Overview of the Last Three Months!

So instead of not blogging at all (from being overwhelmed), I'm going to at least just write an overview of some 'things of note'! Georgie is becoming so fun! He is watching our every move now, and imitates us - soooo cute. Does this with the play phone (holds up to his ear), chews like us, sticks his tongue out, tries to put my sunglasses on, tries to brush his own hair with the brush, and now he can wave (doesn't raise his hand, but opens and closes his fingers), and does the signing for 'more' (clapping, but recently it's been a fist with one hand and a flat hand with the other!), 'please' (learned this in MN when me and him visited the Robinsons - Jeanne had him doing it the first day we were there!), and at first he would scratch his tummy with both hands for this (soooo cute!), but now he scratches his chest with one hand (still soooo cute), 'all done' (learned this in MN too, thanks to Jeanne who is more persistent than I!) - at first he would just raise his arms up like 'what did I do?', but then he started doing the shaking his hands - now he kindof does both - it's realllly cute! It's been cool bc he can communicate with us a little now, through signing. He's still at the point though where he doesn't totally understand what he's saying - he knows the sign that goes with each word, but he's not always sure what they mean. For example, even if he just started eating dinner, and is obviously not full, if we say "All done?" he'll do the sign (instead of signing to us when he really is all done). If we say the word, he'll do the sign. And 'more' was the first one he learned and did it for awhile and he would do it for lots of things like "give me that", "I want that" - pretty much for anything he wanted he would sign 'more'! So cute! Anyway, the wheels are REALLY turning all the time now - it's the most AWESOME thing to see him learning life. He's such a blank slate with no knowledge, that is literally learning 100's of things a day. It's awesome. And again, scary, bc we realize what an impact we have on who he becomes. BIG responsibility! MN was great - I learned some parenting strategies from Jeanne and Matt who are awesome parents. They made me realize how I should have a plan for his life (not be controlling, but just goals we want our kids to achieve, and when and how they can achieve them). Just watching them parent taught me not to discipline in anger, but calm and love. And spanking works. And having quiet time, even after they're too old for naps. Their house was such a 'home' - so inviting and comfortable. Not perfect, but truly a home where family and God takes precedence over everything else. Jeanne gave me a book to read, which I'm going to try to read even though I'm not much of a reader! And I still want to read 'Premeditated Parenting' - one they read and recommend as well. They taught me how to emphasize teaching their kids to be like Jesus, and constantly working on their 'heart'. That's what kind of family I want. It was pretty crazy with Ben and Virginia AND Georgie running around - so fun though. I absolutely LOVE the energy that kids bring to a house. It made me want more. :) I really would like 4, but George only wants 2, MAYBE three if we have a boy next. We'll see...it's up to God! Jeanne was doing really well considering she was 23 weeks pregnant with twins! This is probably the best part of her pregnancy (over sickness, not too big that she's too uncomfortable!) Georgie walked in MN - I got it one video once, but then my photo memory ran out! I got a few steps! It was pretty sudden, as I just set him down on his feet and handed him a book, then he started walking!!! He did it right then and there 3 times in a row, but then he hasn't done it since! So he CAN walk, and I got it on video, but he just doesn't have the confidence yet! I haven't really hounded him that much since, just knowing that he'll find the confidence when he's ready! It was funny bc I'm pretty sure he only walked bc he THOUGHT he was pushing something (the book) - he thought he was holding on to something! So funny! He's so cute when he drinks his water bottle (camelback that auntie got him for his birthday!). His hair is growing a lot - I had to cut the back a couple months ago (just trim the bottom). Still no more teeth! Cruising EVERYWHERE and LOVES pushing anything around that can be pushed (to walk). Can say 'nana' now - so I say "say banana, nana", and he'll say 'nana' Just today he was saying "ba", so I really emphasized it and encouraged it and have been making him say it all day, so he won't forget! I've been waiting for him to get his b's bc then he can get 'ball', 'binky', and others. Mom and Ted have kept him overnight a few times now. He never sleeps enough, but it's okay. :) They LOVE him! Baby Steward is due in 2 1/2 weeks and we're sooooo excited. I try to explain it to him but he's too young. But he does get some experience not being the center of attention when Ben, Rebecca and Wes' son that I babysit, comes over. He definitely gives me a look like 'mom - why are you holding/feeding HIM?', but he really does do good at not getting too jealous. I'm hoping he'll do well with baby Steward, then when he have another one it won't be too difficult of a transition! He consistently takes two naps now - YAAAYYY! His first one is almost always one hour 15 min, and starts AROUND 10:00am, and his second one is often the same amount of time at around 3:00 or 3:30ish. Then we TRY to do bedtime at 8:00, though we're not always great about that. We try really hard to find a balance of protecting his sleep schedule, while still having a life! He sleeps usually until about 7:00 or 7:30 if we're lucky (sometimes a little earlier). But has been sleeping the the night consistently for the last probably 5 weeks - he would've before that too but... He got sick right around his first bday (that DAY, actually!) - he held up for his party, but definitely wasn't at his best! :( We had ALL (me, Janae, Kevin, George, Mom, Ted, and Georgie!) gotten sick the week of March 12th, after Kevin brought it home from his work trip to FL - vomiting, the 'other' end, laid up on the couch with nauseau for 2-3 days. Georgie got it first (after Kevin), then the rest of us. It was really sad to see him vomiting and not holding down liquids, and this made it difficult to get any milk down him for awhile. He didn't like to drink anything bc he knew he'd throw it up! :( Anyway, after he was FINALLY getting better after that (it takes a lot longer for babies to kick any sickness), he got a cold on his birthday, and then it seemed like he was coughing for a month. The cold went away within a few days, but then the cough lasted FOREVER!!! It would wake him up so he wasn't sleeping as good and it was SO sad! So, needless to say, I'm so happy he's been better for over a month now, FINALLY, and we're in a good routine! He doesn't like cold milk. I've tried everything. The only way we can get milk in him (which is important), is in the morning (when he's hungry), warm, and in a bottle. No other way! So we've been doing that. He is good about drinking water though, and we try to supplement what they need in milk with other foods like avocado and yogurt (loves those!). Anyway, I'm going to stop for now, but there's a few tidbits!