Micah has started to become a lot more reliable around Ezra, which has been great since I had to spend some days getting packed for our upcoming trip to the Smokies. He actually seems to really enjoy spending time with Ezra and will try to help him or make him feel better when Ezra is wanting something. If Ezra is crying, Micah will say, "Ezra sad!" And Ezra enjoys smiling at Micah as he swings next to the table during meals. The brotherly bond is forming! :)
We took some time to relax at home with a couple of quick stop-bys from Nana who brought the boys clothes and a matching Nike hat for Micah to wear to be just like Dad. Micah filled the time by building tents inside (or rather ordering Mom and Dad to make them) and playing with his scooter in the driveway. Ezra preferred napping and cuddling. However, I did take both boys out to the Discovery Museum one morning and Ezra actually stayed awake and wanted to participate! So Micah showed Ezra the water play area, the animals, and how to make a pizza. Ezra enjoyed being a cool observer from his perch in the stroller.
Micah has started to become a lot more reliable around Ezra, which has been great since I had to spend some days getting packed for our upcoming trip to the Smokies. He actually seems to really enjoy spending time with Ezra and will try to help him or make him feel better when Ezra is wanting something. If Ezra is crying, Micah will say, "Ezra sad!" And Ezra enjoys smiling at Micah as he swings next to the table during meals. The brotherly bond is forming! :)
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Ezra officially turned 3 months old while we were in Virginia, but his picture had to wait until we got home. He is definitely starting to display some 3 month changes: wanting to be able to look around more, better head control, grabbing and yanking whatever is in reach, his awake and sleeping chunks are longer, and he has even started putting himself to sleep if laid down drowsy! He is an absolute joy of a baby; we're lucky parents here!
We spent a much needed lazy week at home, a large chunk of it spent just resting and trying to reestablish some routines. Micah had been gradually getting worse about napping before vacation, and vacation only made it worse. By the time we got home he was taking up to three hours to fall asleep for naps or just never falling asleep, which made nights a disaster because if he doesn't nap he wakes up throughout the night. I'm happy to report that the last two days have gotten MUCH better. Back to falling asleep in about 20 minutes, napping for 1.5 to 2 hours, and sleeping through the night! A bonus feature is that Ezra has also decided he likes his long naps at the exact same time as Micah, so I put them both down, they both put themselves to sleep, and I get TWO WHOLE HOURS to myself!!! I'm not holding my breath that this will last, but I'll take it for the days it does! In addition to perfecting our napping, we've started to fall into our warm weather routine: get up, eat breakfast, get everyone dressed, go outside and enjoy our backyard for a couple of hours, lunch, naps, more play time, dinner, bath, and bed. Ezra loves to come out and just lay on a blanket watching and listening to everything before drifting off to sleep for his early nap while Micah gets busy mowing, digging, driving his car around, collecting sticks, jumping on the trampoline, and/or swinging. The days just seem to fly by with so much time spent outside! We also got a couple of fun packages this week. Micah got a belated birthday present from his "Aunt Krista" - another truck to add to his collection (a crane truck this time!) and a coffee maker for his kitchen, which he uses daily now to make himself and either Mom or Dad coffee. The boys also got (from us) some noise canceling headphones to have for loud events, specifically, the Dayton Air Show we are taking them to in 6 weeks. Micah thought they were pretty cool and wore them around the house while he played. Ezra was not as convinced that they were so cool, but he will definitely be the one who wants them the most because he hates loud noises (picture the poor little guy breaking into tears that roll down his face with his lower lip all puckered and quivering; it's a pathetic sight)! Matt was able to schedule a week of paternity leave for the first week of May so that we could take a family trip to Virginia for some family hiking and so that Matt could participate in a rogaine. We drove down with the boys to Charlottesville, VA on Tuesday, getting in late. Fortunately, we had booked a hotel for the first few days because we thought a week of camping might be a little much for the boys and the weather looked a bit iffy. On Wednesday, we headed to Shenandoah National Park for a 9.7 mile loop hike to Blackrock and Trayfoot Mountain. Micah had a cold and didn't want to hike much, so Matt carried him on his back and I took Ezra on my front in our carriers. The boys did great, watching the sights or napping as we hiked. We stopped for a couple of long breaks to feed Ezra, snack on food, and let Micah stretch his legs. Having not hiked that distance in a while... I was pretty tuckered by the end and convinced Matt that we