Kyler -- November 2013

So much has been happening with this little man's life that I am having a hard time just keeping up with what to put in this blog post! Of course, Kyler turned two this month and had wonderful parties with his family, but his speech and his personality have been growing by such leaps and bounds that it is hard for both Ryan and I to keep up on what is new! As I go through my notes (I keep a journal on both boys so that I can remember details when I write posts late), I have been circling so many things that I think I will just make a list of great things that Kyler has done this month.

• He loves stickers, which is new because he used to hate how they would stick to him (but that's kind of the point, kiddo).
• He loves to help me bake or cook in the kitchen and will often pull up a chair to join me at the counter to "help" in any way that he can. 
• He is very protective over his brother, especially when other little kids are around. He will often stand between them and Devin to run interference (best brother ever).
• He has really started to love snuggling under blankets, which I have taken full advantage of when Devin is sleeping. Kyler and I will do movie time in the "big bed" with every comfy item we can find.
• As a big brother gift, Kyler was given ABC flash cards which he barely has let out of his hands. This kid really loves his letters.
• Kyler likes to "hug" by leaning in to someone and will do it to people without prompting when we leave.
• When Kyler goes to bed, he will say "Good night!" to almost EVERYTHING--shoes, books, lights, toys, basically anything he sees on the way down to his room. I guess it helps with vocabulary, right? 
• He has learned a lot of new words (including "booger" from Daddy) and loves to "argue" with opposites. When I tell him it is too cold to go outside, he likes to say, "Too hot, Mommy," which leads to us going back and forth with "hot/cold," leading to many giggles. 
• He continues to love grocery shopping and putting items away, but now he likes to name everything when they go in the cart and when we put them away. 
• At his 2 year doctors appointment, he was 36.5 inches tall and 29 lbs 2oz! 
• He often comments when Devin cries that, "Baby sad," and wants me to get Devin or will go to Devin himself.
• He loves broccoli (most days)
• He also loves milkshakes, and when we drive, he will start asking for one almost immediately. 
• We had family pictures, and he loved to pose for Rebecca.
• He has his own snow shovel that he loves to use outside with Daddy. 

He is such a great little boy, and it has been so much fun to see him grow as a great brother. We continue to hope and pray that they become the best of friends. 

Snuggling with Mommy in the big bed

Bear wrestling with Chase during Kyler's birthday party

Chase and Parker were great wrestling buddies!

Four of the six grandkids with Grammy and Papa

Licking the car from the cake

Kyler loves cake...

...so why use your hands?

Enjoying the Plasma car...this could be trouble outside this spring

He loved his slide

Blowing out the "hot" candle

More cake :)

Happy cousins

Adorable picture from Rebecca Alberda

Kyler posed himself for this picture...

...and this one--what a ham!

Love these guys!

Candid picture of Kyler helping at the computer

On Fridays, we change the sheets, which means lots of mattress jumping!

My wonderful boys!

We start 'em young with snow shoveling

Testing the snow...must taste good

Working on his shoveling form

This kid loves to organize... OCD? Or just the best helper ever!

Sharing toy cars with Uncle Dwayne at Thanksgiving

What a cutie--drool and all!

Pointing out the "moose" decoration he helped put up

What a cute smile!

I think he looks like his Daddy here

Devin -- Week 7 (11/27/13-12/3/13)

Devin being the second kid has some pluses and minuses. We, as parents, have learned a lot from Kyler and now seem much more at ease with Devin. When giving him baths, I have been much more diligent with putting water on his face so that he does not become as scared as Kyler does when getting his hair washed. Though the second child has many fewer new items, we did go and look at some double strollers, something that will help immensely when trying to take both kids anywhere. With Kyler I found that when he was fussy, I would hold him, or when we went places, he would just stay in his car seat. I am not always able to do these things for Devin, so I find that I have been wearing him in a wrap a lot more to keep him calm and to have my hands free for Kyler or anything else that I need to do.

For Devin, we have broken out the Bumbo seat a lot sooner. We have also cherished the napping on our chests so much more because we now know how short-lived that phase is. When we put up the Christmas tree, Devin seemed much less excited about the Christmas lights than Kyler did. I try hard not to compare the boys, but it is so difficult not to when you are trying to figure out if what you are doing as a parent is working. Kyler did not sleep through the night consistently for quite a while, but did have longer sleeping times. Thankfully, Devin gave us a good long night this week, which we were very grateful for. Speaking of grateful, Devin had a lot of fun at Thanksgiving, getting snuggled and loved on by so many wonderful family members. What a blessed addition he has become!

