Gobblin' good times

This year, as in the past, we were thankful to share not one but two thanksgiving meals. First, we brunched at Cracker Barrel with Chris' grandparents and family. Let's just say, we weren't the only ones with that bright idea; the place was packed! While we waited for our table, Evan entertained himself inside the infamous store with some vintage toy trucks, and took a short break to pose for this picture outside...of course no Cracker Barrel visit is complete without a seat in a rocker!

 

After lunch and a good long nap, we headed to Goldsboro for my mom's Thanksgiving feast. As always, the food was delicious and my husband thoroughly enjoyed himself...in fact, he's still stuffing down the turkey leftovers! Of course, I was thankful for my traditional Thanksgiving day hamburger. ;-)

On thanksgiving and every day of the year, we have so much to be thankful for. It's unfortunate how easily we can overlook or take for granted every new day we're given along with it's blessings, big and small. Because of this, I'm grateful for a day to pause and reflect on our many gifts bought from above, and am reminded once again to give thanks in all circumstances. For turkey, and hamburgers. :-)

This puzzle, that munchkin

Or in other words, my clever way of dressing up a "this n' that" type of post. I'll start with this very cool video of my smarty pants putting together his transportation puzzle. Notice the flurry of frustration with the firetruck. Yes, there are many teachable "flurries" nowadays!

Have I mentioned that a Dunkin Donuts opened in Wilson, and that my little munchkin loves blueberry munchkins? He had not one, not two, but four of them before church this past Sunday! He's a curious eating machine these Fall days and has taken a break from being Mr. Pickypants for the time being; lately he loves broccoli, and has been sharing in our usual dinner meals complete with corn and all! And-excuse my randomness-I also think it noteworthy to insert that he has now added the words "cold," "cool-as in dude," "down," "shoes" and "pig" to his growing vocabulary.

This week I am 27 weeks along with our other munchkin. I'm due for my Glucose testing on Wednesday, and have a follow up ultrasound next week-so this little dude is keeping us busy! Inside the womb, baby boy should weigh almost 2 pounds by now and is about 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended. Also, he's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, is very rapidly developing his brain, opening and closing his tiny eyes, and probably even sucking on his fingers. I can't wait for baby "C" to get here!!! (Yes, we have his name picked out for good now!). And, just for fun, here's a link to Evan's "27 week" update...I was surprised to see how similar I was feeling at this point with him!
Baby Evan on the inside-27 wks

It's funny because last time around we were completely enamored with all things Evan and all aboard the baby train, busy with preparations and just as pregnant with excitement over things to come. This time, I'm still consumed with all things Evan, and much less anxious about the preparations and "lists" that go into welcoming a new member of the family. Don't get me wrong, I'm still excited...just with a bit less edge and organizational OCD (let's just call it like it is)! Thank goodness for a toddler to keep my mind, feet, and online shopping elsewhere. :-)

18 months young

Has 18 months with my sweet boy gone by so fast? It feels like just yesterday we were looking at our chubby cheeked baby and wondering what this age would hold, what he would look like, sound like, act like, etc. Well here we are, and this is what 18 months looks like to us...

He grows more handsome every day, even when covered in Chef Boyardee. He loves trains and balls still, and has added trucks and dinosaurs to his favorites list. What does he eat? While he's turned into a Mr. Picky Pants at this age, he's gotta have his chicken nuggets(like his mommy no doubt!). Following close behind he loves ravioli, Pb&j sandwiches, and all things fruity.

He hasn't added to much to his vocabulary, but he's a studious little boy and understands us much more than I'd like to admit.  He does puzzles really well and can correctly point to just about any animal you ask him to in a book-smarty pants. Favorite book-"Curious George's big book of curiosity." In other big 18 month news, he is really good at giving kisses and hugs now, claps on command, bops his head to music, loves to drum, and is starting to run(in a size 5 almost 6 shoe).

Schedule wise, we are officially down to 1 nap, and he sleeps beautifully from about 12:15 to 3pm everyday(except for those Sundays!). Bedtime is still 7:30, sometimes 8pm. A true morning person, our little alarm clock is up and ready to go by 7am most mornings. I'm praying he'll start to sleep in a bit later before baby #2 arrives, but I'll take 7:30-7 any day of the week. (Aside-the toddler bed turned our world upside down for a good 2 weeks...after determining he was not ready for the jump, he's back in his crib-side up-and loving it.)

On the health front, he had his first bad cold and ear infection about a month ago, and after a few doctor's visits we ended up with a brand new, shiny firetruck nebulizer for breathing treatments. I'm so thankful for it because we needed it again with cold #2 just a month later. Luckily he doesn't seem to fall into the asthma category just yet, but lands nicely in the "reactive airway" camp-you bet I am dreading flu season! Can we just be bears and hibernate inside now until Spring? On the bright side, it looks like he may be outgrowing his eczema as it has improved tremendously over the past few months.

Along with 18 months has come more independence, and with freedom frustration. I'm noticing he's come to that age where he thinks he can do things he can't (aka run down stairs) and it's a hard reality to have to need mommy's help with those "big boy" things! Speaking of, we are working on the word "help" as I see him get much more frustrated with toys, ect. that he can't figure out right away. On this note of new challenges, I've also seen that he's become much more socially aware. All of a sudden, he realizes it when other kids take away the toy he's playing with(or when mommy puts the toy back on the shelf at Target), and it is not okay... oh, and did I mention it goes both ways? Sharing 101 here we come. No doubt baby brother will be a great teaching tool for this big life lesson!

Put simply(after the longest post ever), if I had to sum up his personality at this age in 3 words, it would be sweet, sensitive, and silly. :-) Happy 18 months Evan Matthew!

Stats:
Weight-23 pounds, 20th percentile
Height-32.5", 50th percentile
Head cir.-80th percentile