The life of a toddler

I haven't talked about my little monkey too much recently. Probably because I'm too busy chasing him around, jumping on demand, and doing forward rolls until we both just collapse on the floor in laughter. This little guy has more energy than I know what to do with some days!

Even though being 2 brings on such horrible things like mommy picking out the wrong shoes, opening a NutriGrain bar to see it had broken in its packaging, and only getting 1 sucker when going through the bank drive thru--all of which result in epic meltdowns!--I'm loving this stage of life.

Hampton has the sweetest little voice, and I never know what he is going to say. A few things that have made me smile recently:

As Jordan was leaving for work-
Hampton: I wanna hug. I wanna hug!
(runs and gives Jordan a big hug)
Jordan: Aw thanks buddy. That makes me feel so good!
Hampton: I so sweet!

Anytime he hears the baby pass gas, poop, or anything that sounds like that, he giggles and goes, "Oh! Baby poop!"

He doesn't say yes. Ever. Instead, he says the sweetest, oh-so-southern , "oookaay". The whole family now says ok this way.

He loves Colton. LOVES him. He asks for "baby" the second he wakes up. He is always bringing toys to C for him to play with. And if Colton gets his hands on something that Hampton wants to play with (or I think he shouldn't be playing with), he sweetly takes the toy away and hands him another toy and says, "here you go baby." He also loves to tickle Colton and make faces and noises that make C laugh while riding in the car.

He loves going to school and church, and he asks to go to one or the other practically every day! It's fun to watch him growing and learning.

He's growing so fast, but he will still climb in my arms and give me hugs and kisses and cuddle. I love it so much!!

6 months

Half a year has gone by since our sweet little Colton arrived, but in some ways it feels like there is no way so much time has passed and other times it feels like it has always been the 4 of us. I can't put into words what fun it is to watch this little guy grow. He is such a happy and easy going baby.

You're saying I'm 1/2 way to being a year old?!!

We found that he had yet another ear infection at his well visit on Tuesday. That makes 6!! He is getting 3 rounds of Rocephin shots, then will go back next week for a recheck. Dr. H says that if there is any fluid in his ears at that point, we will go ahead and schedule an appointment with the ENT. I'm ready to just move on to that step. I have so many friends who have told me that getting tubes is a quick, easy procedure, and you can tell a difference almost instantly.

He is now:
~18lbs, 12oz. (He has gone down a bit in percentile and lost since his last appointment. We believe it is due to his complete hatred toward the bottle and me trying to wean. We're working on getting him to take a bottle again--yes, he used to take one with no problem--and going to keep an eye on his weight in the mean time. But as Dr. H put it, he has plenty of reserve, so I'm not hurting him, but we don't want it to get out of hand!)
~26 inches
~Sitting on his own
~Rolling, scooting after things, and rocking on his knees (Are you kidding me?!)
~Reaching for everything
~Recognizing faces. He particularly loves his brother :)
~Flirting with any girl that walks by!
~Wearing 9 month clothes, size 3 diapers
~Laughing at: his brother, the big bouncy ball, anyone who plays peek a boo, crazy noises
~Sleeping well. Naps during the day are still a guessing game, but he sleeps from 8:30-7:30 or 8 w/ a quick wake up usually around 4:30.
~Eating solids like a champ. He's a fan of sweet potatoes, apples and bananas so far.

 Looking forward to another month of growing and learning with these sweet boys!!

Sweet boys!

Stinky feet!

Hampton loves him some Colton!

Cheese!!

Wild thing!

Fire trucks and cupcakes

Today we went to the fire station to celebrate Hampton's friend's 2nd birthday! I talked to him the whole way there about how big the truck would be and that it would be loud, too. I just knew it was going to scare him! He was clingy at first, but after a little while, he was pretty excited about the whole idea! It was a lot of fun!

We learned about fire safety and fire gear, the kids got to climb in and through the truck, we ate cupcakes, and then the kids ran laps around the fire truck. Such a fun idea! The party ended perfectly by the firefighters getting a call and having to leave, sirens blaring!!

Girl Time

In the midst of our struggles, I became somewhat of a hermit. I made any and every excuse to why I couldn't go out until, finally, my friends just stopped asking. And at the time, I was perfectly okay with that. I didn't want to face the world. It was safe in my house, with my husband and our dogs and whatever movie we chose to watch that weekend. Unfortunately, once I finally got out of my funk, I looked around and didn't find many people around me. Some of my closest friends had moved on. I may still say they were my best friends, but they did not. And that was a tough pill to swallow.

I've tried, with some success, to rekindle lost friendships. Some welcomed me back with open arms. Others, well, I'm still waiting to hear when they are free. And I'm okay with that. I'm in a different chapter in my life now.

