Saturday, September 29, 2012

My Playful Boys

Why do I always seem to be writing catch-up blogs.  :)  Sure I had a lot to catch up on from before AJ's birthday but now I had a ton of pictures from right after his birthday.  lol  I get to them in time.  We are just having so much fun these days.  Today in fact we took Jake to his swim lesson which was fun and then all jumped in the car and drove to Tehachapi and went apple picking (pictures from that to follow next time)!  I love these family times!!!
  AJ is getting to be quite the handful.  :)  He is an energetic little guy who is always crawling, climbing and pulling himself up on things to get to anything he can get his little hands on.  He is also working on his walking every chance that he can get.  He can normally get 3 or 4 steps in before he falls down (which means lots of falling these days) and occasionally we will get a good 10.  Its so cute because if I miss it I will hear Jake yell "AJ walking AJ walking!!!"  He is so proud of his little brother.  AJ also FINALLY got two more teeth in the last week.  First he got he other bottom front tooth and then last weekend the first top tooth broke through...bringing the total to 3!  :)  I am so happy because this boy LOVES food and having the ability to chew and bite with his new teeth will be a great help.  Jake is also doing great.  His verbal is growing by leaps and bounds and it is so funny to hear the things he says.  Like the other day when I was trying to take advantage of a situation where he was making his toy boats "hurt" each other,  I tried to tell him to tell his boats not to hurt each other and maybe one of them needed a time out (as we are having similar problems with him and his little brother)...he looked at me and said "mommy I play boats...they no person."  How do you argue with that?  :)  Anyway here are some of those pictures to catch you up.  :)
AJ has always loved puffs just like Jake did but we decided to try Cheerios on him...Jake did not like them but it was worth a try....
...and the boy loves them...yey AJ!!!
We have also been weaning AJ from his pacy except for when he goes to bed...so sometimes you just use what you can find...at this moment he found a toy pepper shaker that goes with their play food.
AJ playing with the trash can bongos...his favorite instrument
And AJ is now into the blocks and is staring to build his own little towers  :)  It takes deep concentration.
On this night Jake really wanted to hold AJ while AJ had his milk before bed...as much as he pushes his little brother around he sure does love him.
...ahhh big brother kisses
AJ digging for a good toy
Ryan had just come home from a softball tournament with work and Jake found his glove and thought it was pretty cool, so...
we decided to give him his very own glove which had been hidden way since he was a baby (yes Jake was not even 2 months old when Ryan bought his son his first baseball glove :D  )
Jake thought it could be pretty cool...
...and now he is ready to play  :)
 When AJ was a little baby he would always look at grilled cheese sandwiches with great longing...you almost felt bad eating one in front of him.  So I figured he is one and maybe his one tooth could handle it if I chopped the sandwich to little bits.  So on this night here is a picture of the boy's sandwiches...I thought they looked so funny next to each other  :)
 So here is that first bite of the thing he has wanted for so long...
 ...it looks good...
 ...yep he is a fan  :)
And a few weeks ago my baby boy (yes Jake is my oldest but he will always be my baby boy) went to AWANA at our church for the first time.  I could not believe he was old enough to go...but he LOVED it!!!!  The first night as we left he was asking me for "more church."  :) But every night he asks me "AWANA church?"  and I tell him how many nights away it is.  :)  I so love that he loves going to learn about God so much.  And he is doing AMAZING at learning his verses...that was something we were not sure how he would do, but he is doing great and we are so proud of him.  This was the picture we got of the evening he got home from earning his Cubbie vest.  He was SOOOOOO proud and it was so cute to see him show it off to both of us.  So proud of our adorable little Cubbie!!!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Catching Up on our Crazy Life :)

