John Michael

John Michael is quite the fighter these days. I honestly can't think of anything he loves more than to gather his growing collection of Nerf swords, shields, daggers, battle axes, maces, etc. and bring them to Johnny to have a war.  They fight and fight and fight. It really feels like the essence of boyhood.  He swings as hard as he can only to be blocked by his strong daddy. He grunts and giggles and shrieks with delight.  He talks about his gear when he isn't playing with them and carries it around the house. He's in love. And we're in love with him! Because despite this all out boyish behavior he is the most tender child that ever lived. He loves to care for people, to comfort them, to bless them, to snuggle with them, to encourage them.   He's growing up to be strong and sweet.  

John Mikey

Yesterday while I was making my free Walgreens photo book I realized that I don't take many pictures of John Michael!  And I don't know why because he is my most willing subject.  This boy LOVES the camera and he is FULL of personality. He a full dose of the cheesy-nses that Johnny & I both have and its a non stop show for him in our house. He's a true 2nd child, laughing one minute, crying the next. There's nobody like him!!

A few other things about John Michael.

He loves school. He BEGS to do school... and while his fine motor skills aren't very strong he rarely gets an answer wrong.  (I couldn't resist the rhyme, I know, I know...)

He eats more meat than Cookie Monster eats cookies.

His hair is adorable if he washed it that day... if not people look at me strange.

He's cuddly and snuggly.

His first instinct when he gets hurt is to ask me to pray for him.

He *adores* Greyson... but is often a little too rough with him. :)

He's still very attached to his "b" (Blanket) and wants to take it everywhere even though we try to limit it to his bed.

Addy calls him John Mikey, Nicholas calls him John Yichael.

He's really, crazy tall. 

We love him!

Light Saver

John Michael loves the lightsaber he got for his birthday from TuTu & Grandfather! But I can't quite convince him its a lightsaber. He insists on calling it his light "saver." Well, I guess he's gone green. :)

My 3 year old little man.

Its hard to believe John Michael is 3 years old. Sometimes I still think of him as 2 and other times I think he's been 3 for forever! He kind of gets lumped into the same age as Addy since they're basically connected at the hip. :)

John Michael is the sweetest and most tender hearted little guy. Don't get me wrong, he has his moments ;) but overall he's our snuggler, our kisser, our concerned one, and our sensitive one. He's easily overjoyed... and easily devastated. One of these days I'm going to have to post a picture of him pouting. Its seriously like a cartoon!

He loves pirates. He regularly dresses up in the pirate gear Tara & Adam got him for Christmas. Here he is making his "Argh matey face" halfway.

Nobody's sillier than him in this house, even Johnny! He is one endless jokester and does. not. stay. still. He's loved learning to wrestle with Johnny this year and his newest version of snuggling with his Daddy is knee diving into his stomach. :)

He warms our hearts. Johnny & I often lay in bed these days and talk about how much we're enjoying his 3rd year. He's really turning into a little man with a LOT of personality. Now... if he'd just finish up potty training. :)

A Boy & His B

For those of you who live far away... allow me to introduce you to our 4th child... John Michael's blanket. :) He has affectionately nicknamed it, "B" which is cute because his Uncle DD also had a "B" and one day, before John Michael could really talk much DD asked us if John Michael called his blanket his "B"? I kind of rolled my eyes like, "No, why would he call it the same thing you called it? That seems weird." Not a week later John Michael started calling it his "B." I was officially humbled. :)

The original blanket came from my sister's mother-in-law. Its a super nice "Kashwear" blanket that he was immediately in love with. My sister got him a back-up blanket and also picked him up a knock off one he loves. He is rarely seen without it.









Its his best friend. You should see his face light up when we get it out of the dryer. He even asks us to "tuck it in."

Its hard to imagine that one day he'll be "over" it... but until then they're pretty much connected at the hip. :)

My Baby Boy!

Well, my little baby boy is growing up quickly! I can't believe he'll be a year old in a few months!

Here is my most recent favorite picture of him.



He is, without a doubt a mommy's boy. He prefers me over everyone and sometimes will scream at the top of his lungs unless I hold him! But, even when he isn't with me he is generally pretty good natured. He's a smiley little boy and loves to play peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake.





He's a typical 2nd born... constantly reminding me that he wants more attention.... :)





I love this picture because he's laughing so hard!




Filling out






He's still not as eager of an eater as Addy was but he's doing much better now. If only I would make more effort to feed him solids he's probably be quite the chunker! To be honest I have good intentions but I forget a lot since his naptimes tend to coincide with mealtimes.... but if he's up while we're eating you can bet that he lets us know he'd like to join us!

This little kid has quite the hat collection. He's slowly learning to keep them on!




Almost as soon as I get that hat on him he reaches up to grab it and take it off. Ahh... rebellion at an early age!!





And as you can see clearly in this next picture the kid is still a drooling machine. He still spits up at least once a day - sometimes more but not nearly as bad as it used to be... or maybe I'm just used to it!



He loves bathtime. Addy also loves it when he takes a bath with her!

He can splash with the best of them but he has a bad habit of eating the bubbles!



All bundled up



He also likes the park. He can only take the swing for so long but while he's in it he sure has a blast!

What a view!



Yah!



Higher Mommy! I love swinging!





Addy loves string cheese and yogurt for snacks... John Michael loves ANYTHING he can put in his mouth!! We love calling him "oral fixation boy" because he's rarely seen without some foreign object in his mouth or on its way to his mouth!



His little ghetto hat...



He's got a few buddies already too!

Here he is with Ruby. They are the chunkers of the last group of babies. Emma might be a bit chunkier but she's so active (she was speed crawling through the church at 6 months old) she probably works off all her calories!! Ruby & John Michael are taking their time getting around.



Oooh, she's pretty.



John Michael: "Hey Ruby, can you help me get this blasted shoe off?"

Ruby: "Not really but I'll eat it for you."



Here is a picture of the adorable Emma too (don't be deceived by her chunky cheeks, the girl is a peanut!). All three of these babies were born within a week of each other!



And here he is with Larry. I like to tease him that it won't be long before John Michael is dunking on him. :)




He finally got his first tooth a few weeks ago which was a couple of months quicker than his sister got hers.


And lastly... the kid is mobile. My life has taken a new twist!



All the practicing is over and he's learned how to move around. Crawling isn't is specialty... scooting is but he's also become quite proficient at CLIMBING! He learned to move around well one week and the next week I found him trying to crawl out of his bed!!

BUSTED.



... and with NO remorse!



Here I come Mom! Catch me!



Needless to say the crib mattress went down right away.

A mom could love her little boy more than I love this precious guy. My only fear is that I'll spoil him so much that he'll never be very tough! He keeps me busy with his oral fixation, his cling-on tendencies and his love of attention.

Guess its time to start trying for another one, hey?

Nah... lets let him enjoy being the baby for a bit longer. :)