Lawn Man

We've been trying to get some things done in our yard, as we pretty much didn't touch it after we moved in. And it's time. Cohen has been "helping" with the flowers and weeds and has been loving it. He had a blast watering the plants today, they might be slightly overwatered, but we are more about the experience than perfection.

Conversations with a 2 Year Old

Me: Cohen, we need to fix your undies.
Cohen: Get the screwdriver!


Cohen, (sorting through the laundry basket): Big coat! Big coat!
Danny: That's not a coat, it's my underwear.


(After explaining to Cohen that every baby he sees is not our baby Ezra)
Cohen (pointing at Ezra): That's not our baby!!


Sensing it was a little too quiet...
Me: Cohen! What are you doing?
Cohen: Dwinking beew.
Me: What?
(Cohen walks out holding a beer bottle) Dwinking beew! Bring beew cup to church!


Me: Ezra is a boy, and Mommy is a girl.
Cohen: I'm a kid! Daddy is a guy.


Danny walks in the door from work...
Cohen: Oh hi Daddy, what are you doing today?


Danny walks in the door from work....
Cohen: Let's go find the boat!
Cohen: Go for a ride in a boat!
Danny: How are we going to do that?
Cohen: Sit on the seat in the boat!
When the boat idea didn't work...
Cohen: Let's go in the canoe!

Raising a 2 Year Old

With our recent bout of sickness and Cohen being 2.5, we've had some rough days. He is exerting his new found need for independence, but is also unsure of himself. He will be in bed crying to get up and the minute I get him up, he cries to go back to bed. Repeat x15.

 I have taken up coffee drinking in the last week. Like, real coffee, out of the coffee pot! It has been a test of my patience caring for my two sick boys and having one in the trying stages of 2 year old land. He wants to do things himself but also wants to "see Mommy" constantly. We are learning how to deal with pushing boundaries and getting into discipline issues. We are struggling to handle running away when told to do something, not responding when being told "no" and on and on and on.

My days feel like constant battles. It's tiring. He seems like such a big boy and is learning about independence and how to do more things on his own. But I still have to remind myself that he's just a little boy. He's 2 and a half years old, but he's only 2.5 years old. While he seems like a big boy, he's still learning and growing and changing and I want to support him through this and so many other things to come. I know there are days when I just expect too much out of him. I expect him to be perfect and listen every time. I have to remind myself that he's just a little boy. And I am his mom and he needs me to reassure, support, and encourage him to be more independent and to make decisions that will help him.

I love this 2 year old. We knew we had a strong willed boy on our hands. We learned that the day he was born, full of fight and spunk. But he can always make me smile. Like when I tell him that we need to fix his undies and he says "Go get the screwdriver!" Man I'm thankful for that fight, but it is a challenge!

Cohen - 2.5 Years Old

Cohen is 2 1/2 years old! He was been growing and changing so much over the last few months.

He talks a lot and understands even more. The last time he we checked his weight he was 29 lbs and 3 feet tall. He has been a potty training champ. We tried a few days here and there but he was over it partway through the days. I didn't want to push it, especially with a new baby on the way. One day he said "no diaper!" and never looked back. He still wears diapers at nap and bedtime, partly because he sleeps about 12 hours at night and also because he is still sleeping in his crib and couldn't get up to go even if he wanted to. Yes, he's still in his crib. We haven't made the change yet because his crib has always been his "safe place" so I'm not terribly anxious to rush him out of it. He does things in his own time, we'll know when he's ready.

His favorite things are stuffed animals, tractors (twactos), trains and cars (caws). He also likes to help out mommy and daddy. Whenever we are making dinner he likes to "help". We found him sitting on the floor with a bowl and a whisk and he told us he was making cookies. He always asks to take toys to bed and sometimes we let him pick one (or twelve). He got a new tractor for Christmas and wanted to take it to bed so we let him. An hour later he was still awake in bed playing with it so I sent Danny in to take it away and tell him it was time to sleep. When he got up in the morning, he saw the tractor sitting outside his door and said "Daddy take da twacto" and kept repeating it all morning. It was so sad, poor little fellow. His other new hobbies include washing his hands, turning lights on and off, and playing in his room.

Cohen still goes to OT twice a month and we have been seeing some pretty cool growth. I realized one day that I hadn't seen him startle to a noise in several months! This is pretty big for him because as a baby he startled all the time and then up until recently he still jumped at a lot of noises and got really scared and anxious about them. He has also been doing lots of swinging and gaining confidence in his physical capabilities.

