The Great Paci Purge

We've done it, you guys. We are a pacifier free household.

It's kind of funny how it happened, really. A couple Saturdays ago, we had a babysitter come to the house so we could have a date night. That night, the sitter didn't give Colin his paci, but he went to bed just fine without it. He's been without it at daycare for a while now, but we were still allowing him to have it in bed at home.

That night, we decided that if he could survive one bedtime without it, that it was time just to get rid of it for good.

Someone stole a paci intended for baby brother...

The first couple nights were too easy. The second couple nights you would have thought we were torturing him. After that, things kind of leveled out, and the last two nights he hasn't mentioned it at all. Saturday will mark two weeks since he's used one at all, so it's safe to say we're done.

Since Reid still won't take a pacifier at all (he prefers his thumb or a blankie to suck on), I think it's time to throw out the few pacis I've kept in hiding.

It feels really good to have a parenting "win" under our belt. Next up? Hopefully, more potty training successes.

I just love this little boy-man so much.

 

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Mom hair

Motherhood causes us to make sacrifices. If you're a mom, you know exactly what I'm talking about. We moms have to put ourselves on the back burner pretty much all the time. We are always making sure the kids are fed before we fill our plates. We wear the same pair of jeans until they fall apart, but our kids have more clothes than they can wear. We sacrifice our sleep, our bodies, our social lives... I could go on and on.

The funny thing is, these sacrifices don't always feel like sacrifices. We do these things because we love our children. Yes, we have moments when we feel a little burned out and even resentful, but at least for me, those moments are fleeting and often fade after doing something for ourselves. It doesn't have to be much. A Starbucks run, a hot shower, a date night, a new pair of earrings. Whatever it is that makes us feel a little human again.

One of the things I tend to neglect when there's a baby in the house is my hair. Besides the issue of time (it takes a while to blow dry and style it the way I like it), babies are grabby. As my sister recently put it, "those sticky hands find everything." I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of my hair being pulled out in fistfuls. As a result, this is the look I've been sporting on the daily.

{also notice the ugly nursing bra with a gigantic strap}

After having two babies, this is becoming a habit of mine. I grow my hair long while I'm pregnant, give up on it by the middle of the third trimester, and revisit it again when it starts to drive me crazy.

Well, I think that time is coming soon. I think I may be just about ready to take the plunge and get it cut again. Maybe.

Moms, what are some of the sacrifices you've made for your kids?

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Of Potties and Growing Boys

When you've got two small children, there's pretty much a new milestone every day. And when you're not the first born, let's be honest - those milestones don't cause as much of a commotion as they did the first time around. Not that they aren't just as special, but the chaos of having a family of four or more just makes parents more... relaxed about these things, in my experience.

Anyway, as a mom I feel it's important to document these milestones so that I can look back later and see what my kids were doing at certain ages. It's also important to take time to celebrate that my babies are growing, thriving and doing new things.

Which brings me to the two most recent reasons for celebration. Reid's big news is that at 7 months, he has started sitting up unassisted. I can't believe how big he is getting! He's at such a funny age where he is curious about everything and wants to touch (and taste) anything and everything in sight.

And as for Colin, well.. I don't have a picture to illustrate this one (haha) but my big guy has started to pee in the potty! The potty training thing has been slow going due to the fact that we have a very strong willed and stubborn boy on our hands, and also because he's in daycare Monday through Friday and it's hard to be consistent. We've decided not to push it because he seems to do better with it when he suggests a trip to the potty. When we prompt him too often, that stubborn streak kicks in and he is adamantly against it.

It's still not happening every day, but next week he'll be moving into the next class at daycare, and his new teacher there is a potty training pro, so I think she'll be a lot of help in getting him to use the potty all the time.

When he does go on the potty, flushing the toilet seems to be his favorite part of the whole thing. Sometimes he will pee a little, flush, sit back down and pee some more, then flush again. If only he understood the concept of saving money on the water bill. Oh well, at least we're making some progress, right?

There really is something new every day at our house. Soon, Reid will be crawling and cutting teeth, and who knows what new things Colin will be doing in the coming months. Time flies.

What milestones are you celebrating today?

 

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Reid is 7 months old!

At 7 months old, Reid:

• is still toothless.
• has the biggest, most amazing smile.
• can sort of sit up unsupported, but starts to tip after a couple minutes.
• is very "grabby" and pulls hair, which is why mine is always up right now.
• has the prettiest gray-blue eyes.
• loves to snuggle and to nurse.
• is currently waking twice a night, although he goes back to sleep pretty quickly.
• drinks 7 oz of pumped breast milk at a time while at daycare.
• eats 2 jars of stage 2 baby food each day in addition to his milk.
• loves his big brother so much.
• just started saying "dada."
• rolls from tummy to back and back to tummy like a pro.
• can scoot a little, but hasn't attempted crawling yet.
• is basically an angel baby who has totally stolen my heart. 

Reid, you are going to be a ladykiller one day. I hope you never forget that your mama was your first love.

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Colin is 2 1/2!

