Sleep.

Oh sleep, how I miss you.  We've really been struggling around here.  We got E down to one waking a night; it was quick, I'd feed him and he'd be back to sleep within ten or so minutes. 

Three nights ago, E woke up twice, but went back to sleep quickly, and A also woke twice--the first time was around 9 and he was cold, and the second time he woke up screaming that something was in his room.
Two nights ago, E woke up 5 or 6 times.
Last night, he woke once, but was awake from 3-5:30.  It impacted his naps, which were 11-1 and then 4-4:45.  It's been a rough day.  Last night, I got frustrated at not being able to figure out how to get him to sleep/stop crying that I took him downstairs to play.  As soon as he adjusted to the light, he was happy.  **sigh**

I'm pretty sure teeth are to blame, though I don't see anything popping through in there.  I gave him a teether, but he's been playing with it more than chewing on it.  It just looks like his lower gums have the ridges of teeth roots.  He doesn't have any of the other symptoms, but it's just what my gut's telling me.

It's days like this that I'm so thankful for this time to not have to work, to not have to have my brain on, or worse, have my brain on and PERFORM for 14 year olds.

See Kai Run

I've had my eye on the See Kai Run line of shoes since A was a toddler.  Natural Mommie is giving away a pair here!

A's new game and a wiggle worm

As I said last night, E can only crawl with his belly on the floor.  Despite this, he was able to get himself up the two steps from the family room to the kitchen today, successfully as is evidenced in the video below.




In addition, as he was hanging out at the bottom of the stairs, with his little head poking up to the kitchen, A created a new game of "baseball."  With a kitchen spatula and a bouncey ball, he would hit the ball toward E, who ended up throwing the ball back to him.

The Magic Word

Playing rough with A today, he wanted out.  I asked, "What's the magic word?" meaning please, of course.  His response?  "Abracadabra."

Baby Photo Shoot

After a morning snow storm, we had some beautiful sun streaming into the family room yesterday afternoon.  I took the opportunity to take some pictures of E in his diaper for a contest for that diaper company.

Family Game Night

We have a little tv junkie on our hands (in addition to the Mommy and Daddy sized tv junkies).  One Thursday night, A was pestering about tv for one reason or another, and M told him he would not be watching tv on Friday nights, effective the next day.  I jumped on the opportunity for Family game Night!

It has been a huge success.  We've played games one night, and a few other things, but tonight we took advantage of A and my gym membership and went to open swim.  We went for about half an hour and had a great time.  E loves just kicking his feet; he really looks like a little wiggle worm!  A is becoming more and more confident in the pool, though he still relies on the bubble and noodle.  He was very excited to show some of the things he does in class, like "Choo Choo."  In Choo choo, they hang on the wall of the pool and move along it in a train.  He was so thrilled to show this to me.

It was really fun to have a good time and get out of the house without costing us any additional money.  It was also great to get A in the pool during the lull between sessions.  Definitely not an every week activity, but something we can do while we still have the membership!

Movin and shakin

For what feels like months now, I've been fielding the questions of "is he crawling?" "is he standing?" "is he cruising?" and have had to respond with "no," or the qualified, "he's doing the army crawl, but he's not crawling with his belly off the floor."

Lately, he's been much more interested in standing.  He's been much more excited to drag over to me, climb over me, and have me pull him up to kneeling then standing.  Today he did this and kneeled on his own for the first time.

After the boys came home from school, I was talking with M, looked over, and saw that E was standing at his block table.  He'd pulled himself up!  He did it later at one of A's chairs.  So, he's standing!

We have a sunken family room off our kitchen with two steps.  When A was small, I went NUTS looking for safety gates that would work in this area, with absolutely no success (it's a very wide area, and gates for very wide areas need to be screwed in while we have brick on one side of the opening).

Today, E decided to try to climb these stairs.  He was able to get his knees on the first step, but didn't have enough room to push himself up to the second step. 

I am starting to seriously wonder if he's going to just skip over formal crawling and go right to walking.

Peek a Boo

Last night, M was playing peek a boo with E, hiding his face inside his sweatshirt.  I went upstairs to change E's diaper, and he started doing it with the shirt he was wearing.  So cute, my poor little eyes got weepy.

This morning, he was again doing the pterodactyl, and I started doing peek a boo with a napkin.  He stopped.  Sweet music.  I then covered A's face, and E started to laugh.  I gave him the napkin, and he dropped it on the floor.  Stinker.

