"2 Babies Under 2"

My days of being able to affectionately say I have 2 babies under 2 have officially ended, and it honestly makes me really sad! Eli turned 2 years old on October 30th, and I still get can't over the fact that he's not my little baby anymore! In the last few months, he has been growing like CRAZY, and our worries about his unique developmental pace have pretty much dissipated. For a kid who likes to take his time, he certainly had no problem growing his word repertoire to almost 100 words in the last 3 or 4 months alone! He's also very adept at throwing wonderfully age-appropriate temper tantrums and whimpering "ooohh noooooo" if a nap time is missed or he doesn't get his crackers (aka "crack"...aka "rocks"). His favorite things are reading books, singing (ABCs, Row Your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle or "tka tka," Jesus Loves Me, and Itsy Bitsy), eating (the variety goes from pesto/hummus/greek olives/curry chicken to ONLY crackers, depending on the day), talking to Meme on Skype, playing his musical instruments, taking care of his baby sister (i.e. stuffing her pacifier in her mouth or throwing it at her, jamming her bottle down her throat, squeezing the life out of her feet, etc. - all the things a good big brother should do), water play, building blocks, talking on the phone (which can be any available object), and giving Mama and Dada plenty of hugs and kisses. Everyone complains about how tough the "terrible twos" are, and I understand that it has it own set of challenges, but I think they are the farthest thing from terrible. Eli is so interactive, not just with us, but with his sister and his friends at school. He's been going to a "pre" pre-school two times a week for about an hour to get some nice exposure to socializing, structure, different types of play, etc. They have a combination of typically-developing kids and kids with special needs, and I love that Eli is learning compassion and patience in addition to social play skills . Also, he made a great friend next door. Our little neighbor Finley is 18 months old, but they follow each other around like the best of friends, and hold each other's hands wherever they go.

Eli really continues to be such an amazing light with his own special giftings as he grows, and it warms my heart to see how he touches all the lives around him, including mine! Little Eden is not so little anymore! She turned 6 months old on October 24th, and for a petite little thing that had so many issues with colic/reflux/breastfeeding/bottle feeding/gaining weight, she is just as chipper as you can imagine! She is also officially OUT of the sub-5th percentile for weight, and finally closer to the 25th percentile. Still doesn't sound like much, but her chunky little thighs and tummy says it all - she is one healthy little chica now that she finally decided eating isn't her mortal enemy. Beyond that, she has been rolling in both directions since about 3 months, can scoot all over the floor, sit up independently for extended amounts of time, and even babble imitatively. She is ALWAYS moving!! EGADS. I tried to tell people while she was still in the womb, but no one believed me that she moved any more than any other fetus. Yeah. I hope infantile arm/leg flailing isn't an indicator of childhood ADHD or something. On a good note, she continues to sleep 10-12 hours through the night, which started at about 10 weeks, and in combination with Eli's amazing sleeping habits, gives Jake and I a consistent "adult-time" every night after 7:30 or 8pm. It's amazing. AH. MAZE. ING. Other than that, we are now working on solid foods. She didn't care for avocado, but loves sweet potato, and I recently steamed/pureed up a bunch of carrots and spinach, so we'll see how those go in the next few weeks. She finally decided to take a bottle about a month ago, and now she even holds it herself, which is quite nice. I'm still breastfeeding throughout the day, but she takes either pumped milk or formula by bottle about 40-50% of the time. It's been nice to add "date night" back into our vocabulary again. These days are going by FAST, but I wouldn't trade them for anything, and as much as I miss each day that goes by with my "2 babies under 2," I am so excited about all the new things that each day holds, and the growing relationship between my sweet babies. "Blessed" doesn't even begin to explain life right now!

I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. EVERY DAY I will praise you, and extol your name for ever and ever. -Psalm 145:1-2