Well Henry turned 9 months old. I am so behind that he's almost 10 months, but i figured I'd give him a 9 month post anyway. I am continually amazed at this stage at how different my children are. By now, Blakey was crawling, standing independently and cruising on furniture. Henry seems so far away from that. He scoots a little bit, but has no interest in standing (on his own) and can't hold himself up on anything. But I also know how quickly they can change at this stage, and he could be walking in a couple of weeks. (Though I highly doubt it.)
At his checkup he weighed 19lbs 5oz. Significantly more than Blakely at that age, but he has dropped to the 25%. He was 30 something in height.
We are a little concerned because he is still not really eating solids. He rarely eats any baby food. We are seeing an early intervention speech pathologist soon for an evaluation. I know he is ok, but he has really slowed down in growth and eating is a huge stressor for him and me, so we are trying to get it worked out.
He is still a very happy boy. He's so easy to get to smile or laugh. No matter his mood, a little attention makes him completely content. He is still pretty frustrated playing by himself since he can't move exactly where he wants.
He is wearing 9-12 month clothes and a few 18 month things as well. It is so confusing to me how he can only be 25% in weight but wear 18 month clothes.
Nursing has gotten a little better- much less fussing- but still very easily distracted. He is eating every 3 hours most days since he isn't eating solids. I still nurse him once or twice at night also. He always starts out in his bed and ends up in bed with me. He has actually started sleeping a little bit in his own real bed. I need to crack down and work on getting him to stay all night in there; it just hardly seems worth it at 3am.
He is talking up a storm and saying all kinds of sounds. Momentarily he is out of the raspberry phase and I am so thankful. I know it will be back shortly.
He loves bath time, especially when Blakely joins him. He is a BIG splasher. And Blakely HATES it. She always wants to take a bath with him, then shortly after is asking us to get him out so he'll quit splashing her.
He is very content in the car, and is a great travel buddy. We just got his new car seat in the mail. I couldn't loosen or tighten the straps on his infant carrier, so I figured it was time for the big boy seat. We will keep him rear facing at least until May though. I still occasionally bring him in places in his carrier, but he is just so heavy to lug around that I don't think I will miss it too badly.
I took him to my staff wives retreat a fee weekends ago and drove 4 hours by myself and he did awesome. We stayed in a hotel, and Henry and I both think that we need a king size bed. He was great considering we were away from home, and since he was the only baby there, he was welcomed to all our meetings by several ladies happy to hold him. Some how he slept through most of the talks and was only awake for a little bit of the discussion and down time. I also need to say how much I LOVED driving by myself. I normally hate to drive alone, but I can't remember having that much alone time and it. Was. Awesome. I didn't even listen to the radio much. I just listened to the sweet sound of silence. :)
I had a blast, and it was just what I needed. I stayed up until 2:45am Saturday night just chatting with friends, and despite the fact that I'm STILL tired, I don't regret it. I came back more thankful than ever for my husband, with practical goals of being a better wife and mom, and most importantly, a better follower of Christ.
Anyway, back to Henry. He's a little sweetheart. Loves to snuggle, loves to wrestle, loves to laugh, is terribly ticklish, and looks exactly like his dad- which is a good thing. :)
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Friday, February 22, 2013
These days
Tomorrow marks one week of our media fast. I realy shouldn't call it a fast since we still watch tv....
Anyway, it has gone so well! We are really loving it. We need to crack down a whole lot more on Blakely and tv and the iPad. It is just SO hard. I think it would be a ton easier if I wasn't nursing. Henry is in a really annoying phase where I have to be laying down in a quiet room to get him to eat. I mean, what is that about? So putting B in front of the tv is my only option. If she barges in, (the only way she enters the room...) Henry's meal is over.
Anyway, she still has some attitude adjustments we need get going on, but Stephen and I are really liking it. We just feel like we aren't wasting time. I am sleeping better- probably cause I'm not on eBay for an hour before I try to go to sleep, and we are talking more. We talked before, but also sat around perusing jcrew and espn. Nothing wrong with that, but we are thoroughly enjoying our kidless time just talking on the couch.
