Official Birthday Post

Well, we have just arrived home from the doctor, and Ada and John are resting on the couch.  It was a sort of traumatic experience, as every bit of Ada's tendency towards drama came out when it was time for the shots.

She overheard me on the phone with the doctor a couple of weeks ago, so she knew the shots were coming, and it has been a huge topic of prayer since that day.  We have gone over bible verses, strategy for fighting fear and worry, etc. etc., and in Ada's words, "I prayed about it in my head [silently] and my brain is still thinking about it!!!"  Isn't that the trouble with worry!!!  So, Ada started crying when we left the house, so I sang the "do not be anxious song" all the way to the doctor, which did stop her tears, and she actually was enjoying herself until the shots, at which point she had a complete and utter meltdown.  I had to corner her in the room, pick her up, with her kicking and screaming, and put her on the table, where I held her upper body down, and the nurse held her lower body.  It was AWFUL, not to mention a bit embarrassing.  And it scared poor John half to death.  He, however, did surprisingly well with his shots, crying just a little bit, but overall holding it together.  Especially in light of Ada's performance.  Oh man, it was so bad.  And it's a tiny doctor's office, so we certainly made our presence known.  And Ada announced to me just now that shots do hurt badly, and they are much worse than bumping her head or falling off her bike.  She now has a grape cream slush from sonic (I promised a treat beforehand.  What if you could choose a fun treat, and a grape cream slush is what you chose?!!!  Crazy.)

Here are the official stats.

Ada weighs in at 34.5 lbs, putting her in the 26 %, so moving up!!  And she is 41 1/2 inches tall, putting her in the 57% percentile!!  These are big numbers for us!!

Little John weighs in at a whopping 23.2 lbs, putting him in the 3 % and is 32 1/4 inches tall, putting him in the 5 %.  But Ada was hardly on the charts at age 2, I think she might have been below the 3 %, so there is hope for him yet.  Do I think he will ever rise above the 50 %, no, but I think he might climb out of the single digits at some point in his life ;)  As Scott's dreams of him being a star athlete fly out the window ;)  (Just kidding, buddy, if you are reading this years from now).

(the package came, mom--obviously.  And I let him go ahead and open it.  And we thought the outfit was really cute!!!  Seriously ;) )

Overall, both kids are right on track.  The doctor says they are super healthy, and we have no concerns.   Yay.  Apparently John's eating habits are normal, and I just have to dig in my heels and not give in to the easy way out with goldfish every time he's hungry :)  And he only has to know 15 words at age two to be "normal," and I think he definitely says over 15 words, so we are good.  


And now I will do a little birthday questionnaire.  I will answer it on my own this year, and next year he can hopefully answer himself :)


favorite toy:  any kind of race track or ramp and the cars that go with it.  Bless him, he also ends up playing with Ada's toys a lot--tea party set, barbie and barbie car, etc. etc.


favorite food:  carnation instant breakfast in the mornings, which he calls juice.  Any junk cracker--goldfish, ritz, etc., and he loves spaghetti and pizza.  And thankfully, yogurt, which is one healthy food he gets everyday.  I buy the yo-baby "meals"  (meant for babies), and they have green bean and pear puree, or sweet potato and apple puree, and he loves it.  (and it smells really gross, fyi.  I mean, green bean yogurt?!!)  


favorite tv show:  Dora!!!  By far.  In fact, he really would have loved a Dora cake, but I had to draw the line some where.  In his defense, he also likes Diego, I just forget to record Diego.  Every morning, he gets to watch one episode of Dora, and Ada gets to choose an episode of something, and that is what they do while I get the daily chores going.  


favorite thing to eat for lunch:  peanut butter and jelly, or yogurt.  He also loves mac and cheese from the box, I am ashamed to admit.  And will some times eat whole grain buttered noodles.  


favorite animal:  "goggie," "duck," and "moo"


favorite book:  he actually loves books, much more than Ada did at this age, and he will sit and listen to us read entire books.  No favorites in particular, though.  My favorite to read to him is, "I Love You, Mouse."  Such a cute book that I bought for Ada when she was younger


best friend:  well, he is with Kate Harman A LOT because Jessica and I basically have the exact same schedule.  He calls her cake, and gets excited when we pull into the Harman's neighborhood, saying "yay, cake!!"  


favorite thing to do outside:  throw balls up in the air, "run races,"  he loves for me to say, "on your mark, get set, go," and throw my arm down like we are starting a race.  He also loves going on walks in the double stroller


bedtime routine:  Scott puts him to bed.  They lie on Ada's bed, read some books, sing some songs, and pray, and then he goes down in his crib (will be staying there for a while) with his blue blankie (his favorite thing in the whole world), with the classical music cd playing (which we have used since Ada's newborn days) and a box fan on


What else do I want to remember about John at age two?  He loves Ada/Uggle so, so much.  They are very close, and I am thankful for that, but they also already fight--quite loudly, at that.  John is a challenge, and I think the next two years are going to be pretty hard.  But I now know that ages two and three are hard, but that age four brings relief.  So, now is the time to be consistent with discipline and eventually we will see the fruit of our labor...  John is not super disobedient or stubborn.  In fact, Ada was more disobedient.  With John it is truly an anger thing, and he doesn't know how to control his emotions.  Yesterday he wanted goldfish so badly, but he had not eaten all day, and I said that he had to have yogurt.  He was so frustrated, and he just threw his sippy cup as hard as he could at the yogurt cup and yogurt went everywhere.  I had to spank him, and I put him in time out while I cleaned the yogurt off of everything and let my frustration calm down.  His emotions are hard.  He is frustrated a lot of the time, and I can see the battle in his face and eyes.  I know that adding some years will help because it will be easier to work with him in knowing how to manage those strong emotions that usually come out in frustration and anger.


But he is also very fun.  Sometimes he and Ada get going in the back seat, being silly, and John laughs so hard.  And he makes such funny faces, trying to be funny.  Plus, he is my cuddle bug.  He loves hugs and kisses and sitting in my lap with his blankie.  He loves to run.  And can run without stopping for a surprisingly long time.  He loves to jump, and he likes to show us how he can jump.  We always have to say, "good job, John!"  And like I mentioned, he loves books.  


The more I get to know Ada, I think she is very sanguine.  She wants everyone to be happy, she likes a good time, and she is so quick to forgive.  And she is not nearly as shy as I thought she was going to be.  Overall, she enjoys life.  She struggles with fear, so that can get the best of her, but over all, she is pretty happy-go-lucky.


And then I look at John, and he is much more likely to be by himself, very focused on one task, which usually involves lining up his trains or trucks or stuffed animals.  He seems to be my thinker, my sorter, my book-lover.  They are so close, but I can tell that they are going to be so different.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the years.  


Bottom line, I am so very thankful that I get to be John's mom.  What a gift.  What a gracious gift.  I pray that he will grow into a man who loves God with all of his heart, soul, and mind.  That He will fight for truth and be a strong leader.  I pray that he will be kind and tender hearted, full of mercy.  Bottom line?  I want Him to know God and make him known!!


Happy Birthday, my precious boy.