Updated Slideshow

11 months!!??

E turned 11 months old yesterday.  Unreal!  This year has flown unbelievably fast.

At 11 months, he:

Crawls wherever he wants to go.  That said, this is the belly drag, but it gets him successfully where he wants to go.  I think he looks like someone rowing a canoe, because he "paddles" to the right to the left, rather that just going straight.

Waves when you wave at him, or if you say hi.



Claps when you clap, or if you say YAAAAY!!!


Favorite toys include:  the dustpan and broom, the flyswatter, and his bedroom door.


LOVES climbing up on Mommy and Daddy.  He's so proud of himself and just laughs and laughs.

 

Once he starts climbing on us, he is able to pull himself up to standing if we hold his hands.  

Loves to take steps with help, but will only take one or two before plopping down.

Typically sleeps from 7am-anywhere between 6:30 and 7:30, with one waking (usually around 5am).  

Typically naps from 9am-11am and 1pm-3pm.  This is almost always in the crib, where he's covered by his Grammi blanket, and cuddled with his giraffe.  He listens to the sound of waves.

Today, however, he would NOT take a nap, and I finally quieted him down only to discover:

 Loves his big brother to no end.

Is usually comforted best by Mommy...

...though Daddy is usually more successful at getting him back to sleep when he wakes at night.

His favorite game involves Mommy "accidentally" dropping and then catching him.  Today, I was playing this game with A while E was in M's arms.  E started bouncing that he wanted Daddy to do it too!

The only sign he does is "more," but he only does it if we ask, and it looks more like clapping than more.  He understands (but doesn't sign) A, milk, cookie, play.

Loves food.  Loves.  If he wants food, he will scream until he gets more food.  If he doesn't like the food you've given him, or if he's had enough, he will throw it on the floor.  Or the table.  At dinner, he often eats more than A, and sometimes eats as much as Mommy.



Has taken to doing this new sound in the past three or so days, which we call "The Pterodactyl."  He screeches.  It doesn't stop.  It goes on all day.  He does it when he wants more food.  He does it when he's bored.  I'm not sure what else it means, but it is tough.

Loves storytime, but it has to be in his room in his rocking chair.  If I try to read a story to the boys downstairs, he will sit for one page and start crying and rolling, but upstairs, we have read 5-6 pages of a REGULAR Dr. Seuss book.

Back, Back, Waaay Back

I haven't done one of these in a zillion years, but stumbled across this cute picture from March 18, 2009.  A still wears those jeans and sweatshirt, but they are nearing the end of their days with him.
How much has changed since this picture!  You can see the reflection of my old car, which has been replaced.  We're outside his OLD daycare, which has moved twice since then and is now in its permanent location.  Oh yeah, and A is now a big brother!  Who could forget!

Crawling in my skin...

I've been getting a little nervous that E isn't yet full on crawling, isn't yet pulling up to standing, etc. 

He's going at his own pace, of course, but it's a LOT later than A crawled, and I remember thinking that was late.

Lately, he's been pushing onto all fours and rocking, scooting himself forward, then dropping to the floor.  Kiddo moves pretty quickly doing the army crawl, so I guess he doesn't have a real need.  Today, I caught him using one of the couch cushions to push up to kneeling.

It is also his preference to climb.  He only climbs on and over us, but it's clear that that's what he likes to do.  He has climbed UP my chest, over M's legs, and he just cracks himself up.

Me first and the gimmie gimmies

A is at a tough age.  It's not because he misbehaves or even throws tantrums unmanageably.  It's that he gets frustrated easily.

He loves to be the "line leader."  Every morning, rushing to get out of the house and into the car, I have to stop because, "I'M the line leader!" and I have to let him pass around me in the garage.  More often that not, he has to go down the stairs first (again, frustrating when I'm trying to rush downstairs to make my coffee make the boys' breakfasts.

Yesterday morning, however, was really tough when we did our usual tear down the hallway from his classroom to the pre-care room.  Despite my being out of shape, my legs are about double the length of his so I am naturally faster.  I was being silly for A and E, and didn't think anything of it when I passed him.  He, however, gave up, threw himself on the floor, and started to cry. 

He is home sick today, and we have had a lot of fights.  Not because of anything other than he's not feeling well and his fuse is shorter than normal.  Most times today I've given in, but then wonder if I'm doing the wrong thing (this is motherhood) and if I'm teaching him misbehavior instead.  Sometimes, though, in the heat of the moment, the fight just isn't worth it.  Other than that, though, he's in pretty good spirits.