Don't get me wrong- it's hard. I can't tell you how many times a day i pick up my phone wanting to check Instagram or Instagram a super cute picture of my babes. Or google something real quick, or hop on eBay to see if I can find my kids some cute spring clothes....but it's good for me. So instead I hop on my Esther bible study that I need to do anyway, or pick up the book I started a year and a half ago but still haven't fished. ("Can't wait to get to heaven" by Fannie Flagg) I highly recommend her books. "Fried green tomatoes" is an incredible book, and "daisy fay and the miracle man" is probably my favorite fiction book ever. It's HILARIOUS.
So we have been having lots of fun. Play dates. Going swimming- both kids LOVE. There is an awesome indoor aquatic center here in town with a great kid area. Blakely loves and hates the water. She is scared of getting splashed in the face, so if its crowded she's stressed, but she is not afraid enough of the water. She'll just walk right up to the edge of the pool, and obviously I didn't give her a chance to find out, but it seemed like she would have jumped right in. Henry ate it up. He loves to splash and he's too young to be afraid so he is fun. He also has no qualms with water in the face, so that's great.
He is still not officially crawling, but sometimes I'll discover him on the other side of the room and who knows how he got there. I will save the detailed update on him till after tomorrow's 9month checkup.
Blakely is having a heyday with imaginative play and has started pretending things with herself. She gets in the laundry basket and pretends to drive to the store, then shops out of the laundry basket (which holds toys) then gets her money out of her purse to pay. Then she takes it home and cooks with it. She puts all of her babies to bed, sometimes even puts them in her room and closes the door, and actually remembers them later in the day and gets them up from their nap.
Her grammar is incredible. Mainly just her ability to form complex sentences on her own. At least once or twice a day she says something to us that just doesn't feel like a 2 year old should be able to say. For instance, Sunday after church she went to Stephen and said "I forgot something daddy! I forgot my drawing at church. We need to go back and get it." I'm not exaggerating. Is she 2 or 14?! I asked her today what her favorite part of the day was and she said "probably playing with Hankie." Probably? How does she know how to use "probably"!?
We have started asking her what her "happy" for the day was at dinner. It's the sweetest thing. Is usually playing with Henry, occasionally playing with me or Stephen. But I think she really gets it. She will also ask us and our guests what their happy for the day was.
And just so you know she's not all sweet, I came in today to her holding Henry's head- face down on the floor with all her body weight. Somehow he wasn't crying. Needless to say, she went straight to timeout and got a very stern first and only warning against doing anything like that. Real life.
Blakely and Stephen are having a daddy daughter weekend while me and Henry head to the stumo wives retreat Friday Saturday and Sunday. I am excited about it, and I know Stephen and Blakely are going to have a fun weekend. She prefers him right now anyway, so I doubt I'll even be missed. (Maybe a little by Stephen...) :)
We are suppose to get a big snow storm so our weekend plans may end up going out the window if the roads get bad.
On to the best part:
Anyway, it has gone so well! We are really loving it. We need to crack down a whole lot more on Blakely and tv and the iPad. It is just SO hard. I think it would be a ton easier if I wasn't nursing. Henry is in a really annoying phase where I have to be laying down in a quiet room to get him to eat. I mean, what is that about? So putting B in front of the tv is my only option. If she barges in, (the only way she enters the room...) Henry's meal is over.
Anyway, she still has some attitude adjustments we need get going on, but Stephen and I are really liking it. We just feel like we aren't wasting time. I am sleeping better- probably cause I'm not on eBay for an hour before I try to go to sleep, and we are talking more. We talked before, but also sat around perusing jcrew and espn. Nothing wrong with that, but we are thoroughly enjoying our kidless time just talking on the couch.
Don't get me wrong- it's hard. I can't tell you how many times a day i pick up my phone wanting to check Instagram or Instagram a super cute picture of my babes. Or google something real quick, or hop on eBay to see if I can find my kids some cute spring clothes....but it's good for me. So instead I hop on my Esther bible study that I need to do anyway, or pick up the book I started a year and a half ago but still haven't fished. ("Can't wait to get to heaven" by Fannie Flagg) I highly recommend her books. "Fried green tomatoes" is an incredible book, and "daisy fay and the miracle man" is probably my favorite fiction book ever. It's HILARIOUS.
