I had the awesome opportunity to give a talk at
Women of the Word Live on Tuesday night at our church. So my evenings the last couple weeks have been filled with prepping my talk. So now it's time for some much overdue blogging!
My little man turned 3 on June 10th. What?! Wasn't this picture just yesterday?
Nope, he really is 3. My attempts at stopping time have all failed.
Before I get to some of the details of age 3, here's the stats from the doc. He did awesome at his checkup and was relieved he didn't have to get a shot. He enjoyed looking at the fish.
For the first time, he had to have his blood pressure checked. I'm thankful he got a little doctor's kit from Grandma and this part is always included in our pretend checkups. The nurse did a great job explaining it like his arm getting a big hug.
He also had his hearing and eyesight tested for the first time. He passed everything with flying colors.
He's weighing in at 33 lbs which is the 67th percentile and he is 3ft, 2.5" which is the 70th percentile for height. It was a super fast appointment as I only had 1 question, which I'll get to later. He's a perfectly healthy little guy.
Eating: I would say that as we've gotten closer to 3, Owen has definitely become more of a picky eater. Although maybe it's just that he can now voice what he wants and doesn't want. The kid hasn't met a fruit he doesn't love. Well, except watermelon. But top favorites are raspberries, cantaloupe, and apples. He does ok in the veggie category and enjoys carrots, broccoli, and corn. But that's about it. Oh, and he enjoys salad when it's all mixed together. As far as meat goes, he's hit or miss with chicken, loves steak and beef, and doesn't care for fish at all. Goldfish crackers are still a #1 favorite as are all forms of dairy: milk, yogurt and cheese!
Sleeping: I can finally say that after 3 years, Owen (mostly) sleeps through the night. Once or twice a week, he may get up once but William can usually get him back down pretty easily. He still needs us to lay with him until he falls asleep and the boy can drag out his bedtime routine like no other. For about 6 months, we've been working on cutting this time way back and he's finally able to fall asleep on his own of course after a few tears. His current favorite thing to do is sleep on the floor. So we lay out a waterproof sheet and blankets and camps out on the floor surrounded by his cars and 3 favorite stuffed animals. His favorite lion, Leo is starting to become less and less important which makes me a bit sad.
Potty training: I sure hope Ellie is as easy as Owen was. I think he had a total of a handful of accidents and one in public. He wears underwear all day and for naps, but still does a pull-up for bedtime. Most of the time it's dry, but I really have no interest in pushing him to wear undies at night knowing it could possibly make him wake up more, something we're just feeling good about. He loves that he can pee outside since it's summer. :)
Play: Hands down favorite thing to do it play cars and trucks. It varies from playing with his Cars movie characters or just hot wheels. He loves trailers or tow trucks, anything that can pull or haul other cars. We make roads out of anything and spend many an hour crashing cars, taking them to the shop, and hauling things all over the house. He plays with trains occasionally. He loves to play outside and would swing all day. He’s getting more comfortable in the water thanks to swim lessons and pool pass that has got us to the pool a lot this summer. He loves to paint and draw or do any craft project I set out for him. Here’s the latest in his ability to write his name. Pretty proud of my 3 year old.
Language: Despite what you might see in public, Owen is quite the talker at home. He doesn’t love talking about letter identification, but I’m sure that will come with some preschool this fall (more on that in a later post). He doesn’t say the letter v or s very well. And a few months ago, I noticed that he was starting to stutter a little bit. It was largely when he was tired or excited and often when trying to start a sentence with a “what, when, why” type of word. I mentioned it to the doctor 2 weeks ago and he didn’t seem too worried. And of course, since mentioning it, I haven’t noticed it at all. I’m hoping it was a short time of his mouth not being able to keep up with his brain! This kid loves to sing. It’s one of our favorite activities to put on music, and makes fools of ourselves dancing and singing. Here’s a little taste of my man dressed up in who knows what singing Twinkle Twinkle.
Discipline: I know we had it pretty easy with the 2’s, so it wasn’t a shocker to me that as we approached age 3, he started to test the waters a bit more. This kid is classic first born and wants things a certain way. Don’t move that truck an inch or you’ll get a blood curling scream out of him. Don’t even think about starting to eat without his bib. And only mom can put it on, not dad. He knows that if dad does bath time, mom’s putting him to bed (we switch off those duties every night). The kid is regimented like nothing I’ve seen before. While I am so so thankful that for the most part, he’s very well behaved a sweet, we still have many a moments throughout the day where he needs correcting. The biggest areas he seems to get time out for is screaming when something doesn’t go right and keeping his hands off his sister. He runs after he, falls on her, and in general is kind of rough with her. The problem is she loves it so her laughs encourage him to keep going. So we’re still working on that one.