Cohen and Ezra are starting to interact a little more. We make a conscious effort to include them in things together, Ezzy helps say goodnight to Cohen, Ez "gives kisses" to Cohen. It's so cute to watch them start to notice each other a little more. I can't wait to continue to watch their relationship grow, I hope they are good buddies.

He is still our sweet, sensitive boy. It has been so fun to watch him grow, gain confidence, and become a "big boy" lately. I still can't believe how grown up he is getting. Sigh. The NICU journey seems like a lifetime ago. So proud of this boy and we love him with all our hearts.

Life at Home

Like everyone else, we've been busy! The blog has been a little quieter as we are out and about, or just busier at home. Life with two kids certainly leaves less "me" time, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Here are some pictures of our going ons lately.

It's been a big boy high chair eating, present wrapping, candy cane eating, blanket crocheting, tea drinking, ornament snatching, book reading, nap taking, cousin playing, army crawling, snowflake watching, Christmas music listening, late night movie watching, and diaper pinning kind of week.

Proud Mom Moment

Can I just tell you how proud my little mommy heart was yesterday? I took 2 of my nephews and Cohen to the park yesterday. The big boys were so sweet to Cohen, holding his hand and helping him climb on the toys.

And watching them, it just hit me. I am so proud of him. Some days can be hard. I'm tired, he's cranky, we are both easily frustrated. His trains don't fit together just right and he gets upset. He loses his balance and trips and falls again, a little too close to where Ezra is playing. I don't wait the proper amount of time, which changes every day, to get him out of his pajamas and he has a fit.

But then, there he is. Running clumsily around the playground. Climbing up the steps. And even walking across the unstable bridge, which he NEVER would have done just a few months ago. My little boy, growing up. There were days we didn't even know if he was going to live or what kind of life he would have. He is going to have an amazing life and hopefully a full, long, happy life. I love this little boy with his determination and his kind heart so very much.

The No Good Very Bad Day

Yesterday was definitely "one of those days" over here. We got up in the morning with plans to drop Cohen off at my sister's and for Ezra and I to go with my mom to support a fellow baby loss mom sewing diapers. It definitely didn't happen.

Somewhere between Cohen licking a stick of deodorant, eating toothpaste and then throwing up I knew the trip probably wasn't going to happen. Ezra decided he wasn't interested in napping, but was interested in screaming. He blew out his diaper and outfit twice in a matter of half an hour. Yes, I took pictures. It was all I could manage to do. Plus, I needed proof to show Danny how much I deserved a nap/vacation/candy bar.

At some point that morning Cohen and I had been outside pulling some weeds. He was helping me by putting the weeds in the bucket. I came inside to feed Ezra who decided he forgot how to nurse. Cohen thought it would be a good idea to bring the weeds and dirt inside the house and put them on the couch. At that point I just gave up. Cohen went back outside and proceeded to spread huge dirt clumps all over the stairs to the house and himself. He was completely filthy, but he was playing so I just left him.

I went outside to survey the damage and told my mom we weren't coming to the diaper party. I plopped Ezra in his bouncy seat and put Cohen in the bath. After scrubbing the dirt off of him and getting him out of the bath, I sent Danny a text to not come home without chocolate.

And then............NAPTIME. Glorious naptime. I love naptime. Things went much better after nap and we managed to survive the day, someday we will look back and laugh. Also, I ate two candy bars, I deserved them. Here's hoping today is a little more boring.

A Few of his Favorite Things

Slowing down today to remember where Cohen is at. I walked through the house and just took pictures of the places he had been. Life as a 2 year old:

The "ming" cup. The first thing he asks for every morning and frequently throughout the day. We generally end up misplacing at least one or two and at the end of the day I find about 4 of them all over the house.

Cars. Always cars. He likes to line them up on the table, drive them on the back of the couch, and play with them on the windowsill. Yesterday we went for a walk and he had a little car with him that he tried to drive down the sidewalk and stopped at every crack and drain cover to drive his little car over.

Blocks. He likes to build the blocks on the little cars. And then, of course, push the car around the house.

Buggies. His other favorite. At least these ones are fake!

Photo books. We have a drawer with several of these photo books from various parts of our lives and he loves to get them out of the drawer and look at them. He will point to each person and make us say who it is, or he will find all the pictures of Daddy or Mommy. His favorite ones are this photo book from our wedding and the book we have that is the blog in printed form from the year the boys were born.