A bit of this or that

We learned on Saturday at Callaway that William no longer despises the sand and loves to be in the water.  I forsee many day trips, now that we have a pass - thanks to my always awesome parents, up to swim and play and be lazy by the water.

I think Patrick's way of showing he really wants something is to open his mouth really wide, look intently, and lunge towards something.  He does this with a spoon full of pears, the remote, and my phone.  If I'm really lucky - he will do this towards me.  Usually it's the remote though...  How is it that kids are innately attracted to technology already?!

Three of the four Rumers caught the stomach bug this week.  It started with Sam on Saturday afternoon - carrying over into Sunday.  How he rode a bike feeling the way you feel with a stomach bug is beyond me...  I got it about 2:30am Sunday night - carrying into Monday.  William got it Tuesday morning and was vomitting all day, but seemed better on Wednesday.  We kept him home just in case.  Plus, I think there might be some kind of 24 hour rule, but that might only be for temperatures...  Anyhow.  It was perfectly yucky and we all wanted to crawl in a hole and die.  Knock on wood - it looks like Patrick escaped it.  Thank you immuno-whatevers in breastmilk.  I appreciate you.

Patrick is not a fan of vegetables.  Specifically green ones.  He has given a big two thumbs down to green beans and peas.  He sure does love fruit though.  Smart boy.  I need to go pick up some more produce to make him food.  We grabbed a handful of jarred ones, so we could have the jars... but they are going to be out soon and Sam thinks that he is a little tired of bananas and apples.  Maybe squash would be more to his vegetable liking...?

William is saying Please & Thankyou nearly every time without being prompted and I love it.  So so cute.  "Thank you Mommy"  "Thank you Daddy"  Maybe he will learn manners inbetween all the tantrumming.  haha!!!

We, as a last resort of exasperation, let Patrick cry it out on Tuesday night.  I have been fairly clear that I was not on board with CIO this time... I don't know why - just wasn't on board.  Maybe because he is such a joy during the day, that it seems extra awful to put him through that at night.  Poor William - he had me exasperated as a constant state of mind....  Anyhow.  Sam put him in the crib alone and awake.  He didn't cry immediately.  Whahuh?  Ok....  After about 5 minutes, he started whimpering a little bit, maybe a little light crying but definitely not full out wailing and then shortly thereafter, it just stopped.  Um...?  Not quite what I expected.  Who knows if this means we are off the hook *knock on some real wood* with teaching him to 'self-soothe' but we were certainly surprised.  And a little relieved.  I doubt we will do this as a matter of practice, but if he won't nurse to sleep or go to sleep with a little walking, as per our routine, then hopefully we won't be scarring him by just letting him figure out for himself in the crib.  I know.... I've gone hippie.  Feel free to giggle at me now....  Ok....that's enough ... now your laughing is hurting my feelings.  haha!!!

Did I already mention that Patrick is solidly up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth trying to crawl?!!  It was crazy.  In a matter of days between him arching to kind of getting up - he was a master of getting up...  I'm not ready for this!! :)  He's so proud of himself though - it's adorable.  And he's starting to get a little frustrated because he wants to move forward much faster than he can by belly sliding.  He kicks up on his feet to get his knees pulled under him - I don't remember William doing it that way at all.  Though, William did the military belly crawl for months before he got up on his knees...  He was fast that way too - crazy!  I just think it's funny that he is trying to crawl but he still falls over while trying to sit by himself after several seconds most times.  Babies are funny.

No teeth yet, which, again, is totally fine with me.  He's starting to get a little hair at the back of his neck and it looks to be red... :)  I can dream!!  Two beautiful red headed boys - oh my!!

Loves.

A confession...

I'm just going to go ahead and admit it. I am exhausted.  So in honor of my saying it out loud - I am going to cut myself a break and give you peeps a post of pictures.  Enjoy!!

I will take the time to say that this particular Saturday at Callaway with my parents was one of the best, most relaxing, perfect-est day.  I had the best time and kinda wish I could bottle the feeling and spray it on me come Monday.

