9 months!!

Where has the time gone??? How on earth is it possible that I already have 2 very mobile kids?? I always thought life would be easier once Collin became mobile. That's how it was with Luke! No more screaming out of frustration at not being able to stand or go anywhere. Not to mention the fact that it would be a lot easier for them to play together if Collin could finally keep up, right? Well, I guess you have to be careful what you wish for! Not only is it impossible for me to split myself into 2 halves so that I can chase each kid simultaneously, but jealous has finally reared it's ugly head! Let the sibling rivalry begin!! Eeek!

This month, Collin has learned to pull up on everything, can get into the sitting position on his own, is now crawling everywhere, took his first step, stood on his own, walks with a push toy, can walk using only one of our hands as support, and got 2 teeth! What a month!! He's still not on table food yet, but is slowly mastering the skill of eating puffs. We've also discovered that he, just like his brother, is much better with a straw sippy cup than the normal ones! Whatever works! He's still the happiest kid ever and I LOVE LOVE LOVE kissing his squishy cheeks and squishing his chunky thunder thighs, as I affectionately call them! He is still my little chunky monkey although to most standards, is still small! He weighed in at 18lbs 8 oz at his last doc visit. Once we go in for his 9 month apt, I will have more stats, but as comparison, Luke was 18lbs, 4 oz at 9 months. It appears as though Collin has slowed down a little so that he is just about on par with where Luke was at the same age! We might just have some twinkies on our hands! Collin looks more and more like Luke the older he gets! It's a little freaky!

As for our first born, things have definitely been challenging!! It's been difficult balancing the needs of a potty training 2-year old and a baby with increasing needs as well! Potty training has really been touch and go! It's extremely frustrating, but I know it will happen eventually! It's definitely teaching me a whole new level of patience though! He's also just now started showing signs of jealousy. I figured that whatever jealousy he was going to have would have appeared when Collin was first born and since he didn't really have any, I thought we were in the clear! Wrong!! If we are holding Collin, Luke wants to be held, feeding Collin, he wants to be fed, he wants in whatever highchair we use for Collin, he wants whatever toy Collin has, and we can't leave them in the same room alone for longer than a second! He is more likely to push, kick, or hit Collin now and wants us to do everything for him. If he drops something, he wants us to get it instead of getting it himself and things like that! I don't want him to feel neglected in any way or that Collin is favored over him, but it's just really hard doing the whole balancing act! I've been trying to devote more "Luke" time just to him when I can, but I also know it is just a stage and we will more than likely just have to weather the storm! On another note, a funny story that happened the other day was me catching Luke cleaning while he was SUPPOSED to be napping! I saw the light on in his room and when I opened the door, saw that he had gotten his wipes out and was wiping down every inch of his room! I've decided that letting him forgo naps might not be such a bad idea if he will clean the whole house!! His speech and level of understanding has been growing by leaps and bounds lately! After having a conversation with him about how he is the big brother and Collin is the little brother, he pointed to me and informed me that I was the "big Mommy" and Daddy was the "big Daddy"!! Too cute! He is DEF our little entertainer and always has us staring at each other in wonder/amazement/confusion as well as laughing! I wish I had caught him on video last night as he ran back and forth in the kitchen only to stop in the doorway now and then to hunch over and swing his arms back and forth in the craziest little dance motion! It was hilarious!!