Andrew's a thumb sucker!

Andrew likes to suck on his thumb lately but this is a little silly.

Happy 4th Birthday P-Brain

Porter had such a fun little birthday party. His guests included
Logan
Baylin
Tommy Sito
Kenedy
Talmage

and of course ma, pa and andra.

Porter had very specific requests for his birthday: To be addressed as "the birthday boy", to have a Pinata just like Logan, to have a Transformer birthday cake, and to have Pizza for dinner.

"birthday boy"-check, we called him this all week

pinata-I pined over this for weeks because I didn't want to make one or buy one, so I thought of the easiest way out. I turned an American Eagle sack inside out, drew some fancy transformers on one side and P and his dad fishin' on the other side. We put a string from the handles and hung it from the ceiling. It was a hit! I am glad he is only four and doesn't know the difference.

cake-he wanted red cake (cause that's his favorite color) so it was a red velvet with cream cheese frosting. The kiddies didn't dig it too much. There were lots of un-eaten plates and Porter only had one bite. oops.

Mike is such a neat dad. He made a spiderweb with red yarn so all the kids untangled the web and found a kit kat at the end. (Porter's favorite candy bar) After all the playing we still had some extra time left so Mike put his "awesome dad" hat back on and played hide and seek and duck-duck-goose with the kids while I cleaned up the messes. He is so great! I scored big time with that guy.

Later we had a family party with Liz's family and Grandma and Grandpa Cranney. We had Papa John's Pizza --thanks to papa's for the complimentary birthday pizzas! It was fun to get to celebrate with friends and family. Next year will be so different. All new friends and the other side of the family. Porter is already looking forward to being "4 and a half".

Andrew's Four Month Checkup

Andrew's Weight: 17lbs 11 oz. (81st percentile)

Porter Weighed @ 4 months: 16.25 lbs

Andrew's Length: 25.75 in. (69th percentile)

Head: 43 cm (57th percentile)

Day in the Life of Andrew:

Andrew usually gets to wake up with Mom and Porter snuggling him, singing to him, and playing with him. The other morning Porter and I each one of his arms and chanted "Go Andra! Go Andra! Holla, What, What! Go Andra!" and it cracked him up! It was so cute!

He likes to lay on the bathroom rug and hang out while we get ready for the day. He loves it down there, even more than a chair or swing.

He LOVES to have his fists in his mouth along with some kind of clothe. Blankies or burp rags are his fave. He also gnaws on his thumb.

He stands and holds his head very well, but he never has liked tummy time, so he doesn't get it very often. He is really strong though.

He laughs and talks and is ticklish when we change his diaper and when we change his clothes. He has the cutest laugh.

Porter loves to play with him and kiss him, and Andrew seems to enjoy it as well.

He makes this cute face when he is hanging out. His lips are tucked in his mouth.

(See Video for example)

He wakes up every three hours for feedings.

Sleeps in bed with mom and dad for the most part.

This is wearing us out, we keep trying different things, but so far this is the way that lets us all sleep the most. His stomach still is giving him trouble. We can't figure this kid out! :)

Porter's Four Year Checkup

Porter's Height: 40.5 in. (56th percentile)

Porter's Weight: 36.6 lbs (57th percentile)

Porter's BMI: 15.69 (51st percentile)

Porter Quotes:

"uh, yeah, sure."-if we ask him if he wants such and such for dinner or something.

"Oh, my Cow!"-he came up with this when we taught him not to say the Lord's name in vain.

"Dad, your face is too sharp"-when dad hasn't shaved in a couple of days and then tries to give kissies to P diddy.

"What the..."-he says this with Talmage.

"Mom, I'm gonna be a dad when I grow up, huh?" He talks a lot about his future--marrying a princess, delivering pizza, and becoming a dad.

"Mom, you look like a princess."-On Sundays when I'm in a dress.

"Come wipe me!"-Even if you're standing right next to him.

