Dear Atticus: 2 years!

My beautiful boy, you are two years old today!

How quickly time has gone. It seems like just the other day that we got the call that you were born. So many things have happened since then, and you have grown so much!

You are turning into a little boy right before our eyes. The last few weeks have brought full sentences (wow!), lots of questions (what’s this?), and tons of ball playing. The ball may be your favorite thing right now. You have really good aim, and love making baskets in your basket ball hoop. You say, “shot,” and then shoot the ball. You rarely miss, even from several feet away!

You have also become very clean. Or at least very concerned with cleanliness. Anytime something is out of place, you say, “uh oh. That’s a mess!” I’m so proud.

Some of the other things you like to do is draw, build the train track, go outside, play with your friends, build blocks, use the shape sorter, and slide. I am amazed every single day by the speed of your development. Sometimes you will have a couple really tough days. It’s hard to be little! Afterwards, you always make some huge developmental leap that leaves us amazed.

You are such a lover, too. Every night before bed we all give each other kisses and say, “night night!” You love this part of our routine and always get so happy about giving your brother kisses. You are super sweet, and often give us hugs, kisses, and snuggles. In fact, I think you are a very snugly person in general. You enjoy getting close to everyone you like. Sitting on laps, touching their arms, you just really love that contact. This makes me so happy to see. I know that you are going to be such a warm, caring person. What more could we hope for?

Atticus David, you have brought more joy to our family than you could ever know. We love you beyond measure. Right up to the moon and back. Happy birthday, sweet boy. 2 years old!

Love, Mama

Well, hello.

Hello, friends. There are no words to describe how busy I have been. I knew that school would add a new element of crazy to my life, but I really had no idea what my baby becoming a toddler (2 toddlers!) would do. These kids are bananas, and I am one tired Mama.

Life is good, though. Really, really good.

I feel like school has changed me. It has opened me up in so many ways. Between the fog of new motherhood and the years of struggle to become a parent, I feel like I am finally starting to crack open the shell that has been surrounding me for so long. Much of that has to do with the program I am in at school.

For those that don’t know, I returned to finish my Bachelors degree after so many years of starting and stopping. I am close now. I plan on going on to get a Masters in psychology. Probably counseling of some kind. The year long program I am currently taking has required a lot of self examination, and is really forcing me to see myself in new ways. Scary and hard, but so good.

The boys are doing amazing. They are growing so fast, and learning so much. Every day it seems they surprise us with a new skill, or new words. It’s incredible to watch. I won’t lie, there are some very challenging times. As much as I love my kids, and as much as I wanted them (and still do!), it is not all sunshine and rainbows. In the midst of a full on tantrum, I can look at one of them and wonder, “what the hell do I do now?” To me, this stage is the most difficult of any (so far). But there are also times when I look at their sweet faces or they do something so cute/funny/amazing, and I just can’t believe how lucky I am to be their Mom. So, so, so lucky.

So, life is good. And I am so tired!

Toddlerific

Anyone that ever said babies are hard never met a toddler! Holy cow, my boy is BUSY. He’s walking. He’s talking (though only he knows what he’s saying most of the time). He’s tantruming. oh boy, is he ever. He’s almost 16 months!

Atticus comes up with new words all the time. He even did the sign for “please” the other day, totally out of the blue. I am facsinated by his development. He is very smart and has a strong desire to figure everything out. He is simultaneously sweet (lots of kisses!) and independant (no, no, no!).

Challenging? Yes. Exhausting? Yes. Completely adorable? YES!

Hey, I can fit in the drawer!

Words

Since Atti turned a year old he’s been getting a lot more verbal. The first word was “dog.” Usually said, “dog dog.” He now has a few words:

Dog
Dada
That – said “dat”
All done – said “ah duh” with hands in the air (his first sign!)

He says mamamamama sometimes, but not really very specific to me. There may be others that we haven’t figured out yet.

I just love watching him grow! It is truly amazing.

Busy!

So, yes, two babies under a year keep me VERY busy. I think of things to post all the time, but rarely have the time to do it. When Atticus is awake he bangs on the keyboard while I’m trying to type and that makes it just a little too frustrating. To hold you over a little longer, here’s my newest favorite photo of all my boys…

Love.

At the window

Atticus, originally uploaded by D+L Finnell.

Atticus is able to pull himself up to standing now. He loves looking out the window. My boy is getting so big!

Meeting Santa

Our boys met Santa for the first time last weekend!

Atticus loving on Santa!

Truman telling Santa what he wants for xmas.

 

I think Atticus may have asked Santa for his two front teeth. They are almost popping through! Let’s hope they make it by xmas. He is pretty uncomfortable right now…poor guy.

This is my life?

Sweet Truman, 1 day old

My beautiful boy, Atticus, 8 months old.

I have somehow found myself with everything I ever wanted.

Truman turned two weeks old yesterday. We have been home enjoying our special time with these two beautiful boys. D is home with us until the first of the year and it has been wonderful. I feel lucky to have so far avoided any baby blues. In fact, I feel completely blissful most of the time. Even the lack of sleep hasn’t been affecting me much. By morning I am so happy to see my sweet ones again that I don’t even care that I was up half the night.

I know that a lot of mama’s have a rough time at first, so I hope you don’t feel like I’m showing off. I certainly hadn’t expected to feel this calm at this stage. But I will take it. Every single second of it. I also know that when D goes back to work I will be responsible for both boys all day and I’m expecting that to be quite a bit more challenging. Right now I have the luxury of focusing my attention on one baby at a time.

Atticus has seemed so big to me since bringing Truman home. Some days I think he must be at least twice as big as he was a couple of weeks ago. I’m sure it’s just the comparison between his size and Truman’s. Atti is super busy right now. He pulled himself up to standing in his crib a couple of days ago and was SO proud of himself! Cute, cute.

And Truman, sweet, sweet True. He is just as perfect as his big brother. I thought for sure that we couldn’t be that lucky twice and that Truman would be a crazy baby. But so far he is a pretty chill baby. He hardly cries, he’s a great nurser, he sleeps pretty well (aside from the 10pm to 1am awake time) and he’s just as sweet as he can be. He’s getting more alert everyday. I spend a lot of time just staring at him. It’s so hard to believe that he came from me. I’m not sure I’ll ever really wrap my head around that.

It’s been absolutely amazing to watch the two of them together. Atticus is really interested in Truman. He loves to touch him and smiles at him all the time. He even reached out and held his hand the other day. It was the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Truman wrapped his little fingers around Atti’s fingers. Their two tiny little hands holding each other. Obviously, we are in cute overload here!

My recovery is going pretty well. I’m still sore down there, but getting a little better each day. I have a couple posts that I want to get out soon. The birth story for one, and I want to talk a little about breastfeeding. For now, I just wanted you to know that we are doing great. Just really enjoying our family time. Is this really my life?

Beyond cute

Atti in his bear suit!

Introducing…

Atticus David!!!

Atticus, 7 months

It is official! We have a SON! We are over the moon. And completely exhausted from the festivities. I will be back tomorrow with more, but will leave you with this:

Adoption day!!!