John's Alphabet

I was so proud of John today! I've been through part of the alphabet with him a few times. I just get him to repeat each letter after I say it. I haven't tried more than one letter at a time. Every now and then when he's playing with stacking blocks that have the alphabet on them, he practices to himself. Yesterday we were laughing at how many d's and e's were in his alphabet. Today I was amazed...he did A through G (the only ones we've worked on) perfectly...twice! So, I guess because I became proud, he was going through them this afternoon outside. He said "A, B, C, D, E" and paused. I asked what comes next...naturally, "four".
We'll keep working.

Not Happy!

Eve went to the doctor yesterday for her 2-month visit. She was NOT HAPPY! I think she may have been a bit tired, but she cried almost the whole time...especially when she got her shots (I can't say that I blame her for that). She was a little pitiful yesterday, I think she got just a bit of a fever, but it felt like she cooled down through the night. John was such a good boy during the visit. He's actually been a very good boy for the most part, except in the evenings. For some reason evenings have been tough for him the past couple of days. Anyway, here are the official stats. She is 11 lb. 8 oz. (66%), 23 in (72%) and head size 15 1/2 in (65%). She really is growing fast! I'm wondering if she's going to end up at the top of the charts like John. It's funny, I tell everybody that I really don't know where John's size comes from. First they say, "well, Buck's pretty tall isn't he?" Nope, he's ~5'11'' (5'11 1/2" of if you ask him). Then they say "well, your dad's tall". Nope, he's about 5'10". We'll see if John continues to be a big boy or if he levels out. We're banking on a football scholarship. When he was just a few months old, I was rocking him and telling him he'd have to be a tight end. I figure he's going to be big, but we can't afford a lineman's diet!
Eve is starting to sleep a bit better at night, at least for the past couple of nights. We're down to 1 or 2 feedings a night. For some reason, though, I still feel like I have to nap during the day.
John is really exploding with his language skills. His pronunciation isn't getting much better. It really helps to have context when he's talking, otherwise it can be difficult to understand. He is really starting to put words together, though, and what impresses me is how he's putting thoughts together. I can really see his brain working hard. He's always been very pensive and analytical. He doesn't like to be shown how to do anything, in fact he gets very angry. He likes to figure things out for himself. Daddy has always said he's going to be a Nascar mechanic or an engineer. Since the first time I put him in the big tub (under 6 months) he's tried to figure out how the faucet works, messing with the pull for the shower from the top and bottom of the faucet). The first time we took him on the carousel, for most of the ride he was watching the gears overhead rather than all the pretty animals and people going around. I can't wait to see what Eve will be like. My aunts laughed because her movements are often very slow, and I've always been very slow-moving. She even has a cute turtle look to her face when she lifts her head. Watch, she'll be a sprinter.

Sizing Up

Tomorrow we go to the doctor to see just how big Miss Evelyn has gotten, but here is our 2 month versus 2 day measurement on the official Tigger scale. Amazing!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Eve just gave me the nicest birthday present! She slept through the night! What a super treat! Not a lot to update, otherwise. No more "brownies" lately, thank goodness. John has been really well-behaved the past few days, but he also hit Eve intentionally for the first time a few days ago, and then again the following day. It's funny because he really does seem to love her. I just never know when the jealousy is going to come out.
I'm proud of him. John has started cleaning his room before he leaves after a night's sleep or a nap. We started doing that because he has so much fun emptying the drawers and dumping the books, etc. He's been very good about it, though.
Eve is starting to look around a lot more. She loves looking at the family pictures up on the wall. She sat with Daddy (my Daddy) yesterday for a little bit a smiled and smiled at him. It was such a special time.

Brownies, anyone?

