Devin -- Week 47 (9/3/14-9/9/14)

Devin has been growing up so fast, and this week we went to the last of our farmer's markets for the season. He has not shown a lot of interest in the animals that we normally see, but this week there was a pen full of puppies! I picked up a few puppies and held them out for Devin and Kyler to touch, and Devin's face just lit up! It was so fun to see him smiling at them and really just reaching out. Devin has also been showing another side to his personality--his extreme displeasure when I take away the remote control from him. It seems to elicit screams and wailing like I am torturing the poor boy. He has been making a lot more noises, but most of these babbles are not heard because his brother is so talkative. When it is just Devin and I, he seems to "open up" and tells me all kinds of great stories.

Devin continues to love food, now enjoying egg yolks and veggie straws. One night there was a terrible storm with an extremely dark sky, so I lit some candles and had a nice candlelight dinner with my boys while Ryan was at work for a night lab. Devin did not seem to mind the storm at all and just kept staring at the flickering candles. Devin also really thinks that laundry time is funny, often giggling and laughing when I drift sheets or shirts over his face. He loves the bath just like his brother does, but unlike Kyler, he does not mind his hair getting washed and even laughs when the water gets in his face. He has been starting to get his knees under him on his own, but he still seems to be in no hurry to get this crawling thing figured out.

He cannot crawl yet, but he loves to explore everything

Pushup!

Looks like mid-sneeze!

What a happy kiddo!

"I love my toes, Mommy!"

What a serious jumper

"What--I can't help fold?"

"I like to eat!"

Kyler -- August 2014

Kyler has become such a funny kid and so full of imagination and curiosity. August was very busy, and we were able to enjoy so many fun trips as a family to experience new things. One thing that I have not enjoyed this month is the "fake" cry. If he does not get his way or wants attention, he just starts to cry and wants to be held. It's hard to know what to do at times because he can be very convincing, and often I cannot tell if he is hurt or just frustrated. We continue to have lots of fun, and I wish that I could just keep a list of so many things that he says, but that would take up way too much space. So here are a few highlights of the month.

• He has started to want to be clean, requesting new clothes or saying, "Get a washcloth for me, Mommy."
• When looking at fish at the pet store, Ryan pointed out a fish and told Ky it was a tiger barb, which made him laugh and say, "No, Daddy, that a fish."
• He has become obsessed with clocks and constantly asks, "What time is it?"
• He has been pretending to be a baby tiger or other "baby" things.
• We play "tag" together, where we basically just run around chasing each other.
• He loves to "explain" things to his loveys like basketball or grocery shopping.
• At bed time, he has been saying, "Hug my finger," or when we ask him how much we love him he says, "This much!" with his arms up in the air.
• Kyler started to sit in church with us to prepare him for little lambs before we take him to nursery.
• He took off running in a parking lot at the farmer's market, which resulted in Mommy's pulse super high and a timeout with tears.
• Grammy and Papa came to stay with us, and Papa kept telling him, "Don't do it!" which made him laugh.
• We had a family picnic at my elementary school, where Kyler called his corn dog a "hot dog popsicle."
• Our neighbors let Kyler sit on their dirt bikes, causing him to want to "ride bikes" all the time.
• When asked if he wants to use the potty, he always says, "Not yet."
• We had a great time at the Hudsonville Fair. Kyler rode tons of rides with Daddy and never got scared, even on the ferris wheel.
• We went to the farmer's market, but Grandma couldn't meet us there like usual. So Kyler wanted to get flowers to bring and "make Grandma feel better."
• While washing his cars, I told him it was time for lunch, and he said to me, "I too busy Mommy. I washing cars."
• Getting ready to go into the bath tub, he asked us, "Take off my dress, please."
• We had cousin Abby babysit, and the next day Kyler asked if she could come over to play again.
• He left lovey in the car and told me, "No need lovey, Mommy," when we went to church.
• He had a great time at the Calvin Biology picnic, meeting "my new friend" Grace.
• We built towers and then rained on them in the sandbox. Erosion lesson?
• He helped to bake a cheesecake and ate part of a lemon--and liked it!
• He had a great time during Safety Day in Hudsonville, where he watched a car get opened up with the jaws of life, sprayed a fire hose, and rode a horse!
• He made a Mii and had a great time "driving" with Daddy on Mario Kart.
• He helped Mommy wash 40 lbs. of tomatoes and build "tomato men" that looked like snowmen out of tomatoes.

Hanging out with the bear

We found our long-lost Thomas!

First horse ride on a Hudsonville police horse

Hanging out in jammies

Brothers...so silly!

Kyler LOVES to jump!

Enjoying his train table

Cheese!

He loves to read!