I've been getting a taste of TRUE SAHM-dom, since we spent E's first nap doing a pretty big art project.  It's not complete, and will go away for the time being to be picked up another rainy day.  I got the idea from the wonderful No Time for Flash Cards... we're making a rainbow!

On a related note, while I was at a baby shower on Sunday, M had the idea to make homemade snow globes.  He got the idea from Special Agent Oso.  It was very much as do and learn project, and he has lots of ideas on how to make it better next time, but they're great because A is pretty obsessed...  this one is M's, but A loves it because when you whack the jar, the duckie inside lights up.

This is Motherhood.

A blog I follow is running an..event?  Activity?  I don't know what to call it, but she put out the call for photos in the theme, "This is Motherhood."  I started thinking, well, what IS motherhood?  And once I figure it out, how can I put it into photos?

So, I got on the floor and started playing with E.  We played peek a boo, and I thought it would make a great picture.  I set up the camera with self timer, and went back to peek a boo-ing.  He crawled over to and started playing with...the camera.

I could take a picture of myself doing laundry, or making dinner, or even with Hoover pockets and a sad face, but who wants to see that?  I know that's not what comes to mind for me when I think about motherhood, anyway, thought maybe all that comes with the territory.

But what does?  For starters, a whole bunch of stuff that I can't take pictures of.  The way the boys come into our big bed on Saturday mornings and we all just cuddle.  The way E's big doe eyes look at me while he's nursing.  Worry.  Pride.  The way my heart, not unlike the Grinch's, grows two sizes when I think of A giving his brother a hug or the look E gets when he's just watching his brother. 

It's working really hard to (try to) balance self and family.  It's being a good role model, and making sure we're all eating our veggies.  It's taking care of them while finding ways to teach them how to take care of themselves.  It's having a partner (or partners) in crime for making mommy sanctioned mischief.

Motherhood.  It's a roller coaster ride.  And boy do I love roller coasters.

Wormy

I love watching E move around on the floor.  He's getting better about locomotion, though he still drags his body rather than crawls.  What's funny, though, is that watching him move is like watching someone row a canoe--he pushes his arms to the right, to the left, and gets exactly where he wants to go.

I am still having troubles getting the video; hopefully before he's walking...

Take a look, it's in a book!

I remember, when I was a kid, my grandmother would bring me Strawberry Shortcake books, then ask me to read them to her.  I'm sure she brought me other books, but for some reason, that's the memory that is striking to me.  I love to read; I'm currently in the middle of two books and a magazine, plus all the blogs and news media I read.  One of my favorite ways to wake up is to spend an extra half hour lounging in bed, reading my book.  In fact, M just told A that, he "didn't like to read when he got to high school, but Mommy reminded [him] how much [he] enjoys it." 

As such, it's very important to both of us that the boys enjoy reading, because not only is it something we love, but it also is so important.  It seems to me that it's one constant, even as our world changes and becomes more and more tech, more and more digitized, it also becomes more and more reading based.  So, when I found the blog Book Loving Boys, and saw that it was doing a virtual exchange of the Flat Stanley Project, I really was excited to participate.  I've heard of Flat Stanley, but we've never before read it.  I changed that by requesting it from the library, and was so happy to see it in my pile today.  It couldn't have come at a better time because tomorrow, M has an all day fencing event, so we're looking for activities, and this sounds like a perfect one for us.

It turns out that my exchange partner also has two boys, and her blog is about their reading adventures.  Check out LitLad, and stay tuned for the adventures of our Flat Stanley!

It also happens that, on a day I've already planned for a reading activity, Target is having a Seuss celebration.  Tomorrow has been renamed "Reading Day!"

Ch-ch-ch-changes

It's really amazing what a difference three years makes.  In E, it's obvious when he's changing, and we notice it immediately.  I can tell how much heavier he has gotten in the past month, I can see his eyes are becoming less blue and more gray, I see he has more hair and that it's gotten darker.  In A, however, it's a shock to realize he's grown because the changes are smaller as a percentage.  I looked at him the other day and realized he's really gotten tall in the past few months.  His face is looking more and more grown up; the other day I looked at him and felt I had a glimpse of how he would look as a teenager--freaky.

In behavior, changes are happening too.  E is getting frustrated that we can't understand what he wants/needs.  He has taken to screaming.  It's a lot of fun.  He screams when the food on his tray is finished.  He screams when he wakes up (I seem to remember A babbling and entertaining himself in the crib; E does not do this).  He screams when he is tired of standing (still not pulling himself up or cruising yet, though he is getting much better at "the inchworm").

