Crawling Rod-ee!!

TODAY, Rod started legit crawling. Forwards. It is THE cutest thing. Jax never crawled, so this is very fun and new for me. It's just a really cute thing to watch.  I actually got the first 3 successful attempts on camera, but it's a 4 minute video; so I'll just post the 1minute one with him crawling just a tiny bit, he's kind of crying the whole time... It's still really cute.  He has done it since the video better and better...I just can't get over the little baby waddle timid crawling thing. Kiss on your cute face Rod!!

 Three semi-action shots... The balloon was the thing that got him to crawl in the first place.

This is how it starts..

Then he's off! :)

I love this one...mid-crawl. :)

I went in to get Rod up after his 40 minute (eye-roll) nap today and there he was, sitting up, staring at me! He's never been sitting up before when I've gone to get him in his crib. It was really fun.

I love this face, he does it when he's really enjoying something--no sound comes out, but it looks like he's screaming. :)

And now he will "love" the balloon:

 Rod weighs 20lbs!! Mr. Thick-Chunker-Boy

Check out the kids large hands! 

Jax really wanted his picture taken, (he was watching me take a million of Rod crawling.) So I said "smile" and this is what I got:

 How often does that happen? I love it. Actin like a little angle. :)

As it happens, at our house, Rod LOVES sippy cups and Jax LOVES bottles. Well, Rod loves this sippy at least. 

Heart Throb.

Rod is getting his first tooth as well!! 

Bottom left; it's really going to aid him in his food binges. :)

Seriously Jax?? Cutest face ever. Never mind that he is reaching for a large serrated knife...Don't worry,  I got it from him after I snapped some cute pictures... :)

 These are just crazy Jax doing silly little jumps off the stairs.

 Notice his face and arms in a lot of these, he was being SOOO goofy...

"Le-le-la", hand flicks!

Look at his weird face and arms and self!! LOVE IT!!

Favorite face. Hands down.

 He was saying, "I like carrots, de-da, oh I like beans, nar-nee, oh I like ketchup, etc..." in a little song and in a silly voice.

He didn't like 90% of what he was saying, just ketchup, the little goob!

  

Sing, sing a song.

There is only so much for a boy to do, indoors, in the winter...

For my records:

 I am SO impressed with how smart Jax is. He has a little "eye spy" book Justin's mom gave him for Christmas, he is so good at it. And really good at remembering.

When he see's any kind of sign or book or anything with letters he try's to say the letters out loud. He doesn't get all of them right all the time, but I love that he recognizes that they are letters; and he actually does get them right a lot of the time. And depending on when you ask him he knows all their sounds! He's actually known them for a long time, he's just getting better and better and consistently recognizing them. Yay for Leap Frog products! :) And Yay for Debbie for getting them for my kids! :)

January is ending....aw ya.

Jax likes to "help" me cook. I think baked goods are his favorite. He REALLY likes the dough/batter. This is evidence of some chocolate tart filling I believe...It WAS good. It's funny b/c I can't bring myself to eat any dough or batter despite the happy memories I have of loving it as a child.  It feels weird that I let my son eat it but refuse to let myself have any because of raw eggs and goop. Bless the child to never get salmonella. :)

  Poor Rod always has a rash under neck because of his drooling tendencies.  He also kept splashing water into his eyes and so they look kind of really bloodshot. But he was being sooooo cute I had to keep snapping pictures.  And I took the video (please ignore me)--I have SO much less video of Rod than Jax.

This video is really kind of long and boring unless your his mom or grandma.

This kid is such a ham when he smiles. I love it!

When are you going to get teeth??

He has quite the fascination with dripping water.

 This is the pose Jax takes quite regularly--especially when watching a show. It's just too cute for me. He'll do it on tables sometimes too. Aaaaa, sigh.

Justin rough-houses with Jax, Jax has a very strong LOVE/HATE relationship with it. It seems there is no in between, he's either laughing crazy or crying screaming "No daddy! No!" He gets over the "hate" part really quickly though, and moves to the "love" in no time flat.  This kid just goes and goes. No pauses in his life except for movies and TV shows. :)

Jax loves the snow. He has been refusing to wear gloves; he likes to feel the snow and eat it and turn his hands into ice cubes. 

Jaxton, you doll. 

Forgive the smudge on my camera lens. 

This little goober is STILL not crawling. It kills us because he will crawl backwards all day long, and he'll even go up into the perfect crawl position and move forward about an inch...and then, he just goes  backwards again.  He wants to so badly. And I want him to because I think it will slightly cut back on the whining he does when he can't go where he wants....it's this pitch that really gets into the very center of your brain and echo's off the walls in there, it makes your head feel like it might burst. 

