Well it has been a jam packed 6 months! So much so that I think I'm going to have to break this into 2 different posts! We left off last time right after your 2nd birthday. We only had a couple weeks left till your brother would join us, so we made the most of our time together while waiting for brother to come out. We continued going to the park when the weather wasn't too hot. When it was we did indoor activities like the Magic House:
For the most part we stayed close to home though since mom was getting so big. You still love to cook and one day when I was resting you got into the salt. You brought your apron to me and asked me to put it on you. Next thing I knew, I walked into the kitchen to this:
Dad heard me laugh so he came to see what was going on. After I snapped the above picture, he took the salt away from you. You were not happy about that!
Sadly, we had to say good-bye to your babysitter Chrissy this month. She was a great babysitter to you for almost 2 years and she has been missed for sure. You gave a couple good-bye hugs and we were off to the next part of our journey in life.
The very next day, your brother came into the world. When you came to see him for the first time in the hospital, you weren't so sure about all this. I think you just didn't like seeing mommy in that hospital bed.
You were very clingy with me in the hospital wanting to sit with me. You were still trying to lift my shirt to see the baby in my belly. We had to explain to you that the baby came out and that Declan was the baby:
Once we got home with Declan, you were all hands on ready to be a big brother. You saw his pumpkin seat in the corner and got really excited saying, "Baby!" You immediately went up to him to give him a kiss:
You wanted to feed him and take care of him too. We did eventually let you try to give him a bottle:
From here on out you were just crazy about being a big brother. You always wanted to be near Declan (who at this point in time you affectionately called "Bays"):
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You also loved having all his baby stuff out all over the place. I think you used this bouncer more after Declan was born than you did when you were actually a baby yourself:
With baby brother in tow, you and I needed to have our dedicated together time. We started this as soon as I felt well enough to go out. About a week and a half after brother was born we ventured out to Sylvan Springs Park to play in the spray pool. I still wasn't feeling great so I just hung out on the side while you ran your little heart out in the water. It was so much fun to get out of the house and to see you having so much fun!
After all that running around and with mom sitting out in the hot sun all that time, I decided a snow cone was in order. You really enjoyed the snow cone. When we got home and your lips were orange, we couldn't hide it from dad that we got snow cones - BUSTED! Luckily you were so exhausted from running around in the water so much that you went right down for your nap despite all the sugar.
Since mom wasn't quite up for a lot of activity just yet, we found lots of ways to have fun around the house. We played with all your toys of course, but dad also made up some fun games for you to play too. Your favorite one was "basketball". Daddy put out the laundry basket and you threw balls into the basket. You just loved throwing the ball, clapping and chasing after it.
You and dad also like to "watch" baseball while playing ball too!
Another thing we did a lot of around the house was baking. Mom just loves to bake and while brother was taking his naps, you and I made a lot of cookies together.
You really enjoy pouring the ingredients into the bowl and turning the mixer on and off. But of course your very favorite part is licking the dough off the paddle. As we are mixing it you always say, "Eat it?" "Try?" I usually let you have a chocolate chip or two then I send you off with the paddle.
And notice the flour on your face in the above picture. You have since learned that you need to turn the mixer on slowly when adding the dry ingredients. At this rate, you are going to be quite the little baker in no time!
You got to spend a lot of time with your grandparents during this time too.
You had so much fun with them playing games and singing songs. You absolutely love the song "Wheels on the Bus" and you love to dance around and do all the motions to it. Here is a video of you doing "Wheels on the Bus" at Grandma Gerry's house:
You'll notice that at the end of that video you are doing "Happy Baby". That is a yoga pose that Aunt E taught you. Since you seemed to love doing yoga with Aunt E so much, I decided to start taking you to a "Big Yogi, Little Yogi" class at Southtown Yoga (where Aunt E teaches). You have really been loving it. Your favorite poses are Happy Baby, Butterfly, Tree and of course Down Dog.
These yoga classes were part of our "Mommy and Alex" time. I was never quite ready to go home right after class because I wanted more time with just you. So we started going to breakfast together. You were not quite sure what to make of going out to breakfast at first, but as soon as you figured out that these places I was taking you to served bacon and juice, you were all in!
I cherished those Saturdays that we spent together and I plan to keep doing them as often as we can!
Another thing we did together is go to Chuck E. Cheese. You really enjoyed eating the pizza and playing the games. You especially loved playing basketball.
By the end of September, I was feeling a lot better and was ready to take full advantage of my maternity leave. We started going out as much as possible. We were right in the heart of fall in St. Louis so we did as many outdoor fall activities as possible.
Suson Park had a really fun "Farm Friday" activity. There was a hayride, a pony ride, fishing, and candle making. You had so much fun doing all of it, but I think your favorite was the candle making.
It felt so good to get out with my boys. Gram and Grandma Gerry joined us too. It was a great day!
Another thing we did at the end of September was apple picking at Eckert's. It was a gorgeous day and we went out with all your grandparents and your cousins as well as a couple aunts.