By contrast, A is pretty even keeled.  Yep, he throws tantrums and gets mad ("Mommy, I'm mad at you."),  but the kind of cool thing is that after being in time out, he is so friendly, happy, and loving.  Sometimes we all just need a break from each other. 

I am constantly amazed by the feeling when "my heart swells."  I've heard this phrase a hundred times, but never really had that feeling before my boys came along (no offense to my other loved ones!).  I love that my boys are cuddlers, that they're laughers, that they try.  I love that they both have an interest in books (A now tells E stories, and E is happy to flip through a book on his own).  I love the way A will say, "I love my Daddy and my Mommy.  I love my whoooole family."  I love the way E looks for me when he's in one room and I am in another.  And I love the way they make my heart swell.

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Milestones

On Wednesday night, I was doing the "put the boys to bed by myself" routine.  I took E into A's room, and E decided to start moving.  The next day, he really started moving all over the place.  Now, there's no stopping him; I had him on the floor while I went to the bathroom, and he started wiggle worming all the way down the hall.
I took video, but am having problems transferring videos from that camera to my computer, so it will come soon.
The point is, we have a army crawler!!

On the topic of milestones, A came home the other day and started drawing "the family," his first set of actual stick figures.  He very quickly went from drawing circular scribbles to drawing stick figures.  He has been very interested in coloring on this mask they made at school for Chinese New Year... the other day, I saw him drawing circles--real circles, not just scribbles in a circular pattern.

Cupids, A & E

In January 2008, A and I made our first journey to Picture People.  We went with friends, so ended up at the one in Quakerbridge Mall.  I love love loved the pictures they took, and one of my all time favorite pictures of A was one of them.




So when I took E, on a whim, for 9 month pictures, and saw that they again had the angel wings, I knew we HAD to try to get some good pictures of him in them.

He actually tolerated them pretty well and was his adorable little self.

The Boys' Monthly Pictures

By request, here's a new slideshow.  I can't find E's 6 month shot, and have been really searching for his 7 month.  Hopefully they are on the other computer; I KNOW I took them!

It's so striking because, as it is now, it goes from A at 12 months to A at 1 month--quite a difference!

Kawaii Diapers, a review

E has been waking up with such full diapers at his 3am changing, I've come to the conclusion that he's been waking so frequently because of the diapers.  I discovered that many moms use Kawaii, which can be purchased lots of places but I bought through jackbenatural.com, for overnight.  I checked it out and discovered their prices are way cheaper than the other diapers I've been using (like under $10 cheap).  There are several different styles, and even a Heavy Wetter style, but I went with the Heavy Duty.  They also have all kinds of fun prints, though I went with blues (the Heavy Duty only comes in solids).

My first impression was that the aplix seemed really strong, and more importantly to me, that they might actually stay attached to the laundry tabs.  That held true on the first washing at least!  The next thing we together noticed was that it seemed really big on our little peanut.  I had the rise set just as I do on our other one size diapers, on the second setting. 

Maybe I shouldn't say this and jinx myself, but his first night in the Kawaii diaper had E sleeping 8 hours without waking.  I fed him and didn't change him.  He went on to sleep another 3 hours, went back to sleep ON HIS OWN, and woke for the day half an hour later.  What's that, you say?  He didn't get changed all night and slept really well?  Yes, yes he did.  We'll see how it goes on night two, but I may be writing a love letter to the folks at Kawaii diapers!

The thing about 9 months.

Yet another thing I forgot about in the roughly 3 year interim between my kids--at around 9 months, my boys started rolling around on the changing table.  E really loves doing this, hanging out on his belly, and reaching for what's over his head.  Lovely kiddo today stuck his foot in poop.  Ew, poop, especially eating table food poop.  Gross.

Some other nuggets that I want to remember, should my sons have kids and their wives are interested in advice from their crazy mother-in-law.

