| The Hillian Collection

Samuel:
He'll be 20 months this week, and he's becoming more and more a little boy every day. He wakes up between 6:30 and 7am and lets out a little moaning cry to alert us as to his consciousness. He used to stand up and wail, but within the last couple weeks, it's become a sweet moan. Sean still goes to collect him and spend perhaps and hour alone with him while I sleep in an hour more with Jedidiah. When I'm ready to get up, I call, "Sammy!" to which he replies, "Mama!" as he pushes open the bedroom door and joins his brother and me on the bed. He loves scrambled eggs, peas, chocolate milk (3 parts plain, whole milk to 1 part chocolate, whole milk) and strawberries. He watches the Toy Story series on the iPad as he eats his breakfast/lunch/dinner. It's really helped to hold his attention as I'm no longer able to sit at the table with him as he finishes his food since he takes a very, very long time to eat. At 12:30pm--sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later--he goes down for nap and sleeps through for about 2.5 hours. Whenever he does wake up early, we go in and tell him to "lie back down," and he does and sleeps for an hour or so more. He loves playing outside. Our backyard is surrounded by a privacy fence, so I feel safe leaving the door open and staying inside with Jed while Sammy mows the lawn, gardens and plays with his rocks. It really is a toddler's dream, this lot. Around 6:30pm, we move to the bathtub where he pours water on himself incessantly with his plastic cups, then family worship, then bed. As we pray, he clasps his hands together and bows his head until he hears "amen." He gets wiggly, but it's wonderful to see that he understands. Bedtime is 7:30pm, with a hymn, a kiss and "goodnight Sammy." He never fusses as we leave the room, and he takes about 15 to 30 min to put himself to sleep. Then he sleeps all night long without any sort of fight.
His words are: Dada, Mama, aaAAAaa (for brother Jed), Papa, Meme, bobo (brother), mmMMMmm (for food), hot, boom, boot, shoe, ee (feet), moo, rawr, dog, woof, dee (please), mwah (kiss), bubble, poopoo, uh-oh, God. There's probably some more that I can't think of at the moment. His vocabulary isn't huge, but he understands a lot. His biggest behavioral issue is fussing. He obeys us quite well, even enjoying learning that something is off limits, but fusses about once a day in a bad-boy kind of way. When he does this, we ask him, "Are you fussing?" to which he usually shakes his head no and always quiets down, but about half the time he immediately starts fussing again. We're working on it.
He loves his brother. Our Mamaroo is at risk for breaking because Sammy will pass by it, pull it over to him (straining it off its track, mind you) and kiss Jed. "Mwah!" And then he runs away. He does it before I can even say anything, and, I mean, he's KISSING his brother, so can I really get after him for it? I mean, really? He loves pulling Jed down the floor to lay next to him, give him his paci, and pat his back.

Jedidiah:
He'll have his 2 month birthday this week (remember? He and Sammy are exactly 18 months apart), and he's getting so cute! We love newborns, but Sammy's at pretty much the cutest stage we can imagine, so it's hard not to look forward to Jed getting more interactive and chubby-faced and all. He tracks us really well now, turning his head to follow us around the room, and he loves, loves loves watching his brother. He started smiling this week. Not very often, but he's done it now for me, my mom and Sean, so I'm not making it up. He sleeps really well through the night, waking up for feedings but staying sleepy so he goes back down right afterward (if not during), is awake for various hour long periods during the day and naps the rest of the time. He loves a good swaddle and takes to his pacis really well (as long as his big bro isn't stealing them from him).

Me + Sean:
We don't have much time with each other right now, but we're getting by with what we've got (it's certainly nothing to complain about). Sean is working almost all day either at the house or in his office for FLVS. It's nice that he's at home working so that, when he does take a break, we are there to spend that little bit of time with him before he goes back to it. My energy levels are back to what they should have been--and certainly higher than they ever were while I was pregnant. I take the boys walking, Sammy in the stroller and Jed strapped in the carrier, 2 miles in the mornings and in the evenings. I'm definitely known to wimp out when it's colder than, say, 55º, but we're staying pretty consistent. I find that it's much easier to pack them up and go for a walk than to manage them in the house, especially in the fussy times of the day (5 o'clock, anyone?).

2013 has started out as a good year for us. We're very thankful to be where we're at, and are trying to appreciate all our blessings for what they are.

Quick note: I'm trying to keep my regular posts brief because it encourages me to post--you know, not having to sit down for 30 min to write an update--but I figure once a month I can let friends and family in on a bit more detail as to our current status. Kids change quickly, don't you know?

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1. Sammy loves tomatoes from his and Dada's garden. He kept saying, "mmmm," as he picked this one off the vine.
2. A little morning chore routine consists of leaving Sammy with the vacuum for about 20 min, and most of the living room will get swept--excluding little brothers, of course.
3. Papa and Meme came into town on Wednesday to take Sammy to the natural history museum. Sammy was trilled with the fossil collection drawers. Because of the fossils? No! The drawers.
4. Sammy's first animal ride was an elephant with Grandma at the medieval faire on Friday.
5. Our walk on Friday evening was brisk. But the dogwoods are budding!
6. I tried to catch one of Jed's elusive smiles this morning as he cooed. Obviously, I was unsuccessful.