This little guy really does love his blankie!
family portraits
We had some family portraits done and man was it hard to get everyone to cooperate! We did manage to get one nice one with everyone smiling though :)
I know, I am a dork… but I am just tickled with how well (at least in my opinion) these little peg people came out. I bought some plain peg people awhile back from this etsy seller and didn’t end up doing anything with the for quite some time. I finally started painting them shortly after the New Year and I have done a little here and a little there until finishing them up today. It was a such a fun project and I already can’t wait to meet sweet baby #3 and work on their peg person! Jay is thrilled that they are finally done, he has been dying to play with them.
silly
This photo is from a few months back but it still cracks me up every time I see it- such a sweet puppy and silly, silly boy! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and happy Monday to you!
15 months
Charlie was 15 months old last weekend and is growing and changing before our eyes these days so for posterity’s sake here’s a little update on our sweet little guy.
Things of note-
*When you put Charlie to bed these days, for either naps or at bed time, he flips over, waits to be tucked into his blankets and then flashes you the biggest grin around. Every time I see it it makes me melt and a stay just a little bit longer than I normally would rubbing his back and telling him to have sweet dreams. I hope to never forget the sweet smile on his face or the way his hair flips around his ears a bit as he smiles at me.
*He has all kinds of tricks that he can do (when he wants to that is). He is waving (without being asked), blowing kisses, giving real kisses (they are wet and sloppy but SO cute), snuggling (he will put his head on your shoulder when you ask for a snuggle although Mommy is usually the only one he does this for, which I certainly don’t mind), Ta-Da (where he puts his hands in the air touchdown style). He knows all the following animal sounds: horse, dog, kitty, lion and monkey and says Daddy, Mommy (when he wants to) his form of Jay and Hi.
*Sign language. We weren’t as persistent with Charlie as we were with Jay but he has perfected “please” and is working on “more” and “finished”. He will say please without being prompted and also when asked “what do you say?”. Sometimes his answer is a pretty slow please although other times he rubs his little belly so determinedly, it just depends on how badly he wants what we have.
*Eating is hit or miss these days but mostly because he is cutting teeth. He currently has his top 4 center teeth, the bottom two and now 3 of his molars. It’s completely out of any normal order but it is what it is. As for foods he likes… he loves Baby Bel cheeses, ice cream, yogurt, bananas, pureed carrots and most beans (spicy ones too). He does drink from a sippy-cup now and loves milk and water with ice but isn’t too big on juices aside from pear juice.
*He has a temper. If he doesn’t get what he wants, when he wants it look out! That temper will come out something fierce. This is particularly hard these days when we are trying to share with our big brother and take turns.
Likes-
*His Blanket. This is nothing new of course but little one LOVES his blanket. If he’s sleepy- he wants it, if he’s happy- he wants it, if not feeling well- he wants it. Honestly, if I can’t find him I usually can head to his room and find him digging it out of his crib.
*Shape Sorters- one of his favorite toys to play with right now is the shape sorter. His favorite shapes are the circle and star but he can do most of them on his own. He will do one or two shapes over and over and over again without stopping.
*Books. We have been spending more specific time with Charlie reading lately (I am ashamed to say that it wasn’t focused on as early with Charlie as it was with Jay) and much to our joy he is really starting to love books and we have noticed a significant difference in his attention span. He won’t sit through just anything we read and he certainly won’t sit through something as long as Jay would at this age but he loves books and that’s all that matters. His current favorites include, but aren’t limited to, any of our “That’s Not My…” Books (Monster, Baby, Dragon), Baby’s 123, Baby Animals (one that talks about endangered animals around the world), The Foot Book and many books by Sandra Boynton.
*Being outside. Again this is nothing new but he still loves to be outside. Either walking around the backyard, playing in the water table, walking along the path out back, playing at the park- he doesn’t discriminate, if it’s outside he’s a fan.
*Water. Whether it be in the water table, hose or bath tub this little guy loves water. Most nights I can hear the squeals and excitement during bath time from across the house.
