9 Months!

I know…two posts in two days…Go Amy!

Today my sweet little cherub turned 9 months.  I’m seriously in disbelief that he’s getting so close to one.  Briggs-you are an amazing little boy who brings pure joy to everyone you meet.  You have a smile like no other and are the happiest little guy 99% of the time (a FAR cry from your first few months).

We had his 9 month check up today.  Let me say it’s a good thing my boys have the amazing Ashley in their lives.  I was telling her last night about how awful Briggs was sleeping at Grammy’s and she suggested an ear infection.  Guess who has a double ear infection!  This is the second ear infection she’s caught on my boys.  I’m pretty sure CPS will be here any moment to have them whisked away from me.  Other than his ears, he’s doing great.  He’s still nursing and the dr said we could supplement if needed with whole milk which means NO FORMULA!!!  Not that we need to supplement right now, but do you know how happy this makes our wallet!!!  He received one shot and just frowned and a finger prick with which he got annoyed.

Stats (with Ben’s to compare):

Height: 27.75 (28.3)

Weight: 20.8 (22.5)

Head: 18.25 (19.3)

This is what my sweet boy does all.the.time!  He’s so happy.  The second you look at him he’ll flash one of these million dollar grins.

The swing is finally gone.  He’s getting pretty regular with his naps and was just flat out too big for it.  We will miss that lifesaver!

Charley thinks Briggs is another toy.  She chews on his feet and flops all over him as he crawls throughout the house.  They also try to share toys which disgusts me!

He’s still not the best sleeper.  We average about 8 hours.  I still leave him for 8 hours and am pleasantly surprised when he goes longer.  I can put him down at night awake (like above) and normally he’ll fall asleep without any tears.  The same with napping.  He still takes an afternoon nap downstairs in his pack n play because Ben is upstairs and I don’t want Briggs to wake up Ben.

Call it a Mahrer thing.  Call it a Michalson thing.  Call it a boy thing-but this kid loves to eat.  He eats fruit/cereal in the am, meat/veggie and a fruit for lunch and a veggie for dinner along with countless cheerios, puffs, mum mums and baby cheese puff type things.  He gets a little of what we’re having most of the time and today when I was eating a cookie while holding him he leaned over and helped himself while I wasn’t looking.

Briggs LOVES his brother.  And I love that I can put them in the same room now and they can both play.  Ben is still having a very hard time sharing, but is getting better.  Briggs always seems to find the toys that he shouldn’t put in his mouth.

His hair!  My little love’s locks are so thin that even with gel they fall flat (I can’t imagine who he gets that from).  His hair is getting long and will probably need to be cut sooner than later.

He takes after his Aunt Tina and knows exactly what to do when a camera is in front of him.

He’s in 9 month clothes, but I’ll be getting the 12 month ones out this weekend.  He’s a little chubbers with the thickest thighs ever…LOVE them!

This is a face we don’t see very often, but it does exsist.  Briggs hates to be left alone, have a toy taken from him, or have to wait for food.  And when he’s done playing, he’s done playing and you better come scoop him up asap or else!

That plug.  Still there.  Same story.

He’s pulling himself up and has had a few spills in the process.  He is not content at all with sitting still anymore.  There are places to go and people to see!

Briggs-thank you for being the amazing little man that you are.  We love you so much.  You made 2011 a truly wonderful year and blessed our lives more than you will ever understand.  I am so excited to watch you keep growing and smiling in 2012!  But feel free to slow down a little.  You’re getting too big too fast for this momma! 

It’s a Wonderful Life

Wonderful!  That’s just about the best way to sum up the past week.  This was a very special Christmas.  It was the first Christmas for our sweet baby, but also the first Christmas that Ben ‘got it.’  And to top it all off spent it with my family at Grammy’s house in Wisconsin.  A week of relaxing, laughing, constant help with the boys (!!!) and a week of LOVE! 

We decided to fly instead of drive in case the weather was bad.  The boys were AMAZING on the flight up.  We took the first flight out in the morning which meant we were out of the house before 4 (yikes).  A stroller, 2 carryon bags plus backpacks, blankies that had been pulled out and jackets meant a little chaos getting through the airport, but we managed.

Even at 5 am Ben is SO excited to get on the plane!

