All Growed Up!

Well, not quite ALL grown up....but we're getting there. Both boys are celebrating significant milestones today. Today was Joseph's first day of pre-school. I really hadn't been all too worried about it because Joseph is a pretty social kid and because I have super awesome friends (in Charlotte :-( ), I had left him alone at play dates when Conrad was first born and he had done wonderfully! So I was sort of surprised when I was a little anxious and tearful this morning. Anxious that he wouldn't do as well as I expected, anxious that something would happen to him while out of my care...yada, yada...if you're a parent, you know what I am talking about. I was a little tearful too at the thought of my first teeny, tiny little baby being big enough to go to pre-school. He looked like such a big boy in his jeans and rolled up collared shirt and vest and sporting his backpack. Well not too big - because those jeans are Gap adjustable waist jeans, size 12-18 month (he's 29 months) and adjusted to the 2nd to last tightest setting. The child is so skinny and short legged!

In expected Joseph style, he paused for a total of 3 pictures outside before realizing other kids were beating him to get inside and he started demanding "Go in school. Hurry! Hurry!" Once we got in, he made a straight shot for the puzzles and blocks and trucks and laid claim to a specific truck. 2 minutes in and we were having a discussion about sharing the truck. He barely took notice when we kissed and hugged him goodbye.





I returned to a VERY tired Joseph. I didn't even have to talk to him to know he was spent. The teacher reported he had been a non-stop, on-the-move kid and never once asked for me...no surprises there. As also expected, he melted down about 3 seconds after getting in the car. Joseph overtired and overstimulated is a Joseph you don't want to see. A quick drive home, a quick lunch, and 4-5 more meltdowns that left his first pre-school craft project (a clothes-pin butterfly) in numerous pieces and he was off for a nap....which he screamed through for the first 30 min but has now been asleep for 2-ish hours.

Please note the reason the quality of these pictures suck is because we made the rookie, 1st time parent mistake and forgot to charge our nice camera last night. We got 1 picture before it decided to die. Luckily, I still have my trusty little PowerShot.

So on to Conrad. Today Conrad turned 6 months old!!! Has it really been 6 months since I walked into a hospital in shock that I was absolutely about to give birth again. 6 months since we first laid eyes on this sweet, tiny little face:



Conrad is just happy to be a normal 6 month old....eating (well, sort of eating...he seems to have Joseph's picky eating traits) pureed bananas and sweet potatoes and carrots and pears. He's sleeping through the night most nights although this means his wake-up time has become somewhere between 5-6 am. He's tripod sitting like a champ and sitting independently for longer and longer periods. He rolls around trying to keep up with his brother. He's quickly learning rolling isn't going to help him keep pace with big brother and he's becoming increasingly frustrated with his inability to crawl. I can't say I'm excited for the crawling, especially since when held at his waist, Conrad can pretty much handle standing. Crawling turns into pulling to standing which turns into cruising which turns into walking very, very quickly.

In the meantime, we'll enjoy these pictures of Conrad's attempts at sitting. He's looking super cute in the adorable baseball coverall that his great Aunt Helen sent him.



Seriously, when did I become a mom of a pre-schooler and 6 month old?

Hey, good looking...

It's a very well established and fairly indisputable fact that Joseph favors me in the looks department. Particularly as an infant our baby pictures were nearly identical (if you could overlook the 1980's picture quality). Two posts from Joseph's early days clearly displayed our similarities: four months old & eight months old comparisons.


Richard could easily have denied that kid for the first 12 months of his life. Although no one who actually knows Richard and has spent more than, say, 5 minutes around Joseph would have any doubt that that kid is his. Personalities = identical. Plus, Joseph has started to become more of a mix of the two of us in his toddler years.


Conrad, on the other hand, has been more of a mix from day one. Sometimes I look at him and see myself staring back, but most of the time I see a whole lot of Richard. He's got a longer, thinner face and smaller eyes like Richard (compared to Joseph's and my rounder, fuller face and GINORMOUS eyes). I thought these pictures of Conrad and Richard showed off the similarities pretty well:

Rich (6-ish months)

Conrad - almost 6 months

Yeah, Rich can't really deny this one.

It's funny though, because I have so many people tell me how much Conrad and Joseph look alike. I definitely see the resemblance, particularly when Conrad smiles - they both have my smile and dimples- but I don't think they look "exactly alike". A picture of both Joseph and Conrad at 5 1/2-ish months for comparison:

Joseph:

Conrad:

Hmmm...I don't know? Not that it really matters who they look like because Rich and I are both so damn good looking, these kids are set either way....