At 29 months, Colin:

• sleeps well in his big boy bed, but still wants us to lay with him while he falls asleep.
• still uses a pacifier at home to sleep, but doesn't have one at daycare anymore.
• has peed in the potty a few times, but we still have a long road ahead of us in the potty training department.
• often eats like a full grown man. he's a bottomless pit.
• does not like to be told what to do. he is fiercely independent.
• however, he loves his mama very much and hates it when i leave him at daycare.
• is an incredible big brother. he is so, so sweet with Reid and i'm so thankful.
• loves trains, cars, trucks, boats, and big machines.
• does not like to have dirty hands.
• is very expressive, can throw a mean tantrum and has had his fair share of time outs.
• can navigate the iPad all by himself and loves Netflix and YouTube.
• has an amazing vocabulary and memory for a two year old.

Oh how I love you, my silly pumpkin head. I can't wait to see what you'll be like at three!

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Sleep, glorious sleep.

It's probably the most frequently discussed topic among parents of young children. We ask each other questions about it, discuss it at length with our spouses, complain about how we can never get enough of it. I'm talking, of course, about sleep.

The funny thing about sleep is that it varies so much from kid to kid. What worked for one may not work for another. We learned that lesson when our sweet little Reid came into our lives. He is such an angel in so many ways, but sleep has always been a struggle. For months, the only way he'd sleep was while he was moving. In the car, in a swing, whatever. In the crib, he would wake often. It got to the point that I just could not take the sleepless nights anymore. It was bad. I was working a full time job with such little sleep that I had become so stressed out. Something had to change.

I explained the situation to the ladies at daycare and asked if they would put him in a crib for naps instead of in the swing. You see, on a typical day he'd take several long naps in the swing there, and then he'd come home and wake up every hour that night.

Long story short, he did amazingly well in the crib. The first day, they said he fussed until he fell asleep, but he never all-out cried. The second day, there was even less fussing. The third day, as soon as they laid him down he turned over on his belly and went right to sleep.

The best part? He is SLEEPING during the night! Last night he slept from 10 pm from 5 am, and fell right back to sleep after a feeding!!! This is huge in our house. Huge!

And then there's Colin. Oh, Colin. He has always been a pretty good sleeper. However, when we transitioned him out of the crib a few months ago, he suddenly realized he could hop right out of bed and come visit us whenever he wanted. That little habit comes and goes. Sometimes he'll sleep in his bed just fine for a week, and sometimes he'll climb in bed with us every night for a week. We usually put him right back to bed when that happens, but sometimes we shrug it off and enjoy our snuggles. This morning, I woke up to find him between Justin and me in the bed. I don't even remember him coming in, so I'm not sure how long he's been there! Little stinker.

The other "bad" habit he has developed lately is that he wants me to lay down with him at bedtime while he falls asleep. Here's my mommy confession, though: I'm not sure I want to correct this right now. You see, with work, a husband, a baby, and everything else I have going on, Colin and I don't get a whole lot of quality mommy/son time lately. So if he asks me to lay down with him for 15 minutes a night, well, I'm going to oblige. I know that the day will come, probably sooner than I think, that he will be too independent to want snuggles with Momma before bed. So dang it, I'm going to enjoy those snuggles while I can.

How is your little one sleeping these days? When did he/she start sleeping through the night? 

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Reid is 6 months old!

Who is officially the momma of a 2 year old and a 6 month old? This girl!

I can't believe Reid is already halfway to a year. It really does go faster the second time.

On his six month birthday, I took my baby to the pediatrician to have his ears checked out. The poor guy has rarely, if ever, not had an ear infection. As I suspected, his ears were still infected. I don't think the last infection ever totally cleared up. We had just finished his last round of antibiotics the day before we left for Michigan.

Despite the never-ending ear troubles, and as a result, lots of night waking, Reid remained his happy, adorable self. We are seriously blessed to have such a sweet little guy.

A week after the sick visit, I took him back to the pediatrician for his scheduled well visit. According to Dr. C, his ears were still full of fluid, but they weren't as red anymore. Still, he wasn't very confident that they would clear up entirely, or that they wouldn't become infected again as soon as we stopped the antibiotic.

The fun part about the visit, of course, was finding out our (not so) little boy's height and weight. His official 6 month stats?

Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz   |   Height: 27 1/4 inches

At first, I thought that sounded huge, until I looked up Colin's stats at the same age. Reid is a full THREE pounds less than Colin weighed, and one inch shorter. Holy cow!

Fast forward to the next day... Reid had an ENT consultation. I tell ya, this kid's been through it this week. We thought it would just be a consultation, but at the visit, Dr. B said she could put his tubes in at 2:30 the very same day. Say what?! I was under the impression he would have to undergo the whole surgery deal, with anesthesia and everything. Apparently, there is a certain window when they can put tubes in a baby's ears right in the office by using an ear drop that numbs the area locally. We agreed, and amazingly enough, that afternoon my baby had a five minute procedure, and bam - he suddenly had tubes. He was fussy that night, but overall he has done amazingly well. The doctor said she drained quite a bit of fluid, and we can already tell that his hearing has improved as a result. I am so glad it's all over and done with.

So, there you have it. I have a six month old. With tubes in his ears. And also, an almost two-and-a-half year old, who has a post of his very own coming soon. Stay tuned!

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