Tuesday, July 31, 2012

A Day at the Zoo

We got a family zoo pass from my in-laws for Christmas and it has been so much fun to go at different times this summer.  The pass is great because we can just go for a couple of hours in the morning and be home for Landon's afternoon nap without feeling like we wasted our money by not staying all day.


Landon really likes it this year.  


He loves looking at the animals and playing on the slides and animal statues.  


The carousel is lots of fun too!



Our zoo also has a butterfly exhibit during the summer which Landon really likes.  

Butterfly lands on Landon's shoulder
A big butterfly on his hat!
He isn't a huge fan of them landing on him, but usually he doesn't know until I point it out to him.  

Peaking up at the prairie dog exhibit
I love that he is able to tell his grandparents about the zoo! He will tell them the animals he saw and the fun things that happened to us (like going down the slide or butterflies landing on mommy's arm and his hat)!

Going through the tunnel to see the prairie dogs
  The zoo definitely benefits Landon more than Blake at this point, but Blake has been a good sport every time!


Next summer Blake will probably be a bit more interested in the animals too! 
 It is fun that we have a zoo so close and is easily accessible to us at anytime!

Monday, July 30, 2012

2 Months Old

Blake is already 2 months old...actually 10 weeks, but I wanted to wait until he had his 2-month check-up before I posted.  These last 10 weeks have been so much fun!  It has been great to be completely off of work during the summer.  I go back to work August 15th...but I am only working 1 day a week!  So excited to be home more with the boys but thankful I can still keep my foot in the door at work.  One day seems like the perfect fit for our family right now!


Blake got his first set of vaccinations, and although he did cry, they didn't seem to bother him too much.  The doctor said that everything looks great and that he is right on track developmentally!


Here's what Blake is up to these days:

* Over the last week I have started swaddling you at night and you are actually sleeping much better!  You are giving us a good 6-7 hour stretch at first, followed by a couple shorter 2-3 hour stretches.  Prior to that you were only going 3-4 hours at a time and I was one tired mama!

* You are also sleeping in your crib now, which means I am sleeping upstairs for now so that I don't have to hike up and down 2 times a night.  Hopefully you will continue to stretch out your first sleep and I can move back down to our bedroom soon!

*  Although you sleep great in your crib at night, you seem to prefer sleeping in your chair or on our bed for naps.  You will sleep in your crib for naps, but you seem to wake up more often.  


*  You like to sleep on your side for naps and you look soooo cute cuddled up!

*  You aren't in a super strong daytime routine yet, but you are becoming more predictable.

*  You typically wake up around 8:00-8:30, take a short nap in the morning, a long afternoon nap and a shorter evening nap before going to bed about 8:00-9:00.  You are usually awake for about 1 1/2 hours-2 hours at a time.


*  You love to suck on your pacifier while going to sleep (but thankfully you don't seem addicted to it...once it falls out you typically don't need it again if you are fully asleep)

* You are eating about every 2-3 hours throughout the day (sometimes stretching to 4 hours if you are taking a long nap).

*  When you take a bottle you eat anywhere from 4-6 oz.

*  You are definitely purposefully smiling and cooing at us, which is so fun!  You have the best little smile and I can't wait to hear your giggles!


*  You are responding to voices and love being talked to.  If you are awake you don't like to be left alone...you prefer to be interacted with and part of the action!

*  You are getting stronger everyday and are able to hold up your head when you are on our chest or being held sitting up.  You can move your head back and forth whether on your back or belly.

*  You definitely aren't a huge fan of tummy time, but don't mind laying on your tummy if you are on our chest.


*  You are quite the mover and are constantly waving your arms and kicking your legs when awake.

* You are a very content little guy and only really cry if hungry, tired or being ignored.

*  You definitely get the most grumpy when tired and right before you are about to fall asleep.


*  You seem to love your brother still and he definitely loves you!  He continues to love to "play" with you and still rubs your head and likes to hold you!  None of which bothers you too much!

*  You get the biggest eyes when something shocks you and have the best surprised look (a lot of times caused by something your brother does)! 

*  You like to lay outside when we are playing and listen to the sounds and feel the breeze!


*  You are doing a good job tracking objects and like to look at bright colors

*  You are wearing size 2 diapers and size 3 month clothes

*  Your hair is still brown and your eyes are hard to tell.  Sometimes they look blue, brown or a bit green.  This makes me think they will eventually turn brown.

*  You are 12lb 8oz (55th percentile), 23 1/2 inches (70th percentile) and head circumference is 41 cm (95th percentile)


 We love watching you grow and change!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Medford

Last week we got to visit my family in Oregon.  We had such a good time, as usual, and it was sad to leave, knowing we probably won't be back until Christmas.  The boys did great in the 8 hour car ride.  Blake slept almost the entire time and took a bottle in his carseat like a champ so that we wouldn't have to stop for me to nurse him.  Landon mostly chatted about what he saw out the window, played puzzles and watched movies.  Landon is not a great car napper (something he definitely did not inherit from his mom) and on the trip home was a little over nuked.  I think all 4 of us were more than ready to get out of the car by that point.  

This was the first time that any of my grandparents had gotten to see Blake.  It was really special to show him off and let them love on him.  He was great and didn't seem to mind who was holding him!  Landon was also much more comfortable around my grandparents this time too and really showed them lots of love, which made my heart soooo happy!  

Cooing at Great Grandma Lamson


Decided to take a little snooze!
Great Grandpa Lamson's turn to love on the little man
My cousin came over with her new little baby girl, they are only 2 weeks apart in age...she was such a doll
Cooing at Great Grandma Shaffer
So precious

Blake was such a great baby when others were holding him


A little reading time with Great Grandpa
Not only are Landon and Blake blessed to have such wonderful great grandparents, they are SUPER blessed to have wonderful grandparents.  Both Jared's parents and my parents are so good with the boys.  They are willing to exhaust themselves to make sure that Landon has a good time and gets to experience all sorts of fun things!  It is such a fun thing to see how excited Landon gets when he sees his Grandpa and Nana (my parents) and his Papa and Grandma (Jared's parents),  what a blessing they all are to us!


While we were in Medford, besides lots of visiting, Landon got to go to the park, 
play in the water 

Hoses are so much fun!

and visit Grandpa's work!  




He was a little unsure about going into the mail truck but my mom said that he had a great time 





Soon, Blake will be able to tag along with his big brother and experience all of these fun things too, but for now naps are pretty darn exciting!


Crazy that we actually got a decent family picture, where our 2-year old was willing to look at the camera!

What a fun trip we had...only wished we all lived closer so we could visit more often!