I decided to start "blogging" because Cole and Boyd are changing so quickly that I want to capture as much as possible and give the family a place to follow along on our journey since we are so far away. I also want to document as much as possible selfishly, my memory is horrible and I want to remember every minute with these two! I'm stealing this idea from my good friend Dana whose family blog is amazing and I love to visit it just to feel connected since we don't see them very often...hope she doesn't mind! :)
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| Boyd Gregory Kieffer born May 22, 2012 |
We introduced Boyd to our family just 6 short weeks ago (May 22) and it has been truly amazing! He is such a precious baby and is growing way too fast! Boyd is super alert and is always looking around checking everything out when he's awake. He loves to cuddle and is a furnace like his dad which during the Florida summer makes for some sweaty head to arm contact! He is so hot that I keep him in very little clothing, mostly in just a diaper, people typically keep their newborns bundled up but this kid is on fire! He sleeps a lot, it feels like he sleeps more during the day than at night but that might just be me! He is really strong already, he has been trying to hold his head up from day 1 and does a pretty good job of it! He is a really good eater and packing on the lbs...literally. I took him to the doctor on June 25th, just shy of 5 weeks old and he weighed in at 10lbs 15oz; that 3lbs over his birth weight (7lb 13oz) and when we left the hospital he was only 7lbs 3 oz. He is also the noisiest baby ever! He grunts and make all sorts of funny noises and not to mention his piercing cry! At the hospital they told us out of the 14 babies they delivered that morning he was the loudest! He hit his first milestone the other day, he started smiling at us on Tuesday at exactly 6 weeks! It was so sweet and I felt like we were finally communicating with one another. He actually knows us and likes us! Of course I already knew that, but there is no better feeling than him smiling at us when we talk to him.
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| Cole playing at New Smyrna Beach at 20 mo |
Cole is approaching 22 months and I feel like every day he is making new connections and becoming more of a little boy and less of a baby. He is ALL boy! He is really into trains, cars and dinosaurs right now. We got him a train table and he spends hours running the trains around the track. If there is a puddle or slightest hint of mud he finds it so he is pretty much dirty before we make it to the car...daily! We stay really busy with My Gym, Music Together, story time at the library and lots of play dates! It feels like every week is jammed pack with activities but I think they are all good and he has so much fun especially at music and gym class. He is trying to talk a lot but everything sounds pretty similar so we play a lot of guessing games! He is following commands and directions a little better every day. And let me tell you, this kid has the mind of an elephant!! He doesn't forget anything! Just today we went to Starbucks and I told him he could get milk. We don't go to Starbucks often and we actually walk into a Starbucks even less but anyways, he runs straight to the milk and started giggling...he was so excited and knew exactly where it was! His memory amazes me daily! Every time we drive by Kirk's work he says "daddy" and we don't go there often either but I always tell him to say "hi" to daddy when we drive by and now he just knows, whether we are at the exit or in front of his office. It just proves to me how much their minds really are little sponges! He constantly making learning and putting thing together; it is amazing!
With all the good things that are happening there are a few bad that come with it! He is really starting to test his independence and trying to figure out what he can get away with. He has recently started hitting objects when he is upset/angry and consequently he has been spending some time in 'time out.' I am trying to teach him to express his emotions by talking about them but that's kind of hard considering he doesn't have much of a vocabulary yet but hopefully it will prove to be beneficial in the long term.
All in all, life is great as a family of four! Kirk and I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful happy healthy family. The adjustment hasn't been hard, it has really been a natural transition. I will try to update as often as possible so...stay tuned!
