Jack at 3 Years and Marshall at almost 8 Months

Some of the worst habits are the most fun.  I took this picture the night after Emily's bachelorette party when I decided to stay in Paris with the kids to get some rest.  Ha!  Jack threw such a fit when I tried to put him to bed that he woke Marshall up and there I was exhausted myself with 2 wide awake kids.  I quickly decided what the heck and threw them both in the bed with me.  At first I was pretty aggravated with the situation until I saw Jack snuggle up with Marshall and say "I won't let him fall off the bed." and then they both fell fast asleep.  At that moment I thought to myself "Boy I sure am glad I broke the rules tonight."  I didn't get much rest, but it was definitely worth the moment they shared.

I realize that Marshall doesn't really turn 8 months for 3 more days, but I'm not even going to try to kid anyone into believing I will get another post in any closer to the actual day than now.  If something big happens between now and then, it'll probably just have to wait to be reported on my 9 month post.  Just last week I took him to the doctor for an ear infection and he weighed in at 18 lbs 14 oz, which is about 2 lbs lighter than Jack around this same age.  I couldn't believe it until I looked back at Jack's 6 months pictures and realized just what a chunky monkey he was!  Pretty big things are happening around here with the little guy.  Just this week he got his first tooth.  I was glad to have an answer to why in the world he suddenly started waking me in the middle of the night again.  It seems that another is following shortly behind, which hopefully explains his screaming episodes with the babysitter this week.  It looks like we have another talker on our hands.  The child babbles constantly...babababa, dadadada and mamamama.  I'm pretty sure he is associating "mama" with me because it is often accompanied by tears and hands in the air wanting to be picked up.  I'll take it any way I can get it!  He also growls, which is hilarious to hear, and he's pretty much on the move.  It's faster than a creep, but not an on hands and knees crawl either.  Jack never crawled on his hands and knees.  Once he figured out he could get where he wanted to go by army crawling, he never even attempted to get on his hands and knees again.  Marshall will get up and rock, but once he tires, he flops down on his belly and army crawls just like his brother.  He also wants to pull up so bad, but just isn't strong enough yet.  He can, however, hold his own weight up as long as he has something to help him balance.  Right now he's trying to drop his third nap, so he's consistently taking 2 naps/day and sometimes 3 if we can manage to get him down for it.  He seems to be my early riser waking me up at 6:30 pretty much every day, but considering he goes to bed by 8, I won't complain.  He's still nursing or taking 5-7 oz in a bottle 4 times/day and we've started him on puffs and crackers, which he's doing well with so far.  The reflux is still a problem, but the meds seem to control it most days.  He's enjoyed watching the kids at summer camp, which ended yesterday, and he will start preschool at Jack's school in the baby room on August 9th.  His 6 month pictures were just put on the web-site this week.  Go to http://www.resugganphotography.com/, Family & Children Site, Clients (recognize that precious boy in the chair?) and the password is mar2010.

While Jack actually turned 3 almost a month ago, his 3 year appointment wasn't until a couple of days ago.  I cannot get over how much he's grown measuring 40 inches tall and weighing 40 pounds, which put him in the 94th percentile for height and 97th percentile for weight.  Just last week he stole my heart by telling me he wanted to be my husband when I was explaining that MiMi getting married will mean Luke will be her husband just like Daddy is my husband and she will live with Luke instead of Big Big and Sissy.  He's such a helper around the house, wanting to wash dishes, make up the bed and get the trash bag out of the can.  The other day he rescued Marshall from under the couch and was so proud of himself for propping him back up in a sitting position.  Thankfully, I didn't see it and Marshall didn't shed any tears, so I guess it went okay.  He's started calling me "mama" again instead of "mommy", which actually makes him seem older to me, but he's also calling Travis "dada" a lot, so I think it has to do with Marshall's babbling.  His favorite place to eat is Chickaway (Chick Fila), but mostly for the lemonade, so we make frequent stops there during the week.  He is such a good little boy that I often think we expect too much out of him and don't realize that he is only 3.  I can't even explain what he's done to our lives, but if you're a parent, I don't have to explain it.  You feel it too for your own. 

I have to admit each birthday was bittersweet for me until about a month ago when I read a friend's blog about her son's 2nd birthday.  Selena said something like people always talk about how sad it is for their kids to get older, but instead, she and her husband realize that some kids don't make it to age 2 and some parents don't get to see their kids turn 2, so from now on, I also remind myself to feel extremely blessed each birthday we celebrate with these boys rather than sad that they are getting older.  It's been a great 3 years, Jack Alan Todd, and we can't wait to see what the next few years have in store for you as well!