Tooth # 4

After three teeth showed up in less than a week for Connor, the 4th arrived without a lot of fuss. He was still recovering from the others and based upon the size of the top 2 teeth, there was no surprise that he was incredibly grumpy and actually had me regretting whether or not staying at home would be a good thing. Here is a picture of his showing off his top teeth. He's catching up to Jackson slowly but surely (always at his own speed).

Teething much

To state that Connor has been teething lately would be a gross understatement. His teeth are probably double the size of Jackson's so it is definitely understandable why he was so irritable as they surfaced. For as long as we can recall, Jackson has been drooling. And, when we say drool, we mean DROOL. His shirts are covered within an hour or so of getting changed.

I gave Connor a Healthy Times biter biscuit to finish off his lunch and it took him 20 minutes to "wear" the biscuit down to the point of actually being able to take a bite. He wouldn't let go and since it was such a chore, it was oozing all over the place. Our sweet Connor surfaced after a wipe down but it was an hour or so after he started. He actually growled at me when I tried to help him break it down. It was absolutely hysterical and helped solidify why staying at home was the right decision because I couldn't imagine missing such a display!!

Drinking MILK out of a cup

During our last doctor's appointment, Jackson and Connor's pediatrician encouraged us to start eliminating ALL bottles except for their night time bottle. I knew that it was going to have to happen and had fears that we were never going to able to wean them off of a bottle and am sure that I am not the only parent. I was mostly concerned about using a certain cup for milk and separate one for juice and water. After some research and failed attempts with their water cup, I selected the NUK cup that Connor is holding. Unfortunately, this cup only holds 5 ounces. But, regardless of the number of ounces, it was well received. And, that is all that matters. One down, 2 to go. Wish us luck!!

Jackson, our Friendly Ghost

Both Jackson and Connor have and continue to show signs of eczema and their pediatrician has instructed us to only give them baths every couple of days to help protect their skin. So, when it is bath time, the boys are incredibly excited. Jackson, in particular, realizes immediately what is going on and and starts pinching me in what I can only assume is an instruction to hurry up with taking his clothes off and if he is not pinching me, he is trying to use whatever leverage he can get to catapult himself into the tub. Connor is a lot calmer and can wait to get in and generally is willing to get out before Jackson, which helps me out if I make the "bold" decision to give them a bath without Michael.

So, on one of those solo bath attempts, I opened the door for Jackson and he walked off. I reached down to pick up Connor and started to follow our little ghost, a/k/a Jackson in a hooded bath towel. He is so agile and careful that the towel, which is longer than him, never once created a problem with walking the length of the hall into the nursery. After securing them in their nursery, I ran for the camera to capture our little ghost.

SAHM

My last day at Frank, Frank & Scherr, LLC (at this point in my life) was this past Wednesday, January 12, 2011. In the process of trying to find a replacement for Kim and Christine, it became very clear that the best decision for our family was to stay at home with the boys. I had off the last two weeks in December and realized that it was a lot of fun to be around the boys and how unfairly frustrated that I was with them on my days off. I was constantly in a rush and nobody was getting my best effort and most importantly in this equation was Jackson and Connor. They have become sooo much fun to be around and are learning new things daily. Anybody that we would have hired would have been fine BUT I couldn't have a total stranger/employee find Connor's first tooth or see his first step.

The decision for me to return to work after the boys were born came very easily to me. I knew that feeding, changing diapers and putting babies down for naps every couple of hours would have been too monotonous. So, work provided me with an outlet to interact with adults. Now that they are so much more interactive, I couldn't imagine being anywhere other than here. So, we are off on a new adventure!!

Baby Boosters at the Cockeysville library

The boys had their first experience of an organized story time at the Cockeysville branch of the BCPL today. Both Jackson and Connor did very well and there was an observing grandmother that told us that Jackson appeared to be one of the only ones actually paying attention. The story teller brought a Cat in the Hat, which was well received by Connor, and the group of mainly boys were able to blow off some energy they built up sitting and listening to the stories, with the bouncy balls. Even though he was paying attention, Jackson did walk away from the group as if he was conducting the story time. He never ceases to amaze us with his "go get em" attitude.

