4 Months Old!

Brandon is four months old!

He is constantly getting stronger and improving on his skills.  At his doctor's appointment this week he had rolled over onto his belly and propped himself up on his hands for a bit- the doctor said that was a six month skill!  Yay!  He has mastered his rolling, and it's not uncommon for me to find him after his nap on the other end of the crib, facing the other direction.  He can move a little bit with an inchworm crawl, similar to what Andrew did at that age.

He doesn't talk much, but I think that's because he loves having things in his mouth.  If he doesn't have his pacifier in, he's sticking his fingers in there.  He sometimes will put a teething toy in for a minute, but he seems to really prefer pacifier or fingers.

A couple new experiences this month- Brandon went to a pool/water park for the first time (Six Flags America) and he went camping for the first time!

 New things this month:

Pool/Water park

Camping

Teething toys and rattles

Two and a Half Years Old!

Andrew's half birthday is today!  We don't celebrate them around here, but it's been a while since I've written an update about Andrew.

It has been a big 6 months for my guy.  Soon after he turned two, he vacated his crib in favor of a twin bed.  While we wanted this to happen so we'd have the crib available for Brandon, Andrew made the change because he suddenly decided that he hated being put in the crib at night.  Bedtime was getting really difficult (though he still napped in the crib for a little while) so we decided it was just time.  We had a rough month or two after the switch where Aaron would fall asleep in Andrew's bed with him because Andrew would get upset if he left before he was asleep.  Then if he woke up alone in the middle of the night Aaron would have to go back in.  But now he's back to sleeping like a champ at night- he stays in bed even if it takes him a little while to fall asleep.  He sometimes decides to play around his room when he should be napping, but that's the exception rather than the norm.

He became a big brother!  This was obviously a big change for Andrew.  At first he had a rough time learning that I wouldn't just stop nursing and put the baby down if Andrew wanted to sit on my lap or be held.  But it didn't take too long for him to get used to sharing his parents with his baby brother.  Now he's a very loving and somewhat protective big brother.  He often asks me where Brandon is, if he's not within sight.  He sometimes joins in tummy time, and tries to share his toys.  He especially loves helping put Brandon's pacifier back in if it falls out.  At one of my rehearsals recently I had the boys with me, and another kid came up to Brandon, who was lying on his blanket on the floor.  Andrew immediately came over and blocked the kid so he wouldn't get too close or get on Brandon's blanket.  He sure loves his brother- they're going to be great playmates someday soon.

Andrew went on his first camping trip and had a blast.  He really loves his grandparents and cousins.

His language has improved so much in the last 6 months.  It's rare that he says something I can't understand, and he speaks in full sentences all the time.  He learns new words and phrases every day.  He has also started enjoying singing.  Aaron reads nursery rhymes with him at night now, and his favorite is Old McDonald.  He put on a little concert for me the other day.  He brought in his little stool and set it down in the middle of the kitchen and announced, "Andrew's gonna sing Old McDonald."  It was pretty adorable.

We're working on getting him to stop sucking on his fingers.  Most of the time, he only sucks on them when he's in bed now, which is awesome.  We sometimes have to remind him (especially if he's bored- like in the car) but he usually only needs a little reminder and he's good.  We haven't tried tackling it for sleep yet- one step at a time!

We're looking forward to a fun summer with our big little man.  He's growing up so fast!

Camping- With Two Kids!

Last weekend we went camping!  This was the first time we've gone since we had kids, so it was definitely a different experience than what we had been used to.

Fortunately, it seems like our kids are pretty much the perfect age to take camping.  Andrew is old enough to enjoy running around outside, following his cousins around, and throwing a ball.  He is also old enough to understand to not get too close to the fire or walk out of the campsite (into the road) by himself.  And Brandon is young enough that he's not trying to crawl around in the dirt, mess with fire or roasting sticks, or basically do anything but look cute :)  He's also small enough (barely) to sleep in a laundry hamper, which was great so we didn't need to try to fit a pack and play in our tent with us.  Andrew even had his own room in my parents' mega tent, so that was a bonus!

We ate some great food, played some games, hiked, and hung out.  We were only there for one night, but it was a lot of fun!

The Ten Virgins: A Musical Parable

I had the opportunity to participate in a musical production this past month.  One of my friends was the musical director, and she asked me to audition.  I was hesitant because I was nine months pregnant at the time and the performances would be when my baby was only 2-3 months old.  But I sent in my audition tape and I'm so glad I did!

It was a musical representation of the parable of the ten virgins, from the Bible.  I played Adi, one of the foolish virgins.  One thing I liked about this production was that the foolish virgins were very relatable.  Some didn't have oil because they were too busy (doing good things) to get more.  Some didn't have oil because they didn't think the arrival of the bridegroom would be so late at night.  My character was very focused on being as [good, pretty, smart, etc.] as everyone else, and therefore spent her money on a new dress for the wedding rather than a supply of oil.

It was a great experience.  I got to delve a little deeper into the scriptures, as well as take the time away from my kids to work on my own talents/interests.

The whole show is on youtube (posted below, my duet starts around 27:50, final group number at 1:03:35), and my solo/duet is also posted individually on facebook.