Shortly after Hampton was born, a girl that followed my blog, friended me on facebook, and we started to talk a bit. She invited me to lunch with her and a group of moms with boys all around the same age. It took a while for me to finally make one of their lunches, but I am so glad I did. I had the opportunity to make several new friends! We have lunch and playdates, and 4 of us now have our second little ones that join in on the fun! And Wednesday night, we left the little ones with our husbands and had a girls night out. Dinner, great conversation, and just a time to relax. It was a time needed (and well deserved, if I do say so myself!) by all of us, and I have my sweet friend Nicole to thank!

My high school friend Sara, also invited me to join in a Mom's Club early in my pregnancy with Colton. It's been so fun to get together with this group of growing (bellies and numbers) ladies, having some snacks and cocktails, and just talking about life!

If I could go back, I hope that I would change the way I was. But in the end, it all worked out, and I have many new friends in the same place I am now by my side.

Merry Christmas!

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was wonderful. Jam packed full, but wonderful! We headed to south GA to see Jordan's grandparents on Friday. It was a long day, but both boys did so well in the car, and everyone enjoyed getting to see them (and meet Colton)! Christmas Eve was pretty laid back. We had to finish a little shopping, and then just hung around until it was time for the Church service (where my sweet child would yell out "No Christmas!" for all to hear and flip out when he wasn't allowed to hold a lit candle. And Colton gave Ashley a nice "welcome home" by throwing up all over her dress and the pew and the floor--fun times!) and dinner out with my family. On the way home, we realized that we had forgotten about cookies for Santa, so slice and bake cookies from Walgreens it was! I'll do better for Santa next year. ;) Once the boys went to bed, we got everything out of the attic and set it out for Christmas morning. I think Jordan and I were more excited than Hampton going to bed that night! Christmas morning was interesting. Hampton is terrified of Santa. He was not thrilled when Jordan went in his room and said that Santa had come. It took a lot of convincing to get him to come out. Poor little monkey! Once he did come out, he was thrilled with his loot and had a blast playing with all his new cars. It was actually hard to get him to open presents b/c he was so distracted by the "big" toys from Santa. After opening presents, we spent the day at my parents' house. Lots of family from both sides came and went, and lots of food was consumed! The next day, we opened more presents at Jordan's parents' house. His brother and wife and 2 kids were in town from Ashville, so we were so happy to get to see them and let the kids play for a bit. Lots of wonderful memories were made this year. Lots of pictures? That's another story. I barely picked up my camera. I am so mad now, but at the time, I was juggling the baby, helping Hampton open presents, visiting with family I hadn't seen in forever, and a million other things. So, alas, I only have a few pictures. And none with the 4 of us. I'll have to make up for it by taking lots and lots of pictures this next year!

5 months

This month has flown by! I'm sure the holiday season is the main reason because we have been so incredibly busy! And Colton, sweet thing he is, just goes with the madness.

Colton is keeping us on our toes, that's for sure! His "routine" is that he has no routine. I think if I was a first time mom, this might drive me insane. But we just go with it, and he sleeps when he wants, eat when he wants, and plays in between! He is still a great sleeper, going down these days between 8:30 and 9:30 and usually sleeping until about 7. He does still wake up once during the night, but is back asleep after 5-10 minutes. I can't complain! (Jordan might, though, since he's still in our room! It's just so easy to reach over and grab him when he wakes up!)

This month:
-What a personality this little guy has! He is (usually) so content, and has quite a lot to babble and giggle about.
-Anything and everything goes into his mouth. And the slobber...there's so much!!
-The rolling is out of control. Colton is all over the place, and he gets there fast!
-He's working on sitting up on his own. I'm surprised at how close he is to staying up for more than a second or two.
-Ear infections have been an every few weeks occurrence with this guy. I'm hoping we can get things under control. If not, the "t" word has been brought up.
-"Spitting up" does not begin to describe what this kid does. He pukes all.the.time. We change clothes a lot!
-Speaking of puking, we survived our first stomach bug. Scariest. Moment. Ever. I am usually pretty calm and laid back when it comes to being a mom, but watching him get sick, screaming in pain each time, and then his limp body when it was all over was too much for me. Thankfully, it was all over by the next morning and no one else caught it.

More pictures?

I'm growing up so fast!

Another month older. He'll be six months old so soon. I can't stand it!

Bye Bye Paci

We said good bye to Hampton's pacifier two weekends ago, and let me tell you, I LOVE having that thing gone! When Jordan got home from work on Friday afternoon, we took Hampton to Target to pick out a prize. The idea was that if he slept all night without his paci, he would get the prize Saturday morning. HA. The kid flipped when we tried to take his monster truck (his pick!) and put it in the back of the car. I finally gave in and said, "now you need to understand that the paci is going in the trash when we get home. You will not get it back if you get your prize now." I don't know if he understood, but he threw away all 3 pacifiers as soon as we got home and never looked back! He cried for about 5 minutes that first night, but other than that, it has been a really easy transition. Thank goodness because I think Jordan and I were pretty nervous about how it would all work out. Such a good kid!