may need to slow the pace down a little the next day. So on Thursday we decided to let Micah swim in the hotel pool in the morning (we tried to get Ezra in the water too, but he was not a fan) and let both boys nap at the hotel to get a more restful sleep before heading back into the National Park for a hike up Turk Mountain (2.4 miles round trip). There was rain moving in, so we chose a short hike that allowed Micah to hike a good portion himself. My sore legs also very much appreciated it. On Friday, it poured all morning, so we got packed up from the hotel, went grocery shopping for our weekend camping, ate lunch at Cracker Barrel, and then headed into the park when the rain stopped for another short hike up Little Calf Mountain (3.7 miles round trip). Micah was all about this hike and hiked up the entire mountain himself. Matt offered to carry him a few times, but got a firm "NO" in response. However, Micah quickly decided he was tired on the way down and got carried most of the way down instead. Friday evening we met my parents in Stokesville, VA at a campground for a weekend of camping. The rain had mostly stopped except for the occasional sprinkle, but it had gotten windy and COLD (highs in the 50's and lows around 40). Not my favorite camping weather, but the boys didn't seem to mind at all. On Friday night we roasted hot dogs over the fire and had corn on the cob and s'mores. We all dressed in lots of warm layers and hunkered down in the sleeping bags for the night. Micah got his own toddler sleeping bag from Grandad and Nana and used it to stay warm while Ezra got dressed in about 6 layers of clothes and sleep sacks. Saturday morning was rainy again, so after breakfast around the fire Nana and I decided to takethe boys into town while Grandad and Matt started their rogaine. We were able to find a children's discovery museum in Harrisonburg, VA that occupied our day and kept us warm and dry. Micah loved it! Grandad participated in the 6 hour rogaine event, so he got back to camp mid-afternoon. We made a fire and cooked "hobo stew" for dinner. After the boys got tucked in bed, Matt made a stop by camp to warm up before continuing his 24 hour rogaine event that would keep him out all night. He apparently saw a bobcat while out! Sunday dawned a little sunnier and we welcomed Matt back into camp around 8 AM. He ate, showered, and headed in to the tent to sleep a little while Grandad, Nana, the boys, and I walked around the area and started to pack up camp. We ate lunch together in a nearby town before splitting ways to head home. While the camping was fun, it was also very tiring with two little boys who needed constant attention, so needless to say, I was glad to get home. Thank goodness for grandparents to play soccer with Micah, keep Micah from eating sticks and touching the fire, and hold Ezra some so I could eat and go to the bathroom! Despite the boys being a lot of work, they were also a lot of fun on the trip. Micah is growing more and more into his own person and trying to figure out who that is. We had to move him back into a pack n play because the freedom of not being enclosed was too much for him to handle at the moment, but hopefully he'll grow out of it. He loves to repeat everything said, and so it constantly saying all of these huge words that he hears in conversations, which is so funny to hear from the mouth of a two year-old. He is also very insightful; often saying things that you don't expect him to have picked up on. Ezra is starting to leave the little baby stage and want to watch the world. This means he is starting to prefer to look out when being carried and is starting to enjoy small toys that he can chew on and shake. This also means that at times he got tired of having to face my chest while in the carrier on our hikes... poor kid. But as you can see, we got lots of smiles from both of them and are so glad we get to share our love of the outdoors with them! The week after our Pittsburgh trip was spent resting at home and prepping for our next little trip to Indianapolis for the weekend! Micah and I decided we should try a small garden this year, so we took Ezra on a rainy Monday morning to the local garden center and bought lettuce, strawberry, tomato, and pepper plants as well as some herbs. We then took them home and got them all planted in our mini garden so they could get a start while we traveled over the next week. Micah also helped Matt get the lawn cut. Actually, Micah mowed the lawn every day of the week with his little mower going all along the fence and under the swings. So cute!
The last weekend of April we took the boys to Indianapolis to visit Great Grandma Judy and go to the Indianapolis Children's Museum. Micah had a blast at the museum, with his favorite areas being the trains, the circus area, and the playscape zone for toddlers. Ezra slept through most of it and was a complete trooper. Since we were in Indy, the Rodgers decided to come up and see us, so they joined us for a Saturday afternoon visit. We all then met up with Meredith and Chris for church and lunch on Sunday before we drove home. The boys were wiped out and ready for some rest! |
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