Week 159

Mar 14-20

So I promised some updates! The past couple of weeks have encompassed quite a few important family milestones in the Storch household. Jack turned 3, Abel turned 6 months, and Ed and I have been officially married for 6 years! Keep in mind this was our "legal marriage" and not our actual wedding. Most people who know us know the whole long story. It involves the military and having to get legally married so we could get stationed together...blah blah. Anyways, wow 6 years!! It also happened to be St. Patrick's Day this weekend.

I had lots of ideas for this weeks post, but I think I'm going to change it all around. I had saved a bunch of pictures of us doing our St. Patrick's Day crafts and then Ed and I had some pretty funny pictures from our weekend away. Yes, away from the kids. Completely away. For TWO whole nights! It was fun. We went to the beach and celebrated.

So instead of all that I want to switch gears and talk about the boys. I haven't done a milestone piece in awhile. I will start with Jack.

Jack is 3 years old. He is still the sweetest and smartest little boy I have ever met. He is very outgoing and loves to socialize with other kids. He can kind of roll with the punches and can hang in any situation. Whether it's older kids, kids his age, or babies he doesn't really care. He has tons of friends and knows all of their names. He is an awesome big brother and often takes time to show Abel things or give him toys. He loves to play with anything trains, trucks, cars, etc. He can seriously name any truck out on the highway or at a construction site. He will play with his toys by himself, but is also good at sharing with other kids. He also likes to read books. We try to read at least once a day, but typically will do much more than that. His new favorite place is the library.

Jack loves to explore and learn new things. He can sing his ABC's perfectly and he knows all of his letters. He counts to 12 accurately. Jack knows most of his colors red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, white, black, brown, pink (all the normal ones). He can easily complete a puzzle. He also loves to play games and is learning to have enough patience to sit still long enough to finish one. He has an amazing Memory. If he meets someone once he will remember them months later. It blows my mind. He also remembers directions when we are in the car if it's somewhere he has been before, he tells you which way to go.

He is very funny. He likes to do and say funny things to make people laugh. Physically he is very coordinated for his age. He can pedal his bike, run fast, jump up and down, kick a ball, catch a ball (a big one), and he has a killer throw. We are thinking he is left handed when it comes to sports. When he is drawing he seems to favor the right hand though. He can draw a circle and identify most basic shapes (square, triangle, circle, heart, star, moon, oval, rectangle, octagon...JK on the last one LOL!).

As far as food goes he is a very good eater. The whole "picky" toddler thing seems to have passed by him. He has pretty much always been a good eater. He eats 3 meals a day with a snack in the afternoon. He's a water drinker (thank goodness). He also drinks milk with chocolate in it (good enough for me, I hate milk!). He eats most anything, or at least tries things if you ask him to. He doesn't mind vegetables and could practically live off of fruit if you let him. Sometimes his appetite seems to be the same as that of a grown man. I've seen the kid pack away 3-4 slices of pizza in one sitting. Yet he remains thin. He is still in the 90-95th percentile for height and around 80th percentile for weight. Tall and skinny.

As far as sleep goes he is in bed by 7:00 pm and he tends to wake up anywhere from 6:30-7:00 am. He dropped naps around 6 months ago when Abel was born. He does do an hour of "quiet time" in his room. He is allowed to read books and play quietly. It's not his favorite time of day, but most of the time he complies.

The biggest accomplishment for 3 years old...he is completely potty trained! He hasn't had a single accident in over a month now. It was like once it clicked in his head he was fine with it. He still puts on a diaper at bedtime, but oftentimes it will be dry the next day and he will go on the potty by himself first thing in the morning.

Jack is still a "Daddy's Boy." He LOVES his Daddy and it shows. He is Ed's little mini me and idolizes him. It is super adorable. He will start preschool this fall and that is all he talks about. He LOVES school and playing with other kids. I am super excited for him because he will thrive on the morning of socializing and learning. I can't wait!

Abel is 6 months old! He is a happy, jolly little (err...big) baby. He smiles at anything and everything, but especially his big brother. He is fairly laid back, except when it comes to food. No patience in that category! His favorite time of day seems to be bath time. He loves it even more when he gets to take a bath with his big brother.

Abel can sit up all by himself and has rolled over once. Yes, once. He doesn't seem to mind being on his belly as much as he used to. He loves to pick up his arms and support the upper half of his body. Abel can reach for toys and will grab ahold of them. He can also spin his animal toy very well. He absolutely loves his jumperoo and seems to really play with the toys on it, including the ones up high. He will stretch and reach for them. His first word was spoken the other day and it was the same as Jack's...MaMa! I was super excited about that!

Surprisingly, up until about a week ago his diet included only breast milk. Yeah, I know that's surprising. Some people might not even believe me. LOL. We tried to feed him food a handful of times earlier than 6 months, but he really just wasn't into it. Now he is suddenly a pro. The kid loves anything to eat and is good at taking solids. He has tried sweet potatoes, apples, squash, and some baby yogurt. He definitely shows interest in food and goes crazy when we are all eating. He sits up in his high chair with the family at meals. He still breast feeds for his main nutrition source. He eats about every 4-5 hours. When I'm at work he takes 5 oz bottles for Ed and wakes up to eat 1-2 times in the night.

He goes to bed between 6:30-7:00 pm along with big brother Jack. Abel will typically wake up to eat around 11:00 pm and then either sleep through until 6:00 am or wake up again at 4:00 am. He seems to be at an in-between stage and I'm hoping that he will soon sleep through the night. When he does wake to eat he goes right back to sleep after his tummy is full.

Abel pretty much idolizes his big brother. He tries desperately to do anything to get Jack's attention. Jack is sweet to him, and anytime he takes a moment to give Abel a hug or a toy Abel gets super happy. He is trying to stand up and play, I think any day now he will be able to pull up to stand. We need to work on getting him to crawl. He now weighs around 20.5 lbs and is literally off the chart for his weight.

I have two amazing kids and I'm so grateful for that! :)