So I was a bit out of sorts for my last several posts, and for that I apologize.
Life is returning to "normal" around here. I feel like a capable mother of 2 small children, and not so overwhelmed by little things, or so I hope.

J turned 2 in June....ack! 2 sure is....dynamic. He says SO many words, sentences, phrases, and he repeats almost everything. We are very careful about what we say :)
He loves to dance, sing, run, swim, go outside, and play. He still loves to spin things (and I mean truly spin things - and everything at that!) and he loves D.isney movies (current favorites: T.oy S.tory, Ca.rs, H.appy Fee.t, and L.ion K.ing). He is able to entertain himself for a while. He loves his Daddy, and goes wild when he returns home from work.
The "2" part comes in when he has to do things he doesn't necessarily want to do. He throws tantrums - screaming, crying, hitting, kicking, and head-butting. Nice, huh? I know he doesn't mean it, because he doesn't know how to communicate effectively, but it's frustrating all the same. I hear 3 is even better - HA!

W is 7.5 months. He is a.w.e.s.o.m.e! He is our funny guy. He laughs at everyting - and does what we call the "scrunchy face" - wrinkles his nose and breathes quickly in and out through his nose (kinda snorting). He simply adores J and all that he does. W is now eating solids 2-3 times per day, and has a "sweet tooth" (or shall I say gum..no teeth in there yet). He loves apples, pears, bananas, sweet potatoes, and applesauce. He think carrots are okay, same with prunes (seriously, prunes? Only use it when we "need" to for him - he'll go a couple of days without pooping, poor dude!). We'll be going to green beans next and then squash.
W BIG NEWS: he is going on night 6 of sleeping from 8 PM until 6:30 AM STRAIGHT!!!! Can you believe it?! finally, after 7.5 months we are getting some shut eye! We feel almost "normal" again. And truly, I believe that W feels better too. Our method, you ask? We let him cry it out. Nothing else worked, and yes, it sucked. But it worked, and it was needed. And I have a wonderful husband who slept on the couch and allowed me to close the bedroom door and turn up our air purifier on high to block out the screaming. The first night was the worst (up 4-5 times, Husband put him back to sleep all times), the second night got better (up 3 times, but put himself to sleep each time), and the third night was great (up once, again put himself to sleep). Since then, he has slept thru until 6:28 AM every morning (yes, really that time every morning, kinda feels like "Groundhog Day"). He then nurses, and returns to the bed until 8:30 AM. What a blessing! J is up around 7:30 AM, so I don't really go back to bed after W eats, but who cares, right? STRAIGHT SLEEP, people! PRICELESS!
Side note: W was diagnosed with Reflux and put on Za.ntac in April. 0.5 mL, twice daily. He turned into a different baby, without a doubt - he seemed so much more comfortable, and was able to sleep better at night (when I say "better" I mean he was no longer waking 6 times/night - it was more like 3-4). In May (I think?) we upped it to 0.6 mL twice daily. For the last few days, I have only given him 0.6 mL once before bed. Seems to be doing well with that too.
W started sitting up at the end of June at 6 months. He desparately wants to be a man on the move, but his legs aren't cooperating with him yet. No worries on my end, J didn't crawl until 9 months. No rush, W. I love immobility!

Okay, enough of my boring post. Just wanted to document some of the happenings with the kiddos.