Boys and their toys

It pays to be the last ones off the plane-they let you explore the cockpit if you’re a cute little 2 year old (okay maybe he ran in on his own, but the sweet flight attendant let him take a look around)!  The boys were great on the plane.  Ben got a little antsy and wanted his buckle off, but otherwise was great.  We got tons of compliments from those around us about the boys (especially Briggs who didn’t make one peep, but was awake for 90% of the flight).

I love this!  We made a quick stop at “Donalds” (our favorite) for breakfast before the 90 minute drive to Grammy’s.  Briggs was out in about 2 seconds.  Poor Ben was so tired from being up for 7 hours already he fell asleep mid bite!

We were SO excited to pull up to “the blue house” as Ben calls it.  Aunt Linda came over right away and Briggs must have been so excited to see one of his favorite people because he CRAWLED right over to her!  He also clapped and waved to her, all things we’ve been working on at home.  Grams and Pops flew in the next day and the boys were just as excited to see them (me too)!

A little joy ride in Briggs’ bathtub before bath time (this was taken just after Ben pushed Briggs out like the nice big bro that he is).

Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob held on to their rockstar status by bringing over two fun toys for Ben to play with before the big day.  The kid loves Mack from Cars and one was a Mack truck that opened and held little cars.  Ben spent countless hours playing with these toys.

Showing off his crawling.

It’s like Briggs is pointing to all tree to show us all the gifts!

It’s not a family Christmas without watching Christmas Vacation (yes, we even let Ben watch).  Briggs caught the first part (he’s eating in this pic) before bed.

Even at Grammy and Pal’s you have to go to timeout (but never by Grammy-she’s too nice).

I didn’t get a picture, but Friday night B made dinner for everyone.  He treated everyone to Chicken Cordon Bleu, yummo!  And it only made one person sick (sorry Pal).  While he was busy cooking we took the boys to Grand Geneva to see their Christmas lights.  Grams drove with us while we followed Grammy and Pal.  Oh I wish I had a video camera in the car.  Ben was a super toot whining and fussing.  About half way through I took off his buckle so he could see better and that helped a ton (until we got back on the busy roads and he had to be rebuckled). 

We spent Christmas Eve at Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob’s for their famous Italian feast (B’s favorite).  I’m pretty sure it’s this dinner that convinced him to fly up instead of stay home.  And being the amazing aunt and uncle that they are, they even make plain spaghetti for their favorite niece who is the pickiest girl ever (and her adorable 2 year old).  Ben, however, did eat the lobster bisque and loved it.

Both boys got to open their presents from Aunt Linda and Uncle Bob while we were there. 

Briggs needed some help since he was only interested in eating the ribbon.

All ready for a delish dinner.  Ben got to sit on my very favorite chair.  This was my chair at Grammy’s when I was growing up and it will live in my house one day.

Ben was excused early from dinner (a 7 course dinner is a little long for a bouncy toddler).  We looked over and saw that someone had started stripping.  A new tradition maybe? 

Back to Grammy’s to get ready for Santa’s visit.  Grams and Ben put out some cheerios for Rudolph and his friends.

Santa arrived!

Checking out the note Santa left thanking him for the cookies.

He was so excited with all his new toys.

Our Baby St. Nick (Ben wore the same outfit at his first Christmas)

Pal’s daughter and her family came over later in the day and Ben made a new friend with JB.  We went back to Aunt Linda’s for another 5 star meal and my sweet baby crashed as soon as we got there.

Ben playing ‘How many fingers can I smash?’ upstairs with JB and Claire.

Grammy and Grams – love them more than words can say (even when my mom wears ridiculous 30 year old Christmas pins)

 

Sweet Claire (Pal’s granddaughter) spent a great deal of Christmas playing with Briggs.  The most amazing 5th grader I know!

A sweet note from our Christmas dinner.  It was Ben who told us we needed to pray.  How sweet is that!

Monday afternoon Uncle Bob’s sister and mom drove up to meet the boys.  Theresa just celebrated her 95th birthday (and has the skin of a baby-it’s SO soft).

This might be one of B’s proudest moments- teaching his son how to play a video game.  Ben loves his Leapster (he’s playing a shape game).

