13 Months

We are now well into our second year of life, so here's an update on how we are growing and changing.

The last time we went to the doctor, Eli weighed 18 pounds 8 ounces and is now in the 3rd percentile. That's a record, folks! Landon weighed 20 pounds 11 ounces and he is in the 20th percentile. It was pretty interesting to see their personal growth curves compared to the average growth curve. Most kids are sort of leveling off around this time, but Eli and Landon are growing now more than ever. Maybe we'll catch up someday. And maybe we won't...whatev.

They are both very healthy, very active, and very good eaters. We are, of course, off of formula. I thought we would save a lot of money being done with formula, but I didn't account for the gallon of milk PER DAY that we now go through. It's still cheaper. And it's for a good cause I suppose.


Get ready to hear about my really tough life and schedule...

Eli and Landon sleep until 9:00 most mornings. I know. Can you believe it? And the shameful thing is...most mornings I sleep until they get up. I don't know why I just confessed that, but now it's out in the open and I'm glad I got it off my chest.

We change diapers and play for a little while before we eat breakfast. They eat pancakes, scrambled eggs, bananas, cheese omelet, muffins, or biscuits for breakfast. We sing songs, talk about our dreams from the night before, and plan our day over breakfast. Depending on how messy we are, we may or may not take a bath. Then we get dressed for the day and play. We have plenty of toys and books to keep us busy in the morning. The boys play best when I am playing with them - we have the least fights, bites, and meltdowns if I'm around.

Sometime between 11 and 1 Eli and Landon get cranky, emotional, and very clumsy. I try to make it as long as possible before putting them down for a nap. I fix them a bottle of milk and put them in their beds and they do a pretty good job of going to sleep on their own. They sleep around two hours. If I haven't yet, this is my time to shower and get dressed...so what if the day is half over. Dustin comes home for lunch most days and I get to sit down, eat a meal, and have a conversation with my husband and everything is perfect in that moment in time. Until he leaves, I have a mess to clean up, my babies are waking up, and they are hungry. Oh well...it was good while it lasted.

When Eli and Landon get up from their nap, we change diapers and eat lunch. They like PB&J sandwiches, macaroni & cheese, yogurt, bananas, avacado, grilled cheese, any kind of meat cut up, all vegetables, mashed potatoes, grapes, whole wheat crackers, applesauce, goldfish crackers, and pasta...pretty much anything. It is almost certain that we will need a bath after lunch, so we go straight from the high chair to the bathtub. They love bathtime, so we prolong this event until they are prunes.

We have been playing outside every afternoon that is warm and sunny. Eli and Landon love it outside and will play for hours out there picking up pecans, playing in the rocks, climbing up and down the back steps, trying to pick the few flowers I have left, swinging with me on the back porch swing, or just walking around investigating. We almost always do something in the afternoon like go to the park, go on a walk, go to the grocery store or wal-mart, or just go for a drive with the windows down. It helps us all to just get out of the house and Eli and Landon do wonderful when we're out - they really know how to work the crowds.

Sometimes we all three lay down on a pallet in the living room in the afternoon for a little bit and watch the Bonnie Hunt show or whatever cartoons we can find. I love the moments we all three just sit together and rock or lay down - they don't happen that often anymore since they are so mobile and active, but I always close my eyes and take a deep breath and try to burn that feeling into my memory...as Hootie Darius Rucker says, "it won't be like this for long" (side note: that song still makes me cry every single time I hear it.)

The hardest part of my day is the hour or so before Dustin gets home. I guess we all three just can't wait for him to get home and we all get cranky about it. But when he walks in the door...everything is better. He plays with the boys while I fix dinner. We all sit down to eat together and afterward, he gives the boys another bath (that's three in one day if you're counting - they are very messy eaters) while I clean up the kitchen. I've come to love this time. I love to hear them playing and laughing in there and I love the few moments I have to do some mindless work in peace without someone hanging on my leg. And most of the time I talk to Eva on the phone while I'm cleaning so it goes by super fast.

So...the reason my kids sleep late is because they go to bed sort of late. Dustin wants to spend as much time as possible with them in the evenings, so they don't go to bed until between 9 and 10. And the reason I sleep in so late as well is because I stay up way too late. This is the only time I have for myself and with Dustin. I do laundry, start the dishwasher, put everything back in it's place, plan/thaw meat for tomorrow's dinner, and make sure everything is clean for the next morning. It's just so much nicer to wake up to a clean house. I also watch TV, blog, pay bills, write emails, stalk people on Facebook, talk on the phone, roam around Wal-Mart, or just sit like a zombie enjoying the peace and quiet.

So that is what life is like around here right now. It's the perfect mixture of challenging and wonderful with a little stress mixed in every now and then. Thank you for coming here to share in our every day life. I don't think I mention it enough, but I am thankful for you. (Even those of you that take this blogging relationship way too seriously and demand new posts...oh wait...that's just my mom.)

Landon

 Eli

Landon

Eli

Landon

Landon