"Hey Ana"-another one of Porter's nick names for Andrew

A Day in the Life of Porter:

What a Good Big Brother! Every morning he comes in and we all end up snuggling for another hour. Porter sings Pat-a-cake to Andrew. Somehow Porter always gets Andrew to laugh hysterically.

Porter Stories:

On Dec. 9th Heidi and I took Chalyse out for din din at the Gateway. When Porter saw that I was leaving and taking Andrew, he was concerned that Andrew would be scared and lonely. He told me "make sure he doesn't get scared, mom." I assured him that I would take good care of him. He said he would miss us and still seemed reluctant that I was going out for the night.

Unfortunately the roles will eventually be reversed. :(

On Dec. 15th before Porter was rushing out the door for school. Andrew was "talking" on the floor next to him. Porter is throwing his coat and shoes on and saying "aww, Andra, you're gonna miss me while I'm a preschool? I'll miss you too, brotha!"

Happy 17th Bday Mer!

Dear Mer, I miss you lots and hope you had a GREAT birthday! I wish I could be there to ruin it for you. darn. Maybe next year! Hope you love being 17! :)

"Jingle Bells!"

Yesterday Porter hops up from playing and runs into the bathroom. In his rush, he peers out the door and says "Mom, when I say "Jingle Bells" that means "Come wipe me."

He pulled that on his dad again today. He must have found a system that he liked.

Porter's chit chat with Santa

First of all I would like to say, Andrew turned four months today, and it was the FIRST time he slept through the night. 11-7:30. He has been getting up EVERY three hours on the dot before last night. We have been working on a schedule since Mike has been on break and it has obviously worked in our favor. I hope tonight is just as great. Also another note. I guess he is not allergic to milk anymore, because at Thanksgiving, I decided to enjoy some dairy. He didn't react. So the next day I had more dairy, no reaction and so on and so on. So that was only 2 and a half months of no dairy. Not as bad as I thought.

On to Son 1.

Mike and I took P Diddy to see Santa today. We were prepping him while we were waiting in line "What will you ask Santa for?" "tell him you want world peace." "I want transformer spiderman........and bumblebee..........and transformers"

He told us "I wanna go by myself, you guys stay here, I'm going by myself." He held his hand up reassuring us...."don't worry, I got it guys." So we stood back and let him have his independence. He got up on Santa's lap and FROZE.

Santa: "What do you want for Christmas?"

Porter: "army guys."

S: "Is that all? do you want anything else."

P: (shook his head-no)

S: "Thanks for stopping by, have a Merry Christmas."

We asked, "why did you ask for army guys, he already brought you army guys?"

P: "Cause I want some."

When we got in the van, I asked if he got nervous or scared. Mike and I were grilling him. And he kept saying no. Then eventually he got mad, "NO! I wasn't nervous. I don't like to be afraid!"

I guess it was a touchy subject, but we feel really bad for making him feel stupid. I hope we haven't ruined his self esteem for life.

Anyway, then we took a trip to our favorite store...the D.I. (thrift store). We are always lookin' for a deal on something we need. We are gonna miss this place when we move. We always find funny treasures and there is always something for everyone. Kids and Adults. It's our form of entertainment. We did not purchase anything today, but we still had fun.

On the way home, Porter was so upset that we wouldn't get him a "lunchable" (his favorite treat). So he told us "I'm not playing with you two!" And argued the whole way home, where he fell asleep around 4:03pm. He then woke back up around 7 tonight.

Shortly after he woke up, Mikey came home. They decided to have a sleepover party in the sleeping bags and watch "Robots". Well, when Mike went to search for the sleeping bags, Porter turned around and smashed his lip on the corner of the door frame. He insisted on having a band aid on it, and that is what you see here. He was NOT happy that I was taking his picture during this traumatizing time.

I hope that I can remember these days, when we get to enjoy or little kids all the laughing and the yelling. :) It's so fun.