Another brute

It's hard to believe, but after Theo was first born, we had to go back to the doctor three times so that she could see that he was gaining weight. I didn't want to supplement with formula because I knew I was making plenty of milk -- but Theo never was as hungry as his big brother, who was born starving. Even now, he can often be disinterested in food, choosing to color or play with his food while Nate shovels it in.

He's typically been in the mid-range for height and weight, but on the tall side -- usually around 80th percentile for height and 50th for weight. He always seemed littler than Nate was at the same age. In fact, his Aunt Mary once called him a "midge," thinking he was on the small side.

But this week he had his 2 1/2 year appointment and we were stunned to find out that Theo is now in the 97th percentile for height (38.5 inches) and in the 90th percentile for weight (33 lbs). So it looks like we have another brute on our hands, and in spite of Daddy's desire to have two soccer players, it may be football instead. Of course, Nate still asks me to carry him to bed "like a baby." 

Summer rawks!

It's hard to believe it's already August! We've had a fun, busy summer full of traveling. In June, we took yet another road trip to Minnesota to see the Vogel family and help with the Team Vogel vs. Cancer benefit. Nate and Theo loved hanging out with their big cousin Brody and swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's pool. And in July, we headed up to Sebago Lake in Maine to hang out with Mamma and Grampy Daley. The boys spent lots of time in the water -- Theo kept rejoicing, "I swim! I swim!" -- jumping off the dock, climbing the massive rocks on the island, making sandcastles and even going on a super-fun boat ride around the lake.

The rest of the summer has been filled with many trips to the Harris YMCA swimming pools, various spraygrounds and parks throughout Charlotte, Discovery Place, the Nature Museum, and the Mint Museum of Art. Phew, we're tired, but we have to pack it all in before the boys head back to school at the beginning of September. Nate will be going to school every day and Theo will be going three days a week. This is Nate's last year of preschool -- next year is kindergarten! (sniff, sniff)

Spring adventures

For my birthday, we went to the River Jam at the U.S. National Whitewater Center, enjoyed dinner (especially fried pickles), and then headed down by the water to walk around. A bluegrass band was playing and Nate and Theo started dancing in front of the crowd of a few hundred people.

Nate has been reading and writing constantly lately. We'll find things he's written all over the house, like this:

As you can see, he didn't draw his own strawberry picture as instructed. Instead, he wrote about what he loves, in order (starting at the bottom): I love ABC and I love Mommaay and I love Dadey, The End. No mention of Theo. :( But I know he loves him because they hug every morning when they see each other.

Nate had his 4-year-old pediatrician appointment and he is back to being huge. The past couple appointments, he's been in the 80th percentile, but this time he measured in the 94th percentile for height and 97th percentile for weight. The doctor said that when he grows up he'll be bigger than Daddy and probably bigger than Mommy within just a few years. :) The kid eats all the time and he's growing fast! He just graduated from the "Pike" (beginner) swimming lessons and will start taking "Eel" lessons starting in a few weeks. His teacher said that after this next session, he'll be swimming on his own, just in time for our summer trips!

Theo is our little drama king. He loves to dance and sing, and he also has mastered the performance art of throwing a fit. Such is the life of a 2-year-old. He is obsessed with Heidi Songs even though Nate tells him that "Heidi stinks!" Theo is a bit of a daredevil (just like Nate was at his age) and it seems like he always has scraped knees. One day, he fell out of the trampoline and was gushing blood out of his nose. Luckily, nothing was broken or cut -- he just fell on his face and had a bloody nose. Yikes. I was sure we were headed to the ER. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Here are a few other pictures from this spring:

Welcome to the Nate Daley Gallery Crawl, featuring such works as "Letter Jungle," "Number Jungle," "The Beginning of the Alphabet" and "Silly Letters." 

Nate and Theo got new beds!

Not really. Nate decided to make a laundry basket into a bed by dragging his blankies, teddy and pillow into it. And Theo, who always wants to be like his big brother, did exactly the same thing.

Happy 2nd birthday, Theo!

It's crazy but true -- Theo turned 2 yesterday! We celebrated with pizza and cake with Aunt Mary and Uncle Adam and then headed to Monkey Joe's for some bouncing around. This is how Theo spent about a half-hour of his time at MJ's:

Theo had his 2-year pediatrician appointment this week. He measured 35 inches (75th percentile) and weighs 28 pounds (50th percentile). By comparison (not that I would EVER compare my children), on his 2nd birthday Nate was 35 3/4 inches and 32 pounds!

When I ask Theo how old he is, he says, "One." I say, "No, how old are you now?" and every time, he says, "Seven." Thank God he will never be that old. :)

Nate the teacher

Nate loves to read books to his little brother.

Letter nerds

Everyone knows that Nate loves his letters. He has letter puzzles, letter books, letter games, letter cards, magnetic letters, letter beads, letter blocks, letter videos. Last Christmas, his favorite present was a $3 pack of letter flashcards. And what was he most thankful for this Thanksgiving? That's right.

Guess what Nate discovered when we went to Discovery Place (a science museum)?

Meanwhile, I thought that Theo was my little hands-on engineer -- a physical genius who could manipulate high-tech devices with his hands. That was, until he turned 18 months. Suddenly, he had a passion for letters just like his brother and quickly learned them all. Not only that, but he loves Nate's "Meet the Sight Words/Phonics" videos and knows all of those too.

If you've been wondering, Nate's favorite letter is C and Theo's favorite letter is O. But MY favorite letter to hear Theo say is X (which sounds like eckthhhhhhh) and second-favorite is W (dubbuwoo).