Ezra 6 months

6 months has passed since Ezra made his debut into the world. Time really has just flown by and he has changed so much. I'm just amazed at the warm and sweet little boy that I get to love on every day. I continue to see his personality come out and he is really as happy as can be. He loves to have people dote over him. He will grin from ear to ear if some gives him some attention and he will turn his head as to appear shy. His legs are always moving, kicking up and down. You can just see his excitement throughout his whole body and I love it. The big difference this month is mobility. He is scooting along, way to fast for my preference. He can get on all fours with ease and plunges forward to get what he wants. He almost made it completely across the house the other day. So nothing is out of reach at this point. On more than one occasion he has tried to snatch Emerson's snacks. He's pretty close to sitting. He usually can prop himself up, but can sit for about 20 seconds. All this moving has made diaper changes difficult. He rolls over before I can get anything on and I can't seem to turn him over.  He's working on two teeth and it seems to be a very slow process. We are in desperate need of a teething necklace! Ezra still takes two solid naps a day. Night sleeping can still be tricky. He is starting to enjoy his sister, being entertained by her silliness. She likes to put a crown on him and call him Princess Ezra. He even loves going to storytime with her and I think enjoys it just as much as any toddler. Ezra loves any silly noise, or singing and will let out the most infectious chuckles. He is starting to show attachment to Mommy. Which I don't mind at all because I know it goes by all too fast. At the moment he loves any kind of teething toy, and any kind of bright stuffed animal. He also enjoys bathtime by kicking like crazy and dispersing all the water. He always tries to eat the wash cloth so now I give him one, and keep one for me to actually clean him.

Finally he is starting to get some fuzz on that head. Can you see it?

He has discovered he has a loud voice. He loves to squeal with excitement as well as blow raspberries. He has also started what looks like a growl when he gets excited. He raises his upper lip as to show me his "teeth."

All this movement has gotten him stuck a time or two. 

Here he is chewing on a teething toy, aka Emerson's bangles.  I don't have any official stats since our 6 month appointment is not until the end of the month. But, I'm sure he has gotten a little bigger. I hope to have official 6 month pictures in a week or so when he is sturdier at sitting.  Happy Birthday Ezra!

Beans

Over the past couple weeks I've tried to do some intentional learning time with Emerson. She is pretty good at occupying herself and playing but I thought it might nice to try some new things. I can't remember where I saw this activity. Someone's blog or pinterest? But, scooping beans from one container to the other is the activity. It helps all those motor skills and it's needless to say fun for a two year old. I bought a $1 pack of eraser heads and hid them in the mix. She loved scooping back and forth. Even tried to eat a few beans. Everytime she would make it in she would say, "score!" Not sure where she got that! This activity has captivated her attention on several occasions. Never mind that I had to clean up about 300 of them from under the couch. We're learning, right? I guess I'm learning new cleaning techniques. Hopefully I can share a few things here and there that we are doing. I don't want to keep it too regimented but instead fun for us both. Wish us luck!

Farm Day

Back to our farm day adventure. Every week I deliver for The Produce Box. My route goes out to Durham and back up to Raleigh. On the way back I always pass a rural area, which is funny because it's very close to Hwy 70. But, we always stop the car and say hi to the horses. This week I saw a sign for a farm-a-palooza and I was immediately intrigued. I googled the farm and found that they were having food, music, and most importantly you can visit the animals. The goats were super interested in us since we had some feed for them.


This guy was the boss man. Pushing everyone else out of the way to get some food.

Emerson eventually warmed up and feed the goats herself.  She was so excited. We even got to pet a bunny rabbit. 

Another one of the goats. 

Emerson was so interested in the animals but sometimes cautious since they would jump over top of the fence.  There were also chickens, pigs, and sheep. 

We invited our neighbors and Emerson's good friend Addie. She was very excited that Addie was there. They have become great friends! I love how they are both smiling but not looking at the camera. Ha!

We spent some more time on the farm and took a stroll through the fields.  It was crisp and perfect fall weather. 

Ezra enjoyed a snack break, and Emerson "fixed" my hair. One of her favorite pass times lately.

Emerson held Ezra for a little bit but I'm sure that won't work much longer! We had a really great time at the farm and even picked up some freshly laid eggs. We will definitely visit again!

This is real life

Saturday we went to a farm for a morning of fun. I'll share more of our day tomorrow but I wanted to share this picture. Two thirds of us smiling, semi looking. It's close to perfect in my book. I never get a picture with both my kids. 

Then I go to these two pictures. Real life. Haha. Disheveled, wrangling a two year old, while holding a baby. It's just real life. 

Storytime at our house

Beware

An extra cute little bear is on the loose.

Like Sister Like Brother

I don't get too many chances to compare having a girl, then a boy. But I have a few outfits that were unisex. This sleeper being one of them. Something I bought when I found I was pregnant with Emerson. I was so excited I couldn't wait to buy for specifically a boy or girl. So when I put it on Ezra the other day I knew I needed a picture. Good thing because it appears it's already too small in the feet.

Here's Emerson. I believe she was much older than Ezra here since she could wear 6 month clothes at 5 months. 

And here is Ezra at 5 months.

