Elijah at 27 Months

So, in my last post a couple of days ago I explained the purpose of my more frequent blog updates.  Today, we'll focus on Elijah since he is 27 months old today.  I realize that 27 months isn't really a super special milestone, but this is the first time I've taken the opportunity to write down all that he's doing and enjoying so we'll start here!

Elijah at 27 Months...

Has NO desire to use the potty

Knows all his colors

Knows all his body parts

Knows all his animals...and wants to sing about ALL of them in the Noah song 

Knows most of his shapes (I will admit that this is entirely due to my

 iphone and the educational apps he enjoys...go ahead, make your judgements!  But,

 that is his only "screen" time seeing that we don't have TV.) He does love the iphone.

Loves the moon and stars and goes to bed with his ladybug projection

 nightlight EVERY night singing Twinkle Twinkle

Loves "popelate"(chocolate) more than anything (seriously wakes up asking for it!)

Likes almost all fruit, pizza, bacon, sausage and anything sweet

Is a little obsessed with the letter "Y" and points it out everywhere...

Kroger, the highway, books, etc

Counts to 10

Sings the Abcs with a few unique translations...sometimes he 

perseverates on O..."L M N O O O O O P"

Loves taking medicine and vitamins

Has fabulous, curly hair that is probably a little too long but I secretly like it that way!

Is missing a front, bottom tooth...as in, it never came in

Loves his brother "Bi-wuz" (somehow that translates to Miles)

Is ALL boy...jumping, running, digging, carrying sticks/rocks, 

splashing in mud puddles whenever he can

Likes to go fishing, hunt worms or to feed the ducks with daddy

Loves bubbles, slides &  swings

Loves bath time

Constantly has "booboos" and shows them off...once to a table of complete

strangers at a restaurant!

Can be found belting Twinkle Twinkle at the top of his lungs in public

Is a great independent player and is starting to develop quite an imagination...

lately I have noticed him "parenting" his toys as I have him...feeding, diaper changing, 

time-out, cleaning up, etc...it's quite hilarious

Likes to be a helper in the garden and around the house

Is starting to give up afternoon nap...nooo!!! And, the tantrums have begun...double noooo!

Has a ton of words but our favorites are popelate (chocolate), epitant (elephant), 

optocus (octopus), by-wiz (Miles), twankle (twinkle), 

plip & playa (Cliff & Claire - the cats), and tookie (cookie)

Has mastered the power of distraction - Recently I was disciplining him for purposefully

pushing Miles to the ground. I knelt down and explained that was not nice,

that we love our brother, and ... before I could finish this most serious

discussion, he looked me straight in the eyes and said:

"I like milk."  Seriously, could not contain my burst of laughter!

Loves to tussle and jump and rough house

Will splash in any puddle anywhere

Likes to sing and his favorites include: Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle,

My God is so Big, ABCs, Big Big Elephant

Is very cautious and quiet around new folks but is loud, adventurous 

and crazy once he feels comfortable

Has the best variety of facial expressions

Cracks me up daily - he found my heels and loved the

sound they made on the hardwood.  He will regret this pic one day!

Is super artistic and will draw all the time if I let him! In the pic below, he turn and exclaimed

"momma, I draw optocus"

Is obsessed with balloons and talks about them all day long!

Likes to help in the kitchen especially if it involves bacon or cookies

He loves his momma, daddy, and brother very much.  Every night we sing,

"I love you, a bushel and a peck" and he sings it, says "love you" (while doing the sign language),

and also says "don't let the be be be bugs bite" 

We love this little guy so much.  He brings light and laughter into our life every single day.  He is a joy (and sometimes a challenge!), but usually a sweet, snuggly, dirty boy! We love him and are so thankful that he is our son!

9 Month Old Miles

So, I am trying to be more inspired by others who blog regularly, and one of my friends (shout out to Nicole!) blogs on the every day stuff and then prints her blog at the end of the year as a photo book.  How cool is that?  So, I am killing 2 birds with one stone if I can keep a blog of our daily life and then have it printed as sort of a digital scrapbook.  Enough with the explanation...

Introducing, Miles at 9 months!! Today he is 9 months old, and he had his well-visit this morning.  Here are his latest stats...

Who are you and what are you doing with my paci??

Weighs 24.13 lbs

30 in long

Head circumference 47.5 in...

95th percentile for all three categories!

Despite being only 9 mos old, he is wearing Elijah's old 18-24 mo clothes

Nicknames: S'Miles, Pork chop, Pot roast, Chubbs

As of this week, Miles is crawling!!

It is truly amazing how much more content he is

now that he can get to things!

Miles loves going to Bible class

He is very social and will smile at just about anyone

He can be challenging to say the least, but he's so stinkin' cute it's hard to stay mad too long!

Demanding is a kind word!!

Miles...

Finally has a tooth (haven't been able to capture a picture of it, though)!

Loves to eat...surprised?

