yes and no.

With Holden's ever expanding vocabulary, communication with our big boy has become easier, and oftentimes leaves us laughing our heads off. I don't know exactly when it happened, but in the past few weeks Holden has begun answering our questions with a simple "yes" or "no" rather than shaking his head or grunting. As his mommy, I find his answers very cute. Every single time. So here are what some of our conversations sound like.

M: Do you want to eat?
H: yes

M: Do you need a spanking?
H: no

M: Do you need to go to time-out?
H: no

M: Do you want to go play with your toys?
H: yes

M: Do you want some jello?
H: yes

M: Did you poo-poo?
H: (silence)
This actually means, yes.

Man, it makes things easier when they can talk. And I am really, really enjoying our "conversations". I know they're not much; but just seeing him grow and develop in this way is AMAZING! He hardly signs anything anymore because his vocabulary has grown so much. I can now ask: Do you want milk or water? To which Holden answers with "wa-wa" or "mock" with an emphasis on the K. He annunciates like his mommy. :) I ask if he wants peaches or bananas? He responds with "nanana" or "peases". Normally he would prefer "peases". He is now saying "Pax" clearly though he more often refers to him as "bubba". He tells his little bubba "bezzu" after a sneeze. And he tells us "bong-ku" for thank you. And it has litterally just happened in the last few weeks. He is our little copy-cat, attempting to repeat every word we say. So 20 months, I give it 2 thumbs up. I am truely loving this stage.

Paxton jumps.

Since we have been trying to avoid laying Paxton on his back, Jeremy set up the Jumperoo several days ago. We wondered if he might still be a little young for it. But he immediately took to it and began bouncing. And over the past 5 days he has really learned to bounce and seems to think it's pretty fun. So when we're not doing tummy time, we're bouncing. In another month, I expect him to be bouncing like this guy. Feel free to mute that annoying woman's voice. I honestly almost didn't post the video once I heard my baby talk. Geez, I need to work on that!

Off to school!

Holden is officially a school boy! Well, for the sake of my sanity he is now going to Mother's Day Out every Monday. If he were still our only child, we wouldn't be doing this. But when Jeremy came home to me in tears a few days back in the fall, he was ready to get us enrolled. So we did. It gives me a day where I can go to the grocery store without having to plan around 2 schedules that still aren't cooperating together. We found a great little church program that is just a 10 minute drive from our house. Holden has now been 2 weeks. Yesterday when I went to drop him off, he ran the opposite direction in tears. :( What? That's not my child. He runs into any church nursery and goes for the toys. (Normally something with wheels that he can push. This past Sunday it was a shopping cart.) For whatever reason, Monday he didn't want to leave his momma. But when I asked him to give his teacher a hug, he reached for her. I gave him a quick kiss goodbye and Paxton and I made a quick escape. I knew he would be fine once we were gone. He is our social butterfly. And they tell me he did wonderfully, once again. They have noted his demeanor for both weeks as "friendly" and "busy". I love that. And I sure believe it! They noted that he eats most of his lunch. He has taken Lunchables both weeks. I can't believe my little Holden is eating Lunchables!! Any lunch ideas for me that don't need to be heated or refrigerated? And no to PB&J. That would be a total mess for those teachers. For the month of January they are learning the color "white" and talking about the scripture "God made winter." Psalm 74:17. He always comes home with a craft or picture. See below at the stellar artwork of my child. We may just have a Picasso on our hands. Anyways, I like to think that Holden is enjoying his Monday adventures. Here he is before we headed off to "school" yesterday.Goodness, finally a couple of decent pictures. Now you see what the teachers mean by "busy"? :) And yes, I was trying to get him to model his cute new backpack and lunchbox. We decided he needed a new backpack to carry his naptime sleeping aids: paci, blankie and mister froggy.

And his latest masterpieces . . .Warms your heart, doesn't it? :)

This cut added at least 2 years.

I promise this is the last Holden-haircut that I will document on the blog. Pretty redundant, I know. But each time we cut those tiny locks, he looks like a different boy. So grown up! And this time was no exception because we went super short. Jeremy didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to cut it at all. BUT, I thought it needed to be evened up as he was rubbing a bald spot into the back of his head. And there were just too many tears each day when I would pic through it. So then I just wouldn’t bother with his hair unless we were leaving the house, which made it that much worse the next day. So for the time being – it’s short and requires very little attention. No combing/picing for sure. And he’s still a cutie!

