Judah is 6 Months Old

I have survived half a year with 2 kids under 2 years old. When we first started on this journey, I'll be honest, I wasn't sure we would make it. I mean, I knew, obviously, we would, but in the midst of crying and sleepless nights and temper tantrums and never being able to to put Judah down, I wasn't sure for a while. But after several months, I finally feel like I'm not treading water to stay afloat most days. Most days, the boys nap and about half the time, Curtis takes his 1 nap a day when Judah is taking one of his. Most days, it's nice outside, so we can go out and play and Curtis can run and jump and explore and get some of that energy out and he's happy. Judah loves being out too and will almost always calm down if taken outside (unless a balloon pops, he doesn't like that). Most days, Curtis will sleep till 6:30 or 7:00 which gives me time with just Judah and sometimes even gives me time to put Judah back down to finish out his night of sleeping before I have to go get Curtis. So most days, not all, but most, are not too bad. Do I wish I got more sleep? Yes. Do I wish I had a little more time to myself where I'm not scrambling to clean or cook while the boys are sleeping? Yes. But that is life, and I do love this little life God has given me with my boys. I love Judah's happy smiles he gives pretty much everyone he meets. I love his little babbles and bubbles and jumps and squeals. I love that Curtis not just says "Hi" and "Bu Bye!" but shouts it excitedly to everyone he sees. I love watching Curtis discover new things and learn new words. I love the sweet spirit God has given my 2 boys.

More about Judah since this is his blog day:

He seems to be picking up on things quicker than what Curtis did. I'm not sure if it's because he is watching Curtis and wants to try and keep up with him, or if Curtis was just a little slower due to being 5 weeks early, or if that's just Judah's personality. But either way, he has been sitting up on his own for a week or 2 now. He is trying so hard to crawl. Today, I noticed he has a little army crawl going on that I'm sure will turn in to an actual crawl very soon. He can almost go from on his belly to sitting up, but not quite yet. He is beginning to eat food, and seems to like peas with mint and tonight he enjoyed pumpkin. Avocado is not his favorite, but I will keep trying with that. He has 2 teeth and I think is beginning to teeth another one, but we're not to the difficult stage of that yet, just the drooly stage. He's back to waking up only once most nights, but he usually wakes up between 5:30 and 6 and is ready to be up for a while, which means that's when my day starts. Most of the time he is very happy and chill. I can set him down and he plays very well. I don't have to hold him or entertain him all the time. I'm very thankful for that because it allows me to still give attention to Curtis and he has become more clingy lately so I'm having to learn to balance that.

I'm looking forward to these next 6 months to see how he grows and changes. I remember with Curtis, once he started crawling, life just wasn't the same. I'm sure it'll be the same with Judah and I'm excited for that next stage.

Happy 2 Years in this World, Curtis!!

This guy is 2 years old!

I feel like this pictures says a lot about who my little guy is. He is busy and my life is crazy with him, but it's such a wonderful life!

This little guy is hilarious, and he knows he is. He laughs all the time, at himself, at us, at Baxter, Judah, his friends. He makes up his own little games and jokes and just thinks he is so funny, but it always makes me laugh. My life is never dull with him. He loves to play outside, loves to throw the ball for Baxter, loves to climb on anything he can, loves to explore. He has no fear what so ever. At the playground, he climbs right up the stairs to go down the big kid twirly slide, all by himself.

He loves playing with his cars, loves pushing his little lawn mower around. 

He loves helping Isaac out, he's daddy's little helper in the garage, watching him and learning about tools. 

He's beginning to talk a lot more, mimicking what we're saying. Every few days, he'll surprise us by repeating something that we say.

He's not a big fan of food unless it has peanut butter on it, or has chocolate chips. I sneak in veggies and fruits in his chocolate chip muffins, and feel much better about his diet that way :)

He loves Curious George and it is pretty much the cure all for anything that is wrong. I've seen every episode so many times, I can be in the kitchen listening and know exactly what episode is on. But he loves it. His first words came from Curious George. Some days, we watch a lot of George when I just can't deal with the screaming from both kids anymore.

We do have our days that aren't so easy. He is definitely in the "terrible two" phase of his life. He screams and crys for no apparent reason, although it could easily be due to hunger (because he won't eat anything) teething( those darn 2 years molars) or exhaustion because he fights nap time. But he still can't communicate those things very well, so I never really know. And sometimes, I think he's just crying to cry. He's beginning to be more jealous of Judah, which does contribute to a lot of fits. But even though those days are hard, this is still such a great little life, getting to know Curtis, watching his little personality come to life, learning about who our little boy is. I am looking forward to another wonderful year and can't wait to see how much Curtis grows over the next year.

We had a little birthday party yesterday with a few friends in costume. I love that Curtis' birthday is so close to Halloween, I never have to come up with a theme because it can always be a costume party. Anyway, it was a blast celebrating. Curtis has fun, ate no pizza, pretty much only at frosting and learned he could climb our fence. That's what hangin with the big kids teaches him :)

Curtis took  alittle time waking up from his nap

Big sister Angela holding Curtis' plate for him so he could eat his cupcake

One of his best friends from church, Samuel

Enjoying a little cupcake

Auntie Vic having her Judah time

So glad mom and dad got to come

Uncle Mike trying to influence Judah to like him better than Aunt Vic

My busy little boy, never wants to cuddle

The balloons went over then fence, Curtis learned to climb

Probably should have stopped him, but it was fun to watch

Curtis loved his little lawn mower from Nana nad Nono

Mrs. Jennifer got her some Judah time

This is real life...

This, not so much :)