Claps when we sing

Would stay outside all day if I let him

Talks a lot

Squeals when he's happy

Screams like a pterodactyl/growls like an angry cat when mad/upset/tired/hungry/or for no reason at all sometimes

If Miles ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!!

Naps like a champ...my saving grace!

He sneezes like an old man! It is hilarious!

Loves his brother a whole lot!

Is totally addicted to his paci

Is generally a happy, smiley kid as long as he is entertained

LOVES bath time and splashing in the water

Constantly has a congested nose and watery eyes

Has awesome, irresistible hair that has been cut 3 times already

Is a good cuddler when he is sleepy

Loves to be sung to especially if it involves clapping/hand motions

Favorite songs: "Grow, Grow, Grow" and "If you're happy and you know it"

Despite the challenges this little guy has brought us (really, we should blame Elijah for being a ridiculously easy baby who did NOT prepare us for a normal baby!), we are so thankful for Miles and the privilege we have to bring these boys up together as brothers.  

God is good and has blessed us immensely!

Happy 9 months big guy!

On the Road Again...

We recently took our first "big" road trip with the boys, and Luke and I will agree that it went surprisingly well! Elijah has always been a great traveler, but Miles needs a bit (ok, a million times more!) attention!  It may have helped that just before our trip we traded in the old, faithful 4Runner (RIP, you will always be my favorite!) for a very well cared for, used Suburban!  It's an '06 with just over 100K miles, but the thing looks great, runs smooth, and makes road trips MUCH more comfy!  It handled the 2300 mile trip very well!

Seriously, I will miss the "Runner"!  It was a gift from my dad and 

stepmom when I turned 21/approached my senior 

year at Georgetown.  Many great memories!

The plan was to hit up East TN for a few days to see friends from church and grad school.  Johnson City is where Luke and I first lived as a married couple, and we really do have such fond memories of that place.  There is something to say about being that close to the mountains...it is gorgeous and refreshing! Certainly a testament to God's handiwork!  It was such a nice visit! I failed to get pictures from the pot-luck that our friends from church put together, but it was a great chance to catch up with some very good friends!

First leg of the trip, all is well. Lots of room in the Su"Bertha" as Luke calls it!

We got to see my good friend, Rachel, from OT school.  

She is now working for the OT dept at Milligan

so we were able to visit her and see many

 of my old professors (friends)! It was great!

Elijah was a bit obsessed with Rachel's iPad! Fun stuff!

Apparently, the Big Red Barn is good for putting you to sleep!

From Johnson City, we drove to Hershey! We knew it would likely be our last opportunity to see many of our friends from Hershey Med Center in one place before they graduate and disperse across the country!  3 of us moved on last year, and 3 more will leave this summer so we were thankful to be able to see so many people in one place again!  That being said, it's pretty cool that we'll have friends to visit all over the country in the next few years...and don't think we won't!! We were also able to visit the Coopers (however, I have absolutely NO photo evidence!) and let the kids get reacquainted while the adults (THANK YOU Candace!!!) went to dinner!  We were also so very thankful to see our PA church family several times during our visit...it is always so encouraging to be with them!

Here's the Crew from Hershey! So thankful that Dorielle & Jeremiah

were able to host their annual Easter Brunch while we were in town!

Love and miss these people!

Silly Miles!

Lodged at the June B&B! Lauren and Ray were exceptional hosts, 

and we were so thankful for some extra time with them! Elijah loves

his "Aunt Larna"! Looking forward to visiting them in Pittsburgh

when they move into their new home!

We left Hershey and went to Cincinnati to visit the Kellers! Matt, Kasey, Hope and baby#2 are also friends from PA who moved to Cinci for a 1 year fellowship.  They will soon be moving to Oregon so we had to take advantage of their proximity and sneak in a visit!  We also managed to leave their house early on Saturday, make it to Louisville for breakfast (thought I took a picture but apparently I didn't!) with our great friend and college roommate, Laura D, drove to our hometown for lunch with my stepdad, and we were home in Memphis for supper! What a day!

This was not uncommon on our trip!  Hey, whatever it takes to make everyone happy!

Had a great day at the zoo with the Kellers! You can see Elijah's

latest boo-boo here...running full tilt and tripped into 

the door frame at church in PA.  Seriously thought he lost

teeth, but he didn't! Cried for a good bit only to be "healed"

by my emergency stash of popelate (chocolate).

 It was a gorgeous Friday in Cinci! So glad Matt also had the day off

to visit with us.  The zoo was lots of fun!

Poor Miles...his allergies were in high gear.

We were so glad to see so many of our friends and family along the way.  It really was a great trip!! And, it's given us a bit of confidence to tackle more long-distance road trips in the future!!  Watch out, folks, the Douthitt clan may come your way at a moment's notice!

Happy Monday to all,

Shannon

A New "Miles"tone

And, it's sure to keep us busy! Let the games begin...

There are a million other things I could update, but this one takes preference! Otherwise, all is well! One of these days I will get into a better routine for blogging (yeah, right!).

Have a great weekend!