Introducing Jack Robert

We welcomed little Jack into the world on April 20th, 8 lbs 12 oz, 21.5 inches, and absolutely perfect.  He is healthy and happy and is starting to look more and more like baby Nixon.  His first week has been full of lots of snuggles from Mama and Daddy and a few tentative pats from his big brother, who is slowly warming up to him.
 

lately

Lots of block towers being built

His favorite weekend activity - throwing rocks into the lake

Warmer weather means lots of time spent at the park

I get it buddy, we all wish we could have more chocolate chips

My industrious laundry helper putting all the dirty towels into the dryer

Riding dinosaurs at the park

Nixon {Two Years}

Now that Nixon has been two for a few weeks, it's probably time for an update!  He's in a really awesome stage right now and is so much fun (aside from the occasional tantrum, but even those are usually funny/cute enough that it's hard to be mad at him).  He is all boy, he loves trucks more than anything and is happiest when he's outside or wrestling with Daddy.  The highlight of every day is watching the mail truck drive by.  And if we happen to see a mail truck (or bus, or construction truck, or any truck really) while driving around town?  Mind blown.  Needless to say, he keeps Mama on her toes (such as when he locked himself in his bedroom the other day...).

He sleeps about as well as one can expect from a toddler, I guess.  We're in the middle of transitioning him not only from a crib to a toddler bed, but also from our room to his own room.  Up to this point he's been sleeping in his crib in our room, an arrangement he's been pretty happy with, but the time has come to move him out.  So far we've had bad nights and good nights, but the good nights are just possibly starting to outweigh the bad, so there might actually be hope that one day soon we'll all get a good night's sleep.

He's continuing to be an excellent eater, and can put away an impressive amount of food.  He's only 27 pounds, so who knows where exactly he's putting it, but I'm not complaining.  I will say he knows what he likes when it comes to food, but so far we've been lucky in that the list is pretty long and includes some veggies.  Chocolate chips are on the list too, but it's all about balance, right?

In the last couple months, he's really been expanding his vocabulary.  And while he doesn't really have conversations or speak in sentences yet, he knows enough words to get his point across and we rarely have to guess what he wants.  He loves to help, and is adamant we need his assistance anytime we put a lid back on, start the washing machine/dryer/dishwasher, unload the dishwasher, roll the garbage can to the curb, etc.  He's starting to show an interest in helping me in the kitchen, and I love letting him stand on a chair and help mix things, even if stuff ends up on the floor and he does more sampling than mixing.

A few more fun facts about Nixon:

• He's starting to learn his colors!  So far he can identify red and blue...and loves to enthusiastically announce "blue!" at the sight of anything with a speck of blue on it
• Loves having his picture taken, but he gets really angry if you don't show it to him right away
• Waves hello/goodbye to everything

Nixon turns TWO

And just like that, our little guy big boy is two years old.  We had a pretty low-key celebration with cupcakes and a few presents, but special nonetheless.  Happy birthday to our sweet boy, we love you!

Chocolate chip pancakes...the best way to start out a special day

A little unsure about why his cupcake is on fire

Digging in

A couple new books for our truck-obsessed child

And the best gift...

...a helicopter!

lately

Practicing for his modeling career at J. Crew.

It doesn't get much better than eating ice cream while watching a train go by

Always climbing something

He is obsessed with trying on Mama and Daddy's shoes

Nixon - Eighteen Months

Our little buddy is eighteen months old!  He is in such a fun stage right now and while he certainly keeps us on our toes, we're loving every second of it.

His latest acquired skill is climbing onto chairs (and subsequently tables and counters), and fairly often I'll turn around to find this...

His favorite place to be is standing at the kitchen counter and I love that he wants to help and be in the middle of all the action.  I usually give him a bunch of spoons, spatulas, and other random kitchen utensils and judging by his mixing skills, it shouldn't be too much longer before I can actually put him to work.

He's not saying very many conversational words yet (aside from "wow," which he says many, many times a day) but he can tell you what a kitty, dinosaur, sheep, and snake say.  Pretty much any four-legged animal is considered a kitty and will elicit an enthusiastic "meow!" Squirrel, dog, he's not picky.

Favorite foods: berries, carrots, grapes, tomatoes, cottage cheese, peanut butter toast, and pickles

Least favorite foods: zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, and eggs.

Favorite things to do: play outside, go to the park, help me vacuum, read books (he finally sits still long enough to actually read!), wrestle with Daddy, pull ALL his toys out without actually playing with them, and turn lights on and off.

A Hike

Hi everyone! We're back from a busy, fun-filled holiday weekend spent in South Carolina. We finally got the chance to reconnect with some friends from Italy and it was a wonderful couple days of catching up and relaxing. Nixon loved hanging out with Aunt Jessica and Uncle Ralphie and even warmed up to Darby the dog despite her enthusiastic face licks. The weekend was so fun, in fact, that I didn't manage to take a single picture, so you'll all have to imagine the cuteness that was Nixon running around in American flag swim trunks.

So, in lieu of sharing Fourth of July photos, I'll share some photos of a quick hike we did a couple weeks ago.