sleep

I need to start this blog out by stating The Mayor loves to sleep...I mean, LOVES to sleep. He has been sleeping through the night since he was 5 weeks old, sleeping 12+ hours since he was 10 weeks old and still takes at least a 3 hour nap everyday...and a lot of those days we are having to wake him up so he can be put down for his normal bedtime.

Today, I thought I was going to put The Mayor down a few minutes early for his nap so he would wake up early so we could do some Christmas shopping. I thought my plan was brilliant...he had a play date this morning, so I knew he was wiped out. I put him down for nap at 1:00 (normal naptime is 1:30, 2:00 at the latest). He fell fast asleep...for about 30 minutes. Then I heard him giggling and talking to himself. I left him up there hoping he would fall back asleep. Instead, I heard a huge thud, followed by a loud screaming cry, followed by the door knob being jiggled. Yep, The Mayor had climbed out of his crib. He has never climbed out of his crib. When I went into his room, I noticed the large stuffed dog that he sleeps with had been wedged up against the side of his crib...almost like a step stool. I am sure this gave him the leverage he needed to hoist himself out of his crib. Needless to say, this large dog-dog is now a playroom toy. I am praying this dog is what got him out of the crib and not his own strength of lifting himself out of bed. I am not ready for that...and I am definitely not ready for him to be in a toddler bed yet.

We were able to leave even earlier than planned for Christmas shopping, and on the way home The Mayor was entertaining himself by counting and singing and clapping. But somewhere between the mall and home, it got quiet and he fell asleep. At 5:45 PM. I am not happy but daddy is thrilled. It has been a long time since his boy has slept on him. He snatched him out of the car seat and said "I am going to lie down with him!!". And now they are on the couch. I told him at 6:00 he was waking him up so we could eat dinner and put him down for bed at normal time. He isn't happy, but I need The Mayor to sleep tonight. It is precious though...seeing my boys sleeping on the couch together. Makes me think back to the days when The Mayor was a sweet newborn. I miss those days...

bruiser

Ah, the joys of having a son. Three days before we are scheduled to see Santa, The Mayor hits his eye on the coffee table. He was just bending over to get his shoe, obviously standing too close to the table, and bam...hits his upper cheek area on the table. What can I say, he has his mother's depth perception...poor guy.

It was so traumatic, we had to use both boo-boo bunnies tonight. One for the cheek and the other one he wanted to chew on. He also had a haircut today...he looks like such a big boy. Makes me so sad...

daddy tending to the check while The Mayor

munches on the other boo-boo bunny

his haircut...he looks so much older now...

the mayor meets bennett

Today was the day I was anticipating. The Mayor was finally going to meet Bennett. We have been talking about Bennett all week with The Mayor and this morning I was really talking him up. I wanted to reiterate to The Mayor that we were going to see baby Bennett, that we needed to be quiet and very gentle with baby. The Mayor repeated all the "rules" on the way to see baby Bennett. When we got there, The Mayor was shy and sat in my lap watching Meega feed Bennett. Once The Mayor felt a little more comfortable, he ventured over to touch Bennett, talk to him and even kissed him. Then it was over. Bennett no longer interested The Mayor, but all of Bennett's toys did. The Mayor wanted to sit and rock in Bennett's vibrating rocker, turned the music and nightlight on and off on his pack-n-play, pushed his swing back and forth...all toys and products we have at our own home. But somehow, they were a lot more interesting at Meega's house. Every few minutes, The Mayor would venture back over to Bennett to kiss him, hug him or just look at him. Then it was off to play with the baby toys.

We went back over this evening so Uncle D could meet Bennett too. Since he had been out of town all week on business, this was his first opportunity to meet the sweet baby. Surprisingly, The Mayor wasn't jealous when his daddy was holding the baby. Whew...The Mayor wanted to sit next to him while he held the baby. The Mayor even wanted to show Bennett his dog-dog. So thankful he wanted to share and wasn't jealous...hopefully this will continue when our new addition arrives in March. I got a small glimpse into what my life will be like in a few months...tiring! Holding a newborn and tending to a 2 year old...all I can say is there is a reason why we have children while we are young. We need all the energy we can get!

All in all it was a great day. Although The Mayor didn't hold an interest for too long in regards to the baby, he did talk about him on the way home. For most of the car ride home, The Mayor kept repeating "bye Meega, bye J, bye Bennett", "bye Meega, bye J, bye Bennett". He loves his cousin...it is going to be so much fun watching these two sweet boys grow up together.

seeing Bennett for the first time

being silly

playing with Bennett's pack-n-play

giving his cousin a kiss

The Mayor showing Bennett "dog-dog"

Uncle D holding Bennett for the first time

new life

Our family is growing...Meega had her sweet baby boy today! Bennett Jeffrey came into this world on December 8, 2009 at 2:51 PM weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. He is precious.