Playing under his gym

The boys -- all a little sleepy after a busy day

Sleeping on Aunt Sharon...with his mouth open like his Daddy

Looking around while getting an outfit change...one of many on Thanksgiving Day

One of my favorite pictures of this sweet little boy

So cute, even if he does look like a little grumpy old man

Devin -- Week 6 (11/20/13-11/26/13)

This has been a week of opposites, especially when it comes to sleeping. There are days when Devin is super snuggly, and all he wants is to sleep in your arms and seems so happy. Then, there are other days when nothing you do seems to keep him happy, and he just seems so cranky. Thankfully, when I have taken him shopping or to Bible study, he has done really well and just loves to be with me in the wrap or my arms. When we visited Daddy on his birthday this week, he seemed to like Calvin at first, but I think he just started to get a bit over tired before we left. Poor Daddy had to watch Devin while I visited a friend, and he cried the entire time I was gone. I seem to have a real Mama's boy on my hands again, which truthfully, how can you really mind? Devin still just loves to watch his brother do basically anything, and I have a feeling that Kyler will start to love interacting with him soon too. Sometimes we have no problem getting him to sleep, and he doesn't even wake up when I vacuum. But other days, there is nothing to do but walk around and feed him to keep him from screaming.

We had a great time with a friend of mine, Rebecca Alberda (of Rebecca Alberda Photography), who came over to take some pictures of our family and little Devin. She did a great job, but Devin was pretty crabby and spent probably a good hour or more screaming. She did a wonderful job of calming him and, as you can see by the pictures, is very talented.

My favorite -- such a sweet little boy

Smiling as we get him ready for pictures

How adorable

Something so peaceful about sleeping babies. 

Starting to wake up...

...and back to sleep

I guess someone better like baseball...

This is how I get things done while Devin gets snuggled

What a great expression!

Devin -- Week 5 (11/13/13-11/19/13)

Devin continues to have new experiences this week, with some being good and some not so good. We started out this week with a trip to the grocery store without Ryan to help. It is amazing how hard it is to grocery shop with more than one child, especially when you have to get a lot of groceries. Kyler usually rides in the cart, and with the groceries that we get, there is no room in the back for him. Now that we also have to take Devin with us, he will not sit up in the cart, nor will the car seat fit in the back with him in it if we want to take any groceries home at all! To complicate matters, the weather has been getting much colder, so taking the kids out in the winter-like weather is going to just get more complicated. Thankfully, I have a wrap that Devin loves to be snuggled in. I tied it on at home, got Kyler set up in the cart, snuggled Devin into the wrap on my chest, zipped up one of Ryan's coats over the top of both of us, and off we went shopping! It may not be pretty (wraps have a way of making any kind of body fat squeeze into lovely rolls), but I love talking to Kyler while we shop and being able to have a sweet cuddly baby right at my chest while we get out of the house.  After this first shopping trip, in which Devin slept most of it and I could barely stop kissing his little head, I went home feeling like a super hero.

Devin has also had numerous visitors come over for lots of great cuddles. He has slept on his Daddy's chest while watching football (GO BLUE!) and enjoyed the fresh air when it is nice enough to go for a walk. We had both sides of the family over for Kyler's birthday, which meant twice the love.  Devin has started to turn his head my way any time he hears my voice. I often have days when both Devin and Kyler are snuggled in my arms watching a little television, and I am overwhelmed with how blessed I am to have these sweet little ones in my life. Some not so great moments included his first stuffy nose, his eye still being gooey (from a clogged tear duct that gets worse when he is sick), and some very large spit ups. Poor Great Grandma Van Dyke was over to celebrate Kyler's second birthday and unfortunately had Devin in her arms when a very large spit up occurred. Thankfully she was a trooper and everything seemed to wash out just fine.

Getting sleepy under the gym

Hearing Mommy's voice!

Sacked out watching the game

Aunt Britani taking advantage of baby cuddle time

Who can blame her, right?