Visit with Grammy and Papa

Riding the carousel at the fair

Riding the train at the fair

Such a serious rider!

He loved to "drive"

So serious!

He loves tractors!

He loves to wash his cars

Got out the scrub brush!

An old but good toy

Hey, dude!

Watching some television with lovey

What a big helper cleaning the tomatoes

He loved making "tomato men"

Devin -- Week 46 (8/27/14-9/2/14)

This week started out a little sad and scary. Devin had been waking up and feeling warm for several days, but when I went in there on Wednesday, I found that he was really hot and had a temperature over 103. He was so miserable and tired, falling asleep on my chest almost as soon as I finished giving him medicine. He has grown so much over the months, but I still love to cuddle him and wish that I could protect him from every harm. He still had a fever for the next several days, so we went to the doctor. They said everything looked good except his fever, so they attributed it to a virus of some type. Thankfully, the fever broke over the weekend, and we got a tell-tale sign of a rash that looked just like roseola that Kyler had at this age. It was so nice to have Devin happier, cooler, eating more, and just being more himself.

While Devin was sick, we spent a lot of time wearing him in the ergo, which seemed to really make him happy. While at the garden one night picking tomatoes, Ryan wore him, and it was really cute to see Devin walking around bundled up with Daddy. I think that Ryan liked it so much that he was willing to wear him again when we ran errands at Target one day. We also had a great time eating at What's the Scoop for dinner to say goodbye to summer, and Devin had fun banging on the table and trying some of Mommy's ice cream for the first time. He loves to have his belly "nuzzled" by my nose and just starts to scream with laughter--still the best sound in the world.

Trying to crawl

So thoughtful

"What are you looking at?"

Ice cream dinner!

So sweet

Devin -- Week 45 (8/20/14-8/26/14)

We did a lot of fun things this week as a family and enjoyed some extra time together with Ryan taking his last day off before the fall semester really starts to press on him. Devin has loved the extra Daddy time and has been trying so hard to get his knees underneath of him. He can pretty much get anywhere he needs to with his rolling (he can even change directions well), but I know that he wants to go faster. So it will just be a matter of when and how badly he wants to crawl. We all enjoyed time at the Calvin Biology picnic, Safety Day at the Hudsonville city offices, time at the pool splashing (and LOVING being naked outside), and even having our first non-immediate-family babysitter Abby! Devin loves it when I do laundry, often smiling and giggling when I let clothes drift over his face as I am folding them. He just loves it, and soon I had Kyler and him laying on the ground as I drifted sheets and pillow cases over their little smiles (see the video below).

However, Devin was not the happiest child this week. He was often fussy and very crabby. He went to bed much earlier almost every night this week and needed a lot of extra snuggling time. For my good little eater (who tried plums this week), he started to eat less and less, often feeling a little warm at night time. Late Tuesday night he woke up screaming and had a temperature of over 103, and he had to be rocked and snuggled to get him back asleep. I hate having a sick kid, but I love the snuggles and having him sleep on my chest like he used to as a baby.

Hanging out in the basement

He still does not want to crawl yet

My jumper!

Chewing on the fingers

Devin -- Week 44 (8/13/14-8/19/14)

Devin continues to grow and change as the weeks go on. This week he has really been trying to get his knees under himself. He will pull them up, but usually only one at a time, which often turns him over onto his back. He also likes to kick out his legs with his arms/hands in the air like Superman. Daddy keeps working on helping him to get on his hands and knees, but Devin often just kind of collapses on himself. He also loves to kick in the tub and sometimes even gets a lot of waves and splashes going. Kyler seems to think it is great fun (they almost always take baths together lately), but he hates that he cannot splash Devin back. Devin ate two new foods this week--broccoli and mango--both of which he really seemed to like. He gets really excited when you get near his face, and as before, he still loves to grab you and pull on your face. But now he has started to give these sloppy open mouth kisses! Nothing better than a little baby kiss with lots of drool.

We had a great time with friends going to the farmer's market and playing after naps. We had fun with Grammy and Papa here this weekend, and Devin did not give them any trouble when they got him up by themselves the next morning. We had a great time eating outside for a picnic, and Devin enjoyed watching Kyler on the playground or snuggling with Mommy while watching the leaves in the trees. The big event at the end of the week was to take Devin to the Hudsonville Fair to see animals and watch all the sights. He had a great time looking around, but soon it was hard for him to want to stay in the stroller, and he just wanted to be held. He did not seem all that interested in the animals, but he did seem to love a bit of the bread from my gyro.

Someone loves his legs!

Working on getting on his knees

Hanging out in his jammies

Cheese!

So silly

So curious...and cute

So sweet

Look at those bright eyes!

A little sleepy

Hanging out at the Hudsonville Fair