he didn't even know he was there, but he did seem peaceful!! Grant had a great time building sandcastles with Daddy, getting buckets full of water, and driving his dump truck through the sand! I'm not sure how many beach trips we'll be able to make this season, so I'm glad we went when we did!!

Wyatt hanging out on the beach! Grant helping Daddy build a castle! Loading up the dump truck!
More castles!

Checking out the water!

My Buddy

Grant likes Wyatt to lay by him when we read Grant his bedtime story- but he makes sure to tell us to take Wyatt with him when we leave the room!

Grant and Wyatt sure are good buddies already! I can't wait to see their relationship develop over the years! So far, Grant is very loving towards him and likes to give him hugs and kisses ALL THE TIME! There have been a few times when Grant asks to hold Wyatt and then 2 seconds later just as we sit Wyatt on his lap, he shouts, "No, no, no!" But that is to be expected!! Grant loves when Wyatt plays "I'm gonna get you" with him! I stand Wyatt up and pretend he's walking towards Grant saying, "Wyatt's gonna get you!" He laughs so hard, he gets tears in his eyes!

These two boys are going to bring so much joy and laughter into the house!!

"Wyatt's gonna get you!!!"
Nice brother!!

I'm a Big Kid Now!!

My baby is no longer a baby anymore!! Grant turned two a few weeks ago! We had his two-year old check-up this morning!! He hadn't been to the doctor since late October, so I was really anxious to see how big he really is!! Since we brought Wyatt home, I can't help but notice how BIG Grant seems, but I wasn't sure if it was just because Wyatt is so small, or if he really was just becoming a big kid!!

Here are his two-year old stats:

-Height: 35 inches (70th percentile)

-Weight: 28 lbs (45th percentile)

-Head Circumference: 49cm (75th percentile)

Some of Grant's favorites at the moment:

-Show: Max & Ruby, Little Einsteins

-Snack: Fruit Snacks, Cheez-its

-Food: French Fries (hardly a meal, I know!), Moe's Cheese Quesadilla

-Toy: shovels and buckets outside, cars, robots

-Game: playing Garage with his step-stool and cars, I Spy

-Book: Goodnight Sleepyhead, Cars Look & Find

He can count to ten, recognize most colors, say his ABC's up to letter H, take his clothes off (including diaper!!), sing along with a few songs, pee-pee in the potty a few times a day, and shower his baby brother with LOTS of hugs and kisses!! He is a funny guy with quite the imagination and he makes me smile continuously!!

I LOVE YOU BUDDY!!