8 Months Old!

Our little Aaron is 8 months old!  It's so hard to believe how quickly he is growing and changing.  He is 28.5" long and weighs 21/5 pounds, making him the size Connor was at 12 months.  He is wearing almost exclusively 12-18 month clothing now.  Just last week, he started wearing size 5 diapers as well, which is the same size as Connor wears!  He usually takes a little catnap in the morning then a long afternoon nap (1-4).  He sleeps about 12 hours at night.  He nurses 3-4 times per day and eats solid food for lunch and dinner, up to 3 containers of Stage 2 food at each setting!  He has also recently sampled yogurt and Baby Mum-mums.  He has enjoyed everything that he's tried so far.  He loves the exersaucer, sitting on the floor and playing with his kitchen, and laughing at his brother.  As of 3/16, he is crawling!  He babbles and waves his arms to interact with us as well.  We just love his crazy blond comb-over and bright blue eyes.  He is clearly getting to that "too wiggly to photograph" stage!  He is truly the sweetest baby!

Grammy Visits Us

Grammy was able to spend a long weekend with us over President's Day. She had a wonderful time playing outside and in the playroom with the boys, taking Connor to ride the train, going to church with us for Aaron's dedication, and going shopping with me on Saturday! Connor loved watching his bath sponge "castles" (capsules) grow as they got wet and playing with the new balloons Grammy brought for him. We are so thankful that Grammy is just a short plane ride away!

Big Boy Bed

After a few episodes of us catching Connor on the floor reading books and playing with his trains when he was supposed to be napping, we finally took the crib side off of his bed.  He is now sleeping in a big boy bed!  He is enjoying climbing in and out of it.  He also likes to inform us that "you no have to lift me in and out anymore."  His new bed is full of stuffed animals, cars, and blankets!  Our little boy is growing up!

Aaron's Dedication

On Sunday, February 19th, we had Aaron dedicated at our church.  Grammy and the Greenerts were able to attend the service as well, and Connor joined Chris, Aaron, and I on stage.  It was important to us to publicly express our desire to raise our children in a Christian home and to ask for the members of our church to surround us and pray for us in this endeavor.  We are so thankful for our church home and for the opportunity to dedicate our precious baby to God!

The photo of Aaron that was included in the bulletin insert and displayed on the projector while we were on stage during the service.

Waiting to come out on the stage.

On stage.

The Greenert girls.

Grammy and her grandsons.

Family photo.

Valentine's Day

Connor celebrated Valentine's Day at school on Monday February 13th.  He took "Cars" Valentine's cards to all of his friends, ate Valentine's cookies in his class, and came home with a big red heart-shaped balloon, lots of cards, and some special projects.  Here we are modeling them (although Connor was way more interested in playing with a birthday party favor to stop for a photo).

A tie for Daddy!

A cookie-dough heart necklace for Mommy!

Bathtime!

My sweet friend Alison loaned us a nifty bathtub seat that allows me to bathe both boys at once!  It's wonderful!  Aaron sits in the tub and plays with the toys that Connor shares, and Connor loves to talk to Aaron.  Here are some photos of the boys enjoying bathtime last week!

Potty!

This weekend, Connor went pee-pee and poop on the potty!  He told us several times that he needed to go and proceeded to do it when we took him to the potty!  He received M&M's from the airplane dispenser as a reward.  Right now, we're not forcing the issue with him; we're just letting him decide when he's ready to keep working on it.  Our little boy is growing up so quickly!

Matching Shirts for Church

Connor is really into wearing the same shirt as Aaron (like really into it).  Last Sunday, the boys wore their green and blue striped polo shirts to church, and I tried to snap a photo to send to Chris on the ship.  I got a few good ones!

Wrestling

A few days ago, I was in the bathroom getting ready when I heard Aaron crying...his "Mommy, come here now because I am really hurt" cry.  I ran into the family room, only to find Connor laying really close to Aaron.  When I asked why Aaron was crying, Connor told me, "I wrestle Aaron."  I couldn't be angry at Connor because he was just trying to play with Aaron the way we wrestle with him.  Connor has also been wonderful about reading to Aaron in the past few days.  He loves to teach him how to operate the storybooks that both sets of grandparents recorded for the boys.  These two boys are such good buddies!