Griffin is 2!

Griffin is 2!

As of 2 years old Griffin's little personality is really starting to show itself. He is one independent little guy, and prefers to do most things himself.

So here is what's new with Griffin at 2 years old:

- He has an ever expanding vocabulary, mommy, "nanny"=Daddy, recently started saying Coen and Iffin (Griffin), "motter"= Water, Milk, no, car, Abu (any grandma aged woman), good morning, hi, bye,
- He loves torturing the dogs or "gago" as he calls them and any other dog he sees. He especially loves feeding Titus cheerios
- He loves his "babies" the white and black dog and blue dinosaur and recently his little grey dog also needs to be with him.
- Has no fear, and climbs up on everything including the counter stools, tables, beds, etc.
- Loves anything to do with water, the water table, washing his hands, baths
- Gives the sweetest hugs and kisses and says "mmmmuah" when i ask for a kiss
- Has been the easiest kid to put to bed until a couple months ago when he started crying everytime he was put down. Usually only cries for a few minutes before settling, but also had a phase of only wanting his Dad to put him to bed. Goes to bed around 7pm and is up around 6:30am most days.
- He also recently has been fighting his naps, but we have figured out that he doesn't want to miss out on all the fun so if he see's Coen going into his room at the same time then he will have a good 2 hour nap. Is this bad that i'm tricking him and using his brother as my accomplis? :)
- He can point out most of his body parts
- Loves playing with his brother, cars on the track, coloring, duplo, play dough, running, playing in sand, bubbles, books, trains,
- Refuses to go in a booster or high chair and is becoming a bit more picky with food. It gets a bit tricky because he insists on feeding himself, which makes things ever so messy. Favorites right now are fruit, hamburgers, cheerios, yogurt, smoothies, yams, crackers.

So excited to watch this little man grow up, he continues to be a super chill guy for the most part, with the odd tantrum here and there, but he's 2 now so I use that as an excuse for him :) We love you so much Griffin!

Coen is 3.5

Coen is 3.5 and he feels like such a big boy to me now. All of a sudden I can talk to him and he fully understands everything I am saying and can respond appropriately back to me in full sentences (or talk back to me with stank)! It amazes me with every milestone how fast time is flying by and how lucky we are to have such an amazing little boy.

He is obsessed with dinosaurs right now, and recently ninja turtles have become a new favorite, along with spiderman and batman. He loves to play pretend these days, which is so much fun to watch, but he seems to get embarrased now if he knows we are watching him, so we have to do it on the sly. He prefers walking now rather than sitting in the shopping cart, or riding on the side or sitting in the part of the cart where the groceries go.

He loves building with duplo, doing puzzles, playing hungry hippos, coloring, playing playdough, helping me bake, playing with dinosaurs, bouncy castles, going to the library (he always says we have to "caturn the books") going to the park, riding his bike, and walking the dogs.

We put him in gymnastics over the winter and he loved it. It was his first unparented class, and he was nervous on the 1st day, but rocked all the other classes. We will likely start it up again in the fall. He is now back in swimming (paul saddler and kinsmen), which he seems to be warming up to again (didn't enjoy the first class at kinsmen much as he went under the water and wasn't prepared for that. and soccer starts next week, which I am soooo excited about.

He loves eating mac and cheese, hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken cashew, "chicken fish", ravioli, spaghetti/pasta, meatballs, cereal (cheerios/shreddies/cornflakes/rice crisps).

He is still my gentle and sensitive little guy, which I absolutely love about him. The crying tantrums get a little old sometimes, but overall he is a pretty darned good little boy. Recently he seems to have trouble dealing with Griffin taking things away from him, he gets beaten up by his little brother on a regular basis. He knows when to say sorry now and says it in the sweetest voice if he knows he has done something wrong.

He continues to be obsessed with what he wears ... to the point where I just let him pick his clothes now because it's just not worth the hassel.

Sleep is better, he goes to bed no problem at 7pm (on non daycare days because he doesn't nap), closer to 8/9 on daycare days lately. He is up some nights to pee, but he now often says mommy i'm not gonna knock on your door (even though he usually does). Mainly goes on the toilet now, not really using the potty anymore.

Favorite movies/shows now are land before time, the good dinosaur, toy story, cars, ninja turtles, spiderman, blaze and the monster machines, jake and the neverland pirates.

Griffin is 18 months

So I officially have a toddler and preschooler now. What happened to my babies!?

So as of 18 months he:

- Can WALK! He started walking at 16months, actually it was officially on new years day that he decided to feel confident strolling around on his own.
- Uses a fork and spoon quite well (able to poke food with the fork and get it into his mouth)
- Is down to 1 nap/day
- Sleeps from 6:30/7pm-6/7am
- Nods and shakes his head
- Says Mama, dada, more, coco (Bosco), ball, bye, up, milk, no, shoe, sock, hello,
- crawls up and down the stairs
- Waves
- Gets into everything and gets mad if things get taken away from him
- Does the most adorable and amazing snuggle by nuzzling his head up against us
- Loves playing with Coen
- Loves playing with balls, ballons, duplo, dinosaurs, cars, pushing the shopping cart, lounging
on the beanbag
-Loves hugging and hitting the dogs, we are working on teaching him to be gentle. Anytime we say be gentle he gives them a hug, it is seriously too cute.