• Swaddling is awesome.  Both boys started to break free at about 5 months, at which point I started using the sleep sack.  It took a little bit of adjustment for them to sleep well again, but it really helped keep him warm without a blanket.  At least, we used this until he was old enough to sleep with a blanket, around 6 or 7 months.
• Blankies quickly became a security/cuddly issue for both boys.  E sleeps with a giraffe, and every time I put him in his crib, no matter how sleepy he is, he will reach for the giraffe.  A slept with a bear, though he is not very particular about who he sleeps with these days.
• On potty training.  I think I've documented many of the steps we took with A here, but I really want to remember one trick.  We all know that potty training for number 2 is harder than for number one.  It's about losing a part of himself, it's about control.  Our doctor said that the kid will hold it in, making it even harder to go.  So, we gave him laxative to make it as easy to go as possible.  When I knew he had to go (and believe me, it was easy to know!), everything would stop--no toys, games, tv, nothing.  Sometimes, we even took off his pants.  Once we started that routine, he started using the potty pretty quickly.

That's all I can think of for right now!

40 weeks?!?

I just got an email that E is 40 weeks old.  Wow; he's been outside longer than he was in.
Sooo, what can our E do at 40 weeks?

Clap--he loves clapping; clapping's his favorite.
Wave--sporadic, but it's definitely there.
Babble--duh duh dah dah is his favorite, rah rah rah is his second favorite
Stand--not so great at this, but we're working on it a lot right now.  He stands at a taller toy or at the couch, holding on and standing!

He giggles like crazy when A runs around, when he sees A for the first time in a day, etc etc.  Yesterday, he about had a conniption when A and Daddy came home at the same time.


He's sick right now, but yet seems to be sleeping better at night.  He's been waking only twice the past few days, and only for a quick nursing.... waay better than last week's three or four wakings, plus being awake and crying from 2-4am.

I love this picture of E, because, well, it's adorable, but also because he's the spitting image of:

9 month stats

At 9 months, E weighs 14.8lbs, and is 25.8" long. PEANUT!! (By contrast, A was 14.9lbs and 26").

The doctor told me to start feeding him table food.  He said E can eat anything we eat, as long as it isn't a choking hazard or honey (honey has botulism in it.  It's fine for us, but deadly to the under 1 year set.  Weird!)   We have to return in one month for a weight check, and if there is a problem, he wants to do bloodwork.

The boy loves to eat.  He LOVES to feed himself too, so this really shouldn't be a problem.  If I remember correctly, it wasn't a problem when we had weight problems with A at HIS 9 month appointment, so we should be totally fine!

Eyes

We are a family of four.  This family has four different eye colors.  Throw in the cats, and we have six different eye colors.

You're my baby blue

Over the River and Through the Woods

My kids only have one living great grandparent, my grandmother Mom Mom.  Likewise, her five other great grandchildren live 5+ hours away and don't come to NJ all that often.  I told A today that he "might just be her favorite person ever."  She calls, talks to M or me for a few seconds, then asks to speak with A.  The conversation almost always goes the same:  How are you?  Did you go to school today?  Are you a good boy?  I love you!, but it makes her happy and it makes me happy that he gets to know his great grandmother.  Further, he's learning a million and one lessons about how to talk on the phone and manners. 

See, my great grandmother doesn't hear so well.  This makes those phone conversations pretty funny for M and I, since more often than not, what she hears as his answers is actually E making noises or the tv.  But A does a great job--when I say, "You need to say it a little louder," he does... and is getting to the point where he will do it automatically.  It also helps me to explain why "uh huh" (or worse, "mmhmm") isn't as good an answer as "yes."

We drove down to see her today for dinner, and it again reminds me of how lucky we are with this boy.  He is so well mannered and well behaved.  I also get the opportunity to teach him how to speak up for himself.  Mom Mom offered him two dessert choices, pudding or apple pie.  He wanted the pudding, but she then said "Let's have the apple pie now, and you can take the  pudding home."  I said to him, "If you would rather have the pudding than the apple pie, you need to tell her so." 

He is such a sweet, kind little boy, that ADS.

More Than This

Encouraged by yesterday's signing adventures, I've been working more and more with E and his signing. When he was eating his lunch, I asked if he wanted more to eat, and he kept doing the sign for more more more. Them, I looked up the sign for tickle... I tickled him and said, "tickle tickle tickle!!" then signed, "more tickle?" He signed more more more!

So cool!

Signs Signs, everywhere the signs....

M began teaching sign language to A around the time he became verbal.  I can clearly remember A shoving food in his mouth, and making the sign for "more."  He became more vigorous when A started potty learning, having heard that teaching a kid the sign for "diaper" will help him to communicate his need to be changed OR that he NEEDS to go.  That wasn't so much the case with A, but he is really excited to do signs and loves to practice them.