This about sums it up....  :)
We have been so busy lately that I never got some great pictures up covering the month before AJ's birthday...so I had to share them.  Funny looking back...its only been a month and yet they have both grow up so much....I really wish they would slow down.  AJ can now stand up and balance for an impressive amount of time before going down, Jake's vocabulary keeps getting bigger and bigger, I cooked dinner for them both last night and for the first time I made them the same thing...true it was grilled cheese...but still exciting.  Oh and AJ ADORED it!!!  The little guy likes big people food and so we are finding as much as we can that he can handle with his one tooth.  Jake went to AWANA for the first time last Thursday and he LOVED it.  As we were leaving he looked at me and said "more church!"  I loved it.  I cannot believe that my little boy is old enough to be a Cubbie, its funny because one of his LITs (leaders in training) was one of my Sparkies when I used to help with AWANA...how time flies.  Now for a trip down memory lane.  :)
AJ adores strawberries
Had to get a picture of that first tooth as it was first coming in.
AJ Loves to play with Jake's Fire Station
Kids these days...one computer is not even enough for them
Jake likes to make sure that AJ gets enough water
Back when AJ was first starting to check out the play kitchen
Who knew that two kids could play with one ride on
Crazy Hair Day  :)
Jake playing with playdough...he really does love it
...and is proud of his creations
Jake will build towers out of anything
And where was AJ this whole time...watching big brother with great curiosity
The play food is something that the boys love playing with together...and luckily there is more than enough for both of them and so they do not have to fight over it.
OK, terrible picture I know...but I had to get a picture of this for history.  This is how AJ crawled for the longest time...his left leg would always have to push off with his foot, while his right would do the normal crawl...so silly, but cute :)
Yep, they are brothers :)
Cute boy
Goofy boy...AJ has such character and I am loving getting to see little bits of his personality as he grows up.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Jake's Last Swim Class

So the morning of AJ's Birthday Party was also Jake's last swim lesson for the summer.  He was very excited because both of his Pa s and one of his Grandmas came with him too and so he got to show off a little.  Although the boy loves swimming in the pool so much that once he got into the water he forgot all about them.  :)  He came a long way in this class and while he is not swimming or floating yet we know that he is on a good path to being a complete fish.  :)  
Jake hanging out with one of his friend's he made in the class
"Pool Time!!!"
This was a huge success and it took almost the whole class to get there...but Jake will now hold onto the side and push out his body to kick.  Yey Jake!!!
Some lazy time floating on the kick board
And once again Jake's favorite part of the lesson...ready....
...jump!!!!
This boy LOVES the pool and can hardly wait until the next time he takes lessons.

Friday, September 7, 2012

AJ's Birthday Weekend

Well we had to extend little AJ's birthday into the weekend to have a small little party for him...so our little Squidly got to celebrate his birthday from Wednesday through Saturday....quite the lucky fellow.  :)  The boys had a great week since their Grandparents stayed at our house during that time and so they got a lot of special playtime.  Jake even chose this weekend to start saying "Grandma," which completely melted the hearts of our mom's.  So here are some great pictures of that great weekend.
A trip to Costco was needed to get a few things...I love how their carts will sit two kids..too cute  :)
AJ's first Birthday Party cupcake cake
AJ hanging out and eating with some friends...although he is mostly eyeing the cake  :)
A happy boy on his slide
"Weeeeeeeee"
AJ and Mommy just enjoying being outside
AJ really seemed to enjoy just taking it all in
A little embarrassed and squirmy when everyone was singing "Happy Birthday"
"Cupcake Time"  AJ has decided that he loves the cake but is not as big of fan of the frosting..maybe because he chose to bathe in it once  :)
Jake wasted no time enjoying his cupcake
AJ enjoying reading his Funny Card
Jake enjoyed hanging out with a friend...I love it that he chose to bring down his beloved teddy bears while hanging out with her
Isn't it funny how little kids love the wrapping more than the actual present  :D
Ohhhhh....but the toy is pretty cool
One of AJ's favorite things to do right now is walk around...he needs a little help but he will get there.  In the past week he has already started to work on standing on his own.  He will get a wide stance and just kind of balance...20 seconds is his record.  :)
Milk time before bed which includes Daddy cuddles...his favorite thing on the menu
Had to get a picture of my little crawler in action
...and pulling up....which he does on everything now and has no problems at all.  This kid cannot wait to be mobile.  Hope you are all enjoying your Friday and have a great weekend.  Next to come are pictures of Jake's last swim lessons which actually took place the morning of the party...it was a busy day.  :)