Fun Times at the Poyfair House

Jack has learned to laugh. It's not the belly laugh that we all find so cute. It's like a giggle that he tried to suppress, almost like he is embarrassed to just let it all out. He really only does it when I tickle him, but he still gives me that cheerleader smile that I love. As long as his diaper is clean and his belly is full, the little guy is the happiest baby on the block. He loves to smile at his sister and gets the biggest grin on his face when Daddy comes home from school. He is learning to sleep in his crib instead of the swing and he has his own room (well, he shares it with the computer and craft table). He is a big guy, at 16 lbs and is wearing 6 month clothing already. We just love his huge dimples and the sweet spirit he has brought into our home.

He has also learned to love his exersaucer. Olivia was addicted to the thing, but Jack is still learning what all the gadgets and buttons do. He is obsessed with trying to get the pieces in his mouth, but they just don't reach that far. He also loves the mirror. He will stare at it for a little while then go a little crazy, flailing his arms and arching his back. I'm not sure if he is scared of it or just so excited that there is another baby there to play with him! He will stay in the exersaucer long enough for me to get dinner started or clean up Olivia's room, which is a life saver for me. What a lucky Mom I am! By the way, the picture gives you a good idea of the look he gives himself while looking in the mirror.Olivia is such a good "mom" to Jack too. When he is crying she will give him his binky and say "shhh" like I usually do. When he finishes a bottle she'll say "Good job Jack!" When Jack is in his bouncy chair she'll lean in until her face is inches from his and just baby talk to him until he smiles and she'll say "Jack smiled!" The other day Jack was crying while I was doing dishes and I walked in the room to find Olivia propped up next to him with a book, reading to him. She looked at me and said "Jack sad... read book!" Jack was just staring at her and smiling as she read to him. It was dang cute.

Olivia learned recently that she likes Top Ramen. She calls it spaghetti soup, which is fine with me as long as she eats it. She likes how long the noodles are and I like cleaning up after she is done playing- I mean eating her lunch. She is also obsessed with marshmallows, which she calls "smoes" and asks for them for all meals of the day. I give her some when she has been good or if we are in the car for a while (sugar or not, they are fat free!). She got some for her bed snack the other night, and- no kidding- stuffed all of them into her mouth at once.

Olivia is getting so smart. She starts preschool in the fall and I am so excited for her to learn more. She can count to ten, sing her ABCs and recognize her letters, spell her name, she knows her colors, her animals, Rachael Ray and Dr. Phil, and can tell where we are going by what we are passing on the street, although she can recognize Target, WalMart, Applebees, McDonald's, and Old Navy by their signs (and she calls Old Navy "Oh Baby" just like Rix does).

I found a BYU Cheerleader Barbie in my storage boxes and Olivia loves her. The doll came with a brush and pompoms and Olivia brushed her hair all night. The doll, since it is a cheerleader doll, has very bendy arms and legs, as you can see by the pictures below. I can tell you, Barbie was probably not loving her legs up by her ears as her hair is being ripped out by a 2 year old. Olivia loved Barbie so much, she had to sleep with her that night, minus the pompoms since I had to go into her room twice to put the pompoms back on and decided that I would get much more sleep (and so would she) if the pompoms just stayed off until the morning.

One of the genes I passed on to Olivia is the chocolate loving gene. She loves anything chocolate and knows what brownies are just by looking at the box at the store. Sunday night I was having a craving, so she helped me make brownies. She stirred the ingredients while I added them, but then had to stop after she got upset she couldn't eat the raw eggs. I let her stir again after the eggs were well mixed in so she wouldn't try and grab for them again. It is fun having Olivia at this age where she is excited about the littlest things, like helping me stir brownie batter. She even turned the oven light on so she could watch them bake. And yes, she is wearing a BYU sweatshirt- Go Cougars!