Comparing boys

The boys at around 7-1/2 months. Lots of differences, but somehow the same.

Joel has his own baby language he's perfecting. Lots of grrrrs and bwas and a very sweet "ha" that might be Hi. When he gets excited he yells, "Heh". Lately when he starts to get upset he does a constant motorboat, so it's hard to take him seriously. His big ole chunky legs just kick and kick and kick some more. It doesn't matter if he's playing or excited or angry. He's starting to sit up for longer chunks of time. but still can't get his crawl to work. It's almost painful to watch him trying sometimes.

He is such a good little guy and hardly ever fusses unless he's just really tired. I would read a book and sing to Gabriel at bedtime every night (and still do). With Joel I watch the DVR'd Jeopardy while I feed him. The second kid sure does get short shrift. He gets so sleepy afterwards that he just wants his bed. If I try to sing to him he gets mad. Gabriel didn't want me to put him down. Joel wakes up alot at night. It varies from twice to four times a night, and I think it's mostly because of his tummy being upset due to something I've eaten.

Joel loves to be messy. Gabriel is a bit of a neat freak. Gabriel was a huggy baby, but Joel is even worse. He loves to be kissed, squeezed, tickled, almost to smothering. His absolute favorite thing to do is play peek-a-boo with his clothes (that I'm either about to put on him or I've just taken off of him). We couldn't believe it when we realized that's what he was doing. He covers his face up and his little hands just shake with anticipation, and then he waits for me to say, "Where's Joel?" Then he pulls it down and I shout, "There he is!" And he smiles and smiles.

The sweetest time we have together is during Gabriel's naptime. I bring him into our bed and feed him and sometimes we sleep. It's the most relaxed I have ever been in my entire life. I can see now why it's so hard to stop breast feeding. I was going to stop after six months, then it turned into a year. Now I think I might keep trying to do that nap time feeding and maybe the before bed one for awhile longer after he turns a year old. It's going to break my heart when I have to stop.