So we have been having lots of fun. Play dates. Going swimming- both kids LOVE. There is an awesome indoor aquatic center here in town with a great kid area. Blakely loves and hates the water. She is scared of getting splashed in the face, so if its crowded she's stressed, but she is not afraid enough of the water. She'll just walk right up to the edge of the pool, and obviously I didn't give her a chance to find out, but it seemed like she would have jumped right in. Henry ate it up. He loves to splash and he's too young to be afraid so he is fun. He also has no qualms with water in the face, so that's great.
He is still not officially crawling, but sometimes I'll discover him on the other side of the room and who knows how he got there. I will save the detailed update on him till after tomorrow's 9month checkup.
Blakely is having a heyday with imaginative play and has started pretending things with herself. She gets in the laundry basket and pretends to drive to the store, then shops out of the laundry basket (which holds toys) then gets her money out of her purse to pay. Then she takes it home and cooks with it. She puts all of her babies to bed, sometimes even puts them in her room and closes the door, and actually remembers them later in the day and gets them up from their nap.
Her grammar is incredible. Mainly just her ability to form complex sentences on her own. At least once or twice a day she says something to us that just doesn't feel like a 2 year old should be able to say. For instance, Sunday after church she went to Stephen and said "I forgot something daddy! I forgot my drawing at church. We need to go back and get it." I'm not exaggerating. Is she 2 or 14?! I asked her today what her favorite part of the day was and she said "probably playing with Hankie." Probably? How does she know how to use "probably"!?
We have started asking her what her "happy" for the day was at dinner. It's the sweetest thing. Is usually playing with Henry, occasionally playing with me or Stephen. But I think she really gets it. She will also ask us and our guests what their happy for the day was.
And just so you know she's not all sweet, I came in today to her holding Henry's head- face down on the floor with all her body weight. Somehow he wasn't crying. Needless to say, she went straight to timeout and got a very stern first and only warning against doing anything like that. Real life.
Blakely and Stephen are having a daddy daughter weekend while me and Henry head to the stumo wives retreat Friday Saturday and Sunday. I am excited about it, and I know Stephen and Blakely are going to have a fun weekend. She prefers him right now anyway, so I doubt I'll even be missed. (Maybe a little by Stephen...) :)
We are suppose to get a big snow storm so our weekend plans may end up going out the window if the roads get bad.
On to the best part:
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Lent
Well, believe it or not (I am having a hard time...) today is FAT Tuesday! I grew up southern Baptist so I never even knew about "lent" until I got to college and learned about it from friends. Over the years, I have occasionally given things up- facebook, chocolate (with selfish hopes of dropping a few...) and a few worthwile "additions" instead of subtractions (read my bible EVERY DAY no matter what...)
Last fall Stephen and I got our first iphones. This Christmas we got an ipad mini for the family. To say that our media intake (as a family) has skyrocketed since the iphone entered our world would be an understatement. I have fairly recently started a small side business of buying/selling clothing and accessories via ebay, and between that and my love for my "mini" I am online alllll the time. I have been convicted on multiple occasions that I need to put the devices down and FOCUS on my kids, and I do, but then I slowly drift back into checking instagram, ebay, and the like. I don't beat myself up too much- I know I am a good mom, but could always stand improvement. I give my kids lots of attention, but as I have seen Blakely's addiction to media grow- it has FREAKED me out. This TWO YEAR OLD on an ipad is entirely too savvy, and frankly Stephen and I are not fans of the attitude it seems to bring out in her. For whatever reason, after a short time playing on it she turns into somewhat of a grouch- whining and demanding she get her way. Thus, our lent experiment.