Such a sweet little guy

With Great Grandma before the spit up debacle

The boys with their Great Grandma Van Dyke

Devin -- Week 4 (11/6/13-11/12/13)

Devin continues to experience lots of new things and get even better at sleeping. He is more consistently waking up only once at night, though he still goes to bed very late. He enjoyed going shopping with the family and spending part of the day with Grandma and Grandpa while we took Kyler to get a haircut. He had his first actual tub bath, giving me a very concerned look at first, but he soon was smiling and kicking up a storm. Ryan made sure that he spent part of the weekend watching Michigan football with him while Kyler was napping. We were invited to celebrate cousin Josie's baptism, which meant Devin was snuggled in my arms for church and visited with many people. He did come down with a slight temperature at the beginning of the week which meant that he wanted Mommy to hold him all the time. So Ryan came up with the great idea that I should wear him around the house. Devin was so sweet and snuggled right into my chest while I was able to be hands-free. There is just something so wonderful about snuggling with him and being able to kiss the top of his head any time I want.

The biggest event this week, other than first tub bath, was probably that Devin actually rolled over while doing tummy time. I could not believe it. He went from his tummy right onto his back without much struggling or help. It is always amazing to see how fast little ones grow up!

Sweet little boy in the carrier -- I loved to look down and see this sweet face sleeping

Playing under the gym

Sweet sleeper

Snuggled with Grandma

Kyler -- October 2013

This has been a very busy month in our family, especially with the arrival of Devin on the 16th. But Kyler has been busy with many new things of his own. He has been growing up into such a big boy. He has been talking a lot more now, and though we are still trying to figure out some of things he is saying, we are very surprised at how fast and clear a lot of his words are. He has been learning so much and picking up on things very quickly. He will notice when objects are the same and point them out to us, and most days one of us asks the other who taught him the word he just said. One morning, Kyler came out of his room with his Crocs on the correct feet, all by himself. Kyler has now graduated to sitting forward facing in the car and loves to point out all the trucks, cars, and basketball hoops that we drive by. We have also installed a booster seat at the kitchen table so that he can sit up a little higher at meals. Speaking of eating, this kid loves to eat broccoli! Yeah, we are surprised too, but we love it.

Kyler continues to be a very social and outgoing kid. He has become friends with a little boy named Cohen at church, and we will often see Kyler following him around or just giving him a "hug" (Ky just kind of leans into people). He loves to put stickers on anything and everything, as well as trying to balance on different objects while trying to shoot baskets. Duncan has become a new interest for Kyler, with his toys constantly being set before him. Unfortunately for Kyler, Duncan rarely plays, and even as hard as Ky tries, he just never seems to be interested. We have visited Post Family Farm a few times, and Kyler always loves to feed the goats and never shows any fear of any of the animals. He also loves the donuts and pumpkins.

Obviously the largest event this month for Kyler was the arrival of his brother Devin. Although he was not sure what to think while visiting the hospital, he has been so gentle and loving towards his little brother. One of the first nights we were all home together, he walked right up to Devin and kissed him good-night without any prompting. He has not been all that jealous and often wants us to "bring Debin" anytime we go anywhere. He has been very gentle with him, often just barely touching his toes or his hand. He loves to help with getting his Mom some diapers and burp cloths, and he seems not to mind all the time that I have to spend with Devin. To celebrate how great of a big brother he has been, we got Kyler his own fish tank for his room. Right now we just have goldfish, but we wanted to let him know how much of a responsible and special big brother he is.

The month ended with Kyler enjoying his first time out trick-or-treating with his cousin KayLynn. Kyler was Superman, and we had Devin dressed up as Batman with Daddy as Green Lantern. It was so much fun to see all my little heroes together.

I think you are a little small for that, Kyler! 

Me and my boys! Love them so!

First brother kiss! What sweet boys!

Kyler already trying to share his new puppy

Fun with Play-Doh and letters

Daddy helping pick out a pumpkin

"Heavy"

Riding around with his pumpkin

"I ain't afraid of no goats!"

The goats might want to be afraid of him though

Someday, little boy -- we both love horses!

Coloring his first pumpkin (too young for carving yet)

My attempt at a Superman curl on my Boy Wonder

My heroes!

Cousins getting ready to go trick-or-treating

Even though he was wet, he loved trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating with Daddy

Someone loves to be outside, even if it is cold out there!

Aren't they cute!