17 and 5 months!!

And here is the monthly pic of the boys together - as you can see James was none too happy about having to sit for a picture - Honestly all that went down was "hey james, let's sit here with brother for a minute and take a picture" and this is what I got! I guess some days you just feel like pitching a fit :(
John-Mark just chillin' while James is losing it. For the most part they are never crying at the same time, which I guess is nice but that means there's a good chance that I'm listening to someone cry or whine a good bit of the day :)

Finally a pic where James isn't crying but of course John-Mark is glued on his big brother!

Wow - another month has come and gone so quickly! My babies are growing up so fast!!
What's new with my boys:
John-Mark continues to roll over and scoot all over the place - I can barely keep him on his activity mat before I turn around and he's across the room somewhere! I don't know if he will crawl or walk any sooner than James but I sure think he wants to - he wants to get to where ever James is so bad - he just grunts and squeels and moves every ligament of his body when he sees him come around. He seems to finally be really sleeping through the night without any disruptions and yesterday for the first time he woke up and didn't even cry. When I went in to get him at 7 he was just looking around and smiling and happy as could be - I've been waiting for this day!!! It's so much nicer to wake up to that than a screaming baby! Don't know if this is permanent but I hope we're getting there.
We also have a nickname for him - of course we have tons of nicknames for both boys but this one is becoming pretty dominant - he's our little "turtle". Ever since he was a itty bitty baby he would stick his little tongue out and I always thought he looked like a turtle. Now that he's pushing up on his belly and when he turns his head and looks all around and sticks that little tongue out I just crack up - so he's our little turtle!
He's still not eating solid foods yet. I've tried several times but he's just not interested and doesn't seem to grasp how to "eat" yet. Since he's sleeping good at night I'm fine with waiting. He has gone to 4- 8 oz bottles a day and he's doing better on his spitting up, although we still have to change clothes atleast once a day, but better than 4!
Also, we have moved in to 6 -9 month sleepers! He's so long the 3 - 6 months don't make it to his feet!

John-Mark started on his back in the middle of his activity mat and like 30 second later here he was - so happy to see James!Grinning at his big brother and sticking out that turtle tongue!

As I posted previously James has been sickly this last month which has meant lots of whining and crying - no fun. I guess since he hasn't been feeling well he has been way more inclined to sit with me for long stretches of time and let me read to him - he's actually gotten to where he will now bring me the books to read and he has his favorite pages that he wants to go to - usually the ones with balls, ballons, bubbles, or trucks! My mom got him some touch and feel books for Christmas and he LOVES those! He's still not saying too many words that anyone can understand but he jibber jabbers up a storm. He totally knows what everything is; I guess he just chooses not to say it. When I say anything, "want some applesauce? give charlie a treat? let's feed your brother; go outside" he knows exaclty what I'm saying and goes to the fridge or the treat jar or whatever. I try to get him to repeat after me and he will sometimes but mostly he just smiles at me, like, "that's okay momma, you said it great!" But, when he feels like it he'll bust out with a "charlie" every once in a while and we still get lots of ball, oh, and when he's really whiny I get lots of mom mom mom mom mom mom! I love that he knows my name but I do wish he could say it without snot pouring out of his nose!
He's also gotten a little pickier about what he eats. He's done with lunch meat - won't have any part of it but he'll eat meat when I cook chicken or beef for dinner. He's also tired of sweet potatoes and carrots which used to be his favorite. He eats lots of fruit and pasta right now. He will still eat green beans. Yesterday I gave him black beans and he loved them so that's a new thing - messy but good for him. This morning I made a spinach and bacon quiche and he gobbled it up so I think I've found a way to get more meat and greens in him!! He also loves feeding himself with a fork or spoon and I've found that he'll eat pretty much anything if he can feed it to himself with his own utensil -except for lunch meat :)

James and mommy sticking out there tongues

There's always so much more I could blog about but I know long posts get, well, LONG!

Hope everyone is doing great and staying warm!!