Sweet Bennett...beautiful baby...only several hours old and already so loved. We are so happy you are a part of this family. I can't wait to see you tomorrow and I am super excited about The Mayor meeting you and loving on you. I just know you both will be such buddies.

I am hoping Meega and Uncle J get some much needed rest tonight. It has been a very long 24 hours for them.

sweet baby boy

You turned two a little over a month ago. Time is going by too quickly. And before I know it, you are going to be a teenager. There are so many things that I want to remember and I am afraid I will forget. Christmas is right around the corner, and in honor of this holiday, I want to remember what it is I am truly thankful for and blessed to have...you. So here are some of my most favorite things about you at this age...

-You call your sippy cup "Elmo". You only have two sippy cups that have an Elmo on them, but all of your sippy cups, regardless of what is on the cup, are called "Elmo".

-Waffles are "awfuls"

-When daddy or I sneezes, you immediately say "sa momma" or "sa dada". "Sa" is bless you. And you only say it for a real sneeze. You know when we fake sneeze and try to get you to say it...

-You also like to fake sneeze. Sometimes you do it to get a stranger's attention so they will smile at you. You even cover your nose when you say "achoo"

-Dogs are called "dogdog"

-You've been able to count to 10 for a few months now and you know 25 letters in the alphabet...you struggle with "V", you think it is "Y".

-TV doesn't appeal to you much, but if a commercial comes on with music or music is playing during a scene, you stop what you are doing and are mesmerized. Most of the time you dance or clap your hands. You love music.

-Every child is "baby" to you; even kids taller and obviously older than you. When a child walks by you, you immediately say "hi baby". You refer to yourself in pictures as baby too...so sweet

-You are such a lover. You are drawn to babies and you love to try and hug them and give them kisses. You usually end up knocking them over because you haven't learned how to be delicate yet but nonetheless, it is still so adorable.

-When we are on the interstate driving home, the second we turn to get on the exit ramp, you have to say "bye bye" to the cars.

-Yogurt is called "yoyo"

-Thomas the Tank Engine (your favorite) is called "Tah" (we think you are trying to say Tom) and you know every engine on that show...better than we do...

-You love to sing your "ABCs" but your MeMe recently taught you "The Wheels on the Bus" and your favorite verse is about the crying baby on the bus. So now when we try to sing "ABCs" to you, you start saying "baby"...you only want to sing "Wheels on the Bus"

-You seem to love this time of year as much as your mommy. Everyday you get just as excited as me to plug in all the Christmas lights inside the house. And you love having your own tree in your room...

-You still love people, waving to them, saying "hi" (your nickname is so appropriate for you) but lately you have started becoming a little shy around people you don't know. When someone new comes around and tries to talk to you, you either cover your eyes with your hands or squeeze your eyes shut. Almost like you are saying "if I can't see you then you can't see me". It is precious!

I really love you just because you are you...there is nothing special that you have to do...but all these things listed and the million other things that I haven't listed are just icing on the cake.

lazy night

Daddy surprised us by leaving work early to come home. What a great way to start our weekend! The Mayor was still sleeping when daddy got home, and at 5:30 when he still hadn't started waking up, we went upstairs to wake The Mayor from his nap. He was SOUND ASLEEP...I hate waking up a sleeping baby. But a 3 1/2 hour nap and still sleeping at 5:30 means gotta wake up the baby! He was all disheveled when he woke up but so excited to see his daddy there greeting him. After a rousing game of "this little piggy" and dinner, it was off to the playroom for some family time. Our nights are rarely eventful these days, but they are always meaningful. Life just doesn't get much sweeter than playing with your son's favorite trains on his train table while he is giggling and having a blast. And every time he would walk past us, he would lean in for a kiss. Life is so good.

bed-head

getting it together

Although my Christmas decorations are up, I am so behind this Christmas season. I haven't started Christmas shopping and I haven't even ordered my Christmas cards yet. Usually my cards have been ordered by the end of November and are put into the mailbox the weekend after Thanksgiving. I have been trying all week to get some pictures of The Mayor to put onto the cards...and today I finally got one I loved. Now...I just have to find the perfect card to put his picture on. Why do we put ourselves through this pressure? Aren't these cards going to end up in our recipient's trash cans at the end of the holidays? Regardless, I will spend a majority of tomorrow finding the perfect card to customize for this Christmas season!

this isn't the picture I am using for our Christmas

cards, but I love this face he makes while he says "cheese"