BEFORE:

DURING:
(Holden enjoying some goldfish and marshmallows. And I'm pretty sure he ate some of his hair that fell upon his little snack.)
AFTER:

Yikes! I told you it was short. And so now he looks 4. And I already miss that head full of curls. :(

Paxton's new buddy

As I cleaned out and organized my closet this week, I needed to keep Paxton entertained. So, I introduced him to a new friend.He was less than impressed.

I remember Holden's first experience with the mirror. He was a little bit more into that new friend. Paxton was a bit more into me, following me with his eyes every direction that I went.

Doctor's orders.

I took Paxton for his 4 month check-up yesterday. He is now a whoppin’ 18lbs. 4oz. and 25.5 inches long. Looking back, I notice that he is a tad bit bigger than Holden was at 4 months. Which kind of surprised me to see. Apparently, we have 2 big boys. I have already begun retiring some of Paxton's 3-6 month clothes and pulling out the 6-9/6-12. He was in the 90th percentile for weight, 75th percentile in height and 90th percentile in head size. Speaking of his head, ugh! We are going to see a cranial specialist. Apparently, we haven't done enough tummy time and his little head is getting flatter on one side. (He sleeps on his side.) So we just have to go and get it checked to make sure no further action needs to be done for him. So until we get in for that appointment, I am doing tummy time like crazy. He had some this morning and ended up spitting up. Which is why I have avoided it. My bad, I know. Holden took naps on his tummy, which I think helped prevent this. Yet, Holden's head did get pretty flat on the backside (and of course, bald) But Paxton, on the other hand, will not normally nap on his belly. You lay him on his belly and he pops his head right up. So it's been a little harder this time. Anywho, that's on the agenda for Mister Paxton. Honestly, his head doesn't look any worse than Holden's did. I'm hoping that this is just preventative because our doctor is young and possibly cautious. But who knows, football helmet - here we come. Let's hope not. Here are my tummy time efforts for today. And he took 2 naps on me on his belly while Holden was napping. That's right, I never got out of my pajamas today. Not really normal for me, but the perfect, cold day to try it out.

He thinks it's not so bad for the first few minutes.

Holden getting in on this tummy time thing. I promise that he normally only sleeps with that paci and frog.

Sorry Pax, Holden hasn't quite figured out personal space.

Okay, and now he is a little perturbed with this activity called tummy time.

Oh these words!

These words truly make me want to throw my hands into the air and spin in circles with my face to the sky. Push play and see if you can stay in your seat. What an amazing God that loves us! That loves ME! It blows my mind sometimes.
(excuse the homemade video I found via YouTube.)

He is jealous for me
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me.
Oh, how He loves us so
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us so.

Yeah, He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves.

So we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way

That he loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

Cause He loves us,
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

Yeah, He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves us
Woah, how He loves

Daddy and Holden Day

On Wednesday, Paxton and I sat with family at the hospital as my mom had a minor surgery. Jeremy has been off of work since Christmas Eve. So the boys and I have been very spoiled by having him home with us so much. On Wednesday, I could have left both boys at home with Jeremy and they probably would have had a typical day. But sometimes it's nice to do something different. So I took Paxton with me so that Jeremy and Holden could get out of the house and possibly do something fun.

It all started with Holden getting to ride in the front seat of daddy's truck. That's our only option in that vehicle, but it was our first time to actually try it out. Not my preference, but it worked for the day. They headed off to McDonalds for breakfast. Jeremy tells me that Holden scarfed down 3 pancakes and some hash browns. Then he played in the little indoor playground. Jeremy informed me that he even had to change a dirty diaper while at McDonalds. And I guess he felt the need to get proof of it with a picture. So glad they have changers in the men's bathrooms also. I'm going to remember this in the future. :) Jeremy had done a little research online and found a Wild Bird Center . . . or something like that. They headed over and sadly it had no birds. Instead it was a store that sold bird feeders and such. Oh well. So then the boys headed over to Petco. You know, where the pets go? He thought they might have kittens and puppies for Holden to see. Nope, none of those. But he did get to see lots of fish and a ferret, whom Holden referred to as Babbie. (I may have mentioned before that he calls our dog Babbie. We call her Abbie. But now he calls most small, furry creatures Babbie.)Holden loves getting out and doing something new. And I know that he enjoyed this special day with his daddy.