Dear Will and Jon,

If you could plan to start regularly sleeping through the night in your own crib from let's say 11 till 7 that would be greatly appreciated.  Last month Will you were doing so well, until you started cutting teeth.  First, things were off for about a week, while you were cutting the two bottom teeth, and several days following.  Things kinda settled back into routine and then you started working on a top tooth and the last week and a half has been rough again.  Jon always wakes up at least once in the night, but usually 2 or 3 times between midnight and 7 am.  We have started doing some exercises with you to help your startle reflexes to relax, I actually do them with both of you, and think that Will is napping a little easier in the day, though it's still too early to tell if they are helping.

This past week with Daddy gone and getting our house ready to sell has been extra challenging.  You are both frequently into everything.  I have to assign each of you to a kid while I work.  The dog's water bowl being the most interesting toy around.  It is clear that you understand the sound I make to get your attention and mean no.  I would say most of the time you then stop what you are doing, but later on, will see it and go back to it.

You are both pulling up and crawling everywhere.  Will, you cruise on the furniture from time to time, but Jon has begun letting go while standing.  Daddy was watching you earlier tonight, and was surprised at how much difference a week has made.  He wonders if Jon will be the first to walk, since you seem to have the better balance at this point.

You both remain such happy boys, especially when being held or played with.  In the last month, Kate has begun playing with you more and more.  However, she is having more trouble telling the two of you apart.  You both seem to enjoy the attention from her.  Though she is put out when you pull down the forts that she builds, or aren't interested in the book she is reading, or the game she wants you to take part in.  You are both eager to play with toys and explore everything with your hands and your mouths.  Though Will is quick to take whatever he is interested in, Jon doesn't just surrender the item and move on now.  You both crawl all over each other and if we lay in the floor you will crawl back and forth over us.  I feel like I know what a mother dog feels like as you climb and roll over each other and me, until you decide that you need to nurse again, and make a bee-line for me, and attempt to get my shirt out of your way.

You have also become rather affectionate and talkative.  Will you have always loved to cuddle but you love to drop your chin and burrow your face into my shoulder or neck then lean back and smile.  I am convinced you are giving hugs.  Jon, sometimes open mouth kisses and then laughs.  You both love to be kissed to excess and will start laughing.  You also both really like to be tickled, and often will grab my hand when I quit to tell me to do it again.  About a week and a half ago or so I heard da-da for the first time, but we weren't sure who said it as you were sitting together.  Since then I'm sure I have heard Jon say it twice more when looking at or pointing at Daddy, so I'm convinced you are trying to say Daddy.  Daddy doesn't believe me though.  Two days ago for the first time I heard Will making a M sound and waving his arms for me.  I've decided that he was calling me, even if Daddy said that didn't remotely count as it was mixed in with a bunch of other sounds, and hasn't been repeated since.

Thankfully, you are both eating better.  Jon has finally decided that food isn't a trick to kill him, and willingly eats some.  I have been patient, frequently offering, but not stressing over how much either of you eat.  You both continue to nurse really well, and are growing and gaining skills.  I just hope you have gained enough by your doctor's appointment that the doctor won't fuss so much about your growth charts.  This month we have also introduced finger foods, letting you pick up melts and puffs to feed yourselves.  I also give you a decent sized piece of broccoli that lets you suck on and eat the soft part but not so small for the stem to be a choking hazard.  You have both tried and enjoyed Red Lobster biscuits as well, a treat I would have just as soon kept for myself.

Boys, you give us great joy each day, though some of that might be hysteria from lack of sleep, seriously lets just start sleeping this month ok?  I can't describe how much we enjoy just watching the two of you and your infectiously joyful personalities.  I know that we are better parents, and more relaxed in our parenting than we were with Britt, and in many ways you two will benefit from that.  While I often miss your big sister in Heaven, the two of you give us such a sense of completion and peace that we didn't even know we were missing.  We pray that God bless and guide you always, and that you will always find the joy in life, and live lives that are honoring to him.  We love you,

Love,
Momma