Tonight we had a few friends over to help plan the next couple of meetings for the 5th and 6th graders at church. We managed to get both John and Eve bathed before they arrived with dinner, but didn't bother to put John's pajamas on. He'd only mess them up when he ate. So, he was watching "Cars" and I noticed he kept putting his hands down his pants. I made a comment that we should do something about that, to which Buck responded "just like his Daddy". Of course he thought it was funny. After we ate, we put his pajamas on and started our meeting. I had brownies in the oven, and was feeding Eve when the buzzer went off, so I asked Buck to check on them. With brownies on the brain, it took a minute to register that the brown gooey stuff all over John's hand wasn't brownie mix! I called for Buck to come quickly. Unfortunatly John was quicker...yes, he did stick his hand in his mouth. You better believe I'll be telling this one to his girlfriends!

"TOO"

Yesterday John worked on perfecting the use of his new word "too", which he says in a high sing-song voice to make it even more funny.
Anyway, first we were coming home from lunch with Daddy (an aside - I told him we were going to Mutts with Daddy. When we didn't make the turn to go to Mutts he got very upset until I told him we had to pick up Daddy first, then he was OK...smart little booger!). So, he had food all over his face. I told him he had a mess on his face (he is very familiar with the word mess, and usually wants to clean them up...I won't complain). He promptly pointed at a pimple on my face and said "Mama mess, too". It takes an almost 2-year-old to make you laugh at pimples.
Later in the day we were coming home from Mama and Daddy's house. I was going over the plan for when we got home with him. I told him who was getting out of the car first, etc., etc., and then he was going to take a bath and splash in the water. To which he responded "Baby Eve bath, too". I think that's the first instace we have of him throwing his little sister under the bus. In his defense, although he needed a bath much more, she needed one as well.
He has been such a good boy today. He even came inside without a fuss because Eve was sleeping inside and we heard her crying over the monitor. Maybe he was just ready to come inside, but we'll take it as good behaviour either way. Unfortunately I had her laying on the floor and he was playing with her and fell on her. It was completely unintentional, but I saw her first real tears today. Poor things, both of them.

Sweet Times

Last night was a night of sweet times for us. First, I went to the grocery store with Eve. Not so much a sweet time, but I do remember that John and I used to have so much fun at the grocery store. He would just laugh and babble the whole time while I made funny faces and noises for him. Oh, it's so much different now! Anyway, that was mostly just to setup the rest of the evening. We left the grocery store in the midst of a huge thunderstorm brewing. We came home to a quiet house. I just assumed Buck had put John down early because he was whiney and Buck was tired. I went upstairs and found them sitting in the rocking chair quietly, watching the storm from John's window. We traded places and I got to sit with him a while. Sitting still together is a rare occurance now, and one that I definitely cherish. The storm started to move away, so I told him it was going night-night and he did as well. So then I went downstairs and Buck and Eve were having a good time. She was wide awake and smiling a lot. Later I took her so he could eat. I couldn't believe how well she was holding her head up, and pushing up when I put her arms under her. She even made her first little happy sound. What a fun night.

John's new thing over the past few days is "too". For example, if we're going home, he says Baby Eve home, mama home too. And he lists everyone in the car (multiple times) and says we're going home too. He's also learning some awesome new dance moves.

