Update on the Children

**I started this post on June 30th. So it's taken a while to get it done and it ended up being way longer than I thought. So read at your own risk! :)

I felt like it was about time to do a good update on the kids. They are both getting so big and doing new things. I figure it will be good to help me remember. So here it goes.

OWEN

 (probably right after I made Spencer stop rolling on top of him...poor Owen!)

This little guy is four months old...now almost five! He is such a sweet baby! 

• Loves to be held. He tolerates his floor time, but if I held him all day I don't think he'd ever cry. But he has to be held facing forward, so he can see everything.
• Spits up way too much! I don't think Spencer spit up as much as Owen does. Or maybe I just don't remember. Some days are good, but some days are really bad. Bad days involve Owen and mommy getting multiple outfit changes. I am pretty sure he spits up so much because he is a terrible burper. No matter how long I burp him and even if he does give me a good burp (which is pretty rare) we still get some spit up.
• He is a pretty good sleeper. He was doing great. We'd put him down around 8-9 and he'd wake up between 3-4am, them between 6-7 for the day. But since our move he's decided he needs another feeding. And sometimes he just wants to be held or to make sure that mom and dad are still alive in the other room that is so far away. So now he normally goes down around 8-9, wakes up 12-1, then 4-5, then is usually up for the day around 6:30am. I've finally just accepted the fact that I am not ever going to get enough sleep again. I figure someday I will miss this right? I know I shouldn't complain because other people have it worse than I do. But I love my sleep...
• Speaking of sleep, we are still swaddling Owen. Just like we did with Spencer. He is getting really good at getting his arms out. Especially his right one. So I am trying to decide if I should start unswaddling him. I actually laid him down tonight unwrapped and on his side and he is still asleep! So that's pretty exciting. We'll see how the rest of the night goes. I have a feeling at some point I'll give in and just swaddle him. In fact, I know I will...because I just did.

• Owen has had really bad rashes since he was first born. He had terrible baby acne for weeks and has just had really sensitive skin. Right now he gets a pretty bad rash on the side of his face on both sides. We put cortisone cream on it every day and it usually stays away. But if we miss a day it comes right back and takes a few days to go away again.
• Rolls over on occasion. He doesn't do it every time he's on his tummy. What he mostly does when I put him on his tummy is push his legs on the ground and move himself forward. He will usually push himself off the blanket so I have to keep pulling him back.

I was trying to get a video of him pushing himself forward and he decided to roll over.

• Loves eating his hands. He tries to shove his whole hand in his mouth sometimes and ends up gagging. It's slightly ridiculous. I remember Spencer doing the same thing though.
• He is getting really good at grabbing onto things. He loves to hold his burp cloths and chew on them. I am afraid he may be in the early stages of teething. Spencer's first two teeth came at five months so we'll see.
• Owen is also really into looking around at everything which means he gets really distracted. Mostly while eating. Which ends up being pretty frustrating for me. Especially because I know a certain two year old who loves to yell or laugh really loud just because he knows Owen will stop eating and it will make mommy really mad.
• Speaking of a certain two year old yelling. Owen hates when Spencer yells. It usually always makes him cry. Which for some reason encourages Spencer. I think Spencer thinks that it is funny and that maybe Owen thinks its funny? Even though we've had many many talks about how it makes baby Owen really sad and hurts his ears. I'm just hoping he does it because he thinks Owen thinks that it is funny.
• Love his daddy. We see his best smiles when daddy is around and talking to him. He is also really ticklish, just like Bryce and Spencer.

• Loves baths of course. I don't know many babies that don't love bath time. He loves to be naked. One Sunday Bryce had him during church and he was being super fussy. He finally decided to just strip him down to his diaper and it was almost immediate relief for Owen. He usually always screams when I put his clothes on but is all smiles and giggles while I'm taking them off.
• Hates his car seat. With a passion. Honestly. It's pretty terrible. He actually does okay if I am in the back making faces at him the whole time. And he is doing a little better because I can give him a toy to chew on and he can actually hold it himself now. But he is not a fan of being stuck in his car seat for any length of time.
• Which brings me to our next notable item about Owen. He is very loud! He has the loudest cry, especially when he is really upset. He doesn't really cry that much. But when he does you can definitely hear it. And I am pretty sure he is the loudest when he's in his car seat. His face also gets really red and he gets really sweaty because he is so angry.
• Loves popsicles! I shared some of mine with him one day (cause Spencer and I usually eat at least one popsicle every day...it's been in the 100's for like two weeks, so we deserve it!). Anyway, Owen was going crazy for it. He was seriously crying and really upset when it was gone and I wasn't give him some anymore. He is also really interested in watching any of us eat anything. I haven't started him on rice cereal or anything yet, but I think he'll be pretty excited when he can eat food like the rest of us.

SPENCER

 (wearing baby Owen's hat)

Oh Spencer! Where do I even begin with this kid. He is such a nut.

