Two-Year and Two-Month Checkups

On Wednesday, I took both Joel and Nora to the doctor for their two-year and two-month checkups. Both kids are doing great with growth and development, but what was more interesting was what happened to us on the way to the doctor......

When Joel woke up on Wednesday morning, he immediately began vomiting. I wasn't sure at that time if he just ate something funny or what the deal was, but by the time we got ready to leave for the doctor, he had vomited twice. I decided to take him anyway (after all, who is too sick to go to the doctor???) and see what the problem was. I immediately regretted my decision. We were no further than two blocks from our house and he vomited in the car. Yuck. At this point, I called the doctor to reschedule but was informed that if I cancelled, the kids could not get in until April! Frustrated, I decided to brave the car ride and go anyway. Luckily, my grandma (who was visiting from Iowa) had decided to accompany me, so she ended up holding an old towel in front of Joel the entire car ride there and wiping his vomit. It was disgusting to say the least!

So we got to the doctor relatively unscathed but a little shaken. Joel did great the entire appointment, so I thought that perhaps the sickness had passed. I was wrong!!! Turns out, he has rotavirus.....and four days later, we're still dealing with it!!!! I'll spare you the details, but let's just say that I hope this is the only time we'll ever have to deal with this sickness. I just hope it goes away soon....there's nothing quite as pathetic as a sick two-year-old. So far, Nora has stayed away from it, so I hope we're in the clear there. This has been quite a week/weekend!

Anyway, on a lighter note, here are the kids' stats from their appointments:
Joel: 30 lbs. (75th percentile) and 35 inches (70th percentile)
Nora: 10 lbs. 13 oz. (30th percentile) and 23 1/2 inches (50th percentile)

Both kids are growing like weeds! Nora, though she is little, has gained four pounds since birth and grown more than five inches. And Joel, though he hasn't gained any weight, has grown five inches in six months. Time for longer pants!

Here's a picture of Nora on her two-month birthday:

And here's another cute one for good measure:

And here's a picture of Nora and her friend, Micah Guernsey, who just moved in two doors down from us with his parents Caleb and Sara. Nora was born just 10 days after Micah, and they're already fast friends. We are so thankful to have such great neighbors!

And despite his illness, this picture pretty much sums up the mood Joel is in these days. Ah, two-year-olds......he keeps me on my toes, but I wouldn't change it for the world!

Snow and Big Bows

I'll admit it. This post is purely for the purpose of showing of really cute pictures. Here's some shots of Joel playing in the snow when we got a few inches yesterday (again!!! Really, will this snow ever stop???) 

This kid LOVES nothing more than to eat snow. He also, come to find out, loves to be buried in the snow! Thank you, Daddy for this discovery!

And here are some shots of Nora. It's hard to believe she'll be two months old tomorrow. She's changing so fast, and she's such a good baby! She even slept in her crib last night for the first time and only woke up once to eat. What a blessing she is to us! She's so smiley and happy all the time. I just love her little smile! She opens her mouth wide and wrinkles her tiny nose....it's the cutest thing! I've been trying to capture it on camera, but haven't had any luck yet. Anyway, I must say that as much as I loved having a little baby boy, having a baby girl is just so fun! The clothes are adorable, and the bows...oh my, the bows! I am obsessed! They are just too fun to pass up! This one is my current favorite. 

Ouch!

The other day, Joel had a pretty bad spill in his bedroom. He tripped over the rug and slammed his face right into the edge of his trundle bed resulting in his tooth ripping through the edge of his lip and causing a whole lot of bleeding! Here's the pathetic aftermath:

Like Brother, Like Sister

Check this out. The other day, I put an old outfit of Joel's on Nora. Do you think they look alike?!?!

Joel's 2!

On Sunday, February 7, our little man Joel turned the big 2. Since his birthday happened to fall on a weekend that Jack had drill for the Air National Guard and also since his birthday fell on Superbowl Sunday, we celebrated the weekend prior on the 30th of January. This year, we had a tractor-themed party because, as we all know, Joel is absolutely infatuated with tractors and machinery of all sorts.

