John Paul Turns 3! With a Train Birthday!

My big kid turned 3 back in May.

What a gift it is to have a 3-year-old!

John Paul Fulton, watching you grow is such a joy. You have become such a chatter box, telling us stories about any and everything, and talking to anyone who will listen. You're favorite story to tell these days is, "When I was a baby, I used to call 'chocolate' 'lala'!" . . . which is entirely untrue, but I love how much you love making up stories about when you were a baby.

You love to explore the world around you, taking in every detail possible. You'll be telling us about something you saw weeks ago, and you'll recall the most random detail about it. It always shocks us and makes us chuckle. 

You still love books, and would curl up on the couch to read with us all day if we had the time. Your favorite books are the ones with vehicles, but you'll even give non-vehicle books a go from time to time.

Your eating habits have remained pretty much the same over the past year. If it were up to you, you'd only eat pasta, grilled cheese, or pizza every meal. We've gotten you to try a handful of less toddler-friendly foods, like tofu and kale and carrots, but you'll only eat them if there's nothing else around. You have quite the sweet tooth, which we don't indulge often, but I do use it to my advantage when I'm trying to get you to cooperate with pictures. (Candy bribery, ftw!) No wonder I have so many great pictures of you!

You have such a big heart and it always warms mine to see your love in action. When Jude gets hurt, you rush to his side to give him a hug and tell him, "It's ok to cry!" When you see a baby, you just want to hang out nearby and talk about how cute and little the baby is. When you wake up in the morning, your favorite thing is to climb into our bed and snuggle for a while. You'll often ask us how our sleep was and tell us that you love us. You're such a snuggly, sweet boy.

You love water! Whether in the bath, or the water table, or just playing in the sink, you gravitate toward anything involving H2O. And so long as we're not actually trying to clean you with it, you are giddy whenever water is around. You especially love cups in water because you get to practice pouring, over and over and over.

You also love to ride your bike. You mastered your tricycle as a 2-year-old and moved onto your balance bike pretty quickly from there. Now you zip around on your green balance bike with the greatest of ease. It always shocks me to see how quickly you can ride, and how much control you maintain. I wonder if it's time for an upgrade to a petal bike? For now, you're having fun also learning how to maneuver a scooter. And man, can you motor on that too!

You LOVE family. When we're not around your grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, you're constantly talking about them. My favorite is when you're enjoying something like a toy or a meal and you stop to say, "Nana would love this!" It's such a blessing to have John's family nearby. And even though my family is far, we FaceTime often and they visit when they can. And it's a good thing, because this boy sure loves his Rhode Island family too!

You are still a pro-sleeper, and we sure do appreciate that. You take one nap, from around 1pm to 3pm, and you sleep through the night from 9pm to 7:30am. You still sleep in your pack n play (lol), but you love it and we're not going to rock that boat if we don't have to. You are, however, welcome to sleep in that big boy bed we bought you (over a year ago!) whenever you're ready. :P We started using the OK to Wake clock a few months ago and it's helped you stay in bed in the mornings until a reasonable time. The clock turns green (at a time we preset) when it's ok to be up, and you have adjusted to it really nicely! Thanks for letting us "sleep in" 'til 7:30am every morning, kiddo.

One huge accomplishment in the past few months has been POTTY TRAINING! We officially have you out of diapers during waking time, and it's so nice! You still haven't learned how to hold while you're napping or overnight sleeping, so we put you in diapers for sleep, and you've managed to hold your poops until you're in that sleep-time diaper. But you pee on the potty like a boss and we love it!

You know, being 3 has its difficulties too. You really don't like it when things don't go your way, or when we have to tell you no. And if your brother tries to get involved when you're concentrating on a toy or task, emotions fly high. But overall, you do make this life pretty easy on us.

Bud, it's a pleasure to be your mom. Thanks for filling our days with love, laughter, and wonder. We couldn't imagine our family without you. Thanks for being you, kiddo!

For John Paul's 3rd birthday, we decided to skip the party and plan a trip instead! We knew he'd LOVE to ride on a Thomas the Train, so I did some internetting and found Thomas was going to be just a few hours away in Chattanooga the day after John Paul's birthday! It was fate! So we planned a long weekend out of it, booking a nice Airbnb apartment just outside of downtown, and filling time with fun activities and yummy restaurant adventures. John Paul's aunt, uncle, and 1-year-old cousin joined in on the fun too!