And, then, there were 3

Connor's Christmas wish came true. In the past week, 3 teeth have surfaced. They haven't completely come through so a picture is not available to document. It helps us understand why he has been so grumpy as of late. He is usually so easy going and has been having issues with eating and has woken up from most afternoon nap in tears because he is in so much pain. Our pediatrician had predicted that multiple would arrive in a week but we had hoped that he was wrong for Connor and for everyone around him.

Just call on your brother when you need a hand

As of late, Connor has shown an almost infatuation with his older brother. He is constantly looking for Jackson and will follow him around the house. It has helped at times convincing Connor to drink his bottle or eat something because we can always direct him to Jackson.

Avery got the boys this fire truck ride-on and I have asked Connor to push Jackson and he is more than willing. Now, Jackson, on the other hand, has no interest in helping out Connor. The request to have him help Connor brought him to tears because he wasn't the one on the fire truck.

Jackson's First Haircut

In anticipation of their photos next week, we had Corey come over to give Jackson a haircut. It was definitely moving towards a rat tail and he was overdue. Jackson sat in his bumbo and watched Numbers Nursery from Baby Einstein. There were no tears and he sat fairly well for a toddler. Jackson was flirting with Corey from the moment that she walked in the door so we weren't so surprised that he did so well. Connor was keeping an eye on Corey to make sure that she didn't make any unnecessary cuts.

After she was done, the boys somehow ended up this close. It was absolutely adorable and neither one really minded that they were separated by less than an inch as long as they could still see the television.

Playing with Nesting Blocks

The boys received these nesting blocks as a Christmas gift and because they don't take up a lot of room, they don't have to part of the toy rotation that is currently happening in the house. Once the blocks arrived, both Jackson and Connor would just knock down any tower that was built until now....



Jackson has started to build his own towers to admire. These pictures don't really show how good that he is at tower building because Connor just wants to knock things over but he is getting very crafty. He knows to put the block on its side if it is too big and is so proud of himself when he manages to get the tower up whether it be just 2 blocks or more. We just have to keep Connor away from his creations.

Keeping snacks from the twins

is probably what Connor thinks that I should title this post. We started off with this snack trap cup to introduce the idea of each boy having snacks in his own cup to alleviate me needing to feed them while we were out running errands and further instill that they are becoming "big" boys. The idea was not well received by Connor who was incredibly frustrated.

After some time, Connor started to figure it out but there was a lot of banging the cup on the ground, especially after he realized that the cheddar bunnies were set free and available for consumption. Jackson just waited for Connor to release the bunnies.

Figuring out the Classical Stacker

In the days leading up to these pictures being taken, I was working with Jackson on how to put the stars on the classical stacker. He showed some interest but I really didn't think much of it until I saw this. Either I or he pulled out the stacker and he started to work on the stars. He put them on and pulled them off (far right) many many many times.

1 Year Well Visit

We were so excited to finally get in to the doctor's office and get updated weights for Jackson and Connor. Jackson eats so much more than Connor but he is constantly on the go. We were expecting a multiple pound weight difference again and the scales did not disappoint.

Jackson weighed in at 20 lbs even and Connor weighed 21 lbs and 12 ounces.

To remind us that they are still twins, they both measured 29 inches.

It only took a year but..

we can report that Connor can hold his own bottle. So good in fact that he could do it one-handed. It all started today when I brought him down from his afternoon nap and asked him to wait for his bottle while I got situated with Jackson. He reached up and started to feed himself. EVERYBODY around Connor has tried to encourage him to hold it on his own for as long as we can remember. And, today must have been the day!!!

Channeling his Italian appetite

It's clear that Jackson looks like my side of the family (that would be the 100% side) and that Connor takes after Michael's side (which has a slight bit of Italian) but on New Years Day, Connor was using all of his Italian and enjoying one of my favorite desserts - cannoli. His Uncle Joe held him and Uncle Tony provided the assist. Neither of them were moving fast enough and he just started shoving it in his mouth. Oh.So.Cute. There is a lot of chatter among the aunts and uncles about "mean" mommy not giving the boys a taste of dessert and I've tried but have never gotten a response like this. I guess it just depends on what is being offered. Jackson, on the other hand, couldn't stop walking around Uncle Joe and Aunt Missy's house to be bothered to stop :)