When E started solids, I started working on the signs with him.  "E," I'd sign, "more food?"  This would typically get him to open his mouth for more.  It worked.  Otherwise, I've been pretty sporadic.

The other day, I saw him putting his fingers together doing what I thought was an early clap.  Today, however, I said "more?" and he made the sign.  Every time I said the word, he'd do the sign.  I'm not sure what he wants more OF, but he is so damn proud of himself when I understand what he's trying to tell me!

Video is so short because for some reason, my new phone only lets me email super short clips.  I made another video in which he did it, on command, three times.  Maybe I can figure out how to upload that.

Merry Christmas in the Feisty house

Christmas was such a wonderful experience this year.  Santa visited the very good S boys, bring A exactly what he asked him for, "A fixed Buzz Lightyear."  He brought E this fun caterpillar--your press down on him and he scoots across the floor.

We went to Church on Christmas morning, and A kept asking when we would have cupcakes and sing happy birthday to Jesus.  We didn't last through the WHOLE Mass, since A got fidgety and E wasn't super happy either, but we did stay through Communion.

The whole family came over for Christmas--Grammi and Grampy, Bepah, Mom Mom, and Aunt Karen were here.  A had a lot of fun handing out everyone's presents, but especially liked opening presents.  His excitement about the day was so exciting to watch and be a part of.

We had a very wonderful holiday around here!

Height

There are a lot of factors by which I measure A's height.  The amount of belly showing tells me he's grown out of his shirts, for example.  Today, he showed us that he can turn a standard light switch on and off.  Without a stool, or the little lightswitch doohickey I bought. 

Long time, no post!

Nearly a month with no posts around here.  Anyway, things are going very well around here as we speed our way into the holidays.

E turns 8 months old today!!  His sleeping habits continue to vary pretty much by day, but today was the first time I was able to transfer him from the car (during his daily daycare run nap) to the crib.  I was shocked, and was on edge the entire time, just waiting for him to wake up, but he slept almost 2 full hours.  This kid LOVES to eat, and there still hasn't been a food he hasn't liked.  He loves to stick out his tongue, and I think this is a signal that he's happy.

He adores his Mommy and brother best, but Daddy gets giggles ALL the time now.  E also adores the cats; taking him to see them will end pretty much any random crying spell.  He's getting very interested in reaching for things--placemats and shoes are his favorites.  E is also getting more and more adept at going from sitting to belly.  Still just the two teeth. 

We now bathe the two boys together in the same bathtub, and it's really funny how different they are in the tub.  A HATES to have water on his head and still SCREAMS when it's time to wash his head.  E, however, is unfazed, even when it goes in his eyes or whatever.  We can squirt him with the toys and he has no problem.  His favorite bath toy is this duck, named Bob:

He loves to hold it and chew on the parts that stick out.

As for Mr. A, he continues to relish the Big Brother role:

We do have some tough times around here with tantrums, and some days take way longer to get out of the house than others, but for the most part, he is a very good listener, is helpful with his brother and around the house, and is a whole bundle of fun. 

We've noticed he is getting so much better with coloring--he holds the crayon nearly perfectly, and is much more controlled than he used to be.  He even is able to color inside the lines.

He is taking karate at school, which seems to have resulted in a love for sliding across floors on his knees.  This is a little bit of a problem at his SOCCER class, when this is his preferred method of going after the ball.  He doesn't really TELL us what happened at karate, but he says he has fun there.

Now that fencing season is here again, we are alone more often than not.  A, of course, really misses Daddy, but we spend E's naptime baking cookies!

He's really into Santa, which means he's always looking for him this holiday season.  He keeps wanting to know if Santa is coming tonight.  He wasn't really into talking to Santa at the mall, and neither boy really got a big smile, but we got a picture with no one screaming so I was happy enough.  This is from Santa's visit to A's school.

This kid is pretty musical.  Play a song once or twice, and he'll be singing along with the chorus.  In fact, he can now sing the University of Delaware fight song.  (I've sung it more times in the two months since homecoming than in the previous 10 years...maybe in the previous 30 years even).

My hubby is awesome

I've always thought that my husband is awesome, but it really hit me the other day, when he forgot to do something.

That's right, he forgot to do something.  I forget what we were talking about, but he told me he changed a diaper and that he forgot to empty the poop.  Let me back up and give you some back story.

First, when using cloth diapers, you shake the poop into the toilet (as an aside, the cloth diaper mommas say you're supposed to do this with disposables too, which makes sense when you consider it rains on trash dumps, and the rain spreads diseases, etc, but they also say even the disposable packages say to do it, but I've yet to find a package that does) once the baby has started solids.