I have been considering giving some (or all) of media up for some time, but haven't had the motivation to really sit down and think it through and set my parameters (not to mention, I know it will be HARD). I mentioned doing something as a family to Stephen and he was immediately on board. So here's what we are doing:
No internet- period. For me at least. Stephen will have to use the internet for talks and work and such- but he isn't even going to check espn, or his worldnews websites. I will check my email- but the most time tempting email I get is jcrew- which I will not be clicking on... I have a few events before Easter that I need to stay in touch about- so that's why I'm still checking my email.
Our phones will only be used to COMMUNICATE with people. Neither of us are obsessive texters, so we will text our people and use our phones to make phone calls- what they were originally invented for. :) (of course in the event of an emergency, I am free to use my phone to figure out where I am, where something I need is, etc.)
NO ipad for me. I am not allowed to use the ipad for anything except maybe to turn on pandora so I can listen to some music. Same for Stephen. Blakely can use it for her puzzles and games and a movie, but we are working on her very specific guidelines today. We are going to set a time limit on her use, and maybe set up a reward system of some kind so she gets that it is a priviledge to use it.
TV: Stephen and I LOVE to watch tv together. We don't see this as a big issue, except that often times we just sit in front of the tv and watch whatever is on. So we are picking our shows- that we watch TOGETHER, and thats it. No late night junk, CSI, american idol business just cause nothing else is on. Would you like to hear our show list? We think they are great. Disclaimer: This probably will still sound like a LOT of TV to you...but I assure you, I am cutting back. Stephen is gone most evenings for work, so I am always watching TV after the kids go to bed. I also can watch anything with a plot (even a sub-par one...) Sundays: the Mentalist, Mondays: Castle, Tuesdays- NO TV!, Wednesdays: Meet the Neighbors (this show is hilarious, if you haven't seen it.) Thursday: Person of interest and Elementary, Friday: DATELINE- (laugh if you want, but we LOVE our Friday night DATEline. :)) Saturdays: NO TV!
Blakely can watch two shows on the computer when she gets up while she eats breakfast, Sesame Street at 9, and one show around 3:30/4. We are not going to be hard nosed with her, cause sometimes I need to occupy her with something while I am getting Henry to sleep or nursing him. Although we are not going to be super strict with her, we would like to cut her TV intake back drastically.
This means no ebay for me, no facebook, no reading blogs. I am going to try to blog myself during this time, because I know it is going to be great for our family and I want to document! Plus, I know my family enjoys reading it. Oh- that reminds me. I will still be taking pictures with my phone. :) I probably need to get out (and dust off...) that nice camera that we had to buy to document Blakely's life. :)
I am really hoping this accomplishes a few things: #1 more time in the word, individually and as a family. I know I always need to read my bible and study it more, memorize more scripture, read more Christian literature, etc. #2 More quality family time. I want to get more creative in how we spend time together. More crafts, more outings, more creative playing, etc. #3 More productivity. MAYBE I'll have a cleaner house, cook more meals, become more organized. Or maybe less so on all of those because I'll be too busy having fun with my family (which will be equally productive.)
Whew! Ok, I'm done. Now here are some pictures for sticking with it for that whole post. :)
Last fall Stephen and I got our first iphones. This Christmas we got an ipad mini for the family. To say that our media intake (as a family) has skyrocketed since the iphone entered our world would be an understatement. I have fairly recently started a small side business of buying/selling clothing and accessories via ebay, and between that and my love for my "mini" I am online alllll the time. I have been convicted on multiple occasions that I need to put the devices down and FOCUS on my kids, and I do, but then I slowly drift back into checking instagram, ebay, and the like. I don't beat myself up too much- I know I am a good mom, but could always stand improvement. I give my kids lots of attention, but as I have seen Blakely's addiction to media grow- it has FREAKED me out. This TWO YEAR OLD on an ipad is entirely too savvy, and frankly Stephen and I are not fans of the attitude it seems to bring out in her. For whatever reason, after a short time playing on it she turns into somewhat of a grouch- whining and demanding she get her way. Thus, our lent experiment.
I have been considering giving some (or all) of media up for some time, but haven't had the motivation to really sit down and think it through and set my parameters (not to mention, I know it will be HARD). I mentioned doing something as a family to Stephen and he was immediately on board. So here's what we are doing:
No internet- period. For me at least. Stephen will have to use the internet for talks and work and such- but he isn't even going to check espn, or his worldnews websites. I will check my email- but the most time tempting email I get is jcrew- which I will not be clicking on... I have a few events before Easter that I need to stay in touch about- so that's why I'm still checking my email.
Our phones will only be used to COMMUNICATE with people. Neither of us are obsessive texters, so we will text our people and use our phones to make phone calls- what they were originally invented for. :) (of course in the event of an emergency, I am free to use my phone to figure out where I am, where something I need is, etc.)
NO ipad for me. I am not allowed to use the ipad for anything except maybe to turn on pandora so I can listen to some music. Same for Stephen. Blakely can use it for her puzzles and games and a movie, but we are working on her very specific guidelines today. We are going to set a time limit on her use, and maybe set up a reward system of some kind so she gets that it is a priviledge to use it.
TV: Stephen and I LOVE to watch tv together. We don't see this as a big issue, except that often times we just sit in front of the tv and watch whatever is on. So we are picking our shows- that we watch TOGETHER, and thats it. No late night junk, CSI, american idol business just cause nothing else is on. Would you like to hear our show list? We think they are great. Disclaimer: This probably will still sound like a LOT of TV to you...but I assure you, I am cutting back. Stephen is gone most evenings for work, so I am always watching TV after the kids go to bed. I also can watch anything with a plot (even a sub-par one...) Sundays: the Mentalist, Mondays: Castle, Tuesdays- NO TV!, Wednesdays: Meet the Neighbors (this show is hilarious, if you haven't seen it.) Thursday: Person of interest and Elementary, Friday: DATELINE- (laugh if you want, but we LOVE our Friday night DATEline. :)) Saturdays: NO TV!
Blakely can watch two shows on the computer when she gets up while she eats breakfast, Sesame Street at 9, and one show around 3:30/4. We are not going to be hard nosed with her, cause sometimes I need to occupy her with something while I am getting Henry to sleep or nursing him. Although we are not going to be super strict with her, we would like to cut her TV intake back drastically.
This means no ebay for me, no facebook, no reading blogs. I am going to try to blog myself during this time, because I know it is going to be great for our family and I want to document! Plus, I know my family enjoys reading it. Oh- that reminds me. I will still be taking pictures with my phone. :) I probably need to get out (and dust off...) that nice camera that we had to buy to document Blakely's life. :)
I am really hoping this accomplishes a few things: #1 more time in the word, individually and as a family. I know I always need to read my bible and study it more, memorize more scripture, read more Christian literature, etc. #2 More quality family time. I want to get more creative in how we spend time together. More crafts, more outings, more creative playing, etc. #3 More productivity. MAYBE I'll have a cleaner house, cook more meals, become more organized. Or maybe less so on all of those because I'll be too busy having fun with my family (which will be equally productive.)
Whew! Ok, I'm done. Now here are some pictures for sticking with it for that whole post. :)
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| me and dad! |
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| date night |
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| don't get excited. She eats the "leaves" and discards the "trunk" |
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| "you go through tunnel, mommy!" |
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| stinker |
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| NYE |
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| JANUARY wagon walk to the park. B insisted she pull Hankie. |
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| Henry's first time swinging. Not sure if he liked it or not... |
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| Me and the babes. |
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| "hiking." |
Terrible weekend...
Well, I don't mean to whine, but I wanted to document our weekend from you know where.
Henry has been fussing a ton lately with nursing. He is COMPLETELY uninterested in food- no matter what it is. And then over the last few weeks he cries when I try to nurse him, fights me, then when he does finally nurse it's only for a few minutes and he seems like he's still hungry. So we talked about it for a while and eventually decided we were going to switch him to formula. We felt like we could at least know how much he was eating. I had so many issues nursing Blakely and I hated it cause she fought me all the time, so I really didn't want to drag it out if he was going to fight me like she did. It's just too exhausting.
