G at 4 years old

I wrote most of this before G's birthday with intentions of updating a little bit and then posting...but life got crazy after her birthday (home projects, wreck, visiting family....) so here I am a little bit late on her birthday post.....

Four years old sounds super old. I have memories from being 4. I mean, they are very specific moments, without a lot of context. But my daughter will likely remember some of the things happening in her life now even when she's 28. I sure hope I am doing a good job as her mom.

She is very, very observant. And smart. She has always had a great memory and I love how her thirst for knowledge is relevant to the world around her. She makes adult like connections within her head and asks appropriate questions to fully form her thoughts about a subject.

She does have a few linguistic quirks (re; mispronunciations) still but I think they are adorable, of course. She can pronounce Justin Timberlake just fine though LOL (The other night we were driving home from my sister's house and "Not a Bad Thing" came on the radio and she asked me "Is this Justin Timberlake?" ... I busted up laughing and said "yes!" I have no idea how she knew that??? and her pronunciation was perfect, so that's fun). She can also prounounce St. Thérèse just fine (because she asks me about the book I'm reading which is about that most amazing saint). Her mistakes are usually when there's an odd combination of vowels or s or l in certain places of the word. Her vocab is off the chart, so that's fun. Thankfully, I don't think I've ever heard her say a bad word... which is saying a lot since expletives are my vice.

She is a super healthy eater and asks if things are healthy, have sugars, or have dyes. She enjoys vegetables (not beets!) and chooses healthy options. She does still like mac and cheese and hot dogs (but I choose the better versions of those childhood classics) Her favorite foods are-- strawberries, (GF) cereal, oatmeal with berries, cucumber chips, chicken nuggets (I don't usually feed them to her, but they are a favorite so I'm listing here), salad (specifically spinach, but other lettuces are acceptable, no dressing), bacon, tomatoes, grapes, graham crackers, granola bars, steak, sausage, potatoes, butter, cheese, green beans, peas, apples, almond butter, pizza (we usually make spaghetti squash crust but she loves wheat crust)
It's hard to write about food with her, because she will eat just about everything (no beets and no spicy); but many of her favorites aren't paleo and we are trying to avoid them (not completely for the kids especially right now). Suffice it to say for posterity, she eats well and makes me proud with healthy options.

She rarely takes a nap, sleeps about 10-11 hours at night, and weighs about 33 pounds (she is 3 feet and 3.5 inches tall). That means she is hovering around 29% for weight and apparently hit a growth spurt and is 46% for height! She's in between 4t and 3t clothes, and her foot is a size 9. Her eyes are gray-blue and her hair is still super white blonde.

She is working on reading. We've been slowly and occasionally working it. Her gym school sends home 5 sight words a week and then we work on them at home. The next class, she practices them with her teacher, too. She is moving right along and I bet will be reading by summer! She's been able to sound out words for a few weeks now (but if they aren't easily sounded out then she has trouble, hence sight words being a good thing).

She is fairly athletic, but not aggressive. She loves the idea of soccer, but she will need to develop some more 'fight' to be competitive at it. She likes gymnastics but I don't know if that will pan out. She is also a funny little dancer and loves music!

She loves school pages and her handwriting is pretty good, above average for her age. She has said her favorite thing to do (inside) is puzzles, but loves playing at the park when it's not cold.

She is super loving and very compassionate. She cares about other people and wants everyone to feel loved. She's also really shy though. I think she's introverted for sure, and may end up with my same personality. I'd obviously be okay with that ;-)

She recently spent time with family, away from me. I'm happy to hear that she was decisive, helpful, and kind. She was a big help with J, so that's nice.

She gets anxiety watching certain shows (like Wild Kratts when a bat flew into a plate of brownies, or Thomas the Train when an engine was going too fast and made a mess, or Veggie Tales when there was a villain). Basically if things don't match up to how she knows they should be, she gets nervous. She doesn't cry or get mad, she just says she doesn't want to watch it anymore and fidgets with her fingers. I'm glad that I'm there for her and can talk her through these situations, hopefully giving her the mental tools to cope with anxiety and uneasy situations since life will throw her more than that within a few years.

Speaking of preparing for the tough stuff. She recently had a discussion about heaven with me and she asked me what happens to a kid if their mommy and daddy go to heaven. "who takes care of them?" ..... so that was tough to not just pick her up and shower her with kisses and tell her that'd never happen to her...... but life is so unpredictable and I don't lie to my kid. So I just explained that there are lots of people on earth that would love that kid and take care of them and then the kid could get to heaven someday and see his or her mommy and daddy again. I also took care to remind her that heaven is a good thing and if the mommy and daddy were in heaven, we should be glad for that.

For her birthday at gym school she wanted to bring a treat that even the little girl with allergies could eat them. So we found a recipe that was free of dairy and eggs (the allergies), got it approved, and took them the class before her birthday. She was really proud to be able to share something with this little girl, and I am really proud of my sweet girl for being empathetic.

I could go on and on telling the wonderful things she does, but it'd get redundant, so here are some photos from her birthday (a separate party post to come eventually)

ps. She can throw fits and misbehave rarely, but it's usually only when provoked by her brother. I really couldn't dream of a better girl.

potty win bed fail

So it took about a week, but J to use the potty!! I don't know how, because it seemed like we were in for a long training period (As with G), but I think we started young enough there wasn't a battle for control. That first week was stressful for sure...but 8/17 he woke up and just had it under control!! I'm so glad. Nap and nights are a different story. And he may get those if we pushed it, but since he doesn't wake up dry in the morning and rarely does at nap time, I figure we'd be in for many nights of changing sheets and after doing it for forever with G, I just want to wait on it for a while. My husband agrees.

Then there is the climbing out of bed incident that just happened. UGH! I didn't think we were there yet.
One major reason for not wanting to sleep-time train him was we wanted to keep him in a crib longer since we know he won't stay in his bed like G did. He's way to adventurous. So we thought we'd bide our time for a while, then rip the band-aid off and do both undies-while-sleeping and staying-in-your-bed training at once.

Guess it's not gonna happen because he popped his little cute head into my room today during nap time!! I instantly felt my heart drop....like, "are you kidding me!?" He looked shocked about it too, so I didn't scold him or anything, just told him to stay in his bed and go to sleep.
I should have just went with my gut and started it this past weekend, as he had started throwing huge fits about wearing a diaper to bed. I just really didn't want to lose sleep. Mom fail.

I'll keep you posted.

In other news his vocalizing is really improving, I'd give him another two weeks before true words come and I'm SO excited for it.

In more other news, we're busy as ever with work, playing, cooking, housekeeping, and attempts at being social...so forgive the lack of creative writing of this post!

J is ONE! Chondradysplasia Punctata is mild.

I blogged way more through G's first year of life, but that is just the nature of being a new SAHM...you need to vent more, you are less certain, you have more time.


J hasn't been shorted in any way, shape, or form; aside from less face time on this blog...and I do not think that's a bad thing.

He's doing so amazingly well. He is super smart, super funny, and super sweet. He's a really happy and friendly boy. He wants to be the center of attention and is very investigative. He wants to be BIG really bad, and just the other day he climbed into the toy basket. I have no idea how! He's been known to get into the pantry and pull out cereal too. His latest mischief is climbing into G's bed and reaching onto her night stand to get whatever he can reach. (throws hands up, I can't win!)

As a one year old, J is;

• about 21 pounds and a bit under 29" -- he's in 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers when he wears a disposable.
• he has 4 top teeth and 3 bottom teeth (working on the other 1 for the past month now - boooo)
• He sleeps from about 9 pm to 6 am ish, eats, and back to bed until around 9 am ish
• He sleeps with a blanky, but doesn't really have a lovey, nor does he suck his thumb.
• He is nursing before nap, before bed, once overnight, and 1-2 other times.
• He eats BLD and a snack usually
• His favorite foods are cheese (but we think he's sensitive to dairy), puffs/rice cakes, pears, shredded chicken, and peeled/sliced grapes.
• His favorite toy is MY PHONE (that is a no no) or G's fan and music box and shoes (all no no's), so his favorite 'allowed' toy is the Elmo music thing, or stacking cups. That about sums him up--music and investigation. I wonder if he'll be "left brained" as he grows up. 
• For early Christmas from my in laws, he got a baby "computer" and he LOVES IT.
• No favorite show, he doesn't care about the TV, unless it's the remote, then he's totally into that.
• His favorite person is momma :-) :-) but he loves almost anyone as long as he's in a good mood. He's started pushing G away if I am hugging/snuggling her, so that's developmental but still sad.
• When daddy sings 'row row row your boat,' he tries to sing along. He has also tried to say "I love you," in baby speak, of course. Speaking of daddy, he's trying to teach J the parts of the body and sometimes J gets it right, but not all the time ;-)
• He says "upp uppp uppp" and "nananana" and "dadadada" and a few other correct sound references. I'm counting dada as his first word and up as his first non family word.
• He has hit all developmental milestones, including making 2-3 block towers! We are so blessed.

He vocalizes some, points all the time, creeps along walls/furniture, has taken a few steps, crawls really fast, can go up stairs if we let him, opens flaps in flap books, turns pages in real books, turns the light switch on/off if you hold him up, swipes up/around on my iPhone, climbs up into G's toddler bed, and he has the most mischievous grin. He is a handsome little boy and totally knows it.

I cannot say enough good things about him, but he isn't perfect. I just have a grounded perspective when it comes to him being clingy sometimes, or screaming sometimes.... I'm so much more comfortable in my motherhood than I was with G, but she's benefiting from that now and we are all just chugging along :-)

 

 

  

Dear J,

You are so special and our lives are forever changed by your entrance into our family. You give the sweetest snuggles and brightest grins. I cannot wait to see what you become, I know it will be something amazing. Never forget how we are your biggest fans, and never stop loving your sister. She is the best friend you'll ever have. She gives you 'hugs, and kisses, and pats' every day. She lets you pull her hair, steal her toys, and sings you songs. She loves you beyond belief, and as your mom, I am so blessed to get to watch the two of you together. Happy Birthday Baby Boy, you have made me a better person.

-Momma

Nine Months Old baby J

Having a nine month old baby boy sure is fun! He's into everything, makes everyone happy, keeps me on my toes for sure.

 J is very curious. He wants to see what everyone is doing, and likes getting into the action himself. He's feeding himself, army crawling (maybe it'd be better described as crocodile crawling lol), pulling-up on almost everything (except his crib, which is weird, because that's the first place G pulled up, but his crib is taller), clapping and waving, and just being a generally awesome little man. He plays peek a boo by pulling covers up and down, he can find some hidden things when shown them first. He can put things in and take them out. He's trying to mimic some motions, so maybe signing a few things might be in his future. He likes anything with a screen, which is a sign of the times, eh.

He is super into G's fan, cords of any kind, bathrooms, doors and door stops, and shoes-especially flip flops. Sounds like a puppy to me, LOL - of course I stop him from getting those things and so that probably increases his interest in them.

He eats 3 meals a day plus nurses about 5 times a day. He sleeps from about 8:15 pm - 5:30 am, nurses, and sleeps again from 6ish until about 9 am.... give or take, usually. He takes a nap from around 1:30 pm until 4 pm. Yeah, he's a one nap baby already. And I thought G was an early 1-napper.... though I did kind of push J into one nap so that our life opened up in the morning a bit.

J eat peeled/cut grapes, bananas, peaches, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, shredded meat, bell peppers, squash/zucchini, puffs, yogurt bites, pumpkin, and cheerios. He's tried lots of other things, but that's what he eats fairly frequently. He loves food and feeding himself.

He kind of drinks expressed milk from a sippy, with a lot of help and a lot of it spills, but this is helpful for getting through mass. I can't nurse under a cover because he pulls it off, so nursing discretely through mass isn't an option.

He's taken several tumbles because he's really top heavy, so when he pulls up on something and then tries to creep along or transfer between objects, he falls. I can't be right next to him every second...so long story short he topples over and cries. :-( Oh well, part of being a kid, right?

Then there's G who has pulled him over on accident a few times. She has just tried to help him "walk" but it ends up being her pulling him down since he can't walk. We've had a few talks about just letting him be....

She's a super awesome big sister, seriously, I've never seen a better one. She loves on him, plays with him, helps get his food, and takes care of him as much as a 2.5 year old can. Not that I put that on her really, but she's got a maternal instinct.

J is doing really well as far as CDPX1 (chondradysplasia punctata) is concerned, at least in my non-medical opinion. He seems to hear well, but we'll have his hearing checked pretty soon. He may or may not hear exactly right though, only time and monitoring will tell there. He seems to see well too, but again, we'll keep an eye on it ;-) His breathing is fine. He snores sometimes and makes odd sounds, but mostly does great. Let's all pray he stays healthy and avoids serious illness this Fall. His bones are the main thing, and we won't have x-rays again until December when he's almost 1. His torso and head seem to make up most of his body, so I think his legs are shorter than normal, which is why I think he's so top heavy....but he's only 9 months old ;-) so we'll see what happens in the future.

I'll update his height and weight tomorrow after his appointment. He's got two teeth on bottom and 4 about ready to bust through on the top.

Love you baby boy!!

Eight month + J-man

A few days late--j is now 8 months old!!

I went back and read G's 8 month post, and they are only a little alike. I wrote how she was the happiest baby around...but man I feel like J just knocks that out of the water. Maybe I'm forgetting since G can be temperamental these days, though she's not too bad. 

J takes one nap a day, which is kind of crazy, because I thought G transitioned early (11 months), but I kind of forced it on J....because I want the kids to sleep at the same time. He also sleeps about 12 hours at night (eating 1 or 2 times, though he's slept through a total of two times). So his total sleep is around 14 hours. 

He has eaten just about any kind of baby food around, loves puffs (duh) and Cheerios, and has had real pieces of cooked carrots, peach, banana, sweet potato and halved peas. He also had cherries, blueberries, and lemons in the mesh feeder. Once he's done with these pouches we have, I don't really want to buy more--just move on up to finger feeding or learning off a fork. By 10 months G could eat off a fork, so we'll see.

He's had breast milk from a sippy cup because its hard to nurse him at church and the timing was such I figured he'd want to nurse this past Sunday (err,Saturday  night)...so I pumped and brought the cup. I had to hold it for him & go slow since its much faster, but he drank it and was captivated. He hasn't been keen on bottles ever since he got off them after the NICU when I pumped more. I hate pumping. So I doubt this sippy cup thing takes off.

He is lightening fast at army crawling. And loves exploring, investigating, finding any cord possible, opening cabinets G never even tried to open until she was two... Crazy! (Though I wrote she loved exploring too, J just takes it to a new level)

Oh, and the first place he ever pulled to standing? The fireplace. Fantastic. Haha. I've got my work cut out for me with this one. He's since pulled up in G's rocking chair, and his learning table that we put the legs on now! Pretty exciting stuff around here.

He adores G and is also a big mommas boy--but thoroughly enjoys when daddy comes home. He seemed to miss him while my husband was away on business last week. Duh, we all did.

J can now; smile, roll, sit, clap, wave, eat, pick up small-ish things and bring to mouth, work age appropriate (and some advanced) toys, play peekaboo (moving the blanket on his own!), recognize his name and "no!", swing, army crawl, pull-up, laugh, make babble noises, and investigate. Take that mutated X chromosome!!

Love me some baby boy!!

He's in 9-12 and some 12-18 month clothes, weighs around 19.5-20 pounds and is 27 inches long. (Home measurements). He has 2 teeth.

J's milestones too!

It's been a big milestone week around our house! In case you missed it, G is officially potty trained, knock on wood.

But in order to keep up with the excitement, J woke up last Monday (7/1) and decided he'd like to sit for a long time unassisted!! He first sat "alone" around Father's Day, but would topple over very quickly. He now can sit and play, sit and reach, sit and whine, sit and watch, sit and eat, you get the picture ;-) He's a sitting fool. GO him!!

Then he decided to start army crawling not even a full week later! Whew!! July 7 is when my baby boy started squirming his way toward things. It's so awesome to watch. It made me almost cry the first time I saw it, I hardly even cheered for him - I was in shock I guess! He's getting faster each day, and is starting to investigate. Yesterday it was under the pack and play, today it was under the end table and nearly to the lamp cord until I caught him!

The above video is one of his first army crawls caught on camera.


My life is moving so FAST!! Before you know it, I'll be driving around two potty trained, talking, self-dressing/feeding, friend-making, word writing, book reading, no-nap-taking BIG kids....sheesh!

LOVE THEM!!!! xoxo :-)

Officially (knock on wood) potty trained!

I've been contemplating when to consider G potty trained. A few weeks ago, I thought she was there but then she had a pee accident. My husband says these things happen, but I don't know how you could call a kid potty trained if they pee or poop their pants...not even trying to make it toward the bathroom. Well, I think what happened there is she just tried to hold it too long because she was outside. There have been countless times outside that she's said she needed to go & we went in & used the potty...but not that time. Bummer. Then she continued to have poop accidents at least a few times a week.

However, I feel like I can officially call her potty trained after this morning. I was cleaning the kids' bathroom tub while they played in my room right next door. I heard J start crying, so I went to investigate. He was alone! I found G in her room on her potty...she didn't even say anything to me about going as she had to go past the bathroom door. She went pee and poop all by herself! She's kind of done that before but not in this circumstance (playing in a separate room). She has also kept her bed dry without us getting her up to pee for a week straight & hasn't had any poop accidents. It's magical. Super happy mom over here. So for pee, I'd say it took her a month to figure it out, 2 to perfect it. Overnight and poop, 3 months.

I don't think that's too bad. I know I was pt by 17 months or whatever my mom says :) but G is a different kid & I'm so proud of her!


ETA; Her last two year molars are cutting through now, and I really wonder if that has something to do with potty training.... as in a sign of 'maturity?' People I know who have had "early potty trainers" also had kids who got all their teeth "early"... thoughts on that?

Half Birthday Boy

J is six months old and is doing great. He had his well child check 3 days early, and at it he weighed 17 pounds 2.5 ounces and was 26.25 inches long. His head his staying steady ay 99%, which was 18.1" around. I think that his huge head makes him look a lot bigger than he is. People comment on how big of a baby he is, but his length and height actually hover around 50% for kids his age...which means he is very average. No teeth yet, plenty of hair (he had a hair cut by me!).



about to topple over!



My sweet boy is a rolling fool. He squirms in circles, and has gotten himself into his crib rails or the end of his bed, but doesn't crawl 'for real.' He has kind of sat up, but usually just topples over. He loves books and tries to turn the pages! He also enjoys gnawing them...typical baby.

He rattles toys, rakes things in, recognizes family members, rolls over, transfer things from hands, grabs on toes (or boy parts at diaper changes...eeeek), loves mirrors and music. He's also started some stranger fear...like when my mom showed up this week, he smiled at first, then got kind of freaked out and cried when she got up close. He got used to her and it was fine later on. I think his favorite person is G...they are too freakin' cute together. So glad they have each other.

J has had bananas, green beans, carrots, and blueberry banana puree. The bananas were the only "real food," the rest have been jarred or pouches. He loves food and eating :-)

We'll keep solids as introductory for a while, and stick to nursing for nutrients. He's so great at it :-)

Sleep wise, he has good and tough days. Last night he actually slept amazing, 8.5 hours, eat, then another 2.5 hours. That was awesome. Other nights he'll be up every 3-4 hours. He is solidly on two naps now, so it means he's following in G's footsteps of transitioning early...so I expect to see him on one nap before December. That's both a good and bad thing. Good because then we'll have all morning to do stuff again without worrying about nap times, but it's bad because I lose that time to get stuff done or play alone with G.... oh well life moves at light speed!

I cannot believe how big he is getting. He's SO sweet, cuddly, and smiley. I don't want that to ever change....maybe it won't ;-)

adorable nose, thanks cdpx1

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;