*Daddy. He is a Daddy’s boy. He prefers Jamie over me and is thrilled whenever he gets home. On the days Jamie works from home we have to put up the baby gates so Charlie will leave him alone and let him work. If a door gets opened or a gate gets removed he makes a bee-line straight for Jamie.
*Brushes, Phones (old cell phones) and brooms. He is pretty much obsessed with these objects lately. He loves to walk around the house holding any of the above mentioned objects and that temper I mentioned earlier you can see it if you try to take said object away from him
Dislikes-
*Being hungry- Again, this is nothing new however, it can make getting supper ready nightly a tad bit difficult.
*Teething- this is pretty much a no brainer but kiddo doesn’t take to teething too well. Poor guy has been cutting his molars for the last few weeks and they can’t come through soon enough!
*Having to wait on anything. Patience isn’t really his strong suit so when he wants something he wants it pretty immediately. We are working on this and fingers crossed it will get better with time.
These aren’t “official” monthly photos (no blocks were used); however, I adore them and they really show my sweet lively Charlie so well!
the curls I can’t seem to part with just yet
and a few of Jay too since he was out riding his bike on the path with us
catching up
It seems as though the last few days I have finally had enough energy to catch up on a few things around the house that I have been neglecting (the blog included). I am not exactly sure how long this energy spurt will last; in fact, I am pretty sure that I will be snoozin’ along with the boys by the end of the next week (chasing two littles and baking another one at the same time really wears a girl out). So bear with me while I have the energy to play catch up… I have photos that are too cute to not share ;)
First up, Christmas. I know, I know these are pretty old but the boys were so cute Christmas morning while they were opening their presents from Santa. Their excitement was contagious and Jay’s genuine joy over everything (including socks) is something that I won’t soon forget and probably my favorite part of the holidays this year.
putting out milk and cookies for Santa
Christmas morning after realizing that Santa had visited
excitement over new books (what he asked Santa for)
more books!!
this is one of my favorites- it sums up his joy and excitement all morning long
a little behind…
I am a little behind in my posting but I promise to try and catch up soon…
Until then Happy Tuesday to you!
for you mom…
The jammie and hard-hat photo per your request. Not sure if this is what you had in mind when you asked for a photo but they are pretty wiggly these days ;) Either way, we hope you had a wonderful birthday!
letter to my jay bird- three years
My dearest Jay Bird,
Sweet boy you are three today; this fact should neither surprise nor shock me since we have spent the last 12 days counting down until this day and jumping up and down as each day passes. Never the less, I find it hard to believe- my baby is 3! You are growing up before our eyes kiddo and man-o-man do I wish that I could slow down time. I am positive that if I blink too long these days that when I open my eyes you will be graduating and leaving our nest – a thought that I just can’t bear to consider right now.
I struggle to find adequate words to describe you these days… You delight in the smallest of things, you adore cars and books, your heart is so gentle and kind and you are stubborn to the core. Honestly, each day can be a constant battle; we have really, really great moments followed by knock-down drag-out fights that end in temper tantrums and time outs more times than I care to admit. And more often than not I am not really even sure what set you off. Sometimes it’s that you don’t get what you want, sometimes you don’t get things exactly your way and sometimes it seems as if there is no reason at all (i.e. you are 2!). Most evenings at supper time I get to play witness to a battle of the wills- opponent A: Jay Bird- fierce determined and decidedly going to declare that you want/like nothing that you are being given for supper. Opponent B: Daddy- fierce, determined and decidedly NOT going to give in or budge one bit. If I were an outsider I believe I might find quite a bit of humor in these battles however, since I have fought during both breakfast and lunch the humor seems to escape me. So instead I sit, observe and hang on the knowledge that this too shall pass. And it will because it is a phase and all phases pass; however, at the risk of sounding contradictory, I don’t want this phase to pass too quickly because while you are stubborn to the core you are gentle, kind, sweet, smart and just so stinking cute sometimes!