Loves.

Tantrums & Tricks

This week wasn't particularly busy, but the boys sure didn't get that memo.  William has been moving at a mile a minute - unless he's watching Dinosaur Train and sweet little Patrick is working on several new 'tricks'.

Monday was Patrick's six month well check.  He did super great - only cried when he realized that Dr Mansfield wasn't mommy and was towering over him.  He weighs in at 17 pounds 10 ounces and 26.5 inches tall.  I have to say, I was a little disappointed that he didn't weigh over 18.  I really wanted him to have doubled his birth weight in six months, but the doc was pleased - so we are pleased.  Win for mommy's boobs!! haha!!  He got two shots and didn't cry at all - turns out singing the Itsy Bitsy Spider really does make every thing ok (I can also get him to settle down and eat by singing that song).  He went back to work with me because I had some issues to nail down and emails to send out.  No one in my office minded.  I handed off the baby and sat at my computer.  He loved it as well - such a flirt.

William can't decide whether he is a morning boy or not.  He wakes up happy, then he throws a fit over having to have his diaper changed and pjs taken off.  He NEVER wants to change out of his pjs.  Then he usually tantrums over what I've picked out for him to wear and refuses to put his socks and shoes on  We always have to wait to do that one.  Sometimes he'll play with his train table but usually he wants to watch Chuggington or Dinosaur Train but he will say one and throw a fit when that's on because he actually wanted the other.  Same goes for Shake Milk versus Juice.  I wish I could just hide in the shower most days.

Usually the car ride is pretty uneventful.  He likes to look for school buses and garbage trucks - which there are plenty of both in the mornings thank goodness.  But as soon as we get out of the car he's upset because he has to leave his juice and every toy but Hilbert.  He wants Daddy to carry him.  He wants to swipe the badge and go beep beep.  He wants a sticker.  He doesn't want anyone to talk to him and shouts NO! when they say hello.  On especially wonderful mornings, he throws himself down on the floor and hollers and cries.  It's awesome.  Our plan of attack on these tantrums has been to ignore and walk away.  This is no longer working.  Sam had to put him in the corner at daycare to get him to pay attention and calm down.  Goodness.

Patrick has been introduced into the tasty world of food this week.  I was planning on doing Baby Led Weaning, but he's not really swallowing anything and it's ending up everywhere, and after trying it for two days - I don't think I'm going to do it hardcore.  Maybe more so on the weekends, but not at dinner.  So far he has had sweet potatoes and apples.  And as far as I can tell, he likes them.  I don't think he's eating them, but the taste of it all makes him happy.  He especially loves the spoon and takes it out of my hands every time.  Which means I end up covered in sweet potato - but oh well.  I have to strip him down in his seat and carry him to the bath every single night.

He loves bath time.  The first night I had to strip him like that, Sam was at the movies with his Dad, so I had to do it by myself.  His bath seat was folded up and in the armoire, so I just ran about 1.5 inches of water and laid him on his back.  He loved it!!  Was splashing his feet and moving his tush to make big splashes - it was so much fun to watch.  And, honestly, it was a lot easier to get him clean!  We might have to make a routine out of it...

Patrick definitely has eczema though poor baby.  And a lot worse than William did.  It's all over his back, elbows, and a little on his front.  The hydrocortisone is helping a good bit but we've only had that for two days I think, so it's not completely cleared up.  He doesn't seem to be bothered by it though - so that's good.

OMG!! How did I forget to mention this?!  So - you know how he's been waking up every hour - every two hours for the past week/week.five?  Yeah - he had an ear infection....  Kid didn't think to tell us about it.  Dr Mansfield found it at his well-check and gave us a prescription for amoxycillin.  (which produces awesome diaper rash...goodness)  He hasn't been fussy or crying or anything though!  Just waking up more often than I would like.  I just figured he was hungry.... haha.  Of course he would get one after we took him to the doctor no less than 5 times because we were sure that his snotty nose/cough was turning into an ear infection.  And wouldn't you know - his snottiness was actually not that bad recently.  Oh well.  Atleast he didn't seem to notice THAT either!!

