Rhett-13 months, Jackson Update, Trip to Nashville

WooHoo Life is a whirlwind...Let me try my best to get this blog up to date!

As for Rhett, at 13 months:

-He is eating so many more things-Hallelujah! :) We have had some great breakthroughs with table foods. Just to name a few-carrots, homemade mashed potatoes, muffins, apple, cheese (finally!), macaroni. It is great to see such progress with his eating! I still give him a pouch of baby food or yogurt with each meal, which he is great at eating. He is now feeding himself with a spoon as well! Still not much progress with meat, though.

-His iron level was on the low side at his 1 year appt, so we started giving him some more iron in his vitamin. We had it rechecked a week ago and it is just a little shy of normal level, so his pediatrician prescribed a stronger iron supplement. We will get his level checked again in about a month. I really can't tell that his levels are a little low. He has a ton of energy and goes full speed ahead every day.

-His sleep improved significantly for about a week...He was waking only once a night. Then we took a trip to Nashville and he went back to 2-3 times per night. Now I think he is teething again, but I hope he will get back to the once per night waking soon!

-He is "talking" up a storm, although we are still waiting on a few more identifiable words. He says "dada" all the time as well as wawa (water). Today he said "car". He loves to say "Ah-choo" when he pretends to sneeze. Most of the time he points to things and says "ooh".

-Like Jackson did, his first song that he is signing is "Old MacDonald". He does the "eieio" part. It is adorable!

-He wants to walk everywhere! He is so happy walking in public places while holding our hands. Sometimes he fusses because he doesn't want to hold our hands, but we always win that battle. He loves to strut around and will start dancing if there is any kind of music playing around him. People are always stopping to talk to him and watch him because he always has a huge smile on his face if he is walking/dancing!

-He has started trying to bite me when he gets really mad, so I have to tell him no, which he doesn't like. He tried banging his head into me the other day, which just ended up hurting him. I remember Jackson going through this phase as well. I guess they get frustrated/mad and don't quite know how to express themselves. The one big difference is that Rhett gets to observe Jackson fussing and I can tell he is taking notes :)

-Rhett has the legendary scowl that runs in my family. Here is a classic picture of the scowl. I have been told my many that I have the same face,as does my dad, as did my grandfather. Since Rhett is my little clone, it is only natural that he has the same look! Here it is in all of it's glory:

-He continues to be so affectionate, and loves to give hugs and kisses. The BEST is when we don't ask for one and he just reaches over and gives me a big bear hug around my neck and a kiss. He blows Jackson and Justin kisses every night before bed. He has been giving his stuffed animals love will lay his head on them and make sweet little sound.

-He is so much fun! He is at a really fun phase where he learns something new every day.

 Feeding himself (left handed!)

 Photobomb by Jackson :)

 Photobomb by Daddy

 My happy boy!

Now for Jackson, he is such a wonderful little boy! He makes us laugh constantly. He is growing up before our very eyes. I can't believe how much he's grown in the last year. He is so tall (and lanky!). He is in a phase where he walks up and talks to everyone. He says the funniest things. Right now he is really into the L.ion King 2 and has determined that we are characters from the movie. He calls me Kiara, Justin is M.ufasa, he is Kovu, Rhett is S.imba, and Annabelle (our cat) is Xera. He walks up to random people and introduces himself as Kovu :) I have to explain to strangers that that's not his real name. He has such a great imagination!

I love watching him play independently with his toys and play make believe. He is such a sweet boy. I got the "mommy I 'm going to marry you one day" a few days ago. I thin my heart skipped a beat! He's such a good and well behaved boy. He has wonderful manners and I am so proud of the way he interacts with others and uses his manners with adults. He is currently also telling every woman he sees "Happy Mother's Day" even though it was over 2 weeks ago. He is extremely affectionate and I am cherishing this time with him. He is still way into cars and playing sports and rough housing with his daddy. He also loves T.homas the Train, the Cars movies, and playing sports. We are still working on being gentle with Rhett, but Rhett is starting to hold his own and push back when Jackson is pushing him. They love each other so much though, and I absolutely love those moments when they are hugging and kissing on each other.

They are two peas in a pod! Jackson is finishing up 3 year old preschool this week. I cant believe he will be 4 years old soon. It is going by waaay too fast.! I love this age with him. He is a great sleeper and sleeping through the night as well as taking 1.5 hour naps every day.
If theres one thing that he doesn't like, it is failing at something or not being able to do something that others can. He gets really upset and cries when he cant do something that someone else can. I see his competitive spirit starting very early. I wouldn't change a thing about either one of my boys, though. I tell them they are perfect just the way they are. I sound like I am gushing, but these boys just make me smile and are so amazing to me in every way!!

Pirates and Princess' bday party for a friend

 My Mother's Day gift....this is the face he greets me with every morning :)

 New jammies-hes getting so big!

 I love this photo because he looks like my little baby Jackson in it

 Daddy's shoes

I had training in Nashville recently and since I am still nursing Rhett and I couldn't bear to be away from both of my babies for a week, we made the decision to go together as a family. It was an adventure, but Justin was amazing at taking care of the boys all day long (and some evenings as well!). Training was great but it was a looong week.

Some of the highlights: Taking the boys to eat breakfast often at the P.ancake Pantry, seeing downtown Nashville, playing at the playground, eating at M.artin's BBQ, and visiting with family on the way up there and back. We stopped in NC to see Justin's mom and then we stopped in Chattanooga on the way home to see my older brother's family and my great aunt. Justin was SUPER DADDY and kept both boys busy with trips to downtown Nashville, Hard Rock Cafe, playgrounds, a trip to the Corvette museum in Kentucky, picnics at the park, and dinners out. He even braved taking both boys on a guided tour of the Grand Ole Op.ry by himself. Needless to say he was exhausted when the trip was over!

 The not so fun highlight is that Jackson had his first trip to the ER at Vanderbilt Hospital. Long story short, Jackson had very mild diarrhea with no other symptoms for a few days. One night we woke up at 2 am and had several bouts that contained a decent amount of blood. He had no other symptoms, so I wasn't super worried, but we had never seen that so Justin took him to the ER to be evaluated. They determined that it was colitis due to mild diarrhea from a virus, not bacteria or parasite like we feared. So in hindsight he probably didn't need to go to the ER, but we erred on the side of caution. The staff was great and attentive and Jackson did just great. The next day, he was good to go and that was the end of that! Like I said, it was an adventure, but we did it and thank goodness it is over :) It was so nice to be able to see my babies (and of course Justin) in the morning, during lunch for little bit, and in the evenings, even if I was stuck in training all day long.  Love these boys so much!!

Rest area in TN:

 Corvette Museum

Hard Rock Cafe

 He's ruined!

 Cousins!

 Baby Eli is in there somewhere