Angel face.

Another tidbit, Rod really loves to walk while you hold his hands. I remember Jax being the same way.  It's something he really enjoys. 

Also, this kid is nick-named "Frank the Tank" at our house. He is like a garbage disposal. Just consuming and consuming and then you look at him and say, "Do you REALLY want more??" It's fascinating. I'm praying he stays this way the rest of his life. It will be his mothers relief from Jaxton's always coaxed, mostly begged, bird eating. 

And Rod is about as solid around his mid-section as they come. It's like picking up something that is WAY heavier than it looks. And you feel him, and he's just solid. Frank the Tank I tell you.

Jax and Rod do their own type of wrestling....

 It mostly consists of Jax rolling back and forth while holding Rod on top of him. And they both laugh, and it's happy magic for the Mom in the room.

It can sometimes end in a little frencher... :)

 But alas, even after the frencher, there is almost always a little crying, usually not by Jax....

These kids are good at what they do. 

Me? Not so much.

First part of January

  For some reason it's not snowing, and it's January, and we're in Utah. So that is very cool, it allows for Jax to go outside in a nothing but a jacket and a cap and play in our dead, completely un-leveled yard with dirt and weeds and the garbage that always manages to blow into our backyard during storms. :)

He is "eating" his lunch outside.  But in truth, this kid doesn't really "eat" anything.

Looking in from outside. 

Still looking in from the outside, the little ham.

 Jax has  so much energy all the time (I know, he's 2) it's really nice to be able to send him outside sometimes. I just have to make sure I keep a REALLY good eye on him, he's all mischief and a slight runaway.

This last little while has been a sick time for our little family. It started with Rod over Christmas--I finally took him to the after hours doctor on Jan. 2nd (b/c New Years was on a Sunday) and he had a double ear infection and a eye infection, I felt SO bad i hadn't taken him in sooner. Darn parenting. Either way, he got antibiotics and has been feeling SO much better. 

Awesome side note: Because I was already getting terrible sleep (between Rod and Justin) I decided to FINALLY train Rod to sleep through the night without feeding. I really would have done it earlier but it was just easier for me to get up a give him a bottle and go back to bed, but as of late he has wanted it more and more throughout the night. He used to sleep so much better.  So, it was time.  It has been 6 nights and he is doing really well, if he wakes up, its only for a short little bit and then he puts himself back to sleep. It's helping him not be so sleepy during the day as well. 

KISS HIM!!

Justin was next to get sick--he actually felt "under the weather" and "run down" -- fake sick and a sin in Tawny's book of life (women get that every month with a period, and for 9 months in a row from being pregnant, and everyday from being with kids, lets all cry about it.) -- the day before New Years Eve, but actually got "sick" sick, really quite legitimately ill, 2 days later and he is still getting over it. It has been the sickness of death for him. He hasn't been this sick since he was ill for the first 2 weeks of our marriage. So, that has been a sad thing for WAY to long.

Jax is currently sick. But just with a cold. His cough sounds like terrible. 

I was sick for a little, I think I might have gotten the VERY muted version of Justin's death sickness.  I took some cold remedy stuff that Debbie kindly brought over when I felt it coming on, that might have helped. Either way, I'm totally over it. Pretty sure I got the best hand.

Moving on:

Jax was "helping" his dad put up curtain rods. It was pretty cute. He noticed Justin get out his drill and such and ran upstairs and grabbed his new little drill and was telling us all about it.

Look at that concentration!!

I LOVE this picture.  Such a good helper.

  Rod was just watching them and giving me the flirty smile.  He can just look at me in his little way and I just GUSH.

Rod is turning into a really good eater. He used to choke all the time, but has gotten so much better.  And he really seems to prefer it.

Crazy handsome dirty face.

So just barely, Jax came and asked me for some yogurt. He never asks me for ANY food, so I jumped to get him some. Then he asked to be put in the high chair. He hasn't been in the high chair for like a year. Who cares?? He is going to eat! So I put him in the high chair. 

Then he says, in the sweetest voice, "Feed me, mommy??"

Little dude, if you will eat, I will feed you any day of the week. So I pull up a chair and feed him like I do Rod. And he ate it up. And he wanted cheerios, just like Rod.

Eat em' up Jax.

I think he was feeling, just a little bit needy.

But I LOVED it, like REALLY loved it. Kinda freaky.

Be mine Jax.

I'm such a goobery mom.

My VERY little baby. :)

My my, I love my boys.