On our first full day (John Paul's actual birthday) was spent at the Chattanooga Aquarium. And it really was a full day! We started there right after they opened, took an afternoon break for lunch and naps, and then went back to finish exploring. Lots of great pictures to be taken . . .

For dinner, we found a pub near the old Chattanooga choo-choo, so before dinner, we explored the old train and several old train cars. They're not in operation anymore, just on display for tourists and train enthusiasts to enjoy. Some of the old train cars have been converted into shops, and one was even a bar! We didn't stick around for long, but John Paul LOVED this short train adventure.

After dinner, we had cake back at our rental apartment. We just picked it up at Whole Foods when we arrived in town. Birthday boy was thrilled to pick the flavor: strawberry. Easy peasy.

The next day, there were many more train adventures to be had. In the morning, John and the boys got to ride a funicular train 1 mile up the side of a mountain! John Paul loved it so much, he's still talking about it months later. And then in the early evening, we finally got to meet and ride Thomas! John Paul was totally in train heaven. I have this sweet video of him saying (totally unprompted), "Eeeeeee! I'm so happy!" while we road Thomas. It was precious. Oh, and he got his first slush puppie, so he was basically on cloud 9.

^^sporting his Thomas tattoo

Happy 3rd birthday, John Paul! We love you! Can't wait to see where year 4 takes you!

A Day in the Life, 2018

Just like last year, my Shoot Along photography course challenged us to complete a day-in-the-life photo project. Starting the moment we woke, we were tasked with taking one photo every 10 minutes. Whew! I pretty much stayed on top of it this time around. And now that I have all these pictures of one complete day, I figured it'd be fun to share exactly what goes on in our home over the course of 24 hours with you! A day in the life of our family . . .

March 2, 2018

7:15am

Jude starts making noise. And this is the first we've heard from him since he went to bed around 8:30pm. He slept through the night!! We usually let him play in his crib a bit before I go in to nurse him, mostly to give us some time to come to consciousness. 

7:30am

John Paul is now awake and fussing, so John goes in to get him and bring him into our room for morning snuggles. As soon as John Paul makes it into the room, Jude's really starts to fuss, so I head into his room to nurse him for a while.

7:40am

Jude's done nursing, so I go grab John Paul from our room. John is completely passed out again; he's exhausted from having been on call overnight and answering several phone calls from the hospital in the wee hours of the morning. So I take both boys downstairs with me and we let Daddy sleep in for a little bit longer. He just wants 30 minutes more.

7:45am

It's time to make breakfast! The second I open the fridge, Jude is immediately at my feet, rummaging through all the fridge goodies. John Paul soon joins him.

7:55am

Quick diaper changes.

8:00am

Breakfast is finally on the table. Coconut milk chia seed pudding for all of us. I add homemade granola to mine. The boys eat theirs with strawberries and blackberries. John Paul also gets half of an everything bagel, per his request. I've also prepared a bagel for John when he wakes.

8:05am

Forgot to make the coffee! We drink cold brew basically every morning. So I get back up from the breakfast table, leaving the boys to chow down, and go make two coffees. Cold brew + protein nut milk + agave is our combo of choice.

8:15am

Jude is antsy to get out of his highchair. He makes the best antsy faces. I leave the boys briefly to go wake up John.

8:20am

John joins the breakfast table and adds cream cheese to that toasty bagel. He's using Kite Hill vegan chive cream cheese since we're vegan for Lent.

 8:30am

We all wrap up eating and chatting and John gets ready to head out with Jude. Jude has a quick check-up at the pediatrician to make sure his weight gain is still on track.

8:40am

While John gets Jude changed and ready to go, John Paul asks me to play this little board game he got in his Chick-Fil-A kids' meal last night. It involves picking up paper bones with tongs shaped like a dog. Pretty cute. He loves it.

8:45am

Did I mention that Jude can walk now?! Look at how proud big brother is!

John and Jude rush out the door to make it to their 9am appointment on time.

8:50am

Still playing John Paul's board game. He ends up winning that round. :)

8:55am

We decide to FaceTime my mom, aka Memere! We end up chatting for over an hour, and lots of John Paul activities occur in the meantime.

He brings out his vitamins.

He requires a diaper change. :P

He builds Memere a "garage" for one car.

He goes for a short tricycle ride.

10:30am

John and Jude are home! Jude took a little snooze in the car on the way home, so he'll be able to hold off until after lunch for his nap and the boys will have overlapping naps today. WOOP WOOP! Also, John reports that Jude is gaining weight and back on track. SO MUCH WOOP WOOP!