We had a great time celebrating Joel's day with friends and family. It's so special that Joel has so much family here in town. Needless to say, he spent his birthday celebration surrounded by many, many people who love him including two sets of grandparents, a set of great-grandparents, an aunt, an uncle and several little friends. Papa Bruce even made Joel this amazing cake to go along with his tractor party. Watch out, Cake Boss, here comes Bruce McCall!

For his birthday, Jack and I got Joel a big pedal tractor for outside.....however, right now, the tractor resides in our living room because Joel loves it too much for me to take it to the garage. Let's just say, spring can't get here soon enough! The tractor is great entertainment for Joel though. He will literally spend hours loading and unloading things from the trailer and sitting on it (he can't quite get the pedaling concept yet). He loves it!

Of course, Joel had a great time opening his (way too many) presents, but he had an even better time blowing out his candles and chowing down on his delicious chocolate cake! Like mother, like son!

 

Even Nora had a fabulous time at Joe's party. Here's a good shot of our little party girl!

All in all, it was a great day. It's just so hard to believe that my little baby is 2 already! I know you hear this all the time, but it truly does just seem like yesterday that I was holding him in my hospital room and wondering how on earth I would learn to care for such a tiny little human being. The next thing I knew, he was running around, talking, playing and developing a little personality all his own. Time goes way too fast! I love you, Joel! You'll always be my baby!

And for good measure, here's a little vintage Joel. I love that little face!

Smarty Pants

I have to take a minute to brag on Joel a bit. Every day this little boy amazes me with his vocabulary and what he knows. I swear, I don't know how he picks this stuff up! I know all parents probably say this about their children, but I really think he's brilliant! Sorry for the obnoxious bragging...I really do realize that I'm totally being "that mom." For that, I apologize in advance.

For instance, just the other day I was upstairs putting away some laundry when Joel came wandering in my room holding one of those foam bath letters from his bath toys. "Mama, "W," he said. I turned and looked and sure enough, he was holding the letter W. He then proceeded to flip the letter over and said, "Now M." Seriously. I nearly passed out. Luckily, Jack was there to witness it, too, or he would have never believed me. Come to find out (after quizzing him on the rest of the letters), he can also identify the letters T, J, Y, O, N and U. He's also started counting and can make it up to 18 with help. Go figure. I guess watching Sesame Street has really done some good!

Joel has also had a serious sentence-making epiphany in the last couple of weeks. He literally never stops talking from the moment he wakes up in the morning and is starting to put four and five words together in sentences. He's doing very well with assigning possessives to his words (i.e. "Mommy's hot coffee"and "Joe's little tractor), and he often describes what he is doing while he is doing it ("Joel eat yogurt raisins," "Joel go play upstairs). He's also got quite the sense of humor, often catching on to sarcasm and playing the clown. I should start to pray now for the patience of his kindergarten teacher.

His instinct for problem solving and his manual dexterity also continue to amaze me. He is always taking things apart to find out how they work and pretending to "fix" things. If this kid doesn't end up working with his hands somehow, I'll be shocked.

Joel continues to love on his little sister, "Norno" (as he calls her), and it's so sweet to see him interact with her. We just love having him around and look forward to seeing what new thing he has learned each and every day.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2010, everyone! It's hard to believe we're not only 18 days into a new year, but also a brand new decade. And with a new little girl at home, I can't think of a more exciting way to start the new year. We're continuing to adjust to having two kids in the house, but we're loving every minute of it. However, having small children, of course, requires some sacrifices...for instance, Jack and I spend New Year's Eve this year hanging on the couch and trying to watch movies without falling asleep and on and off through the sounds of  a crying newborn. Funny thing is, we wouldn't have it any other way! Here's how Joel and Nora rang in the New Year:

As a side note, Nora did not sleep in Joel's bed; she was just there for a few minutes for the sake of the picture.

Speaking of Nora, the little sweetheart is continuing to grow and get smarter and more interactive every day. Lately, she's been very concentrated on learning to lift her head, which, might I add, she is getting very good at! She's settling into a bit more of a daily routine (well, as much of a routine as a month-old baby can have), which I appreciate. And actually, she's been sleeping rather well at night, giving me good four-hour stretches between feedings. We just love her so much that I could go on and on! Here's Nora at one month old: