Life happens + photos

Life has been going super fast lately. I don't even know where to begin. How about where we left off.... Potty.

G has been "pee" potty trained for about 2 weeks now... Poop is another story. A few have gotten intentionally in the potty... Others are accidents. Just riding that out until she figures it out. She understands the concept. But has yet to consistently act on it. She's definitely "nap" trained but nights are about 80%. We check on her when we get up with J, and sometimes she'll want to get up and go, other times she wants to sleep--and sometimes she ends up peeing later in her bed which is a bummer. She gets really excited when she keeps a dry bed all night, and she knows she is supposed to. I'm really really proud of her for working through this whole potty thing. She's even used the potty away from home several times. She tells us when she has to go, although I have to ask sometimes too.

Then there's that baby. Man he is a handsome devil. And by devil I mean, sweet but mischievous already. He's not the best sleeper, sooo that's crappy, but he's hitting all the milestones & generally happy, so I can't be too disgruntled. He has pushed up on to his hands (with elbows off the ground)! 5/6 for that one. 

5/8 for the first time he sat in his high chair--though he was propped up with some towels since he isn't quite sitting independently yet. He just loves watching everything & got to where he demanded to be held during meals so he could see... So we broke out the high chair. He is really interested in food. I figure if we make it to June without starting solids, we'll be lucky. I'm in no rush but he is always pulling our plates toward him + he is a CHUNK, so I'm sure he'd gobble some oatmeal up. He doesn't have any teeth yet, but I can see the outlines of several. It might just be because he's a second child, and despite his genetic abnormality, he seems farther along than G was in several ways. But in others, not so much. Just different kids...

So currently J goes to bed around 7:45 pm, wakes up about 4-4.5 hours later (yah, fuuuun), eats, wakes up about 4 hours later, eats, wakes up about 2 hours later...unless he's having an up every hour night like he did almost all last week and weekend. He naps 3 times a day, but only for 40 minutes each time.

I've done substantial sleep training for his age to reach these totals....so yah, he's just a crappy sleeper & I don't know why. Intelligence mixed with crappy breathing, my guess.

Speaking of intelligence. That big sister sure is genius. She's figured out her new jigsaw puzzles! She needs some guidance and support from us occasionally, but is doing them on her own. Letters are old news and we're kind of half way working on reading. Not crazy like, just some skills. A few sight words here and there, sounds and modeling sounding out words, and then my favorite...having her help us read books. That's basically memorization & recall but it's a step. So we'll read a book & then pause to see if she can say the next word. She usually can--as long as its a verb or noun. Prepositions and pronouns, not so much, sometimes she gets modifiers.

Friends are her favorite thing, and we've been having lots of play dates to make up for the home bound winter. She adores play dates. She's great at sharing & loves giggling/running around with kids her age. She's interested to know their names & letters, and talks about them for hours before/after we seen them. She prays for them at nap and bed time & that's simply darling.

Something that's come in handy lately is her ability to wait / understand a sequence of events. She's been able to follow directions for a year or so, and multi step directions since last summer...now that's turned into listening to me when I tell her that we will do Z after we do Y, but we have to do X first. For instance, if she is being whiney or something I can tell her that we will go to the park after nap time but she has to stop whining. 85% of the time that works, the rest of the time she keeps whining but knows nap time has to happen & then we'll go to the park. OR if I want to get her excited for something, I'll usually tell her what we're doing the next day & so she'll be happy knowing something fun is coming up. I remember the days when she'd want that right now, and sometimes she does, but she's learned some patience & I'm thrilled.

Church has been going well. Behavior is staying consistent & J is doing well too. Sitting up front & by the music is a life saver.

G is a great big sister, and we have a grand time playing together. She gets proud of J just like I do & she wants him to sit on her lap and lay on her tummy. She makes sure he's included and I've honestly not seen an ounce of jealousy. That's pretty spectacular. So thankful there!

I've been doing fine... Running is going well. Getting ready for a big trip....gonna wear me out but family should be happy. Still haven't heard when my genetic test will be but it should be soon. I've been doing a lot of baking & friend making. 

Photo bombs;