10:40am

I start working on lunch: vegan lentil tacos. I don't normally make something so fancy, but we're eating out tonight, so I don't mind putting in a little extra work at lunchtime. Btw, have you ever had the lines on a measuring cup fade this much?? Silly, right?

10:45am

The boys play on the floor beside me. They pull apart my pots and pans cupboard, which keeps them happily distracted while I chop all my veggies and get things a cookin'.

10:55am

John decides to take John Paul on a Target adventure while I continue working on lunch. As he picks up John Paul to walk him over to the changing table and get him dressed to go, I snap this goofy upside down grin. Look at that milk mustache from his pomegranate kefir snack!

11:05am

Still working on lunch. It's coming along. Jude is getting antsy again. This time he's bored.

11:10am

So I start sneaking him little snacks and tastes of what I'm chopping. He gets a cheese stick, olives, tomatoes, avocado, and beans. 

11:20am

While I wait for the lentils to finish cooking, I take the free time to send a quick email. We're putting out feelers to local designers and gathering quotes for a kitchen reno. Eep! Jude loves to "help" by banging on the keyboard.

11:25am

Gooby baby still eating his cheese snack.

11:35am

Lentils still simmering, so I start working on a side salad.

11:45am

I decide Jude could use a nursing break, since he hasn't nursed since 7:30am. The recipe is at a good stopping place, so I leave everything heating on the stove and he nurses with me in the family room.

11:55am

Little goob wraps up eating and gets a hold of Daddy's remote control. He hides between the couch and coffee table while he plays.

12:00pm

John and John Paul return from Target with Coco!

12:10pm

Lunch is finally on the table. We have several different version of the same thing. The toddler version is a deconstructed taco with a side of deconstructed salad.

The grown up version is the fully assembled kind. :P

Btw, fritos + catalina dressing is a match made in heaven!

John Paul has mastered the Sign of the Cross after our meal prayer.

12:20pm

John Paul chows down. Om nom nom nom.

Meanwhile, Jude has had enough (might have overdone it on the pre-meal snacking, oops), so he swipes his arm like a windshield wiper and nearly clears off all the contents of his tray. Oyyyy.

12:30pm

No srlsy, he's really had enough. One HUGE yawn and we know it's for sure time to get him down for his nap.

12:35pm

A quick diaper change and then it's up to his bedroom. I get him in his zipadeezip sleep sack and we go straight to nursing.

12:50pm

He's soooo sleepy. He's out within minutes. I let him nurse for a few more as he slumbers sweetly, and read the daily Mass readings to pass the time. Then I gently place him in his crib.

12:55pm

Time to finally get myself dressed! I'm the type that'll go as long as possible before changing into day clothes. Some days I just stay in jammies all day! Not today though. I pick out my Tennessee shirt and pose for a self portrait. Ignore the laundry mess behind me. #reallife

1:00pm

I head back downstairs and John is cleaning the lunch dishes. I change John Paul's diaper and then send the two of them up for an afternoon nap. John gets John Paul down after a few minutes of snuggles and a favorite book.

1:10pm

All three of my boys are down for a nap! I take just a few minutes of this precious silence to get on facebook and see what's been going with the rest of the world.

1:20pm

Still a few lunch dishes left, so I get at it. It'll feel good to have a clean kitchen.

1:30pm

While I clean, I'm watching a new favorite show: Last Man on Earth. Have you seen it?! I've been making my way through all 4 seasons for a few weeks now and I'm almost caught up. It's so hilariously awkward, kinda like a mix of The Office and Flight of the Concords. I love it.

1:40pm

Kitchen is clean, so mama gets to put her feet up. I finish watching an episode of Last Man on Earth and then open blogger to start writing this post. Photography is on hold while I type type type.

3:05pm

John Paul shouts from his bedroom. Nap time is over for him, but Jude is still snoozin'!

3:10pm

John Paul waits patiently in his learning tower as I prepare his snack on the counter. Today's afternoon snack is mush: broken graham crackers and milk, stirred together until mushy. He's obsessed. I add a nectarine on the side to get some fruit in there.

3:15pm

My snack is this edible vegan cookie dough. YUMMMMM!

3:25pm

Still eating his mush. Look at that little chin dimple. <3

3:35pm

Jude finally wakes up! After a 3 hour nap!

3:40pm

I run up to his room to grab him and decide to nurse him for a little while. He eats for about 10 minutes while I scroll Instagram.

3:50pm

We wander over to John Paul's room, right next door, and the boys play while John hangs up some lights I purchased a while back. This will one day be the boys' shared room.