Second, M was not on board with cloth diapering at the beginning.  He reluctantly said to give it a try, but that he wasn't shaking poop. 

Well, now he shakes poop. 

As another aside, this was my fear as we started our cloth diapering experience, and though we haven't started meats yet, it isn't so very bad.  It's way less gross than when A had accidents during potty training.

Three

We've heard from so many people that the Terrible Twos is really untrue; it's three that's the worrisome age.

Whoo boy were they right.

A is so sweet, so loving, such an incredible good brother, so helpful.
And then he's not.  He somehow has stopped listening (sometimes), and his often uttered, "Don't talk to me," "You're not my friend," and "I wasn't talking to you" make me want to throw a tantrum of my own.  Also infuriating?  "I don't WANT to," "I can't do it (as in I can't walk, I can't put on my socks, etc.)

Today, we went to swimming class, and M made a comment that he was surprised I started getting ready so early, then said he understood why. 

But nonetheless, this kid is so loveable.  He's taken my "I eat your face" to new levels, and he bites us with no teeth.  Adorable.  We love singing silly songs, and I try to use his silliness to an advantage as we are trying to get out of the house in the morning.  Sometimes it works; sometimes it just slows us down further.  I so so so love hugs and kisses and cuddles every night at bedtime.  Yesterday, we all slept in a bit (!!) and A came into our room, wanting to cuddle.  Aww!

This all frightens me as we head into all Mommy, all the time season.....

Toofer #2

E's second tooth has sprouted!  Can't feel it, but it can definitely be seen!
He's chomping on everything--my attempts to give him water in a sippy have been met with him chewing on the spout.

We have a tooth!

So much has been happening around here, I just haven't posted about it all!
E started babbling sometime last week, and I just love it.  He favors the "duh duh duh" sound, which, of course, thrills Daddy endlessly.
Today we discovered his first tooth!!  Waaay earlier than his brother's first tooth.
He's been fighting off a cold (and losing) for almost 2 weeks now, and it really interrupted his sleep.  We were at the point that he only woke once in the night but this cold/teething threw that all off.  But his current sleep schedule is pretty manageable too, and this is with the recent turning back of the clocks.
Asleep by 7ish
Wake up for a feeding around 2
Wake up for a feeding/diaper change around 5
Up for the day around 7
Nap from 9-10:30
Nap from 1-3

And while things are not nearly as exciting in the world of A, this kid is growing.  It's very noticeable that all of the sudden, he's much taller.  His speech has gotten so much more clear, and he just comes out with the funniest things (like his dead ringer of M saying, "You can see just fine" because A always says he can't see if the light isn't on, regardless of how much light is coming in from elsewhere).  The other day, he said he wanted his hair like a boy at school (who has a mohawk) so, despite months and months and months of him CRYING and SCREAMING when he even THOUGHT we were spiking his hair, he asked for spikey hair last night.  So, spikey hair he got.

He also went to school this way today (with gel in his hair, no less... my kid wears products at THREE!), though we had some troubles in communication when he said he wanted his hair like the boy at school, but I couldn't figure out what he meant (I believe he wanted the red hair dye the boy had used for Halloween)--we got it acceptable to A anyway.

This weekend, we went to Delaware for homecoming.  A came home going on and on about the marchers, though he didn't actually get to see the band perform.  The game was at 3 this year, which meant the boys didn't take afternoon naps.  A had a meltdown right around halftime, so the boys also didn't see Mommy play in the band or see postgame either.  Next year will be better for everyone, I'm sure. 

This year, A has really taken to the mascots.  He was ALL about YouDee and Baby Blue this year, and even wanted to go say hi to the Chick Fil A cow that was walking around.  In fact, he was sleeping on M when YouDee came RIGHT NEXT TO US and M said to me, "he's going to be so upset that he's asleep and YouDee came right next to us!"  A woke right up, and this was the best picture I could get:

So, A came home from Delaware with a YouDee doll and a hat (that matches his YouDee tshirt).  He kept asking me to sing the Delaware songs.  M is convinced A is going to Delaware.

Halloween

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero.  ~Marc Brown

E at 6 months

E had his 6 month appointment today.  The doctor said he is perfect, and seemed surprised that he is already showing some stranger anxiety (I thought to myself, "I'm kinda sure he's crying because you're poking and prodding him, not because you're a stranger).

