Welcome to the toddler years

I dont really know how or why it happens but at some point in all childrens lives (some are worse then others) this transformation happens and they are overcome with this horrible disease that is called the terrible 2's. They become unreasonable, uncontrollable and just a different child. And the even worse part about it all is that it is only a once in a while thing. Some days are wonderful and others are just a disaster. I know that he is still learning and that everything is still so unknown and scary but why does it have to happen like this. I bought a book called "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" and I hope and prey that it will help me find my inner mother and learn how to control him in a constructive way that is teaching at the same time. I want to learn how to act and not react. It is a wonderful concept but we can only hope that I can pick it up well and translate it to something that works well for us. I will keep you updated.


The wonderful and sweet one




The Other one (2 months later)

If you have any ideas please help.

The new member of the family

So there is kind of a story behind this but Jimmy has an employee named Mark. Well Mark and his wife live in an apartment and needless to say that they could not keep him. They were going to take him to the pound and we could not let that happen. So we said that we would take him. He is the cutest thing ever. He is a miniature Daschund. He is only 7 months old and he is liking it here with us so far. His name is Duncan but we are going to change it we just don't have any names that fit him yet. The kids love him, he plays with Xander and he is all cuddles and love. Welcome to the family little one.

Everything else that not the kids

So it has been so long since I have blogged that I thought it would be best to break it up into sections about each boy and keep it seperate. So about Jimmy and I. Umm Jimmy is still working all the time and working himself to the bone. Its getting into the busy season again and he gets kinda fussy when he's busy like that. We are doing great though. Things are wonderful with US and just seem to work out when things are tough. As for me. I went to the doctor for a some back pain in my lower back after some tests and an MRI, they found out that I have a tumor in my lower back. It is about the size of a large egg and it is taking up about 4 discs. They dont know what it is from or what really to do about it right now so we are in the begining of everything and that really awkward limbo place. Since there really is nothing really to do right now they have me on a pain management regime and I am trying to take it easy. But other then that everything is great.

Maddox

Ok so the little "Smiley" (his new nickname) is doing so much better then we could have imagined a few months ago. I love that little face so much and I cant believe that he has not been here the entire time with us as a family. Everyday gets better and he learns more each minute. He is trying to crawl so hard. He gets up so well and rocks back and forth and then takes one move then BOOM down to the tummy again but we are getting better everyday. He loves to be on the floor.

The minute that you put him down anywhere the bed, the floor, the change table, anywhere he is over right away on his tummy. He is saying new things all the time too. He says da-da, ma-ma, na-na, he blows raspberry's all the time and is vocal every other time. We now have teethiees. 2 Teeth broke through about 3 days ago. They are coming in at the same time so he is a little uncomfortable but we are good. He is standing up too. He will stand and hold on to something for a minute but then he wants to jump but we are really working hard.

The only thing that he will not do it sit up. The minute I put him up he slumps right over. If I sit behind him he pushes himself back hard until he is laying down again so that he can roll over. I put him in the Bumbo seat and he just rolles right out, Its crazy. The feeding thing id going well also and we are eating 2 times a day and about 3 bottles a day in between. I love having him around and watching him learn, grow, and admire Xander.

The boys

Xander

So it has been a long time since i have blogged about my little Xander. He is getting way to big way to fast. So many things have happen since we blogged last. He is talking all the time and saying all new words. We are in the process of learning our ABC's and he is repeating them wonderfully, He loves being outside now that the weather is getting warmer, He is so good with the baby. He tells him that he loves him every night before he goes to bed, he loves taking baths and playing with toys together. He's kinda stingy but we are learning. He loves to help mommy and daddy he is the model helper and we are convinced that he will like doing chores when he gets older.

He is still very obsessed with CARS the movie so we have done some fun decorating with some home made projects. Jimmy got some very cool puzzles and we put them together and then glues them and backed them and decorated the backing with stickers. They are so cute and they were so cheap. We also got some vinyl decals and put them on the wall. We are having so much fun decorating his room together its crazy. We are starting to work on the potty training thing and I got the coolest book. It is based on the concept that toddlers should be totally independent and not rely on the parents for help at all, and it should only take less then a day. I hope that it works it has a 99% success rate in a study of 200 kids of all ages, and we are so looking forward to it. This is the potty chart that I made for him, lets hope it works.

Also Jimmy has been working on teaching Xander how to ride a bike and hopefully we will be taking the training wheels off soon.