• Is talking up a storm these days. He can say pretty much anything he wants. He likes to explain everything that is happening while it is happening. He also likes to repeat what other people have said.
• Loves to play outside. So usually when it isn't too blazing hot outside, we will go on a walk or go to the pool or something. Spencer isn't a big fan of the sun though. He always has to wear his sunglasses. On cloudy days he could play outside forever. But with the bright sun out he doesn't last quite as long.
• Spencer loves to play on the little playground by our house. I am always nervous taking him out there though because almost every time he runs away from me. Usually he is following another kid who runs away from the playground. No matter how many times we talk about how running away is bad and he could get hurt, he still always takes off. He's been doing a little better lately.
• Has the meanest mad face ever! And he's really into making his mad face at everyone lately. He must know how ridiculous it is though because he can't keep it for too long. Just see the video below.

(hate when videos won't load! check back later and maybe I will have figured it out! it's a pretty hilarious one so hopefully I can get it work.)

• Such a great helper. Loves to help sweep and mop the floor, start/unload the dishwasher and start the washing machine and dryer. He also likes to help set the table and knows who sits where. He also likes to switch seats while we are eating. He'll come up to Bryce or I and say "switch!"
• Adjusting to our new nursery. The first few weeks he cried going to nursery. Probably because I took him. That was our first mistake. So I would stay in there with him for a little while. And then I would tell him I had to go check on baby Owen and he was perfectly fine. One week they brought him to us because he was really sad. But the past few weeks have been much better. He just had to get to know the new leaders and the new kids I think.
• Has always been a good sleeper. When we moved it took a little while to get him to stay in his room at night (because he can now open the door!). But he usually doesn't come out when we first put him to bed. He does come climb up in our bed during the middle of the night a lot.  

• I am pretty sure Spencer is getting into a fearful stage. The other night when I was putting him to bed he didn't want me to turn the light off. And then he started telling me about the tiger who would bite his shirt and that would be really sad. I'm not sure where that came from. :)
• Really good at playing on his own and is getting into pretending. He loves his trains and if I set up a good track and he doesn't rip it apart, it will last all day and entertain him for a long time. It's funny to listen to what he says while he's playing with his toys.
• Usually a good helper with Owen. He does like to take away every toy that Owen plays with though. Any toy Owen has Spencer wants. Or wants to put away so Owen can't have it. But really is a great helper. The other day I asked Bryce to get me a burp cloth. He didn't hear me and was getting ready to take Spencer outside. Spencer was running away from him and said "have to get mommy a burp cloth" and came and brought one to me. Hopefully he is always such a great helper. He always has to come and get Owen out of his crib with me when he wakes up from his nap. And he always says, "hey buddy! have a good nap?" It's pretty cute.
• He is pretty good at entertaining Owen. Owen loves to look at Spencer and loves when he gets some attention from him. Spencer really enjoys laughing at Owen to  make him smile. Here is an example from breakfast the other day: (and yes, that's a pb&j sandwich...that Spencer is eating for breakfast. he's been obsessed with them lately)

• Loves the library and reading new books. We usually get a new Curious George book every time because those are his favorite.
• Whenever Spencer can't find something he will say, "Neighbors took it!" I think this is pretty hilarious because I'm not sure where he got the idea that the neighbors would take our things. Maybe it's because I told him that if he runs away from me outside that someone could take him. Which still hasn't stopped him from running away from me btw.
• Loves to drive through "tunnels". Which are actually just overpasses. But he gets pretty excited about it everytime. 

BRYCE

I figured Bryce could be included in this update too. He's pretty much just a big kid. :)

• Bryce is down to two weeks left of his Summer classes! He has done really well in his class and is ready to start some new classes. They just started a one today that continues into the fall, but otherwise he has only had an anatomy class. So he is ready to get some new classes even though it will mean more studying.
• One thing that Bryce has really been loving lately is playing basketball. He plays Mon, Wed, Fri with some of the other PA students and just some random college kids. He loves it and usually comes home and tells me how great he played. He's always so humble about it. :)
• Bryce's list will obviously be a little shorter than Spencer and Owen's. But he is just such a great husband and dad and the boys and I love having him home with us! 

And since there's an update on everyone else now, I guess I'll do an little one on me. I am just focusing on enjoying this season of my life. Adjusting to two has been more challenging than I expected but we've finally got a pretty good handle on things. :)  There's nothing really to report with me, my life is taking care of Spencer and Owen. I try to squeeze in a little reading. And I always intend to squeeze in some exercise but I haven't quite figured that one out yet. I enjoy sleep too much so it's difficult to get my lazy bum out of bed to go running in the morning. I try to make our dinners healthy and somewhat exciting but I am in a real menu planning slump lately. Or cooking slump. So if anyone has any delicious, easy, and cheap go to meals that they'd like to share I'd love to hear them! I really do love being a mom though and couldn't imagine life without all three of my boys.