Big Brother

The past week has been a rough one to say the least. Daddy has been in the hospital and they placed him on an "end of life" strategy. He's had surgery to insert a drainage tube from his stomach, and they've set up with a hospice company. I'm sure I'll have much more to say about all of this later, but for now it's easier to focus these paragraphs on my special kids. Eve has been so good and quiet (during the day, at least...she's still eating quite a bit at night). She has been a great distraction and source of smiles in the hospital, and she doesn't even know it. God has really worked out the timing well. Earlier this week I was having a rough time emotionally and John was really challenging me, but God has given me the strenth to be somewhat of a mom when I really need to, and has provided AMAZING help when I can't handle it on my own. We've had two friends keep John for long periods of time while we went to the hospital, and Buck has done more than I can begin to write. Even John has helped. This morning we were loading some mattresses into the van to take to Mama and Daddy's. Lots of family is coming into town today. Eve was crying and I was worried that I'd find John on top of her when I got back inside, or that he would have pulled her on the floor. When I came back in, Eve was quiet. I was terribly nervous, but came around the corner to find John leaning very gently over her holding her passifier in her mouth. What a great big brother. I just went on and on praising him. I was so proud of him. Of course, knowing how little he knows about his size and being gentle (although I think most times he wants to be gentle), I know it was one of the little details that God was in today.
Earlier in the week we went to Mama and Daddy's house to work on a little project. I took him inside and he ran down the hall looking in all the doors for Grandma and Papa. He was so disappointed to find out they weren't home. Think they've had a big influence on him?
One other thing from this week...totally unrelated. John and I were working on puzzles. He has a few wooden puzzles where the pieces are very different shapes...not the cardboard type. Anyway, there's one with bugs on it (he calls most of them butterflies, which will lead me to another story). I usually point to the place where the piece fits and encourage him to turn it around until it goes in the slot. This week he actually started finding the correct place on his own! He's not 100% accurate, but he's done a pretty good job at it. I think that's a big accomplishment. As for my other story, we've had flies in the house and they're going to drive me into a straight jacket. I was chasing them with the fly swatter while John was eating lunch the other day and he was very entertained. He later grabbed a spatula off the counter (he's gotten into a bad habit of climing on furniture and other things to reach the counter) and started swatting "butterflies" with the spatula, and enjoying every minute. I don't think he actually saw any flies, just liked the swatting motion. As frustrating as his whining and misbehaviour can be, he is such a special and funny kid. He is constantly making us smile.

Beach Pictures (in no particular order)

Eve is wearing one of my baby doll bonnets in this one. Mom will have to let me know if it's originally from one of her dolls.
Yep, we dipped her toes in.
John's first time sleeping in a regular room with two double beds. After taking a few drawers out of the dresser and rearranging some other things, this is how he fell asleep. So cute.
Splash splash splash. Despite his facial expression, John enjoyed this part of the waves. I, on the other hand, walked away with a sand castle in my bathing suit. I think Daddy had his boat and that's why he was upset.
BIG smiles!

Wow, this makes John look older. Watch out ladies! (whoa! we won't think about that just yet!)
The Buckingham Family...as best I can by "rows"

Aunt Sue (Judy's sister), Michelle, Robert, Greg, Christopher, Kendra, Rob

Judy, Shannon, Lee, Kalob, Sharon

Buck, John, Me, Eve, Jimmy, David, Tommy, Isabel, and Cristina

Whew!

Got it made in her cabana!
Daddy and John after swimming
John and Aunt Sue Dolphin watching. We saw TONS! John most liked dancing in the boat and looking at the other boats, but the dolphins were close enough and numerous enough for him to see.

Oh, and one cute story from today. We've been working on sharing with John for a while (and will need to continue, I'm sure). He's sweet and often shares with Eve. Today he was sharing his police car and ambulance with me and Eve. He would walk up with one and say "Share Mama" or "Share Eve". What a nice boy.
Oh, and one from yesterday. John is repeating absolutely everything these days...at least 2 or 3 words from each sentence. The other day Buck was going to change his diaper and said "Your butt is stinky". Of course, John said "butt stinky". Buck quickly tried to correct himself and said "bottom stinky", but John knew better and continued to say "butt stinky". One time right after we brought Eve home John was in the car on the way to church. We were listening to bluegrass and a song that repeated the words "hard times" came on. By the end John was singing along. We figured it was appropriate. Anyway, last night we were on the way home from church and Buck said "Well I'll be" in a high southern accent. John has been repeating "I'll be" in that same high southern accent ever since. He just keeps us laughing.