So we started last Friday- he wouldn't nurse around lunch anyway, so I just decided to go ahead and get started. Long story short, by FORCING him, we got him to take a couple of small bottles of breast milk and formula mixed. Lots of tears and screaming though. Then the next morning he took a bottle a little sooner. We thought we were on our way up, but instead, he pretty much didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day. He was just sad- not even mad, sad. Tears, whimpering. Crying every time he would even SEE a bottle. I knew he was starving. He was also ASKING to nurse. Talk about a guilt trip. He'd cry and reach for me, and pull at my shirt. Never in my life did Blakely do that. When we switched her, she literally would not nurse. So around 6:30pm I caved. Stephen was a little perturbed when he walked into me nursing Henry on the couch...but I just couldn't take it anymore. Of course he ate his little heart out. So we went 36 hours without nursing. And I'm sure it hurt my supply, but I decided I can't quit yet. So I am waiting longer between feeding- to make sure he is really hungry, and I'm pumping after he eats to hopefully build my supply up. We are going to take him for a weight check tomorrow just to make sure he is gaining weight.
He was definitely happy he won that battle and was INSANELY cuddly with me all day. He's a little manipulator! :) he knows how to get me. We may have just put off the inevitable if he doesn't start nursing better. It would sure stink if we had to go through another day like this though. I am praying that he is just in a weird phase and that he naturally weens himself at a year (ha!).
So anyway, Stephen and I spent all of Saturday at our wits end, about to pull our hair out, and then we spent today trying to get back to normal. Blakely felt the negative effects of the weekend too. I think she was stressed that we were stressed and was not too excited about how much attention we were giving Henry, so she was pretty disobedient all weekend. She has also been mad at me, and giving me the cold shoulder- I think because I focused on Henry the whole weekend and didn't show her much attention. Hopefully she will forgive me when I take her to McDonald's play place tomorrow. :)
Henry has been fussing a ton lately with nursing. He is COMPLETELY uninterested in food- no matter what it is. And then over the last few weeks he cries when I try to nurse him, fights me, then when he does finally nurse it's only for a few minutes and he seems like he's still hungry. So we talked about it for a while and eventually decided we were going to switch him to formula. We felt like we could at least know how much he was eating. I had so many issues nursing Blakely and I hated it cause she fought me all the time, so I really didn't want to drag it out if he was going to fight me like she did. It's just too exhausting.
So we started last Friday- he wouldn't nurse around lunch anyway, so I just decided to go ahead and get started. Long story short, by FORCING him, we got him to take a couple of small bottles of breast milk and formula mixed. Lots of tears and screaming though. Then the next morning he took a bottle a little sooner. We thought we were on our way up, but instead, he pretty much didn't eat anything else for the rest of the day. He was just sad- not even mad, sad. Tears, whimpering. Crying every time he would even SEE a bottle. I knew he was starving. He was also ASKING to nurse. Talk about a guilt trip. He'd cry and reach for me, and pull at my shirt. Never in my life did Blakely do that. When we switched her, she literally would not nurse. So around 6:30pm I caved. Stephen was a little perturbed when he walked into me nursing Henry on the couch...but I just couldn't take it anymore. Of course he ate his little heart out. So we went 36 hours without nursing. And I'm sure it hurt my supply, but I decided I can't quit yet. So I am waiting longer between feeding- to make sure he is really hungry, and I'm pumping after he eats to hopefully build my supply up. We are going to take him for a weight check tomorrow just to make sure he is gaining weight.
He was definitely happy he won that battle and was INSANELY cuddly with me all day. He's a little manipulator! :) he knows how to get me. We may have just put off the inevitable if he doesn't start nursing better. It would sure stink if we had to go through another day like this though. I am praying that he is just in a weird phase and that he naturally weens himself at a year (ha!).
So anyway, Stephen and I spent all of Saturday at our wits end, about to pull our hair out, and then we spent today trying to get back to normal. Blakely felt the negative effects of the weekend too. I think she was stressed that we were stressed and was not too excited about how much attention we were giving Henry, so she was pretty disobedient all weekend. She has also been mad at me, and giving me the cold shoulder- I think because I focused on Henry the whole weekend and didn't show her much attention. Hopefully she will forgive me when I take her to McDonald's play place tomorrow. :)
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