Ezra 5 Months

Finally getting to a 5 month post for Ezra! He is getting so big and growing so fast it makes me kinda sad but excited of the little person he is becoming. Ezra is one of the happiest guys around. He will grin at everyone with a beaming smile. Then will quickly hide his head, as to hint that he is shy. Recently he has started smiling with his mouth closed, and bites his lips. It's really adorable. Whenever he is playing and I call his name and our eyes meet he lets out the biggest smile you have ever seen. It makes me heart explode. He weighs about 16lbs and is a solid boy. I love his chunky thighs and he giggles when I squeeze them. Ezra is ticklish on his belly, neck, back, and feet. Well, pretty much anywhere and will cackle and squeal. He is the grabbiest baby I have ever seen. He attempts to grab anything out of my hand, knock things over, my face, my hair, any jewelry. Emerson and I both have lost a ton of hair to this little guy. His grip is unreal. He is now getting to where he likes to grab my face and pull my hair when going to sleep. I'm not sure where he got that but it's not too comfy for mommy. Ezra also tries to grab our food. The other day he went after Emerson's cereal! I have a feeling we won't have trouble getting this guy to try food in the months coming up. He is rolling both ways now with great ease and is constantly on the move.  He goes after toys with excitement and determination while grunting.  Ezra's legs are constantly moving, and he looks like he is swimming when he is on his tummy. His eyes are as blue as ever but I can't tell if his hair will end up being light or dark quite yet. There really isn't that much of it right now but, it is frizzy and curly. His nickname is Ezra Bean. No rhyme or reason to it. That's just what we call him. Emerson calls him beanie sometimes. Ha!

How could you resist this grin and these rolls?!?

To compare his growth this was 2 month ago. 

And now...I think he hasn't gotten a tad bit bigger. 

Here are some pictures I actually took when he turned 5 months.  Can you believe these gorgeous eyes? I just think he is so handsome.

We just love Ezra to pieces. A year ago it was so hard for me to imagine having another baby in addition to Emerson when she was just 18 month old. Now I couldn't imagine life without him. Having him as a part of our family just seems perfect. Happy Birthday Ezra!

First Haircut

It was finally time for Emerson to get her first haircut. I had put it off for a long time being sentimental about cutting it but, eventually one side was much longer than the other and it was long enough we could trim it a bit. We were lucky enough that my cousin, Anna, cut her hair. It was much more relaxed and Emerson did great. I didn't even have to sit with her, which was nice so I could take pictures. We decided to just trim it up to make it even across the back. She cracked me up when she stuck her hand out of the cape thinking she was getting her nails done too!

After a quick snip, voila! A clean new look for E. 

This is her final look!

Emerson Kaye 2.5

Emerson is officially two and a half so I think it's time for an update on her! She has changed so much in the last 6 months it's really hard to put it all down. First of all her language development has blown up. At her birthday she was really not saying any phrases at all except, "all done." She knew lots of words but wasn't putting a whole lot together. Now she is speaking in sentences and everyday I'm amazed at what comes out of her mouth. She is full of questions. "Where did Daddy go?" (Also always asking where her little friends and grandparents are.  "What is that?" (Cracks me up when paired with the bewildered look on her face. ) She is an emerging fashionista. She knows what she likes and cannot be swayed. Note the dress she is wearing in all these pictures except one. They weren't all taken on the same day but she just loves it! A little too much. Last week she told me when getting up, "I wear it today, Mommy. I love it!" She has a core group of dresses, and I cannot get her to wear anything else. She constantly tells me she loves it, and she says, "I'm pretty!" I have to hide them when they are dirty because she is notorious for getting her favorites out of the laundry. She loves to accessorize with plastic heels, or my shoes along with jewelry galore,  and a princess crown. Sometimes she even adds a skirt underneath for kicks. Emerson loves to dance and sing. The other day she sang almost all the words to "Jesus loves me." She also likes to sing, "Twinkle, twinkle, little star,  Ba Ba Black Sheep, and her A,B,C's. " Emerson is a girly girl for sure loving to have her nails done. She always wants a different color of polish on her toes, and when I put sunscreen on she tells me it's make-up. If you were to ask her what her favorite color is she would say, orange. Which is really hot pink. We are still working on colors. ;) Emerson has recently got into watching movies. Before age two I never let her watch tv. Good thing too because now she asks all the time now! Her favorite movie is Tangled. Emerson is a major Maximus fan! She is also a fan of The cat in the hat, Dinosaur Train, and of course Sesame Street. We have watched a few Veggie Tales and she likes them too. 

Her eating habits have improved a lot since she turned two as well. I can proudly say that she has now had a green vegetable! She loves green beans, and even lettuce. The green leafy kind! Her other favorites are carrots, apples, pretzels, pizza, chick fil a, Dad's pancakes and smoothies. When she says she wants a smoothie it is the same thing she says when she wants to watch a movie. "smoovie." Haha.
She is wearing anywhere from 12 months to 2T clothes, just depending on what it is. We are reusing a lot of clothes from last year since she grows so slowly. Emerson can count to 10 but only if no one is listening. She loves to read books. Her favorite types are Dr. Seuss right now and anything dancing or princess related. She also enjoys bible stories and can always pick out God in the pictures. Emerson loves to emulate cleaning and will use her stroller as a "vacuum" and gets tissue to clean up any spills. She also will clean up spit up from Ezra. Major bonus.

This picture pretty much sums up her personality right now. Running around carefree in a pink dress, singing and dancing, with a princess crown. 

You don't think I could have a post with Ezra do you? It's been over a week. Hopefully I'll have his 5 month update before he is 6 months. :)