And while B was busy downstairs, Briggs joined Snow White and took a little comfy snooze on Grammy :)

We had such a good week.  The boys were spoiled by family and we were spoiled with help.  B and I even got to see 3 movies!  The only ‘bad’ part was that Briggs did an AWFUL job sleeping.  He was up screaming every couple hours every night.  It was like having a newborn again.  At home I’d let him cry it out, but the walls are thin and I was so worried he’d wake everyone up.  So I ended up on the air mattress next to his crib and B bunked with Ben.  Ben really, really enjoyed having a week with his daddy.  Last night when I tried to put him to bed he so badly wanted B to sleep in his room.  The plane ride home wasn’t as great as the way up.  We had Ben up before 3 to make the drive to the airport (we originally planned to stay near the airport that night, but changed our minds at the last minute so we could have more family time).  He fussed and whined a lot on the flight, but luckily we had understanding people around us.  And since B just had to go to the World Series, he was out of vacation days so the boys and I had to drop his sorry butt off at work on our way home.  I’m sure he had a very productive day :) 

B will be starting on our addition to the house to store all the boys’ toys any day now I think!  We had all the toys shipped and I know Ben will be SO excited when it all gets here!  I can’t wait for next Christmas.  Nothing better than to see it all through my sweet boys’ eyes!

 

Holiday Fun

I cannot believe Christmas is almost here.  We leave tomorrow for Grammy’s!  Woohoo!  We have had a busy December filled with lots of fun!

We went to the annual SCA kids’ party (we missed last year because B was sick).  We are so blessed B works for SCA.  They go all out for their employees and their families.  While we dined on some yummy Abuelos, the kids were treated to delicious kid fare (chicken fingers, mac n cheese, corn dogs and juice).  Ben loved playing with the cars they out.

Enjoying some grub

Then Santa came!!!  Ben was SO good and sat and waited his turn without a peep.  He was even the last kid to get called up.  Briggs played with Daddy while waiting for his turn.

It’s safe to say Briggs has been a good boy this year!

The jury’s still out on this little man!

A meeting of the minds

Santa brings a wrapped toy for each kid at the party.  This was Ben’s.  After everyone has their presents they sing “Santa Claus is coming to Town” and then the kids get to unwrap their gift.  He was SO excited about his planes.

Ben helped Briggs unwrap his animal train. 

Oh these two…just love them!

Ben’s school had a brunch on Thursday to celebrate Jesus’ birthday.  The mommies got to stay for a little and we did a craft and a book exchange.  I left in tears and so frustrated at Ben.  He decided to have one of those ‘moments’ while the 9 other kids in his class were on their best behavior.  We threw books, shouted, stomped, spit, did snow angels in the middle of the book exchange and was just a serious toot!  The only time he was good was when he was waiting for the donuts.

We (well Mommy) made a Baby Jesus out of sock.

Briggs was really good the whole time we’re there.  He had lots of fun playing with the manger.

Each morning the kids put an apple on the tree.  Today they put their ornament on Jesus in the manger.  Addie went first and put hers right on Baby Jesus.  Ben went next and stuck his right on Addie’s.  No one else did that…

Sweet Addie giving Briggs some love.

Ben hasn’t cared too much about Buddy the Elf so Buddy tends to stay in the same spot for a few days.  Buddy figured out how to fly from the fan.  That was a big hit.

We took a trip to visit Santa at the mall.

Our month has been packed with fun playdates for the kids. We’ve had ornament exchanges, ornament making playdates, cookie exchanges, and a Christmas craft playdate just to name a few.

Briggs and Camille (they’re two weeks apart) are so good at hanging out while their big brothers play.

Christmas craft time at Grady’s house

Briggs and Camille hanging out while the big brothers do crafts (craps as Ben calls them-very fitting for his work)

One of our playgroup friends had a Christmas party at her house.  Ben liked eating the cookies more than decorating them!

Gift exchange

Helping daddy make cookies for the cookie exchange with our playgroup.

Boots and Gramma also came up to have their Christmas with the boys and watch them while we went to the SCA adult party, but I didn’t take any pictures   Ben has had a blast playing with his work bench they brought him.  That boy loves fixing things!

We also had a trip to the doctor for a yeast infection for Ben on his bottom.  I did not know boys could get those things.  And thanks to his cream we have to use, I got to call poison control for the first time this weekend after Ben took the cream into the other room and tried to eat it.  He must not be the first kid to try this because the lady knew exactly the name of the cream when I called and wasn’t worried at all.

Our bags are just about packed for tomorrow.  Soooo excited to see everyone at Grammy’s!  Briggs can’t wait to be held for a week straight!!!