He is still charting small, 14.08lbs (about 10th percentile) and 25.2" (5th percentile).

He loves his feeties!
He's become a sitting up champ.
When he wants my attention, he coughs.
Loves to stare at his brother
Loves to pet Mitten, and will stare at her whenever she's in the room
Generally sleeps for an 8 hour stretch at night.

When it comes to food, this kid loves him some solids.  He took a few days to come around to green beans, but otherwise, we have yet to encounter a solid food he doesn't like.  He's had:  rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, winter squash, banana, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, carrots, zucchini, and loves them all!


We're still struggling to figure out a nap system...  he falls asleep on the ride to and from daycare, which throws off his morning nap and I'm lucky if he stays down for half an hour.  The afternoon nap sometimes works and sometimes doesn't, but then he's wanting a nap around dinnertime.

Off to see the Wizard

Tonight, A started watching The Wizard of Oz for the first time.  So far, he's enjoying it.  He wanted to know if he could eat the Munchkins.

The other day, I was wearing my UD sweatshirt, and he said, "Grammi has that shirt!"

Hahahahahahahaha....

"A, it's time for lunch!"
" Sucking my thumb is my lunch!"

:PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

Yesterday, E began to blow raspberries.  I forgot that today was the 29th, so change the "today is September 28th" to the 29th.

Enjoy!

Five Month Weight Check

At his four month appointment, the doctor was concerned when E dropped from the 25th percentile to the 5th percentile in both height and weight.  He told me to start him on solids and come back at five months for a weight check.

I started him slowly on solids, because I've read many things about holding off until the baby is 6 months, but didn't feel like dealing with any crap if he didn't put on weight.

Today was his follow up weight/height check and he remains in the 5th percentile for both height and weight.  The doctor told me that it's really nothing to be concerned about, because he didn't drop any further.  He said something about for the first four or so months, the baby's size is based on the size of the placenta, and so there could be a change after that point when the baby's natural size takes over.  "So, he's just meant to be in the 5th percentile?  He's just a small baby?"  I asked.  He said, "Yup.  He's just a small baby."

OK, then.  I'm not sure why the other doctor made such a big deal about it, and if I was a first time mom, I'd probably have been freaking out, but I digress.

Days like this.

I don't like days like this, days when E wakes before A.  Yesterday was great--A woke first, started squeaking his bed rail, which woke me.  He came into my room, got a little cuddle time, and we went downstairs to start breakfast when E started to wake.  He woke up giggling.  As a result, we had a fairly smooth day, though A got dropped off to daycare later.

Today, however, went something like this:
E wakes for a feeding at 5, we both go back to sleep.  He wakes again at 5:45, goes back to sleep, I get in the shower.  He wakes up while I'm in the shower but starts cooing.  Ok, he's up but he's happy.  I finish my shower, get dressed, etc, then go get him up.  He wakes up A at 6:30.  So, E and I are both ready for the day pretty much by the time A wakes up.  By the time A is finished his breakfast and starting to get dressed (when I HAVE to put E down somewhere), E has realized that he's still sleepy and starts to scream....  for about 20 minutes until we get in the car and get on our way.

Luckily, however, E is napping today.  This means Mommy not only got started at a more reasonable time, but also that Mommy gets some things done.  HOORAY!

So there are definite plusses to a day like this, especially if E is willing to take that precious nap!

E at 5 months

At five months, it appears that E is falling into a routine. His bedtime routine starts around 6 (depending on the dinner situation--I've had a few cold meals this week) and he's asleep by 7. He typically sleeps until about 2, and for the past few days has been sleeping until around 6:30.

Naps, however, are the opposite of routine. He is a classic cat napper, and wakes as soon as the car stops or he is placed in his crib. Even an attempt at nap today in his swing lasted a whole 20 minutes.

We've mostly stuck with cereals for solids, which he likes, but the few other foods we've given him haven't gone over too well. He does stick out his tongue at these.

He loves to sit in his bouncey seat and play with the dangling toys. He leans forward to grab onto them.

If he's on his back playing, he puts his legs up in the air.

He loves to be thrown in the air.

He loves to giggle and cuddle.


He throws up a LOT.

He loves the outside; it will calm him down from a panic pretty much instantly.

Mommy still gets the biggest smiles, though Big Brother FASCINATES him.

He is showing signs of teething--gnawing on everything, most especially cloths, drooling--but if his brother is any indication, we won't be seeing any actual teeth until around February!