Second Child...

Gage is definitely our second born. I'm sure that this is all because of how we've handled situations and have learned. Kaysen was our gineau pig. Technically Gage is too because we are still learning but I'll have to admit we were more strict on Kaysen (maybe too much) and Gage we tended to let things slide a bit. (which we are paying for now, and are now being just as strict if not more so.) Maybe because I realized there are bigger things to worry about, maybe because I was tired from dealing with two toddlers, maybe because he was my baby now and I knew he would be my baby for a bit longer time than Kaysen was. Gage doesn't have a problem with it either. Where Kaysen wanted to be a big boy from the start, Gage was content just goin with the flow and being a bit well, babied. He has grown up so much in just the past couple months though (since he has been potty trained).

He was a late talker. He started saying his first words around a year old and I thought he'd take off from there like crazy. However he hit a little road block and didn't REALLY start talking well until he was 2 years old. Now its hard for me to imagine a time when the boy didn't talk. Now he's constantly saying, "Mom guess what?" or "What color is it?" or "What shape is it?" or "I missed you." and "I lub you." along with many other of his favorite phrases.

He can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. (when he decides to) He takes a nap pretty much every day still. When bedtime comes, which is usually around 8:00pm he will stay on his bed (except for the one time, every night, when he tells us he needs to go potty) and talk to himself until at least 9:00 or 10:00.We tried not letting him have a nap to see if he'd sleep sooner, instead it just made him cranky and 90% of the time he'd fall asleep during dinner or while I was cooking. A late nap was evern worse than an early one so we're still listening to him every night after we put him down for bed.

He LOVES shapes. Since he was 18 months old he could name pretty much any shape, including trapazoids, hexagons and pentagons. Anything he sees is a shape and he'll tell me to ask him what shape it is so that he can tell me.

He loves colors too and will always point out what color EVERYTHING is.

He has began to love counting. One day he just randomly started counting and hasn't stopped since. He can count to 12 really well and from there he'll just say random numbers. He especially loves counting objects in books as we read.

He loves being outside. That is, if I turn the t.v. off. Here is another opposite from Kaysen. Gage could watch t.v. all day long if I let him. Kaysen on the other hand gets bored after a few minutes and will start playing with toys. Now that the weather is getting nice though, Gage has been choosing outside a bit more than t.v. (I don't have to fight him anymore when I turn the t.v. off) He was all about Mickey Mouse, Dora, Diego and Backyardagains for the LONGEST time. Now he is moving onto real movies. He loves The Incredibles, How to Train Your Dragon, Tangled and Cars.

He loves animals. His Aunt Jennie has a few cats, kittens and puppies. She lives next door to Grandma Miller and whenever we are at Grandma's playing, he is outside chasing all these animals. He is NOT scared to just grab them and hold them.

He is a funny kid. (luckily both of mine are) He loves to play. Perhaps a bit too much. He doesn't take many things seriously and its so hard to get this kid to concentrate on something for very long. He just wants to make whatever it is he is doing fun. Whenever he plays something, he is always asking Kaysen to please come play with him. He loves to do things with his older brother and it has been so fun to watch them play. Altough every time (no matter what they play) they end up in a wrestling match with one of them screaming at the end. He is always trying to jump out and scare you (which he also learned from Kaysen). When he wants your attention he grabs your face and says, "Yoowhoo." He always seems to know what to do so that Jerry and I smile even when we are mad at what he is doing. I don't know how many times I've had to turn my head so he doesn't see me smile when I'm supposed to be mad at what he has done.

He is in this 2 year old hard stage that I remember dealing with from Kaysen oh so well. (Its my hardest stage to deal with) He likes to try and tell me "No". When I tell him no, he looks at me with his hands on his hips and says, "Don't tell me no! Mom!" (which now results in him getting hot sauce or soap, even though sometimes he's cute when he's got this attitude I've realized I gotta be better at teaching him respect)

He is easily frustrated. (which he probably gets from me) If something doesn't go his way, right away, his true temper flares right up. Although it goes away faster than it came on usually.

He is a big boy and has been since he was born. He is now about 2 inches shorter than Kaysen and weighs 2 lbs more. We say he is going to be our big linebacker.

He loves shoes too. (still) We've pretty much come to accept it and let him wear anything but my heals now. Jerry says it was cute when he was a baby, but he doesn't want his son running around in heals when he's 12. hahaha. Gage pretty much just loves dressing up, in anything. He loves being a pirate, cowboy and super man.

It will be exciting (challenging) to see how our "baby" handles becoming the big brother. He still loves to sit right on our laps and cuddle at any moment he can and I don't see him being too happy about 2 little babies coming in and taking his spots. I do see him trying to lift them out of the crib when they cry, giving them 10,000 kisses a day, and hugging them (a bit too strong) often but I know that he'll be a great big brother. He has been so fun to watch grow and has taught me some important things in life. I can't wait to continue watching and seeing what this little boy will become.