There were lots of rides at Eckert's, but this year the only one we could get you to go on was the spinning apples. Hopefully you'll be up for the rest of them next year because you really liked the apples this year.
There was also a giant bouncy "pillow" there. I thought for sure you would just love this based on how much you loved the trampoline at Chrissy's house. Not so much . . . you pretty much just clung onto me the entire time. That's okay though, I enjoyed holding onto you! Oh, and you just loved waiting in line with your cousin, Alyssa.
You really enjoyed the little "train". Gram decided to ride with you and your cousins Will and Harrison. You all also enjoyed a little snack together while you waited to ride the train.
We all had so much fun together at the apple orchard!
Around this time, we were still having some trouble keeping you in your big boy bed. You seemed to end up in mommy and daddy's room every morning. While I was feeding brother, you were always right there next to us:
While I love having you close to me, it was disturbing everyone's sleep. You were not getting enough sleep and neither were dad and I. So we made a decision to put you back in your crib since brother was sleeping in a little co-sleeper right next to my bed anyway. Luckily you actually really liked being back in your crib. I think it gave you a nice sense of security and all of a sudden everyone was sleeping better!
Which is a really good thing because October was here and we had an activity filled month! We continued to take full advantage of my maternity leave and did as much together as possible. We went to the Teacher Store every Monday and Wednesday morning for story hour. You were far to "busy" to sit and listen to the stories, but you enjoyed the activities that were planned. And you loved the stickers they gave you. You even shared your stickers with your baby brother.
You also loved to play with mom at the park. Slides are the thing right now. You just love the slide as well as the swings!
You are pretty into hanging out with mom at this point in time, but you also love hanging out with your cousins. One day we went for a picnic at "Gram's Park" with Will and Harrison. You had fun with them on the slides and swings too. You guys also loved scooping up the rocks with shovels and buckets.
We also spent some time at the Zoo with Grandma Gerry. Grandma Gerry just loves going to the Zoo with us and she was teaching you all about the Giraffes, Zebras and Okapis.
You also loved seeing the Sea Lions. One of them really seemed to like you that day!
Another fun thing we did with Grandma Gerry is go to Purina Farms. You absolutely LOVED the dog show that day. It was so fun seeing dogs be dogs and there was so much energy that it was infectious.
You also learned how to milk a cow, although when it came to actually milking the cow, you were not all that interested:
We saw so many different farm animals and we also were able to play in the hay loft. There were lots of John Deere toys that you had fun with. What a great day we had at Purina Farms!
Since it was that time of year, we also went Pumpkin Picking! We went to Rombach's Farm with Anna, Matt, Braden and Cate. It was yet another beautiful fall day. You had so much fun looking at all the big pumpkins. You also had a great time on the little "train" they had there. You loved honking the horn!
You also loved playing on the tractors:
It was an awesome day at the pumpkin patch!
Since we are Cardinals fans, there was a lot of baseball going on at this time of the year. We cheered on the Cardinals all the way to the World Series again this year. Unfortunately we did not win this time, but it was still a really fun season and it was fun to see you getting all excited waving a rally flag every time the Cardinals did well!
For the record, you have been alive for 3 baseball seasons. The Cardinals have gone to the play-offs in all three seasons and they have gone to the World Series 2 of the 3 (winning once in 2011). Not a bad record you have going there!
You have really been enjoying going to watch your cousin Rachel cheer. You have gone to football games as well as basketball games to watch her cheer for Lindenwood College. I know you like hanging out with your cousins, but you also really like to go for the popcorn too!
You have seen mommy pumping out milk for brother and have been very intrigued with my breast pump. Because of this, you seem to think you need your "turn" to pump too. Dad and I have gotten a big kick out of this and we have had to explain to you that only mommies with babies need to pump. You still wanted to try yourself and you would say that it was your turn to "punt".
You still really like to "help" make dinner. We make a lot of tacos and pasta. You are really good at adding ingredients and stirring. You know what is "hot" and what is "sharp" and are really good at staying away from the dangerous things. It's fun to cook with you and it seems to make you like what we are eating more when you have a hand in making it.
You are saying "HOT" here
It was at this point in time when you started getting into trains. Gram had given you a little train set for your birthday and you were just starting to play with it. Because your two favorite things at this time were cooking and trains, this was a common finding in our home:
By the end of October it was of course Halloween. We had a yoga class the week before Halloween and you were encouraged to wear your Halloween costume. Well since your costume wasn't quite ready yet we decided to have you wear your Indian outfit from your Auntie Sabrina. It was a big hit in the yoga studio!
On the actual day of Halloween we decided to dress you as The Man in the Yellow Hat and your brother was a monkey (Curious George) since George was still your favorite at this time. We started Halloween off with story hour at the library. Everyone loved seeing your costume as they did a costume parade around the entire library. Later that night we went to hang out with your cousins Will and Harrison and ended the night at Grandma Gerry's with your cousin Alyssa:
You watched the Curious George Halloween special and dressed up as the Man with the Yellow Hat, but unfortunately for George, this was the end of your interest in him. After this you were all about trains.
To be continued . . .
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