4:05pm

Mischief managed! Marquee lights are hung and we make our way down the stairs.

4:15pm

We decide to play outside for a few minutes to pass the time. It doesn't last long since it's colder than it looks outside.

4:20pm

Jude joins me inside and I unload the dishwasher. John stays outside with John Paul for a few more minutes of play.

4:40pm

All my boys are back inside. John Paul gets into another kitchen cabinet and plays with the funnel. For whatever reason, the boys are especially obsessed with the funnel and the two colanders.

4:50pm

It's time to head to our church for a Lenten fish fry. No, fish is not vegan. We decided earlier in the week it was ok to break our Lenten fast to enjoy fellowship with our church community. 

4:55pm

Our church is right next to our neighborhood, so we walk over. Down the street and up the hill to the fish fry we go!

5:05pm

FISH FRY!! We spend the next hour and a half enjoying good food and the company of great people!

John Paul is a little overwhelmed when we first arrive and has a little meltdown when I ask him if he's going to eat.

The fish is fantastic! We scarf down our food and spend the rest of the time watching all the kiddos runnnn around like crazy. They try to sneak outside about a hundred times, so we have to be on door duty, and continuously stop them from escape.

Look at my beautiful niece/goddaughter, Rosie. <3

And my other goddaughter, Lily! <3 She's obsessed with a Mickey balloon that's stuck up on the ceiling. She keeps screeching and pointing at it. Hilariously cute.

6:35pm

Time to head home! It's family movie night, so we're trying to get back at a reasonable time to watch a good chunk of movie. Tonight's feature: Coco! And we've invited a few friends and family members to join us!

6:55pm

We all settle in, get the movie going, and since Jude didn't eat enough at the fish fry, I nuke him some chicken nuggets. He chows down while watching Coco from his high chair.

7:00pm

John Paul and Rosie snuggle up on the couch. Rosie licks a toy car.

7:15pm

The adults enjoy some bubbly during the Coco viewing. :)

7:30pm

John Paul is GLUED. This is how he watches every movie. I've never seen a toddler with such a long attention span.

7:45pm

Owen enjoys playing with our rainbow stacker toy and catching glimpses of the movie when it's not "too scary." <-- his words.

8:00pm

Still GLUED.

8:10pm

We stop the movie and say goodbye to our friends. It's getting a little too late for all the toddlers, so we don't make it to the end of the movie. John changes Jude's diaper and gets him in his jammies.

8:15pm

Usually we head up for boys' bedtime at 8pm, but it's a special night, so we let it go a little later than normal. Jude loves climbing the stairs on his own. He'll fight himself out of my arms if I forget to put him down to climb.

Halfway up the steps, John Paul has a meltdown because we've forgotten to give him a bedtime snack. We decide to stick with routine, so John brings him back down and gives him a snack.

8:25pm

Jude gets his teeth brushed and then we head into his bedroom and I nurse him to sleep. He's got lots of energy, but after 30 minutes of milkies and snuggles, he finally settles and passes out.

8:55pm

John is wrapping up bedtime routine with John Paul. After the snack, he changed his diaper and got him in his jammies, brushed his teeth, and started reading him a book. I peek into John Paul's room to say goodnight and snap a pic of the cuteness.

9:05pm

John makes his way downstairs after he finishes getting John Paul down for bed. John Paul's pretty easy these days: read a book, say some prayers, put him in his pack n' play, say a long goodnight ("I love you! Sweet Dreams! Sleep well, and dream with the angels!" x 4). He can handle the falling asleep part on his own. 

9:10pm

After a few minutes of clean up, we settle into the family room for our evening screen time. John decides to watch half of a movie, The Foreigner, and I work on this post.

10:10pm

Jude starts crying, so we take it as a sign to wrap up our screen time.

10:20pm
Jude's still crying, so John heads into his room to help him get back to sleep. A 10pm wake-up is pretty rare for Jude, so we're wondering what's bugging him.

10:50pm
John has been rocking Jude this whole time. And he's been out basically the whole time. But John goes to put him gently into his crib and he's wide awake and crying again. So after finishing my bedtime routine (teeth brushed + face routine), I head in to nurse Jude.

11:20pm
Jude is FINALLY out, after 30 minutes of nursing. I put him down and he stays asleep. PHEW!

11:30pm
Lights out for us!

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And that's a wrap! What a day! Thanks for following along. :)

Camera: Nikon D3200
Lens: 35mm