Sutton at 11 months and Moses at 3.5

(Disclaimer: I wrote this with intentions of publishing it like two weeks ago.  Didn't happen.  So, here it is finally!)

A month away from one and six months away from four...what!  These boys are growing and changing every day.  I was talking to the sweet girl who watches Sutton in the nursery at bible study today and she said she couldn't believe how much he's changed the the last couple of months.  It's true for both of them!

Sutton at 11 Months

Sutton is a walking machine!  He toddles, well waddles, everywhere.  He has the cutest walk.  These last few days he has been standing un assisted in the middle of the floor.  Just call him Mr. Mobile.  I've even caught him climbing things recently.  He is constantly trying to scale something!

He and I have lots of grunting conversations.  He thinks it's SO funny.  He started doing it at meals when he wanted more food and now does it when I talk to him.  He can say the word "ball" and if you ask him to find it he will go to the toy box and get it!

Sutton is 100% a mama's boy.  He's starting to have a little separation anxiety when I leave him.  He quickly gets over it if I leave, but if I'm around he wants me.  We are going through that stage where he wants a lot of full attention which makings cooking dinner and doing other chores a lot harder than usual!

His appetite is in full force!  I love letting him try new foods.  He loves peas, bananas, cheerios, rice, and usually whatever I've cooked for dinner.  He is a pretty slow eater and meals tend to take forever after preparing and cleaning up.  He likes to feed himself a few things, but if something has a mushy texture he's too busy playing with it to eat it.  He still gets 3-4 bottles a day and I am going to introduce whole milk this week to try to start the process of weaning him from the bottle.

Sutton is still getting a solid 12 hours at night.  No matter what we do he wakes up around 6-6:30am so he goes to bed by 6:30pm so insure he gets plenty of rest.  Lately he has been waking up in the middle of the night once but goes back to sleep.  He is also still taking two naps a day averaging 1.5 to 2 hours.

Lately, he has been playing a lot of balls and cars.  He will also carry around Moses' Woody (from Toy Story) around by his pull string.  He thinks it's the most hilarious thing.  He is also super curious about the toilet.  I have to make sure all the bathroom doors are always closed.  Once, Moses was going the potty and I heard him yelling.  I ran in to find Sutton hanging on to the potty watching Moses go.  Um, YUCK!

Moses at 3.5 years

Oh, Moses is my wild man.  He absolutely keeps me on my toes.  He is full of energy all the time.  I am so ready for warmer weather so we can be outside more and he can burn it off!  I get the impression from his teacher that he is the same there.

Moses eats all.the.time.  We can't go an hour without him telling me that he is hungry.  If kept a tally on how much he eats during the day and it is staggering!  I have set up rules a long time ago about snacks which has helped.  He knows that the only time he gets a "pantry" snack is after his nap.  He can have a cookie, piece of candy or something like that then.  We went for a long time where he was eating almost three apples a day.  His teacher even asked me to pack extra food in his lunch because he was eating everything in it (sandwich, carrots, pretzels, and fruit)!  He is weighing in at around 36lbs and comes up to my rib cage.  He is so tall and skinny!  We are very lucky he is such a good eater.  We do have some struggles, usually at dinner, but we have learned to be firm with him.

I can't say enough how proud I am of him and potty training.  He is totally self sufficient!  I guess that is the only plus of it taking forever.  He just runs to the bathroom, does his business, washes his hands, and comes out.  Doesn't need or want me to do anything.  I am SO ok with that!

Moses has the cutest personality.  The things that come of out of his mouth are hysterical.  He's also started trying to bargain with us.  A lot of times when you ask him something he'll start by saying, "Well, actually...." followed by something completely crazy.

Moses LOVES his friends.  He is such a social butterfly.  Some of his favorite friends are Chesson, Connor, Reese, Cameron, Wally, and Hayden.  I am really proud of how nicely he plays with others.  He can walk into any room and feel right at home and enjoy everyone there.  Moses LOVES a birthday and is always asking me whose birthday is next!

Moses has lots of things he's "into" right now.  He loves playing with cars and balls.  He is also into legos and transformers (thanks to daddy).  He has mastered using the ipad and knows were his games are and how to access his shows on netflix (with permission).  He even showed my 88 year old grandmother how to play angry birds!  He still shows a lot of interest in outer space and I bought him a book about the solar system which he seems to like.  He also plays constantly with his pirate ship he got for Christmas.  He has finally gotten MUCH better about playing independently.  I love listening to him chatter and pretend.

Moses is still taking an afternoon nap about 75% of the time.  He sleeps with the covers over his head (which drives me nuts) and wants to leave his overhead light on with the door cracked.  I've tried turning out the light when I go to bed but he just wakes up and gets mad that it's off.  Oh, well!

Our one problem has been obedience.  Somedays I feel like all I do is discipline all day long.  One day he told me that Jesus was upset with me.  When I asked him why, he said because I put him in time out!  Oh, that boy!

Moses and Sutton are starting to play together pretty well.  Moses makes Sutton laugh more than anyone and loves him dearly.  Moses is usually pretty good with Sutton but he can be rough.  I don't think our problem is jealousy, but sometimes he feels Sutton is getting in the way or "bothering" his toys.

These boys are just the best.  I love them SO much!