Patrick has decided to start working on crawling.  He is practicing getting up on his knees and sometimes he even makes it.  So exciting!!  And not really exciting at the same time.... two mobile children - oh my! haha!!  He can propel himself backwards while on his tummy though - that's funny to watch.  I guess his arms are stronger than his legs right now.   He still needs help sitting most of the time, but he's getting better at that as well.  So hard to think that in another 6 months he won't be a baby anymore.  I look at William and can hardly believe that two years ago he was Patrick's size.  Sweet sweet boys.

Loves.

Patrick by Numbers: 6

A Very Merry Half Birthday to Patrick!!  

*Weighs approximately 18 lbs.  We have a doctor appointment on the 5^th and I will update after that.

*Has discovered that he can speak and speak loudly.

*Loves his jumperoo now that his feet touch the ground.  Some days I am fairly certain that he would stay in it all day long without complaint.

*Is becoming a master walker manipulator.  He can direct it where he wants most of the time, which is saying something – because there are always plenty of obstacles in his way.

*Loves bathtime.  Especially when William is joining him.

*Thinks being naked, in general, is the greatest thing ever.  He immediately lights up and starts “bouncing around.”

*Refuses to sleep through the night.  Refuses to sleep  4 hours in a row.  Or really, even three hours in a row.  A treat is a full two hours before I have to feed him again.  And four days this week, he was up every hour.  I am tired.  He is not.

*Very clearly made his teacher, Ms. Tonjia, his Valentine.  He loves her so much.

*Enjoys razzing occasionally, but it’s a lot more focused than William’s razz was.  And he doesn’t do it constantly either.  More of like a passing fancy.  He’s really cute when he does it though because he is so specific.

*He has discovered hair and pulling.  He only likes to do it though if there is tension – grab higher than he does and it’s no longer fun and he will release.  Thank goodness.

*Wakes up incredibly happy in the mornings.  I am starting to look forward to the time from 5:30-6:00am.  

*Goes to bed around 7:30/8:00 pm.  He sleeps best when Daddy does the swaddling.   He starts in the crib and then when he wakes up at 11:30, he comes to bed with me.

*Exclusively breastfed.  

*He now sometimes gets his feelings hurt if you leave the room or don’t pay enough attention to him when he wants it.

*Fascinated by everything William does.  Hopefully William won’t teach him any bad habits.

*In 6-9 month clothes and oh so adorable.

*About to move up to size 3 diapers when we run out of the 2s.  Mostly because a friend of ours got us a crazy good deal on 300+ size threes… I’ll take it.  He is a little chubby though – so it works.

*He finds his feet fascinating and his toes especially tasty.  

*He has no teeth but goes through spurts of serious droolyness and an obsession with teething toys –but he’s not really upset about anything – so who knows if he will ever have teeth.

*Loves to be tickled.  Under his chin always makes him smile and laugh.  I love it.  He also thinks it is funny to be 'munched' on and kissed all over.  I love it.

 Loves!!

There's always tomorrow...

Sam left for Canada at 4:15 am Sunday morning.  So, yes, contrary to what I have previously declared, several times, I have “allowed” him to travel.  Haha!  This trip started out only being 2 days, 1 night – but quickly grew to 4 days 3 nights.  That’s ok.  I was still fairly confident that I could easily handle two kids alone.  Especially when B&B agreed to let William spend the night Saturday and most of the day Sunday at their house.  

Sunday was wonderful.  Patrick and I had the best time.  Of course, the day started off in the wee hours like it always does, but he was so happy and full of joy.  We played in bed for a long time, ran to Wal-Mart for some grocery shopping – we have an absolute NEED for ketchup in this house, and then ate, slept, cuddled, and played the rest of the afternoon.  It was wonderful.  He even got to sit in the cart for the first time.  I added some cushioning on the sides to ensure that he wouldn’t plop over, but he did great and loved having a view.  William came home after nap and he immediately asked to watch Chuggington and I complied because I still needed to cook dinner (and make ORANGE cookies at William's request).  Baths were taken, clothes for picture day were laid out, bottles washed, everyone goes to bed.  Easy peasy.

Even Monday morning seemed to go well.  Despite Patrick waking up literally every hour to eat from 11:30pm on – we were all clean, dressed, and ready to go by 7:13am.  A feat that we don’t always accomplish when Sam IS home.  Get William to his room – he is in a great mood – and off Patrick and I go.  Uhoh – one of his bottles has leaked and was dripping through his bag EVERYWHERE.  4.5 ounces of breast milk GONE.  Awesome.  So I clean that up, take Patrick to his room, and promise to pump some more and bring it at lunch for his third bottle.  Goodness.  Nevermind that this would put me behind in what I need to produce for the next day and would need to bring the pump home to make up for it….  I could just use frozen milk – but that seemed silly at the moment.  Who knows why.  Probably because I like being able to say that I have 250 ounces frozen.  (Though – I only get to say that for another day or so because I’m donating another 100 to a local momma…) Anyhow.  I reward myself with a Diet Dr Pepper because spilling breast milk is not a happy affair.

Monday evening went even better.  William, Patrick and I played and ate dinner and played some more.  I fed Patrick and he went to bed.  I did more dishes, a little laundry, talked to Sam, and I went to bed.  Patrick skipped the 12:30 and 2:30 feeds, so I got a tiny bit more sleep.  Again we are out the door at 7:11am.  We are on a roll.  Uhoh.  William throws a humongous tantrum as soon as we get in the door of school.  Finally he gets to his room and he clings to my leg while I’m holding Patrick and trying to fill out his sheet.  His wonderful teacher Ms Phyllis takes Patrick from me so I can handle the sheet and the screaming toddler and what….?!!!!  Patrick has had a poop explosion.  Awesome.  All the way up his back and even his socks have poop on them.  Ms. Phyllis is my hero and cleans Patrick up while I try and calm William down who has moved to the other side of the room and is now crying for Mommy.  Really?!  Patrick and I finally just have to leave William throwing a fit and bawling and it breaks my heart.  Did I mention Patrick is butt naked?!  Haha – cute baby tush.  

Patrick and I make it over to his room.  I change my shoes and get him to the changing table.  I pull out a diaper, open it, turn back to him and he’s got a massive stream of pee in the air.  And he just keeps going.  It’s all over him, the changing pad, the countertop.  And then he starts basically bouncing in it.  Great.  Of course he would.  But he’s so happy about it – it’s really hysterical at this point.  Yet another wipe bath ensues.   I finally get to leave the daycare at 7:50.  I reward myself with a larger Diet Coke.

I certainly hope I can make it through tomorrow morning.  I’m a little scared of what the world might throw at me.  But, I think I might reward myself with a cappucino if it all goes to pot.  THAT might be worth it....hmmm.... Bring it on Wednesday!!!!!

Loves!!

Mountain Boys

William spent last week in Cleveland with my parents.  And I know he had a great time.  Who wouldn’t?!  A whole week of undivided attention and constant playtime and hanging with one of the coolest granddaddies the world has ever seen!!  We called him every morning on the way to work – though he didn’t always want to talk because The Cat in the Hat was on tv and it was apparently riveting.  He would talk a little more in the evening and it was fun to have a conversation with him.  The things that are important to 2.5 year old are adorable.  Mostly he talked about cars and trains.  

We skyped on Valentine’s day so we could kind of give him his gifts.  We didn’t go crazy – he got two dinosaur toys and two foam swords/axes.  You would’ve thought we’d given him the most expensive toy in the store.  He LOVED the dinosaurs – we watched him play with them for what seemed like 15 minutes.  Eating tails, riding on the track, his imagination knows no bounds.  And the axe is a Pirate sword.  Cute kid.   He wasn’t very interested in telling us about his day once the “dinosaurus” came out, but that’s ok.  We videoed us Skyping-  crazy right?! – so we will always be able to laugh at how silly he is.

I think Patrick probably enjoyed being an only child.  I know we did.  The evenings were so much easier, not to mention the morning routine was beyond simple.  He slept in several of the mornings -  so we got to get ready without interruption.  I didn’t even remember what that was like! Ha!!  I think he missed having William as entertainment though.  He enjoys watching the wild man run around but Dinosaur Train filled in one morning, along with his jumperoo.  He’s finally tall enough for his feet to reach the ground and he loves that thing!  

Patrick is growing like a weed.  He is over 17.5 pounds now and in 6-9 month clothes.  He still fits in some of the 3-6 onesies and pants, but for the most part we have moved his closet over.  And I guess William didn’t stay long in 6-9 or we borrowed a big chunk of his wardrobe for this size, but there are very few outfits for Patrick to wear.  I am going to get very sick of seeing the same things every week, even if they are super adorable.  Maybe he will really chunk up and out and move into 9-12 size – because we have an overflowing tote in that size!!  Can’t wait to see what he weighs at his 6 month appointment – very excited to see how much he’s grown on breast milk alone.

I know I’m not quite at the milestone yet – still 1.5 weeks to go – but I am super proud of making it to 6 months of exclusively breastfeeding and I feel really lucky that my milk supply cooperated.  I remember in the beginning few weeks thinking that 6 months was so far away and I wasn’t sure I even wanted to make it that long, and now I can barely even imagine wanting to stop.  Even coming back to work, when pumping seemed like such a hassle and a chore – I’ve been doing that 3 times a day for four months.  And you know – that is something to be proud of.  No judgment, but there are plenty of moms I know who quit breastfeeding after maternity leave because it was too much to keep up.  Too little sleep.  Too much time needed.  So I am going to take one moment and tell myself that I am awesome for not giving up.  It is hard work, but totally worth it.

Ok.  Moment over.  Back to the regularly scheduled program.

I’m not sure if potty training is around the corner or not, but William has started going off in a corner to poop.  And he doesn’t want you to look at him while he does it.  I didn’t get to witness this one, but it was hilarious hearing about it from Sam.  “Don’t look at me Daddy!!!!!!!”  I can just hear him saying that!  (mostly because he says that often about all kinds of things… but y’know)  He has woken up dry from nap a time or two, but never has been dry in the morning.  Which is probably because he goes to bed with a cup of water….we are obviously still working on getting that one out of the routine.   I’m not the least bit worried about whether or not he should start potty training now, but I just keep filing away these readiness signs.  The biggest sign of not ready – he still hates the potty….  You can’t potty train him if he won’t go near it.  Just saying.  

Patrick is starting to get strong enough to sit.  We still have to support him but we can tell that he is close.  It takes him a little longer each day to fall over….  And funny – he still doesn’t like to roll over.  He can do it, but rarely gives us the treat of squealing for him.  Maybe it’s his belly – he gets halfway over and just decides it’s too much work to go all the way…  He’s usually pretty happy just to lay on his back/belly and play with any toy within reach.  He loves the tags on the stuffed toys more than the toy itself though.  Guess he really is related to William!!

I can’t remember  if I said this before – but recreational yelling is in full force.  He isn’t really that loud yet but he is most certainly spirited about it!!  So fun to watch him run around in the walker – which he is getting quite good at!! – and yell at doors, toys, and anything in front of him.  We have video of him repeatedly running the walker into the water heater closet door and giving it quite the “what for”.  Love it!!

Just in the past few days, Patrick has really gotten the hang of the walker.  He is able to control where he wants to go, get over thresholds, and is enjoying himself immensely.  He couldn't contain himself one evening while I was making dinner and just kept RUNNING in circles in the kitchen!  It was positively adorable.  He hasn't quite mastered reversing out of corners yet, but that will come.  We are just impressed with how quickly he went from enjoying the walker, to being a baby expert at it.  Goodness - they grow way too fast!!!

Loves!!