Beach Trip

We just got back from the beach with the entire Buckingham clan yesterday. I didn't take a turn with the internet, so there's a lot to catch up on. I just chuckled at my last post when I read the title. While we were at the beach Eve woke up at least every 3 hours if not more. Last night she gave me a little break and slept for quite a while, though. I think she and John are both pretty worn out from the trip. John has been to the beach before, but it's been a while, so he didn't remember it. He loved the over-sized sand box, but it took a while to get used to the waves. The first day he started off clinging for dear life before we even got to the water. By the end of the day he was jumping waves in the surf and having a great time. He definitely trusts Daddy more than Mama! Day 2 was pretty much like day 1. I guess he forgot about the water. I managed to coax him in without holding him by marching...hup 2 3 4. He really likes doing that right now (also head shoulders knees and toes, and hi ho hi ho it's off to work we go). Anyway, he got to where he was comfortable rolling around in the waves with someone there, and one or two days he was ok swimming past the breakers. Unfortunately the waves were pretty strong most of the time, and very strong the last day, so we didn't go out into the waves much.
Eve enjoyed her little cabana, or at least she didn't complain about it. We had lots of fans running and she didn't seem to get too hot. Although we tried, we found it was impossible to keep sand off of her. We put her feet in the water for a few pictures. She didn't seem to mind that either.
John really loved playing with his big cousins. It was so fun watching him trying to be one of the big boys. They were so patient with him when he smashed their sand castles, messed up their board games, and pushed buttons on the DVD player. He particularly enjoyed spending time with David (5-closest in age). David kept trying to teach him house rules...hopefully some of it took. John was pretty whiney this week. I don't know if all of the people and action mixed with sun, waves, and a non-child-proof house had anything to do with it. I'm hoping. He's really sleeping in this morning, so I know he's tired. We had two double beds, so he moved between the two (and we joined in the game of musical beds), and he always heard Eve in the morning, so I don't think he got as much sleep as he needed. We're certainly glad to get back to our usual sleeping arrangements. All things considered, though, he did really well.
Eve is smiling like crazy now. It's so much fun. I haven't seen it a ton because she's been passed around so much this week, but we got some good pictures. Her neck is getting a lot stronger too. I think her hair has started to thin out a little bit (which I expected...mine and John's both did the same), and I'm starting to notice the red tint that John's hair had/has.
I've got tons of pictures, so I'll have to sort through them and post a bunch later. Now I have lots of catching up on laundry and cleaning...and my kids. I'm anxious to get back to a somewhat regular routine. With so much going on this week, and the house not being kid friendly, I feel like everyone else spent a lot more time with them than I did. I'm SO thankful for the help, but I'm also ready to spend some quality play time with them

Another milestone...I hope!

It's 8:37 and Eve is still sleeping...has been since 11:30 last night! I feel so well rested I don't know what to do! I don't know if this is a milestone, or just because she had a bit of an uncomfortable afternoon yesterday so was a little fussy and tired from that, or if God just knew I needed the sleep. Maybe a combination of them all. Anyway, it's wonderful. She rolled over just after I finished the last post about her smiling. Little booger, she did it while I was turned around. Since I didn't see it (only the evidence) and she hasn't done it since, I guess we won't count it as official. Not just yet. I haven't seen her smile much more, but we've been getting ready for the Buckingham Invasion, which is upon us, so we've been busy. Yesterday we picked up Greg, Christopher, and Kendra from Charlotte. The rest arrive today.
The trip was a lot of fun because we spent the night with Claire and her family. We weren't quite sure what to do with John when it was time for bed. We decided to put John and Knox in the same room. We were calling it the cage death match beforehand...but luckily didn't have any of those problems. Instead, it was hilarious! John's first sleepover. Claire and I were in the room trying to calm the boys down. We'd get them to lay down, then one would start kicking his legs on the bed for fun. Then the other would start, then the giggling would ensue. It was almost like a middle school girls' sleepover. We tried leaving the room and both started crying. They took turns one screaming at the door and the other going to lay down, then switch, then switch again. Finally Claire went in by herself to calm them down. An hour or so later she finally had them asleep. The boys also got in a few fights over Eve. The first was whether or not she should have a blanket on her. John seems to have issues with anything being in her lap, blankets or burp cloths, and is always tossing them onto the floor. Knox kept putting it back on top of her. We stopped it before the fists started flying. Later on John was just getting between Eve and Knox. I'd like to think he was trying to protect her, but I guess more likely it was a "mine" issue, no different that with trucks. At any rate we had a fun time and learned that John is much more compliant about eating expensive steak than hotdogs. We're in trouble!
I'm finally cleared for swimming, so I'm hoping to take John to the pool today. I can't wait!