Griffin - 11 months old

11 months old … how is my baby 11 months old people!? I'm seriously in denial. I can't even believe how fast this is going by.

So as of 11 months

- he is pretty mobile, but mainly gets around by rolling, crawling backwards and rotating
- is a chatterbox, making the cutest babbling sounds, and the best is when he yells at his Dad when he gets super excited
- he seems to copy sounds he hears us make
- loves to stand, can hold himself up if propped up on the couch
- gets mad if anyone takes a toy away from him that he was playing with
- goes to bed around 6:30, and recently pushed his wake up time to 6 (from 5) which i am grateful for. - - still naps twice a day for 1-2 hours each time
- he always wakes up babbling, which is a pretty awesome sound to wake up to
- still super chill, he only gets fussy if he is hungry or tired
- laughs so much and so easily
- still afraid of strangers sometimes, but starting to warm up a bit easier
- does a fantastic baby plank

Griffin - 10 months old

I'm in denial but i'm just going to have to deal with it … my baby is 10 months old!

So as of 10 months:
- he is finally mobile! Rolls around everywhere and crawling backwards!
- loves jumping in his exersaucer
- is currently getting 6 teeth at once! Looks like a vampire as his top side ones popped through before the middles ones did. But they are coming! The top 4 and side bottoms, so he will have a total of 8 teeth once they are all through. Nobody would ever know it though, he is still the happiest most content little man.
- Continues to have a 1-2 hour morning and afternoon nap, and goes to bed 6:30- wakes around 5/5:30 but i'm pretty sure it's because Coen wakes him up
- Fabulous eater, and is thoroughly enjoying the non pureed stage. Loves feeding himself, but it's rather messy :)
- So easy to make this kid laugh, and just look at him and he smiles. :)
- Makes the best sounds, and seems to enjoy the sound of his voice
- has a good head of hair, and it's quite blonde
- makes all kinds of adorable sounds

Coen is 2 and half!

So Coen officially became a 2 and a half year old as of Apr. 30th. I figure i'll try to do a semi annual update for now, who knows how long it will last, but I find he has changed so much since he was 2.
So at 2 and a half he
- Has moved to a big boy bed (shortly after his 2nd birthday)
- Has been potty trained since 25 months with the 3 day potty training method, painful 3 days but worth it in the end.
- Has progressed with his words like crazy! Amazing what a difference in communication skills 6 months brings, seems like he has new words everyday, and he understands so much, he repeats everything we say … must be very careful!
- says picky up picky up
- still loves "Manny" and "Bobby" became his 2nd must have stuffy shortly after his 2nd bday
- sleep has become a problem area, tricky to get to bed sometimes, and up multiple times a night for some reason, not sure if he is having nightmares or what, but hopefully this is just a phase. We thought he was done napping, but I don't think he's quite ready to totally drop them yet. He's ok if he misses it once in a while though.
- needs to have a high five, fist bump, hug and kiss before going to bed, and then finish off the routine with "pillow top". For whatever reason he sleeps on his belly with Manny in 1 arm, Bobby in the other and he needs his pillow on top of his head
- has gone from terrified of swimming lessons to LOVING them. He can now doggy paddle without me holding him (with floaties on)
- is obsessed with cars, trains, and balls, he also has recently started playing with duplo
- is the best big brother I ever could have imagined, he always makes Griffin smile or laugh and for the most part is super gentle with him, the best is he has started saying "hi cutie" to him
- if Griffin is upset and I ask Coen to go make him happy he goes over and pets his head or talks to him, which almost always makes Griffin smile
- goes to daycare once a week and kids den for an hour while Griffin and I are at strollersize 3 times a week. Every morning he says mommy play with friends? Play cars? Play thomas?
- Still a pretty good eater most of the time, aba jam is his fav (Peanut butter, he can say it properly but usually says aba jam)
- Loves toopy and beanu, truck town, Harold and the purple crayon
- For some reason constantly says Mommy wake up! or Daddy wake up!
- loves Amma and Abu
- Is so adorable when he pretend plays, he particularly likes to pretend to feed us. I love hearing him playing on his own, he often has high pitched voices for his pretend interactions with his animals/cars I could listen to this all day long.
- is very aware of his clothes, whatever shirt he wears he points out to people if there is a truck on it or motorcyle, or stripes, etc. He also prefers to wear "soft pants" instead of jeans
- hates getting wet or spilling anything on himself, he immediately wants to "change" or gets a towel to wip up his spill (which I LOVE)
- is easily bribed with "gummies" or "bars" to get him to leave something fun