Friends: I love that he understands what friends are now. He and Sam can entertain themselves quite well together and actually often play better without me hovering over them. Sam is definitely his best friend and he talks about him on an hourly basis sometimes. He loves Alex and Ben (and their awesome sandbox) and talks a lot about Caleb C, and Grace & Caleb. He loves making videos for Aunt Jenna and talks about his Grandma/Grandpa and MeMaw/Papaw all the time.
His gentle spirit still melts me. He loves to cuddle and give kisses and is quick to cry or be shy.
He loves to pray and knows that Jesus lives in his heart.
He loves to climb in and buckle his own car seat and is becoming more independent everyday.
Owen, we love you more than words can ever say. It is a delight being your mommy!
Happy 3rd birthday little man!
Happy 11 Months Ellison Jakeh! It’s pretty hard to believe that we are knee deep (pun intended) in her first birthday party planning. It literally feels like yesterday when we had the amazing experience of meeting her. 
We have no stats from this month, but the poor thing got skinny during her 2 weeks with the dreaded flu. Now she looks really long and thin.
Thankfully, she is back to eating a ton this week! She’s finally getting braver with textures and enjoying more table food along with her purees. Still a great nurser although she moves around a ton until my milk lets down and that drives me batty. :)
Her big personality is such a joy to watch! She loves to wave, hold her hands up for “so big” and has a great wiggle when she dances. She claps all the time and gives the best kisses. She says ma-ma and da-da and ba-ba for brother or baby. She’ll say "uh” when I say uh-oh. We’ve been signing with her for awhile, but she has yet to be really interested in doing any of the signs for more, milk, or all done. 
She definitely knows what she wants and doesn’t have much patience when she doesn’t get it. She loves Owen’s micro-machines (really tiny cars) and won’t have anything to do with the bigger ones she can’t swallow. She loves to hold my phone, but prefers the screen to be on, not black. Once in her high chair you better have food ready that instant for her.
Look at all that hair! Haha. Ok, there’s not much yet but the back is finally starting to fill in. There’s hope that she won’t be bald forever!
I thought she might be walking by her birthday. But with the 2 week stint of not much moving, that might not be the case. She loves to walk with her walker toy or pushing Owen’s big truck. And when holding our fingers, she doesn’t lean on them nearly as much. But she hasn’t attempted to take any steps yet away from the furniture. 
I think she’s getting ready to drop her morning nap. I was not ready for this as Owen didn’t drop his until around 18 months. But a few mornings this week she’s gone without it and been fine. It would be nicer to get a slightly longer afternoon nap out of her and to have freedom to do things all morning, but I’ll miss my alone time with Owen.
She adores her pink monkey, Mimi and cuddles and gives it kisses while in bed. She’s definitely not a cuddler though and prefers to be put right into bed instead of any rocking.
Praise Jesus! 
Such a fun month getting to know this sweet little girl even more. Cannot wait to celebrate her soon!
This sweet thing is 3/4 of a year! What?! Her 1st birthday outfit may already be in production. :) Here are her stats from her appointment this week:
She can pull herself up on pretty much anything. She’s not quite scooting once pulled up, but I’m sure it will be soon.
She still crawls for the most part by scooting and pulling herself with her arm. But she’s starting to get up more on her hands and knees.
Poor thing hasn’t been read nearly as much as Owen was, but I’m hoping she loves reading too. Not just eating her books.
She has 4 teeth now, the 2 bottom middle and 2 on the top (lateral incisors).
She loves to get into everything. Her favorites are Sophie’s cat food, the tampons under my sink, and her brother’s cars.
Won’t bore you with sleep details as they’re the same. And getting new teeth never makes sleep any better. 
Her first love is me for sure, but then definitely her brother (and daddy is quickly becoming the one who can make her laugh the loudest). 
It’s so strange to have a little baby who SMILES! Love that sweet sweet grin and her little left dimple.
She still leaves her bows and hats on which I love since the girl is still bald as bald can be.
We love you Ellison! You are such a sweet spot in our lives. :)
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