November Pictures and Highlights

November Highlights:

• We went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago for a family fun day. Brett slept through most of the adventure, but was wide eyed and fascinated for the dolphin show. Jack loved the aquarium. He has always loved ocean creatures. His very first "favorite toy" was the sea turtle on his play gym.
• Brett has become the happiest, smiley-est baby around! Usually, anytime he has a full belly and a dry diaper, he is smiling at whoever will look at him!
• Jack definitely exercises his right to be a toddler lately. Sometimes he is hilarious with the thoughts he has and the way he jokes, other times he drives his mom and dad bananas with his trying to be in control. Overall, he is a great kid and very sweet.
• We went to two birthday parties this month - Jack's friend Thomas's and cousin Kyle's.
• Jack has enjoyed having his mom home more and has gotten to go to story hour at the library and play group once a week.
• Jack got to go to two football playoff games with his dad and Grandpa G, and both boys went to a basketball game to watch daddy ref.
• Brett continues to earn his nickname Chunky Monkey - he is an absolute chunk and eats like a champ!

Jack - 3 years

• Jack is one of the sweetest little boys I have ever seen. A couple weeks ago I heard him say to a little girl at the McDonald's play area, "Do you want to be my friend?" He genuinely is concerned about other people's feelings and tries hard to make everyone feel happy.
• Jack is also one of the most stubborn little boys I have ever seen. We had to start setting the timer for his time outs because if we didn't, he would spend the entire day in time out before he would agree to talk about the issue. He also always wants to argue his side and always wants the last word. This does not go over well with either of his parents.
• Jack is very well-rounded. He loves to play sports of any kind. He is very athletic and can already throw and catch a football well, hit a baseball, and play badminton. He will run around for as long as we let him. We have yet to figure out how long he would run for if we didn't tell him it was time to go inside - we have yet to have that much time. He loves animals of all kinds, but especially ocean creatures. We recently took him to the Shedd Aquarium and he was amazed. He loves to read books and will bring me sometimes as many as a dozen books in a row and want me to read them to him. I have overheard him "reading" books to himself before and it is so cute. He is very musical. He sings, dances, and plays toy instruments. He already knows the names of songs and the artists that sing them on the radio. He tells us his "girlfriend" is Taylor Swift and he would like to invite her over for dinner. When I asked him what we should serve her for dinner he replied, "Hot dogs, mashed potatoes, and green peas." At least it is a well balanced meal...
• Jack has been potty training for 5 months now. This is where his stubborn side shows up again. He will go 2 or 3 weeks with no accidents and then have a week of nothing but accidents. His mother is at the end of her rope with the situation, which is probably why he keeps doing it.
• When Jack says, "Will you play with me, Mama?" he sounds so cute that I can never say no. I will stop whatever I am doing and play for at least a minute or two. I think he has figured this out, but I don't really care.
• Jack loves to know the details of our schedule. He always wants to know what we are doing all day and who will be there. He will keep asking about what we are doing until he has covered our entire week. He completely gets this trait from his mother, who has to have a planner even while on maternity leave.

Brett - 10 weeks

• Brett has definitely earned his nickname of "Chunky Monkey." At his 2 month checkup he weighed in at 13 lbs 2 oz. He has already outgrown most of the hand-me-down Christmas outfits and it isn't even Thanksgiving yet!
• Brett has the cutest one sided grin I have ever seen.
• Brett is refusing to develop any kind of routine. I think he secretly loves that his schedule-oriented mom can never guess when he is going to want to eat or how much. He will eat anywhere from 3 oz to 7 oz in a feeding and will go anywhere from 2 to 8 hours between feedings.
• Brett is a bit of a home-body. He gets this from his mom. His happiest days seem to be when we pretty much stay at home and he gets to hang out with his mama all day.
• Brett is going to be a blankie boy. He cannot sleep unless he is wrapped up in a big soft balnket. When he is a little fussy, if he can get his hands on a blanket, he usually quiets right down.
• Brett also desperately wants to be a thumb sucker. His mom desperately wants him not to be. I would much rather that he have a pacifier, since you can take a pacifier away when you need to break the habit. You cannot (at least legally or ethically) take a thumb away. However, he will spit his pacifier out and try his darndest to get that thumb in his mouth. When he manages to connect thumb to mouth, he looks so darn proud of himself and content that, despite his mom's reservations about thumb sucking, she can't resist letting him enjoy his accomplishment.

Family Pictures

The good and the bad of family pictures...

• I love that my kids are wearing my favorite outfits (although this year we let Jack pick his own outfit).
• I love the poses they put my kids in because I never see them like that at any other time.
• I love that there is always at least one shot that I absolutely love.
• I hate that they are always running late so that by the time they call us for our turn one of my kids has either had a melt down or gotten their clothes dirty (although I complained enough this time that I got a bunch of stuff free).
• I hate that the spontaneous smiles I get fifty times a day at home I can never seem to get in the studio.
• I hate that I stress out so much about my kids staying clean and smiling on cue, even though we always get beautiful pictures whether I stress or not.

Here are the latest pictures:

What We Loved About Halloween...

• Jack as a little Monkey and Brett as a banana!
• In true Michigan fashion, we were bundled up and still cold during trick or treating
• Jack and Thomas having fun trick or treating together and playing afterward
• Hanging out with Jill and Alan and letting the boys entertain each other!
• Jack realizing half way through trick or treating that his bag was full of candy and asking, in amazement, if he was going to get to eat his candy
• Jack being grossed out by the slimey insides of the pumpkins - just like his mom :)
• Jack picking to carve a grumpy face on one pumpkin and a happy face on the other