You adore your brother Charlie and while y’all do fight over toys and have normal brotherly moments you are generally SO good to him. You let him play with your stuff, want to make sure that he is included and are the first to try to cheer him up when he is sad and crying. Most often, when he is crying, you will head over to him and ask in your sweet and concerned voice “what’s wrong Charlie?” and then start singing because you know that usually makes him stop. It’s moments like these that make all the day-to-day crazy so incredibly worth it. A year later you still adore cars and while you vary the things you play with, almost everything is an accessory for cars. Tools? Things to fix cars with. Used dryer sheets? Parachutes for cars. Duplo? Used to build garages and things to house cars (although you do on occasion build with Duplo without cars) Mommy’s hair tie? Rope to tow cars with. I love to watch your imagination at work and listen to your conversations as you play; some of the stuff you come up with is hysterical. Games are also another thing that you have taken to lately. You love being able to play with me and Daddy after Charlie goes to bed and frequently request to play before your nighttime stories. It is so fun to watch you play because you really don’t have a competitive bone in your body (you got that from me, not from Daddy). You are ecstatic when anyone wins and you jump up and down and cheer them along giving congratulatory high fives. It’s so great and I really can’t wait to see what you will use this encouraging part of your personality to do as you continue to grow; whatever it is I know it will make me proud. Along with cars and games you also still love books and want so badly to be able to read them on your own; we are working on getting there and I am sure it will come soon if you have anything to do with it. You have already memorized all kinds of books and frequently “read’ to us. Often, in the mornings Daddy and I will come into you room to find a pile of books on the ground that you have been reading all morning waiting for us to get up. I also find books tucked behind a pillow and under blankets on your bed from before you fell asleep either at night or during nap time. It melts me when you look at me with sleepy eyes (usually after nap time) and ask me… “Mommy let’s cuddle and read stories okay?” I try to drop all things whenever possible at those requests because there is nothing that I would rather do than cuddle the day away with you.
Like I said earlier, I am finding it so very hard to accurately describe you sweet boy. We have our moments and I do want to pull my hair out from time to time; however, more often than not I want to scream at the top of my lungs that you are mine. Daily, you teach me new things, show me how to delight in the smallest and most simple things and you teach me over and over again how to love. I hope you always know how very proud we are of you. I know you will continue to do wonderful things and I can’t wait to see what is yet to come. This life is quite an adventure kiddo, thank you for taking me along for the ride.
I love you sweet boy, Happy Birthday!
Love, Momma
peek-a-boo
PEEK
A
BOO!!
It’s one of Charlie’s favorite games these days; although I mostly love it because he rarely covers all of his face when he is hiding but regardless laughs and smiles SO big when you ask “Where’s Charlie?!” So cute!
Oh and as another random fact guess who finally cut two more teeth today! This sweet (although teething and grumpy at times) kiddo. The random part of it all is that he cut two top molars… not the two bottom teeth he is still missing or his canines… is that normal?
“we have two babies”
If you ask my little Jay Bird these days he will joyfully announce that we have TWO babies!!! Which is true, in a sense; we are very excited and blessed to announce that baby number 3 is baking and that we are anxiously and excitedly waiting for his or her arrival in late July or early August. However, let me clarify for a few of you before any rumors start flying… yes we are expecting number 3 but not number 4 just yet, no twins for us ;) Jay counts both Charlie and baby #3 in his “two babies” count- sweet boy! Also, to cover a few questions that I know you have (we have already gotten them many times) so you don’t have to go to the trouble of asking…
-Yes, we know what we are doing.
-No, this baby was not a surprise but rather a very exciting planned (well as planned as babies go) event.
-Yes, this does mean we will have 3 kiddos ages 3 1/2 and under.
-Yes, our house will be crazy… crazy full of LOVE!
-No, we did not do anything to try for a girl. While we would be thrilled to add a little pink to our lives we are just thrilled to add a perfectly happy and healthy little person to our family, regardless of gender.
I think that about covers all of the big ones however if I missed anything feel free to leave a comment below and I will happily answer away :)
We had our 12 week ultrasound today and were thrilled to see that everything is growing and developing perfectly, so without further ado we introduce our little bean.
Just in case you aren’t versed in ultrasound photos the first photo is of baby #3’s profile and it extends past the shoulders and the second photo is of a tiny little hand, fingers and arm (it looks kind of like a little paw- but is incredibly adorable).
the perreault family 